ADIEU, SRI RAJIV SAXENA!

As an HR trainer, I met Sri Rajiv Saxena, Principal, Konkan Railway Institute of Staff Training (KRIST), in 2001. Over a period of one-and-a half years, I had numerous occasions to interact with him on many topics, both academic and general and, in the process, to learn of his sterling qualities of head and heart. He was always friendly with his guest faculty, but his concern for the trainees was down- to-earth and palpable in all his discussions with them. I have often observed him taking active interest in providing the trainees with relevant and adequate inputs through various sources so that their hunger for knowledge was always satisfied.

Sri Rajiv Saxena is a gentle personality with a deep commitment to his profession. Though a top-ranking executive in Konkan Raiway (KR), he felt humble enough to mingle with the employees of even the lowest cadre, i.e., the Station House Keeping Staff (SHKH). In all the training programmes organized by KRIST, he ensured that he provided not only the technical inputs to the trainees, but also something extra which contributed to the personal growth of the employees.

I, often, wondered how he found time and patience to sit through the entire sessions of the external guest faculty, sometimes, which, according to me, shows his humility and the desire to learn something from every human being.

To KR employees, Sri Saxena was a friend-philosopher-and guide. In course of his duties, he befriended a wide spectrum of local VIPs and assiduously built up goodwill for KR. Once, when I was talking to Sri S.I.Sajjan, his immediate next colleague in the institute, about what his tenure in KRIST under Sri Saxena meant to him, he said: ‘ I have come to a conclusion that there is no need for me to attend any training programme, lectures, or workshops, nor do I need to consult any books on management. All that I want to know and need to know to come up in my life and career are available to me from one source, i.e., my boss who is a walking encyclopaedia.’ Perhaps, this statement best sums up Sri Rajiv’s personality.

Over a period of one-and-a half years, my friendship with Sri Rajiv has blossomed and bloomed. How unlucky I feel in being deprived of his company, as he leaves for Jabalpur, his new place of work! I only wish him and the members of his family a happy and prosperous life in the days to come. May the new Railway zone be enriched by his dedicated service! I pay my humble tribute to him by quoting one of the Shakespeare soliloquies, on this gloomy occasion:

‘His life was gentle,
and the elements
So mixed in him, that
Nature might stand up
And say to all the world,
this was a man.’

Adieu, Sri Rajiv Saxena!


K.V.Venkataramana

PR is a Sustained and Deliberate Effort

Public relations (PR), though primarily, a management function, involves participation of every employee in an organization. The main thrust of PR is to ‘identify, establish and maintain mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the various publics on whom its success or future depends’. However, in the Indian context, we often come across situations where a few employees and/ or managers do something contrary to the interests of public relations, wittingly or unwittingly. In the succeeding paragraphs are quoted a few typical instances or lapses which could contribute to unfavourable PR image of an organization caused by its own employees / managerial personnel.

Once I went to an ISO 9002 company to impart training to a batch of its employees. I stayed at their official guesthouse for two days. On the first night, I requested the caretaker of the guesthouse in the evening to give me a wakeup call at 5 A.M. the next day to enable me to revise my notes for the training programme, but I was surprised to be told by him that as the breakfast at the guesthouse was generally served to guests at 8 A.M., the caretaker and his staff woke up usually at 6 A.M. and that the telephone operator who works during night shift was the right person to help me in the matter. Accordingly, I rang up to the telephone operator and sought his help. He came to know that I was a newcomer to the guesthouse, and assured me to give me a wakeup call at 5 A.M. the next day. However, he resented the attitude of the caretaker and commented:’ Sir, this is, in fact, the duty of the guesthouse staff and not of me. They are an irresponsible lot. Why don’t you bring this to the notice of the Personnel Manager tomorrow so that he could mend their behaviour?’ True, the telephone operator was right, but was it not wrong on his part to bring to the notice of a guest the deficiencies in service of his own company? After all, was he not unconsciously denting the image of his company which believes in PR as a mechanism to promote goodwill and mutual understanding between the organization and the public?

In one more instance, when I went to a government office to meet the chief officer at 11 A.M., I was informed by an attender that the boss had gone out and that he was not available for some time. Then I thought of meeting his deputy to seek information as to when his boss would be available. The deputy said: “Sir, I don’t know where he has gone. He never keeps me informed when he goes out.’ This, sadly, reflects the state of unsatisfactory human relations prevailing in that office, besides indicating a lack of public relations efforts on the part of a responsible person in that office.

Incidents of the above nature which have a bearing on the public image of the organizations (or the nature of public relations practised by them) could be kept at bay by adopting the following measures:
1. Training in PR should be imparted to different levels of employees in an organization, on a continuous basis, who come face to face with customers.
2. A short course on Image-building should be conducted for the benefit of all employees in an organization by the management, as there is a misconception on the part of most employees that image-building exercise is the function of CEO of the company and has got nothing to do with the individual employees.
3. Strengthening of employee communication is the need of the hour. The basics of communication -- what to speak and what not to speak in specific contexts- in relation to the organization or its leaders, that would run counter to the interests and PR policy of the company should be explained to all the employees in workshops on communication to be organized for them.
4. Each employee is an integral part of the organization and its culture. Workshops on Ethics and Organisational Culture may also be organized for employees, which could contribute to strengthening the PR efforts of the company.

The above measures are only illustrative which, if adopted by the organizations, could go a long way in returning values to them in the form of enhanced public image through the honed PR skills of the employees. Needless to say PR is a sustained and deliberate effort.

K.V.Venkataramana

Talacauvery—A Place Of Pilgrimage And Popular Destination For Lovers Of Nature

In a span of two years, I had visited Talacauvery, the birthplace of river Cauvery twice. Cauvery evokes different feelings for different people. people in Coorg (now called Kodagu) district literally worship river Cauvery as goddess. They consider her the bestower of prosperity, plenty, and peace; others treat her as the symbol of sacrifice quenching the thirst of people, cattle, wild animals, birds, and cultivated crops all along the way from Brahmagiri to the Bay of Bengal. Many temples which lie on her banks as she flows through Karnataka and Tamilnadu have a special significance for devotees, as Cauvery’s waters wash the feet of gods in those temples.
Talacauvery is at the foot of Brahmagiri hills. It is about 44 kms from Madikeri, the district headquarters of Kodagu. The road to Talacauvery passes through zigzag route on either side of which you can see coffee plantations interspersed with pepper and orange crops, paddy fields, banana and cardamom crops. On the way to Talacauvery, we come across another holy place, a small village, called Bhagamandala where Sri Bhagandeshwara temple is situated. According to Skanda Purana, this temple is named after Bhagandamuni who installed a Shivalinga at this site. This is also the place where Agastya Rishi is said to have meditated. The king Dodda Veerarajendra renovated this temple which had been partially damaged in a bitter battle in 1790. On the main door of the temple, ‘V’ in Kannada is found inscribed to indicate that the king Dodda Veerarajendra had renovated it.
Bhagamandala is also known for its famous ‘Triveni Sangam’ which is the confluence of three rivers, Cauvery, Kannike and the imaginary (invisible) Sujyothi. Cauvery is called the ‘Ganga of South’ and is one of the seven holy rivers of India, the others being Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Saraswati, Narmada and Sindhu. A dip in the ‘Triveni Sangam’ completes the Hindu ‘shraddha’ (a ritual performed for the deceased parents) rites for the departed soul. It is a common sight to see people from various southern states coming to Bhagamandala for tonsuring of their heads as a part of ‘shraddha’ ritual and taking a dip in the holy sangam.
From Bhagamandala, the road to Talacauvery passes through steep hills with sharp curves. (Distance from Bhagamandala to Talacauvery is 8 kms.) Along the way, we encounter a spot called ‘viewpoint’ where one could enjoy the breathtaking view of overlapping hills and valleys. This spot is at a height of 3700’ from the mean sea level.
Talacauvery is the place where river Cauvery originates. Here, we see a ‘kundike’ (a perennial water-pot or a tiny pond) which is the source of the river, at the foot of the Brahmagiri hill. Every year, on October 17/18, (on the day of Tula or Kaveri Sankramana) at an auspicious moment, water from this ‘kundike’ gushes forth, and people in lakhs throng this place to witness this event. In front of the ‘kundike’, is a bigger pond where devotees dip their heads in water and move near the ‘kundike’ where a priest pours the sacred water from the ‘kundike’ in a copper tumbler on their heads. Then a puja is performed on behalf of the devotees by the priest to the ‘kundike’ (or Goddess Cauvery).
If we climb a few steps from one corner of the ‘kundike’, we can see two small shrines dedicated to Lord Ganapathi and Lord Agasthyeshwara. To the right of these shrines is Brahmagiri Dwara (Gateway to Brahmagiri hill) which leads to Brahmagiri hill. The peak of Brahmagiri hill (three hundred feet from the source of the river) can be reached by devotees by climbing steep stone steps. According to legend, seven sages had meditated at the peak ages ago. One can enjoy the panoramic view of the blue hills, clouds and valleys from this peak. Cool, incessant breeze keeps company of the tourists as they savour the beauty of the distant horizon hugged by layers and layers of hills.
Talacauvery is not only a place of pilgrimage but also a popular destination for lovers of nature.

K.V.Venkataramana

Poem -- A Safer And More Peaceful World


Look at the eagle flying three palms high
Looking down below at man's pathetic slide
From his position of nobility to the abyss of immorality
Over centuries of time and tide.

He says civilization is on the move
From savagery to glorious culture
While, in fact, there is expanding terrorism,
Leading to genocide and torture.

Man says he is happy with the modern gadgets
And all things invented to provide him creature comforts;
But where is Peace within and without
When starved and suffering souls, for a basic living, exert?

Man has polluted everything -- land, water and air
And made them unsafe for all beings
And he has exploited his own fellow-beings
To amass wealth for his ostentatious living.

Will man ever learn to lead a virtuous path
By following the policy of 'Live and let live'
And leave behind him, at the end of his journey,
A safer and more peaceful world that outlives?

K.V.Venkataramana

To read more of author's poems, readers are requested to go through the following link:

http://www.poemhunter.com/i/ebooks/pdf/k_v_venkataramana_2008_3.pdf

An Evening At Colva Beach, Goa

An Evening At Colva Beach, Goa

Madgaon is one of the prominent stations on Konkan Rail route. It is situated 437 kms from Mangalore. It is also an important commercial hub of Goa. About 11 kms from the station is located the famous beach called Colva, one of the several picturesque beaches, found in Goa. It is a great joy watching people strolling along the beach, and surfing in the sea, when the evening sky becomes the wide canvas of Master-artist. Couples display their best romantic moods, children enjoy the greatest fun of their lives, old people glow with enthusiasm and energy, women are flush with youthfulness and sprightliness, girls literally turn into social butterflies, and poets and artists derive their inspiration for renewed creative spurts, as they stroll along the glistening beach. Tall coconut palms do not lag behind in waltzing to the sound of the passing breeze and to express their excitement before the sea of humanity. I feel I am only an infinitesimal creature when I stand before the vastness of sea. I get a feeling that God’s stature and status to humans is more eloquently conveyed by the giant, surging waves than by the imperceptibly shaking blades of a grass in the countryside. Whatever the children or even adults scribble on the wet sands of the beach, expressing their feelings of joy, is not taken note of by God at these moments when the sun is beginning to dip into the sea, but a silent moment on the part of one thanking Him for allowing to witness that unfolding drama second by second is only recognized. I feel it requires a lifetime of effort to learn to remain still even for a moment, in the flux of happenings and occurrences being witnessed in the surroundings, when Colva is transforming itself into a paradise.

K.V.Venkataramana