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