HARD WORK

When I was a student, I thought the secret to success is hard work. When I first started working, I had a colleague who had just returned from the US. He had a master’s degree in engineering from a US university and had worked there for about eight years. He told me that you can succeed with hard work in most countries but in India you need an additional quality, you need to be cunning.

Later on, I realized he was correct. I came across people who took the credit for other peoples work and when some thing went wrong they tried to shift the blame on someone else.

One day, I had to meet the Chief Engineer of the Post and Telegraph Office at Palakkad. The office was an eight storey building, the tallest in Palakkad at that time. I arrived at about 1 pm and found that he had left for lunch. His office was on the top floor; all the others were literally working under him. I took the lift down and waited outside the building. Soon I saw an elderly distinguished man heading for the lift. I thought, he must be the Chief Engineer. I waited a few minutes, for him to leave. Then, I took the lift up. When I entered his room, he was already seated. On seeing me, he stood up and asked me to take a seat. He was in his fifties and I was in my twenties. I could not understand why he had to show me so much respect. I was trying to sell him a product but soon he started talking about Japan and how that country had made so much progress. I told him that they are a hard working people. He did not agree with me. He said some of his relatives had visited Japan and brought back some electronic gadgets. He asked me whether anybody in India can make some thing like that with hard work. He said what is required is intelligence and not hard work. He went on to say that if a person does hard work for long hours, he is going to fall sick. After talking for some time, I got up to leave. He stood up and bid me farewell.

I thought about it. Are some people just born intelligent or is it something we can work on. Maybe there is physical hard work and mental hard work. Just like physical hard work builds muscles, maybe mental hard work improves intelligence. Everybody cannot be a Mr. Universe and everybody cannot be an Einstein. Maybe you just have to work with what you have. If you use your intelligence at work and find ways to make work easier, you are doing smart work.I think smart work is definitely better than hard work.    

   

BARN OWL

Saw this barn owl near my house.

Went very close to it to take this photo. It didn't seem to mind.

COUCAL

A coucal. Saw this one near my house. It is a common bird in kerala. It is called 'uppen' in the local language.

CORPORATION BUILDING

Corporation Building, Kollam

BROOM

This photo was taken by Mamiko Sakamoto a Japanese Volunteer (JOCV) who was working with me in the Maldives. She was there during 2006-7. I  like it.

END OF JEALOUSY

I can remember only two incidents that made me feel jealous. Both of them happened while I was at college studying for my degree.

One day I met an old classmate and asked him what he was doing. He told me that he was studying for his degree at one of the top institutes in the country. I could not understand how he managed to get an admission there. He was not a brilliant student. He went on to explain how his father had used his influence to get him an admission. His father was a highly placed official. I felt it was unfair. I felt jealous. After sometime I realized that my feeling jealous was only hurting me. It did not hurt him in anyway.

Much later, I met another old classmate at a café. He was sitting near me and asked me if I knew him. I said ‘no’. I did not recognize him since he had changed a lot. He told me his name and mentioned that we were old classmates. I then remembered him. He had failed his exams. I asked him what he was doing. He told me he was studying for his degree at one of the best institutes. I did not bother to ask him how he managed to get an admission there. Obviously, he had the right connections. Since he had failed his exams he must have reappeared for the exams and passed. It was unlikely he could have got good results. I felt it was unfair. I felt jealous. A few months later, I met another old classmate and told him that this person who failed his exams on the first attempt is now in a top institute. He said ‘Yes, I know but he is dead.’ I was shocked. I couldn’t believe it. He said they are from the same town and that he had died of leukemia a few weeks ago. It was difficult to feel jealous about anybody anymore.

JEWELRY SHOPS

Keralites buy more gold jewelry than any other people in India. They see it as an investment since gold prices just keep going up. Even a small city like Kollam has big Jewelry Shops.

Joy Alukkas, Kollam

Josco Jewelers, Kollam

Bhima Jewelers, Kollam