I too wrote to the Chairman of the Tata Group

Today a friend of mine forwarded to me an article by Mrs. Sudha Murthy through e-mail. I don’t know whether Mrs. Murthy wrote the article recently or before some time. Anyhow, my friend mailed it to me only today and so I could read it only now.

Mrs.Sudha Murthy is the wife of Mr.Narayana Murthy of Infosys and is an engineer herself. In the article she narrates her experience with the Telco (Now, the Tata Motors) and the great JRD Tata. The story goes like this- She had completed her post graduation at the IISc, Bangalore. One day she happened to read an employment notice from Telco inviting young engineers to join the company. At the bottom line of the notice it was written that women were not eligible for appointment.

She got disgusted over this ‘gender discrimination’, as she put it. Immediately she wrote to the head of the Tata Group, who was JRD Tata, reacting strongly about this injustice towards women. You should remember that Sudha Murthy (Then Sudha Kulkarni, as she was not married to Mr. Murthy at that time), was as insignificant a person as you and I at that time. She did not imagine anything would happen as a result of her letter.

But something did happen to her surprise, as she was called for an interview by Telco. She attended the interview and was selected for appointment. While she was working with Telco, she met the great JRD Tata on many occasions and was surprised by his simplicity and his concern for his employees. Great men are like that, aren’t they?

After reading the article of Sudha Murthy, I thought it would be quite relevant if I wrote about an experience of mine, on similar lines. I, quite an insignificant person as you know, also once wrote to the present Chairman of the Tata Group, Mr. Ratan Tata and got results. It was not in connection with employment in the company, but something else. I am going into details.

I bought a car from Tata Motors in 2006. It was the petrol version of Indica, called Indica Xeta. You may ask why I chose this car. Well, there were some points that had gone in favor of this vehicle. The car I owned before buying the Xeta was a Maruti 800. After using that vehicle for some eight years, I thought I should upgrade to a bigger car. Buying a big car would drain my wallet heavily, which was undesirable. I flipped through automobile magazines to compare prices and features of different models. Finally I zeroed in on the Indica Xeta, finding that any other would be unaffordable. Yes, that car was really big and it would not make a hole in your pocket either. The price was very attractive. Then one need not have to hesitate. I bought it.

And did I make a wise decision at that? The answer was to be in the negative, as I found out later. The Indica Xeta was very comfortable to travel in and I was satisfied with it initially, even though the fuel economy was poor. The warranty period for the vehicle was two years from the date of purchase. To my dismay, the air conditioning system of the vehicle failed just a month or two after the expiry of the warranty period.

I took the car to the authorized service centre where I used to get it serviced. They made an examination and declared that the compressor of the A.C. system had failed and that it had to be replaced. And the cost? Well, some forty five thousand Rupees or so! Had it happened some two months earlier, the warranty would have come to my rescue. What could I do? Get it done and pay the money? Yeh, no, I thought I should negotiate.

From the owner’s manual supplied with the car I found out the address of the Kochi office of Tata Motors and wrote to them. My argument was that since only about two months had passed after the expiry of the warranty period, a major defect like the total failure of the A.C system in the car should not have taken place. And as it had, it was their responsibility to set it right free of cost. But as I thought, nothing happened. They did not even care to reply.

I knew, from my experience, that in a company or organization, those at the lower level would be the most haughty and arrogant. As you go up the hierarchy, they will become pleasanter in nature. Then who would be the pleasantest and easiest to deal with? Arguably the Head, here the chairman, none other than Mr. Ratan Tata. And I, quite an insignificant person, decided to write to him personally. I found out the address of the Mumbai office of Tata Motors and wrote to Mr. Ratan Tata. Actually I did not expect anything to happen as a result of that letter.

But to my surprise, there was quick action. I got an e-mail from the Kochi office of Tata Motors. They told me that as a result of my letter to the Chairman, the Mumbai office had instructed them to contact me and get the defect of my car rectified at concessional rate. They told they would charge only Rs. 7500/- instead of the estimated forty five thousand. I negotiated with them and got the amount lowered to Rs. 5000/- . The compressor of my car was thus replaced and the A.C system began to work again. You see, writing to the chairman of the company will fetch the desired result, or is it the only way?

Tail piece: You might have hoped that the A.C. system of the car went on smoothly for a long time after that incident. No sir, you should not forget that it was a Tata Indica. Within a year of replacing, the compressor failed. I got frustrated and decided enough was enough and got rid of the vehicle. I had to sell it for peanuts!

Diabetes, the silent killer

Some three months back, one of my cousins had a rather tragic death. He was only fifty seven years, not an age to die. The villain was diabetes, the silent killer. He was a chronic diabetic. He was not aware how dangerous this disease could be and lived a life a diabetic was not expected to. He did not add much importance to the doctor’s advice and did not take medicins regularly. He wasn’t ready to alter his food habits and adopt one suitable for a diabetic. He did not visit the doctor regularly for check ups. He did not check his blood sugar regularly in a lab. Only when his health deteriorated cosiderably did he think of such things seriously. Then it was too late. He became partially blind due to a complication called diabetic retinopathy. Worse was yet to come. Both his kidneys became affected and later they failed totally. No doctor could save him now. And he died a painful death.

A diabetic need not die at rather a young age like this. He could have added many more years to his life and led a nearly normal life. A diabetic must see the doctor regularly. He must take medicines regularly at the right dosages as the doctor advises. He must regularly check his blood sugar levels in a clinical lab and make sure that it is well controlled. He must adopt a food habit suitable for the diabetic, exactly in accordance with the doctor’s advice. After the death of my cousin, I thought I should know more about this disease. So I dug up some valuable information about it. Here is an overview.

Causes

A gland inside our body known as pancreas produces a hormone called insulin. Diabetes results when pancreas produces too little insulin, or when there is resistance to insulin, or both. When food is digested, a sugar called glucose enters our blood. Glucose is the fuel for our body. Pancreas produces insulin. It is this insulin that moves glucose from the blood into muscle, fat and liver cells where it can be used as fuel. In a diabetic patient the transfer of glucose from blood is not effectively done and as a result the level of sugar in his blood increases alarmingly. This happens due to the following reasons:

1. The amount of insulin produced by the pancreas is not adequate.

2. The muscle, fat and liver cells do not respond to insulin normally.

3. Both the above reasons.

There are mainly three types of diabetes:

· Type 1 Diabetes – It is diagnosed in chidhood. In this case, the body produces little or no insulin. Daily insulin injection is necessary. The cause of this disease is not clearly known. But the incidence is very rare.

· Type 2 Diabetes – This is the most common type of diabetes.It usually occurs in the middle ages, but young people are increasingly diagnosed with this disease. In this case the pancreas does not produce enough insulin to keep the blood sugar level normal.

· Gestational Diabetes – This is because of high blood sugar level that develops at any time during pregnancy in a woman who does not have diabetes.

Since type 2 diabetes is the most common type we concentrate on that. Some of the common risk factors are listed below.

· Age (this type of diabetes mostly occurs during middle age, say over 45years)

· Heredity - Heredity plays a major role. If one of your parents has it, you are at a high risk of getting it. If both of your parents have it, you are almost sure to get it.

· Heart disease

· High blood cholesterol level

· Obesity

· Lack of exercise

Symptoms

Occurrence of high blood sugar level can prduce the following symptoms:

· Frequent urination

· Excessive thirst

· Fatigue

· Excessive hunger

· Weight loss

· Blurry vision

But, since high blood sugar develops slowly, a person with high blood sugar may experience none of the above symptoms and he may live many years without knowing it. So it is very important that everyone past the age of forty check his blood sugar level at least twice a year. One with a family history of diabetes must start regular blood sugar monitoring at a much earlier age.

Tests

A urine analysis may be used to look for glucose and ketones. But a urinary analysis alone cannot confirm diabetes.

The following blood tests are generally used for diagnosis of diabetes:

· Fasting blood sugar level – diabetes is diagnosed if higher than 126 mg/dL on two occaasions. Levels between 100 and 126 mg/dL are considered prediabetes.

· Oral glucose tolerence test – diabetes is diagnosed if glucose level is higher than 200 mg/dL after two hours.

· Random (non-fasting) blood sugar level – diabetes is suspected if higher than 200 mg/dL and accompanied by symptoms like thirst, urination, fatigue etc.

Treatment

A person diagnosed with diabetes must consult a doctor and undergo the treatment he suggests. There may be regular dosage of medicines in the form of tablets or insulin injections. Visiting the doctor on a regular basis is very impotant. Medicines must be taken strictly as advised. Regular tests shall be done to monitor blood sugar level. Food habits and life style have to be changed in accordance with the doctor’s advice. Physical exercise is a must.

Undergoing the right kind of treatment and adapting a suitable life style and food habit a diabetic can live almost a normal life. So there is no need to panic, even if you become a diabetic. If it is ignored, complications may result when it affects your vision, heart, kidneys and what not!. Then you will feel that the hell has broken out.

Statistics

The World Health Organization(WHO) predicts that developing countries will bear the brunt of this epidemic in the twenty first century. At present, more than 70% of people with diabetes live in low and middle income countries.

· An estimated 285 million people, corresponding to 6.4 % of the worlds adult population will live with diabetes in 2010. The number is expected to grow to 438 million by 2030, corresponding to 7.8 % of the adult population.

· The largest age group currently affected is between 40-50 years. By 2030 this is expected to become 60-79 years.

· India is said to be the diabetic capital of the World, because it has the largest number of diabetics(40.9 million in 2007). It is followed by China(39.8 million), the U.S.(19.2million), Russia(9.6 million) and Germany(7.4 million)

An important day to remember

Every year 14 November is observed as World Diabetes Day. Awareness programmes for the benefit of the people will be organized widely on this day.

Engineers' Day

It was the 15^th of September. Just an ordinary day for me, or I did not know it was a special day rather. My cell phone rung in the morning indicating the arrival of some message. But I did not bother to see what it was for a pretty long time. When at last I did, I found that it had been from one of my friends and he was wishing me on ‘the engineers’ day’. So, September 15 is the Engineers’ Day. Poor me, I did not know. Being an engineer myself, I ought to have known. Really I knew there was a day observed as Engineers’ Day in our country, but about the date I was quite oblivious. I knew also that it was the birth day of a great engineer of India namely, Sir M. Visweswarayya. Apart from this, I did not know anything about this great engineer and statesman of India. So, I decided to gather more information on this. And a suumary of what I could found out is given below in the hope of benefitting a majority of the engineer fraternity (and others of course) who are not sure who Sir M. Visweswarayya was.

Sir Mokshagundam Visweswarayya was an eminent engineer and stateman of India. He was awarded Indian Republic’s highest honour the Bharat Ratna in 1955. He was also knighted by the British. 15^th September is observed every year in India as Engineers’ Day to commemorate this great engineer. This year it is his 150^th birth anniversary.

He was born to a humble family in 1860 in Muddenahalli which was part of the then Princely state of Mysore. His family name Mokshagundam is actually the name of a village in Andhra Pradesh where from his ancestors migrated to Mysore. He studied in schools at Chikballapura and Bangalore, earned a B.A. degree from Central College, Bangalore in 1881 and then studied Civil engineering at the College of Science, Pune. After having graduated in 1883, Visweswarayya started his career as an Assistant Engineer in the Public Works Department, Government of Bombay. He continued there for 25 years putting in his valuable service for the public. Then there was a short period when he worked for the Nizam of Hyderabad. There he was successful in designing and implementing a flood control system to protect the city of Hyderabad from the floods. It fetched him much acclaim and he became a veritable celebrity.

He became the Chief Engineer of Mysore in 1909. Three years later he was inducted as the Devan ( or first minister) of the Princely State of Mysore. He initiated the industrialization of Mysore (now, the State of Karnataka). His famous slogan was industrialize or perish. Of the many, the Bhadravati Iron Works and the Krishnarajasagar Dam across the Cauvery river were two of Visweswarayyas major achievements.

Memories of of my working life, Reconstructing India, Planned economy of India are some of the books written by him. When he was the Dewan of Mysore he was knighted by the British and he was honoured with the Bharat Ratna in 1955.

That’s Onam!

“Onam, it’s great festival here in Kerala, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, big shopping festival indeed. The market will be overwhelmed with price cuts, big offers, prizes, lucky draws and what not!.”

“Oh, is it?. I thought of something else. Is there anything to see?.”

“Of course. T.V. channels will be screening a number of movies. You can sit in front of the T.V. from early morning and late into the night, munching something and watching movie after movie .The only problem is that it will take some four to five hours for a movie to get to the end because they insert hundreds of advertisements.”

“Oh, horrible. Sorry, great!.”

“Really?, there is more. Liquor shops will reach a peak in sales.”

“Good god!”

“Don’t get disappointed. There is one another and the most important aspect of Onam – every one will be beaming with glee, and that is the one thing I like the most about Onam. And that makes Onam different.”

Rules formed to violate

These days one asks this question very often – my dear friend, are some rules formed for the people to violate at will?.

We all know that smoking in public places is against the law. Rules are there forbidding it. For those who are doubtful as to which is a public place and which is not, there is an approved list of public places. I don’t know whether you have seen the list, but I haven’t. The rule is there and so are the smokers. They can be seen everywhere. Poor fellows, they may not be knowing they are doing it in a public place; where is that list?.

Even a fool won’t take a bus station for a private place. There is no need to go through the list of public places to know that. So, do the smokers abstain from smoking at least when they are in a bus station teeming with people. No sir, not in this country. We are a free people. Don’t you fool know that Gandhiji wrested freedom out of the British in 1947 and passed it on to every one of us, including those who were yet to be born?. Ever since, we are ruling ourselves. Ours is a democratic country and we are free to do whatever we want to, then why hesitate?.

But, smoking in public places is against the rule and is punishable. Okay, let it be like that, but have you heard of any smoker getting caught red-handed and brought before the law for punishment ?. No, never. Have the smokers abandoned public places for the act once and for all ?. No chance. Then, what has gone wrong here, is this rule formed for violation ?.

There is a similar rule preventing spitting in public places( in the state of Kerala there is a high court directive making spitting in public places an offence. I don’t know whether there is any such rule in other states). What has come out of it ?. Nothing. It has also met with the same fate and we now really doubt whether there is such a rule at all.

There are rules to limit the speed of vehicles. Oh, I know that friend- 70 kmph for cars, 60 for heavy vehicles and so on. There is another rule which makes installing a speed limiter mechanism in heavy vehicles like buses, trucks, tipper lorries etc. Thank god, how considerate our law-makers are towards the safety of us poor fellows!. Every heavy vehicle has a speed limiter fitted. Good, but one wonders how these tipper lorries and buses fly past us at lightning speed and cause most of the accidents. What happens to the speed limiters – simple, they are kept disabled from the very moment they are installed. No authority checks to ensure they are kept always functional. Now, who can be accused of dereliction, the poor speed limiting gadget or the officials concerned ?.

We all know bandh is banned by the court. But, what is the use ?. A number of bandhs are still being conducted by political organizations every month, using force to close shops , factories, offices etc, attacking employees who report for work, blocking all traffic, destructing vehicles they find on the road (How dare you take your vehicle to the road when we are conducting a bandh?. Sorry sir, I did not do it on purpose. I have great fear for you politicians and organizations. I never want to defy you in any matter and am always ready to remain at home very obediently on a bandh-day. But, today my wife got seriously ill and I have to take her to a hospital. Just see how sick she is. But, they won’t relent. Let your wife die, who bothers?. They will pull both you and your wife out of your vehicle and set it on fire. That is what you call democracy, my dear friend)

There is a court order banning all bandhs(in the state of Kerala it is banned by the hon’ble High Court). Still they conduct as many bandhs as they want causing much misery and hardship to the general public for whom they claim they are doing this sort of vandalism. How can they do it, defying the court ?. Very simple; they have changed the name. Now, they call it hartal and not bandh. They always have their way, one way or another. And it is we the hapless general public, affiliated to no organizations that always suffer.

The question still remains – are these rules formed to violate ?.