Sam Bahadur...a soldier's general !!

His handlebar moustache and his ramrod stiff gait gave Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw a commanding presence on the battlefield, but to the troops that served under him he was their beloved 'Sam Bahadur', a soldier's general who put their well- being before his own.

Manekshaw, 94, who died in a military hospital in Wellington in Tamil Nadu early Friday(27/06/08) after battling a series of age-related illnesses, will be best remembered for the decisive campaign he crafted during the 1971 India-Pakistan war that saw the emergence of Bangladesh as an independent nation after the surrender of over 90,000 Pakistani troops in what was then the eastern wing of the country.

That campaign was the defining moment of his tenure as the Indian Army chief 1969-73 and led to his elevation as India's first field marshal, a largely ceremonial post but which ensured he maintained close links with the 1.1 million-strong force till the very end.

Ever the one to speak his mind out on matters military, Manekshaw, a highly decorated officer who was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry during the Burma campaign of the Second World War, often found himself in a minority of one - but firmly stood his ground.
Three instances stand out vividly.

The first was when he famously refused to address then prime minister Indira Gandhi as 'Madam', saying the sobriquet was reserved for occupants of a 'certain kind of house'.
'I shall stick to prime minister', he maintained.

The second was during the 1971 war when he had signboards reading 'Hands in your pockets, You are entering Pakistani territory, Indian girls are prettier' erected at various spots as Indian troops advanced along the western frontier.

Manekshaw was panned as being sexist and accused of insulting Indian womanhood but he stood his ground.

'It's the best way of telling the troops to behave and to concentrate on the job at hand,' he contended.

The third happened at the very end of his career, days after he had retired from the army.
A young reporter from a tabloid, at the fag end of an interview, asked a seemingly innocuous question: 'What would have happened had you opted for Pakistan at the time of independence (in 1947)?'

With a twinkle in his eye, Manekshaw replied: 'I guess Pakistan would have won (the 1971 war).'
All hell broke loose when this was reproduced in print and there were demands he be stripped of his field marshal's rank but he stood his ground.

'The question was asked in jest, the reply was in jest and I never dreamed it would get into print. Now that it has, I do not deny saying so,' Manekshaw maintained.

Anyone else in his place would have taken the 'I've been misquoted route' - and this is what differentiated Sam Bahadur from the others.

Twenty-five years ago, at the golden jubilee passing out parade of the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun, a newly commissioned second lieutenant picked up the courage to ask Manekshaw: 'Sir, where do you get the strength of your character from?'

'From my school, son,' he replied indulgently, but there was a deeper meaning to that because he is known to have told at least one close confidante that it was his years at Nainital's Sherwood College more than anything else that prepared him for his future life.

Born in Amritsar on April 3, Manekshaw belonged to the first batch of 40 cadets to be selected for the Indian Military Academy and was commissioned into the 12 Frontier Force Rifles (later the Gurkha Rifles) on Feb 4, 1934.

During the first Burma campaign, he took part in several actions against the Japanese and was wounded on one occasion but continued to lead his company with courage and tenacity, an action for which he was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry.

A graduate of London's Imperial Defence College, Manekshaw served in a series of senior positions during his career.

After commanding a division in Jammu and Kashmir for a short duration, he took over command of a corps on the eastern frontier in November 1962. He thereafter headed the Eastern Command before being appointed the army chief on June 8, 1969. He retired on January 15, 1973.

Source: Yahoo News, 27/06/08

Mr N. R. Murthy...India's IT Pioneer

This is the profile of Mr N R Narayan Murthy on Infy Website...

N. R. Narayana Murthy - Chairman of the Board and Chief Mentor

Mr. N. R. Narayana Murthy is the Chairman of the Board and Chief Mentor of Infosys Technologies Limited. He founded Infosys in 1981 along with six other software professionals and served as the CEO for 21 years before handing over the reins of the company to co-founder Nandan M. Nilekani in March 2002. Under his leadership, Infosys was listed on NASDAQ in 1999. He served as the Executive Chairman of the Board and Chief Mentor from 2002 to 2006.
Mr. Murthy articulated, designed and implemented the Global Delivery Model, which has become the foundation for the success of IT services outsourcing from India. He has also led key corporate governance initiatives in India.

Mr. Murthy is an IT advisor to several Asian countries. He serves as an independent director on the boards of several global companies including Unilever, London and DBS Bank, Singapore. He is also a member of the advisory boards and councils of several educational institutions including Wharton, Cornell, INSEAD, Stanford, Tokyo University, SMU - Singapore, Indian Institute of Information Technology-Bangalore (IIIT-B) and ESSEC, Paris.

Mr. Murthy is the recipient of numerous awards and honors. The Economist ranked him 8th on its list of 15 most admired global leaders in 2005. He was ranked 28th among the world's most respected business leaders by The Financial Times in 2005. In 2004, TIME magazine identified him as one of ten global leaders who are helping shape the future of technology. He was featured in BusinessWeek’s “The Stars of Asia” consecutively from 1998 to 2000. He was voted the “World Entrepreneur of the Year” by Ernst & Young in 2003 and as India's most powerful CEO for three consecutive years (2004 to 2006) by The Economic Times. He received the Ernst Weber Engineering Leadership medal from The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 2007 for his pioneering role in the globalization of IT services.

Mr. Murthy holds a B. E. (Electrical) from the University of Mysore (1967) and M. Tech. (Electrical) from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (1969). He has been conferred honorary doctorate degrees by leading universities across the world.

Dr Anil Awachat...a great personality

About Dr. Anil Awachat

"Awachat should win all the awards that are given for Marathi literature. If literature means understanding people, he has achieved this marvelously."

A noted author and critic, M. V. Dhond, has voiced the feeling of thousands of readers when he said this. Surely, there will be hardly any other writer in Marathi literature, whose writings encompass a wide range of issues in Indian Society: the struggle for survival and exploitation on different levels. A medical doctor by profession, he has spent his life reaching out to people, rather than enjoying the luxuries of medical practice.

Born in 1944, Dr. Awachat completed his education with a degree of M.B.B.S., from University of Pune. Even in his college days, he participated in various activists movements, which proved to be the foundation of his literary career. His first work as a writer saw the light in 1969, with the publication of his book "Purniya" Since then, he has written about variety of social issues, with the publication of 18 books till today. He has been honoured with many awards on state and nation level. His books were declared "The Best Book of the Year" by the Govt. of Maharashtra for three years. He has selected for the participation in International writer's programme at Iowa, USA, where his writings won the intimation recognition. It is not only Dr. Awachat's writings which reveal his unique vision, but his social work has also been a 'model' in itself. He is the Director of 'Muktangan De-addiction Center at Pune.' He and his wife developed a unique model of de-addiction therapy, which is adopted internationally by a no. of de-addiction centres all over the world.

Though a receipient of many awards, Awachat never aspired to be a journalist in the limelight. A man who dared say 'no' to the commercial practices in journalism, he always kept his commitment towards the people who were victims of poverty, injustice and corruption. He has written about labourers, untouchables, nomads, sex workers, tribals. All his writings are real-to-life accounts of the struggle for survival which he saw around him. Awachat wrote with a vision of compassionate observer; his writings always revealed the 'human' context of the social problems he wrote about. He goes to the root of the problems with a thoroughly 'scientific approach at the same time without losing the 'human' side of the problem. he has also written the success stories of people fighting against so many odds, devoting their life for a social cause to make the world around them a better place.

Awachat's writings have an 'inspiring' quality, for they reveal the brighter side of all social struggles. That's why, they prove to be inspiring even for the young generation.

A man of manifold talent, Awachat is a writer and an artist at the same time. his paintings, sculptures, wood carvings and photography reveal a man, who can see beauty in those things which people overlook as 'ordinary'. The same sense of beauty runs through his writings.
What Awachat's writings impart the readers is this 'vision': to freed oneself from all the preoccupations, and conventions, and to look for one's inner voice. That's why, his writings or his art have never taken the 'preaching' tone; they just invite the readers to refresh his sensibilities to understand the life around him!

To know more about "Muktangan" please click here...

Dr Verghese Kurien.

Just finished reading the book "I Too Had A Dream", the autobiography of Dr Verghese Kurien. Many things struck me apart from the fact that there is much more to Dr Kurien than AMUL !!


His account of lonely end to the life of Maniben, daughter of our great freedom fighter & First Home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is really painful.

After the death of Sardar Patel, the great daughter of the great father had returned Rs 35Lac belonging to the Congress to Mr Jawaharalal Nehru, the then Prime Minister, as per her father' last wish. She was shell shocked when Nehru never asked her as to how she planned to fend for herself hereafter now that her father was no more !! Political apathy was so bad that in her last days the government gave her no helping hand !! It was clearly a fall out of the differences between Sardar Patel & Nehru.

While this dirty politics hurts hearts, it is equally inspiring to note the selflessness with which Sardar Patel & his family served the nation !!


Another catching account is that of Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi sacking her Agriculture Minister for coming in the way of a noble activist like Dr Kurien. Compare that of current act of sacking of the AIIMS director by the health minister through a legislation. We get to see the sad levels to which political leaders of India have fallen today !!