ALL IS WELL ONLY IF IT ENDS WELL

I my long tenure as a training manager I have come across many students, from different walks of life. Some of them have wasted opportunities, and have just been a me too, happy to exist without any progress. While some have really withstood many hardships in life and have struggled to reach the same place,  to which the others students have come casually. Some of the life stories have been heart wrenching, when I came to know that what is taken for granted by those who are blessed, has been a path of determined struggle for the less fortunate.

Here is the story of many unsung heroes.

This boy is from Madurai, a famous temple town in Tamilnadu. Born to poor parents, he lost his father when he was three, and his mother when he was eight. His grandmother was not able to feed him, and so she left him in a orphanage hostel in Kodaikanal, a hill station near Madurai.  He studied there, and he was so young that he did not even know the way back to his grandmother’s house, till he reached his 10^th standard. Only then one of his uncles came to take him home for summer holidays. Determined to finish his studies, he went on to join college. To pay the fee, he used to load grain bags on the lorry transports. He used to be paid a certain amount for each bag loaded on. This work used to done throughout the  night and  with the wages earned, he paid his fee. He also worked as an assistant to cooks during marriages, and other ceremonies, and in the process had become an excellent cook himself. Now he is employed as a Medical representative, and is taking care of his old grandmother. He has no bad habits, and his only aim in life is to come up as much as possible. Commendable.

Then there is the other boy from Erode, near Coimbatore. His parents were very poor, and they used to manufacture potato, banana, and yam chips in their house, from morning till afternoon, and his father used to sell the same, in a push cart in the busy street corners, from evening till late night. In such conditions, the boy had completed his post graduation, and now well employed is taking care of his parents. His father due to failing health does not sell chips anymore. Praiseworthy.

Another boy from Salem. The second of three children, all male, his father was an agriculturist and a very hard worker. To educate the boys he used to take up any labor which came his way, whether it was loading bags, ;or doing construction work. This boy used to augment the family income by working as a weaver in the looms, during the summer holidays. A very ambitious boy, he showed tremendous growth in sales, and simultaneously wrote his exams for the sub inspectors post and today he is a SI. Admirable.

And there have been many candidates, who inspite of being born and educated in English medium in Chennai, have neither learnt to speak or spell any language properly. They as such failures, with no skill whatsoever, and have no clue of what a career means. These are the candidates of concern, that in 2014, while there are so many opportunities for professional courses, and good income, they continue to exist as a person in would in 1950s. Lamentable.