Three People

I was watching an old video of Isabel Allende on the topic Tales of passion (Ted Talk) in which she says…Empowering women will change everything -- more than technology and design and entertainment. I can promise you that women working together -- linked, informed and educated -- can bring peace and prosperity to this forsaken planet.

Her words touched my soul. Being a woman, she made me think about three different women who played dominant, prominent and very special role in my life - my mother, my sister and my principal. I believe, it is only because of these three, I have reached to this height in my career and being blessed with a notable name in the society.

My mother, who dwells from an orthodox family from a small village of Bihar, hardly had finished her class tenth when marriage bells rang into her life and she got tied for her life with my ever loving and adorable father. As she was tender, physically and mentally underdeveloped to understand about the crux of running a family, even after her marriage she stayed with her parents for another four years.

To the readers let me tell you all that I am not talking about that period of time, when child marriage was considered as sin nor it was considered as social abuse. My humble father brought her to her new family – of her in law, when she was pretty matured. But the journey did not end here. My father planned to move to a new place in South India, the then Andhra Pradesh, to its capital Hyderabad, where he got the opportunity to work as an accountant for Sriram Engineering group (USHA).

Both my parents were quick at learning the new language. They struggled in the initial stages, but my Maa was quite a quick learner. She picked up Telugu pretty soon. She was blessed with three daughters and a son. My elder sister, the second women whom I will admire throughout my life, was my best friend.

Just a class tenth pass out, my mother is far better than the management students of these days. I appreciate her various skills, particularly her accountability, the way she organized the family and had maintained the decorum of our home and being so helpful and friendly that we have always led our life in peace even when we were surrounded with number of other families and neighbors – who were bit deprived in terms of financial condition.

The lessons taught my Maa:

1. Help the one who are indeed in need of.
2. Care for others
3. Pay respect first and then even if you do not demand, people will respect you
4. Don’t expect anything from others
5. Always be the doer than demanding others to do it for you

Well, these five principles were not only imbibed by me but also my siblings. My elder sister, Di will remain guru for my life. She taught me how to care and respect others. Her dedication for time and work always made me feel low when I compared her personality with mine. She believed that education is certainly important but more than education, values do play significant role in our life.

• Values what others say
• Value what you listen and believe
• Value that you have than cribbing and thinking about those things which are not with you
• Value your time
• Value your health

My first recruiter, the Principal (the place where I took my first job as school teacher) Ms. Seema Saira Ahmed who made me grow, allowed me to think out of box. She was like a mirror into which I could see and find out my shortcomings and then tried to rectify myself. Mistake that I committed were left as mistake rather than turning into my habit. She broadened my vision. She was the torch bearer of my life. Her principles turned into my philosophy:

• Praise loudly, blame softly
• Do work but do not expect anything in return
• Value even the worst
• Learn from time as it teaches a lot
• Live in present, leave past and future

These three women had to struggle hard to make others believe into their potentiality. At many instances when they were demeaned either by family member or by the society, they did not stop their struggle. Rather, it always acted as the catalyst and had ignited the fuming desire with more energy to prove their caliber and overcome the obstacles created in their path of success.

Problems related to anything or I must say everything was handled in a genteel manner. They knew their limitations but did not compromise in their life. Their belief in self, made the toughest turmoil of life, an open page of learning. I owe a lot to them and my words are my gratitude towards their passion and dedication.