Our Experiences in Life

(My Life partners experience as an educationist)

LOOKING BACK

I interviewed my father for part of a research paper I was working on for my Psychology class. When I asked him to define success in his own words, he said, “Success is when you look back at your life and the the number of lives you make make will give you memories that will make you smile.

She surely smiles very often because she has tutored several students who have made their lives and now is creating teachers who will carry out that mission for more and more children. 

(My daughter's experiences)

INNOCENCE

One day, in the cutest voice, then 8-year-old my daughter asked me to start recycling. I chuckled and asked, “Why?”

She replied, “So you can help me save the planet.” I chuckled again and asked, “And why do you want to save the planet?”

“Because that’s where I keep all my stuff,” she said.

She has finished her Engineering has done her Masters in Rural Management has carved her professional life working for social causes alone, and has influenced all of us around her to think on the same lines. 

(My son wrote to me at different times) 

KINDNESS

While I was in the Carnegie Mellon University, I tore my ligament and was in deep pain. One day while on my way to the University, a boy, in a wheelchair saw me desperately struggling with his injured leg, with crutches and a slightly heavy back pack, offered to carry his backpack and books for me. He helped me all the way across campus to his class and as he was leaving he said, “I hope you feel better soon.” It brought me tears as I was deeply touched because of the gesture that young boy showed and also terribly moved because I could wish that boy the same as he was crippled below his waist.

SHARING

While on my work one day, in the deep jungles of Kalahandi (a very backward tribal area in Western Orissa) and I met a hungry tribal from one of the hamlets. He said he hadn’t eaten anything in over 3 days and looked extremely skinny and unhealthy. Then I offered him the rest of the chapathi's I was eating. The first thing the man said was, “We can share it.” This was touching indeed.

My own experiences

AFFECTION

I kissed my dad on the forehead as he passed away in a small hospital bed in 1983. About 5 seconds after he passed, I realized it was the first time I had given him a kiss since I was a little boy. 

LOOKING BACK

My brother, and two sisters with me stood around my mother’s bed, when my mother uttered her last coherent words as she was dying. She simply said, “I feel so loved right now. We should have gotten together like this more often.” 

THE POWER OF UNIQUENESS.

About two decades ago I asked my mentor – a very successful lady in her 80’s now – what her top 3 tips are for success. She smiled and said, “Read something no one else is reading, think something no one else is thinking, and do something no one else is doing." I did exactly that and I still continue doing that.