Cucumber Seller of Chenai

The cucumber seller of Chennai At peace with himself and with the world rushing past, this man was dressed in poverty. But in his presence, it was I who felt poor
SUBROTO BAGCHI
On a hot July day, my colleague Moses and I were trying to locate our car on Chennai’s Nungambakkam High Road in front of Nalli Silks when I saw a roadside cart laden with cucumbers. The seller was vacantly gazing at passersby. Clad in a white shirt and a dhoti worn in the traditional Chennai style, he had long hair and an unkempt beard. I did not know Tamil, and asked Moses to find out the price. One rupee apiece, came the reply.
We wanted one piece each. The cucumber seller began deftly slicing them to put salt and the delectable red chilly powder on the neat halves. As we bit into the cucumber, I asked Moses to tell him that his pricing was too low, and that he should raise it. Moses conveyed this. The seller shook his head, and replied that “customer satisfaction” is more important than extra profit. The words ‘customer satisfaction’ were in English. I gulped my patronising comment. At this time, Moses excused himself to find our car. After a few moments, the seller asked me in English where I was from. From Bangalore, I replied. What follows here is our conversation. His statements are highlighted.
Isn’t the Karnataka budget due to be presented tomorrow? Yes, that is true. Living in Karnataka,
it was easy for me to concur on this.
I wonder how the governments of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu will ever solve the water- sharing problem. Man cannot solve this problem. It has to be God. After all, it is an issue of how much rain is going to fall! I nodded. I was not sure if I had a view at all.
See the way the monsoon is progressing. It does not look good. The progress of the rains is leaving a ‘V’ of a dry patch as the clouds move north. Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and the states up north will have problems. Politicians are the ones who use such problems to create a divide among people. They always do it. They use water, religion, anything they can, to create a divide. Look at the way Amarinder Singh of Punjab is taking a stand. I looked at him,
in part admiration and part disbelief.
You’re from Bangalore. Things are going well for you folks. But I don’t understand how
people with shady business interests can become representatives of public opinion there.It
was part complaint and part observation.
At this point, a fellow peddler arrived — helped himself to some of the cucumber, and the two had a quick conversation on some issue I did not understand. After the other person left, I asked him if selling cucumber was his full-time vocation. He told me that right now it was. Earlier, he sold lottery tickets, the trading of which has since been banned. As a result he had to switch his business to selling cucumbers on the wheeled cart. No complaints and no issues. Meaning to engage him further, I asked him his religion. This drew an instant look of disappointment from him: “Sir, I am an Indian. That is my religion. In my eyes, all people are equal, and it does not matter to me at all.”

The clarity of his response and his conviction took me completely by surprise. His net worth was probably equal to his day’s turnover. The newspaper and magazines he reads, to keep abreast of things, wipe off the disposable income he generates. Bare feet on this busy, dusty road, he sold a low-value, perishable product from a rickety cart. At peace with himself and with the world rushing past, this man was dressed in poverty. But in his presence, it was I who felt poor.
We are not complete if we are not connected. It is only when we are connected that things make sense. Only when things make sense, we can form an opinion. Standing there, I wondered how many in the corporate world know who the chief minister of Punjab is, and about the progress of the monsoon! How many have an informed view on river water politics and budget proceedings of another state.
Soon, Moses appeared with our car. It was time for me to go. I shook hands with the nameless
cucumber seller of Chennai. Actually, I wanted to touch his feet

The Spirit of Kamatchi

A journey of a destitute, young mother that began in 1926 carries lessons in leadership and decision making Subroto Bagchi (Co-Founder Mindtree Consulting Inc.)Kamatchi was born in 1898 in Kattikulam - now in Tamil Nadu. Those were the days when a female child was raised with the sole purpose of getting her married off. So was Kamatchi. By stitching together subsequent events in her life, we gather that by the time she was twenty-five, she had five children from her husband, Thalakaswami. He did not care much for her, and one day just went away.The eldest daughter was all of twelve and the youngest was two and a half years old when Kamatchi decided to take charge. We do not know how but she left Kattikulam and finally landed up in Madras in a state of destitution. She looked for work - not an easy thing in 1926. Around the same time, there were recruitment agents looking for rubber plantation workers for British clients. Kamatchi signed up and sat in a sailboat with the five children in tow, and arrived at a rubber plantation to become a 'tapper'. As Kamatchi went to work, the oldest daughter took up the task of mothering the other four. Two of these were the in-between sons who started going to school. Kamatchi and her brood braved on under a hutment of a swampy rubber estate until 1945. Then came the Japanese, and took away the two boys as slaves to build the bridge over the river Kwai in Burma. This was called the 'death railway' because people seldom returned, falling to the rampant bouts of cholera, typhoid and malaria.The war was over and the Japanese retreated, but Kamatchi's little boy never came back. The older son somehow did and went on to complete his higher education, eventually becoming a headmaster. On his return, he took complete charge of the surviving siblings, and asked Kamatchi to retire. In 1966, she passed away, a single mother - leaving behind her legacy in Malaysia, a country with the highest number of people of Indian origin. Kamatchi's son, in turn, carried on her lineage. One of his sons, Dr Vignesh, was narrating this fascinating story of courage as he was driving me to the venue of the Malaysian-Indian Economic Summit in Kuala Lumpur.He grew up to qualify as a veterinary practitioner. All his siblings are in the mainstream of Malaysian society today. I asked him about his recollections of Kamatchi. When Dr Vignesh was a boy, Kamatchi's sunset years had begun. Life in the rubber estates had left her an asthmatic. But she remained until her last, the matriarch who was a go-getter, who knew no fear, a motivator and a fighter. Though she believed in God, she was non-ritualistic and exhorted her children to rely on self-help. She used to say: "You have to take charge; God does not come through the tin roof to dole out bounties."We study leadership and decision-making in business - a subject that fascinates us. We debate if leaders create circumstances or vice versa. We talk about decisions and momentous ones, with the power to create generational impact. In all this, we analyse character in leadership, and use analogies from political history and military conquests because business leadership hasn't been in existence long enough to create narratives with directional value.My mind goes back to 1926. I see a twenty-five year old, illiterate woman - nah, girl. She is with five children; the youngest by her bosom. Six human frames and a small bundle of cloth, representing her departure from the past. What would have happened if Kamatchi had stayed on in Kattikulam, bemoaning the runaway husband and seeking the alms and mercy of village elders? What would have happened if she had killed her children and herself? What if she had abandoned them? I shudder and seek solace in the miracle of now.In all this, what was the most important decision that Kamatchi took? For me, it was the one to dislocate herself from Kattikulam. That single decision changed the fate of three generations. It was the potently unsafe option. Kamatchi did not go to business school but lived the saying that 'the safest place for a ship is the harbour'. But it was never built to stay there.

Ek Chup Sau Sukh

Jalsa , Mumbai July 9, 2011 Sat 11 : 27 PM

Its not what has been taken away from you that counts - its what you do with what is left that matters. The exact quote was from Hubert Humphrey, but it was relevant even in its broken form and hence its mention …

Much can get taken away from you. It must. Life would be worthless if we were to only receive and not give away. But getting left behind with whatever there is and to make life worthy and alive is what makes us worthy. We are born with some perfections and some disabilities and soon enough we realize our areas of incompetence. There are many that lament the imperfections, annoy their minds on the misfortunes, look upon others that possess more with envy and jealousy. But does it bring any result. No. They destroy themselves by continuous remark on their negativity and end up as traumatic wrecks. Consolation comes to them when they enhance themselves through substance abuse and other unnatural devices ; elevating themselves momentarily from the morass of their own building.

They are weak that resort to practices that consume rather than deliver. I may never ever deliver, but neither would I be entirely consumed with the burden of imperfections. I would strongly admit, rather than cover and disguise. I would let it be seen and shown rather than be hidden and unknown. There will descend an element of self consciousness when we do that. But better to be self conscious than to allow the other to fester and wound inside. What does one achieve by glamorizing the achievements we encounter. I would rather it lay dormant within and allow it to breathe on its own. Occasions such as this stand better chance for eventual recognition. Manufacturing competence, visibility, awareness, recognition, achievement, would take me a lifetime to reconcile with and some more -

‘Ek chup sau sukh’ !! the elders advise through generations. One silence, a hundred joys. If it has to come your way it shall find a path of its own. If not no matter how hard one may try, it shall never make an appearance. I believe valued recognition can never be led astray through manipulation and craft. Momentarily yes, the odds shall favor against you, but eventual victory shall always be yours. It is a test of patience, of forbearance, of reserves of fortitude and strength of character. When ever then was life ever going to be without these elements.

These are not just philosophical musings. They are practiced law, as it were, ready to be judged by the severest benches of judiciary.

I example myself in all matters before putting it out for public consumption. And only when I find them to be of practical use, do I share them. I am no standard of example and certainly not the best, but do find myself in positions at times where this propensity can be applied. Through the years of living and life there is but one common belief for me. Do it and leave it ! If it has to grow it shall, on its own strength of root. If not, torrents of rain water and nurturing shall not bring effect.

Better to believe that you have been wronged and keep it within. Better. When declared outside, it shall invite severe and cynical criticism and remorse. Be prepared for that, or do not allow yourself to enter that realm. Harboring hate and revenge destroys our own body and may never get a chance to destroy the other. What then ? Living with the thought of constant vigil on where and what and how the other behaved, is using up a great deal of your brain and mind consciousness, preventing it from other more deserving thought.

And then … what good does it eventually make … you are wronged, you fester the wound and at the first opportunity resolve it by utilizing the same method of technology that was used against you, in defense. But does it actually resolve ? I would guarantee not.

We are here to accomplish our tasks as have been stipulated to us, by our own deserving and accumen. Stick to it. What good if you shall lead a tributary away from the main to square matters. You would need to look after the main river and now, the tributary. Does that not increase the volume of your horizon ..? Does it not add, rather than subtract. Does it not build slush and mud on an otherwise clear and efficient pathway. Would we rather have this than that ??

I leave it to your discretion …

Amitabh Bachchan

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