Desi Winner - 2 The Amazing Story of PR - No Excuse, I am doing it.

Hello and welcome!

If you are new to this blog, please read the Preamble before reading further...

Today, I take pride in introducing to you this girl whom I regard greatly. I will call her PR on this blog. We will have her on the blog one of these days to meet you all. Till then, let us know her as PR. To say simply, she is a great winner! I respect her for her tenacity that can conquer the world. No Excuse! That's her mantra. I am sure, she is not destined to be an ordinary person.

Like this squirrel Scrat in the Ice Age film series eternally trying to hold on to his acorn, I have been fighting a long battle to get rid of my habit of browsing news papers on the Internet. In my battle, often times I have stopped reading papers for weeks only to resume on a weak moment and fully get sucked into it again. But, God has His own designs and games. While talking about God's plans, I love this verse in Kamba Ramayanam - the Ramayana Ithihaas in Tamil. The great Poet Kamban goes something like this in his invocation verse: (Before you read, please pardon my crude attempt to translate it into English. I looked for an authentic or at least more decent one on the Internet. But I didn't get one readily. So let us live with this translation now :-))

It is like a child while playing games assembling its toys into creative miniatures, enjoying its game, then bringing them down without any attachment at the end of the play time, God, the eternal gamer who dispassionately creates, sustains and dissolves the whole universe without any limits. We surrender ourselves to that Omnipotent Lord. (BTW, I used the digital era word "gamer" just for fun)

To know about our PR more, let us rewind the time machine backwards a bit to take you to the point when Kali Yuga was just 5008 years old. Don't worry, you don't have to rewind too long. I am talking about only August 2006 AD - just 3 years ago. So, as He played His games, along with Scrat's eluding chase, I also resumed reading my favorite Tamil Daily, Dinamalar, on that day after one such breaks.

Contextually, I must record here, my high regards for the services the Tamil News Paper Dinamalar is rendering to a particular social cause. Of all news papers I have read, they are singly the best in giving prominence to positive news items especially on children's needs - Be it drawing attention to needy children who are academically gifted but financially challenged or on the prevalence of child labor disregarding law of land, schools needing building etc. Even on the day I wrote this blog entry, Dinamalar had published this great story.

Continuing its yeoman service, I think it was either on August 9 or 10th, 2006, Dinamalar published about the plight of this bright student with Engineering college admission. The news item described this student as a very bright student hailing from a financially challenged family of daily labor. The news item further stated that even though PR had scored over 95% mark and had Anna University admission to engineering college in Madurai, the student is not able to pay the fees. The news item had a phone number.Amazingly, on the same day I resumed reading the paper, God had just placed in front of me this news item. I believe this happened because I am ordained by Lord Krishna to play a very small role in PR's march forward. MORAL OF THE STORY IS:

IDENTIFY YOUR DREAMS, SET YOUR GOALS TO ACHIEVE THE DREAMS, GET INTO ACTION MODE DEMONSTRATING UNSWERVING DETERMINATION IN SEEKING YOUR GOALS AND DOING EVERYTHING WITHIN YOUR CONTROL. So our girl PR here had the dream to become engineer despite hailing from a poor family. She worked on her dreams by setting goals to score high ranks in her 12th grade public exam and entrance tests. She did everything within her control to demonstrate her will power. She left the rest to God. As you would see in the rest of the story, all the obstacles which were beyond her control vanished in no time.

Let me take a slight detour here while we continue to dwell in the year 2006 having read that news item on Dinamalar! I want to give a picture of my personal state of affairs at that point in life. Personally, year 2006 till then was financially challenging for me due to sudden relocation, India trip, and various other financial commitments. With all these things happening in short intervals within a span of 10 months, I hardly had any savings left in my bank. It was at this awkward point in life, I read this news item. But, do you remember? I had discussed about my dream of supporting 1000 students in their higher education in my story on SPV. I can never quit on that dream which is engraved deep in my mind because without the financial help of my uncles, my older brother and I would not have studied our higher education. So, the temporary state of affairs can not shake my dream. When I read this news item, all I could see was yet another opportunity knocking at my door. Nothing else matters! There is no excuse.

By the Grace of God, I have an understanding wife at home. Yes, Jaishree is God's gift to me. She has stood with me solidly in my "pursuit of happyness" for over 20 years now before we settled with the right vehicle to achieve our dreams and visions. With God's blessings and the great mentorship we get from our mentors, Jaishree and I are on the fast track to achieve our dreams to gain financial independence which will allow us travel around the world and touch 1000s of people positively apart from many other material things we seek to achieve along side.

As I read that news item and brought it to Jaishree's notice, the dearth of money at that time was a concern to her but she did not steal my dream because of our circumstances.

Without wasting a minute, I called the number on the paper. It was the phone number of Dinamalar reporter. I spoke to him briefly and got the college phone number. Because, unlike SPV's case, this time I am going to deal with strangers and I need to verify the veracity in this case. I was not sure how genuine PR's challenge was. Even if it is genuine, what if her parents get her married even before she completes her first year. So, I spoke to this reporter to verify how serious she was about her future. He in turn gave the phone number of another freelance reporter saying he came to know about her plight from that freelance reporter. I called this second reporter. As he narrated her story, I was literally amazed to learn about her determination. During the conversation, he mentioned she had chickenpox during her 12th Grade public exams. Yet, she wrote the exams and scored such a high percentage. The reporter arranged for a phone call with PR. I spoke to PR and her mom. She told me how determined she was to complete her BE Computer Science and achieve great things in life. She said she would never quit on that dream.

I have to break the flow here again as my thoughts roll a quarter century back to the year 1981. That was the year I did my 12th Grade. PR had almost all challenges I had.

After her separation from my dad, my mom's dream and assets were us - her 4 kids as she struggled a lot with the paltry financial support she got from my dad. Looking back, now I have the maturity to understand what kind of sacrifices my mom had undergone as single parent with 4 kids. To get one square meal at that time was a challenge for five of us. I vividly remember the fact she would get the daily provisions from that corner Nadar grocery shop for monthly credit. There would be past dues. In that environment, in 1981, after a year long hard work and preparation for the public exams, I had a rude shock of my life. Just two days before the practicals portion of my 12th grade public exam started, I was down with chicken pox. It was so severe that I had blisters all over the body and a very high temperature. In those days, as Hindus, it is a religious taboo to take a person out of home with chicken pox. Even today, for the fear of infecting others, it is advised to stay indoors. From a religious angle, it is considered that Goddess Maari Amman resides in the body when you are affected by any one of the virus infections like measles, chickenpox or smallpox. There were lots of dos and donts when you have someone at home infected by one of the above viruses. But, nothing stops my mom. She was another "no excuse" lady. Her religious sentiments were outweighed by the pragmatism. Next day, she met the school principal and explained the situation. As the principal knew how important it was he agreed to provide a separate room. Next, it was the challenge of transportation. Those days, I used to commute to my school by bus. It was about 40 minutes bus travel. She spoke to an auto rickshaw driver who lived in our neighborhood. He agreed to take me to the exams. (Despite their qualities of fleecing gullible passengers, autorickshaw drivers are a unique tribe. They are friends of poor people when in need.) I must say, this driver was another god sent person to readily agree to take me to the school. Unfortunately, I don't know who he is. But he deserves great blessings.

With my mom, the Principal and the auto rickshaw driver playing a major role in putting my career on track, I attended the practical exams for 3 or 4 days with severe chickenpox. My mom would wrap me fully, to cover my blisters, with white cotton cloth (dhoti) sprinkled with turmeric water . She also used neem leaves as my bed. Turmeric and neem are known for their anti-septic and anti-microbicidal properties. With high fever, itching blisters, I completed those practicals. I was preparing with an aim to score school first rank but I scored 3rd rank. Without my mom's pragmatic decision and the courageous actions steps she took to give shape to her decisions in those still primitive years of 80s, even today I shudder to think the consequences it would have had on my career.

But, don't think I was one of those perfect obedient kids and a nerd! I was very naughty and known for my tantrums. In my teen years, I was biggest fan of great Tennis Ace John McEnroe . Like him, I was also easily short tempered. With my short temper, I don't know how many times, I have fought with my mom for petty things and hurt her feelings until not very long ago!

However, as I meet you on this blog now, let me tell you that through my close association with some of highly accomplished entrepreneurs cum philanthropists and with their mentorship shaping my thoughts, I have now become a better son, better husband, better father and above all better human being. Still, there is long way to go in my self- improvement. But, from where I was and where I am now is a great change, indeed!

Coming back to 2006, I see history repeating itself. This lady - the mother of PR - has done the same thing when PR had chickenpox during 12th grade exam. I am sure PR's challenges were greater than mine in overcoming the taboo. Hailing from a family with no formal education, it would have taken a lot more courage on PR mom's part than what my mom needed. I am sure PR's mom would have gone past many barriers before she took PR to the school for writing her 12th grade exams. It goes to prove that determination and action are essential part of any accomplishment. Both PR and her mom are heroes in this episode apart from her school authorities.

During my conversation with the reporter, I also came to know another heartrending story.PR's dad, a daily wage laborer with his unfortunate addiction to alcohol, would beat the kids every day in inebriated state. He would not even allow them to read at home. He does not want them to go to school either. I do not intend to bring any disrespect to the reputation of PR's family by mentioning about this abuse. But, the fact is, she did not have a peaceful environment at that small home. She could have easily succumbed to her father's tantrums and be a school dropout. But, PR said, she would instead finish her home work in school or read in friend's home or at library. Like in my case, PR's mom runs the family with her paltry income from a roadside Idli vending stall.

PR had all the chances to quit from school and thus from her dream, too. She had all the reasons to abandon her pursuit of Engineering degree. But, she continued with schooling till 12th grade with great determination and grit, wrote the entrance exam for the engineering and scored high percentage. Finally, she got her dream Engineering Seat, too. So, to recall what I said earlier in this article, she did everything within her control without brooding over on things beyond her control. In the book One Door Two Locks, Dr Jim Muncy says LIFE CAN'T WITHHOLD ANYTHING FROM THE PERSON WHO REFUSES TO QUIT. How true in our PR's case.

The biggest hurdle before her was the money to pay for the admission. That is beyond her control. So, she brought her plight to someone she trusts and her well wisher. The news came on the paper.

Now, let us see how God unfolds his part with respect to the predicament I had when I read the news item. Having verified the genuineness of the case from PR and the reporters, now I spoke to the college to verify if they have the selection notice from the University. They too confirmed it. To assure the college about my intention to help and get some more clarification when I called the college second time, they told me there is another gentleman from the US spoke to them just now and they have given my contact details to him. So, God has now introduced another person to share my financial commitment for the next 4 years.

This other person is Murali. He also lives in New Jersey. I got his email Id from the college and mailed him the same day with my phone numbers etc. All this happened within 24 hours of reading the news on the paper. Murali called me and I briefed him on the genuiness of PR's case. I gave him the Freelance Reporter's phone number.

In the meantime over the next couple of days, the two reporters also took PR to the college to explore if they could get waiver for any part of the fees. The college first indicated to them they could try a waiver for first year fees but after a couple of days, they rejected the waiver idea. As PR wanted to stay in hostel (college dorm) to avoid her father's daily tantrums, we tried if the college would waive at least the hostel fees. Nothing worked in this regards despite the great effort by the two reporters on the field. So, by 16th August, Murali and I decided to share the college fees equally and pay it every year. As we were in the process of transferring the funds to India, on Sunday August 20, while I was in my mentor's home working our schedule for the following week, I got a call from a person named Natarajan. He introduced himself that he worked for a leading Indian software company and that he was representing the association he and his friends have formed to help students. They too read about PR and wanted to help her but by the time they contacted the college, the college authorities told them that Murali and I were working on helping PR already. He asked if he could join us in this effort. God sent one more person to share my vision. So, we finally agreed for 1/3 share. The college took PR in after taking written commitment from us that we would pay the fees without fail. Until today, by the grace of God, we have taken care of her fees three years. Only one more year to go!

The best part is, till now, Murali, Natarajan or any of his associates and I have not met each other. But, we are united by the Success Express - PR.

In PR's case, since we started supporting her, the whole credit of nurturing her into greater succes goes to Natarajan and his association named Dream India. In PR's success story, I just played a small financial role apart from a few phone calls I made in the initial period to build confidence in her.

As a person who understands the power of edification, since Dream India came to picture in our effort to help PR, all I did was to edify DI whenever I spoke to PR. PR told me once, "Anna (brother) I knew only you and you were the first to call me and offer help. But, now I know many Annas (brothers) through Dream India". However, any amount of my edification will not do justice unless DI performs on the field. Being witness to their work ethic in the last 3 years, I can say is they are amazing group of people. As PR shapes into great success story in the last 3 years, the power of Dream India team is evident. DI has a tireless team of warrriors who joined hands passionately in its cause. For them, PR is one more success story in their long list of other success stories. But, whatever they undertake, they do it with passion and dedication. I heard from the founding members that Dream India was born out of Dr Abdul Kalam's dream for India. So, they will never quit on this great man's dream.

Natarajan and all his friends especially Janakiraman work closely with PR. They visit her frequently. Taking turns, their members visited Madurai inumerable times to assist her in her extra coaching, text books, preparing her for campus interviews, English language improvement, and so on. Recently, during her college vacation, she came to Chennai to stay with one of the lady members of the Dream India to learn computer programing etc.

Some of the winning attributes of PR are:

1. On one occasion when my daughter and I spoke to her during a summer vacation, she said she spends her summer vacation in Libraries. Because, if she stays home or goes to browsing center she would waste time on gossiping and other avoidable petty things. In stead, she said she would prefer to spend her time in library reading books on computer programming, improving her English language etc. MORAL: WINNERS WILL NOT SPEND THEIR TIME IN INDULGENCE BUT WILL INVEST THEIR TIME IN FUTURE BUILDING EVENTS. EVERY TIME YOU TAKE UP AN ACTIVITY ASK YOURSELF IF YOU ARE INVESTING YOUR TIME OR SPENDING YOUR TIME. AS A THUMB-RULE, ASK IF IT IS A FUTURE BUILDING EVENT OR NOT. IF NOT, IT IS NOT AN INVESTMENT.

2.She studied all through her schooling in Tamil medium. In college, she is taught in English. But, PR does not consider this topsy-turvy change in medium of instruction as a road block in her march forward. She goes the extra mile to cope up with that challenge. Look at this mail thread exchaged between DI and Me recently.

From: Kalyan Venkat [mailto:kalyan.venkat@jamaika-intl.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2009 10:10 AM
To: DI; PR; Murali Vivekanandan
Subject: RE: [DI2020_pune] Our student PR scores 84% - Department first

Congratulations PR!

You are a great story of a person making use of opportunity given and excelling in that! All credit goes to you, PR. I am sure, you will inspire many in this world. I am so proud of you. You are making your parents proud! You are an inspiration to your sister, too.

Team DI2020, Murali:

DI2020’s work in nurturing PR and Murali’s participation in this effort cannot be measured by words. Kudos to you all in DI2020 and to Murali. Let your breed grow manifold so that many such PR are nurtured. PR is one such seed sown in our great land. The tree that comes out of that one seed will create many inspired souls. The exponential growth of persons like PR who overcame to become will surely bring positive change to this world in generations to come.

At this time, I am so grateful to God and feel humbled to be able to play a small role in her victory over obstacles.

Regards
Kalyan

On Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 8:05 AM, Natarajan Raman wrote:

Dear Friends,

I take great pleasure in sharing the wonderful news that our student PR has scored 84% to top the department. For a girl who comes from a Tamil medium background, the performance of PR is just amazing. Without any doubt, PR is a jewel in our DI crown.

I take this opportunity to thank Ravi, Udhay and Siva for letting us know about PR three years back. Also, credit to Mr.Kalyan and Mr.Murali for their superb support to her.

Let us hope all along this life time journey of ours we would continue to make DI 2020 possible for as many families as possible.

Happy republic day to you all!!!

Regards,
Natarajan

Dream India

As a final thought for this entry, 3 years ago, HE made me go back to my habit of reading news papers for a good cause on that day. I am sure HE will help me win my battle to regain my time from papers one day - I am sure that day is not too far:) I have seen people who have not read news papers for more than 4 decades who are multi billionaires. The day to emulate such successful entrepreneurs is not too far. Because, as my mentor teaches, success is a planned event.

See you next time with another No Excuse winner, PC.

Keep Chargin'

With Luv

Kalyan