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40 Years of Employment -- Gratitude Series -- the High School My Teachers - Part 7

It has been sometime since I wrote on this topic and it is time to get this rolling again. While I will come to my Middle school and my average scores in the School leaving exams and the notorious section of the class that I belonged to in Middle school, I will talk about my High school first.   I did write earlier  that I had chosen the Commerce stream when I was in Standard 7, I moved from my existing school to another school to do my School leaving exams . So, everything was new - One thing that came through was that since I liked the subject, my performances improved dramatically to be challenging the school toppers.. In addition to liking the subjects, it was my teachers who made a big impact on me – Three of them were just too good in imparting not just knowledge but in shaping who we were. The main subjects – Accountancy and Commerce were handled by Sirs , Mr Thambuswamy (still stays in touch with us, connects and takes classes the same way he did back in the 80’s...
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Alert Awards 2025-- Acts of Selflessness Being Recognised--

  A small break from my Gratitude series— This post is also in a way Gratitude to several heroes.   The Alert Award 2025 stayed true to its character of bringing out great acts of selflessness that reflect acts of kindness performed without any personal gain or benefit. From a total of 349 application that were received, to prune to less than 15 or so must have been a tough act for the Jury that did that job for the Alert Awards   Some of the acts and the awardees are listed below: The first of the awardees were the Conductor and Driver of  Kerala Road Transport who showed extraordinary presence of mind to rush a pregnant lady who nearly delivered the child in the bus to a hospital that they had just passed by. The lady did deliver the child in the bus but was taken care by the hospital staff. It was a  sight to see a Government bus in the lobby of the hospital and medical help rushing in to the bus (CCTV had captured this).   The next one is abou...
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40 Years of Employment -- Sadness to Deal with--Gratitude Series Part 6

 I will be failing if I cannot thank V Kumar (another Kumar indeed). Kumar was our senior at our audit firm. When I joined the audit firm, Kumar was in charge of all the article Interns. We were about seven of us who more or less joined in at the same time and Kumar was senior to us by at least three years in the firm.  Kumar had completed his intermediate exams and as he was preparing for his final exams, he continued with our Principal who was also happy to have him transition his experience to the new joiners.  One would remember as I joined the firm,  ( Part 1 of this series ) I was surprised when my Principal immediately asked for the Registration forms to be signed. I was told to get the Forms  from the CA Institute which was around 4 KMS away. I was waiting in the reception area not knowing how to get there. I simply did not have any money to take a bus. Walking was not an option. Kumar saw me at the reception and knew my concern right away without tal...
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40 Years of Employment -- Gratitude Series Part 5

  Well here is how I got my first job… Was it the one I dreamt off ? Not Really but it was good because I lasted in that Company for nearly 8 years.    Having cleared Chartered Accountancy in my first attempt and even before my tenure of articleship was completed , you could say I was over the moon (horns all over my head). People around me said you will be picked up in no time. Results came in July 1987 but till August end nothing happened. I was looking at the Institute’s job opportunities Board , the Saturday Hindu publication of opportunities and so on. No one wanted a Chartered Accountant. It was a stark reality that simply opportunities were not available or I was not looking at the right places.      My existing employer did have a conversation about taking me in but they offered me a Plant Accountant role in a God forsaken place ( Now God’s own Country 😊 – how times change ? ). I politely declined it. I completed my internship and from Aug...
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40 Years of Employment -- Gratitude Series Part 4 -- Side Story

  Well , you have to wait for the next post to find out how my career took off … 😊 Part 3 of this series raised a question – “ why was I not as confident  of clearing my final exams “ ?  There is a situational story which created that doubt. After intense preparations , I landed up at the examination center and was extremely nervous on the first day of the Seven day Agni Parikshai ( Test of fire ) .. And you would want to do the first exam really well , so that you carry that momentum to the rest of the six papers.  My Roll number was 4225 . I  was all set at my desk , 15 minutes prior to the start.  As I was waiting for the answer sheets and the question paper to be given , I noticed the person who was a topper in the Intermediate exams  walk in. And that person sat in two desks ahead of me . I was now perturbed.  I was hoping roll no 4224 would show up and sit in between and made a silent prayer that  the person should show up ! ...
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40 Years of Employment -- Gratitude Series Part 3

  Happy New year Wishes 2025   Having finished the intermediate exams of the Chartered Accountancy course, it opened up avenues to additional learning opportunities that would suit my career ambitions. One could move in and do what is called Industrial Training with a Corporate rather than be with the CA firm for the last year of the three year training. I was never inclined to start a practice of my own and this made my decision easier (I think my father was not happy with this decision of mine). I decided to move out from my current employer and look out for Industrial training opportunities. Again, thanks to Kumar Anna, I got myself into a company with a rich heritage and legacy. The group was known for its passion, integrity and the respect that it gave all its stakeholders and how they ran their business. It has a presence in several segments but I got my training at their Abrasives division. What an experience it was …? Outstanding!  During the training period ,...
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40 Years of Employment -- Gratitude Series Part 2

    Post joining my articleship, the next 12-14 months passed quite fast. I continued to relish my day job and the evening college. Weekdays were action packed - Office from 10 AM to 5 PM and College from 5:30 till 8:30 PM .Saturday had only office (what a relief it was get home early rather than 10 PM daily) and Sunday was about all play and no work. I used to be an active cricketer and so there would a match for sure. As time passed like this so joyfully, it was time to face the intermediate exams of the Chartered Accountancy Course in Nov 1985 and that meant curtailment of all sorts. Once again, my Principal Mr. B Gopalakrishan granted me two months leave to prepare. However, I had to go to  college every day during the study leave. There were three of us who prepared for this exam, gratitude to K C Narasiman (Natchu) who took on the role of guiding us through the journey. Preparation was intense. My schedule was just crazy - get up at 4 AM , follow the ti...
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