My legacy

 

Source: Google photo

Note: If you use Microsoft browser Edge to read this page, you will see the letter A in blue at the upper right-hand corner. Just click on this letter A, select a voice ie American English and push the play button, it will then read the article for you if you so desire. Now Google Chrome has also started reading your blog and has added a Readme button in its browser so as reader, you have many choices.

Normally I do not care to write about what legacy I would like to leave behind that people will appreciate because it draws focus on what I have achieved or what I failed to achieve in life. To tell everybody what I have achieved sounds like bragging, so it is against my way of life. But the WordPress made a prompt the other day and asked this question so in response I wrote the following paragraph that many people read and liked so I decided to make it a full blog.

I struggled through difficult times but never gave up. This struggle led to my successful life so do not give up just because you failed once or twice or people let you down in a big way. Some people saw me struggling and gave me a hand. Read my biography to know all the details. Aumolc

The word legacy means what example you may leave behind that others may take inspiration from to do good work that may benefit the next generation. It does not mean that you should leave behind a bad legacy like that of a tyrant and very corrupt person that other bad people may take inspiration from and become like you so when you write about legacy, it means good legacy.

Some people want to know what legacy you may leave behind that may inspire others to follow. It is a question that requires a thorough introspection. You should ask yourself if you have led an exemplary life after all the struggles and difficulties and learned your hard lessons that you applied in your life to overcome all the challenges. If yes, then that should be your legacy that others may someday learn from and be guided accordingly.

With the word legacy, one person who left a lasting legacy comes to my mind. He was no other than Terry Fox who gave his life to raise funds for cancer research that benefited millions of cancer patients. He was only 22 when he died but he left a golden legacy that acquired him the status of a national hero in Canada. There are numerous examples of such heroes who have left a lasting positive impression on the succeeding generations. (Please read here my blog on Terry Fox called Determination in this context.

We know that as individuals, we are insignificant in the greater scheme of life itself so to think that you are important and have something to contribute to the world to make it a better place, you only show your inflated ego that no one cares about. People have very short memories so no one will remember you as a person unless they somehow have benefitted from you in some way.

The graveyards are full of epitaphs that are broken and have fallen down covered with weeds that people just ignore although the person may have been great in life. They did not leave behind a biography, so no one knew about them and what they achieved in life.

But when a child took a vow of revenge in the garden of Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar in 1919 where a cruel British officer called Dyer shot dead 1600 men, women and children who were peacefully protesting the British Raaj, that child kept his promise and went to England to fulfill his vow. He was hanged by the British, but his bones were brought back to India and were given a state funeral.

Dyer is relegated to the infamous dust bin of history for his crime but that child called Udham Singh became the national hero of India who gave his life to keep his promise. Now a life size statue of Udham Singh near the gate to the park in Amritsar will remind you how some people create a legacy that the whole country honors. (Please read my blog here called The day of infamy )

The history has a way to bury you by not mentioning you once in its pages unless you were a tyrant like Genghis Khan or a traitor. Good people are rarely mentioned so the history relegates them to the dustbin unless you have done something spectacular in a negative way. The life of an ordinary but educated person who lived all his life honestly is boring to the next generation, so they don’t care who you were and what were your accomplishment in life.

Even your own relatives will soon forget you because they cannot get any more gifts or money from you, so they take off your dated photos from the wall or their albums once you are gone and buried or turned to ashes. The next generation who did not know you personally totally ignore you or your contribution to their well-being. This is the story of the average human being unless you are a person with incredible determination to do something extraordinary like Udham Singh or Rampyari ( read my blog here called the Unsung heroine Rampyari )

Stephen Hawkings once said that we are like a grain of sand in a beach that is endless and the grain of sand that is you is washed away by the waves leaving no trace, so the analogy is quite powerful. It drives the point that we as individuals leave no trace once we are gone because the waves of time obliterate us as surely as the ocean wave that leaves no trace on the beach.

If you are a Christian or a Moslem, then people may bury you and put an epitaph of sorts with your name, but no one visits the grave that gets covered in weeds. If you were a Hindu, then your body is burned to ashes and the ashes are thrown into a river that eventually carries it to the ocean. Just a few years after the death of a person, people rarely talk about him, so his memory is erased from their collective memory.

So, to leave a positive legacy, you have to do something people will remember especially if they continue to benefit from your legacy. Some people make a small school for children or a rural hospital that later grows on its own and benefits thousands of people. Such legacies are fondly remembered. ( Read my blog called What will be your legacy here )

Others collect hundreds of cars that collect dust in a barn somewhere overgrown with weeds, so the collection of cars benefits no one except perhaps the ego of the collector. So, if you are thinking of leaving behind a positive legacy, do something that benefits others. A good person does not brag about what he has done for others and people may not remember him, but he cares that people benefit from his deeds. It is said that the best donor is the anonymous donor because he does not do good to inflate his ego or a person who raises money for cancer research before he dies like Terry Fox.

Some of us are born to leave a legacy. It may be a good legacy or a bad legacy. The choice is yours.

Source: Google photo

Note: My blogs are also available in French, Spanish, German and Japanese languages at the following links as well as my biography. My blogs can be shared by anyone anytime in any social media.

Mes blogs en français.

Mis blogs en espagnol

Blogs von Anil in Deutsch

Blogs in Japanese

My blogs at Wix site

tumblr posts

Blogger.com

Medium.com

Anil’s biography in English.

Biographie d’Anil en français

La biografía de anil en español.

Anil’s Biografie auf Deutsch

Anil’s biography in Japanese

Биография Анила по-русскиu

The Yin and Yang of life

Source: Google photo of Yin and Yang

Note: If you use Microsoft browser Edge to read this page, you will see the letter A in blue at the upper right-hand corner. Just click on this letter A, select a voice ie American English and push the play button, it will then read the article for you if you so desire. Now Google Chrome has also started reading your blog and has added a Readme button in its browser so as reader, you have many choices.

Synopsis: The fight between the good and evil is never ending. It exists in all societies, but I explore the possibility in this blog of how to fight the evil and do good for the society so that we can make progress toward a better living condition and help our country grow in the process through honest means.

I am often bothered by this eternal fight between the good and evil in this world and have written on this subject using my social issue blogs that reflect this conflict. The religious people say that it is the fight between the angels and the fallen angels that has bedeviled the humanity since a very long time and still does.

Now this fight has taken up a new dimension where the evil people seem to get the upper hand and do whatever they want without any fear of the law and its repercussions, so we see an increase in the prostitution racket, human smuggling, animal smuggling, land grabbing, murder, rape, forcible collection of money from the businesspeople and numerous such activities. Such people gain enormous wealth from their evil activities and use their ill-gotten wealth to buy people of influence like the police and judiciary as well the politicians. Some become politicians and win elections because they can buy the votes or through intimidation, so we see this trend in many countries where the law-and-order situation is weak.

I often think of the time when the kings and queens reigned in many countries and administered swift justice, so the crime rate was low, and the criminals were kept in check because they were afraid of the consequences of their criminal activities. The kings or the queens gave strict punishment to those who violated the laws. King Akbar kept a huge elephant outside his court and ordered the death penalty to some criminals. Such people were executed by the monstrous elephant who stepped on the chest of the convict.

We live now in the era of democracy although how much democracy countries practice varies from country to country. Some countries like North Korea are ruled by one man where they do not have a democratic rule, but they still call themselves Democratic Republic while in other countries like India, the government struggles constantly to uphold its democratic values using the rule of law and puts in jail those who are hard core criminals.

This constant battle to defeat the mafia and other types of criminals in India has produced some positive results because many high-profile mafia people have been arrested or have been shot dead in the encounter with the police while many criminals have surrendered to the police because they fear the encounter. But the law-and-order situation varies from state to state because not all the states in the country apply the rule of law evenly and equally. The main reason for the criminals to thrive in such states is the moral corruption of the leaders who run the state who take money from the mafia and in return protect them from the judicial inquiry that may lead to arrest and long jail terms.

So, everything boils down to corruption in the corridors of power where the corrupt politicians take bribe, commission from the government contracts for the infrastructure development or use the police to collect money from the businesspeople just like the mafia to use this money for their political campaigns. People say that the power corrupts people who do not like to give up the power because their alternative is to go to jail so they feel safe as long as they are in power because they can influence the judiciary in their favor. The good news is that not all lawyers or judges are corrupt, so they stand up to fight the evil politicians and their associates once the evidence is collected.

I think that we as humans have a positive as well as a negative side in all of us. If the positive side in us is strong, it keeps the negative side in check but if the positive side is overwhelmed by the negative side in us then we easily commit felony or take bribe that is like a downward spiral that can get out of control and destroy your life.

The positive side in us becomes strong if it is based on religion or some moral code that you learn from your parents so you practice what you learn from them or from the religious leaders but under some circumstances, a person is attracted to the negative side that makes people join gangs to commit minor offenses at first that later may escalate to major criminal activities.

So, the kids who grow up in broken families where the parents constantly fight with each other and where the mothers are subjected to severe abuse or domestic violence, the kids suffer the most and often run away to be free from such families. To survive on the streets, they often join criminal gangs that may give them some money for some jobs they have done for them like selling drugs or lure girls into prostitution as pimps so they can take a commission from what the girls earn.

No child is born as a deviant but later he may become one depending on where and how he or she grows up, so it all depends on what kind of family support he or she gets while growing up. Children born in religious families who are loved and cared for by their moral and upright parents rarely become deviants, but it is also said that the abject poverty a child suffers while growing up can make him take the wrong way to earn money to survive that later turns him into a full-scale mafia don. Such was the case of a notorious mafia don in my hometown in India who was recently gunned down. He had accumulated millions of dollars' worth of property through his criminal activities that have now been seized by the government.

So, the Yin and Yang that balances the society anywhere has these two aspects in it called the good and the evil because there is no such country that is free of the evil and where everything is positive, where people are happy and where people live in peace and prosperity. So, the criminality varies from country to country. In China, the government executes the serious criminals to keep the crime rate low while in other countries like India, the criminals can escape the justice using the paid lawyers who can delay a court case for many years using some legal loopholes. Such mafia people in jail still control their criminal activities just using cell phones or through the couriers.

Women can be just as vicious as men when they get into the organized crime business. We see this trend in some countries where the government eliminates the mafia don but his wife or mistress takes over the business of crime.

One reason for the corruption to exist at all levels in any society is due to the greed some people have who want to get rich taking bribes for doing their job whatever they may be so the common man suffers who wants to access some government services. These are called petty bribe takers who start by taking small bribes at first and gradually they become more powerful and more ruthless.

The second reason is the huge amount any government spends to develop the country that attracts corrupt people like flies because they take commission from the deal they sign with the suppliers. It may be the purchase of fighter planes or weapons deal or other purchases worth millions of dollars. A 10 to 20 % commission is worth in millions so these corrupt politicians get very rich quickly and start buying properties in other countries where they can retire and live in comfort. They hide their black money in the banks of some countries where the scrutiny of their ill-gotten wealth is minimal or non-existent.

So, one way the Government of India now fights this type of corruption is by doing government to government transaction directly and eliminating the middlemen and their bribe/commission taking methods. Now the Indian government sends money directly to the bank account of a receiver of the government subsidy or benefits, so it also eliminates the middlemen who were always taking a commission. The farmers get a fair price for their produce when they sell it to the government directly and get paid directly into their bank account. No middleman can now benefit from the deals the farmers make with the government. This commission worth millions of dollars that the politicians took advantage of have now dried up, so they are looking for other ways to cheat people.

When I was working in Sudan, I had to purchase many things for my project, so I went to Khartoum to order them. I was very surprised when the businessmen offered me a 10% commission for whatever I bought from them like office supplies, motorbikes or furniture. When I asked them to reduce their bill by the amount, they wanted me to have as commission, they refused. They could not understand why I refused to take commission.

This culture of taking commission is the root of evil in any society that spreads like cancer and destroys decent human values. A corrupt politician can sell his own country if he can get a commission. They are the traitors who do not love their country and work against the national interest. I am sorry to say that my own country India is full of them, but the government is cracking down on them and has put many in jail so far.

There is nothing wrong in an honest living. You work hard to earn a living that allows you and your family to live modestly within your means, so you do not take a bribe to do your job or take commission because you are an honest person. Such people may be poor, but people respect them but when you become corrupt because of the temptation, you lose your values and people lose all respect for you in your society. Your own children and spouse may not show you any respect if they have good morals and values.

A country is nothing but the entity where millions of ordinary people live and raise their family. So, it is the collective moral strength of millions of ordinary families that helps any country grow. Japan was destroyed during the last war, but they rose from their ashes to rebuild their country through hard work and high moral values to become one of the major economies. Surely, they have their share of criminals there, but the country has grown steadily in spite of their Yakuja.  Similarly, China became an industrial and agricultural giant where it reduced the poverty level through hard work, so it is possible to minimize if not totally eliminate the Yang to keep a balance in favor of the overall development of any society.

We just have to learn to be proud of being who we are and in our ability to overcome any challenge we face as a society and in extension as a country so that our country develops to bring prosperity to the common man and sets it up as an example that we too can grow like Japan or China if we can think of our nation first and eliminate our own personal greed to get rich through illegal activities.

Midas touched anything that turned into gold, but he realized that it was a curse because his food turned into gold that he could not eat. So, corruption is also like the curse that may make you rich for a while, but you will always live in fear of getting caught someday and end the rest of your life in jail where you will not be able to use your ill-gotten money.

The Yin and Yang will always exist, but it will be good if Yin always wins and keeps the Yang down like what they did in Japan, South Korea, China and now India. It is quite possible.

Note: My blogs are also available in French, Spanish, German and Japanese languages at the following links as well as my biography. My blogs can be shared by anyone anytime in any social media.

Mes blogs en français.

Mis blogs en espagnol

Blogs von Anil in Deutsch

Blogs in Japanese

My blogs at Wix site

tumblr posts    

Blogger.com

Medium.com

Anil’s biography in English.

Biographie d'Anil en français

La biografía de anil en español.

Anil's Biografie auf Deutsch

Anil’s biography in Japanese

Биография Анила по-русскиu

Who should write history?

Source: Google photo of who should write the history

Note: If you use Microsoft browser Edge to read this page, you will see the letter A in blue at the upper right-hand corner. Just click on this letter A, select a voice ie American English and push the play button, it will then read the article for you if you so desire. Now Google Chrome has also started reading your blog and has added a Readme button in its browser so as reader, you have many choices.

Synopsis: We learn about our past in the history books and are influenced by what we learn. We tend to believe what we read but it has been proven many times that the historians were often biased in favor of the ones who ordered them to write about them. This blog looks at the reason why the historians often distort the history if only to save their necks. But in the modern age, people want to read the true history of their past written without bias and prejudice. We cannot appreciate the sacrifices made by our heroes unless their stories are told truthfully by the historians.

During our school days, we were taught the history of our country and in some cases, the history of the world to tell us about our past, our struggle for independence, our struggle for equality and justice and our success and failures. The history is taught to make us proud of our country and instill in us a sense of obligation to learn from our history and to not repeat the mistakes our ancestors made.

But, if the mistakes of our ancestors were not vilified but written in glorious terms in our history books, then what lessons can we learn? What really it all comes down to is “who writes the history”?

Once Richard Nixon was praised for his initiative to make diplomatic contact with the communist China of Mao that led to the recognition and the development of trade links with China which indeed was one of the highlights of his administration, but Nixon was very modest. When his secretary said that his contribution will be recorded in the history books, he replied with some degree of cynicism that it will depend on who writes the history.

People tend to forget that it was Nixon who brought the Vietnam war to an end and brought back the American soldiers home but remember his resignation in disgrace after the Watergate scandal that pursued him until his last days. It left a lasting stain on his presidency that is well recorded in the history books, but he did achieve what no previous president could do namely to bring a very unpopular war in Vietnam to an end.

So, it all depends on who writes the history. We know that the blood thirsty monsters like Genghis Khan, Taimur the lame, Khilji, Ghori who were responsible for massacres of innocent people to satisfy their ambition to rule the world using brutal means are glorified in the countries of their origin even today where they are known as their heroes. Alexander killed people and devastated their countries just so that he could claim that he conquered the world but at what cost and why?

If you go to Ulan Bataar, you will see a massive statue of Genghis Khan who is their hero but the history books condemn him as the marauder who soaked the soil of Central Asia with the blood of innocent people who never wanted war. Similarly, you will see a massive statue of Taimur the lame also called Tamerlane in his native country of Uzbekistan where he is still touted as their hero but they ignore the fact that he killed thousands of people in India who had meant no harm to him.

Source: Google photo of the statue of Genghis Khan in Mongolia

History books record that the entire population of Nishapur in ancient Persia was decapitated by the order of Genghis Khan who took revenge on the hapless population because someone there had killed his son in law.

They made a pyramid out of the severed heads of men, women and even children and razed the city to the ground to avenge the murder of one man.

Source: Google photo of Tamerlane statue in Samarkand.

The armies of this tyrant were responsible for the deaths of perhaps 17 million people. These were murders committed with sword or fire.

(Read my blog here called Unsung heroine Ram Pyari who fought Taimur the lame, injured him and made him leave India in defeat)

The history books are filled with the tyrants like Alexander, Genghis Khan and Taimur because the victors told their scribes to glorify them so that is what they did because writing the truth would have been very bad for their health, if you know what I mean.

Source: Google painting of Alexander who caused untold number of deaths and was called the great by the Western historians but not by his victims.

Alexander wanted to claim the entire known world of his time and even cried that no more kingdoms were left for him to conquer. His empire was built on the bodies of the people his army butchered that devastated the entire population of many countries he invaded but he is stilled called Alexander the great by the western historians who glamorize his victories over hapless people who meant him no harm.

Source: Google photo of a painting of Babur who came to India to loot, kill and islamize the population and lay the foundation of Moghul rule in 1505 that lasted until 1857.

In the past, the history books in India paid more attention to the looters, invaders like the Moghuls, later the British and the post-Independence hegemony of one particular party that ruled India for decades. It fails to mention the sacrifices of millions of people like Rampyari who died for the Independence but glorifies those who had little to do with the Independence of India even today.

The national hero of India Netaji Subash Chandra Bose who brought Independence has only recently been recognized and his life size statue is placed near the India Gate in New Delhi. His contribution to expel British through armed struggle was ignored by the ruling party of Congress that labeled him as a war criminal but people of India knew the truth so the history books are being rewritten to reflect how great Netaji Bose was and how he sacrificed his life for India.

So the time has come to tell the truth to the people because it can no longer be suppressed in the history books.

Source: Google photo of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose statue recently unveiled in New Delhi overlooking the India Gate.

A great historian of India who was very critical of Nehru in his books was dismissed from his job as the Director general of the All India Radio and was exiled to England where he died but such punishment was common in the past when the truth was suppressed, and the historians were punished.

We now have come to the era of instant trans-missal of texts, photos and even videos because of the spread of the Internet so it has become increasingly difficult to suppress the truth. It spreads like wildfire without restraint, but it also spreads fake news just as fast before it is taken down. One can go to the page of Wikipedia on any subject and add to what is published there citing of course source and legitimately valid information. 

This is a recent phenomenon that has encouraged many intellectuals to write and publish articles through the Internet and spread it worldwide instantly. The writing and its subsequent publication come with the responsibility of being authentic, original and truthful but some people take the short cut of plagiarism, so they tend to use the copy and paste option. However, such people are found out and their articles are taken down.

The history of our past is important if it is truthfully recorded. It gives us the information that we need to become knowledgeable and feel our connection to the past. It gives us the chance to know who the heroes were and who the villains. It teaches us about the great people who sacrificed their lives so that we could be free. It also teaches us who were the invaders, looters and the traitors who caused harm to our country, our heritage and our dignity.

So, history should be written by the honest people without bias, without prejudices and without fear. The truth shall always win.

Note : My blogs are also available in French, Spanish, German and Japanese languages at the following links as well as my biography. My blogs can be shared by anyone anytime in any social media. 

Mes blogs en français. 

Mis blogs en espagnol 

Blogs von Anil in Deutsch 

Blogs in Japanese 

My blogs at Wix site 

tumblr posts    

Blogger.com

Medium.com 

Anil’s biography in English.

Biographie d'Anil en français

La biografía de anil en español. 

Anil’s Biografie auf Deutsch 

Anil’s biography in Japanese 

Биография Анила по-русскиu 

Epilogue

 

Source: Google photo of the retirement

I have often thought about whether or not my life has been worth it and meaningful but soon a question comes up. Meaningful to whom?

To me or to others? It is far easier to determine if it has been meaningful to me but then meaningful in what sense? Does it mean that meaningfulness refers only to material wealth or in addition something else? Have I been able to achieve great goals?

Materially I was now comfortable. I provided for the education of the kids and a good new home. I paid for their education abroad and brought them to many countries where they lived or visited. I take care of Jasmine and provide her with the best medical care when she has a problem. I shall leave her with enough money to last her the rest of her life in case I die now so she will never be dependent on anyone.

I have learned very early that there is no greater curse than poverty in anyone’s life. It isolates a person more thoroughly than the most secure jail. Brothers and sisters and relatives avoid such a person. The parents feel let down if you don’t succeed in getting a good job and earn a decent living. Friends become unfriendly and everyone looks down on a failed person.

So having achieved freedom from pecuniary needs has certainly been a blessing for me. But is money everything in life? I had learned although money does not equate happiness, it comes pretty close to it. It allows you to be independent and do things that you want to do. It gives you the freedom to choose.

But having money never really meant a great deal to me. I gave it away when I had little like one time, I gave away my entire savings in Algeria to Nirmal. In Vietnam I shared with others what little I had so having money now does not impress me a great deal. This had caused a lot of misunderstanding between me and my relatives who still think that it is not worth having money if you do not show it . You have to wear fancy clothes and your wife should be loaded with gold jewelry.

But Jasmine and I had chosen a simple lifestyle because we are simple people. We live within our means and do not take credit anywhere. We have taught our children to always save a part of what they earn and never take credit. We are happy being what we are and do not pretend to be someone we are not. We do not attach sentimental value to material things. Jasmine can easily give away her pearl necklace if she wants without thinking twice. I love her generous nature and pure heart. She is my blessing. So, in that sense my life has been meaningful to me.

Spiritually I cannot say that I have been wiser or gained anything. After all these years I have not changed my views on religion that is supposed to lead a person to spirituality. Organized religion has not played any role in my life although I consider myself a Hindu in every sense of the word.

I have always felt that the religion should guide a person to improve himself and give him a sense of direction in life but I never needed to be guided by any ideology or religion because I have a built-in compass in me that has always guided me to take the right road. I have never needed to be persuaded to believe that some things are right, and others are wrong.

It was wrong to cheat, to lie, to steal and to be dishonest and neglectful in duties. It was wrong to be irresponsible, to be insensitive to other’s feelings, to be disrespectful of elders, or other’s culture or traditions. No religion needed to tell me that because these are the basic tenets of the civilized world. You are told about some of these things as soon as you learn to walk and talk. These are the commandments that are common to all organized religions and even primitive societies.

I always knew what to do when the time came and did it without hesitation. I have been no saint and surely, I have had my share of fibbing once in a while but white lies never hurt anyone’s feelings but rather protected it. It was far more humane to tell a person that I was busy and could not see him than to tell him that I disliked him and did not want to see him.

I tried not to be neglectful in my duties to others. But spiritually speaking, I became more cynical than before and started developing a strong dislike for those who for whatever reasons always tended to expound their religious beliefs on others. I had earlier mentioned about the American missionaries who offended me the most but there are many such people everywhere. I had a right to believe or not to believe in anything, so it really was no one’s business.

Jasmine was brought up differently, so her beliefs are strongly guided by the Catholic church, but she is not a fanatic. She agrees that fanaticism is a disease and should always be treated as such.

She respects Hindus and has visited most of the holy shrines in India where she has offered money and prayers. The Swami of Adya Peeth in Kolkata was so impressed by her pure heart that he called her “mother”. I bring her to church every Sunday because it is my duty.

I have always believed that one can serve the humanity by deeds, so it is far more religious to be honest, diligent, respectful, conscientious, humble, truthful, forthright, industrious, prompt, compassionate, kind, gentle, knowledgeable, free from superstitions and blind beliefs. Such a person to me is far more religious than all the Bible thumping people who are mean.

Jasmine is such a person with all the qualities I mentioned. She is a gold mine of such marvelous qualities that are so hard to find in one person.

Now to analyze whether others have been equally satisfied with my life, I have to first consider the Sri Ram Pur folks. It is fair to say that mom was disappointed that I had chosen to marry a foreigner and outside our faith but she more than anyone else had come to appreciate the sterling qualities in Jasmine and she was generally speaking happy that I had succeeded in getting a good education and made a good living. She was the liberal in the family.

But to others I have been a source of embarrassment because they did not like me being a non-conformist and a non-traditionalist. They openly said that someone with my wealth was expected to show it and derided my faded blue denims. Their values collided with me in every turn which made them angry. They believed in show and not substance in a person, but we believed otherwise.

To me the inner qualities of a person were far more important than external show. Our children were simply dressed but had admirable manners. They were also the most generous by nature, a trait they shared with their mom. So, my life has not been very meaningful to my brother and sisters and relatives although they all benefited from our generosity to them.

Now I have to consider if the people I tried to help in so many countries appreciated my efforts and whether my interventions had been meaningful to them. These are the farmers I had worked with. I can proudly say that they all told me at one time or other they benefited from my work with them.

New high yielding crop varieties, new ways to grow them and many such things had been taken up by the farmers. The seed multiplication project in Bruny in Haiti where I got them a brand-new tractor, seeds and a warehouse to store the seeds were appreciated.

It is true that in some countries like Mali and Sudan I was not able to do as much as I wanted due to reasons beyond my control but my time there was not totally wasted. To set up a big project from the scratch and get it going is a challenge in any country but more so in such countries where people put their vested interests first and take advantage.

I do not regret going to those countries but only the missed opportunities there. A plant grows healthy, and blooms one day given the proper environment to grow. Many people gave me that environment in which I grew and showed my potential. I am grateful to them for believing in me. Even the FAO people believed in me.

No one can claim to be self-made. One needs the helping hands to grow. At first those are the hands of loving parents. Later they are the helping hands of people who at every step stand by you and believe in you and in your potential. I was helped by so many people in my life that I cannot express my gratitude to them sufficiently enough. Many are dead now but are lovingly remembered.

My only wish at this point is that our children practice some of the values and become useful in their lives. Perhaps when they read this memoir someday, it will help them in some way understand the human nature better and learn to cope with life better when I am no longer around.

Life can be full of surprises. The charm is in not knowing what the future holds but be prepared for whatever comes. Always try to live a useful life, both to you and to others. My only advice to Ashis, Jayanti and also to Jasmine is as follows: Whatever you do in life, do it well and do it with love. Only then you will begin to enjoy living. Cheers.

Anil

March 2023

Philippines

Note: The following links are given here for you to read Anil’s biography in French, Japanese, German, Russian and Spanish languages as well.

Anil’s biography in French.

Anil’s biography in Japanese

Anil’s biography in German

Anil’s biography in Spanish.

Anil’s biography in Russian

Note : My blogs are also available in French, Spanish, German and Japanese languages at the following links :

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Blogs in French

Blogs in Spanish

Blogs in German

Blogs in Japanese