Nurungukal.....contd...

                After the college day a short period of study followed before the examinations. Actually it was now I understood how much un prepared was I to face the test. I felt disappointed and desperate. Chemistry was my main subject and physics the subsidiary. As I went through the texts many portions were strange. I bought a guide book to take a short cut to cover important and most probable portions. A sense of defeat and insecurity crept in me and I cursed myself for this situation. In school I was an above average student and my strong subject was English. In fact in college I should have pursued this. But in those days [and it is so even nowadays] , the intention was to acquire a jog and my parents thought chemistry would help to find an entry in some industry. But I blame myself for the failures. If I had put in a little more effort it would have been a different story. Now I remember the advice given to me by the principal, who caught me gossipping while the class was in session, that I can be successful in life if only I pay little more attention to studies as I had an aptitude for sports and games also. Unfortunately it fell on deaf  ears.Ultimately I took my degree after the second attempt.

                After graduation it was a hectic time seeking employment. I was in Ponnani during this turbulent period. A few years in Calicut, enjoying a city life had made changes in my outlook. But one positive aspect was that I became a voracious reader, both English and Malayalam books. There was  a well equipped local library in Ponnani at that time. I along with some friends made it a practise to make use of it. More than the books I loved to devour the periodicals, like Illustrated weekly, Sports and Past time, Readers Digest ,Film fair,Blitz etc and Mthubhumi weekly and many news papers. The exposure  made deep in roads into my mind set and attitude to meet situations. In fact I was hibernating to emerge after transformation to take the flight to future. My father entrusted me to supervise the operations in our agriculture, which I loved very much. It was a learning period, not only to acquire a knowledge in farming, but also the techniques in managing human resources. This exercise gave me a confidence to face situations and to take decisions. I managed to web a social fabric in which people from different strata of the society became my stake holders. This experiment helped me to be at ease in any company rich, elite or poor. A down to earth approach.