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MY HEROES Everyone has his heroes right from childhood. I have had a number of people who have influenced me profoundly. In most cases , I can say why I like them , though in a few cases it is not easy. I have been an admirer of Mahatma Gandhi as a social reformer. I hold the view that we would have attained independence even without him , but would not have got the social values and ideals of the freedom fighters without him. India would have been morally poorer without him. I also feel that there is no need to defend him from riff-raffs like Mayavathy who won't be remembered for even a month without power, whereas Gandhiji will be remembered as long as man exists.
Whatever might have been his faults , Pandit Nehru was a hero to me as also to most of my generation. He was genuinely interested in the progress of india and was a real liberal. I wish I could say the same thing about his progeny. The only other political persons I have admired are Kamaraj and Lal Bahadur Shastri , who were both simple and efficient. Among the current lot , I like Chandrababu Naidu for trying to inculcate computer culture. I don't have any other heroes though I have a grudging admiration for Laloo Yadav's cheekiness ( anti-hero, perhaps !). I admire Homi Bhabha In the field of literature , I have a lot of heroes. Among Tamil writers , Jayakanthan and Sujatha have been my ideals. In English , A.J.Cronin, Conan Doyle and P.G.Wodehouse have been my heroes. I admire Bertrand Russell for his multifaceted personality. Among my teachers, I can never forget Kuppuswami Ayyar, who was my English teacher in the third form ( 8th standard). He was the spark for my interest in the English language. I can never forget the way he made English Grammar interesting. I would like to quote one of his examples. A classmate of mine once asked ,' Sir , what difference does it make whether I join the letters or write them separately?'. He went to the board and wrote ' They went to get her ' and ' They went together' and asked ,' Are 'to get her' and 'together' same?'In my younger days , like all children, I only saw the negative qualities that my father had. But as I grew up, I admired him for his scholarship and equanimity. Among my colleagues, I admire Samar Jha for his wide-ranging interests. Among my subordinates, I admired Bhargava in Kota, who put up a temple and a school even though he was only an ordinary employee. I have admired a number of my bosses for different reasons. But I would like to make special mention of J.C.Trivedi , V.S.Sastry , and M.A.Sundaram in Secunderabad. They were efficient , effective and humane. Mr. Naval Kishore Sharma,a politician, who was my chairman in KVIC for about six months impressed me greatly with his approach to problem-solving , grasp and liberalism. I admired Dr. P.K.Iyengar and Dr.R . Chidambaram ( in BARC ) had contrasting styles of management , but were equally effective. Mr. C.S.Christian who was one of the principals at Railway Staff College during my tenure was also an excellent man and boss. But if I am asked to nominate only one person as an ideal boss, I would unhesitatingly say 'Mr.Ravindra'.He was General Manager on Western Railway when I was there. He was excellent in all the three skills which make for an effective manager , viz., technical, human and managerial skills. It was a pleasure to attend meetings conducted by him. He was one of the very few from whom you learn by merely being with him. I admire anybody who attempts to pursue excellence. Nek Chand who was an ordinary supervisor in PWD, Chandigarh has become world-famous ( for his rock garden ) by pursuing excellence at work and I admire him. I also admire Mother Teresa and Baba Amte for the same reason. Dr. Kurien has revolutionised milk production in India by his excellence and he is one of my biggest heroes. Though not a devotee I have always admired Ramakrishna Mission which pursues excellence. I had the good fortune to hear Swami Ranganatnanda in Mussoorie in 1970 and admire him as an excellent speaker. Among the reel heroes and heroines, my favourites are Shammi Kapoor There are many more, but these are the people I most admire.
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for his clear vision and excellent imlementation of Atomic Energy, Research and space programmes. I also admire J.R.D.Tata for his vision and contribution to research, aviation and industrialisation in India. 
, Amitabh Bachan, Kamal Hasan
and\ Kajol 
. I think these four have pursued excellence in their own way and have given more happiness to more Indians than all the politicians put together. David Lean , Sridhar , K.Balachandar and Mani Ratnam are my favourite directors.