AFVOA Newletters of Year 2002

Page 18 of 84 Patron: Lt Gen C Sundara Rao, PVSM, President Maj Gen N Viswanathan Vice President Col N Viswanathan Secretary Col A Krishnaswami, VrC, VSM** NEWSLETTER #02/2002 I never could have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time… ~ Charles Dickens ~ (1812 – 1870; British Novelist) Dear Veteran , The words of Charles Dickens are mostly forgotten these days. His remarks bring to mind an incident that occurred during the mid fifties, during my college days. One should remember that in those days, vehicular traffic was mostly confined to only three models of cars–the Ambassador, Fiat and the Standard – all of which were in meagre quantities. And the two wheelers were only a few vintage motorcycles, which were a relic of the World War II era. Thus only the elite had cars – and the Indian Civil Service (ICS) – the forerunners to the present prestigious Indian Administrative Service (IAS), were definitely the elite! I was at the Christian College in Tambaram and we had invited Shri Chettur ICS, then the Chairman of the then Madras State Electricity Board (MSEB) to deliver a talk. The talk was scheduled for 6.00 pm, and the Chairman had been requested to come over by about 5.30 pm, so that he could have a cup of tea (to refresh himself after his long drive from Madras to Tambaram) before he embarked on his talk. Shri Chettur, the senior civil servant that he was drove in punctually at the stroke of the half hour after five. He was received and escorted to the tearoom. Meanwhile it was seen, that there were hardly any students who had come over to hear the distinguished speaker. Hurriedly a few of us ran to the hostel and beseeched anyone who was in the room to immediately assemble in the auditorium. While this exercise was on, the reception committee delayed Shri Chettur so that a semblance of gathering would be present to hear him. It was well past quarter past six, when the proceedings commenced. After the introduction, Shri Chettur commenced his talk, by mentioning that in his office he had a small triangular plaque placed on his table. The inscription on the plaque, facing the visitor read: – “Please be brief – my Time is precious”. One day, a retired ICS officer – apparently far elder to Chettur called on him. On reading the plaque, the visitor was visibly upset. Noticing that, Shri Chettur turned the plaque, so that what was facing him was now visible to the visitor. On the side of Chettur the inscription was: “I am sure that your Time is equally Precious”, which mollified the visitor.