AFVOA Newletters of Year 2002

Page 31 of 84 ARMED FORCES VETERAN OFFICERS’ ASSOCIATION CHENNAI (Established 1994) Patron: Lt Gen C Sundara Rao, PVSM, President Maj Gen N Viswanathan Vice President Col N Viswanathan Secretary Col A Krishnaswami, VrC, VSM** No 3 of 2002 NEWSLETTER #03/2002 01 st June 2002 Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens. ~ John Homer Miller Dear Veteran, From the Editor’s Desk I am reminded of the time that I was doing my post graduation course in Advanced Telecommunications at the Military College of Telecommunication Engineering, Mhow. It was mid-1973 and for the first time, a capsule on Management was introduced for the course. Lt Col VM Jog, an officer who had qualified on the Long Defence Management, was our instructor. As soon as he walked into the class and wished us, he did two things. Firstly, he took a chalk and put a small dot on the black board. Next he distributed a page of cyclostyled matter, which was titled ’67 Excuses’. We did not have to wonder long. He asked as what we saw on the black board. All of us unanimously told him that there was small chalk dot on the board. “Yes”, he said. “I do commend your powers of observation, for all of you saw the small dot. But I am surprised that none of you saw the big black board in front!!” He them passed on to the list of ‘Excuses’. ‘Surprised are you?’ he enquired. He carried on: “I am sure that you will be able to find an excuse from the 67 listed in that paper, as to why you did not see the black board.” He said, it was all a matter of attitude. And managers could, if they wanted always find an excuse for not doing something. But then, if you did want to do something, you could definitely find a reason for doing it – after all, attitude matters!! Depending on our attitude, we can either focus on the thorns, or see the beauty of the rose – it is all up to US. And as we grow older, it is far better to feel the softness of the rose, than to be entangled in the thorns! &&&&&&&&&&&& Thomas Edison tried two thousand different materials in search of a filament for the light bulb. When none worked satisfactorily, his assistant complained, “All our work is in vain. We have learned nothing.” Edison replied very confidently, “Oh, we have come a long way and we have learned