At yesterday's L&T AGM ( 22 Aug 2017 ) , Chairman A M Naik said :
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" It was in 1965 that I walked through the gates of Larsen & Toubro's Powai complex , with an application in my hand and a dream in my heart
I consider it my good fortune that I could join the company I had dreamt about , and eventually attain a position where I could reshape that very dream
The secret of my success is very simple . It is passion , conviction , commitment and devotion
Devotion is beyond dedication and far beyond hard work
Devotion is when you worship your God in a temple
My mandir , my temple is Larsen & Toubro "
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AMN was not alone in thinking of Powai as a " Place of Pilgrimage "
There were thousands of L&T-ites whose similar sentiments , I have tried to capture in my following poem
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And yet
The very beginning of a road,
Of a career,
Of a search for happiness
- material for most
- spiritual for some,
To the thousands
Very very animate
Humans,
O Powai
These people breathe
Beneath your boundless, blue canopy
An air, full of dignity
Of human labour,
And give you a soul,
These people,
Your children all,
They breathe life
These people sweat
From dawn to dusk,
To deliver
Return to them,
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Later published in Powai Pageant
=================================
" It was in 1965 that I walked through the gates of Larsen & Toubro's Powai complex , with an application in my hand and a dream in my heart
I consider it my good fortune that I could join the company I had dreamt about , and eventually attain a position where I could reshape that very dream
The secret of my success is very simple . It is passion , conviction , commitment and devotion
Devotion is beyond dedication and far beyond hard work
Devotion is when you worship your God in a temple
My mandir , my temple is Larsen & Toubro "
========================================================================
AMN was not alone in thinking of Powai as a " Place of Pilgrimage "
There were thousands of L&T-ites whose similar sentiments , I have tried to capture in my following poem
==================================================================
O , Powai :
End of the road
For these non-animate
Buses and trucks
Full stop !
End of the road
For these non-animate
Buses and trucks
Full stop !
And yet
The very beginning of a road,
Of a career,
Of a search for happiness
- material for most
- spiritual for some,
To the thousands
Very very animate
Humans,
A place of work
Of worship
Of daily pilgrimage
Sacrosanct
Of worship
Of daily pilgrimage
Sacrosanct
O Powai
These people breathe
Beneath your boundless, blue canopy
An air, full of dignity
Of human labour,
And give you a soul,
These people,
Your children all,
O Powai
Give you a soul
To make you come alive
With their joys and fears
And their frustrations
And their dreams.
Give you a soul
To make you come alive
With their joys and fears
And their frustrations
And their dreams.
They breathe life
In your machines,
In the glass and steel and concrete
Of your edifices,
In your asphalt roads,
In the red of your gold-mohur
And the greens of your lawns.
Of your edifices,
In your asphalt roads,
In the red of your gold-mohur
And the greens of your lawns.
These people sweat
From dawn to dusk,
To deliver
No mere goods, but
Promises
Of a better tomorrow,
To the teeming millions
Of this ancient land.
Promises
Of a better tomorrow,
To the teeming millions
Of this ancient land.
Return to them,
A thousand fold
What they give you,
O Powai,
Your soul.
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Written : 29 May 1970
Later published in Powai Pageant
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I won't say : Adieu , Anilbhai
I wish you Good Luck in your second innings !
hcp
