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During my good old (Objective Education) days, the conventional route/ beaten track was of School, Collegiate education, secure
a qualifying degree, seek /get a job, marry, build a house, either before or after marriage, Parenting children, educate them,
marry them off and finally Settle Down in life, what is left of IT. The End. SHUBHAM!!! How did I pass through my Objective
Educational Odyssey? Please follow, if one is not already bored.
As for my early childhood memory, like any other child /toddler, it is Nature's design to erase all memories from mind,
(or the Mind was/ is so pristine that no impressions of experience/s were/are saved to be able to retrieve at our sweet will
at a later period in time), from conception,9-10 months of incubated development, the so called agony at child birth and first
gasping for life air for survival, the post-delivery acclimatization pangs , the pathetic external dependency for survival,
only crying mode of communication for wants, needs, rest, sleep, discomforts, and what not the survival pangs of a vegetative
organism, as it were ,to a stage where the Indriyas become operational and the Mind starts its ordained control center duty.
As soon as the control center starts its function I happen to be and the Process of Recording starts and Memory Files of Un
imaginable Bytes are created. From then on, I started my job of what, I am not sure. Everything around me and about me at
that initial stage of Memorable life were wonderful and awe inspiring except for thirst and hunger. Sleep used to be deep
and dream free, for how long, I dont remember till one night a vivid dream occurred, which even at the age of 73 plus when
I think of, I relive it. The dream was that I was high- speeding through a thick black and dark empty space and was weight
less, occasionally seeing/witnessing bright spots of lights in a thick black background and also saw/dreamed quite a number
of large diameters cycle wheels type objects spinning very fast pass me by my side as I continued my high-speed travel to
nowhere. This was my first ever remembered dream. This dream might have happened when I was 2 or 3years of age, an age imagination
of a cycle wheel or space travel was impossible. In North Paravoor, during 1949-50 the bicycle was a luxury and were a rare
sight on the roads then. If dreams are caused by impressions of ones waking experiences, as opined by the experts in this
field, then my space travel dream needs explanation, for I had at that age no such waking state experiences to bank on for
my ‘dream. One other &remarkably experience I had when I was 8 or 9 years old was sort of Near Death Experience,
N D E. It was something like this. I had contracted Jaundice and the same became very serious. One night my condition became
very serious, and I stared to lose my consciousness and my parents were worried. I was lying in my father's lap with my mother
at his side. I suddenly felt that I was falling in a deep and dark abyss at a fast speed and I was crying loud and calling
out hold me, &hold me, hold me.I could hear my father, faintly, assuring me that he is holding me, but I kept on falling,
falling and falling , for I do not know how long and everything stopped for me. When I woke up, or regained consciousness
I was still lying in my fathers lap with Dr. Nayakam holding a big Syringe, sitting by his side. All of them looked worried
and my mother, a very bold lady, was wiping her tears. Later I came to know from my mother that my condition was becoming
worse and my uncle went and brought Dr. Nayakam, who was our family Doctor. He administered some sort of injection on me and
I slowly came back. This, even today is fresh in my memory. Then coming to waking state experiences, my earliest memories
were of my child hood days with my maternal Grand Mother. Every morning after I get up, I used to go round the compound of
our house, Kanat, with my Grand Mother who used to sweep the fallen dry leaves of many a tree in the compound and light them.
The smoke rising from the burning, in the early morning mist in the rising Sun rays draws up light bluish changing patterns
presenting a beautiful sight. In the evenings Grandmother used to tell stories from Ramayanam and Maha Bharatam of which SreeKrishna
Leela used to be my favorite. In the evening, as sun sets, my mother used to chant Naama Snkeertanams, mostly of Krishna Bhajans
and we children were instructed to chant along and thus evening chanting, called in Malayalam as Naam Japickal after lighting
Nila vilakku has become habitual for me. Most of the Keertanams used to be in praise of SreeKrishna or of His Stories and
this made me a devotee of Lord Krishna/Guruvayoorappan. There is a SreeKrishna temple, Kannankulangara, near to our house
Kanattu, and I used to go to the temple almost daily. Just looking, more correctly put, as gazing, at the Vigraha, beautifully
decorated (Muzhukkappu) by the Melshanti (Chief Priest) with pure Sandal wood Paste, floral decorations give the Idol a Living
Divine appearance. The Idol is a beautifully carved image of Chathur Bahu Vishnu and after Melshantis artistic sandal wood
paste application The Idol comes Live as Divinely Beautiful Smiling Krishna, taking ones gaze from the Idol is difficult.
I remember, even today, me gazing at Krishna without batting my eyelids. For me standing in front of the Falgpost(Kotimaram),my
favorite spot for Darshan, gazing at the image of The Lord used to be an Experience in itself. When my mother used to ask
me what I have asked the Lord, I never had an answer, for the simple reason that I never thought of asking anything except
gazing silently, with Thozhukai, repeating some if HIS names that I have byhearted. As I had no answer to my mother's querries,
she used to tell/advise me to pray to the Lord for Bestowing me with Benevolent thoughts and intellect and to lead me in the
right path. My mothers This (Right) advise had a lifelong effect on me that even to this day, if at all I visit any temple
or places of Worship, unconsciously this prayer taught by mother comes up from my heart. It dawned on me, only late in my
life, what my mother taught at that tender age and the purport of Great Gayatri Mantra are identical (Dhee Yo YoNah: Prajodayaat).
There used to be discourses (we used to call them Vaayanas) in the Temple by learned personalities like Guruvayoorappadasa
Swamikal, Kallayi Vshnu Namboodiri,etc. on Krishna Leelas ,which had attracted me very much. Listening to stories of Sreekrishna
from Bhagavatam, Mahabharatam, Narayaneeyam, from such eminent scholars was so elevating that I started longing for the Darshan
of the Lord. In North Paravoor, one other temple I frequented was Mookambika Temple. It was known, at that time, as Dakshina
Mookambika (presently Panachikkad Devi Kshetram is known as Dakshina Mookambika). On Vjayadashami day every year, I used to
go to Mookambika temple, early in the morning for Vidyarambham. What an experience it used to be!! Participating in the Utsavams
and 40day Mandala Vilakku celebrations in these temples were Great Experiences in themselves. Watching Night long Kathakali
during Kannakulangara and Mookambika annual Utsavams were my favorites. I was very fortunate to have watched the Great Performance/s
of Kalamandalam Kathakali Veterans like Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair, Ramankutty Nair, Pallippuram Gopalan Nair, Kudamaloor
Karunakaran Nair, Vazhenkata Kunju Nair, Mangulam Vishnu Namboodiri, Harippad Ramakrishnan, Kalamandalam Rajan, Gopi Aashan,
Champakkulam Pachu Pillai, Kottackal Sivaraman etc. along with percussionists like Kalamandalam Krishnankutty Poduval on Chenda,
Appukutty Poduval on Maddalam Varanasi Brothers, Kalamandalam Keshavan etc. Singers like Takazhi kuttan Pillai, Kalamandalam
Shankaran Embranthiri, Kalamandalam Hyderali,Thaneermukkam Viwambharan etc. Kathakali recital used to be for 2-3 days, starting
on 6th day of Festival in Kannankulangara Temple where as in Mookambika it used to be a one-day affair, of 7th or 8th day.
I consider myself very fortunate to have had such a wonderful childhood. During my childhood days in North Paravoor till my
S S L C in 1962-63, sort of laid the foundation of Krishna Bhakti in me and paved my wayahead, to be followed up later in
my life. (In the 2nd section ‘Subjective Enquiry). I will be failing in my duty if I do not remember Bharati Amma
Sir who guided and taught me The Malayalam alphabets and Kochu Paulose Sir who initiated me into Mahabharatam and Ramayanam
Through stories in both the Epics, taught me cycling, took me for my first ever Boat cruise and Railway journey and exposed
me to various inspiring stories of people, places etc. As soon as I completed my SSLC examination, my father, who was a senior
teacher in our school was transferred to Kozhikode, as the Head Master of Basic Training School and all of us had to shift
to Kozhikode from North Paravoor. (For me that was the end of my stay in North Paravoor, from 1948-1963.) So, my further studies,
in college/s were in Kozhikode. I had my one-year Pre-University collegiate education in St. Josephs College, Devagiri, Kozhikode
and two years of Three-year Bsc. Course in Sree Guruvayurappan College in Kozhikode. (I did not complete BSc course as I left
the course in second year in pursuit of better engineering course). From 1965 to 1971 I had studied in J C College of Engineering,
Manasagangotri, Mysore for my mechanical engineering degree course.And thus finally I took B E in Mechanical Engineering from
University of Mysore in the Year 1971.For me I have completed my Bread winning Education I was greatly relieved from the drudgery
of mugging up education with no interest or understanding of the subject. Had it not been for my Fathers burning desire to
make me an engineer and a compassionate Lecturer Sri Siddalingappa, who drilled into my brain the Final Year Engineering Subjects
of Theory of Machines, Heat Engines and Machine design, and helped me scale the dreadful and impenetrable examination wall,
unscathed. Before I conclude my Objective Education, as is the practice in the corporate world, one needs to make a self-assessment
before being considered for promotion, and being an ex-corporate person, let me make self-assessment report on my education
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