C Basavapurniah

A Karma Yogi:

There could be many descriptions for one so tall as Basavapurniah garu , like "Legend" which is true in an industry that saw many ups and downs ,or a "Mentor" which is true to the many devoted people who followed him , "Great Father figure" to many an employee of UTL including the undersigned , A "doting Grand father" to his own as well as others . Each would have its own valid story line.

But If there is one secular description that fits Basavapurniah garu easily, that is that he is a Karma yogi !!

He is one who would come to office by a fixed time in the morning , much before many others would come and leave the office late after having closed his registers for the day.

Not for him the logic that wherever I am my office is with me so I do not have to be present in "that" office at all times. Not for him the logic that previous night I was busy with office so I will come later today ! or that I am a 24x7 one working and thinking always about UTL so I do not have to be in the office !!

There are innumerable logical lines one could safely adopt to say why one need not come to office to do work!!

But none of them are for Basavapurniah garu !.

He has to be in the office first thing in the morning even at that ripe age of eighty nine years !!

Once in the office , he with is ‘computerist’ (as he would call his PA) would diligently go through all mails and send off a reply. If there is a question in front of him he has to reply. Avoiding a question ( or a debtor) is not his style. Batting away the question is also not his style. He must give a definite answer or direction. This activity of seeing mails would go through probably two three times a day . So that by the end of the day he would be leaving office with no mails pending to be answered !

Once I quoted my favorite Sloka - sahasaa vidaddhI tana kriyaam ( not do things in a hurry ! ) … to dissuade him from being too quick in a response ! Then I realized another unique quality. He is not afraid of correcting his view if facts warrant the same. So his fast response is backed by an ability to correct one self if required ! In top echelons it is not very common for one to come across people who are willing to listen and correct ! First of all it is difficult to find people willing to listen . We tend to be too busy in our own world with no time to hear the counter point! In that sense he is a 360 degree man. That is another topic of never ending mirth with him! The mirth is that he could change his view by the end of the day if it warrants or if somebody attempts !

For all appearances he is a humble person belying the eminent entity he put in place. He would on occasion over emphasize the fact of his being from farmers back ground. But behind that is the intellect of a charted Accountant who in his days cleared the chartered Accountant exams in one attempt. That would place him in the top one percent academically. Not many of his contemporaries can claim that scholastic achievement

Being a karma yogi he moved beyond the paradigm of Sukha- duhkha and Laabha alaabha or profit and loss and focussed on what is good for the organization at all times!!

He is what is known as “Sthita pragnya” one who is not deterred from his path.

In his passing away we can only remember the Sloka ( from Gita chapter 2)

ನೈನಂ ಚಿಂದಂತಿ ಶಸ್ತ್ರಾಣಿ ನೈನಂ ದಹತಿ ಪಾವಕಃ |
ನ ಚೈನಂ ಕ್ಲೇದಯಂತ್ಯಾಪೋ ನ ಶೋಷಯತಿ ಮಾರುತಃ ||23||
నైనం చిందంతి శస్త్రాణి నైనం దహతి పావకః |
న చైనం క్లేదయంత్యాపో న శోషయతి మారుతః ||23||
नैनं चिंदंति शस्त्राणि नैनं दहति पावकः ।
न चैनं क्लेदयंत्यापो न शोषयति मारुतः ॥23||

May be as is said ( sloka Gita chapter 2)

ವಾಸಾಂಸಿ ಜೀರ್ಣಾನಿ ಯಥಾ ವಿಹಾಯ ನವಾನಿ ಗೃಹ್ಣಾತಿ ನರೋ ಅಪರಾಣಿ|
ತಥಾ ಸರೀರಾನಿ ವಿಹಾಯ ಜೀರ್ಣಾನಿ ಅನ್ಯಾನಿ ಸಂಯಾತಿ ನವಾನಿ ದೇಹೇ||22||
వాసాంసి జీర్ణాని యథా విహాయ నవాని గృహ్ణాతి నరో అపరాణి|
తథా సరీరాని విహాయ జీర్ణాని అన్యాని సంయాతి నవాని దేహే||22||
वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय नवानि गृह्णाति नरो अपराणि।
तथा सरीरानि विहाय जीर्णानि अन्यानि संयाति नवानि देहे॥22||

.. he threw away the clothes of this body and is already on the way into wearing new one to continue his work !!

|| om tat sat ||

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