M.V.Shanker

M.V.Shanker, my dad was born during the British rule in India when it was very rare for people to make it big in their lives. He was born in 1912, in a small town called Nagapatinam in coastal Tamil nadu state. He was the 3rd child to Pandit Viswanatha sastrigal and Neelambal and the family lived in poverty. He got adopted by Muthusamy Iyer who was his uncle and a retired Deputy collector.

He was the first member in the family to go beyond school in studies and managed to complete his bachelor’s degree. He got a job in Railways and because of his steely determination grew in ranks steadily and reached a coveted position. He took whatever responsibility was given to him and delivered. He never went in search of abundance because by his thoughts he could make abundance flow into his life, this attitude led to him identify microwave as a necessity for railways.

He had a habit of being around with incredible people and perhaps the people whom he befriended were equally happy to be his friend. He had to face several challenges, but amidst all these he stood firm and clear on achieving great heights in his professional career. He was also a "people" person and hence, everyone in the office, from his assistant to boss liked him equally.

Shankar was a very compassionate and generous person, he asserted that no matter how much he had, he felt poor if he did not remain grateful, and he always shared his wealth. The feeling of giving made him live like he had more than what he required.

Shanker was known to make the best of bad times, at his early age he had the opportunity to work for the company called Standard motors. The CEO of the company was so impressed with Shanker’s work that he offered him a partnership in the firm for an investment of Rs.10 K which was princely sum those days. His family rejected his request for the funds and denied him the opportunity to become an entrepreneur. However, as an outcome of this incident, Shanker decided to not to depend on anyone for his life and be on his own. He took jobs which he got on merit and performed well. He moved to Mumbai as a lecturer and overcoming many personal challenges in an unknown city, came up triumphant and more confident. He moved on from Mumbai and joined the prestigious HAL Company in Bangalore as a quality engineer. He showed his own way of solitude to Gandhiji who was fighting the British by walking out of the good job when a Britisher was appointed as his boss, and he walked out without a job in hand. After a search, he landed in Pune for a stint with an aircraft company before joining Railways which took him back to Mumbai.

He was instrumental in setting up the equipment for Signal and Telecommunication which rapidly improved the on-time operations of trains in his region, his performance helped him grow at a good pace and eventually become the Deputy director at Board Level. In that capacity his influence was very large and he made big changes in the Railways functioning. The biggest credit to him was the setting up of the micro wave stations across the country which greatly improved the telecommunication network. He was hailed as the "Father of the microwave systems".

He was in demand and many countries establishing the railway network wanted his services, the United Nations offered him work in Jordon at the request of their King to set up Microwave in Jordan.

For a person born and raised in poverty, to be the first in the family to be educated, his life journey was overwhelming. Through his journey he always was a GO GIVER in his actions and GO GETTER in his performance. He maintained very high ethical standards, and the very purpose of his life was to succeed and help others. As a result many individuals and organizations have benefited from his noble deeds.

Shanker’s life was a role model for all his children. A self-made man with incredible discipline and hunger to succeed. He always believed in this famous quote, “SUCCESS IS IN THE BIG THINGS, HAPPINESS IS IN THE SMALL THINGS, MEDITATION IS IN NOTHING, AND GOD IS IN EVERYTHING"

Shanker is once-in-a-generation person who has a found a perfect balance in achieving many facets of life, and for many of us a HERO to emulate.