The story of a life time of Anil -- Prologue

Source : Google photo

In this age of computers and internet ,it is tempting to tell this story to anyone who cares to read but what if it could be read by many through the internet in many different countries ? Such an idea came lately with the encouragement of our daughter Jayanti who said that she will design a suitable website for me if only I took the courage to rewrite the whole story . This was a daunting task and discouraged me to no end but finally I set about doing just that .

I have had to retype the whole manuscript so I gave in to the temptation of making some changes but essentially the story remains the same. This is a true story and has been told as truthfully as possible with one notable exception . I have changed the names of most people but not of places.

I have done this deliberately to protect the identity of individuals so that they are not offended and also because putting their names on the Internet without permission was a violation of their rights.

I want the readers to share this story with anyone they like .If some parts of this story offend anyone, it is not my intention and I beg forgiveness and understanding. A true story told truthfully can be at times a bit grating to those who are involved in it because there are many points of view.This is simply mine and the responsibility is entirely mine.

There are many chapters in all but only one chapter at a time will be put on the Net at equal interval . There is no commercial motive in this effort.I just want to share it with as many people as possible so the Internet seems to be the ideal medium.

In writing this memoir ,I had to solely rely on my memory which although good had certain lapses so I have not been able to record everything as accurately as I would have liked . Some events that happened some 50 years ago have somewhat faded from my memory although other events are clearly remembered and recorded.

So in writing this memoir, I always followed the one and only objective which was to give as accurate as possible an account of my life to my readers.

I had initially written it for my family and specially for my children who one day may want to know how I grew up and what I did with my life.

I wish my father had written something about his life so that we could later learn about him. I knew practically nothing about my father other than the fact that he was a nice and religious person and that he worked as an accountant.

But how did he spend his childhood and where did he go to school ? Who were his friends and what were his parents like ? We know nothing.

I feel that we have a duty toward our children to tell them as much as possible about ourselves so that they have a better understanding of their parents when they grow up. Perhaps they will add to this document about their lives and pass it on to the next generation so that a family record could be developed over the years . No individual is insignificant although not everyone has the chance of living the way I did. I was a product of extraordinary circumstances so it was no surprise that I did the things I did but I am sure everyone has a tale to tell.

I have deliberately omitted the names of some individuals in this memoir whom I particularly disliked and sometimes simply mentioned them in the third person. Although many unpleasant memories remain, I have tried to downplay them because I can not look at life negatively.I have learned important lessons from such encounters so the final effect was positive.

Jasmine is my loving wife who often told me that I should learn to forgive and forget but I have been never able to forget although forgiving may become easier as I grow older and mellow. Life is too short and precious remembering bad people so their role is downplayed. It is also a lesson for our children who are still innocent to learn that the world is or can be a cruel place unless one is prepared to deal with it effectively.

I have poured my heart out in remembering people whom we cherish. Such people have made a tremendous difference in my life so I have given them a special place in my heart. Some of them have disappeared from our lives because we do not know where they are but we remember them and always will with great fondness.

At my present age, I can hardly believe that so many years have passed so quickly. I remember the days when I was a little toddler but that was so long ago. Now I know that the human life is very short. Perhaps in a few short years I will be gone so now there is a greater urgency to do the rest of the things that I want to do before the final curtain descends.

I want to go happily with the full realisation that my life has been worth living every moment of it and I would love to do it again if given the second chance. More importantly, I want to be able to say to myself that my life has not been in vain and that I have been able to help people in improving their lives as well. I have worked in may countries with many many of farmers .They may forget me as I am sure they will but perhaps the new crop varieties I introduced will remain and help put more food on their table.

It is not important that they remember me but it is important that they benefit from my deeds. That is all I want from life.

Jasmine came into my life and has enriched it. She has been the inspiration behind this memoir so I am grateful to her.I can not imagine what it would have been like without her and I do not want to think about it. She has been the inspiration and is as pretty as the photo above but it is her inner beauty that I value most.

Naturally this work is dedicated to her.

Anil

Philippines