Manifesting Luck 

All of us speak of Luck, either as Good Luck or Bad Luck. All of us would want to always have Good

Luck. We see some people who appear to have good luck always, while a few others have no such

luck.

There is nothing like citing one’s own example because we are aware of all the details. In my case, I

should admit, I have been very, very lucky in life, and I should like to tell you a bit of it, and then

show how we can define Good Luck from practical knowledge.

I was not a particularly good student, just getting average marks in school. Every time I brought the

Report Card and showed it to my father, he would study it for a moment and sign it with one usual

remark:  "I know you can do much better". Thus I reached the level of Undergraduate Course, when I

decided to give up studies because I didn’t get a B.Sc seat while a friend with fewer marks got it. Nobody

in the family insisted I should continue, and after a few years in 1955, I joined Indian Bureau of

Mines (IBM, later Geological Survey of India/GSI).

Now there were two things that I should mention from my childhood – for one thing, I could not

pronounce the sound “Ra”, and everyone used to tease me. I just got into the habit of speaking in

English from around the age of 5 and my (6) brothers encouraged me to continue (finally I did get to

pronounce my ‘R’s at the age of 18!). So much so, my facility with the language was pretty good

from the beginning, and I think in English rather than in other languages.

Secondly, from my childhood, I was very fond of drawing and I used to copy pictures from ‘papers

and magazines. I learnt to use Pencil, pen and ink, Chalk pastels etc as I grew up.

When I was in IBM Headquarters, in early 1961, a new officer who had been transferred from Garrison

Engineers had to enquire into a fatal accident in the Field. He was not able to follow the Field

Officer’s report on the accident, and asked me to read and explain it. He couldn’t follow my

explanation either. I then made a couple of rough sketches about how the accident had taken place

and how it could have been avoided. He now readily understood the case, and went on with the

enquiry.

Several months later, my chief, and mentor, Mr. Poonnoose showed me the same sketches I had

made, and suggested that I should make a series of such sketches to show the pitfalls in field work

and in life, and with his encouragement and guidance I did produce a Paper titled, “Points to Ponder in

Diamond Drilling”, and I had the signal opportunity to present it at an International Symposium in

the GSI Headquarters, Calcutta in February 1962.

This tells us that we should develop our natural talents, and be able to  and  be prepared to grab and

opportunity offered to us and use it. This is what Luck is!