This is the concluding part of Dr U S Awasthi’s interview done by us last week. In this Dr Awasthi talks about his sons and his relationship with them, about his mother and his wife.
Excerpts:
Indian Cooperative: Tell us about your inspirational figures as Tolstoy was the inspiration behind Mahatma Gandhi. Who inspired you the most?
Dr U S Awasthi: Sorry, I have no one to name; I do not think anybody could influence me so overwhelmingly. Make no mistake, I am not arrogant. But this is not in me to follow a given path. My mother is somebody whom I adore the most in my life but I would not even follow her lines. I am self made and make my own path out of my experiences and understanding.
Indian Cooperative: Any particular book that affected you greatly?
Dr U S Awasthi: I keep reading and books influence you in subtle ways. I do not know of any particular book as such then of course I like Rag Darbari a lot.
Indian Cooperative: How have you been as a father? Tell us something about your style of parenting?
Dr U S Awasthi: Being a busy man I was not able to attend to them much but I have always kept an open and transparent relationship with them. My wife would take care of their studies as well as health. I would never be able to go to parent-teacher meeting. But once when one of my sons was not focusing on studies Principal insisted on my presence.
I went to school and I spent four hours cooling my heels and when I was called in she did not even offer me a seat. She lectured me endlessly and at the end I just asked her one question” Is my son a good citizen and is he developing into a good human being?
The bottom-line is that we all should be first good human beings and education is what it is all about, I believe till date.
Indian Cooperative: Where are they now?
Dr U S Awasthi: I have two sons. Elder one is in USA and the younger one is in Dubai. They are heading multinational IT companies. Elder one is CEO and the younger on is COO. I wanted them to be away from India and wanted them to grow on their own. Here people would have known them through me but I wished to be known through them.
They call me quite frequently and seek my advice at times. We have excellent relationship.
Indian Cooperative: And your wife? Being the daughter of a great father did you have to suffer her tantrums?
Dr U S Awasthi: Far from it. She is an embodiment of love and affection. She has been my strength and is a typical Indian woman for whom husband and kids matter most.
She hates to travel but always obliges me by accompanying on my visits to plants. She has a flair for interacting with women folk and my job becomes easier due to her. She treats IFFCO staff members also as her children and you can verify this by talking to them.
Indian Cooperative: What about moments of tiff with her?
Dr U S Awasthi: My mother told her much earlier that if I get cross or angry she has to disappear from the scene till I cool down.
Indian Cooperative: What about her legacy as she is the daughter of a renowned litterateur Sri Lal Shukla?
Dr U S Awasthi: She is into reading books and doing music big time. To tell you the truth, I am known in international cultural circuits through her. She has carved a name for herself.
Indian Cooperative: To conclude tell us about your mother
Dr U S Awasthi: My mother was a strong lady and the one person I love the most in my life it is my mother. Have you not read my tweet on her; she is most adorable. I still feel her smell and get nostalgic; she was such a great human being.
We lost our father early and it was she who nurtured us siblings into what we are today. My elder brother was such a colossus in literature that Sahitaya Academy has listed him as one of the top 100 writers. My two sisters have also been hugely successful.
All this was possible due to my mother’s excellent parenting.