Latest news with #Surendra
Hindustan Times
13-06-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Bengaluru auto driver once led IT projects, now seeks second chance after life-altering stroke
In a moving story shared on LinkedIn, a Bengaluru-based autorickshaw driver with a background in IT is hoping to return to the corporate workforce after health setbacks forced him out of the industry. Human Resources professional Gayatri Gopakumar posted about her recent interaction with Surendra R, an auto driver who previously held senior roles in the tech sector. She wrote, 'Everyone has a story, and some are filled with resilience, grit, and the sheer will to bounce back.' According to her post, Surendra once worked as a Senior Associate and Quality Analyst at firms like Calpian Software Technologies and OSPROSYS, where he led projects, managed teams, and earned praise for his ability to handle responsibilities independently. (Also Read: 'Can't wait to be back in Bengaluru': Woman's rant on Mumbai's autos and house help divides internet) However, his life took a sudden turn after he suffered a stroke, reportedly triggered by exposure to cold during winter travel, and compounded by emotional stress from a family medical emergency. With no financial safety net, Surendra took up driving an autorickshaw to support his household. Now on the path to recovery, he is looking to re-enter the workforce in roles aligned with his previous experience, such as Quality Assurance, Operations Support, or other back-office positions. Gopakumar urged her professional network to consider helping Surendra restart his career. 'Let's help him restart his career,' she wrote. could not independently verify Surendra's employment history or health details. Several users praised Gayatri for highlighting stories of resilience and helping professionals get a second chance. 'Kudos to you for always going above and beyond and sharing this story and many more. May this gentleman find his way back to a great role soon,' a user wrote. Some offered constructive suggestions to improve Surendra's visibility and chances in the job market. 'Gayatri Gopakumar, it seems he doesn't have a proper LinkedIn profile and is not very active here. As an HR head, can you help him set that up so he can increase visibility and build the right connections?' Others were moved by the post and hoped for a positive turn in his journey. 'A powerful story of resilience. Hoping Surendra finds the opportunity he deserves.' (Also Read: Bengaluru woman accuses bleeding biker of 'drama' after collision with her car)
Time of India
11-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Bengaluru auto driver who was once an IT professional seeks a second chance. Viral LinkedIn post sparks hope online
In the city known for coding dreams and tech breakthroughs, an unexpected voice from behind an auto rickshaw is reminding the internet of something more human—resilience. Surendra R, once an IT professional with a credible career in Quality Assurance, has captured the hearts of thousands after his moving story was shared on LinkedIn by a passenger who happened to be in Human Resources . A Simple Question That Hit Home Gayatri Gopakumar was just another commuter in Bengaluru when her auto driver, Surendra, interrupted her work call with a question that stopped her in her tracks: 'Sorry Ma'am, are you in HR? Could you help me get a job?' It wasn't a scripted plea, just an honest request from a man who had once navigated software dashboards and now navigates the city's traffic to make ends meet. His words, simple yet loaded with dignity and desperation, led Gayatri to dig deeper. What she discovered—and what she shared with the world—was a tale of ambition interrupted by adversity, and now, a quiet determination to return to the professional sphere. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Linda Kozlowski, 67, Shows Off Her Perfect Figure In A New Photo Today's NYC Undo From Boardrooms to Bylanes Surendra's résumé reads like that of any experienced IT professional. He had worked as a Senior Associate and Quality Analyst, led teams, managed projects, and earned recognition for independent problem-solving. But life had other plans. A stroke during a winter trip and a subsequent family health crisis forced him to leave his job. With no financial safety net, he turned to auto driving—a decision born of necessity, not defeat. 'I want to get back,' Surendra told Gayatri, who later wrote in her viral LinkedIn post, 'He is ready to return, be it in Quality Assurance, Ops Support, or any back-office role that fits his experience.' Moved by his story, she included his photo and contact information, urging her network to help. You Might Also Like: 'Loyalty does not guarantee safety': Laid-off engineer's viral LinkedIn post exposes the brutal truth about modern corporate layoffs LinkedIn Lends an Ear—and a Platform The post, captioned 'Second Time's the Charm?', has resonated deeply with users across LinkedIn, many of whom praised Surendra's spirit and Gayatri's compassion. 'A powerful story of resilience,' wrote one user. Another simply commented, 'All the best to him.' Several others boosted the post's reach by commenting #cfbr —an acronym standing for 'commenting for better reach.' In an age of rapid layoffs and digital disruption, Surendra's story stands out not just for its emotional weight, but for its reflection of the times. Degrees and designations may fade, but grit and grace remain currency in any career. You Might Also Like: Job hunting or switching careers? These small resume tweaks can land you the role you deserve Marketing professor's hilarious LinkedIn comment on alma mater IIM Ahmedabad will leave you in splits. Netizens call him 'legend'
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Meera Syal: When Dad mistook me for Mum, I played along not to upset him
The fact that there isn't even a word in the Punjabi language that means 'dementia' says a lot about the stigma and ignorance surrounding the disease in Indian communities. And yet ironically, incidences of Alzheimer's are much higher in minority ethnicgroups compared to white people. So as a group, we are actually more at risk – and yet we know less. In Asian communities, when signs of memory loss are apparent, it's often just dismissed as old age: 'They're forgetful,' people say. Or 'their minds are going.' But actually there's a huge difference between just age-appropriate forgetfulness and signs of this critical disease. My father, Surendra, really was the most wonderful dad – very loving, playful, sociable, and he adored music. Our house in Walsall, where I grew up, was always full of people singing. Originally a philosophy graduate, Dad worked as an accountant for years in order to provide for our family, my mum Surinder, me and my brother Rajeev, who is seven years younger than me. He was a very bright man who had endured great hardship as a refugee from the partition in 1947, when the British government withdrew from India. Dad's entire family had to abandon their home and flee across the border, so he started from literally nothing and became a self-made man. I'm sure all the stresses he'd suffered going through immigration – and then adaptation – made him more vulnerable to Alzheimer's eventually. It wasn't until 2012 when it became clear to me that Dad wasn't himself. By then I'd long been living in London, as a writer and actor and with two children of my own. Mum had known Dad was unwell for some time, but she had been coping on her own, silently soldiering on for a couple of years before we knew. It started with forgetting where he was driving, the familiar routes he'd taken for years seemed lost. Then in crept a level of paranoia, he became suspicious of even friends he'd known for years. Some days he'd momentarily forget my Mum. Worried, Mum had taken him to the memory clinic several times, but Dad just kept passing the tests, 'maybe because he was having a good day,' she admitted in hindsight. Later, we found out those tests aren't immensely accurate for diagnosing certain different forms of dementia, and actually the only way you can tell is by having a brain scan. In reality, trying to get a brain scan on the NHS is a long and torturous process. You really have to stand your ground and say 'I know something's wrong – and yes he may have passed the memory test – but I know that something is not right.' Ultimately, it was two or three years before Dad's diagnosis was confirmed. That was a long time for my mother to be struggling alone. It must have been isolating. And in that time he could have been taking medication that might have at least been able to help manage his symptoms. Early diagnosis is so crucial. By 2012, Mum could no longer hide it from us or anyone in the wider community. Intervention was needed. Initially we arranged for a carer to come to their home, but that didn't go well as Dad didn't trust them. He didn't want them in the house. And then he kept leaving the house, which meant we had to have security locks fitted to try and keep him safe. He was always restless, and this agitation was hard to live with. Then he became a security risk. One of the cruellest things about this disease is how it affects people's personalities. Becoming ruder or cruder is common with certain types of dementia. Everyone is different so it's impossible to predict. Some people can becalm and vacant, while others become very verbose and front-footed. While Dad was never aggressive, the paranoia was hard, and it was painful when he started insisting Mum had been replaced by a stranger. At that stage we realised we couldn't cope at home, not with Dad escaping, and Mum not being able to keep him safe. For me the worst part was this intermediate stage, when the disease came in and out, because there were times when Dad was completely lucid and cogent and wanted to know what was happening, when he knew something was wrong. This is when families really need support from places like the Alzheimer's Society, because how do you know how to have that conversation with a loved one who is confused and frightened? How do you say the right thing? They have trained, experienced people who can advise you on those difficult talks. What I learnt was that one of the biggest mistakes people make – quite understandably – is trying to correct someone when they are in their own version of reality. Saying to them things like 'No, that's not right' or 'you did that yesterday, remember?' actually distresses a loved one more, because they're coping with two or three different realities in their heads. Instead, it's better to enter into their world with them, even if that means playing along that you are their long-lost friend. Dad would often think I was my mother when she was younger, instead of his daughter. So I'd go along with that as it calmed and reassured him. That has to be the aim. Sometimes, five minutes later after he'd stopped being distressed, he'd find his own way back and know who I was. I came to believe that actually, there are many different kinds of reality in life. I mean, how do we know who's in the right one? Him or me? It becomes quite a Matrix kind of question! I had to open my mind a little bit to try and find the understanding and compassion – and go with whatever he was giving me. When a loved one has dementia it's a long, slow goodbye. You're losing them bit by bit. It's like a little light going off gradually, or a mechanism winding down. You become the parent, not the daughter. While that is certainly awful, there can be many moments of joy along the way, when the light is still on. For Dad, the thing that never left him until the very end, was his passion for music. He loved ghazals, Indian poetry and ballads, which we played and he would sing along. We also put old films from the 1950s and 60s from his youth on the iPad, essentially making our own memory pack for him. Photographs and anything that keeps the memories and the connections going is useful. Dad always had a great sense of humour, so we tried to make him laugh, and be upbeat. Mum visited my dad in the care home every single day and they had a routine, where they'd practise throwing and catching a ball (to keep up his motor skills) and then look at old photos together. You find your own ways of connecting, but the Alzheimer's Society is an amazing resource of information and advice, and through the Dementia Friends network, we found incredible volunteers who would even offer to give relatives a break by sitting and talking to your loved one. Dad was in the care home for six years, so it became the new normal in some ways. You learn to live with the upset, but I hated that in their golden years, when they should have been growing old together, they were separated, with Dad remaining in the home until he died in 2018. When I remember my Papa, I don't try to forget his illness; you can't, it's part of the journey we all had together. I just hope we did everything we could to make his quality of life as good as we could in those last years. You reach a stage where it's actually worse for the family than it is for the person with the disease, because they're in their own world. I took advice about genetic testing, but looking at the rest of my family history, it's highly unlikely to be genetic. There's no history of dementia on my father's side, his older brother is still alive and well, his own father died in his mid-nineties unaffected by dementia. My mother's own mum died at the grand age of 103 (in India!) and she has sisters who are still alive with all their faculties. Losing my parents has made me more health conscious. I'm alert to the increased risks in South Asians of hypertension, obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular health. And actually there's now more awareness of the massive link between gum disease and Alzheimer's. My father suffered with terrible gums for many, many years. The older I get I take better care of myself, watching my cholesterol levels and cardiovascular health and I regularly exercise and look after my gums with hygienist appointments three times a year. I can't change my genetic hand down, but I can try my best with my lifestyle to try and prevent my kids going through this with me one day. As told to Susanna Galton Meera Syal CBE is an Ambassador for Alzheimer's Society and is supporting the charity's appeal. Donate at Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Hans India
04-06-2025
- General
- Hans India
Cops bust drug peddling gang; cocaine and ephedrine worth Rs 1 crore seized
Hyderabad: In a major breakthrough, Cyberabad Special Operation Teams Balanagar zone along with Kukatpally Police apprehended a gang, including a serving police constable from Andhra Pradesh while they were planning to sell the Cocaine mixed with Ephedrine at Kukatpally. Police seized drugs worth Rs 1 crore from their possession. Police arrested Gunashekar, a supplier and a constable Tirupati, Unnam Surendra alias Suri, Dothireddy Haribabu Reddy, Chegudi Mercy Margaret, Shaik Masthan Vali, Devaraju YesuBabu, all native of Andhra Pradesh and Appanna, a peddler from Bangalore. The accused were intercepted near Jaya Nagar, Kukatpally, while searching for buyers. Police seized 820 grams of Cocaine mixed with ephedrine worth Rs 1 crore, a digital weighing machine, and five mobile phones from them. According to police, during the ongoing investigation, it was revealed that the main accused Gunasekhar, a serving Task Force Police constable in AP, had proposed the sale of Ephedrine for profit. Surendra, who was looking for easy money, was attracted to the proposal and along with his associates conspired to sell the drug in Hyderabad where there is high demand. N Koti Reddy, DCP, Balanagar Zone, said that on May 29, Surendra collected 820 grams of drug Cocaine mixed with Ephedrine from Gunashekar at Tirupati and proceeded to Hyderabad via Guntur. The group assembled at Jaya Nagar, Kukatpally and planned to distribute the contraband. On June 2, while they were moving towards Bhagyanagar, Kukatpally in search of consumers, the patrolling police intercepted them based on suspicious movement and behaviour. One of the accused attempted to flee but was apprehended. Upon questioning and searching, the team recovered 820 grams of Cocaine-Ephedrine, a digital weighing machine, and mobile phones used in the conspiracy. The seizure was made as per NDPS Act procedures. Cyberabad Police requested parents to keep a watch on the activities of their children and feel free to approach police or pass information if any suspicious activity is noticed.
The Hindu
03-06-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Police bust drug ring in Kukatpally, seize cocaine and ephedrine worth ₹1 crore
A gang of seven, including a serving police constable, was busted during their attempt to smuggle high-value drug mixture of cocaine and ephedrine during a joint operation by the Kukatpally police and Balanagar Special Operations Team (SOT). The accused, include Unnam Surendra, a 31-year-old unemployed man from Tirupati; Dothireddy Haribabu Reddy, a contractor; Chegudi Mercy Margaret and Shaik Masthan Vali, both fast-food business operators from Addanki and Devaraju Yesu Babu, a self-employed loan agent. The accused were arrested near Jaya Nagar in Kukatpally and 820 grams of the contraband worth ₹1 crore was seized from them. The Kukatpally Police said that the mastermind identified as Gunashekar, a serving Armed Reserve Constable from Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh and Bengaluru-based peddler Appanna are yet to be arrested. Investigation revealed that Gunashekar proposed the idea of selling ephedrine for profit. Enticed by the promise of easy money, Surendra along with the other four, joined the scheme. Surendra had previously worked with Mercy Margaret at Keerthana Finance in Prakasam district, where he would refer clients for gold loans. A financial dispute reportedly arose between Surendra and Margaret, involving her friend Masthan Vali. In an attempt to resolve the issue, Surendra's associate Haribabu Reddy intervened and later connected with Yesu Babu, who claimed to know potential drug buyers in Hyderabad. On May 29, Surendra collected the cocaine-ephedrine mixture from Gunashekar in Tirupati. The group then travelled to Hyderabad via Guntur and congregated in Jaya Nagar, Kukatpally, intending to distribute the drug. On June 2, while searching for customers in the Bhagyanagar area, their suspicious movements drew the attention of patrolling officers. One of the suspects attempted to escape but was caught. Further investigation into the case is underway.
