Sir M Visvesvaraya – 5 Inspirational stories and Quotes for Engineers Day

This article is a dedication to Sir.M.Visvesvaraya in remembrance of his contributions to Engineers day. His birthday is celebrated as Engineers day in India, Sri Lanka and Tanzania. In this article, we talk about a few of his contributions to the world which qualifies his birthday for the honour of engineers day.

We also talk about his values and some anecdotes to represent these values.

These were the words of the greatest engineer India has ever seen, the engineer whose birthday is celebrated as “Engineers Day” all over India on the 15th of September every year. Visvesvaraya is often used as a metaphor here for an extremely intelligent person. We say “He has Visvesvaraya’s brain “ 

Inspiration from Visvesvaraya for Engineer’s Day

He is often quoted as an example by our parents “Visvesvaraya studied under the street lamps, why can’t you with all the facilities” this is what most of the parents use at home. I am not sure about the rest of the country but it is one popular say in Karnataka :)

“Remember, your work may be only to sweep a railway crossing, but it is your duty to keep it so clean that no other crossing in the world is as clean as yours.”

– Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya

You can guess that his childhood was not easy by the above line. He was born in a small village. He studied B.A in Bangalore and later pursued civil engineering from Pune.

On his birthday and India’s Engineers day we bring out the outstanding achievements of the man and a few anecdotes from his life which inspire us in plenty of ways.

Sir M Visvesvaraya achievements

Here is a brief list of achievements in the name of Sir M Visvesvaraya. As an engineer, it fills my heart with pride to collate this article about his achievements and inspirational words.

1. He was the Architect of the Krishnarajasagara dam (This is the first that pops in the mind to any Mysorean :) )
2. He implemented irrigation system in Karnataka.
3. He was a Diwan of Mysore. He set up Mysore University which happened to become one of the earliest university among the princely states
4. He was an important cause to bring in industrial revolution in Mysore kingdom with Industries like The Sandal Oil Factory, the Soap Factory, the Metals Factory, Bhadravati Iron and Steel Works.
5. He was the chief designer of the flood protection system for the city of Hyderabad in Telangana.
6. He designed automatic, weir water floodgates, installed at Khadakvasla reservoir.
7. He planned the Indian Economy in 1934

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._Visvesvaraya

5 Sir M Visvesvaraya inspirational stories

In this section, we will talk about a few inspiring stories about Sir M Visvesvaraya. These stories have been collected through wide research over the internet and unfortunately don’t always have the right references. I apologise for the lack of right references that would have made this collection comprehensive.

Office resources are not for personal work

Some of these instances talk about how closely he held honesty and integrity in his value set. Although some of these may sound like ideal stories, they still present a valuable asset for our memory to shape a character.

Once visvesvaraya was working with pen and paper in the dark with a lamp. His friend came to meet him. Visvesvaraya quickly blew the lamp and brought another set of lamps, pen and paper near his friend. Upon asked, why he did so, Visvesvaraya replied

“That was office work and I use it only for that purpose”

Visvesvaraya Quotes

Once visvesvaraya received a letter from his friend asking for a place to stay for a few days, he intended to stay in the government guest house. Visvesvaraya made arrangements for his friend to stay at the government guest house by paying a month’s rent of 250 rupees.

He used the government car only for his official purpose. Even though he didn’t own a car initially he didn’t make use of the government car for his personal work. He was a great man with a work ethic. What better example of loyalty, right? He was sincere in his work and made sure he used office facilities only for office purposes. He never misused his powers, unlike many people in power today.

You are never too old to learn something new

To learn about metallurgy procedures he made a trip to the USA with his other Indian engineers at an old age. An American officer showed them new equipment and procedures. They came across a giant machine with a 75-foot ladder. The younger engineers in the group hesitated. But he was the first one to step forward but he was the first person to start climbing.

Visvesvaraya lived for 101 years and he never considered age as a barrier to learning something new in life. He never let his old age and physical weakness stop him from trying something new.

Punctuality is a value to respect everyone’s time including yours

Visvesvaraya was never late for his work. He worked from 8 am to 8 pm. Visvesvaraya was a very punctual and disciplined man. His time sense didn’t even spare a minister who was 3 minutes late for a meeting. The minister had to take visvesvaraya’s advice to be on time.

It’s said that his time sense inspired many people to follow. Being on time is mostly one tough thing for us to do, isn’t it? Being on time is something which impresses people, not just at the workplace but also at home. When you are on time you have an opportunity to leave on time :)

Humility is a key trait in giving back to the world

It was the time when Bhadravati Factory was in trouble and visvesvaraya was the chairman at that time. It took a few years for the government to pay him his salary, which was more than 100,000 rupees. He denied accepting it saying “Start an institute where boys can learn some profession”

People wanted to name the institution after visvesvaraya, he denied it again. He requested to name it after the erstwhile king instead. The institution is “Sri Jayachamaraja Polytechnic Institute” in Bangalore.

Giving back to the world, isn’t it? Probably, this is what showing value for money means. How humble could this man be? Not accept a salary for his hard work and time, insisting on using the money for social welfare and upon that he denies taking credit. Would we do that? I am not sure about me :D

Preparation is as important as the work itself

He once visited his Primary school in his hometown. People were already aware of his great achievements and success. When requested a speech, he spoke for just five minutes and returned home disappointed.

The reason for his disappointment was the unprepared speech. In order to make up for this, he prepared a speech for the schoolchildren and visited the school after a few days again to deliver the speech. It is an amazing story capturing his commitment and the level of seriousness associated with every task – no matter how small or big.

He always made sure he prepared well before his meetings, appointments and speeches. Isn’t it a high attribute of many successful people.?

Equality is not a virtue, but necessity

Visvesvaraya stood for equality and respect for all. The British officers were treated unequally during this time. To recognise their superiority, the organisers provided them with comfortable chairs at the Mysore Durbars during Dasara. Unfortunately, the Indian counterparts and ministers were made to stand or sit on the floor. Visvesvaraya was totally against this and because of this bifurcation, he stopped going to Durbars. After repeated incidents like this, the government decided to allot chairs to Indians as well.

Once a British officer wrote him a letter to arrange comfortable cushions at the Durbars to rest their feet as the height of chairs was pretty big. Visvesvaraya replied to the letter by saying

“The height of the chair has been reduced”.

He never encouraged bossism and discrimination. In continuation, he introduced changes in the government offices to treat people professionally.

He was surely a man of great deeds, ethics and values. The Bharat Ratna awarded to him is a fitting tribute for his dedication and commitment to the development of modern India. On this day, I very proudly recall some memories and values this man stood for as we say:

A very Happy Engineers Day to all!

Related reading:

Quotes by Ambedkar: 6 Brilliant Ambedkar Inspirational Quotes

Gandhiji Quotes: 11 Inspiring Mahatma Gandhi Quotes for Character, Empowerment