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Ashok Mandal
Mr. Ashok Mandal is a B.Tech in Civil Engineering from IIT-Bombay and a Post-Graduate in Marketing Management from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies Bombay, with a fai...view moreMr. Ashok Mandal is a B.Tech in Civil Engineering from IIT-Bombay and a Post-Graduate in Marketing Management from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies Bombay, with a fairly successful professional working career as Scaffolding Formwork Specialist. The urge for doing something towards Social Responsibility germinated in his hostel days when he along with a few friends . went to work for the nearby slums over the weekends . While beingthe Whole Time Director responsible for business , Mr. Mandal also headed as the President of the CSR efforts “Help Rural India” of the organization , working towards betterment of the lives of under privileged villagers living in some of the remote areas of Himanchal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.As the President of their residential colony , Anand Lok in South Delhi , he implemented a colony – level Rain Water Harvesting System way back in 2003-2004 that won the Chief Minister’s prize and still bearing fruit in maintaining and rejunevating the ground water table in the area . Other than numerous technical articles in various industry magazines in India on his subject of work( Formwork Specialised Scaffolding ) , creative writing has been a passion forhim right from the early campus days in Powai-Bombay .During his years in IIT , he wrote poems and short stories both in Bengali and English. He started an on-campus Bengali Magazine called “Patheek” ( Traveller) and a ”Poetry Club” members of which met every friday evening after dinner at the foyer of the huge Convocation Hall to share and discuss the latest creations of each member. As the literary secretary of his hostel , he edited the hostel magazine called “Dabbler” while his various pieces found spaces in the annual campus magazine “Pragati” as well as in “Dabbler” . His creative urges continued to find life through his working as well as family life , albeit sporadically , with sudden bursts such as during the Pandemic. On, many occasions , while sharing his latest pieces , family members and friends repeatedly prodded him for publishing his collections – an effort which by and large , was relegated to a corner . Time has come now to turn the corner or so it seems !About the IllustratorMr. Pradeep Aeri , the illustrious illustrator of some of the pieces of REFLECTIONS is an old friend of the author . He has been a successful Art Director in some of the leading advertising agencies in India such as Thomson Press , Clarion , TSA etc. besides being a prolific painter and an avid photographer .Besides doing all the illustrations including the Cover , Pradeep has designed the book and the complete layout.It was during various social meets and outstation trips , while listening to the creations , he sown the idea of sketching some of the pieces that would add vigour to the poems. Prophetic , Indeed !view less