Indian Cricket and Sachin Tendulkar

What’s happening to Indian cricket?

Why our players have to fight through media? That too about the game strategy? Why all of a sudden senior players are looking so bad and non-performing?

Blame this on coach. The job of coach is to take the team together, like a business leader. This is not happening in first place.

Suddenly, media is asking for heads. And cricket Pundits asking for Sachin should retire. If my memory serves me correct, team management asked Sachin to play one day, he was earlier considering not playing them in Australia, I remember reading headlines like this. And all of a sudden he is looking so bad that he can’t even be considered as a player who contributed to game of cricket. He is a bad player?

Oh come on.

Every player has some special skills and he will contribute to the game accordingly. You can’t expect everyone is alike. Why there is no other Sachin then?

When we will start looking cricket as just a professional game?

Adaptation versus Rigidity: Kingfisher Airlines

What makes one company succeed, while another, in the same operating environment, falter? Sometimes, luck plays a role but in most cases in business history, the difference between survival and extinction is more about discipline versus excess, adaptation versus rigidity. Just look at the divergent stories of Kodak and Fujifilm—both legendary firms in the film business. While Fuji realised its days were numbered and managed to reinvent itself by launching new—yet unrelated—business lines in things like cosmetics and optical films for LCD flat-panel screens, Kodak is a shadow of its former self because it couldn’t articulate a strategy beyond images.

In India, a similar tale of contrasting approaches—and fortunes—can be seen in the airline industry. While Kingfisher airlines cannot be relegated to the dustheap of airline history as yet, its abysmal performance in the last few years makes it stand out in stark contrast to IndiGo—India’s most profitable airline. Why did one soar and the other plummet?

One answer has to do with Kingfisher’s schizophrenic approach to a business model. Kingfisher was launched as an all-economy, single-class configuration aircraft with food and entertainment systems. After about a year of operations, the airline suddenly shifted its focus to luxury.

On the other hand, IndiGo preferred to wait and have a solid business plan in place. Its plan was to stick to operating a single configuration aircraft, providing point-to-point connectivity. The airline launched with one aircraft and had a plan to add an aircraft every six weeks, giving them enough time to stabilize

An experienced and professional team in the cockpit is a basic requirement for any airline to be able to withstand stormy skies. Yet, things went out of control further because Kingfisher never had a professional airline management in place. IndiGo’s approach was more measured and professional. It’s first CEO, Bruce Ashby, was in India 18months before the launch, and an experienced team at the management/board level has been key reason of IndiGo's success.

Another difference between IndiGo and Kingfisher is in the former’s ability to strike savvy deals—especially for its aircraft. The 100 Airbus aircraft deal signed in 2005 was a game changer as they managed to get an exceptional price and gave them the strategic ability to leverage it significantly.

Some companies just fail to learn—either from the examples that its peers may have set for the industry, or from its own past mistakes. Now, Kingfisher has decided to change its model yet again—discontinuing its Kingfisher Red brand and completely converting its fleet to a dual class, full-service configuration.

The positioning of the Kingfisher airlines was also a problem since beginning. The image was aligned to the ‘Life Size’ image of its promoter, Vijay Mallya. Where as it should be like focusing on the operation make it work before taking next step. You can’t expand business without putting the operation in place.

This raises the question in mind, how important the management is? Why management has to have a clear strategy and focus on operational efficiency. And how it is important to have a management which understands the business?

Business is all about having the killer focus on business!!

Sarvam Dev Mayam Jagat: (This world is full of God)

This weekend; I was back to reading Bhagavad-Gita, which I used to do regularly earlier. I always turn to this epic whenever I feel low and need inspiration.

I started thinking, whatever we think is my/our achievement, does it really so? What is really our part in what we are today?

Actually speaking, if we start thinking that I am just an actor in the larger play of this whole world, it gives us maturity and a mindset to accept the things as is. Whatever happens in this world is pre-destined, good or bad, happy or sad; it was supposed to be in that way.

But, our mind starts thinking that whatever I am today is because of me and I am the super power, we feel we are successful because of my hard work, because of my intelligent; actually speaking; it was pre-destined that you are supposed to be successful and you did!

Bhagavad-Gita says, 9,17;

pitaham asya jagato mata dhata pitamahah
vedyam pavitram omkara rk sama yajur eva ca

Translation:I am the father of this universe, the mother, the support and the grandsire. I am the object of knowledge, the purifier and the syllable om. I am also the Rig, the Sama and the Yajur Vedas.

In this one verse, the role of superpower has been explained. Before we start feeling pride when we achieve something, we need to understand that there is a superpower behind everything and it controls the every single detail of what’s happening in this world.

The entire cosmic manifestations, moving and nonmoving, are manifested by different activities of super energy. In the material existence we create different relationships with different living entities who are nothing but super power’s marginal energy; under the creation of prakriti some of them appear as our father, mother, grandfather, creator, etc., but actually they are parts and parcels of that super power.

It was a really refreshing weekend, completely away from business numbers, sales targets, delivery headaches and but just to think about my favorite book and think on how insignificant I am in this universal manifestation of god!

It gave me a great motivation to go there and give my best in whatever I do, it slowed me down to think and it gave me that spiritual energy and momentary mental peace.

Out of phone!

I am out of phone, since last 5 hours. And there is only one thought in my mind, how much I have been depending on that small instrument!!

iOS is not re-installing on my iPhone and I kept on trying to install, without success. I did some research and reading on internet, but none of the articles gave any direction.

The new technology has given us great access to information all the times, ability to connect to the world and know. And I am been connected to internet just to substitute my phone off-time.

Actually, phone is no more an instrument it was meant to, to get-receive the phone calls. It has been converted in to an instrument which keeps you hooked up, or wired up!! This is why per minute usage of each subscriber of all major telecom companies have increased much. Plus, there is a clear business model to sell more data services than voice.

Look at Bharati Airtel, how successfully Airtel have expanded in to Africa and mad Zen Telecom a profitable enterprise. It was an interesting business model and they have successfully put together the revenue and cost structure in place.

An interesting comparison here is Telenor. Telenor has been successful elsewhere in the World, wherever it entered. Except India; where Uninor has not been profitable so far and there seems to be some issues with that operation. Recent cancellation of 2G spectrum allocated to Uninor has put that business in to tighter spot. Its global experience seems not helping Telenor.

Question back is, how much we are depending on gadgets?

Indian Post Office

The old format of Post Office, that office which we have grown up seeing is fading fast.

The post office has been changing for several years now. It first got the strategy consultants McKinsey to work out a vision and road map towards reinvention, essential when the letter, the heart of the traditional post office, is rapidly disappearing. The department now has a new logo that signals that post office interiors have a new format, with prescribed appropriate furniture — and, critically, computers. It is on its way to connecting all “departmental” post offices through a core banking solution.
The strategic plan for Postal department to generate additional revenue has different plans.

One of the interesting things it started is to branch out in to life Insurance, in rural areas. Just like LIC but so far it is restricting itself to rural areas, with better and attractive return plans. There is much been invested in to training and other initial logistics without much hype. If done correctly, it will obviously generate huge revenue.

Recent to this is Department of Postal has decided to start a Bank of its own. The post office savings bank has huge deposits (totalling Rs 3.7 lakh crore at end-2009-10, nearly half of banking leader SBI’s) but also makes huge losses (net deficit 94 per cent of revenue in an exceptional pay commission award-burdened year, and 61 per cent in the more normal previous year, 2008-09).

It can be said that the post office savings bank does not get depositors out of its own effort. They walk in because of better (administered) returns and tax advantages. That is why collections fluctuate according to whether banks’ deposit rates appear more or less attractive at a given moment. This happens because, while banks and the entire financial sector have moved to market-determined rates which fluctuate according to the signals of monetary policy, small savings rates have been kept stable so as to encourage steady savings by common people.

The most important aspect is the leadership. Can Post Bank get the kind of leadership private banking has? Can Department of Post build kind of management like MNC banks have?

I think, it has clear advantage in terms of brand recall and the trust. Over the years Indian Post has been part of our common life and known for better returns. If done correctly, the bank promoted by Indian Post will have a very clear advantage.

It is a clear change time in Indian Post.

Australian Open 2012

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal had just played the longest match in Grand Slam finals history.

It was a great match of tennis, a true exhibition of resilience, strength, patience, courage, toughness and persistence; throughout those 5 hours and 53 minutes of marathon.
This is how champions are made, through constant grinding and pushing up against the wall. Both the players were so drained out that they could barely stand during the award ceremony.

After coming back from 5-3 down to win the fourth-set tiebreaker, Nadal was up a break at 4-2 in the fifth set against Djokovic, who seemed to be tiring. But the No. 1-ranked Djokovic, who needed almost five hours to win his semifinal against Andy Murray, somehow responded. He broke for a 6-5 lead and saved a break point before finally claiming the win.

This was a true exhibition of never say die attitude from both the players, however the physical and mental strength makes the big difference at the end. This is the difference between a champion and a mediocre.

It was just a great game of tennis at the end of the day.

Leander Paes has won men’s doubles championship and is runner up in mixed-double, which is good news for all of us.

The smell of winning sweat is always great and that keeps the players motivated to give more.

Going Down The Memory Lane

Recently I was in my hometown on a vacation and I got a chance to meet few of old people.
First to mention was my 1st grade school master, who probably taught me first lesions in alphabet. He barely recognized me, obviously so!!

Second was my high-school teacher, who remembered me and asked about my journey etc.
Third was my college professor who taught me few subjects.

The third was an interesting one as it appeared me that my young friends who are currently studying in that college where I studied do not have information about where things are going on outside corporate world, nor they have the direction required. It was almost similar affair while I was studying in there.

Few things never change!!

I also visited a village where I used to visit with my father when I was probably 6-7 years old. The houses, the people, the area where I played, where I fought with my sister; that all reminded me on my childhood.

It was kind of re-visiting part of my biography, like in movie ‘My Autograph’

Going down the memory lane, was perhaps describes it better!

The monk who got his bike!

First of all, I am not a monk, but I guess I am heavily influenced by Robin Sharma!!

Second, I got a bike as gift and have started riding it (like pro???). I got this dream of biking after I read Lance Armstrong’s biography and got the required push/motivation in time.

Let me tell you, it’s a great oxygen pusher, which pumps in lot of O2 in to your system and riding that little machine in the morning is a divine experience.

It’s little different than brisk walking, which I am used to. It’s much tiring comparatively and needs constant focus on the road in order to mitigate the risk of rash driving of others.

But, it brings in lot of energy and cheerfulness due to high oxygen intake.

And I am liking it…

Business trips and the time spent in reading.

Busines trips and the solitude time on the plane and airports gives lot of time to catch up on reading.

During my last business trip, i finished reading three books, in planes; between sleeps, on trams, on buses, cabs and in airports.

“The Secret Letters of the Monk who sold his Ferrari”

Jonathan Landry is a man in trouble. After a bizarre encounter with his lost cousin Julian Mantle'a former high-powered courtroom lawyer who suddenly vanished into the Himalayas.Jonathan is compelled to travel across the planet to collect the life-saving letters that carry the extraordinary secrets that Julian discovered.

On a remarkable journey that includes visits to the sensual tango halls of Buenos Aires, the haunting catacombs of Paris, the gleaming towers of Shanghai and the breathtakingly beautiful Taj Mahal in India, The Secret Letters of The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari reveals astounding insights on reclaiming your personal power, being true to yourself and fearlessly living your dreams."

“The Leadership Code”

What is the leadership?

It's a question that has been tackled by thousands. In fact there are literally tens of thousands of leadership studies, theories, frameworks, models, and recommended best practices. But where are the clear, simple answers we need for our daily work lives? Are there any?

Dave Ulrich, Norm Smallwood, and Kate Sweetman set out to answer these questions--to crack the code of leadership. Drawing on decades of research experience, the authors conducted extensive interviews with a variety of respected CEOs, academics, experienced executives, and seasoned consultants -- and heard the same five essentials repeated again and again. These five rules became The Leadership Code.

In The Leadership Code, the authors break down great leadership into day-to-day actions, so that you know what to do Monday morning. Crack the leadership code--and take your leadership to the next level

“Unusual People Do Things Differently”

Unusual people are ordinary people who strive hard to do extraordinary things. They are sensitive to nuances, look to provide lateral solutions, dare to think out of the box, and often end up changing the rules of the game.

T.G.C. Prasad presents the views and experiences of sixty-five individuals, from well-known names like Mike Lawrie, Azim Premji and Mother Teresa to a chef, a masseuse and a service boy, with whom he has had meaningful interactions and who have inspired him. He includes people from a broad professional spectrum; CEOs, doctors, the director general of police, realtors, an attorney, a chartered accountant, a consultant and a sports coach are among those who make his list. Singling out a dominant factor from each person’s story, he outlines the journeys these people undertook and the behaviours they exhibited, and shows how these link up to the results they achieved.

Differentiate in the market place

Differentiation is the essence of strategy, the prime source of competitive advantage. You earn money not just by performing a valuable task but by being different from your competitors in a manner that lets you serve your core customers better and more profitably

The sharper your differentiation, the greater your advantage. Consider Tetra Pak, a company that in 2010 sold more than 150 billion packages in 170 markets around the world. Tetra Pak’s carton packages extend the shelf life of products and eliminate the need for refrigeration. The shapes they take—squares and pyramids, for example—stack more efficiently in trucks and on shelves than most cans or bottles. The packaging machines that use the company’s unique laminated material lend themselves to high-volume dairy operations. These three features set Tetra Pak well apart from its competitors and allow it to produce a package that more than compensates for its cost.

All successful companies have this kind of well-defined and easily understood differentiation at the center of their strategy. Nike’s differentiation resides in the power of its brand, the company’s relationships with top athletes, and its signature performance-focused product design. Singapore Air’s differentiation comes from its unique ways of providing premium service at a reasonable cost on long-haul business flights. Apple’s differentiation consists of deep capabilities in writing easy-to-use software, the integrated iTunes system, and a simplicity of design and product lines.

You can find high performers like these in most industries. The cold truth about hot markets is this: Over the long run, a company’s strategic differentiation and execution matter far more to its performance.

But differentiation tends to wear with age, and not just because competitors try hard to undermine or replicate it. Often the real problem is internal: The growth generated by successful differentiation begets complexity, and a complex company tends to forget what it’s good at. Products proliferate. Acquisitions take it far from its core. Frontline employees, more and more distant from the CEO’s office, lose their sense of the company’s strategic priorities. A lack of consistency kills economies of scale and retards the company’s ability to learn.

The entire last week was spent in sales reviews, forecast meetings and building a new business model for a new market, where the thought process was to differentiate in the market place.

The outcome of that thought process is this article...

The TCS Story ... and Beyond : Review

When a man who has headed an organisation – and it happens to be India’s largest IT services provider – for 13 years writes a book, you feel compelled to read it to gain a better understanding of leadership and management strategies. The TCS Story ... and Beyond by S Ramadorai does not disappoint in this regard. Ramadorai, who was with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for 40 years, has not only given an account of his personal journey and the strategy that TCS adopted but also provided a deep insight into the Indian IT industry, and the beginnings of the offshoring model that has made India’s software exports an over $60-billion industry, and TCS an over $8-billion company.

The TCS story is one of modern India’s great success stories. In this fascinating book, S. Ramadorai, one of the country’s most respected business leaders, recounts the steps to that extraordinary success. The inside story of one of India’s premier corporate institutions, this is also in part a history of the rapidly developing IT software and services industry in India, told from the perspective of an industry leader.

Ramadorai highlights how the Y2K problem created an enormous opportunity for the entire Indian IT industry to expand its client base. He explains how the company went about its vision of becoming a multi-billion dollar firm. In 2003, for instance, around 90 per cent of TCS’ revenues came from IT services. So the TCS core team drew a single bubble and added the text “IT Solutions and Services” on a PowerPoint slide. Five more bubbles followed on the PowerPoint slide: Global Consulting, Engineering and Industrial Services, Asset-based Offerings, Infrastructure Services and IT-enabled Services (or BPO). There we were with six neat bubbles on a PowerPoint slide. “We declared we would grow each of these into a $1 billion plus business,” Ramadorai writes.

Ramadorai also gives an interesting insight into the manpower angle, which is now the strength of the Indian IT industry. Today, TCS has over 200,000 employees (including subsidiaries). And in recent years, excluding the 2008-10 downturn, TCS has recruited about 30,000 people each year. “I am often asked how the induction and training of such a large number of new recruits happens. This is a skill that TCS has mastered, developing a very well-oiled system that transforms young adults into confident and competent professionals ready for a global career,” he writes.

Towards the end of the book Ramadorai has put in his thoughts on education in India and how vocational training has to be brought in and strengthened as that would open up more avenues of employment for the students passing out of the numerous schools and colleges. It would give a different means to livelihood to the millions who today strive to find a job and then try to find satisfaction with whatever job comes their way rather than being able to select a job as per their abilities and likes.

Behind the phenomenon called TCS lies a quest for excellence and an attention to detail—captured in the company’s motto ‘Experience Certainty’—that can benefit any organization. There is a great deal to be learnt from the TCS example, and Ramadorai outlines a vision for the future where the quality initiatives he undertook can be applied to a larger national framework. This is a book that every Indian who is committed to building a better and more productive future must read.

It's Not about the Bike

It's Not about the Bike: My Journey Back to Life is an inspiring story of Lance Armstrong, great US athlete, who won Tour De France seven times in a row and more importantly came back from cancer to compete.

I just finished reading this book.

'I want to die at a hundred years old with an American flag on my back and the star of Texas on my helmet, after screaming down an Alpine descent on a bicycle at seventy-five miles per hour. I want to cross one last finish line as my wife and ten children applaud, and then I want to lie down in a field of those famous French sunflowers and gracefully expire: the perfect contradiction to my once anticipated poignant early demise. A slow death is not for me. I don't do anything slow, not even breathe.'

This talks about mettle of a winning professional, individual and character of a person who can think about winning from his cancer bed, think about winning Tour even when there were no sponsor to take him.

In 1996 twenty-four-year-old Lance Armstrong was ranked the number one cyclist in the world. But that October the Golden Boy of American cycling was sidelined by advanced testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs and brain. His chance for recovery was as low as twenty per cent. Armstrong embarked on the most aggressive form of chemotherapy available and underwent surgery - including brain surgery - to remove cancer that the treatments could not reach.

Five months after his diagnosis he resumed training under a cloud of uncertainty. Armstrong returned to competitive cycle racing in 1998 when the United States Postal Service team invited him to join them, and from there he trained himself to victory in the 86th Tour de France in 1999.

Although scarred physically and emotionally, Lance Armstrong considered his cancer a 'wake-up call', one that crystallized for him the blessings of good health, family, friends and marriage

This is the story of a journey, from inauspicious beginnings through triumph, tragedy, transformation and transcendence. Filled with the physical, emotional and spiritual details of his recovery, It's Not About the Bike traces the remarkable journey of this great athlete to a singularly inspiring appreciation of life lived to the fullest.

This booked taught me one thing, never never give up. You can overcome obstacles in life though dedication, determination and hard work.

Salute to Lance, for fighting against all odds and showing a path !

Habit of winning

The habit of winning makes a difference and with which most of the business or the teams go for a kill!

When you take a hard look at India’s debacle in England you find that there are echoes of it in the world of business. Three companies in the last month — Yahoo, Apple and Research in Motion (makers of Blackberry) — considered giants at one point, are in the news because there are questions if they can continue to be major players in their businesses. Yahoo, because in spite of multiple CEO changes it hasn’t been able to break out of its rut for the past five years; Apple, because Steve Jobs has stepped down as CEO and Research in Motion because it’s fallen way behind Apple and Samsung in the Smartphone race.

Great teams do not surrender meekly. Look at Sony. The Japanese electronics giant had suffered a series of failures in the first half of the decade before it entered the high definition optical disc format war where its Blu-ray disc went up against HD DVD from Toshiba. The war could have been the death knell for Sony but the company triumphed. It came back from the brink when Toshiba admitted defeat and launched its own version of Blu-ray in 2008.

Some teams seem to get in to constant winning, for longer time. So does the business. There is lot of similarity how a sports team or business team work. It’s extremely important to have the momentum of winning going. Because, as winning is habit, so does loosing.

There are several factors that make a high performance team. If you change any one of them, the equilibrium of the team will change and it might take a shift in team dynamics to make it work again. The role of coach is to give the vision to the team, to give the direction to win, to build the habit of winning. Like a coach, a CEO or a head of function need to build this culture of winning.

Technically speaking, coach or CEO, are not part of the playing team (operational team); but their contribution is in building high performance teams, building the team which continue performing and producing results for long haul. A coach or CEO can’t be man of the match, but they produce match winners.

They stand at background and build the culture. That is what a great leadership is all about.

Someone asked me about role of change in coach of India cricket team in team’s debacle in England.

Time to think how Gary Kirsten managed to build that habit of winning?

The Spirit of Marathon

While returning back from Oslo this weekend, I watched a movie, ’The Spirit of Marathon’; it’s a documentary on marathon and runners.

It was very inspiring and motivating.

It’s a feel-good documentary that follows the lives and training plans of 6 runners and ultimately culminates with their running of the Chicago Marathon. It includes elite runners Daniel Njenga and Deena Kastor along with 4 other runners of varying backgrounds and performance levels.

I really enjoyed the insight to the various training philosophies and motivating factors of each of these runners. Getting that open and honest glimpse of what it takes to train for and run 26.2 miles from a diverse group was awe-inspiring. The movie allowed you to get to know the runners as they shared their lives and 4 months of training. From a single-parent trying to get her life back on track to a 70-year-old marathon veteran…this movie inspires everyone as we all can relate to some of their hurdles, feelings, and challenges as they prepare for and run the marathon.

This movie is more than a documentary about distance running, it’s a well-woven tapestry of inspiring stories with motivational music and athlete background clips that has you literally cheering for the athletes in their ultimate marathon race. Despite not knowing the outcome of the race (2005 Chicago Marathon), I still found myself on the edge of my plane seat cheering for Deena & Daniel as they kicked in that last 0.2!

For anyone that’s run a marathon, considering a marathon, or wants to understand the marathoner in their life…watch Spirit of the Marathon. Watching the training, injuries, personal triumph, and successes of these runners will have runners and non-runners, alike, thinking about signing up for the next marathon.

For those who don’t want to run marathon, still good see, you will for sure start running!

Happy Running!!

Never, Never, Never give up!

Founder CEO or Professional CEO?

The founder CEO of my last organization, Manu Parpia, when he decided to pass the operational control to a professionally hired CEO; mentioned to his close circle that after a certain time founders need to step back and give control to a professional CEO and see he/she builds it to a great height.

Manu is back as CEO of Geometric after gap of four years, this is different story.

But, the point we need to draw is founder CEO or professional CEO.
It’s very difficult to take one side in this argument. We have seen cases, like Infosys where the founder team continue taking the charge, Wipro saw Pramji back in to helm after short time of non-founder CEO. At global level Google saw this kind of transition.

But, there are several example in medium enterprise segment, where professionally hired CEOs made it big and taken the organization in to a newer height.

As I wrote earlier, it’s very difficult to assume one way is best or the other. Founder CEO Model seems to work as one person or group of people seems to have control on the course of the strategy of the company, the direction it needs to take. (Though board decides it finally). It has disadvantages as well in not able to get out of the mold and scale to new heights. It will lack bigger ideas or broader market experience to position the company.

On the other hand, professional CEO would need lot of time to understand the organization culture and its strengths/weakness. Understanding the current problems and then creating a strategy to provide value to customers will be a huge task to manage.

Building the organization and managing the business and stakeholder’s expectation should be primary focus of the company.

If customer/business growth becomes the center of any company, it will have bright future.

Currently we are going through some organization changes in my company and these are the thoughts came to my mind looking at current state of merger and takeover.

Stockholm thoughts….

In Stockholm today; after too much of waiting at airports, first in Delhi and then in Frankfurt. Tired!

I have been thinking ever since I started from India, why I am traveling? :)

Why this feeling? Is it because of emotional rollercoaster? Or just, plain physically tired? Or it is really there is no business involved?

No, third can’t be true, I have about three and half dozen meetings lined up in next two weeks and very important decisions to be made; so there is a need for this travel.

So, it’s either one of the two remaining.

I was watching a demo robot in Frankfurt airport; sometimes it’s better to be a robot, emotionless!! But, reality is you are not a robot.

And you can’t be one either….

The light of life….Deepavu ninnade

One of my favorite all time kannada song, which captures the complexity of life is from Mysore Mallige album. It made me to think that poet has captured the essence of life so nicely;

Whenever I listen to this song-am mesmerized- it’s so thought provoking, takes me into another world – forget myself and the surrounding. Life is so uncertain, everything is the divine play of the supreme lord….the song says the same:

Deepavu Ninnade gaLiyu ninnade, aaradirali beLaku
kaDalu ninnade, haDagu ninnade muNugadirali badaku……..

‘Everything is yours- the light, air, water……do not put off the light of life- the shore/bank (as in river)belong to You oh god, so does the boat in which we sail-do not let the life drown/get washed away’

BeTTavu ninnade, bayalu ninnade, habbi nagali preeti
neLalu bisilu yellavu ninnave irali ekareeti

The mountains and the plains are yours; let love blossom(the poet means to say let there be vegetation/there ought not be a draught)
The sunny days and rainy are yours -measure them on a same scale

Alle ondu siDilu iigondu mugilu,ninage alankara
alle ondu hakki, ille ondu muguLu ninage namaskara
kaDalu ninnade,haDagu ninnade muLugadirali baduku….

The roaring thunder and the rain clouds adorn you like jewels; the birds and smiling faces sing thy praise…..don’t let the boat of life to be drowned

Alli raNa dundubhi illi ondu veeNe ninna pratidwani,
aa mahakavya, ii bhavageete ninna padadhwani
deepavu ninnade, gaLiyu ninnade aaradirali beLaku
kaDalu ninnade, haDagu ninnade muNugadirali badaku……..

Amidst the war cries, I string the melodious Veena which is your very voice; Epics have been written in your praise, I’m singing a song for you which I regard it as a foot-step to realize you……you are the light and wind too ; let not the light of my life extinguish, let the shore of my life along with the boat in which I sail by your support; not wash away/drown.

These are reflections of a thoughtful Sunday morning…

’Main Khelega’

December 1989, Sialkot, Pakistan. It was fourth test match between India and Pakistan. And it happens to be fourth test of Sachin Tendulkar’s career.

Making debut at Sixteen, Sachin was seen as a precocious talent. However, several young stars had sparkled briefly in India’s cricketing sky and almost suddenly faded away as fast as they appeared.

The series was tied 0-0 after three tests. Despite conceding lead of 65 runs in first innings, Pakistan hit back through blistering spells from Wasim Akram and Waqar Yonus reducing India to 38 for 4 wickets. Experienced pros like Shrikanth, Manjrekar, Shastri and Azarauddin were back to pavilion. In walked Sachin, to join Sidhu.

Waqar bowled a nasty bouncer that went smack on Sachin’s nose. The poor sixteen year old was badly hit and his nose was bleeding so profusely that every one watching the match started feeling bad about this brutality.

As Indian team physiotherapist rushed to offer first-aid and Pakistan gathered to check out the bloody sight, where Sachin was shaken and was still bleeding. As the physio tried to stop the bleeding Sidhu suggested Sachin that he should retire hurt and come out later. That would give him some time to get his nose fixed. Even physio suggested him to get back to pavilion.

‘Main Khelega’ said Sachin, I will play!

A star was born. Those two words verbalized the fierce determination of a young man who was not going to quit.

Sachin could have gone into the relative comfort of the dressing room but he didn’t. The heat was on, India was in trouble. The pace attack had its tail up, the blood was staining his gloves, his shirt, his face, his spirit. But the kid would have none of it, Main Khelega, that’s it.

Sachin went on to score 57 runs and shared in a match-saving 101 run partnership with Sidhu. With two words- main khelega- talent transformed in to genius in Sialkot.

It’s always like that, what separates champions from mere mortals is not just talent, its attitude. Its mental strength, its willingness to fight when chips are down, its Main Khelega spirit. The spirit which keeps team’s need ahead of one’s own interest.

There are many times in our lives when the pressure mounts and we feel like throwing in the towel and calling it quits. That is just the time when we need to raise our hands and be counted. Time to say Main khelega…

Some years down, long after the little master blaster has retired, when we tell our grandchildren about the batting legend, we should remember to tell them and teach them, those two magical words that defined the spirit of the champion and which translates talent in to performance.

Time to say, Main Khelega…

Training ground of global bosses

Recent addition to Time magazine has an interesting article on what factors account for the rise and rise of India-trained business minds, be it Vikram Pandit of CitiGroup, Ajay Banga or MasterCard, Indira Nooyi of PepsiCo, Nikesh Arora of Google or Ajit Jain of Berkshire Hathway.

Competitive and complex, India has evolved from a poorly run, centrally controlled economy into the perfect playground in which to grow a 21st century CEO. Indians think in English and we are used to multinational in our country. Indians are very adaptive and are supremely confident. The subcontinent has been global from centuries, having endured and absorbed waves of foreign colonizers, from the Mughals to Britishers. So, an Indian executive is raised in a multiethnic, multifaith and multilingual society, one nearly as diverse as the modern global market place. This kind of upbringing plays a huge role in shaping a global mindset.

India’s economic liberalization which began in 1991 was another blessing for this generation of executives. It gave them exposure to a young and fast-growing consumer market. The global competition due to globalization unleashed greater level of competition not only with international players but also with very competitive home grown players. This prepared the young executives to face the global competition and come out with the winning combination.

One of Indian manager’s great advantage is their native disadvantage: they have learned their skills in a country with huge aspirations but often faulty infrastructure. This Indian managers suit tough times, accustomed as they are to making complex systems work, even with finite resources. For Indians navigating uncertainties is an art, not a source of complaint. We have the training to deal with complexities. Growing up in a country where resources are often tight forces you to blow through the constraints and find the answer.

Indian executives tend to pay more attention to the bottom of the pyramid, or the lower-middle class as most part of the country lives around that income bracket. For any emerging market this market segment adds lot of value to the business. And understanding of that business area prepares the Indian executive for a global job really well.

Overall, the current competitive business environment in India is preparing young executives to take up more challenging top management jobs across the globe. This is a very good trend.