Point of view

When you win be humble - If you lose bear it : If you have wealth be Generous - If you do not have wealth be honest. I hope you will forgive me for starting with a quote. It sets the tone for the rest of the Blog. As a child in Nellore I learnt from my Father and his Father that to drive home a point it is always best to illustrate it with a story. They used the Geeta. Upanishads, The Vedas and The Panchatantra to great effect in  this respect. I still use the ' Story Telling Mode' to focus my students on the class at hand . It is a wonderful tool to help people to understand the complexities of my Subject.

When I was asked by ARMSASCI to write the Blog I agreed. I have authored many projects, papers etc would it be difficult to produce one page of my beliefs and thoughts? I thought. Believe me it was like asking Gandhiji to become an expert in pistol firing in one day - while organising the Satyagraha may have been child's play for him - firing the pistol may have taken time to master. ....Anyways in Jun I came in contact with the armed forces course. By September I started teaching them. In my long years of service as a professional I have had the opportunity of interacting with a varied lot of people Amongst them I have also had association with Armed forces personnel for a varietuy of projects. So I was quite at home with the course right from the start.  One endearing quality that I found in the course was that they understood the importance of expertise. I was happy to have a clear field for sometime at least.Of course I took care to see that  I did not step on their toes and soon we developed a beautiful working relationship.This uninterrupted run of exposition had to end soon and it did sooner than later. Soon they were asking me pertinent questions and it was a challenge to give satisfactory replies. I relish a challenge and this drove me to preparing more thoroughly when I had a class with the armed forces.

Along the way we had some interesting discussions. Always during the break times. The officers used to say that the break times were too long . The pace of education was too slow they said. I understood this as time management. Wing Commander Yarlagadda used to say that if the classes got over earlier , with shorter breaks then , that would leave time for everyone to either attend to their personal jobs or to their professional duties. " Often people tend to lose focus and the lines between official and personal jobs tend to get blurred; That is when there is rising dissatisfaction which manifests itself in many ways...." I concur with his views to an extent. We also had discussions on varied number of topics - not necessarily related to my subject .  It did not mean that the subject was not illuminating or not educational in any way . I remember when we spoke about the health insurance sector - at that time we came to the conclusion that it is always necessary to read the fine print before actually subscribing to health Insurance. Better people than me have burnt their fingers in this cesspool of health insurance. But in the end it is a necessary evil which has to be taken care of. At another time we talked about hierarchy in the civil stream. I was only too happy to tell them what they would be facing in the future when they took up jobs in the corporate sector...

Feedback is important whether it be your family's health, your children's studies workplace happenings or the quality of ones instruction - not to mention its importance in logistics - it also gives you your worth at the end of the year in the appraisal reports which will help carry out required corrections. This was the subject of my lecture on Friday. and sure enough the feedback received from the class was positive. In fact one of the officers said that the class was very informative and and well conducted and equally well presented. I have always said that feedback is important but when one receives positive feed back then one is very happy.

I enjoyed writing this blog and I hope that you will enjoy reading it. I am sure that it will be reflected in your comments which will be a feedback for me....

The Musical

29 Oct
Itni muddat baad mile' ho kin sochon mein gum rehte' ho We sang to Prof Harsh Sharma. More like busy with assignments and he sang in return in reply "Apni dhun mein rehta hoon main bhi tere' jaisa hoon" some one came up with the song to Prof Harsh " O Gore' Gore' oO Baanke' Chhore' kabhi Mere' ghar aaya karo" He started teaching and then sang "Jaane' kahan mere jigar gaya ji abhi abhi yahin tha kidhar gaya ji" We were worried that if he went on so fast to the next topic he would lose his train of thought. As it is three months break between classes made us forget what was taught in the previous classes so we sang Babuji dheere chalna padhai mein zara sambhalna. He looked at us as if we had taken leave of our senses. He looked longingly towards the door and as if he wanted to take off and leave us to our fate. "Ay mere dil kahin aur chal gum ki duniya se dil bhar gaya gum ki duniya se dil bhar gaya" we sang "Khilona jaan kar tumto hamara dil tod jaate' ho - hame' is haal mein kiske sahare' chhod jaate' ho". Not to be outdone he sang "Mere dil mein aaj kya hai app log kahe to main bataoon"
And thus started our Human resources class after a long time . Prof Harsh Sharma made a profound statement at the beginning of the class.  He said An extrovert need not necessarily be a good public speaker and an introvert can be a good public speaker. He attributed this quality to the fact that  when a person has to speak to another person face to face he may develop cold feet but while speaking to a crowd he need not necessarily make eye contact with any particular person. Slowly the learning of the past six months is started making sense the economics , the Marketing the project planning the strategic management , the Logistic Management are all merging into one another. It makes sense . There is a need to know a little of everything to make sense as a whole. This is what we were looking for in the course. Like we had been schooled all our life, " Jack of all trades is a master of none". It is evident that to make connections in business management there is a need to to know a little of everything. And that it is also a fact that specialists exist only in the colleges as professors.

The Human Resources class is one that we enjoy and connect with. And with an Instructor like Prof Sharma there was a sustained interest in the class. During the class he spoke of how the first thing the interviewers look for is - how to disqualify a person from selection thereafter how they identify problem areas which give them a reason ti disqualify a person if the interviewees pass this stage then how the interviewers look for desirable qualities and finally the essentials which will help in selection of the right man for the right job. along the way ability tests combined with assessment centers interviews during which questioning which cold give an insight into the person etc all elp in the selection process. Prof Sharma then went on to expound on the training with the definition of Kirk Patrick's Model of training.. Our training at ASCI  is being rounded off  nicely. It remains to be seen as to how it will help us in real life... Like a musical Symphony consisting of many instruments - which would sound like cacophony if heard individually -  but make music under an expert conductor , the different aspects of human resources were brought together by the expertise of Prof Harsh Sharma...

The Tug Of War

27 Oct
Yarlagadda Prasad did not make it to the class today. He was busy with medicals...Like 'need to know operations' in the Armed Forces we entered our classroom not knowing what the class was about. At this stage it could have been anything - economics , finance, marketing, Human Resource Management, or for that matter we could have been part of the two day conclave for top officials from Andhra Pradesh. Prof Mahadik was playing cards close to his chest. We were totally in the dark. We congratulate Prof Mahadik for draping a cloak of secrecy on the classes today. Earlier in the day to induce a change in our daily route of travel we took a circuitous route to ASCI. We headed from Trimulgherry secunderabad to chinna tokatta to Bowenpally to Balanagar to Kukattapally to Gachhi Bowli - it was here, that under the bridge that we saw a funny advertisement.There was this ad for defoliation for a lady on one side with her arm raised and a guy with a bald head on the other side of the advertisement. This side of the Advertisement claimed that the bald chap would get hair in a reasonably short time.  Both panels of the advertisement combined together presented a very funny picture. As aptly brought out By Jaggu " It almost seems that the hair from defoliation would be used on the head of the bald person" he said with a twinkle in his eyes. We needed that mood alleviating bit of fun to take our mind away from the fate that awaited us at ASCI. We were still not aware of the classes for today. On reaching the college we were heartened to see Prof Chandrasekhar. It did us good to see him after 09 Jun again - that was when he took our last class. "No I am not taking your class today" he said - much to our disappointment. After exchanging a few pleasantries with him we headed to our class. We still did not know what was in store for us. For a change the entire class was in attendance - even Sandhya and Himanshu , prior to the arrival of the instructor.
"Good Morning" said Prof Swarnalata as she entered our class. "Are you taking our class today Ma'am?" said someone inanely. She gave us a look of disbelief  - as if to say - " what do you think I am here for"? The mystery was solved . It was a class on communication. It was ironic - to say the least - and funny; we were kept in the dark about a class in communication! We were very happy to have Prof Swarnalata. She is the one person who gives us the maximum leeway. and her class is full of give and take. In spite of our gentle raillery she is one instructor who keeps her cool and tackles us with ease. She straight away got down to business, and said that we had to give a presentation of fifteen minutes each , which would be recorded and then discussed threadbare. There were groans of "no not today" ." We are still recovering from the dusshera break" and so on, Having faced similar situation earlier she would take no dissent from us. " You can take a horse to the water but not make it drink" someone muttered from the back of the class." Oh yes you will drink whether you are thirsty or not" was her quick retort.
And so started the tug of war. I tried to pass of an earlier presentation and she shot it down immediately saying that we had to work on a new presentation in the class itself. Anyway we got down to working on the project. Perumal presented his viewpoint on how the farmers were being looted by the middlemen and how he would sort the whole thing out by being a better and fairer middleman. " The input by the farmers is not commensurate to the output" he thundered; " I plan to set it right by providing a better and a more level playing ground for the farmers" We wish Perumal all the best in his chosen vocation, Sandhya talked about the stress levels in the armed forces and how she would put a plan in action to alleviate the stress levels of both the soldiers and the officers - an action plan we are sure will reap rich dividends in times to come.
Sivaram was busy remotely managing last minute details about his retirement - he is retiring at the end of this month. He was wisely left alone. Himanshu spoke about space , settlements on mars and spacecrafts which would be used many times to transport people from earth to mars. His main subject was a private entrepreneur who was his idol and was involved in this project. Someday we hope to see Himanshu come to visit us from mars - with an alien Passport... More about that later.
In conclusion it was vintage Prof Swarnalata - negotiation at its best with a bunch of students who were still in a relaxing mood. In the end four presentations were delivered - and recorded. Time will I am sure bear out that similar patience and negotiation skills would stand us in good stead when we venture into this civillian world...

The Tag Team

 26Oct
Return to ASCI after an extended holiday for Dusshehra, for the final phase of our course. ARMASCI extends a wishes for a very Happy Dusshera to all the Staff and students at ASCI. The day started of with the information that classes  would be on environment and Hospital management. For some inexplicable reason, today, most of us were late for class, I had of course to go for a dental check up - which was quite inevitable. When I entered the class there was an animated discussion on about improving the productivity of agriculture. Various theoretical methods were discussed. And the final conclusion was that the government apathy was the main culprit in the improvement of food productivity. Also discussed were the Tiger Population, global warming, water scarcity, deforestation and carbon footprint. Since I had missed the beginning of the class the name of our instructor was missed - for which I am deeply sorry. Suffice it to say that our interaction was fruitful and the Professor was an expert in his field . He dealt all our questions and queries with aplomb and ease of a man who knew his subject well. Our tea was greeted with the spectacle of the pigeons roosting on the solar panel. It underlined the fact that birds are adaptable and lack of trees made them use the solar panel as their nest.

Dr Balbir

People in ASCI are still recovering from the hangover of a long break. Lunch was good but the number of people in the dining hall was very less. We were more or less resigned to another extended class on Health Management after lunch. What we were not prepared for was an extended but interesting class on Health Administration. Dr Balbir's father served in the air force. This straightaway helped us establish a rapport with him. He is from Bhopal and has an insatiable appetite for acquiring knowledge with regard to his subject. So much so that he holds more than 24 Certificates and diplomas, both national and international. What is heartening is that he is also a firm believer in putting into practice his teachings and has been , at various stages associated with various State Governments and UNICEF etc.
But like all instructors who  come to our class, one could picture him take a deep breath before the entering. This is where the class differed from all other classes we have had till date. Alongwith Dr Balbir one other person entered the class. This bespectacled person was Col Zakir Hussain. At some point in time Col Hussain was the student of Dr Balbir and they had developed an enduring friendship.

Col Zakir Hussain

Later in life when we meet the rest of the Instructors in ASCI we hope that they will also remember us as friends. .... Col Hussain is from kerala . His father owns a hospital and one day when he is back in the family fold he hopes to put into practice what Dr Balbir has taught him. Col Hussain is a quiet an unassuming person and he was here with a purpose. That purpose was to summarise his learning of two years of health administration into a class of two sessions.
And then started the most unusual class that we had at ASCI to date. The class was almost like a tag team or a relay race. The class was started by Dr Balbir, taken up By Hussain, resumed by Dr Balbir and then by Hussain. It almost felt like we were transported back in time, listening to a Hockey Match Commentary on the Radio.... Some questions were answered by Dr Balbir and some by Hussain and soon they were completing each others' sentences. Views and counter views were expressed and finally the conclusion reached to by both the people educating us was the same. Practical experience and theoretical courses to be done by us for standing a better chance of getting a job in the hospital industry were told to us by both the instructors of the day. Naturally Dr Balbir expressed his thankfulness to Hussain by presenting a memento from ASCI to Col Hussain. The amount of information given to us left us breathless but was tremendous and very useful. We thank Hussain for having taken time to share his experiences with us. After that was tea and the familiar group photograph. All in all an unusual class with two instructors but with value added learning...

Presentation Of Memento

Group Photograph at Tea

Back To The Future -VI

My name is Dilip. While on training my surname was shortened to 'Banjo'. After 32 years in the Armed Services, I am to retire in 2016. In anticipation of my retirement I have done the course of Business management in ASCI. Why do any course at all this late in life? One may ask. It is like this ; My father was also in the services and I have led a different life than what the average run of the mill civilian does. Moreover , there was never a need for me to understand civilians. Bahgwan ka diya sub kuch tha mere' paas. Even my wife's father was from the Forces . An interesting snippet of information is, that I knew her way back in time and she knew that we would marry me, when we were doing our primary schooling. Well her intuition proved correct. Now both our daughters are settled as far as jobs are concerned and I have no intention of  leading a Armed Services engineered enforced separations due to posting in difficult Areas so late in life . I want a settled life and a peaceful job...

20 Nov 2015

After the completion of the course at ASCI we are finally graduating today. We are eligible for a certificate in Business Management. The instructors were good and we have learnt a lot. The teaching was nothing new for us . In fact we had put the management principles into use in the Services  long before it became a science. But what I did learn was to deal with civilians - something I did not have to do much in my service life. All the others who are doing the course with me - I do not think I will meet them again - not that I do not have the desire to do so but they Will be busy wherever they are..

29 Feb 2016

Right till this day I had been confused as to whether I will continue in the Services or switch to the civil life , for which I had done a preparatory course back in Nov last year. In the end I decided to stick with the Armed Services. The new Pay Commission had vastly improved my pay and allowances. It seemed a good Idea to continue,,,,,. I was posted to Pathankot. Soon I was again doing the job I was doing before my extension. While I was still undecided as to whether this was right for me, A year into my extension and everything was clear. That lingering sense of dissatisfaction which was in my heart that my talent was not being fully utilised  was now becoming a full blown certainty My daughter was earning more - as a 23 year old - than what I did throughout my life. Time had finally come for me to hang up my boots from the long service to the nation. Not that it meant that I would stop working, but to do some different work. Three months notice to the Services and I was ready to switch careers. Applications along with my CV to various organizations were a step in the right direction into the corporate world....

31 Mar 2018

Right now, I do not have the time for idle conversation. It is the closing of the  financial year. Filing of taxes,settling of accounts , shooting off nasty letters to people who owed us money, clearing of accounts with the insurance companies , working out strategies for the new year, wage revisions, hiring and firing of staff, new contracts,plans for new infrastructure , meetings , trips - my orderly world of the Armed Services was turned upside down. People here were more ruthless than a soldier's conduct towards his enemy. Luckily my interaction with civilians and the short course at ASCI came in handy and I did not suffer due to the change all that much. The negatives were that my wife was constantly complaining about the lack of quality time with the family. But then you have to break an egg to make an Omelette.

Prior to leaving the Armed Forces in 2017 I had considered various jobs which would suit me. After a lot of consideration and searching for suitable positions I decided that the best suited job for me was that in the Health Sector as an Administrator. Adequate grounding in this sector at ASCI and my own interest helped me land a good job at Global Hospitals Lakdi-Ka-Pul. The remuneration was fantastic and now I could look my daughter in the eye and say ' Your dad is earning as much as you are" Balance had been restored at home...

25 Dec 2020 

The call came out of the blue. Jaggu's familiar voice came on the phone. He was one person who you could rely on to keep in touch even if  you did not have the desire. He had justcompleted his four years extension in the fauj and was back in Hyderabad . I was talking cautiously to him. I definitely did not want someone to ask me if there was a vacancy at the hospital for a job. But his words reassured me - he was not looking for any job . His son was doing well at Motorcycle racing and he had turned a full fledged manager for the youngster. It was only an invitation for meeting the rest of our course from ASCI that evening - Was I free? The relief of not being asked a favour was immense. I agreed immediately- moreover it was the holiday season....It would be fun to exchange notes with everyone....

The Movie Conference

Oct 18

And how do you propose to impress people and get them to watch your movie"? said the producer. Sir this movie is scripted by the Faculty of Finance (They are great at twisting facts and creating a believable storyline) and Entrepreneurship ( All storylines with happy endings and sad are the forte of the entrepreneurship faculty - depending on what you like they can create a tearjerker or a comedy or a 'happily ever after story' as you prefer)of Administrative Staff College of India. Why the Entrepreneur faculty recently told us a story about one Mr Sawyer - but we are digressing....They have expert inputs from OB. And crowd psychology has been studied before even going on to the drawing board for the scripting the story. "Stories written by intellectuals are never a success"; said the Producer dismissively .But Sir before you dismiss it outright may I request you to kindly hear me out. Reluctantly the producer grumbled and said under his breath - " Pata nahin kahaan se' aa jaate' hain. Kaam nahin Dhandaa nahin glass toda aath aane'. This was strictly ignored and the marketing division proceeded to say - Sir we have an excellent marketing division. They have  connections in the right places in the advertising industry which will pull all stops in publicising the movie.

 The Producer's interest was perked. He started seeing the possibilities. Sir in addition we also have an economics section who will advice you on judicial spending.They will be sure to point out unnecessary expenditure, map out the demand and supply curve and also tell you about the export possibilities and the demand in the foreign market for the film. They will also help you  tweak the market to maximise the profits at the same time ensuring that they artificially improve the demand. "I don't know... " said the producer. Sir they also have an excellent Public Relations unit. We can vouch for it. Recently one of the participants doing a course at ASCI became concerned with the mounting number of suicides in the state. He did a lot of research and produced a document which promoted a method of reducing  - if not completely stopping - the suicides. It being a noble cause the publicity machinery of ASCI was put into top gear. Soon the participant was taking part in Sponsored discussions on the Television , giving interviews and being interviewed by reporters. The response to this initiative was terrific and this model of suicide prevention was adopted all over the state , by the state government.

"But what about the locations and the costumes and the patenting of the story?" asked the producer. "Who will help me with that?" Sir are you asking us to spoon feed you on all aspects of the movie? Will you not be doing anything at all? The Producer was immediately put off. " It is my money that is being used to make a movie which seems to be a loser right from the beginning; Naturally I have to be careful. I can't be doing things half- heartedly". Sir we agree with you totally. When we said that you have to do the marketing yourself , we meant that there will be remuneration involved in hiring our marketing division. We have the expertise but it is for hire. The producer's face cleared. " Of course Of course that is what I meant. I am sure that what you will provide will greatly enhance the success of the movie". At last the fish was nibbling. Seemed like a happy ending was in sight. and suddenly the clouds became dark again. " What about cost overruns and delays in the project?" The Producer's face was was writ large with anxiety. Sir on that score you need have no worry. Our experts on project Management already have a blue print for the entire project. They have done the project mapping of the entire project, and will advise you on where the project can be crashed or in layman terms how time can be best utilised to meet the deadlines of the final project. They have even set up a war room... "What about authenticity and acceptance of the project "? Sir what about it ? If you are worried that there is a problem and people will see through it - for God's sake it is a feature film. However we have an excellent library where all facts as mentioned in the story have been thoroughly researched- even those facts that seem to be fiction are backed by impeccable research. "Timing of Release of the movie is important...." Oh yes it is important. Our HR department has worked out our competition , children's examinations , vacation time , festivals and other aspects which may affect the release time and decided that 20 Nov is the best date. The Producer said," So far we seem to have ironed out most of our differences but one thing which still bothers me is labour unrest. Your track record in this aspect is not exactly very good.." Sir we have worked wonders with our staff. We have an excellent branch for communications and negotiations . The lady in charge is a firebrand and can ensure a trouble free shooting till we put the  film in the cans.

"There are a few more points to discuss - like work timings, we don't want untoward incidents, the cast and and most important the story plot. I must admit that you people are good you have entirely sidetracked me. Let us discuss that tomorrow.... 

Ramu

"Writing", said Dr Ramu " should never be mechanical . There should be a flavour to it so that your readers can almost anticipate your thoughts like a a well cooked dish , whose aroma is the first inkling that people have that something good is cooking. " We were sitting in Dr Ramu's office just across our classroom. Dr Ramu is the Public Relations Officer of Administrative Staff College. How did we start interacting with a total stranger whom we did not know till our course began in June? On 08 June when our course began in ASCI , at the opening ceremony we found a person flitting in the background clicking photographs . For us that day he was just another person on the staff of ASCI. Little did we know that he was the first person we would encounter each morning (If he was in the office) as we climbed 37 steps to our class room on the first floor. Normally we would see him slumped in a chair in front of his desk top working away to meet some deadline that we were not aware of...
The first few days passed with neither of us acknowledging each other's presence. As the days passed by we got into a nodding acquaintance . All this  time  we knew that he was the PRO and that his name was DR Ramu . What we did not know was that he was an accomplished journalist with a lot of experience and that he had won a prestigious award in April this year. A PhD in Communication and Journalism from Osmania University, Dr Ramu was presented CV Narasimha Reddi  award in recognition of his "outstanding performance in the practice of public relations and for having exhibited professional qualities that served in promoting the vision, mission, goals and services of ASCI," He is also an avid tennis player and probably the only person in ASCI who makes full use of the excellent Tennis courts at ASCI. 
Our acquaintance soon blossomed into a friendship. Some may say " Big deal - his office was right across your classroom and it is only a matter of time before you befriended him"; I can assure you that while this is only partly true, the friendship developed because of his cool temperament and pleasant disposition. All the participants , at some time or the other used to walk into his office and converse with him . We started missing him if he was away on some job during the day. When I started writing my blog I would walk up to him and ask him for a few pointers. Sometimes I had to arm twist him to read my blog and he would encourage me with his compliments.  His interaction with us grew when Gj Rao went to him for help in publicizing his suicide prevention model. He helped GJ get numerous interviews with TV Channels and reputed newspapers. He spared no effort in this respect, So much so that if one did not find GJ in the class , it was only natural to find him in Dr Ramu's office. 
When we were preparing for publishing our placement Brochure he was instrumental in helping us procure a professional photographer. Did he ever lose his equanimity? Of course yes! when he had to shave off his goatee he was very upset. " I have invested a lot of time in my goatee " he said . " I have  nurtured it like my son, Every morning I had to be careful to see that I was fully awake while shaving so that I did not shave off a part of my goatee. It is indeed a loss that I will have to learn to cope with". We did our best to cheer him up saying that he looked much younger without the goatee. Soon this cheered him up. In all sincerity I must say that he looks more dapper without his goatee and definitely it was better done away with.... We hope to continue our fruitful relationship with Dr Ramu in the remaining period that we are with ASCI. I leave you with a photo of his, beseeching God for good times for one and all in times to come....

Genesis

Finally the final shape to the brochure has been given. The initial prodding by Prof Bagchi and Prof Mahadik. Sometime in July. We were at sea as to how to go about putting ourselves on paper. We slept on it.We chewed on it we spent sleepless nights as to how to work out our curriculum Vitae for the consumption of the possible employers. Gave it up as a bad joke and let it hang fire for sometime. Enter Ms Padmashree. With patience and examples she guided us step by step as to the various ways we could employ to prepare our resume'. We gave it alot of thought and then again put the idea on ice for sometime to come. Whenever Prof Bagchi or Prof Mahadik asked us about the brochure our standard reply was - " we are working on it". Whereas in reality we had not yet got to the first base (Preparation of the CV).Thus we angled for some more time in preparation of the CV. 

Then things started picking up. The one thing we feared happened. We were set a deadline. Prof Bagchi said " Guys it is time you got out of your fugue and started producing something concrete. Enough of this dilly dallying . Time has come for you to produce something. You have taken enough time and now is the time to produce a brochure. I would request you to write down some thing which will be your CV. If possible by the 1st of September". We knew that we had reached the end of our long rope and now was the time to work on it . A conference was held and taking a leaf from some other brochures we settled on a format for the CV. Hurried consultations and comparing of CVs and soon we had a format ready . It was time for us to get the CVs vetted. And who was more qualified for it then Ms Padmashree. One by one we sent the resume's to her . Like a professional editor she ran through our resume's and suggested corrections which were incorporated in the resume's.

Then we hit a road block. One of us was away for a long period of time . With this absence , again came a lull in proceedings. The body was through but the tail was stuck.

Then came the shocker. We were to get the brochure designed by a professional. Is not ASCI going to do it? we asked Prof Bagchi. He looked at us incredulously. He was undecided whether to tear his hair out or laugh outright at our naivete'. Of course he did neither of these. In a controlled voice he told us that it was our responsibility. Now it was our turn to look at him in disbelief - it was a day for looks. An impasse was reached. Proceeding further was not possible without someone   taking initiative. And so it was back to an after lunch conference. The conference finally established that unlike the Services we had to do everything ourselves. In the services we were used to putting out an idea and there were people available to execute it. Here we had to do this ourselves. After brainstorming I remembered a friend of mine who fit the bill for designing the brochure. His clients ranged from Oxford university to Air India (Preparation of safety manuals) Saudi Airlines, Cambridge and College of Air Warfare where he redesigned the training manuals and for the fiftieth Year celebrations he had published the Coffee Table Book. Who better than Vishwanath for this task? I asked myself. So the next day we invited Vishwanath for lunch and within about fifteen minutes into the lunch we were breathing easier. Things seem to have concretised a bit.

All that remained was to give the requisite material and photographs and the whole thing would be ready in about two days. Photographs ? We had to give photographs also? and that too in a suit? In any case the whole thing was arranged . Our cordial relations with Dr Ramu , our next door neighbour came in very handy - that added to the fact that GJ put in a good word for us procured a photographer at a time when every one was wondering whose responsibility it was to arrange a photographer,,,And then the unimaginable happened. Vishwanath fell ill and was admitted in the hospital. Notwithstanding his problem he was in constant communication with his staff. The brochure was finally ready. 

A cardinal mistake one commits is that one likes to seek everyones' approval . Then everyone becomes a critic. The whole brochure starts looking like a mistake. You start wondering if it was worth it . One print later and a whole lot of criticism and pent up frustration which could not express itself. All these are a part of life I suppose. In spite of deciding to go ahead with the publication , it was decided that me and Banjo would make one final visit to the designer before giving it to the printer. After all the corrections I suddenly realised that Banjo was a confirmed perfectionist. While I was sitting with the designer calmly pointing out the mistakes Banjo would suddenly shout from behind " that 'c' is a capital letter". It disconcerted the poor girl so much that finally I had to tell Banjo to lay off! I am glad to say that the long arduous task of putting together a brochure is finally over Thanks to Viswanath and his staff who were available to us without complaining and doing a sterling job. At last we are going to sleep peacefully...

Flashback II

Oct 08

My mother always used to say - " Someone should write a book about my life's experiences". She was also fond of relating my birthday. "It was the republic day. in the evening just when the lights went on across the country you announced your arrival into this world." I do not remember much about my childhood or the earlier years. But what I do remember was that in good times and bad my mother was always there for me. Between dividing her time among my other siblings and me , she favored me more than the others. So much so that in spite of being a good deal younger than my brothers and sisters , they were still envious of the attention my mother bestowed upon me.Life was good even in adversity - for my mother was ever present. The thing about her was that she was involved with everyone - whether it be the tamillian Mrs Sivan who used to get thrashed by her drunken husband once in a while or chandrika who was bitten by a dog or the malyali couple who had problems with their child. She offered solutions in the language they spoke and quite fluently at that. She used to chide Mr Sivan the morning after and he used have this hangdog expression on his face when she used to harangue him in chaste tamil interlaced with curse words.
The young uneducated girl who came from a remote village had come into her own.

In preparation for his retirement my father got himself posted to Hyderabad. For reasons beyond my comprehension I still remember the date we moved - 17 Sep 1969.  With only three of us in school at that time her job as far as the home front was concerned was quite simple.She now turned  to help relations , friends, servants and once in a while she would net a complete stranger. Even during this time we had someone or the other hanging out with us - till the time they set up their own home or left Hyderabad. People never forgot her kindnesses. The years went by and soon it was time for my father to leave government service. Brilliant man that he was he got offered professorships in the USA and other foreign countries. But he was not inclined to take up any of these jobs and spent most of his time at home. By now there was a clear divide (of age ) between my brothers and me . To escape them I had to rely heavily rely on my mother to keep me out of trouble.

The thing about her was she dared to do things which others would hesitate to do. I remember a cousin of mine who had fallen in love with a boy. For the 70s that was a pretty big thing. In fact even the girl's mother ( my father's sister) washed her hands off the affair. It was my mother , in the face of heavy opposition who ensured that the girl got married to the person of her choice. She involved all her friends in the project to make it a grand success. At another time she acted as a mediator between two relations who were hell bent on ruining each other's lives. She could really talk sense into people when she so desired. It was a side which was not known to me earlier. The times best spent with her during my childhood were the days of festivals especially Ugadi, Ganesh Chathurthi and Deepavali. When she used to elaborately set up her kitchen and cook some of the best dishes that I had ever eaten in my life. It was this part of growing up that I remember with most fondness when I think Of my mother. There is this thing about mothers - they never really ask for anything from their offspring in spite of giving so much to them throughout their life. This was the case with my mother also. It was always for the family and nothing else. Even when my brother got married and wanted to set up his own establishment , she opposed it tooth and nail. She was in favour of a joint family. Perhaps the fact that she was the only child in her family and had grown up alone had something to do with it. It took  time the healer to work his magic on her for her to come to terms with the fragmentation of the family. Time passed and I had left home at 17 to study elsewhere. The younger lot of nephews and nieces fortunately kept her busy in her later life. But soon time came for them to get out of the protective envelope provided by her for them .

But when it was festival time the house rang with the noise of all of us gathered at one place and it was evident that these were the times when she was the happiest. Even at that advanced age she refused to take help of anyone and single handedly cooked for all of us . She had already suffered two heart attacks and was a diabetic. However it took a lot to slow down this lady. In 2002 when she was crossing the road at the busy area of begumpet a speeding vehicle hit her and took off. She suffered a broken hip and a mangled arm and a broken collar bone. It was the only time that I ever saw her helpless on the bed and it was not a pleasant sight,

The End

After the passing of my father it was never the same for her. She still did all her chores by herself but that vital something was missing. She went about her jobs very mechanically . Having been married for more than 70 years it was obvious that she missed my father . Added to the diseases, old age finally caught up with her.. Her mind started wandering and it was a job keeping her in the confines of the house. Always an independent spirit she chaffed at the restrictions and finally took to immobility. It was as if her spirit was crushed.

On that fateful day she had her meals and peacefully left for her Heavenly Abode.. We keep giving lip service to the saying "Make a difference to yourself and to the others;" I think she did it in the truest sense. May she rest in peace.

Flashback I

On 08 Oct after another day at office I came back home to a huge meal. As was my habit I repaired to my bedroom for my afternoon siesta. Mobile connectivity was very much in evidence and after only a few minutes into my slumber I was woken up to the insistent ringing of the phone. I turned the other side in the hope that it would go away. But obviously this was a call I had to take. Grumpily cursing all and sunder I answered the phone. It was my sister . " It is all over venkat - your mother died a few minutes back" she said. " She had her lunch and when I went to wake her up at tea time , there was no response". I did not know whether to be relieved or to be sad. Now when I think back, my feelings were ambivalent. The dominant feeling was that of sadness of course - or so I would like to think. That day itself we left for Delhi to catch the flight. Thoughts of happy times while  growing up were predominant in my mind. And suddenly the knowledge that my mother was no more struck me forcibly. A part of my mind reasoned that she was old and it was only logical that this incident would have happened sooner or later. I had known her only since my birth. Now was the time to explore her past life ... This is the story of a lady who sacrificed all for her family - a lady who in the face of adversity was steady as a rock and who always saw positivity in setbacks and encouraged her brood and husband alike to continue to improve in life.
  
1920

There is a small village in the west Godavari District in Andhra Pradesh, on the banks of River Godavari. In this village lived a landlord along with his wife. In 1920 there was excitement in the air. The lady of the house had conceived and today was the day that the child was to be delivered. Soon the house was rent with the indignant cries of a child forcibly removed from the comfort of it mother's womb. The general feeling of celebration was in the air. No sadness in the family that it was a girl child - just that the child was born healthy and that the mother and child were safe. I do not know much about the childhood of the girl. Suffice it to say that her father died very early becoming prey to small pox which was rampant at that time. People - read relations - took advantage of the widow and relieved her of most of her lands and property. Education was practically non existent.

1928

As was prevalent she got married when she was 8 yrs old it was time for marriage. She was married that year into a household of 5 brothers and 5 sisters. When she got married they were all not yet born . She was married to the third brother of an affluent family close by in Ravulpalam. Although the marriage was solemnised , it was not until her 15th year that she actually took up residence in her in laws' place. When she did go there the , the responsibility of looking after the younger siblings of my father devolved round her. My father was away at that time , completing his higher studies. When she used to talk about it  - albeit reluctantly she used to tell us how she had to wake up at 0300 h in the morning, have a bath , decorate the courtyard with 'Muggu',(It was here that she gave vent to her creativity) draw the water for the rest of the household from the well , light the 'chulla' make the lunch look after the children , give them a bath, and be ready for whatever the life threw at her. It was a trying time for her and she came out of it in good shape.

1940 - 1958

By this time she had already spent a few years with my father and in 1942 she gave birth to the eldest son . The independence struggle was hotting up and she along with my father - though he was in a government job - actively supported it. In 1944 while Tiruchunapalli she gave birth to my second brother. They moved to Delhi . For an uneducated lady with no knowledge of the spoken language she was at the mercy of the local populace. She learnt Hindi on the go and in times to come she was table to communicate to get the job done.

While in Delhi in 1947 independence for the country was announced. Then started the bloodbath of the partition . She helped in saving lives of many who were the target of the riots and and hid people who were in fear of their lives. Matters settled thereafter and in quick succession she gave birth to sons and daughters. What was great about her was that in addition to her brood she also had to look after the kids of her husband's siblings. Since he was the only one in a city with access to education , these kids were put in his responsibility. Naturally , between a strict man who used to be impatient with stupid mistakes , and a lady who was soft and gentle, all the children graduated to her for love and affection. Independence also meant that my father had to travel all over the country to set up radio stations and transmitters at remote places. This was the reason that all my brothers and sisters were born all over the country. At around this time my parents realised that my eldest brother was special. This  was a heart wrenching development . In spite of being buffeted by fate, my parents took it in their stride.By 1958 they had moved to Bombay,where they were to remain for the next five years. Around this time all my grand parents had ft for their heavenly abode, save my grandmother who took up permanent residence with her daughter to help her cope with six kids , in addition to others who were transiting through for higher education. The stage was set for my arrival in to this world...

Addiction

Oct 08

The landscape was uncompromising. Miles and miles of area all round but it did not have what he desired. Once again he cursed his stupidity and his laziness. He knew that he should have been prepared for the worst case scenario. He was to blame entirely. Now his girlfriend would never let him hear the end of it. " I knew it " she would say in her squeaky voice . " It was my gullibility that led me to think that you have turned over a new leaf; I should never have trusted you in the first place- she would say as her voice would break up and she would end up sobbing uncontrollably . It was not the first time it would happen - but each time it did, it left him totally drained of any emotion. He should have got used to it by now but that was not the case.

Earlier That Day

That morning he had left for his college hostel at around 0530h. The previous evening was spent on texting and speaking to his girl friend. He did not know when he fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion . Next thing he knew - he was being roughly being shaken awake by his father - his dad's mood was also not all that sunny. The old man realised that he would have to go and drop the boy at the station . Not wishing to exacerbate the issue he got off the bed in a fog and without a word got into the car to proceed to the station . Somewhere he felt that ablutions would have to wait till he was safely ensconced on the train in his birth.

He dropped off to sleep again as soon as the train was out of the station.  The nasal cry of the Idli vendor woke him up. IDLEEE...IDLEEE.. screamed the chap with little regard to the sleeping passengers. His agenda was to get rid of the idlis as early as possible - if some people were woken up in the process - well then , just too bad. The boy felt a sharp pain in his stomach. His brain told him that his body was starved of nutrition and that something needed to be done about it. He called out to the vendor and bought a plate of idlis. He ignored his mother's injunctions in his mind- telling him to brush before eating.Breaking a piece of idli his eye idly wandered to the wrist watch of the person sitting across him. On seeing that the time was 0900h the idli fell from his nerveless fingers. He was to have called his girl friend at 0830h and now it was 9'0' clock. She must be fuming. He scrambled under his blanket to look for his mobile phone. He found it. He then tried to switch it on and found that it was drained off all charge due to his excesses the previous evening. In any case nothing was lost he only had to charge the phone and explain to his girlfriend that he had fallen asleep and everything would be okay. He opened his rucksack and began to search for the charger. His search became a bit frantic as the charger was not in the front pocket, neither was it in the side pockets nor was it in the body of the ruck sack. He started shaking like an addict deprived of his fix. In addition to his girlfriend venting her fury, for him - the 24 hour long trip to his destination without a cellphone loomed up before his eyes. Other than speaking to his girlfriend he had to play candy crush , solve a criminal case and save the boy from the police man in Subway Surf. Not to mention that he had to speak to friends, listen to songs, get titillated by some videos sent by his friends and also speak to his parents just to inform them that his continued presence on earth necessitated their involvement in his upkeep.


The unreasonableness of the situation made him weak with anger . He castigated God for making him incommunicado. Wildly he looked around - his hunger and the idlis that he bought forgotten. In his mind he held this wild hope that someone of his fellow travellers would have an extra charger. People had extra of everything - pens, pencils sharpeners and some men had extra wives also so why not chargers? Seems like no one did have one or if they had , then it was too early in the journey to trust a fellow traveller. He sat there casting covetous looks at all the chargers . Since he had to have a charger he started to converse with the man sitting across. He had never done this before. He used to regard them as a nuisance - People making loud noises and laughing raucously - While he was busy doing important things on his mobile phone. Now it was different he had to befriend the man to get his charger. There was a quite desperation about his actions. Not having used his mobile since waking up made him feel that he was missing an important part of his life. His mouth was dry and his fingers were twitching.

He ignored all this and set about conversing with the man. The conversation was stilted at first. Slowly both of them opened up to each other . The man's son was also in the same college as the boy (he learnt- though senior)  The man was going to meet him. The boy absentmindedly consumed his breakfast. A full stomach made him drowsy and he fell asleep . No phone to disturb him. He slept like a baby. Someone was gently shaking him. "Son wake up - it is dinner time" . The old man woke him up. " I did not have the heart to wake you up .You were sleeping so peacefully. I have taken the liberty of ordering dinner for you".

The boy felt very refreshed after a long sleep. Suddenly the fact that he had not spoken to his girlfriend, class mates or his parents did not matter any more . The old man's concern for him touched the boy . It was as if that leaving his charger at home was a blessing in disguise. The absence of the phone opened up a whole new world for him. In the morning when he would reach his hostel and set about charging his phone he might forget this glorious evening where technology took a back seat to human relations - But - Tomorrow is another day.

Pension Blues

OCT 07

            The panic has not set in as yet due to my impending retirement . In our course I am the first one to retire. This is going to happen at the end of this month. Unless something drastic like an extension in tenure happens it is more or less certain that I hang up my boots at the end of the month.
Kurnool was a small town in the Rayalseema area of Andhra Pradesh. Exactly 53yrs and 8 days back I graced the Earth with my presence in this town. I have brothers and sisters - but thus story is not about them - it is about me. Like all children I also grew up  and then , because my fathers job was transferable, we moved around from place to place across India. Till my father settled in Hyderabad.

            Unlike a rolling stone which gathers no moss, I made plenty of friends all over India. However like all my peers when it came to studies and choosing a career it was between medicine and engineering. I preferred engineering. I got a seat in warangal REC. Those were the heady times for naxalism. Varavara Rao was the talk of the campus. Like all young impressionable teens I was also taken up with immediate justice. I wanted to serve the people. It was a delicate time. But somewhere along the line the violence employed by naxals did not appeal to me. In those days the army used to send recruitment teams to the campus. I was taken up by the adventurous life in the army. More important the immediate remuneration as pay and the independence linked with it. I did not hesitate and put up my hand to serve the nation. I was accepted and then it was off to Dehradun for a year of rigorous training. My technical training stood me in good stead when the allotment of arms was done. I was happy that I got something after my own heart. I was also happy that I would be able to put my learning into action. But the services being what they are I had to do attachment with the Infantry, the queen of battle. If nothing else , I developed lasting friendships during that period  of attachment.

            Then it was back after two years to my specialization . One thing about the fauj - it ensures uniformity in all the officers and also makes you the jack of all trades. After about two years I could ( I had no experience of any of this earlier) swim , run long distances , fire any weapon, repair vehicles, provide expert advice on any instrument which was part of the war machine, converse intelligently on any subject, play perfect host at any party sponsored by me , interact socially with everyone, dance late into the night, and be ready for my special duties at any part of the day or night. Also it meant being responsible for my subordinates , their families and strive hard to ensure that they come to me in case of any problem that they are facing. During my service I was posted in many stations across the country - in the snow clad mountains of the north , the steamy jungles of the east, deserts of the west and heavily populated parts of the country. The services called these the 'peace stations'. I would rather be posted in some remote part of the country...

            I have seen the services struggling against the insurgents of the north east , the terrorists of the north, the kargil war and also worked for peace and amity within the country. There have been happy moments , hilarious times, peaceful atmospheres, moments of achievements, bliss, shared joy, tension when something did not go right and definitely sad moments which try as one might one could never forget. I have lost friends and juniors to the enemy's bullets, diseases, cold , heat exhaustion and accidents. It is never easy to say good bye to friends - in fact it is very poignant and heart rending to see that person's near and dear coming to the realisation that the person will only remain a memory in times to come - the young child will only know that the father was in the services and left honorably....

            My parents did not forget their duty . My marriage was arranged in 1988 and it was arranged in the truest sense. Notwithstanding this , me and my wife have got along famously since that time. It is now 27 yrs since my marriage . I am very fortunate to have a person who could adapt well to my ways and that of the services - the constant moves , new places , weather, seniors , and youngsters who used to drop in at odd times for a meal when the mess used to close down. Along the way I developed a passion for bicycle and now am a randonneur. To know more about my biking adventures please read my blog  http://www.hyderabadrandonneurs.com/blog/?p=22.
When I do hang my boots it will be with a sense of fulfilment that my 31years in the services have been very satisfying both intellectually and physically. Given the choice of what I would do in case of realigning my life I would have no hesitation in choosing the services all over again.

JAI HIND

Autobiography of an Entrepreneur - A Page

Oct 05
My childhood was like any other child's. After father died when I was in college I decided that working for anyone else was impossible. I had to do it for myself. Long before my formal education was over I knew that I was destined to be an entrepreneur. Money was never a problem. Papaji ne' bahut chhoda hamare' liye'. After completing my degree in a reputed engineering college, I headed straight home. While my mother was a regular house wife she was also a hard headed business woman . It was very necessary to convince her that the seed money was to be from her kitty. At the same time I wanted to reassure her that her money would be returned in due time.

"It is not that I do not trust your business instincts son - I have no doubt that you will do well. But have you considered that you have to work hard , put in extra hours , handle pressure,  fight stress and at the same time ensure that first you break even and then earn profit? It is a very frustrating and a back breaking job". I hastened to assure her that I was up to it and would in fact work hard to make a success of my enterprise. I even showed her the posters that I had prepared to constantly remind me of my goals. She was duly impressed with my earnestness.I had my first Angel Investor.  
The Idea

We had a driver at home in happier days. But he had an irritating habit of putting his finger in his mouth to fiddle with his teeth. They were stained with beetle juice and were never clean. When once I berated him about this he expressed his helplessness at the fact that the tooth brush never reached the corners of his mouth nor did it clean very well between the teeth. As I grew up a number of tooth brushes came up in the market - some with hard bristles , some with flexible handles claiming to reach the inaccessible places in the mouth and some with zig zag bristles - none of the worked very well.My first idea was to patent a tooth brush which would be very good in all aspects and incorporated all the features that were found in the different types of tooth brushes.

This is how I got the Idea. While on a trip away from home I found to my dismay that I had forgotten my tooth brush. I had to use my finger to clean my teeth. I discoverd that my finger reached all the inaccessible place which my tooth brush did not reach. It was then that I came up with a brainwave- what if my finger had the bristles?? The idea was so simple that it floored me. A Plastic cap for my finger which had bristles on it . I could easily slip it on my finger put the tooth paste on it and brush my teeth. Imagine - no more superfluous plastic handles - use of lesser plastic meant that there was lesser burden on the environment - everyone knows that once a tooth brush has outlived its utility one had no use for  the handle. So in my design there was no handle for the tooth brush only the cap on finger with bristles. Of course I patented the Idea. Hindustan lever picked up the idea. I sold it for a handsome profit to hindustan lever, I have not looked back since then ....


I have returned the money that my Angel loaned me . She of course like all affectionate mothers did not accept a single paisa. As she had asserted , the fact that I was starting to find my feet was payment enough. As an entrepreneur my task did not end there. I decided that it was better to be a consultant for other firms in innovating/ improving their products rather than doing manufacturing on my own. But I did decide to gather a talent pool especially in the consumer products which would help in my primary goal of helping other companies. I have named it Anand Entrepreneurs - it expresses the joy of entrepreneurship.

Today I have a thriving business. I have branched from consumer products to electronics, real estate, governance, communication, health care and various other disciplines. It will take up pages to detail my work/successes. Moreover I am loath to divulge my secrets. I have no use for venture capitalists or bank loans. While it is speculated in business circles that soon I will go public, I have no intention of doing so. I do not want the headache of running around SEBI paying handsome amounts to underwriters for my IPO or playing to the stock market by getting involved in underhand dealings. I have realised that the biggest asset is the human brain and though it comes with a premium it depends on how well one can exploit this particular asset to maximise ones profits. More importantly I am happy....
Today's class was on entrepreneurship which was very well conducted by Mrs Lalita Anand . She is one more among the long line of supremely qualified instructors at ASCI with loads of experience. During the class we were struck by her command over the subject and her ability to put across her points succinctly. All in all an excellent class. Though she has only been given two sessions we intend to request Prof Mahadik for some more classes....