Subway, Thank you!!

A busy Saturday, hustling around my factory to finish my work as early as possible. Excited about what lay ahead in the evening, I tried to finish off all my day's work as early as possible.  I was to meet my Free and Open Source software friends after a long long time. The plan was set to meet at Mantri Square at Malleswaram.

We all met up as planned at forty five minutes past seven. The early birds had camped at the table and started off the jibber-jabber. I was the last to arrive. 
A lot of interesting things happened that day, some thought provoking talk and some tasty dinner.But, the highlight was something to do with Subway.

We were deeply engrossed in an interesting debate, all of which made my friend very thirsty. He asked me to pick up a coke. I went to the subway stall. Asked for a medium sized coke, handed over the cash, picked up the drink and turned around. I walked about ten paces, the kaboom!! I just dropped the whole thing. Coke was all over the floor and my tee. I cursed myself and said sorry to folks who were standing nearby. I then returned to the store. The subway attendant asked me to return the cup, I just handed it over. I was perplexed and unaware of the motive for the attendant doing so. He then filled up another cup of coke and gave it to me. I was about to take out my wallet, just when he said, " No sir, that wouldn't be necessary. As a gesture of goodwill, we are giving it to you for free. I protested, " Hey it was my mistake right!!". He said, " That's alright, you didn't do it on purpose". The gesture was heartening. I told the gentleman, I am going to blog about this!

Subway, had won my heart with it's tasty Subs. But, that day it won my respect for it's goodwill!!

Way to go Subway and yeah Thank you!

Wow, you did that at 57..

Working in the plush office at mountain-view, CA this Google SVP at 57 did something that made the world stop and salute! He took a balloon upto the stratosphere and then jumped from there, oh I forgot, the balloon was made by folks in Tata Institute of Fundamental Research's Balloon Facility (TIFR) in Hyderabad. While coming down, he broke the sound barrier and the highest jump record too. No big deal! Or is it?

“Status quos are made to be broken.”
― Ray Davis

They say fifties is the age when you start thinking of what to gift to your grandchildren, it's the age when you look at the photographs of high school and college  where you had a six pack, which now has shrivelled. Fifties is that age when you lay back and take life easy, you're on the verge of retiring. Well there are some people who are just born to overthrow the status quo.
After learning about this man's feat, I certainly have put this in my bucket list!

Kudos Alan Eustace!

My thoughts on the tricks of trade!!

Successful business leaders often associate the success of a business enterprise with innovation, relationship building and sustained excellence. Having read a lot of articles on the aforementioned subject, my thoughts are in line with what these articles had to say.

I've heard anecdotes from people who have been lucky to work with great entrepreneurs. I've been able to see in person some really smart entrepreneurs who per say may not be big household names who have made it to the cover page of forbes or Time. But, have in their own way built up enterprises which have turned out to be lucrative. What has always enthralled me is the fact that they never had any association with a B-school. In this era where big B-school names get a direct entry into some of the best consulting firms, an era where you're acumen in managing business is judged based on your GPA, there are folks who have learnt the tricks of trade without having invested their time or money on a B-school degree. No offence to any B-school grads, I myself am an aspiring IIM-er.

I have a few stories on how I believe Innovation, Relationship Building and sustained excellence buttress the an enterprise.

Story 1 :

It was world war 2 and the Indian soldiers had to side with the Brits and wage a war against the dictator and his allies. There was a short supply of rice all around the country. Hoteliers who ran their small restaurant in the IT capital of India, tried out an entirely new Raw material for preparing Idli, the famous south Indian dish. They added semolina ( Popularly called Sooji ) and walla Rava-Idli was born. Not only that, this tiny restaurant is today a 500 Crore company which has a clear monopoly in the authentic South Indian foods category. Behind this lucrative enterprise was a man who had a taste for the food which sells and the brain of a Businessman. Though he parted ways in 2008 with the company by selling it off to a Nordic conglomerate, his prowess in the field of Food innovation is something that only few can dream off. His way of innovation although offbeat in style, had scripts of success written all over it. It would be another day at the office for him, he enters the kitchen, ask the chefs to prepare something new, goes in the afternoon, tastes the dish. If the million dollar tongue okays it, the product would go on sale from the next day. No market survey, no panel for sensory, no dry or wet recipe, just one simple man in his dhoti and shirt, rest as they say is history. It was as though, the tongue and the brain did super-computation in a matter of seconds and came up with a formula for success. Isn't this how Steve Jobs innovated at Apple?

An entrepreneur always has an inbuilt sense for Innovation, it ain't the sixth sense, it's Innovation sense.

The next story is about a man who had an excellent eye for problem solving and innovation.

It was during his full time job as an engineer in a PSU, he identified a problem where the cutting tool was overheating at the time of operation, due to this, the tool life was short. On further investigating this problem, he found out that this was due to a lack of  use of coolant to cool heated tool during operation. There began a quest for answers, it started with going through literature on how to cool these tools, then he started experimenting, his quest became his life, that's when the idea of establishing a Process Cooling company germinated.It started from a garage in his house to a 10,00 sq.ft facility today, the company is burgeoning. As the great Walt Disney said,

" If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember this whole thing started with a dream and a mouse "

This man's ingenuity not only solved problem, it established a huge industry!!

There is a popular thought among entrepreneurs that says building relationship is as important as having a great product.
 I work as a project engineer, where I have to get work done through external contractors. There is one particular electrical engineer who's especially brilliant at building relationship, a trait I've been in awe of.

There is this particular incident that I remember, it was at the time of a major project finalization, he was sitting across the table for a negotiation.  I was lucky  to be in that room that day. He appeared calm and composed, he was being hurled with some arrogant comments, anyone could've been easily offended. But not him, he defended himself in an honourable way, his mathematics running in the background, he stayed calm and struck a deal easily. This man is always soft-spoken, his head held high, courteous! All this and a Business man too.

Well what's the trait from this entrepreneur??
The answer is simple, relationship building. He is the most preferred vendor in our company. He and his men do an excellent job, not only that, he also builds a strong relationship, one that's bound by mutual respect.

My last story is about a medical shop in the South of Bangalore. It's about this family which has been running the medical shop. They are a bunch of benign folks who have their own way of wooing the customers. Let's just say, Business runs in their blood.
The startling thing here is that the father who started the business has passed the baton to his son, his son to his sons, the consumer experience hasn't changed.  They all greet you with the same enthusiasm every single time. The father imbibed in his sons, the tricks of the trade, how not to take anyone for granted, how their biggest asset was relationship building.  This I believe is a lucid case of Sustained Excellence, which is pivotal for any enterprise to grow..

Often, enterprises struggle to pass on the leadership to their next gen, they often fail to pick the right set of individuals to take the company forward. Enterprises become obsessed with bringing in new flavor to their leadership when all that the company needs is a good old filial advice to the new set of leaders. Instead of head-hunting for a new CEO, enterprises should stick to teaching their young brigade the tricks of the trade and pass the baton unless there is something fundamentally wrong in the new gen leaders.

To sum it up, I've tried to put in the traits that are necessary or prevalent in entrepreneurs, in my view. 

The Monsoon Drive

It was the second week of July, the month I was born. Out of the blue, I felt like going out of town to the serene western ghats on a monsoon drive. It was my long standing dream to go out on a drive to the region of western ghats during the wet monsoon season. I’d always heard from friends about how beautiful the Malnad region is during the rains. I’d seen photographs on the internet which concurred my friends views. Travelling to malnad during monsoon was definitely on my bucket list. My mind was set and I announced to my parents about my plan to go there. My mom was even more excited, she was longing to go to a temple there and without a moment’s hesitation she announced lets go, my dad who was listening to all this while reading the paper knew that “ Majority always wins”.  So there we were all set to travel.

Time was a constraint, we had to leave on a Sunday afternoon and return to Bangalore on Tuesday night. It would be two and a half days and about a 1000kms. Our plan was to go to sringeri and then head to Sirsi and back to Bangalore.

So D-day it was, Sunday afternoon, it was raining continuously in Bangalore.  My dad was skeptical about the trip. His skepticism became evident when he asked me “ Shall we leave tomorrow morning instead of today ?”. I was undeterred. My mind was set, nothing could turn me back. I announced let’s leave at 2.30. After that, I rested for half an hour. The clock indicated half past two that’s when I took the keys and put all the luggage in the boot and set sail to what would be an amazing two and a half days.

Our plan was to reach Belur by dusk. Crash there for the night, leave early morning to Sringeri, reach sringeri by 8.30. Then finish off the work at sringeri and then head to Sirsi and reach there by dusk again. Then head to Sonda the next morning and after the temple visit and lunch there, head back to Bangalore.

All along it rained mildly and intensely. For a city-dweller like me, cloaked in pollution and soot, embedded in the concrete jungle; nature had dressed itself in an amazing grandeur. It was ready to show me its finesse. The green cover of over the mountains allured me to stay there forever and the tantalizing romance between the clouds and the mountains was mesmerizing to watch. It was hard for me to concentrate on the road. Nature always distracted me. 

The highlight of the drive was the stretch between Belur and Sringeri. The drive was nothing short of breathtaking.  Throughout the drive green pastures just accompanied the road, it was as if the road and green pastures were romantic lovers who could never leave each other. The green pastures were undulating just like humps on a camel. The drive on those roads gave us a feeling of going on a roller-coaster, giving us the occasional adrenalin rush.  After a few miles of the road-pasture companionship, there came the mountains on one side. They were gargantuan. The slight drizzle added to the austerity of the already scenic environment. The clouds this time had decided to create a hazy atmosphere, blinding us of the view of the road. It was scary in a good way.  When this stretch ended, I was both happy and sad. Happy that my long standing dream of monsoon drive actually came true, sad cause this alluring journey had come to an end.  

All things come to an end, so did this journey. the journey was comparable to a mouthwatering chocolate sundae which had the right amount of ice cream in the form of scenic nature marinated with just the right amount of nuts and chocolate sauce in the form rain. 

In the midst of all this happiness, I just saw the trip meter which showed the digits 1000 in white against a blue background.  

This is Vattam signing off!

Potentiality redefined!

It was a long day at work, I returned home at 8.15. Though I was a little tired, I told myself, “Come on, you can't miss your Jog”. My feet were aching badly, despite that I put on my running shoe and hitchhiked to KrishnaRao park, platform for my workout, four days a week. Usually, I run about five to six rounds around the park, which is approximately 5-6 Kms. But that day, my body said enough for the day after two rounds. Disappointed with myself, I headed to a concrete bench and settled down there, unplugged my earphones and became one with the serene environment. As the sounds of the hustling of leaves reverberated through my ears, I noticed a girl probably in her early teens. She had a certain strangeness associated with her. Her style of walking was strange, it looked as though she had strain every muscle in her body to walk. It appeared to me as if for her to walk was to battle. Her face told me a different story. She seemed disconnected from the outside, a subtle smile that reiterated the folks who watched her that she cared about nothing around her. 

I sat there on the concrete bench with my eyes pinned on her and my mind wondering what would she grow up to become. While i was engrossed in this, she walked past me, tripped and fell. It took me a couple of seconds to realise she fell and I have to get up and help her. finally after a moment of lull, I snapped out of the temporary paralysis jumped up and rushed to her. I helped her get back to her feet and made her sit down on the concrete bench. Another gentleman too rushed to the spot and before we could realise there were atleast dozen folks around her. A lady in her mid forties asked her the details of her family, she told us her father's name and told us that her father was just sitting a few paces away. I started running shouting her father's name. The father who was sitting in a nearby corner in the park came upto me and told me that the girl was her daughter and headed to straight to the spot where she sat. On arriving there, the girl's father admonished her daughter for causing anxiety to so many people, though his tone was not abrasive.

The father daughter duo left and so did I, while I walked past her, I asked her dad what's unusual about her. His answer shocked and surprised me at the same time, "My daughter was born with disability, she is physically challenged and mentally challenged. She was unable to walk till four years and the doctors had told that she would never be able to walk. They even told her brain wouldn't develop and advised me to put her to an orphanage. However, I decided to give her the Ancient Ayurvedic treatment. After about three years of treatment, she is now able to walk around the whole park. Life has changed for her, she is a real fighter. She has taught me so many lessons".

After this heartrending conversation, I bid goodbye to that girl, to which she sweetly replied, Goodbye!!

I went home elated, I'd heard about the story of Wilma Rudolph who was one of the greatest woman sprinter in Olympic history. She was polio stricken at a tender age, but later on became an Olympic Gold medalist. I felt as though I met a Wilma Rudolph in the making.

"My Doctor told me I would never walk again,
 my mother told me I would.
  I believed my mother, "

                         - Wilma Rudolph


I have nothing to conclude, she is an inspiration to me and I shall remember her for many years to come. Most of all when I am running and my body says no more, I would think of this girl, tell myself that when a girl who couldn't walk could today walk miles together, I can definitely do more. I just felt lucky to be there at that precise moment.

This is Vattam signing off

Indian Elections- A new dimensions

The election fever has hit the world’s largest democracy, every news channel has started dedicating a whole hour on the upcoming elections. Newspapers have started posting articles on the election trends. People’s conversations have become more like “Enri BJP na Congress?” So is it going to be BJP Or Congress? Another set of people are debating on which community is voting for which party?and like always there are people who find their niche in shouting that nothing is going to change in this country.

These were the common set of diseases that affected the country during the Election season.
However there’s something entirely new in this election season. Something that was dormant all these days. There is a new dimension of thought among the common people. This is an election that the world is watching with keen interest. The world is counting on the people of India to deliver a stable government for the good of the India and the good of the world.

This new dimension and a much needed one, taking into consideration the fact that all these days, election manifestos only spoke about “roti kapda makan, pani aur bijli”. We as a country have started looking at the socio-economic impact of the elections. The kind of policies that the new government would bring in order to propel India’s growth dreams. The media is questioning the contesting parties on what their strategy is in tackling the countries Economic turmoil. The corporate India is asking the parties how they’d tackle the infrastructure issues and the energy deficit that the country is facing.

I truly believe that as a nation we are asking the right questions and we’re having the right debates that a nation should have when it’s just about to enter the election mode. There is no doubt that there are people who are in need of “roti kapda and makaan”, but we are also in desperate need of policies which would burgeon economic growth, strengthen the manufacturing sector, solve the energy crisis. I do know that these are a complex set of problems, which is unique to our nation and it would require a strong, stable and a innovative government which would be willing to confront these problems and chalk out an effective plan and implement such a plan. 

I hope in the elections to come, we the people of this country ask the right questions and most of all elect the right people who'd take this wonderful country forward.  

India, Are we a country of contradictions ?

Globally People find Indians to be extremely rude and arrogant. I have had experiences where I have been at the receiving end of some extremely rude behavior and on the contrary I've had experiences where people have been extremely courteous to me. Such diversity in nature of people is often very difficult for people from other countries to perceive. Infact in India, people in different cities behave differently, for example dudes from Bombay are known to be extremely friendly and co-operative whereas Delhites are known to be not so co-operative. 

I've talked to people from different countries and they all have varied opinions on this subject.

Recently, two separate incidents confused me even more. One showed an extremely courteous human, while the other showed me just the opposite. 

Let's begin with the good part!

This happened to a friend. It was a Tuesday morning, he hurriedly hopped on his motorbike, to catch the 7.30 bus which would ferry him to the factory which was about 27 kilometers from the bus stop. In the urgency of the whole bus catching saga, the dude forgot to check the fuel gauge, resulting in his bike breaking down mid-way. Disappointed with himself, he started pushing the bike towards the nearest petrol bunk. After he pushed the bike for about a hundred paces, all of a sudden there was a voice which came from behind, when he turned around, he found a young lad on a moped, this dude was surprised, the young lad said something that astonished my friend, “Sir, Banni nanna gaadi li hogi petrol tarana, nimma gaadi ille nilsi”, this lad told my friend to park his bike so that they could together fetch some fuel for the bike in his moped. My friend was more than happy! In the short journey to the petrol bunk, the young lad told my friend that he did this because such an incident happened to him sometime ago and there was no one to help him and he had to push his vehicle for a long distance which left him devastated. He took a vow that if he ever came across anyone who was in such a state, he would always lend a helping hand! After listening to this heartrending story, my friend was speechless. Together they went back to my friend’s bike, refueled it and thanked the lad big time and headed to catch the factory bus.

This was one of instances of exemplary behavior, I agree he didn’t do anything larger than life but looking at the circumstances, it was a great show of character. My friend would always be thankful to that guy.

After describing this incident, my friend told me one line for which I nodded my headed, the line was something like “ However cruel the world might have become, we still find gems like this who nullify the world’s evils and maintain an even balance in the society”.

In a separate incident that happened to me, I found myself at the receiving end of some rude behavior.

It was a Friday evening, I’d missed the factory because of a prolonged meeting. So I’d to catch the public bus. Luckily one of my colleagues dropped me to the nearest bus stop.  The bus arrived in a few minutes, I hopped onto it, I’d to stand as all the seats were taken. I wished I had got seat.

I was lost in my own world of thoughts. The bus I was in stopped at its routine stop and a lady hopped onto the bus, probably in her early thirties or late twenties. Looking at her mannerisms, she seemed pretty restless and one could sense an uneasiness in her, I was wondering what could be the reason for this bizarre behavior. She came and stood infront of me, still looking restless and uneasy. The person sitting in the seat next to where I was standing had to get down, so he stood up and was ready to walk away, just when I thought I would sit down, this lady barges and pushes me off the side and sits down.

This made me furious, but I didn’t react, I just told her, “ if you wanted the seat, you could have just asked, I would have gladly obliged, instead you chose to push me and occupy the seat. That’s very rude, learn to be polite!! She just turned away and didn’t even feel sorry for what she did.

After a long journey, I went home and all through, I was wondering why is that we Indians are so impolite and rude. What makes us so indifferent and disrespectful to the people around us. We never seem to care being courteous to people around us or greet people around us.

At the end of it all, it confuses me even more as to what is our true nature, are we Indians polite or rude, are we courteous 

Athiti Devo Bhava

Personally, I've always liked the statement 'Athiti Devo Bhava',  which means Guest is God. There are very restaurants/hotels which actually follow that. It was only in Rajdhani, I truly experienced 'Athiti Devo Bhava'

It was my mom's birthday that day, I was calling my friend to find out which restaurant would be apt for the occasion. I brought a few names and he brought a few names and finally he said go to Rajdhani!

I further inquired about the restaurant and he said you just go there and you'll experience a great dining experience. I was happy with that answer and told my parents, that we'd be going to Rajdhani. They were okay with that.

It was about 8 kilometers from our house. All three of us hitchhiked to the place. Then on, the whole experience was not short of wonderful.

As soon as we stepped in, the manager of the hotel greeted us with a big smile. Further, he took us to our table, before which another gentleman came and put tilaks on our forehead.

Next came the best part, the folks there, put huge plates with partitions infront of us. The waiters all came in the next half an hour with loads and loads of dishes. They all had one thing in common, they were all serving with a huge smile and they were serving us with a lot of warmth and care. For the first time ever in a restaurant, a server insisted I have a second serving when I didn't want to eat. I found it fascinating, this place gave me a homely feeling. The folks there were never tired of serving us.

I have never been interested in running a restaurant, but if I ever decide to, I would definitely take a thing or two from them.

This place not only served great food, it also gave the customers the chance to experience the Rajasthani culture, it combined great food, great hospitality and a chance to experience their culture.

Thanks Rajdhani for a great experience, keep up the spirit of Athiti Devo Bhava

College life, I miss you!!

Today, while I was browsing the files on my laptop, I came across a folder that said 'Engg Pics'. I clicked on it and there were more than a thousand photos in it. I selected the slide show option and there began two hours of a wonderful movie called 'Engg Life'. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen.

The photos told a great story, I had a great college life and these photographs reflected the same. Every photograph made me nostalgic. My mind took me back to that moment and made me relive that moment, made me laugh, made me sing, made me dance and also made me cry. It's almost been a year since I finished college, there hasn't been a single day in these many months that I have not felt the urge to relive my college days. I am sure that's the case with folks who read this post.

I am awe-struck at the pace with which life has taken off after engineering and the folks we used to see everyday are all in various parts of the globe. I don't know whether I will be able to meet all you folks again ever in life. But I have one thing to say to all of you who have been part of my college life,

I Miss you guyss and I miss all the fun we had together!!

I hope life gives us a chance to meet again.