Ok Google, Wake up!

OK Google! Yeah, the thing that is going to tell you anything and everything!From the traffic on the road to the hotel by the road, it gives you anything and everything, it identifies your office location and tells you where your vehicle is parked. All that is appreciated Google. Thank you for that.

I would be okay if you actually are not so accurate on these things, I would forgive you Google, I wouldn't be a tiny bit unhappy if the location of the car was off 20 meters or if you didn't tell me the exact traffic density on the road I am heading to. I have not paid a penny directly for that, as long as it's free and you give me a little inaccurate data I am okay with that, please understand that Google.

Alright let me cut the crap and head straight the heart of the matter. I have been a Google loyalist, my phone runs on Android, my browser is Google and the goddamn search engine I use is also google and my email account is also google. To add to that list, I have forced my parents to use Android phones as well. All in all, I am deeply embedded in the Ecosystem you have created around me. Although, I am scared someday you will take over my life completely, I still appreciate the work you are doing. But, hey I missed out something in the Made in Google list that's in my arsenal, or rather what was in my arsenal until a couple of weeks ago, my most treasured Nexus-7 just went dead. Kaboom!

I didn't drop it, did not allow it to get wet in the rain, did not root it, did not do anything that would set it in the direction of the heavens. I just took care of it like my own baby. But what happens, it goes dead, despite all the care I took, it just freaking crashes!

It was just another day in my life and I took my treasured Nexus 7 into my hands to read the book, " Wild, a journey from lost to found" and then, the thing suddenly hangs. Then I fiddle with the power button to restart it. It turns off and reboots. The screen turns on and " Google is displayed". I get nervous, try to restart it again, nothing happens. I leave it there like that for a few hours, nothing happens. Then, I use google to get to the root of the problem. I search for answers, the answers look bleak, I get even more nervous!

Four days go by, no action taken. I decide to head to the service center. Located at a distance of 8 kilometers I use Google again to find my way. I reach the place and wait for my turn. I sit there in deathly silence wondering what would happen to her. My mind runs through all possibilities, " My baby could die!, My baby would not return". The pessimism starts to kick in.

My number is called, I head to the counter, I greet the lady sitting across, " Good morning ". She reciprocates. Then I blurt out everything that happened to my baby ( When I say my baby, I refer to the Nexus 7). She hears me out patiently. Then she does a preliminary inspection. Her next few words give me a glimmer of hope, she says it could be a software issue and it could be fixed. Then she tells me a dude is going to give me a call in 3-4 Business days, I respond with a hint of agitation, then she assures me I will get a call tomorrow. I then head back home with a slightly higher amount of optimism than the pessimism I came in with.

The next day, at around half past three, the phone rings, a number without a name displayed on my phone. I pick up my ANDROID Phone and answer the call, on the other end a gentleman speaks, no non-sense there, he get straight to the point, he shoots the most difficult part, " We re-installed the OS and tried to start it, but it doesn't work. We believe the board has to be replaced, it is going to cost you INR 10,000, do we replace it ?" I hear all this and my emotions change drastically, I am enraged and devastated. Just for the sake of asking, I ask them, " Can't anything else be done?" The gentleman firmly says NO! I say," Alright, don't do anything, I will come and pick it up tomorrow!, Thank you" and hang up the call.  

The tab is a mere one year and six months old. It was purchased in the US and it had been my loyal companion. I have read more than thirty ebooks in that, heard countless songs and watched movies! I miss it and I miss it badly!

Well this is not a eulogy, but this is a message to Google, a message which I hope has an impact! I hope they understand that loyalty comes with effort not from one end, but from both ends, I need you to make me love you. I have been a google loyalist and for me to remain a google loyalist, the folks in mountain-view should buck and give goods worth the money! I have an apple Ipod touch which is 5 years old and till date it's as good as new. My dad has an ipad-2, the damn thing is four years old and yet, is solid as a rock. not once I have had to take it to the service center.

The point here really is no one buys a gadget to use it for a year and then throw it off their life, unless of-course they have 10 digit salary or they have shitloads in their bank account. When I googled to see how many Nexus owners faced such a problem, I could almost see an unending thread with a kazillion users complaining about the same problem. Well, that isn't how a company which ranks third in global Brand value ( Courtesy Forbes ) should work. I would really appreciate if Google worked more on the Tablet's reliability instead of figuring out ways to make me click on that pesky ad!

Google, I really hope you have taken note of this!  

The Travel Diary - The First leg

I begin this post with a quote, a quote which since the day I came across has left an impression on me.

" Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

                                                                                                   - Mark Twain

With backpacks on our shoulders, we headed off to what was going to be a Spartan travel experience. Travelling only by the public transport, no cars or caravans.  Our plan was to travel to Kanyakumari from Hosur via train, spend a day there. Hitchhike to Rameswaram, spend two days there, then head to Madurai and return to Bangalore. We had booked our train tickets and luckily got a confirmation too.

Enchanted by the smell of smoke and the cacophony in the station, we had a rush of adrenanlin when we saw our train arriving onto the platform. We quickly boarded the train, the six of us hopped onto the train as though we were running for our lives. We quickly located our seats and made it our home. Then began the fight for the upper birth, it was one of the wits and not of fists luckily. We arrived at an agreeable covenant. Then came out the snacks. There was a whole bag of biscuits that my friend had brought along and I had bought a pack of home-made sweets, the famous Mysore Pak which my mom had told me to hang on to till the Ugadi festival, which was to arrive in a couple of days. Nobody gave heed to my mom's words and the sweets got over in a jiffy. So much for the Festival sweets.

The whole gang decided to split up, one party went to explore the train, another party sat near the door  and I was put on guard for the luggage there. Everybody arrived back in an hour and by then it was time for dinner and we picked up whatever that was available from the pantry and crashed in our berths.

The next morning, we woke up on arrival at Kanyakumari, the first of our destination, it was around seven fifteen. We hopped off the train and hitch-hiked to auto-stand. There was the usual auto vs bus debate, being the so called treasurer of the group, I decided we'll take the auto by doing a simple math in my mind. I put myself beside the driver sharing the driver's seat between us, while the rest of the pack settled behind,  although many find it juvenile when I say I love sitting infront. In the midst of chaos happening behind, I tried to strike a conversation with my dilapidated Tamil, while the driver kept pitching us for a tour of Kanyakumari. In the midst of this amazing conversation, I constantly checked up with my friends on the programme for the day.

The rickshaw driver brought us to a hotel ( a cheap but decent one ), Two friends and I hopped off the auto-rickshaw and headed off to the hotel lobby along with the rickshaw driver. The rickshaw driver mediated the deal for us, telling the Hotel manager to give us a reasonable discount. On hearing the word discount, the two friends and I unequivocally in our broken Tamil demanded discount. The manager nodded his head and asked us to check out the two available rooms and settle down in the one we liked.

Although I didn't want into be the recon party, on insistence of my friend I went ahead and inspected the room. The room seemed alright equipped with a flat screen LCD TV and we were thrilled about it. The room was tidy and just outside, we had a clear view of the Ocean, we were more than happy about it. The boys crashed inside the rooms. Then a few of us including myself headed up to the terrace, some of them clicked pictures. We then headed back to the room, took a shower and made up a plan and headed out.

Dhoti clad grown men, sunglasses over our eyes, we headed to the legendary Kanyakumari temple. Situated by the shore, this temple although not known for it's grandeur, this temple has a certain  element of mystique associated with it. A temple which is over 3000 years old has a divine aura to it. We entered the temple, the admirable thing was that the inner most sanctum was lit by Oil lamps, on the idol of the goddess, there were two stones that twinkled like the brightest of the stars. It seemed as though two LED's had been installed on the Goddess's face. It was  There is a legend which says that the great warrior and mentor Parashuma, once lit a lamp at this temple and the lamp glows on till today.

After the temple visit, we headed to the ferry which would tow us to the renowned Vivekananda Rock and the humongous Tiruvallavar statue.

We headed to the ticket counter which was neatly built and organised well. Again my treasurer post landed me with job of having to stand in the que and buy tickets. I went to the counter and indicated six tickets and the gentlemen handed me over 6 tickets, in return I handed him over the cash and left the place. We went to the boarding area, a good thing there was the life jackets which were provided to us. (A rarity in India). We put on the jackets and boarded the ferry. That's where we saw, what Chacha Nehru rightly described as the Ethnic melting pot. Punjabis with their turban, folks from the UP countryside in their white Kurta and Dhoti, the local folks in their lungi and shirt and a few urbane folks in their jeans and polos.

" We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race."

                                                                                                           - Kofi Annan 

The ferry took us to the epitome of spiritual enlightenment, the Vivekananda Rock. It stood their in all its grandeur with an aura around itself. All of us hitch-hiked to the top of the rock, the sun was blazing hot and as a result our legs started crying. On the rock, there was one room called the meditation room, at the centre of which was a OM engraved in metal lit in fluorescent green. The room dimly lit and the folks sitting around there engrossed in meditation, all this added to the air of spirituality prevalent there.The experience left me in a trance!By then my friends came down and the ice was broken. The photo-freaks started clicking photos and my enthusiasm to pose went down after a couple of clicks. We were through with Vivekanada rock, we then headed to the ferry and which took us to the humongous Thiruvallavar statue, which is a symbol of the richness of the Tamil literature. While climbing up the stairway to reach the foot of the statue, I saw the various works of this legendary literarist inscribed in Tamil and in English. The richness and the meaning these words carried were sublime. On that note, we hopped onto the ferry again and headed back. 

Then we headed to the beach to cool ourselves off. Three of the boys threw themselves in water and were coming in and out of the water like amphibians. After they had had enough of the water, did they emerge out. By then, the time was forty minutes past five. 

Our next stop was Gandhi memorial. This memorial truly symbolises the influence and the aura of the Mahatma. A place where the Mahatma's ashes were placed before immersion has become a monumental spot in Kanyakumari, the beauty of this building is that on the 2nd of October, the sun's rays fall on the spot where the urn was placed.

After paying our respects to the Mahatma, we left the place to head to what's the customary place of visit in Kanyakumari, the Sunset point.

The sight there was sublime. A giant ball of reddish orange stood there descending gradually towards the ocean. We were waiting for the holy union of the horizon and the sun, just when the sun decided to play hide and seek with the clouds and before the sun could reveal himself it was already sun down. Although a little disappointed, we headed back to the room with glee.

That was the end of our first leg, we headed next to Rameswaram in the night train.

Day one out of four.

Watch this space for the next three 

Lost in translation or Ignorance?

Recently, a friend of mine came to me and narrated an incident which is a commonality in today's Bengaluru. At the end of his narration, he insisted I write a post which might influence the corporate big-wigs to devote their time in this regard and also for the many ignorant folks. I almost fell on the floor laughing when he said, my blog post might have an influence.

I address this friend of mine as "Mr Chloromint", cause he always has questions about anything and everything. Armed with his inquisitive mind, he has troubled a lot of people including our common boss to whom we report. There have been countless instances in our brief acquaintance of when his inquisitive mind has benefited and back-fired. Nevertheless, his enthusiasm for questioning remains solid. 

Mr Cholormint stays in the northern part of bangalore, while the office is abour 30 kms away which in Bangalore's standards is a two hour journey, with hiccups like silk board and madivala junction in the way. It was yet another day for Mr Chloromint. He boarded the usual bus, the bus would ferry him from Silk board all the way upto Bommasandra stop where our office is located. Amidst all the faces in the bus that day, there was a peculiar face that boarded the bus. He looked like a man from the state of Bihar. His understanding of Kannada was as good as a Beyonce's understanding of Mandarin. The conductor started telling people to buy tickets, unfortunately for this bloke, he went about shouting in Kannnda. His lack of knowledge in Kannada proved disastrous a few moments later. The bus went a few yards from the stop he got on and voila! two blokes stopped the bus and got into it. Who were these guys?? the ticket checkers. The ticket checkers began their job of hunting down the passengers who hadn't bought a ticket and this Bihari dude admitted that he indeed hadn't bought a ticket. At this moment, the ticket checkers demanded a fine, while this bloke kept on telling that he got into the bus the previous stop and reiterated that he couldn't buy a ticket cause he didn't understand the language. While the former spoke in Kannada the latter spoke in Hindi. There was a deadlock between kannada and hindi, it was more like a battle between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal but in different dimensions. The deadlock continued for a while and also infuriated the crowd. The agony was so high that one elderly person came and hit this Bihar lad and the lad reciprocated by giving back another blow. By now, the bus had passed the stop where the lad had to get down. The crowd was steaming with anger and people were all shouting and abusing this lad who was also abusing and shouting in Hindi. There was a verbal duel where both the parties didn't have an iota of understanding of each other's words. Just when things were about to go from bad to worse, Mr Chloromint intervened and mediated between the parties. He told the Bihari lad that he had to pay a fine since he hadn't taken a ticket, for which the Bihar lad said he had only a hundred bucks. Mr Chloromint then told the ticket checkers to leave the dude by collecting the hundred bucks. Both the parties agreed and the Bihar chap got down about four stops away from the stop he intended to get down, while Mr Chloromint also got down at the same stop which happened to be Bommasandra. 

Amidst all the chaos, came a thought in the mind of Mr Chlormint, what if this Bihar chap knew kannada, there wouldn't have been a slight chance of this chaos happening. The man wouldn't have been humiliated in public and the crowd in the bus wouldn't have been enraged. 

This brings us to the crux of the problem, why then are people ignorant in learning the local language, it's not mandatory to settle in a state, but it's for their convenience. The fundamental reason on why an individual has to learn the local language is survival. It gives an instant access to everything around, after all you connect with other human beings only through a language. I would say that the responsibility of learning the language lies not only with the individual but also with the organisation he is working for. There is a rule in Germany for students to get a visa is they should they should be proficient in understanding the basics of  language. 

While there shouldn't be an imposition of any such rule, there should certainly be an insistence for the same. 

After all as the great Rumi once said, “Words are a pretext. It is the inner bond that draws one person to another, not words.” 

This is Vattam signing off!!

Room for Sentiments at work

There has always been a sense of ambiguity in my mind over having sentiments at work. My mind is torn whether to be cold and emotion-less or to be empathetic and humane.

At work, a new conveying line was set up a few weeks back and it has been troubling us since it was set up. There have been constant niggles and snags since it's installation. This issue has been troubling my team.

It was one of those days when I was working on resolving this issue. The whole team was there, my manager, technician and myself. We were fiddling around with the settings, trying to get the right air-pressure and orientation. We worked on it for more than an hour. Sweating it all out, our efforts bore fruit, the results started showing in about an hour's time.

We were done with our work and we were about to leave. Just when a workman who stood there doing about his work came to me and with a smile on his face and gleaming eyes said, " En sir namma mane inda ne oodsbitralla? hadineidu varshadinda ide machine ge operator aagi kelsa maadtidvi, neevu nodidre kelsadinde tegsbitralla?". ( Sir, this used to be my home and I have worked on this machine for 15 years and you have made me jobless here ). Perplexed by his statement, I couldn't digress for a few moments on what he was saying. My mind put on it's thinking cap and started thinking on why this man spoke those agonizing words. When my mind began this thinking process, I recollected my previous project where a completely automated secondary packaging line was installed as result of which 15 people were removed from their positions in the line. The result of which, this man lost his position in the line and had to be moved off to another line in another division. After the thought process was over, I responded by saying, " Naavu enu madalla ri, Company kelsa heliddu, naavu maadlebeku." ( Nothing is in our hands, we have to just do what the company says) to which he nodded with a smile, his nod almost telling a story, made me speechless. After the debatable incident, I left the place and went on with my work.

Though I went on with my work that day, I couldn't take my mind off the words that had from that man. I shared this incident with a friend of mine and laughed it off. But deep down, I was guilt ridden and morose about what had happened.

All this boils down to the question is it right to have emotions at work? Is it right to be empathetic and  humane or do we need a much colder approach at work??

Age of Diplomacy

There have been slew of announcements in the top tech companies across India and the US. A few months ago it was Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai, Vishal Sikka and most recently Thomas Kurian. Though I have mentioned names which all have India written all over it. The central purpose of mentioning these names is purely to bring in an element that from the modern times has been seen as the great asset for a human being's success. The word I was looking for is Diplomacy.

The masterful stroke that diplomacy plays is greatly summed up in the quote, " Diplomacy is the art of letting someone have your way. " by Daniele Vare. 

In the age when everybody talks about being cut-throat and the world being dog eat dog, there are others who have followed a rather free-spirited route in making a mark on mankind. Their way was simple yet sophisticated, they all stuck to the passive aggressive approach, they were assertive and never aggressive. All this boils down to the big question, in the age where everybody are interconnected and everything is interdependent and you can never eat alone, what should be your approach when you have to get things done? A question that has haunted the B-schools and the question that analysts are continually trying to answer. This Kazillion dollar question can be looked at by reading about some of the names that I mentioned above. 

Firstly, to talk about the man that whole of India is excited about, Sundar Pichai, the man who is literally incharge of the whole of Google. The reason the folks sitting at the top of the mountain view chose to put him incharge of almost everything is no doubt for his vision for the future of Google but also for his invaluable trait of diplomacy. Keeping in mind the innumerous mergers, acquisitions and deals that Google is trying in to make, it put this man for the job. A man who is known to have a calm demeanour is known to be the go to man when it comes to making deals. 

Next up, I wanna talk about the man who is synonymous with the current government, the man who is known for his sophistication and urbane demeanor, Mr Arun Jaitley. He is Modi's crisis manager. Known to be the close aide and mentor of many Leaders, this man is the mascot for diplomacy.  From politics to glamour, from cricket to business, his address book is known to have everyone who has had a stint with fame and power. 

Keith Ferrazi in his book writes a beautiful line that I want to end with, this line has always been on my mind ever since the day I read it .

“Relationships are all there is. Everything in the universe only exists because it is in relationship to everything else. Nothing exists in isolation. We have to stop pretending we are individuals that can go it alone. —MARGARET WHEATLEY”

― Keith Ferrazzi, Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time

This is Vattam signing off! 

Thank you God for everything!

It was Thursday, I had to head to a friend's reception that evening. I took the office bus. Finished my work by 5 and took the 5.15PM bus and reached home by 6.30PM. Got ready by 7 and left home by 7.30 after a brief talk with my dad. Reached the venue by 8 and got in the Que to greet and congratulate the couple. While I stood in the que lost in thoughts, my friend ( the bride) spotted me and waved at me. Finally after what seemed to be an eternal wait, I got the chance to go upto the dias to greet couple. There was a customary photo with the groom and bride, post which I left the venue and headed to my bike which was parked about twenty paces from the wedding hall. I hopped on my bike, put on my helmet. Then headed straight home.

The journey from my house to the wedding hall was a pretty short one, a twenty minute ride to be precise.. I arrived at a junction, where I stopped at the red light. It was like those thousands of junctions where kids sell things, women with infants beg for money. Here too was a similar story, but there I saw a kid probably a tad over six years, selling these really long pens. One of his eyes closed, his clothes dirty and ragged. His body and hair hadn't seen water in a really long time. There was an innocence in him which was hard to define. I stared at him, he stared back at me, his eyes trying to tell me a silent story. A couple of seconds went by, I broke the ice by asking him, " Eshtu ? " ( How much?). I was trembling for reasons unknown to me. My voice had a certain fear that I find hard to explain. I pulled out my wallet, took out a ten rupee note and handed over to the boy. He gave me a pen in return. I said Thank you! The boy left. I couldn't get this boy out of my mind. The time was ticking and there were about 45 seconds left for the signal to turn green. There was complete pandemonium in my brain. My eyes went into reconnaissance mode and started searching for the boy, my mind on the other hand didn't know what to do. It was fighting it's inner battles whether to leave or whether to stay, but to stay and do what!! Finally the deadlock ended when the signal turned green. I accelerated my bike went a few feet ahead and took a U-turn and headed back to the same signal. Now I knew what to do, my mind more determined than ever. My moist eyes were a reflection of mind. Though, I couldn't change the kid's life, I could make him happy at-least I thought so. I parked my bike after doing a acrobatic U-turn, parked my bike by the pavement. I scanned my purse, I found four hundred rupees in it. I pulled those four notes and started searching for the boy. I spotted him about twenty feet away. I shouted, hey you... headed straight to him. He spotted me and stared at me again with those mystic eyes. I handed over the four notes to his tiny hands and asked him to give me another pen. His face showed no visible reaction to my actions. The kid offered a few more pens, to which I said no and left the spot. These moments almost felt like an eternity. My mind was emotionally drained, my eyes still moist and my mind in a sort of trance. I left the signal from where began an almost roller-coaster of emotions. First my mind remembered the famous picture at one of the Nazi camps where there was saying which went, " If there is God, he will beg for my forgiveness". My mind constantly questioning, Why I had a bike, house, why I had never experienced desperation, why I'd never felt hunger, why I'd everything whilst that little kid had to suffer, there was this sense of irony, when one part of me was thanking God that he didn't give me that plight and the other part of me questioned his existence and cursed him for not doing enough for that kid. I have lived in India all my life and I have seen innumerous kids on the road begging, but its hard to explain my behavior and actions. The emotional roller-coaster continued till I reached a friend's house and told all that had happened in the preceding minutes. This pacified my mind. After spending time there, I headed home. The boy's face embedded deeply in my mind. I still can't lose him. His face still haunts me.

All I have to say is God Thank you for everything!

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