Vineet Nayar - A Transformational Leader

Leadership is a nebulous subject. The very word evokes an image of a superman who is omnipotent capable of solving every challenge that comes his way. While a whole lot of such expectations from a business leader may seem unreasonable, the anticipation that such a leader has a Vision for the company and results to show for the effectiveness of the strategy seems to be a reasonable presumption. Vineet Nayar, former CEO and Vice Chairman of HCL Technologies is one such leader who, with his Vision and passionate approach, transformed the company over a period of 7 years. Vineet is a charismatic and decisive leader with an excellent track record. He is a great communicator and an acclaimed global thinker.

This is the inspirational story of his dynamic transformational leadership.

Prologue

The year 2005 was a watershed moment in the history of HCL Technologies (HCL). A pioneer in hardware manufacturing and sales in India, it had forayed into Software Services, Infrastructure Services and BPO in the wake of Y2K boom. While it was in the top 5 IT services companies of India, and growing at a very steady rate, all was not well within the organisation. The competitors were pulling ahead. HCL was losing market share, mind share and talent share. The employees did not see a great future and the then CEO, though a technically brilliant man, was neither customer facing nor an inspirational leader. It was at this juncture that Vineet Nayar, who was the President of COMNET, the Infrastructure arm of HCL, became the President of HCL IT services and Infrastructure (BPO was not under his purview to start with). He became the CEO of HCL Technologies in 2007 and later elevated as Vice Chairman in 2011.

Vineet joined HCL as a Management Trainee after completing his MBA from XLRI in 1985. He worked across various units of the organisation and ultimately initiated a start-up called COMENT (within HCL) to cater exclusively to Infrastructure Services. COMNET, under his leadership revolutionized Infrastructure Management including the much-acclaimed Remote Infrastructure Management. While there were several other senior executives within the company with background in Software Services, Vineet was chosen to lead the Software Services in addition to the Infrastructure Services. Thus, he became the President of HCL Technologies and Head – Software Services and Infrastructure Services which was about 86% of the overall revenues of HCL. The total revenues of HCL at that time was USD 763 Million.

It was the best thing to have happened to HCL. Being an outsider to a business has its distinct advantages. Vineet was quick to see the struggle within the company to improve market share, low morale of employees, general lack of direction, outdated systems and processes etc., Within a short span of time, he started to shake up the organisation and posed some fundamental questions that would dramatically change the course and direction of HCL for years to come.

Introspection

The famous humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers said, “When I accept myself as I am, then I change.” This is true of organisations as well. Vineet used a tool, what he called “Mirror Mirror on the wall – confronting the Truth” to introspect. Senior Managers were invited to workshops called “The Blue Print” and all issues, impediments that hindered growth, employee empowerment and satisfaction, sales, delivery were all discussed threadbare. A detailed plan was devised to set right the house in order. Obviously, a 3 decade company will have may areas that needed an upgrade – some to be overhauled, some to be totally discarded etc., Sales and marketing strategies were discussed – like the Blue Ocean strategy, the need for an outside in approach to selling rather than an inside out approach, revamping the marketing collaterals etc., It was an eye opener for many of the employees! Over a period of time, this invariably led to building the organizational capabilities, which would not have happened at that pace otherwise.

Building Trust and Transparency

Distrust and defensiveness set in an organisation due to several reasons and more so where lot of young millennials work. Lack of opportunities, lack of vision and a poor work environment contribute not only to dissatisfaction but also to attrition and employee burnout. Vineet addressed this by invigorating the work environment by clearly articulating the vision, values and what he intends doing to make HCL a sought-after place to work. The work environment, he promised, would change dramatically and soon enough employees started seeing the change.

And it started with him! A 360-degree feedback was instituted to all employees who a manager might influence – and allowed anyone who gave a feedback to a manager access to the manager’s 360. This practice increased participation, empowered employees, and made 360 a developmental tool and not an evaluation tool. While 360 feedback was common, opening out the results in a transparent way was unusual. Even clients who had heard of it were quite amazed. And not all feedback was flattering!  

A U&I portal was launched. It was a two-way dialogue between CEO and the employees. Vineet himself answered almost 90% of the questions spending over 7 hours a week. It also started a reverse blogging where Vineet posted questions and employees responded. His Vision for the company was slowly unfolding.

CEO’s musings became a regular feature where Vineet shared his vision and thoughts for the way forward.

One of the key determinants of Trust in an organisation is the compensation system. Vineet revamped the decades old paper-based appraisal system with an online system called i4excel which handled end-to-end appraisal of over 24000 employees in less than 30 days and compensation letters released electronically. What used to take months thus was reduced to days. That apart, in earlier times, while discussions were held with managers, the reviewer’s comments were never known. i4excel made that transparent. It revolutionized the appraisal and compensation process.

It is great for a CEO to articulate a vision and bring in transparency, but each employee is interested in “What is in it for me?”  Vineet introduced ESOP plan for all cadres of employees which was a morale booster besides giving a stake in the growth of the company for each employee. This was a great success and employees were thrilled.

To reward high performers, he instituted ‘O2 league of the Extraordinary’. The league constituted those employees who have been outstanding employees for the preceding two years. What was unusual in this award was, the family of the employee was also invited to the award function and a grand dinner followed the ceremony. This was an outstanding success as it not only got the buy-in from the family but enhanced the standing of employees amidst their kith and kin. The family also felt part of the organisation and its growth. This was truly an out of the box idea!

Similarly, when employees retired, they were invited to the above function, with their spouse and felicitated with a citation appreciating their services besides gifts.

“The ultimate measure of man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at time of challenge and controversy”, said Martin Luther King. The 2008 financial crisis was one such challenging time. Vineet boldly proclaimed the philosophy “No HCLite will be left behind”, reassuring the employees that none would be retrenched even in those difficult times. What else can you ask of a leader?

A comprehensive Employee Portal was launched which covered different areas including Employee empowerment, Employee Recognition, knowledge base, Transformation and support. Over a period of time several innovative systems were put in place through the portal.

These initiatives did not happen overnight but unfolded in a systematic way over a period of time. In hindsight, the employees understood that these were all pieces of a larger unfolding puzzle.  

Strategy

Max De Pree, CEO of Herman Miller, said in ‘Leadership is an Art’, “In the end, it is important to remember that we cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are.” So true. Having cleaned up the organisation and built trust to a large extent, it was time to reinforce the vision and strategy for the Company consistently even though it was unfolding and had taken shape. In Vineet’s own words, he asked three fundamental questions in the context of HCL’s business and the answers are revealing.

The first question that begs an answer was “What is the core business of the organisation?” The answer to that was – to create a differentiated value for its customers. The second follow-up question was, “If it is so, where does that differentiated value get created?” And the answer to that was, “in the interface between the employees and customers.” And the final question was, “If that was so, what should be the business of managers and management be?”. The obvious answer to that question was, “to enthuse, empower and encourage employees to deliver that differentiated value!”

Thus, was born the radically different management philosophy of “Employee First Customer Second.” (EFCS). Vineet went on to articulate that the customer also wins in this paradigm as “Customers first” philosophy found it difficult to deliver that fuzzy promise or value. The initiatives embarked thus far in HCL were part of this strategy and had started paying dividends.

Vineet organised “Directions”, an annual company wide event, that takes strategic discussions out of closed-door meetings to all employees. Vineet and the local leadership team was present at these meetings and shared the vision and strategy of the company in interactive sessions. It was not all business but fun and connecting with employees as well. Vineet made a dramatic entry in one such meeting dancing along the aisle to the stage – needless to say that it was an unconventional entry. The employees loved it. Vineet prepared at least 2 weeks for the event and spent another 2 weeks travelling across the globe to attend events in various countries.

It was essential to bring on board the other important stake holder – customers. Hence Vineet organised a theme based Global customer meet where all the customers were invited to participate. Apart from showcasing HCL’s capabilities, the event also brought thought leaders from across the globe to present latest trends in technology, industry etc. The customer meet was a rousing success. In one such meet conducted in the US, the noted author Malcom Gladwell was the keynote speaker. That apart President Clinton addressed the meet in his usual charming way and enthralled the audience with his phenomenal knowledge and command over wide-ranging issues. He seamlessly connected them into a coherent message. It was truly an inspirational address.

The following remark by a customer bears testimony to the resounding success of the Global Customer Meet. He said “I look forward to coming to HCL meet, as it is the only IT meet in IT and Tech, where I learn and enjoy without inhibition and where the content helps me broaden my thinking. It is not only about technology but also about the passionate culture of HCL that has made me a big fan of HCL for the past 6 years and I wouldn’t miss it for anything!”

Vineet published this philosophy as his best-selling book “Employee First Customer Second – turning conventional management upside down”. This was a best seller with over 100,000 copies sold and translated into 7 languages. Vineet, fondly referred as a “Maverick” by media, was acclaimed for his transformation of HCL over a period of 5-6 years. Encomiums followed and some of the key ones include:

§  Fortune magazine recognised HCL as “the world’s most modern    management”

§       Business Week named HCL as “one of world’s most influential companies”

§  These innovative business practices were taught as a case study in Harvard Business School and London Business School

§ Vineet was chosen by Fortune magazine in their first ever global  Executive Dream Team

§      Vineet found a place in the elite Thinkers 50 list

§  Vineet’s philosophy received wholesome praise from global leaders like late C K Prahalad, Tom Peters, Gary Hamel and Ram Charan

Results

Defining a sound and distinctive strategy is a necessary condition for success of any business. But winning the games takes a lot more. Translating vision into action with alacrity and consistency is an unenvious and onerous task. HCL, under the dynamic leadership of Vineet, not only performed well but outdid all expectations. His tenure from 2005-2013 saw phenomenal growth of business. HCL was a force to reckon with. The results were there for all to see.

§  The employee revenue per annum grew by over 36% with an increased utilization rate

§  Employee attrition rate dropped significantly over 9 consecutive quarters. Employees were proud to be part of the company

§  Employee strength grew from about 24,000 to 85,000

§ Revenues grew from 0.7 Billion in 2005 to 4.7 Billion in 2013 with operations in 32 countries

§  Customers tripled

§  Customer satisfaction doubled 

At the end of his term, the key question that many had was “How would HCL’s performance be after Vineet?” The true hallmark of a leader is that the systems and processes should have been institutionalised and the individual should become insignificant. Vineet, even before end of his term announced, “Dismantling the office of the CEO”, which confused many. All he did was to recast the office of the CEO and transfer the responsibility from senior management to the company as a whole. New initiatives like Value Portal, Smart Service Desk to resolve the outstanding issues between frontline employees and functions were launched making the management accountable to employees. Like all other initiatives Value Portal was a great success as HCL employees demonstrated, in dollar terms, the value they brought to the client.  

The fact that HCL is doing extremely well and has outperformed Vineet is a tribute to his strategy and the high-performance culture that he built in HCL. And as we write this, HCL is in the top 10 most valued companies in India by market capitalization!  

Prologue  

After an illustrious career in HCL, Vineet co-founded Sampark Foundation with his wife Anupama Nayar, to catalyse ‘large-scale transformation in primary education through frugal innovation.’ Today Sampark Foundation is improving learning outcomes among 7 Million children studying in 76000 rural schools across 6 states in India – Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh at less than $1 per child per annum. This large-scale transformation is now a case study at Harvard Business School.  

Vineet has been cited by Forbes in its “Heroes of Philanthropy List 2016’ and also as a ‘Global Thinker 2016’, along with his wife, by Foreign Policy magazine for ‘Unplugging technology so kids can learn.’  

Vineet currently serves as a Senior Advisor to ChrysCapital, McKinsey Leadership Institute and many Fortune 1000 companies. He is on the Advisory board of ‘Millions Learning’ project led by the Ex-Prime Minister of Australia, Ms. Julia Gillard, and has served as Governor of ICT, member of the Global Advisory board of Women Leaders and Gender parity program at the World Economic Forum. And as a mentor to multiple technology start-ups, he continues to follow his passion of turning conventional management wisdom upside down. 

Gulf Beckons!

One of the perks (or perils?) of working in the IT sector is the frequent visits to overseas locations to meet clients or your teams or be part of sales presentations etc., It is quite exhilarating in the initial days but gets weary as years roll by. My second avatar in IT industry was full of such travels and needless to add, I have had interesting experiences to narrate. When I look back on all those travels over the 15 odd years, the one that shook me literally and causes nightmares even now was on one of my frequent trips to Malaysia.

I don’t particularly enjoy these short overseas trips. You lose the entire night’s sleep and land up early in the morning at the destination. You have to wait at the Hotel for rooms to be cleaned up red eyed for your name to be called. For obvious reasons we are not allowed to book rooms from the previous night. And you hardly get any time to shower, get ready and be in office for the meeting or the presentation. So, I try to get as much sleep as possible in the flight and generally don’t engage in conversations with those sitting next to me.

On this occasion, though, the chap sitting next to me did not look like a business traveler but some sort of “labourer”, I guessed. As we were nearing Kuala Lumpur, he sought my help to fill in the immigration form. He said his name was “Ramar” and that he was going for “Work”. When I checked his visa status it was a business visa for one week. He had a return ticket as well. I was stunned and asked him how he managed to clear immigration! Those authorities are supposed to restrain such “labourers” from travelling abroad without proper work visa. I was genuinely concerned and asked him who will come to meet him at the airport. He took out a cigarette packet cover (yes, I am not exaggerating!) and showed me a number scribbled on it and said that he would call this number on arrival. I was dumbfounded.

On alighting, I went ahead to the immigration queue and saw my friend Ramar being escorted to another room. I was definite that he would be sent back. As I was collecting my luggage, I saw Ramar coming, with a beaming smile! The immigration at KL were also no better! It was too much for me to handle for a night. He sought my help to call the number on the cigarette cover. And, yes you guessed it right, no one responded. Now I was stuck with Ramar. He would not let me go pleading with me to take him along!

I reached KL in a taxi with Ramar in tow. On reaching the hotel, I got his agent’s number in Chennai and blasted him for sending an innocent man like this to a foreign land. The agent promised me that someone would pick him up before the evening and gave him a restaurant’s details. I had a presentation. So, I walked across to an Indian restaurant, where I normally have food, and requested the owner to allow Ramar to be there till that evening. One of the advantages of frequent travel, is you also build relationship and the owner was an extremely friendly person. I left Ramar there and went about my business. I completely forgot about Ramar.

I returned that evening and went back to the restaurant. And there was Ramar, still clutching his bag, his only possession, and looking at me anxiously. The owner said no one had contacted till then. I began to panic as I did not know what to do. I again requested the owner to give Ramar some food and accommodation till next morning. He readily obliged; God bless him. The next morning, I told Ramar that he should consider getting back to India by the next flight as he had a return ticket and he should forget his “Phoren” dreams. I went to work and came back that evening. The restaurant owner, gave me the dreadful news. He told me that Ramar had paid an agent Rs. 80,000/= after selling his measly possession of lands in his native village and come here and cannot go back. He had no option but to commit suicide. The restaurant owner was also panicking now and asked me to do something.

A salesman is always a salesman. The salesman in me, took over, and I pleaded with the restaurant owner to give him a job in the restaurant, although it was illegal. He was also of Indian origin and I played the Indian card to the hilt. After much persuasion, he agreed and so my friend Ramar became a server in the restaurant! My colleagues in KL made fun of me saying that I had influence even in Malaysia! On return to India, I called the agent and blasted him and threatened him to report to Police. Of course, it was only to let out my frustration. I also called Ramar’s wife in Trichy and told her that her husband was safely “employed” in Malaysia! On looking back, I am not sure whether I was stupid to get involved in such situations, which could have got ugly, but then being who I am, I could not walk away!  

Why this story now?

I see hundreds of workers returning from the Gulf countries. It is sad because most of their entire life’s savings were spent to go there dreaming of a better life for their family. All that is shattered. How will they find employment here? What can the Government do? Having seen their plight in many such countries, my heart bleeds for them and their families.

And when I went to KL after about 2 months, the restaurant owner told me that Ramar, now wiser and more experienced, had left the job and had gone into the hinterland! I do not know what happened to him. But there are still such Ramars among us who have dreams of an overseas job and a future that could be worthwhile! How sad that this is not the reality. It is also unfortunate that more countries are turning out to be a mirage even for our educated class!  

When will we create an egalitarian Bharath where every citizen can live with dignity and be true to himself and achieve his potential? Only time alone can answer!

Time - An intriguing concept

‘Time’ is an intriguing construct. It has fascinated humans from time immemorial. Time machine and Time travel have caught our imagination. ‘Time Machine’ by H G wells continues to fascinate even the current generation. We take ‘Time” to be absolute and still believe so! When a great scientist like Albert Einstein says “Time is an Illusion”, it is counter intuitive to most of us. Understanding his space-time continuum is all too much for us, the lay people.

It is interesting to see how time has been perceived and adopted since ages.

The Gregorian calendar, is today’s international calendar, named after the man who first introduced it in February, 1752 – Pope Gregory XIII. Before 1752, England and her Empire followed the Julian calendar, first implemented by Julius Caesar in 46 BCE. However, this calendar had an inbuilt error of 1 day for every 128 years, due to miscalculation of solar year by 11 minutes! This affected the date of Easter, traditionally celebrated on 21^st March, as it started to move away from the spring equinox with each passing year.

To get over this problem, Gregorian calendar was introduced. This is a solar calendar, based on a 365-day year divided into 12 months. Each month consists of 30 or 31 days with one month consisting of 28 days and once in 4 years a leap having a month with 29 days. This was adopted in many countries like France, Italy etc., in 1582 with Turkey adopting it as late as 1927. As a result, the year 1751 was just 282 days from 25^th March (start date of the Julian year) till 31^st December. 1752 started on January 1.

England adopted this in September 1752, but there was a problem. To align the calendars, England had to “drop” 11 days from the calendar – Wednesday, 2^nd September was followed by Thursday, 13^th September! There are rumours floating that there were riots in England with workers demanding their “lost” 11 days! Quite hilarious to say the least and whether this is true or a myth is not known!

While the European civilization was thus accounting for time, it would be interesting to see what our ancestors thought of time and how they accounted for it. Ancient Indians had the concept of “Yuga” and we had four Yugas running one after the other. It starts with the Krita Yuga, followed by Tretha Yuga, Dvapara Yuga and the present Kali Yuga in that order.

Going bottom up, Kali Yuga is 432,000 years in human life terms.

Dvapara Yuga is two times of Kali Yuga - 864,000 years.

Tretha Yuga is three times of Kali Yuga - 1,296,00 years.

Krita Yuga is four times Kali Yuga - 1,728,000 years.

These four continue in a cycle and together are called a ‘Chatur Yuga’. Therefore, a Chatur Yuga is 4,320,000 Years or 4.32 Million Years!

Kali Yuga started in 3102 BCE after Krishna left Dwaraka at the end of Dvapara Yuga. Since we are in 2019 CE, we have only spent about 5121 years in Kali Yuga and technically Hindus call this “pratame pathe” or first quarter of Kali Yuga. Therefore, we have another 426,879 years for Kali Yuga to end at which time, according to scriptures, Lord Vishnu would incarnate as Kalki Avtar (the original one!) to redeem the world and establish Dharma.   

Once Kali Yuga is over, the Krita Yuga commences again!

1000 Chatur Yuga’s is called a “Kalpa” which translates to 4.32 Billion Years! And, as per our scriptures, Brahma, who created the world, has a DAY consisting of 1 Kalpa and a NIGHT consisting of 1 Kalpa.

If this is not already mind boggling, ancient Hindus have gone even further. And Brahma, lives for 100 celestial years! Thus, the life of a Brahma is equivalent to 2X4.32X365x100= 315.36 Trillion Years in human terms! That is the life span of a Brahma!   

These 1000 Chatur Yugas are managed by 14 Manus and roughly each Manu gets about 71 Chatur Yugas. Each of these 71 Chatur Yuga segments is called a ‘Manvantara’.

We are presently in the first day of 51^st year of the current Brahma, in the 28^th Chatur Yuga and managed by the 7^th Manu titled Vivastha Manu (Vivasvaan). If you think all these are farfetched, you are mistaken. Whenever we perform a Homa or a pooja, we do a sankalpa. This is nothing but a statement of purpose for the pooja much like the SOP’s we prepare to get admitted to prestigious schools. This is what we chant:

Adhya Brahmanaha – Current Brahma

Dvithiya pararthe – Second half of the 50 years of the Brahma

Swetha Varaha kalpe – 1^st day of the above year

Vivastha Manvanthare – ruled by Vivastha Manu

Ashtam vigumsathi thame – 28^th Manvantharam

Kaliyuge pradame pathe – first quarter of kali Yuga

This is followed by the Geographical location of where we are doing the pooja – Bharata Varshe etc., if we are in India and suitably modified if you are in other countries. Can it become anymore systematic and detailed?

If you look at the celestial day of a Brahma, it is 4.32 Billion years in our time scale. It roughly equates to the age of the earth as computed by scientists today! How uncanny! Further, our sastras go on to add that once the life of a Brahma is over, all plurality is resolved and the entire universe goes from a manifest state to an unmanifest state! Remember that matter can neither be created nor destroyed. When a new Brahma takes charge, after a deep slumber as it were, the entire creation moves from a unmanifest state to a manifest state! This is called pralaya and Shristi in the Sastras – what the modern scientists call expansion-contraction; evolution-involution. Thus, the Universe goes in a cyclic form of manifestation and unmanifestation.  The whole Universe goes in a cyclic form eternally!

If you are not astounded by such an imagery and deep insight of our forefathers, please listen to what Carl Sagan, one of America’s greatest astronomers has to say about this.

“The Hindu Religion is the only one of the world’s great faiths dedicated to the idea that the Cosmos itself undergoes an immense, indeed infinite, number of deaths and rebirths. It is the only Religion in which the time scales correspond, no doubt by accident, to those of modern scientific cosmology. Its cycles run from our ordinary day and night, to a day and night of Brahma, 8.64 Billion Years long, longer than the age of the Earth or the Sun and about half the time since Big Bang. And there are much longer time scales still.

There is an appealing notion that the world is but a dream of GOD, who after a hundred Brahma Years, dissolves himself into a dreamless sleep. The Universe dissolves with him, until after another Brahma century, he stirs, recomposes himself and begins again to dream the big cosmic dream.” He also goes on to add,

“In India, there are many GODs and their many manifestations. The Chola bronzes cast in the 11^th Century, include several different incarnations of God Shiva. The most elegant and sublime of these is a representation of the creation of the Universe at the beginning of each cosmic cycle, a motif known as the cosmic dance of Shiva. The GOD, called in this manifestation Nataraja, the dance King, has four hands. In the upper right hand is a drum whose sound is the sound of creation. In the upper left hand is a tongue of flame, a reminder that the Universe, now newly created, will from billions of years from now, be utterly destroyed.

These profound and lovely images are, I like to imagine, a kind of premonition of modern astronomical idea.”

What else can one say?

I started this blog using the word “construct” for time. Why is it so? Is Time real? Does it really march onward or as Einstein said is it an illusion? These questions need a serious enquiry!

Now that we are on the subject of Time and since the New Year is round the corner, let me wish you all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!

How Buddha saved me!

I was heading the delivery unit of an IT company a few years ago. There is never a dull moment in IT companies – customer escalations, appraisals and wage revisions, resignations, client visits, P&L pressure et al – you are always on tenterhooks. You get so much used to these situations that anything less feels like boredom! As I was meandering through my daily chores, I received a call from my Country Manager in Singapore stating that I need to urgently travel to Singapore to meet a disgruntled client. Further enquiry revealed that the client wanted to sue us for a few million dollars, as contracted, due to a failed delivery. Now, that was not only disturbing but also something grave. We had implemented a e-procurement product for this client in their factory in Indonesia and as all start-up products are wont to, it failed to meet their overrated expectations. But my million-dollar question to the country manager was “Why me?” as I was a banker and had nothing to do with e-procurement! His response was a classic one which I had never heard before – he said “if you plead sincerely with the client, he would not proceed suing us!” I didn’t know that I was such a great ‘pleader.’

Not one to shirk responsibility, I took upon this onerous task of meeting the client in Singapore. I browsed through the manuals to get a hang of the product and spent a couple of days with the development team to know about the nuances of the product. My background in such processes in my earlier avatar in the US helped me ease my tension a bit. I reached Singapore and met the client manager Mr. Chang – an Indonesian Chinese. He briefly met me, was curt, unfriendly and dropped a bombshell that we were travelling to the factory in Indonesia the next day! I did not have an Indonesian visa and he promised that he would take me there without a visa in a steamer! I was dumbstruck and refused to budge as the prison cells of Indonesia danced before my eyes. Much to my surprise, he arranged for a visa in Singapore which was a feat in itself. Later, the following day, I, Mr. Chang and two of his colleagues embarked on our journey to Indonesia.

It was nothing short of an adventurous trip. First, we took a steamer and landed on the Indonesian soil after about 30 minutes. We then took a jeep ride for about 2 hours to another city. Mr. Chang, obviously upset with our company, was very aloof and detached – quite understandable. However unfriendly a group may be, when all are thrown in a group in a jeep with nothing else to do, you tend to start a conversation. By some quirk of fate, the conversation veered towards religion and I came to know that all the three of them were Buddhists. I casually asked them about the significance of the 4 noble truths propounded by Buddha. Surprisingly, they were not very well informed. Then I talked very eloquently about Buddha and how his principal teaching was in the 4 noble truths. They listened with rapt attention. They were under the impression that the 4 noble truths were very basic. I dispelled their notion with extensive quotes from the books / articles that I had read. They were quite surprised, to say the least. I talked to them about the American Buddhist Monk Ajahn Sumedho and his brilliant book as also about his master’s book ‘A Tree in a Forest’ by Ajahn Chah, a Buddhist Monk from Thailand.  Knowing that I was a practicing Hindu, they were astounded. I promised to send them links to these books. Their entire demenaour changed after this conversation.

On reaching our destination, we boarded a plane, travelled for another hour or so and then had a jeep ride for about 30 minutes and reached the factory in the middle of a forest. The team there was waiting for our arrival. We right away entered the meeting and the factory head, a lady Ms. Chin, was waiting anxiously and after a brief introduction shot a question at me in an exasperated voice, ‘You are the expert. Please tell us how to solve all our problems?  ‘Expert – me’ was the incredulous feeling that crossed my mind and as I was marshalling my thoughts how to respond, Mr. Chang jumped from his chair and said that as an expert I cannot answer all trivial things and that I would sit with the team, study all the problems and come up with a recommendation. What a relief – I did not see Mr. Chang, but I saw Buddha himself standing there! That gave me the necessary breathing space. Later on, I also came to know that Mr. Chang and Ms. Chin were at loggerheads. 

   

To cut the story short, I managed to gather all the issues, offered a few work arounds and generally managed to wriggle out of the situation. On return to Singapore, my good friend Ram prepared a brilliant presentation based on my inputs giving not one, but 4 different options to proceed. I went ahead and made this presentation to Mr. Chang and his team. He appeared reasonably convinced. Once I was done and about to leave, Mr. Vincent, Mr. Chang’s assistant, shook hands with me and told me in a whisper, “Mr. Ganesh, when Mr. Chang takes up an issue, he doesn’t rest till he sees blood. You are the first man to go scot free like this!” Mentally I profusely thanked Lord Buddha for his compassion and mercy on me!

Finally, the client made a settlement with us after we agreed for a small compensation and closed the project. How did the cantankerous Mr. Chang agree to this proposal – only Lord Buddha knows! And the moral of the story is, any knowledge, however trivial it may seem, will come in handy at some time one way or the other!  

  

Meaning of MY Life!

I was born on Teacher’s day – 5^th September, much to the delight of my parents and grandparents. My parents had three daughters, and as was the norm then, were happy to see a baby boy in the mix. My grandfather, who had built a Ganesha temple at our native village of Nerur, had just completed the ‘Kumbhabhishekam’ of that temple! Hence, he not only named me Ganesh, but asked a jeweler to open his shop and bought me a gold chain to adorn my waist! Like little Ganesha, I was a very naughty chap and my vague memory of my younger days were my periodical thrashings from my father and my fights with my immediate elder sister. My father, being in a place without much of schooling facility, sent me to a boarding school at the age of 6 or 7. I was reluctant to leave my mother and go but had no choice. Nevertheless, that experience of staying away from home at such a young age made me adjust to all situations and made we what people today call a ‘people magician’.

I rejoined my parents as they moved to a large city when I was in my 9^th grade. Teenage years were fun. All girls in the class looked ravishing beauties! Obviously, you have a crush on most of them. Outdoor games were the norm. My parents used to shout at us for being outdoors all the time. Cricket, Lagori, ball Badminton, Tennis – you name it, we played it all. We did not leave indoor games either. Life was a carefree endeavour without much thought about the ensuing day. Then came the time when we had to enter college. Only then I slowly realized that I must do well and get a job! That seemed to be the priority in life and the sole purpose at that point in time. My college mates were brilliant and you cannot be a duffer when the whole class oozes with brilliance. I did well in studies and got a probationary officer’s job in a Nationalized Bank – a prestige those days. My life’s ambition and purpose seemed to be over!

It was at this juncture, my brother-in-law introduced me to Vedanta lectures by a Swamiji of the Arsha Vidya Gurukulam founded by Swami Dayananda Saraswathi. These lectures, including topics like Bhagavad Gita, Mandukya Upanishad etc., gave a different perspective on life. It set me thinking and I attended more lectures including those by Swami Parthasarathy and a host of others. I read a lot of books on Vedanta and non-dual literature. I built a house, got married and had children – activities that most of us did as part of living. However, my value system had a solid foundation in our Vedic tradition.

My wife’s brother gifted me a book titled ‘COSMOS’ by Carl Sagan which rekindled my interest in Physics (though I was a honours student, I hardly knew Physics, but scored very high marks!). Being away in the US, without the family, helped me to read a lot of books on cosmology and Quantum Physics. On the one hand, the vast expanse of the empty space extending to billons of light years, accentuated our insignificance as a species. On the other, to know that the distant galaxies and we are made up of the same stuff, made my mind expand as vast as this Universe. I was often wonderstruck at the grandeur of creation. If this was macrocosm, the quantum physics was the microcosm. The concepts and discussions on reality seemed to be mind boggling! The modern scientific thoughts seem to be converging on what non-dual Advaita talked about thousands of years ago – Adi Sankara being the one who expounded it with his Bhashyas.

Once you are born, you have to die! That is the only thing that is certain. In between we live a life and as I had explained, go through various phases of life which has also been explained beautifully in the Sastras. The million-dollar question is, “Is there a purpose or meaning in life?” Great minds have discussed this over centuries. I am too small a person to attempt this. Nevertheless, I shall attempt to do so purely from MY perspective.

Sankara defines Reality at three levels. It must be understood that Reality is only one and for our easy understanding three different perspectives were discussed. For our present discussion, we shall restrict it to two. The first level is the ‘Vyavaharika Sathyam’ – transactional reality or empirical reality. This is what we experience as the phenomenal world of appearances that we take to be real. The subject-object duality. The other perspective is ‘Paramarthika Sathyam’ – Absolute Reality - which is the highest Truth or ONLY ontological reality – that is Brahman. 

From an Absolute Reality perspective, the entire creation of names and forms that we see are technically called “Mithya” – neither real or unreal and many times wrongly attributed as “illusory”. Then such a construct begs an answer to the question as to why this Absolute one appears as many? What is the purpose etc. Even the great Sankara answered that it is ‘anirvachaniya’ – inexplicable. Hence there is no point in discussing our life’s purpose from an absolute stand point.

However, our scriptures state that, as explained earlier, the world of pluralities is ‘Mithya” which is caused due to ‘Avidya’ or ignorance and our sole purpose in life is to transcend this ignorance through rigorous self-knowledge and become one with the Absolute. This is what modern Gurus call ‘Awakening’. However, most of us do not bother to go anywhere near such an endeavour, including yours truly except for feeble attempts from the periphery!

Hence for our discussion, coming down to our phenomenal world is more appropriate. Do I have a purpose in life? I have taken sessions to managers on Purpose and goals etc., But seriously come to think of it, life, in MY humble view, does not have any stated purpose. We lead a life, trying to be a good human being, socially responsible, being helpful to others, follow your ashrama dharma’s, take care of those who are less fortunate than you, pursue your passion etc., Pablo Picasso summed it up succinctly when he said,” The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to gift it away!” If we analyze life more than this, I feel that we cannot find any answers. Victor Frankl, a nazi camp survivor, wrote the classic ‘Man’s Search for meaning’ and he believes that individuals are strongly motivated to find meaning in their lives, understand the nature of their personal existence and feel it is significant and purposeful. I believe that it is very psychologically satisfying to feel so. All of us need to become, what modern Psychologists call, a ‘Self-actualized’ person.

However, I am a dreamer and philosopher at heart. I would go with Emerson, who said,

“To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people and affection of Children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;

To leave the world a little bit better, by a healthy child,

A garden patch or redeemed social condition;

To know one life has breathed easier because you have lived;

This is to have succeeded.”

Nothing more, nothing less. I equate success with living.

Bertrand Russell one of the greatest thinkers of modern times talks about this very eloquently in his book “The conquest of Happiness” as follows:

“The happy man is the man who does not suffer from either of these two failures of unity, whose personality is neither divided against itself nor pitted against the world. Such a man feels himself a citizen of the universe, enjoying freely the spectacle it offers and the joys that it affords, untroubled by the thought of death because he feels himself not really separate from those who will come after him. It is in such profound instinctive union with the stream of life that the greatest joy is to be found”.

With such profound thoughts in the background, I go through life enjoying the spectacle it offers always believing that the Universe is unfolding as it should.

Despite all the trappings of success and achievements of the phenomenal world, the fundamental yearning for that limitless freedom and to be one with the Absolute will remain with us forever. It is simple yet not easy to achieve. There has to be an intense desire to achieve that in this lifetime followed by sustained efforts in that direction. Unfortunately, for most of us, neither the desire nor the efforts seem to be forthcoming. We seem to be contented with the fleeting joys and achievements of the empirical world!

As for me, I shall renew my attempts with more resolve and vigour, now that this question has been asked of me!

Hindi or No Hindi!

I graduated in 1974 when I was 21. Jobs, as always, were far and few especially for “vanilla” graduates. Mrs. Gandhi’s nationalization of banks had given a fillip to branch expansion and that was my only hope. My father, in all his enthusiasm to encourage me, got me a probationary officer’s guide which cost him Rs. 15/=.  There were no coaching classes or internet to get information on finger tips. Competition Success Review magazine was a constant companion. I embarked on project “job hunting” in all earnestness! I appeared for all exams that allowed me to appear – from Management trainees to clerks to Probationary officers! I had appeared for an entrance exam for IIM, Calcutta in my final year and that was a tough nut to crack. But that failure was certainly an experience to cherish for compared to that, the PO exams were, to put it Chennai parlance “Jijubi”. I got selected as probationary officer in 2 banks besides as a clerk in another Bank. God was kind was all I could say with a sigh of relief!

Canara Bank was a great place to start my career. Having had my initial training stint in Jamshedpur in Bihar and Dhenkanal in Orissa, I was finally posted to Moradabad. It was in Western UP and I landed there with lot of trepidation. I did not know the language and it was far away from home. My first day in office was quite intimidating. Most of the staff spoke only Hindi and I was asked to manage the “bills” counter. In walked a gentleman and he asked in chaste Hindi “Saab, woh chautha sow pachpan bill nikaaldo”. I felt as if I was hit on the head by a Joffra Archer bouncer. Cheques were written in Hindi numerals. The pay in slips were also in Hindi. I cursed the Tamil Zealots back home who did not allow folks like us to learn Hindi. But then, being a positive person that I am, I sought the help of a local colleague, Mr. Ved Prakash Dbey ji – we called him Dubey ji. He gave me a brilliant idea – watch movies! That sounded a great idea and since he was a forced bachelor, he used to accompany me to at least 3 movies a week! All the Amitabh Bachan starrer of those days like Zanzeer, Kabhi kabi, Amar Akbar Antony were seen gleefully. The morning radio sounded Kundan Lal Saigal and evenings were with Ameen Sayani. Mohammed Rafi was my all-time favourite. Soon enough I started learning Hindi, the right way!

My Hindi was very chaste without the Tamilian accent and people started accepting me as their own. One problem with learning Hindi in UP is the usage of, what we call “Sanskrit” words in between. For those who are uninitiated, we call it swear words. You see these words lovingly uttered by our Virat Kohli whenever India takes a wicket. You will not understand the pleasure of mouthing these words unless you have lived in UP or up North. I had a colleague by name Triloknath Chaturvedi – and his name implies that he was a master of 4 Vedas- nothing can be farther from the truth. If he opened his mouth, it would be the choicest of “words” in Hindi. And he was a great influence on me, so much so, I started using a similar language! Once I was travelling from Delhi to Amritsar with my friends and a vendor tried to cheat me. I unleashed a barrage of abuses selected from Chaturvedi’s exclusive dictionary. An elderly man, obviously stunned at this onslaught, sitting opposite to me, seeing us talking in Tamil earlier, gently asked me in Hindi “Are you a Madrasi?”. I said yes and he responded “Even I do not know so many “good” words in Hind!”. My friend Chaturvedi must have been proud seeing the progress of his protege! 

Then I moved on from there to various places, left the Bank and worked in Puerto Rico before moving to the US. In Puerto Rico, a Spanish colleague proudly told me that his Indian friends had taught him Hindi and much to my liking uttered all those “good” words that I had forgotten in a while! On return to India I joined HCL. For some strange reason all sales and marketing guys in IT companies are North Indians! My Hindi helped me to build a bond with them and whenever we had something to quietly discuss which the client should not know, we always switched to Hindi! Needless to add, I have built lasting friendships with many of them. And after all the drama, I have retired to a senior living home which is run by North Indians and yes, my Hindi helps here too!

So, the point I am making is that learning a language is definitely an advantage and enriches you. I appreciate Mr. Modi’s speech for most of the part, enjoy Kumar Vishwas’ kavi sammelans, enjoy reading jokes in Hindi etc., I can go on and on. Similarly, I have also learnt Kannada and can speak reasonably well. And you can see the pleasure in someone’s face when you talk to them in their native language. It is priceless.

By learning a language, I don’t think Tamil will lose out. But unfortunately, those who defend Tamil are those who do not know the beauty of the language. There is a vast literature in Tamil and I am sure most of these chaps do not even know the ABC of these classics. In modern days who would know about Sekizhar or Silapadikaram or the great Thiruvalluvar. They generate new words that are extremely colloquial and purists like me do not understand. For example, for one of my FB posts, one person had commented “mass sir!’. I did not know what it meant. I quietly called my niece and asked her what it meant. She said mass=awesome as if it was something universal like E=MC² ! Recently in our senior living, we conducted a competition where people had to speak extempore for a minute on a given topic without using English words. All of them failed! So much for our Tamil skills. As for me, I am making it a point to read Tamil devotional classics like Thiruvasagam etc., and am fond of quoting from Thirukuaral. More than Tamilnadu, it is Tamil folks in countries like Sri Lanka, Malaysia, France, Canada are fostering the language the way it should be done.    

   

So long as it is not compulsory, I guess learning a new language is a great advantage and one must make efforts to learn a language whenever an opportunity arises. There should be no coercion. At the same time, if there is a necessity, I feel that people will learn a language. After all, all languages are beautiful and are useful in some way. So, the more languages you know, the more friends you can have! What else one needs?

MODI-2.0

Heartiest Congratulations to Mr. Modi and BJP for this stupendous victory. Most of us did not expect such an overwhelming response by India! In a way it is good because, reforms can now be pushed through at a much faster pace.

Leadership is one of the key drivers for success of an organization – be it an enterprise, or a cricket team or a political party. It is the leader who communicates his vision to his constituents. This message as well as the messenger is of utmost importance. I had written about Mr. Modi’s leadership in my blog http://nsgmusings.blogspot.com/2019/04/is-mr-modi-truly-great-leader.html on 12^th April. I had also ended that blog with the lines that till a worthy challenger emerges, Mr. Modi is THE Man. He is a great orator and very cleverly he made this election as Modi vs the rest – a sort of presidential referendum. So, the candidates became irrelevant. He kept repeating “your vote to Lotus is a vote for me!” Marketing Gurus can learn a lesson or two from Mr. Modi. It is great to have a vision and strategy. You will come a cropper if that strategy is not executed properly. Just imagine Dhoni as captain tells his bowler to bowl a line and the bowler does not heed his advice! Here again BJP scored big time. If Mr. Modi was BJP’s face, Mr. Amit Shah and his band of karyakarthas were the arms and legs working behind the scenes to make this happen on the ground – not only during elections but much before that. Unfortunately, none of the opposition came anywhere close to BJP in these two aspects. All they had to say was “remove Modi” – which seemed to add to Mr. Modi’s popularity. Of course, there were many other factors that were at play for such a huge victory.

Having said that, in a democracy, a strong opposition is a must. Whether one likes it or not, Congress is the only pan India party. In all fairness, it started off after independence as a left of the centre, liberal, secular party. But over the years right from Nehru days it had changed slowly initially but accelerated during Mrs. Gandhi’s period. The Congress today is not the Congress that was formed initially. India NEEDS a party like that. Congress would do well to reinvent itself, build grass root level workers, promote regional leaders, ELECT a LEADER through democratic means and START FROM TODAY. We can then hope to see a challenger for Mr. Modi in 2024. If they still harp on old methods, I am afraid this trend cannot be reversed soon. As for all the other regional parties with 5-10 MP’s and aspiring to become prime Ministers, what can I say? I think we should slowly move towards a 2-party system like in the US.

As Mr. Modi rightly pointed out in his acceptance speech, the election rhetoric is over. The reality is staring at us. It is fine to be euphoric for a few more days. After that, the new Government has its task cut out. The economy is not in great shape. While the inflation is low, the growth at 7% may not be good enough. There is huge Government spending and oil prices have been favourable. Some industry sectors are not in good shape. Banking needs a fillip. Consumption has slowed down. Jobs need to be created as unemployment is one of the biggest problems. Agrarian crisis is for real. Something needs to be done about it. Water management also needs immediate attention. Interlinking of rivers is a project worth pursuing. The MSME sector needs to be given an impetus which would also contribute to job creation. We can go on and on – but I guess one gets the drift. It is another matter that these were not issues in this election. Further Mr. Modi cannot blame his predecessors now for he was at the helm for 5 years! The budget in July will be very interesting and will give us an insight into shape of things to come.

It is here that I feel that Modi’s supporters must play a constructive role and hold the Government accountable. People should remove their supporter cap and wear the critique cap. Whenever the Government makes a dubious decision or a poor implementation, I think all supporters should raise the issue. For heaven’s sake, please do not make Mr. Modi larger than life equating him to GOD. He is also not infallible like any of us. He is bound to miss a trick or two and let us be vigilant. After all, we the people, have given him this opportunity.

And finally, I am glad that Mr. Modi spoke about inclusive growth. This is a must. For some reasons, the social fabric of this country is under pressure like never before. He must be the soothing balm and carry the entire nation with him – true to his word “Sab ka Saath, Sab Ka Vikas”. The fringe elements in all sections of society that are wreaking havoc on the social cohesion of this great nation must be reined in with an iron hand. This land has a glorious culture of accommodating everyone and is by nature Dharmic. That tradition must be maintained. Mr. Modi can be the catalyst to accelerate this process.

I am sure he will be the leader of every Indian – whether he is in India or abroad – and work tirelessly for the glory of this nation as he has been doing hitherto. It is our duty to contribute our bit in this great endevaour. I fervently hope that Mr. Modi would work with the integrity and intent that he is known for with malice towards none and charity for all. May GOD be with him. Jai Hind!