Sehwag’s 219 and life lessons….

Yesterday Virendra Sehwag hit an incredible 219 in 47 overs that he was there on the crease. The way he was going, if he had stayed till 50^th over, who knows he might have crossed 250. 


An outstanding effort!!!

What makes it more significant is that it took few decades (since the debut of ODIs) for arguably the world’s best batsman Sachin to score the first ever 200 in an ODI. And within 2 years Sehwag went past it. I am sure very soon someone else will also score a 200 in ODI and then someone else…..

All the world needs is someone to do it first time and show that it is possible. A spark…..

How many times have we seen a company to come up with innovative, pioneering products after decades of research and then within 2-3 years some other company not only comes up with a better product, but becomes market leader, leaving the pioneer much behind? The corporate history is full of such stories.

Those who have read about Sehwag know that his approach to the game is very uncomplicated and unassuming. Very rarely do we see him trying to adapt to the situation. He sticks to what he calls is his natural instinct. So many times he has been ridiculed and even dropped from team for seemingly irresponsible approach and not playing in team’s interest, but his response has been “This is the only way I know how to play, if a ball is there to be hit for six, I will hit it irrespective whether it is the first ball of the match or last, India is at 50/ 8 or 200/0.” Due to this approach, he has got out first ball trying to play “ambitious shots”, lost matches when he was expected to lead the fight back.

But this is the same guy who has completed a 300 in a test match in a day. He is the only human to complete two 300s in test and one 200 in ODIs. He has set up so many victories for his team. His style is in contrast to the greats, the absolutely committed Sachin and Dravid. But his impact on the game and his team’s fortunes is the same if nor more than these greats. He is an equally important part of the team’s strategies.

Yesterday a commentator called him a Saint, completely oblivious to what goes around him, just immersed in his own world creating magic with his own distinct style and skill.

Reminds me of one of my "Rubaru" moment with my friend and senior Subbu (My boss at Hitachi Data Systems) in 2007. He said “You may have thousands weaknesses and only 5 strengths. You can either spend your entire life trying to improve those weaknesses and change your life 5-10% or you make those 5 strengths so strong that the weaknesses will get overshadowed and you will make significant changes to your life”. 

What an amazing advice!!!

Since that day, I have just been consolidating my life around those 5-6 strengths that I have and it has worked wonders for me…. It helps you achieve what you want and in a manner that is natural to you. (I still try and find time to improve on my weaknesses thoughJ)

Thanks Subbu for teaching me this lesson and thanks Sehwag for proving it so right…. 

Passion & Work Life Balance

Passion is what passion does

Passion is a very dangerous word if not used appropriately. Subroto Bagchi has very beautifully spoken about this in his books (Go- kiss the word, High Performance Entrepreneur and The Professional). Don’t we hear people saying that they are extremely passionate about cricket, so much so that they leave everything to watch world cup or whatever is on? Or guys who are so passionate about the state of affairs/ prevalent corruption in our country that they can go debating “passionately” for hours about what should be done but when they get caught while driving and talking on mobile, they quickly offer a bribe to policeman to get out of the situation.

Is this passion? Really? Funny!!!

Mr. Bagchi says “Passion is what passion does”. He is right. He is so wonderfully right. Even passion has to walk the talk. Thanks for this priceless wisdom, Mr. Bagchi.

I love Stephan Covey’s theory on Circle of Influence and Circle of Control. I recommend every passionate person to read this theory. It certainly helped me keep my passion “real, practical and constructive”.  :-)

My current professional passion is to be a change agent, a serial intrapreneur/ entrepreneur, build / help start ups, take them to a certain maturity level and handover to a capable team to run it and then build the next one. To do that, sometimes you have to take very difficult lifestyle decisions, work long hours and sacrifice a lot of personal time.

And then arises another pertinent question: Real, practical and constructive Passion is good but what about work life balance?

Work Life Balance

Passion sometimes becomes blind, so much so, that we start moving fast in life and we forget the importance of seemingly unimportant things. We forget that surprises come in small packages and these small things makes life more beautiful. We forget to relax. We stop listening to what our heart says. We forget to sit and review the past and preview the future so that we can rest for a while and slowly pave our way for a better tomorrow.

About year and a half back, when I had just started my current project, I met Vikrant, my colleague and friend from Hitachi Data Systems days. I was so engrossed in my thoughts about building Astaro India business that during our two hours dinner meeting, I spoke about nothing else. He asked me why I was letting this idea consume me completely and I said “This is the time; it has to be done now”.

He said “The time to go to gym is also now, the time to learn guitar is also now, the time to go on a holiday with family is also now. The only time for everything is now”.

Fantastic!!!

Thank you, Vikrant.  Reminds me of  a  story . 

Two old acquaintances, which hadn't seen each other for years, were walking down the street together, renewing old times. "Just a minute," said one, "I think I hear something," and turning a loose paving stone over, he liberated a cricket which was chirping merrily away.

"Why, that's astounding. Of all the people on the street at this hour, hurrying from work, you alone hear the cricket above all the traffic noises."

"My friend," said the first. "I learned a long time ago that people hear in life only what they want to hear. Now, the noise of traffic has neither increased nor decreased in the past few moments, but watch."

And as he finished speaking he let a silver half dollar fall from his pocket to the sidewalk. Everyone within an amazingly large hearing distance stopped and looked around.

The funny thing about life is; it gives you what you really want. If you want only silver coins, it will give you that, if you want to hear the cricket’s sound, it will give you that and you know what….

If you want both, life will still oblige… :-)

My "Rubaru" moment : When you are successful and happy, you would want to have someone dear to share that success and happiness with you…..

Money, money and more money OR goodness

Since time immemorial, professionally educated, middle class guys like us have been trying to strike a balance between whether to make money and more money (through ethical means of course, I am sure what we call middle class values, do teach us to be ethical at least), as much as possible Vs. a sense of contentment and be good, be humble.

Sometimes the thin line between ambition and greed blurs and in our passionate pursuits we end up losing touch with the real reality.

Money is important. No, money is very important!!! It is essential to live and gather comforts of life.

I read a nice saying “You amass wealth, positions of power , feel on top of the world and then one day you meet someone who gives a damn to all this and then you wonder if it has been worth the time.”

Honestly, I got pretty impressed by this saying and when I read in newspapers that one film actress performed at a stage for 15 minutes on a New Year night and pocketed a cool 1.5 crores, I lost my respect for money. I am not a socialist/ communist by any means but the fact that money can be available so cheaply made me lose my respect for it.

Respect; not need!!!

Some of us also feel that we are very good human beings. This illusion gets reinforced when other people tell us that we are great guys because we don’t hurt others, don’t have ill intentions, are great company to be with etc etc. In our busy lives and to suit our egos, we start believing this without realizing that even though this may be true, this goodness is impotent.

I am a great guy but I can’t help a needy find a job, help him run his house/ pay his debt, or bring some positive change to society because the money and cash flow that I have is not even enough to fulfill my own desires for a bigger car, a bigger house, a second house, an international holiday and so many endless desires. Doing something for others can wait. How good is this goodness?

Isn't this goodness impotent?

So, the question is money vs. the goodness and the answer that came to my mind is money in the hand of goodness. If a good guy has money, if he has power, he will bring about some positive changes in some people’s lives.

Condition is that either his personal need for money/ power has to be low or he has to have more money and power than his needs.

Will a middle class guy, working for an organization in a middle level position fulfill either of this condition? Probability is NO.

So, what’s the answer?

Entrepreneurship!!!

Entrepreneurship not only for the purpose of wealth creation but to lend potency to your goodness. And a prime example is a company called “HarVa” (www.harva.co.in). Please do not mistake this company to be a NGO. This company is a business venture like any other; sorry, not like any other.

Kudos to you, Ajay!!!

Have I seen God?

I read a small story few years back and am reminded of that. It goes like:

Once upon a time, in a village there was a Priest. He had immense faith in God. One day it started raining profusely and soon there was a danger of floods. Priest was standing outside his house when a car stopped.

The driver invited priest to come aboard and leave the village. Priest said “You are a mere mortal, who are you to save me??? My God will save me”. The water level started increasing and then a boat passed by. The same incident was repeated.

Soon, the entire village was drowning and the priest had to go on the top of his house. A rescue helicopter came looking for survivors but the Priest turned him also away saying the same thing “ God will save me”. He soon drowned and died....

When he met God in heaven, he complained “I worshiped you whole life but when I was drowning, you never came to save me. How uncool is that?”

God smiled and said “First I sent a car for you, then a boat and finally a helicopter. What else were you waiting for, a direct ladder from heaven?”

Few days back I was in the beautiful city of Pune. I visited my very old friend Shivendu’s parents’ house. Shivendu is now APAC head for Pringles at P & G and lives in Singapore; his parents have settled down in Pune. It was great meeting them after almost 18 years.

There is a great uniqueness in this family. Uncle, Shivangi (Shivendu’s elder sister) and Shivendu, all three did their management from IIM, Calcutta. When Shivangi was in her second year at IIM- C and Shivendu in his first year, IIM- C had the re union of their first five batches. Uncle was the first batch pass out. The Father, daughter and son were felicitated on stage and surprisingly it was Aunty who was presented with an award for the best manager (to be able to manage three IIM- C people at home :). I am sure it was a very proud moment for the family.

Somebody once asked uncle if he believed in God. He answered back that he didn’t only believe; he had actually seen God. His theory is that if anyone does anything that makes a difference in your life, it is God that has appeared through him/ her. Interesting thought and made me think:

- In 1990, I was waitlisted in some engineering colleges but was not sure of admission. My friend Anurag Batra (He is now chairman of www.exchange4media.com) gave me a BITS, Pilani form and asked me to rush as next day was the last day for submission. He had already got confirmation for computers science in a good engineering college and gave his form to me. I took the first bus to Pilani to submit the form. I was later selected and was the last ID of 1990 batch at BITS, Pilani. That one moment when I met Anurag and he gave me his form changed my life, my destiny forever.

- I did my schooling in Hindi medium and when I went to BITS, I felt completely out of place. There were not many Hindi speaking people there and I was embarassed to admit my problem of English speaking . Then I met Shivendu, who understood my problem without mentioning it. He pushed me to start talking in English with him. He never made fun of me and helped me correct my mistakes. I have now headed India business at few multinationals and am acknowledged for my public speaking skills. :)

- In 2002, my career was not progressing much. It was OK but not moving ahead. I received an interview call from a company called VERITAS. Their national sales head Savio Monteiro met me and though I didn’t have the relevant experience that they wanted, offered me the position. He said “All we want is good attitude, technology we will teach”. I consider VERITAS the reincarnation of my career.

These are some of the incidents that changed my life forever. I am sure there will be some more that I am unable to recall.

My "Rubaru" moment : Is there a similarity in the Priest’s and my experience? Have I seen God?

Who is the father of invention?

For last two years, I have become very passionate about reading. Self help, motivation, management, leadership, entrepreneurship, spirituality, biographies, I am reading as much as I can. Subbu, my boss at Hitachi Data Systems, a great friend and mentor always used to tell me “Someone has written his 30 years of experience in 300 pages and if you don’t have time to read 30 pages of that wisdom in a week, you are doing a crime.” It was very difficult initially to develop this habit but now I realize how true his words are.

Sometimes, even a great amount of time spent on thinking, introspecting and reflecting on hindsight doesn’t necessarily provide useful inference but a single sentence in a book provides the desired clarity in a flash. That Aha thought, that eureka moment, awesome!!!

I have recently started a venture and one day during introspection I wanted to relive the entire episode in my mind, verbatim. The first moment when the business idea came to mind, what prompted it, how it became a passion so strong that I left a quite comfortable job and eventually started a small venture “RISAN”, dreaming to be the next Wipro.

I found the answer in two beautiful books: "Winner’s wisdom to succeed" by Jim Stovall, where he narrates the story of an ice cream vendor at the world’s fair a century ago. He had such a great demand from customers that he ran out of spoons and bowls. Next to him was a waffle vendor, who laughed at him for being ill prepared.

Out of frustration and desperation, the flash of genius came. He bought all the waffles formed them into what we now know as ice- cream cones and rest as we all know is history.

The ice cream cone would have made this gentleman a millionaire but what really inspired his genius was not only necessity but also the desperation. If necessity is the mother of invention then desperation must certainly be its father.

There’s another amazing book called “Blink” by Malcolm Gladwell. On page number 122, he describes an incident about the fire department commander who enters a house where the kitchen was on fire. When he and his team try and douse the fire with water it doesn’t abate, in a split second the commander says “Let’s get out, now”. Moments after they get out, the floor on which they were standing collapsed. The fire, it turned out, had been in basement.

It was a split second decision and when he was later interviewed, he couldn’t describe how he got the intuition. He said that he just felt something was wrong.

But later the interviewer forced him to think and the commander came up with “The fire didn’t behave the way it was supposed to; kitchen fire should respond to water, it didn’t. It was extraordinarily hot for a kitchen fire, it was a quite fire and normally kitchen fires are noisy”.

Now, all these reasons he could gather only in retrospect. At that moment, he didn’t think about all this and he didn’t have time to think, he just felt that something was wrong and this feeling saved his and his team’s life. But, all this reasoning and logic was there somewhere in the subconscious and it helped in that intuition, that gut feeling.

Amazing stuff!!!

When I read such books and relate these to my own experiences, I feel mesmerized.

So many times, we think that we took a smart decision and pat ourselves for our thinking brilliance, completely forgetting that the experience of every moment lived on this earth, something gained from every person we met/ spoke/ saw or read in a book or watched in TV/ movies, a necessity, a desperation, a dream, a passion, everything has contributed to that decision.

Life is so full of opportunities to learn something new; one just has to have an open mind. As an old saying goes “Power is not in giving, power is in receiving”

Entrepreneurship: Necessary, possible and impossible

Entrepreneurship is a subject that is very close to my heart. I have deep respect for entrepreneurs and sincerely believe that the world is what it is, because of entrepreneurs.

Many of my friends have turned entrepreneurs. Some are doing quite well and some are in the process of doing well.

I read somewhere “Start with doing what is necessary, then do what is possible and soon you will achieve the impossible”

Many people call it the “Mid –Life crisis” but I feel it actually is “Mid – Life opportunity”. When one is around 35- 40, one is reasonably well off financially, is still young enough to work hard and has achieved acceptable level of maturity. In most of the cases that I know, people around 40 are quite well poised to take this call and create something new.

Few days back I got a chance to attend a TIE (The Indus Entrepreneur) Face to Face event with the Founder of a very large specialized retail chain. The company is 180 stores in five years and should hit 500 in next 2-3 years. This company is adding lots of value to one of India’s key sectors. I have been his customer for over 6 months now.

The founder is a remarkable man. After 25 years at top positions with some fantastic organizations, he decided to retire and play golf but soon got bored and decided to do something much bigger. He started this company at the age of 45 and is 52 currently. He also shared that despite being so well networked, what was the kind of struggle he had to face and how friends stopped taking his calls. But this man trusted his vision today he is building an amazing organization.

I have been fortunate to witness many more such inspiring stories that are full of passion, energy, determination and a desire to add value to the society.

The same evening around 9pm, I was taking a stroll after dinner near my house. Due to some reason the street lights were not on and there weren’t many pedestrians on the road. I noticed an old, frail man of around 80 pushing a cart and selling tender coconut. It looked like an extremely difficult task for him and in his feeble voice he was shouting “Gola” (Hindi word for tender coconut).

No people in sight, dark road and a very feeble voice!!!

- Did he really expect to sell or

- Has it become a habit for him to shout mechanically after an interval of 10 seconds?
- Is it only the poverty that is making him work for 50-100 rupees a day at this age or
- Is it the never say die spirit and a very small/ failed but true entrepreneur trying to fight the adverse circumstances come what may?
- How does he buy the inventory? I could see him carrying almost 70% of his inventory back.

I don’t know answers to these questions but someday would like to find out. I am amazed at the contrasts life can present and God’s bizarre ways of teaching and humbling us.….

Struggle, importance and butterfly...

Thanks to LinkedIn, some days back I reconnected with Dr. KRVS of BITS Pilani. He later turned an entrepreneur and now heads a company called “Radix Learning”.

I was sharing my last fifteen years of corporate struggle after 4 beautiful years at BITS Pilani (1990 -94). I happened to mention that after spending first seven – eight years in insignificant companies at inconsequential roles, I finally found reincarnation at VERITAS and since then have made rapid strides in my career.

He told me what only a “Guru” knows: “Sunil, what you have gone through in life is the pretty much the story of a vast majority of BITSians over the years from 1970’s till now. Many begin their career in what they think is “insignificant” and “tentative roles”. But over time, they reach positions of importance.”

It is so true. When we reach some position of importance we think that our initial years of struggle and learning were waste of time. We forget that initial years are the foundation on which the rest of the life is built.

We always visualize sunrise as the beginning of a new day and the sunset as the end. What we do not know is that without darkness there would not have been a new dawn. Like wise, without problems we would never know the value of life.

This advice from Dr. KRVS reminded me of a story that I had read.

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no further.

So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon.

The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If God allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly!