The Chronicles of Washing Machine

This is different. This is new. Probably the least expected thing to surprise me.

Have you every tried to do your own laundry? If not, you are taking the person who does your laundry for you for granted. Trust me, this is the first time I’ve done this and IT IS NOT EASY.

Like it or not, you have to do your own laundry in The Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon. From buying the right detergent to seeing if the weather is in my favor, was all new to me. What tops the list is ‘hope’ that the washing machine is not being used by someone else when you want to wash your stuff.

My Precious

Moving on to the real deal, the washing machine, I think flying the space shuttle would be easier. I’m pretty sure that the user manual for automatic washing machines is bigger than an Oxford dictionary. I have gained new respect for people who can operate washing machines with ease. After a mind boggling two and a half hour successful washing session, I felt like I need to celebrate the experience. And I did.

I now have bragging rights!! PEACE \m/

Yogesh Babu

PGPM Class of 2014

Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon

An odyssey to remember

Long before we stepped foot into Great Lakes Gurgaon, we received an email saying that we’re going for a team building program to Rishikesh. Considering that it was a land that I had never been on, I decided to go. Moreover, who would say no to river rafting and rappelling?

Come 24^th May, we left Gurgaon for the trip. Although, in a most congested thing that was claimed to be a bus – a little box which was the only negative of the whole trip. Well, guess that was an apt beginning to our outbound training – as the whole purpose of the trip was to open our minds and teach us the art of ‘adapting to change’. It’s said, a true champion can adapt to anything and indeed, we needed the skill to ace the one year program!

After a tough night, we reached Camp Alpinestar. And guess what? We had to embark on a tiny trek (with luggage et al.) just to reach the campsite. But the view that awaited us was worth it – tents by the riverside and the sacred Ganges gushing in all its glory right by it. Yes, it was awesome.

We were split into two groups with three teams each. Group one (with me) went for rappelling and Group two went for rafting.

On the way to Stream Rappelling…

Wow! Where do I start about the trek? I’m contemplating on whether to start with how unfit we all were or how super fit the guides were. With temperatures burning our face off, we started climbing from some random point. A few minutes into it and we were like “Dude, this is not a trek. This is easy.” Clearly, we spoke too soon as like in the video games the trek just got tougher and tougher! Long breaths, frequent breaks and gazillion liters of water later, we finally reached our destination. All our fatigue vanished the instant we jumped into the icy cold water.  “The climb was worth it”, was all we could say while the guides were setting up the rappelling gears. It took us close to two hours to finish the rappelling. The most difficult part of rappelling was the start. After that, it was a (not so gentle) breeze and we enjoyed every bit of it. Then we headed back to the camp to grab some lunch and prep up for river rafting.

Geared up for Rafting…

Stepping out right after lunch was a difficult choice. But then, that was our only choice! So, off we went for rafting. The currents were pretty strong that evening (that would make us go faster \m/). After a safety speech by our very own “fake Brit accent Rishikesh guide”, we were all set to have the time of our lives!  Braving the strong rapids, continuous rowing and a dip in the Ganges is something one can only be experienced. And I’m glad I did!

“Bunta”, a popular drink in the region was available on the river bank – a must have if you go to Rishikesh. So, of course we all had to have it! What more can you ask for in a day? Well, a bon-fire night that ended with delight and peals of laughter at our very own guitarist Abhinav Tiwari’s talent and antiques! That done, we called it a night. Well, to be precise, a full moon night without electricity which we survived with torches and mobiles.

Come 6 AM next day, and we were all up and ready for a refreshing meditation session by the Ganga. Prof Palhan explained to us the benefits of meditation and each of us made a mental note to incorporate this much needed eight minutes into our daily routines.

Meditating on the bank of Ganga!

Then, we moved on to a few fun and interesting team building exercises like the Frisbee relay and the Egg drop game which helped us know our team mates better before leaving the camp for Gurgaon with a lifetime of memories.

Chairman Emeritus Reconnect 12 – Success Secrets

My dear young friends,

There are no underdeveloped countries in the world – only “under-managed” ones; according to Peter Drucker. India is still a developing country and it means that we are managing our country- our resources, our Industry, our organizations, our institutions inadequately. We are ill managing our societal responsibilities also. A nation is the summation of efforts of its people. Wherever we are working, we are a part of this nation. If we succeed, nation will succeed. Question is how to succeed? Here are some “Mantras” for success:

Mantra # 1 Never Stop Learning

“Learning is a process, not an event”. College education is all about “learning how to learn”. We have to go beyond the knowledge & information and graduate to wisdom. Once somebody asked Swami Chinmayananda “I have gone through Bhagavad Gita several times but nothing has happened” Swamiji replied “You have gone through Bhagavad Gita, but has Bhagavad Gita gone through you?”

Mantra # 2 Self-Application

Recall any dialogue of Amitabh Bachchan from any of his films. When he delivers a dialogue even at this age of 70, he not only applies himself, he plunges into it, he bets his entire existence and he exhausts himself completely. I remember, once he said “I have wept so many times on the death of my mother on screen, that when my real mother will expire, I am not sure whether any more tears will be left out. Such intense application !! And that is why he is actor of the millennium. So, success demands intense self-application.

Mantra # 3 No job is small

Never think you are doing a smaller job compared to others. No job is small. I asked a driver once who was thinking he was doing a small job “How many temples of “Arjuna” you have in your locality?” He said none. Then I asked him “how many temples of Krishna ?” He said plenty. Why? Arjuna was the greatest warrior of his time and Krishna was just his “chariot driver”, I asked. “No job is small or big, the way in which you do, makes it small or big”, was the obvious conclusion.

Mantra # 4 Goal Setting

Goal setting is extremely important for “admired success”. Ravana kidnapped Sita successfully and Jatayu failed miserably to protect her. Yet failure became nobler than success. Have a clear vision and goals of your life. Think BIG, Think AHEAD & Think FAST. Small aim is a crime, says Dr. Abdul Kalam. Live on ever-extending “fresh” goals. Once Rahul Bajaj rejected a candidate after interviewing him saying “You don’t seem to have 5 years of experience as claimed, but one year of experience repeated 5 times!

Mantra # 5 Passion

Passion is an “index” of life that determines the extent to which you are alive! It is “passion” that causes people to burn their mid-night oil, stay up late in nights and yet get up early. There is a big difference between people who just work and people who work passionately. And this difference is the difference between “success and failure”. Passion is the fire within to prove. Let us remember, there are no passionate things, there are only passionate people. If you think great players arrived India from 71 countries on 3rd Oct’2010 for Commonwealth Games, you may be true but truer is the fact that >6,000 bundles of passion rolled into Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium that day.

Mantra # 6 Focus

Passion without focus may not take us very high. “Apple is a 30 billion $ company, focusing on less than 30 products.

Mantra # 7Attitude

“Half of glass full rather than half of glass empty” may take you to sky heights. Attitude decides the Altitude. Progress is equal to the difference between “mind and mindset”, says Narayana Murthy.

Finer Insights of Success

The man who invented Match Box was very happy as he got striking success. Everyone wants striking success. But what is success? Let me share with you some finer insights. Please remember, Failure is not the opposite of success; it is an ingredient of success. The seeds of success flourish best in the well-turned soil of failure. Thomas Edison, the great American inventor who has 1093 US patents in his name, said “The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. After failing to invent a bulb 999 times, he said I learnt how a bulb cannot be made 999 ways. That became the soil for his 1000^th  attempt leading to success.

Reuben Gonzales, a great player, in the final game of Lawn Tennis for the world title at match point, played a super shot. The referee & the linesman confirmed that the shot was good and he was declared the winner. After a pause, while shaking hands with his opponent, he hesitated and said that the shot was faulty. He insisted for a repeat, lost the serve and lost the match! Everyone was stunned!

Officially confirmed world title in his pocket, why did he do this? Asked some. “It was the only thing to do in order to save my integrity”, was his answer. This world cup in my drawing room would have pinched me whole life that I won it through a faulty shot. It is better to deserve an honor and not have it; than to have it and not deserve it. Success or Failure with “Integrity & Dignity” is superior to “Success at any cost”

A few years ago, a race was organized for “physically challenged” children in our own country at Hyderabad. Race started, after running for a while, one of the children fell down hurting herself badly. She was bleeding. Looking at her, all the other children stopped, reversed and took her in their arms and walked together to the finishing line, of course getting a standing ovation of the entire crowd. Success or Failure “together with humanity” is superior to “Individual success at any cost”.

Success is always sweet but it has to be qualified and “true” success in life which is sweeter.

Satyamev Jayate !!!

Best wishes and Regards,

Dr. B.S.K.Naidu

M.Tech., Ph.D., CBI Scholar, D.Engg.(Calif), FNAE
Hon.D.WRE (ranked amongst 30-most eminent scientists in the world)
Chairman Emeritus, Great Lakes, Gurgaon, NCR, New Delhi, INDIA
Former Director General (NPTI & CPRI / REL), Ex-Director (REC)/ Executive Director (IREDA)

No job is small or big, the way in which you do, makes it small or big (c)