Random B-School Musings

Even as term 4 for PGPM 2018 is underway, it seems like yesterday when I entered the campus of Great lakes institute of management, Gurgaon. I think it will be fair for me to say that by now our learning curve has grown exponentially (I was actually looking for an even more superlative word) for having studied twenty two courses in these four and a half months. In the aftermath, however, we have sixteen ‘not so frequently opened’ yet bulky pillow sized books for our perusal (I honestly don’t know when and how these will actually be used.)

But as I recount the seemingly short experience here, I struggle to describe how awesome this journey is panning out to be. I am unable to elucidate that feeling where, on a Friday night – 11:53 PM to be exact – you are still in the Academic block and ceaselessly trying not to miss the midnight deadline for a class group project and at the same time keeping your subconscious mind alert about the pre-reads you have for next day’s schedule that has an early morning lecture on Statistical methods for decision making and Financial accounting.

TGIF? Nah, not for a B-schools student. (Now I know why corporates crave for Fridays)

But all this seems lame and off-centre without the most important ingredient in this recipe for what I call the ‘B-school Khichdi’ – “The almost ready future Manager”.  Yes, the My B-school herd has been the most entertaining and the most Heteroscedastic (Prof. Bharadwaj, please forgive me for the usage) bunch of individuals. Ok, a quick recap – Heteroscedasticity refers to the circumstance in which the variability of a variable is unequal across the range of values of a second variable that predicts it. Thank me later.

These people have made life interesting and I would be irreverent if I don’t mention the kind of people I have encountered here. So, in no particular order, let me first introduce you to:

• The Future CEO. No, the batch’s current CEO. PGPM batch of 2018 knows who that is. This person is extremely good at everything without being the best at anything. We all know the phrase – “Jack of all trades and Mas…” (Just kidding. Or am I?) Talking of class participation, this person speaks regularly and intelligently in class without ever saying anything remotely controversial. Diplomacy is the word!
• Ok sorry. I am getting ahead of myself – In economic theory, and also in lay man’s opinion, there is a notion that whatever goods and services are provided, they must be paid for by someone – that is, you don’t get something for nothing. As Prof. Himadri would say, “There ain’t no such thing as free lunch”. Or as I abbreviate it, Tanstafl.
  But we sure have “Free- wait for it-loaders”. These are the clever ones. They know the knack of delegating responsibility without giving the slightest notion that part of the onus is on them too. But we all sure have a lot of things to learn.
• Moving on, we have the ‘Friend-setters’ who have continued their trendsetting attitude of being jovial and cordial with everyone. But there are also people from the exact bipolar end.
• The Solitary Reaper – No, that is too optimistic a phrase for this person who thinks the world is an illusion and human interaction is a mystery. William Wordsworth would never want me to tag such a person with his beautifully written metaphor of a nightingale. The lone wolf would be a suitable phrase, yes. But who knows. Although termed aloof, they are the fiercest of friends and they have their own little world. They are focussed with full intent on one goal. Ok, too much philosophy. Apologies.

By the way, this ‘One goal’ theory brings me to the most important subject of discussion that any B-school has to offer – Placements.

Needless to say, even as I am drafting this, the Pre-Placement preparation scenario is in full swing and it never ceases to give jitters as soon as a JD from a firm that is offering jobs is released. But the most dominant part of this preparation has to be the “Group discussion” prep and it is hilarious at times.

I hope the PlaceComm doesn’t throw me as an outcast when I talk about the observations I have made in these sessions. The observations are actually on the participants. So I think I am safe.

Every group discussion (I’ve observed) has these. And I am one among them (so much for modesty). Here’s a broad categorization of the four typical characters I have encountered in GDs so far:

• The “Know it all” sort – The genuinely, just, ridiculously smart person of the batch who often brings up unusual and weird (yet relevant) opinions on the table during a discussion. This person sure has a way of getting noticed, for the right reasons. Sadly, all we can do is look up to him/her.
• The “I agree with you” sort – Always finishes the other person’s sentences and adds the aforementioned phrase. Seldom has unique points but vehemently participates nonetheless.
• The “Search engine optimist” – This person has gone through that One link on the internet (Invariably the first link that pops up on a basic google search. No matter how remotely irrelevant the current topic of discussion is, this genius will try to bring in some fact or figure from that One link
• The “Silencer” – The loudest noise this person makes is from his pen when he is scribbling stuff during the initial two minutes that are given to gather ones thoughts. This person has all the right points to discuss, but fails to bring them out in speech. Definitely noticeable when the group discussion is a fish market.

There are innumerable memories that are etched on our minds since the past four and a half months and I am sure a lot more is in store for us as we head on to the placement season with vigour and zeal.

Godspeed!

Author: Samuel Johnson

PGPM, Class of 2018, Great Lakes, Gurgaon

Has 21st Century’s Intense Competition lead to the Abolition of Business Ethics?

“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act”

– George Orwell

On September 18^th, 2015, United States Environmental protection agency issued a notice of violation of Clean Air Act against Volkswagen for tweaking its diesel engine in order to bypass the emission test. 11 million Cars, worldwide, between the model year 2009 and 2015 were identified to have faulty systems. This proves how contemplating an unethical decision with its apparent short term benefits is eventually a recipe for disaster.

For a business entity, ethics can be categorized as its responsibilities towards, (i) its customers, (ii) its employees, (iii) the government and (iv) the ecological balance of our planet. We need ethics as they are vital for the proper functioning of the economic, political and social network which will eventually lead to the overall development of the human race.

So, how and why does unethical behaviour creep into a system and make highly intellectual business leaders lose track of their ethical responsibilities? The answer lies in the fact that any deviation from ethical practices is mostly the result of the current competitive corporate culture or pressure from the higher managerial food chain, which can emerge when a company is unable to live up to its financial expectations. To overcome these bottlenecks, leaders eventually end up bending the rules and this is when ethics and policies collide.

Let us take an example of child labour. If a firm hires children as its major work force, it can drive down its prices. Now to remain competitive, the rival firm has to relook into its cost structure and come up with an optimized price point. Should the firm also look to hire children in its work force? Is it ethical? Will this help in achieving cost cut? The instinctive answers to these questions may be yes but in the long run, it will not serve the purpose of growth. History is full of references of organisations which have linked good ethical practices with their performance and have eventually outperformed their competitors financially.

Ethisphere Institute, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices has listed Tata Steel as one of the World’s Most Ethical Company for the year 2017. Points are awarded to an organization based on: ethics and compliance program (35%), culture of ethics (20%), corporate citizenship and responsibility (20%), governance (15%) and leadership, innovation and reputation (10%). Prior to 2017, the Indian Steel giant had bagged this award in years 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016. Over decades, ethics has been a major driver for Tata Group. One of the core business ethic principles the company follows is to fully support the development and operation of competitive open markets. It may be pointed out that this policy hampers the organizations’ revenue, but In the long run, these policies promote a strong public image based on trust and relationship.

The challenge for those in business is to identify ways to do what is ethically correct while maximizing a shareholder’s wealth. Before taking any decision, the leadership of an organization must introspect what impact will their decision have on the organization and society as a whole in both the short and long run. The importance of ethics has been reinforced into business organisations and business individuals time and again.

As Henry Ford once said, “A business that makes nothing but money is a poor kind of business”. Ethics in business is present; the difficult question is how to make it more prevalent.

 

Authors: Saurav Dhar & Rishi Raj

PGPM, Class of 2018, Great Lakes, Gurgaon

5 hours and 247 pages: The Seven Day Weekend

 

Last night I opened a book and 5 hours and 247 pages later, the book had broadened my thinking. That book was titled – “The Seven Day Weekend”, authored by Mr. Ricardo Semler.

The best part of reading a good book is that the horizons of the reader’s mind get broadened and he becomes wiser than he was before opening the book. What I realised post this mini-readathon was – 1) I was ready for the scheduled book review session. 2) I got something to read which was insightful not just in terms of business perspective, but also helped me to focus on what I actually want from my professional life and 3) the approach I have had with me actually does exist in the business world and firms do exist and make good profit by implementing the same approach.

The primary reason as to why this piece of work is admirable and inspirational is that the author talks of having chosen employee happiness and satisfaction as the driving force of his business, unlike the more bottom-line obsessed business workplaces.

The author shares his experience of working at Semco (the company headquartered at Sao Paulo, Brazil), where he wants not just him (the CEO), but also his employees, customers, suppliers and community to be happy. The real motivation or the driving force behind a successful company is not growth, not profits, not power, not status, but Happiness.

Along the way, he asked himself, “If the workweek is going to slop over into the weekend, then why can’t the weekend, with its precious restorative moments of playtime, my time, and our time, spill over into the workweek?” The author then provides a roadmap to achieve personal and professional success.

The stressful and many a times overloaded workweek robs us of our passion and pleasure, it destroys family and community stability, and sets up businesses to fail once they have burned out their employees and burned through ever more manipulative and oppressive strategies.

The book describes how managers can turn the repetition, boredom and aggravation of the usual workweek into an environment that is filled with joy, inspiration and freedom.

I do believe that the old way of doing business is sprinting towards its deathbed, and the time has come to re-invent and re-engineer the way of doing business which could be more or less like the Semco’s way, aimed at fulfilling the central purpose of business. Thus, a satisfactory and rewarding life can be made possible for the entire workforce for their hard work. In order to achieve that, it is important to treat co-workers like intelligent mature adults by allowing them to manage themselves. This, as a business model, has worked like a charm for Semco and could possibly be put to use at any organization, anywhere in the so business world that wants to move beyond traditional thinking to a more democratic realm.

While highlighting how flexibility in work time and self-management by employees can work wonders to improve a company’s bottom line, it also narrates how self-organized employee groups can harness extra potential to bring about change in productivity just by eliminating time lags. The book supports encouraging employees to rely on their own intuition and use it in the workplace with a combination of reasoning and experience to reach a decision.

The book is full of stories from Semco’s everyday existence and is a joy to read. Time and again these stories illustrate that one must not opt for the easy way out.

On one hand, it is a thought-provoking guidebook that reveals how freedom and happiness can lead a business to success. On the other, it is an easy, fun to read book as it shares the day to day experiences at the workplace. Also, it is 100% free of MBA-jargons.

Author : Kinshuk Chaturvedi

PGPM Class of 2017, Great Lakes

Chairman Emeritus Reconnect 50 “Invisibles in Life”

Dear friends,

“Seeing is believing” is a popular catchphrase. Its natural corollary has been that “do not believe what you don’t see”. However, our biological eyes have their own limitations in being able to see everything that matters in life. Helen Keller, American Author-Lecturer-Activist, deaf-blind from the age of 1-1/2 years was once asked: Is there anything worse than blindness?

• “Yes, having eyes but no Vision” was the answer, after a pause!

“There is a significant difference between Vision and Visuals”. Invisibles can be seen only through vision which is in the domain of mind and not eyes.

Invisibles in Material World

In the material world itself, we cannot see electricity, magnetism or electromagnetic waves which can be sensed by sensors only. We are talking to the person on the other side of the earth today through “unseen” signals! Electromagnetic waves, light and x-rays, radio signals or infrared, can travel through the vacuum, which also we can’t see. They set up electric and magnetic oscillations, which do not need matter. You can have these fields in a vacuum. Can gravity be seen? It can only be sensed. Even air cannot be seen by our eyes but can be sensed by feel.

Invisibles in Spiritual World

Goodwill, blessings or respect cannot be seen but felt through body language or indirect actions which need to be interpreted. Eyes alone cannot help; you need the support of your mind and intellect (invisibles themselves) to feel them.

So the universe is full of “invisibles” at material and spiritual level. Let us not discard the invisibles! Let us ‘keep our eyes open’ duly supported by other sense organs and “Mind & Intellect” to comprehend the “invisibles”. There is an invisible within us which controls the “Mind & Intellect” and body of course, which when leaves the body makes us “dead”.

Once we realize the invisibles and understand the limitations of our biological eyes, we become conscious of yet unexplored world of invisibles and the avenues of discovery, moving towards completeness.

Power of visualisation to sense Invisibles

Invisibles like peace, purity, power, knowledge and love cannot be seen but visualised and felt. For example a visual of Mansarovar can make you realise peace, a visual of “Boudhi Vraksh” can take you closer to the knowledge or wisdom, a visual of lightening clouds makes you realise power, a visual of Krishna or Buddha can take you closer to purity, Christ in the arms of mother Merry can make you feel love, and so on. Power of visualisation is very strong and you can fill your mind with the great virtues of life by closing your eyes but keeping your mind open to the suggestive prompts.

Invisibles in Management Paradigm

Some of the world’s most talented, accomplished people choose to fly under the radar, not to be noticed. What do anaesthetists, structural engineers, interpreters; cameramen, story/ dialogue writers and background music players in Cinema have in common? When they do their jobs poorly, the consequences can be shattering, but when they do their jobs perfectly . . . They are invisible, explains David Zweig in his book “Invisibles”.

For most of us, the better we perform the more attention we receive. Yet for many invisible skilled professionals whose role is critical to whatever organisation they are a part of – it is the opposite: the better they do their jobs the more they disappear. In fact, only when something goes wrong that they are noticed at all. What has been lost amid the noise of self-promotion today is that not everyone can be in the spotlight. Invisibility can be viewed as a mark of honour and a source of a truly rich life.

Millions of these Invisibles are hidden in every industry. And despite our culture’s increasing celebration of fame in our era of superstar CEOs and assorted varieties of “genius” – they are fine with remaining anonymous.

A book by A.G. Krishnamurthy “The Invisible CEO” brings forth the magnanimity of an unconventional CEO who wants to be in the hearts of his associates rather than in high-profile cocktail circuits and press conferences. He develops a chain of leadership, remaining an invisible dot at the centre of the spiral.

Our subtle faculties generate consciousness

In life many happenings cannot be explained only in material or physical terms. At certain points of crisis or inspiration, there are deep emotional and spiritual experiences which separate us from the world around. We look inwards at such times; in order to understand these experiences.

Indeed, anything perceivable to us comes from two sources; that which is detected by the physical senses and that which arises from impressions recorded on our subtle faculties (thoughts & feelings). When we are in dreams during sleep, we see very real pictures although our biological eyes are closed. This clarifies the role of our invisible internal faculties. The recordings are unwound in the form of dreams. The things that we can see, taste, hear, smell and feel, as well as the body itself are formed of matter. But the subtle faculties of mind, intellect and personality make up what we call consciousness.

In order to live a conscious life of completeness, one has to explore invisibles, not getting restricted by visible only.

Best wishes and Regards,

Dr. B.S.K.Naidu

BE(Hons), M.Tech., Ph.D., CBI-Scholar, D.Engg. (Calif.), FNAE, Hon.D.WRE (USA)
Chairman Emeritus, Great Lakes, Gurgaon, NCR, New Delhi, INDIA
Former Director General (NPTI & CPRI) Govt. of India

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

Chairman Emeritus Reconnect 49 “Education & Spirituality”

My dear friends,                 

Once I was captivating introduction of the new batch of MBA at NPTI. The dialouge went as follows:

A Student:          Sir, I am Shrivastava, BE(Elect)

Me:                       I am not interested in your surname and your degree

-These are on our records

Student:             Sir, I am Mahesh Kumar (Imaginatively substituted name)

Me:                      That is your name given by your parents-drop it

Student:             I am a student of NPTI

Me:                      That’s your present occupation-I know it

Student:             Sir, I am a boy

Me:                      I am not interested in your gender

Student:              I am becoming conscious now, who am I?

Another Student: I am feeling intrigued, I am thinking now,

His next:               I am sensitized on my existence today,

Next to next:        My conscience says I am God’s creation,

Yet another:         I am motivated to think, I am divine.

Me:       When you drop all your labels, you come out as “the pure you” :

• Your consciousness (awareness)
• Your conscience (sense of right and wrong)
• Thinking & feeling part of you
• Your sensor/ sensitivity
• Your motivation/ inspiration
• Your divinity

-is your Spirit . Keep it awakened!

We need it all the time for the spiritual paradigms of our MBA education at NPTI, I indicated. I further clarified to them that subjects like “Power Reforms” , “Customer relationship & Entrepreneurship”, “Energy Environment Interface & Sustainable Development” etc. derive their essence from holistic spiritual paradigms of our survival. Besides technicalities, they involve ethics and ethos, human values, customer care, environmental sensitivity, resource renewability, society’s anxieties over clean energy, electricity for all and its availability 24×7 and so on.

Spirituality

Spirituality is a rather mysterious term for the scientific community who keeps experimenting with external and physical world only. There are several inner dimensions of human existence which can not be denied; for example Mind, Intellect (consciousness transforms intellect into wisdom), Innner voice/ Intuition (sixth sense) etc. An encounter with one’s own “inner dimension” is spirituality.

Spirituality is manifested by original qualities of “the spirit or the soul” such as love, compassion, wisdom, bliss, peace, purity, humility, power, forgiveness, sacrifice, contentment, self-responsibility, values, self-esteem, harmony and connectedness to others.

Spiritual literacy is a basic literacy for all that enables the understanding and use of the deeper meaning and connection in all aspects of life. Spirituality teaches us how our lives fit into the greater scheme of things.

Education & Spirituality

 Swami Vivekanand said : “Education is not the amount of information that is put into your brain, undigested all your life. We must have life-building, man-making, character-making assimilation of ideas. If you have assimilated just five (5) ideas and made them your life and character, you have more education than any man who has got by heart a whole library.

A semi-literate man “Anna Hazare” also talked of 5-ideas

1. Pure Thoughts
2. Pure Conduct
3. Unblemished Life
4. Sacrifice and
5. Capacity to withstand humiliation;

which he assimilated, practiced and demonstrated, becoming the most literate man of today, saluted by the Indian Parliament.

Education is not merely Academics

Somehow we have misunderstood academics to be education

– We teach our children to read and memorise history but we don’t teach them to create history

– We teach them geography, but not geographical cultures and respect for them

– We teach them science, but not the science of life

-We teach them external management, but not internal management of Mind

Education is to lead a person to knowledge (know-how & know-why) graduating further to wisdom (discovery of truth by himself) to see life in its totality and to face it in its completeness. It is to set a higher goal of life, inner transformation, vision of oneness and genuine care for others.

Best wishes and Regards,

Dr. B.S.K.Naidu

BE(Hons), M.Tech., Ph.D., CBI-Scholar, D.Engg. (Calif.), FNAE, Hon.D.WRE (USA)
Chairman Emeritus, Great Lakes, Gurgaon, NCR, New Delhi, INDIA
Former Director General (NPTI & CPRI) Govt. of India

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

Chairman Emeritus Reconnect 48 “Self-Management”

My dear friends,

I wish to share with you all a ‘Mantra’ that I shared with the graduands during GLIM’s Convocation on 18 May 2016. It is a tiny mantra against “The Bhagavad Gita” which has become a compulsory core course for every student in Seton Hall University in New Jersey, USA having > 10,800 students. The mantra is that “All the external managements have to be preceded by Self-Management.”

After joining their jobs, many of the entrants are sent for corporate training programs some of which are grossly misnomered. For instance, Time Management. Time is an irretrievable resource and there can be no inventory management in it. You can only ‘self-manage’ to be punctual and to be time bound. Another example is Stress Management. Can you manage stress after it is created? You have to depend only on doctors from headache to cancer. According to an authority on stress-related diseases, cancer is the end product of non-forgiveness. The secret is to ‘self-manage’ so as not to create stress, anger or hurt by you, within you. How do you do this? Foremost is the awareness that you are the creator of all these emotions.

On his first day in office as President, when Abraham Lincoln entered to deliver his inaugural address, a fellow stood up and said “Mr. Lincoln, you should not forget that your father used to make shoes for me and my family” The whole Senate laughed. Lincoln said “Sir, I know that and I also know that there was never ever any complaint from any of his clients including your family. He was a genius and he used to pour his heart and soul in to his job. I am so proud of him. “Let me see to what extent I can reach his creativity and perfection while presiding over the United States.” No one can hurt you without your consent.

Buddha was known to be beyond hurt. One day one visitor took up the challenge and started hurling abuses at him till he was himself totally tired. Finally he said Oh! Buddha you are still smiling, you have no self-respect. Buddha replied with the same smile “It is like this. If you offer me an apple and I don’t accept, where will the apple go? The visitor replied “obviously it would remain with me.” Buddha said “it is exactly the same with abuses; they have all remained with you”

The Blame Game

Unfortunately, we are all caught up in a blame game. We make some body responsible for our hurt, anger and stress. This starts from early childhood. Can you imagine a 2-1/2 year old child telling her grandfather “Nani has hurt me inside. She says she will not give me ice-cream until I finish my food”. We smile it off. We also help the child nurture a ‘belief system’ of blaming others for any hurt caused. Whenever she falls down and gets hurt, we go and hit the floor or the obstacle to console her. We never explain her that she fell down due to her own lack of attention.

If we don’t find a person or an object, we start blaming the circumstances. Do we really have to? Let me give you an example. Recently, in an award function where a renowned doctor was being felicitated, he shared his life story. He said he grew up in an extremely poor family who were not sure of the next day meal. He had an elder brother who was always blaming his father and turned alcoholic. His younger brother went into depression losing all hopes from life. This man thought the only way for him was to study hard and become a doctor, if possible, not only to get over the poverty but also to treat both of his brothers one day. He used to borrow books from his friends when they were playing or enjoying their picnics. He studied under the lamp-posts and struggled through. He attributed full credit of his success to the extreme poverty. The wind may blow from any direction, but the direction in which you go depends on how you set the sails. Setting the sails is Self-management or more precisely the Thoughts-management.

Egolessness

Egolessness is one issue which confuses the youngsters as well as the grown-ups. Should they not be proud of their higher qualifications, superior skills, long and rich experience etc? Should they compromise on their self-esteem in order to avoid ego clashes? These doubts arise out of the ignorance of a fine line between ego and self-esteem. If you are contributing in a meeting and if you say “This is the best idea” it is ego. But if you say “This is my best idea” it is self-esteem. You can keep your self-esteem intact by giving space to others’ self-esteem.

Willpower

At times you start feeling that you lack “Willpower”. You lack determination, resolve and strength of will. In order to explore this, you should start examining your own daily routine. You want to get up at 6. You put an alarm and the bell rings. You choose to close it and sleep for another half an hour, 45 min. or more. You finally get up and it is time to brush and go for a morning walk. You compromise on a bed tea. Now the daily newspaper arrives. You get tempted to see at least the headlines and the sidelines and the interesting lines. Morning walk gets postponed to the next day and you somehow reach office 15 min. late even after skipping the shave. You think 15 min. late is allowed, and you are still in the comfort zone! Now pause and look back, wherefrom the “power of will” can emerge and cultivate, if you go on ignoring the inner voice? So, if you want to be powerfully self-managed, you will have to:

1. Revisit your ‘belief-systems’ and alter them to the extent necessary.
2. Revisit your ‘so called’ comfort zones and see if their shells can crack under the resonance of your own Inner Voice.
3. And have a better control on your ‘thought factory’ which is generating 25 thoughts/min. or 36,000 thoughts /day.

 

Best wishes and Regards,

Dr. B.S.K.Naidu

BE(Hons), M.Tech., Ph.D., CBI-Scholar, D.Engg. (Calif.), FNAE, Hon.D.WRE (USA)
Chairman Emeritus, Great Lakes, Gurgaon, NCR, New Delhi, INDIA
Former Director General (NPTI & CPRI) Govt. of India

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

All Between Success and Failure!

I AM NOT GOING TO WRITE HERE ABOUT SUCCESS AND FAILURE, THIS WRITE UP IS ALL THAT COMES BETWEEN OUR PERCEPTION OF SUCCESS AND FAILURE.

While success can give us the boost to do well in future endeavors and to perform with more sincerity, failure challenges our capability to do any job and it makes us believe that we are not capable of it. Going with the doubled sincerity and doubled dedication after a failure gives the person a required platform to outcast his last performance.

But is it that easy? After debacle, definitely not. We need to understand that success and failure is part and parcel of life. Growing up on failures and learning from them is the mandatory ingredient needed to concoct a perfect recipe called Success. Confidence and self belief are the two ingredients that are necessary to keep you going after a failure. History is replete with examples of people who braved failure to achieve success and make it big.

It’s up to us to decide which side of the fence allures us the most, the self content side, the side where people accepted things as they came, never challenged and never asked for more from their life or the side where people never gave up, they just kick started themselves after every debacle and went after the thing they aspired for more than anything else.

I would like to conclude with the famous saying by Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.”

– HIMANSHU SHUKLA

Samurais, PGPM Gurgaon Class of 2016

ON THE ROCKS

(the old rock to sit on…an old friend along…)

They rise and they fall

accepting it all

They come and they go. Where?

Do they know?

They meet and part

They do have a heart

and deeply immersed a mind

that knows not where to find

the ones long lost

some in sand,

some in frost

looking at the waves

wondering “do you even know”

it’s the same old me

and the ever changing you

but look at the irony

you’re just the same blue,

and here I am, I look so new

yes I rise and I fall,

trying to accept it all

‘coz all the change let it be,

its the same old you

the same old me.

– SHASHI LAVANYA APPAVURAJ

Samurais, PGPM Gurgaon Class of 2016

Chairman Emeritus Reconnect 20 – “Bharat Ratna” to Sachin Tendulkar

My dear young friends,

The President of India has bestowed upon Sachin Tendulkar  “Bharat Ratna” the highest civilian honour. At 40, he is the youngest recipient ever. Was it given to him for his unconquerable record of 100 centuries, 164 half centuries, 76 times man of the match; 33,896 runs in international cricket and 50,000 runs in all recognized cricket ? Or was it something beyond?

Sachin had a unique combination of aggressiveness and speed with patience and seriousness. His humility, devotion, determination, commitment, passion, hard work and discipline were exemplary. First glimpse of his passion was seen when he was 16 and in his first match Waqar Younis’ bouncer hit his nose that started bleeding. He went for dressing. On return he slapped 3 fours on his ball in a sequence. Since then no bowler around the world could breathe in peace against Sachin. During 1998, in Sharjah test match Sachin hit Shane Warne’s balls so intensely that he had to say that he sees him slap sixes even in dreams. His regular net-practice before the matches speaks of his dedication. He used to enter the ground with the same devotion be it a charity match or an international test match. He never lost his cool during worst of provocation; he used to answer his critics with his bat. On being declared “out” he never questioned the umpire or his destiny. He simply left the wicket most humbly and obediently, accepting the failure with highest grace.

There are numerous stories about his providing inspiration and healing emotional wounds of his co-players in the dressing room. After Sachin’s retirement, Coach of South African team Russell Domingo stated that absence of Sachin Tendulkar in the dressing room would make an easy way for their team. No wonder, for setting up such sports culture, his photograph hangs in Lord’s dressing room.

Did we recognize this kind of Sports Culture and Sportsmanship?

Manoj Tiwari says when he was selected first time for Team India; he had to return to Kolkata from Bangladesh trip without playing a single match due to an injury. As per directions of BCCI he was getting ready to go to Mumbai for treatment. Same day Sachin was going to Bangladesh via Kolkata. He took his phone number from the local manager and made a call to enquire about his injury. During the talk Sachin asked him which doctor he has been referred to. When he told his name, Sachin said “he is a good doctor but is a specialist of knees while your injury is in the shoulder” Manoj told him that he may have to follow the instructions of BCCI and moreover he did not have any idea of another appropriate specialist. Sachin said he should wait for a while, he would do something. After half-an-hour Sachin telephoned him to say that he has fixed up an appointment with another suitable doctor and Board officials would help him in this. Without accepting captainship for long, his inspirational leadership was exemplary. The way he was carried on shoulders round the ground by his team members including the captain after the World Cup win in 2011 speaks of it all.

Did we recognize this kind of Humane Leadership?

At the time of his father’s demise during a world cup match he came to India to participate in rituals and immediately returned to England. In the next match when he made a century his tearful eyes looking at the sky were signifying that it was a salutation of a real patriot to his father. During 1999 Chennai test match against Pakistan, Sachin after making a century taking the team to a near win situation was declared “out” at 136 and India lost a romantic match. Disappointed Sachin returned to the dressing room and wept like a child. He did not go to receive his “Man of the match” award. After team’s defeat, his century and award both became meaningless to him.

Lalchand Rajput coach for Indian team in Australian tour during 2007-08 informs that several controversies had shadowed that tour. During that trip itself one day in Perth he was coming down in a Hotel Lift along with Sachin and Harbhajan for dinner. The lift stopped at eighth floor. An Australian entered and the moment he realized that he was face to face with Sachin, he almost became mad. He said his life became worth since he could directly see the God of Cricket. During the Australian tour in 1998 itself, Matthew Hayden had stated “I have seen God. He bats at No.4 in Indian Team in Tests”

Sachin’s benevolent farewell speech was telecast alive in Pakistan. Many newspapers praised him vehemently. Urdu daily “Insaph” wrote “Sachin like cricketers are not born every day. All love and respect him beyond limits”. Even Pak Taliban “Tehreek-e-Taliban” had to issue clarification that they never meant that Sachin should not be praised simply because he is an Indian.

“When India plays its old enemy at cricket the ideal solution for many Pakistani spectators is for Sachin Tendulkar to score a hundred and Pakistan to win ” according to the writer Suresh Menon. This speaks volumes of modesty, goodwill and consideration that Sachin has earned and spread across the Indian sub-continent, nay, the entire world. There are stories after stories to indicate that Sachin became an underpin of international goodwill which diplomatic machineries may take ages to build!

Did we salute his statesmanship?

Sachin was on the Golden Coin that was tossed in his farewell match, he is on the postal stamp, he is in the school curriculum, he is in Madame Tussauds and he is in a temple. He was an accepted “Bharat Ratna” for the unmatchable grace of Sportsmanship, Humane Leadership and Statesmanship even before the formal conferment by Govt. of India.

You would have realized my dear friends, the focus was not Sachin but insights into his aura of multiple layers of glory and grandeur which is generated by great human effort.

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)

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.

Blood Donation @ GLIEMR Gurgaon…Every drop counts

Social Welfare club of GLIEMR, Gurgaon organized a blood donation camp in its premises with the support of Rotary club on 12^th of February, 2013. The camp got a very good response from the students of all the three batches of the institute. At the end of the day approximately 55 units (1 unit of blood=350 ml) of blood were collected which showed the enthusiasm of the students towards the noble cause. The doctor present at the camp informed that each unit of blood is used to save two human lives. Even the Rotary club staff was impressed by the huge turnout of students at the camp.

The students before donating blood had to undergo some basic check up like blood pressure and hemoglobin. After the donation each donor was given a memento, a certificate of appreciation and a blood donor card which entitled them to receive blood free of cost for a period of one year.

The event wouldn’t have been successful without the support and co-operation of the faculty and the house-keeping staff. Social Welfare club promises to organize more such noble events regularly at the campus.

Welcome 2013 – Year of Transformation

With one of the coldest winter mornings wrapped in the cloak of fog and mist, we welcomed the new year of 2013 in our lives. A year that will transform many things in many of our lives. A time when the nation is reeling under the waves of a massive change in the public arena putting up its sincere protest against corruption, women atrocities and several social issues, we at Great Lakes pray and extend our support in all ways so that the coldness in the hearts of a few should meet the warmth of the souls of millions others and through the fog of delusion and insecurities, we all see the light of rationale, respect and sensitivity for life in all forms around us.

The beauty of any transformation is that it reciprocates and creates a chain reaction, and what better than a chain reaction of goodness, of love, of care, of respect, of brotherhood, of success.

Our association with Great Lakes is therefore also going to be an opportunity for us to be a part and parcel of the processes of the nation in a few months writing the stories of transformation as business-ready managers. From being part of the Great Lakes family and all that we have imbibed in ourselves, we look forward to do our best in all spheres.

We pledge with ourselves to bring that small positive change in someone’s life this year and ahead and create that positive difference – a welcome for the huge sea of much needed change in dead decaying stagnant stances around. Come join us in the revolution of light and reason…Be a Crusader…

Jyot se jyot jalate chalo……..

Looking ahead….

*Its a chilly winter morning, mercury hovering around 10 degrees at around
11 Am in morning. Sun has just started peeping out from a thick layer of
fog. Facebook is abuzz with goodbye 2011 messages, mailbox flooded with new
year wishes, phone buzzing every now and then with best wishes messages. It
seems that everyone is out there to outpace each other in wishing. I wonder
how many take out time and sit alone to remember how the year started and
how it progressed. *

*
*

*Welcoming new year with open hands, heart filled with hope of a better
tomorrow, embracing change with a smile, we also need to pause and look
back at the year. So much happened around us! For some, time stood still
for a while, for some it flew at a breathtaking pace, some drifted through
it, some just kept struggling thinking about tomorrow, forgetting that they
are living today. Resolutions made, resolutions broken, promises made,
promises broken, moments of joy, moments of sorrow... some take in stride
and move on and some just stand still brooding over what happened. *

*
*

*World saw a churn with events like Osama leaving humanity for good, Egypt
and Libya saw new regimes taking over. People's revolution making a point
from India's Anna, Occupy Wall Street in New York to Burma getting an
elected government. In the neighborhood, Pakistan continues to remain a
confused nation even after 64 years of independence. With its neighboring
nation Afghanistan, Pakistan remained a laughing stock for the entire
world, of how a nation should not be. To not let yourself be used and
thrown away.  With so many complexities, India still continues to amaze
everyone around. Its a Herculean task to keep a nation like ours
integrated! *

*
*

*Moving from people's revolution to economic doom which still continues to
make headlines. Headless chickens on Wall Street pushing the world in gloom
for their incremental greed, to Europe's euphoria with themselves and
finally asking China to bail them out! India somehow managing to grow
although at huffing and puffing pace lead by a government which remains
headless and directionless. The year of scams comes to an end with Lokpal
going into deep freeze. FDI to stock markets all continue their southward
journey, while interest rates continue moving northward. RBI on its own
took the responsibility to bring some sanity in the economic chaos, but
with no support from government, found it self too burdened. *

*
*

*In this all gloom and sadness, cricket brought a moment of joy with World
cup coming back to its rightful place after 28 years! Dhoni taught us how
important it is to remain rooted and humble. A good leader may not be the
most talented or the best orator, but a one who gives space to stars
achieve their glory. On the other end, Sania Nehwal showed us that there
are other sports too in this country and we are good at it. Formula 1
taking its first step in rusty and dusty backdrop of ever changing Delhi! *

*
*

*Some great people left us, the ghazal king Jagjit Singh and Bhupendra
Hazarika. The iMan, Steve Jobs, left us wondering how Apple would
revolutionize our lives in future. India lost a Tiger, Nawab Mansoor Ali
Khan "Pataudi", a man who taught his generation of cricketers to believe in
themselves, a man who never gave up! *

*
*

*Some life learning that this year brought to me is that we have limited
time here, either one can rise to challenges and make the best of
situations or get stuck. The biggest learning came suddenly while watching
a video of Devdutt Patnaik's on difference of Hindu and Western idea of
life. In western thought, life is a linear idea, you start and you end. So
you have only one life and you should make the best of it. Not a bad
thought, but till you realize that you are not stepping over others to
achieve glory! You might reach but you would leave a trail of hurt people
on your path. On the other hand, Hindu idea of life is a never ending one.
It goes in circles, this is one of your innumerable births, you would
finish and come back. To me this idea gives a lot of solace and peace
inside. It makes me not hurry, makes me live a day, makes me take out time
for good people around me. Yes, I do get hurt, I fall, I get angry but it
does not control me... its not the end, because there is no end! Its just a
journey, we are just travelers through it! *

*
*

*A new year is just a new number on calendars and cell phones, life would
continue unaware of these numbers, telling us that these numbers don't mean
anything. Its just our way of recording events, our way of creating hope,
looking forward! Lets embrace change, lets have hope, lets have faith in
ourselves, lets resolve to be happy in any circumstances, lets remember
that nothing is stagnant, change is inevitable, lets work hard but not
strain ourselves, because there is as much one can do! Live each day, Live
life  See you all in 2012! *

By,
Ambuj Lal.
Student @ Great Lakes.

Achieving made simple

Life’s everyday dramas are aplenty. A small victory is achieved every time a milestone is crossed or a standard surpassed. The sibling is treated to ‘look at your brother! Why cant u be more like him’, the relatives are given a detailed description of the various achievements and the victory dance is performed. For many, their lives are spent living upto the expectations of parents, family, the boss, the spouse, the society..the list is endless.

What is an achievement? Can it be measured simply in terms of money, marks, awards, degrees, fame and popularity?

If I followed my dreams, broke conventions, took the path less travelled, journeyed far away to unknown lands, didn’t believe in karma, married for love, made decisions for me, only me, I would break my parents hearts…but would I have achieved?

To me though, I have achieved when I bring upon a smile on the maids face when I say thankyou didi..

I have achieved when the kids on the street smile when I hand them sweets..

I have achieved when the puppy wags its tail when I feed it..

I have achieved when I catch the bus on time for once and the bus driver smiles..

I have achieved when I share my last piece of dairymilk with my friend and she smiles..

Its really that simple..so what have you achieved today??

By

Amritha (PGP 13)