INDIA - A DIFFERENT TAKE

Ever wondered what will you tell to your foreigner friends about 'India'? They all are aware of Indian culture, elephants, spirituality, Information Technology, poverty, slums blah blah blah blah. So what will you say - different? At HSBC, I encountered such a situation, when i was popped the question by a management trainee from one of the CIS countries on secondment. This is what i think i should have told him, rather than the usual cliche / famous stuff about our country. There's so much to say than the usual basics.

I described India to my foreigner friend as a "voyage of contrast". He will experience co-existence of an avant-garde star hotel, surrounded by slums; production facility of Mercedes Benz in the same compound as the indigenous Tata Nano (world’s least expensive car). India is where human density per square foot is among the highest yet it is the only hope for Asia's wild cats, where same sex relationships are now legalized even though society opposes opposite sex relationships between people from different castes.

I would introduce India's thousands years old culture, which still influences the life and habits of her people. My friend can expect to find a cow roaming freely on Indian roads and people touching the sacred beast, seeking blessings. A brush with our rich heritage would reveal over 1500 dialects. Add to this a population of over 1 billion today, and that gives an idea of different languages in which communication takes place.

My new-found friend's Indian experience would get complete on indulging in food, travelling and Cricket. Indian cuisine is as diverse as its culture, geography and climate. While travelling includes adventure in backwaters, snow-mountains, wildlife, beaches and desert, the immediate way to connect to any Indian would be to talk about the sport, Cricket. I would advice my friend to start his voyage in India by visiting a temple. One should not be surprised if he finds idol of a cricketer or an Indian movie actor sharing space with Gods.

ORGANIZATIONS NEEDS ROCKET SINGHS

ORGANIZATIONS NEEDS ROCKET SINGHS

When I joined Landmark Group Retail (lifestyle) post my MBA, retail was at a nascent stage in India and I saw an opportunity to exponentially grow with the industry. I wanted to start my venture -a country-wide franchisee company. The idea was to start with a few small franchisee outlets and as momentum builds, I will move on to take multiple regional master franchisees.

I prepared a business plan for owning franchise of sales-cum-service workshops of a 2-wheeler company – ‘Bajaj Auto’, did my primary and secondary research for project report to be submitted to the company and banks at later stage. Bajaj accepted my plan but agreed to proceed after I had finalized a property and closed the financing deal with banks. Selecting property required numerous visits and continuous coordination with agents, but my six-day work routine (Sunday mandatory working) at Landmark made these tasks challenging. Real estate prices were on pinnacle at that time (they still are) and demand far exceeded supply in land-locked Mumbai, so, to close any property deal one had to respond very quickly. Concentrating both on my professional career and proposed personal entrepreneurial venture was becoming difficult.

Finally, I decided to concentrate on my profession and dropped the business idea. I had worked hard to secure bank finance and convince the Bajaj team but failed to see the project through at the last stage. With proper time management I would well have been on my way towards my career objective. I learnt valuable lesson in ‘multitasking / time management’ from the experience.

Having learnt lessons and plugging all the gaps, the entrepreneurial fire started burning again when I joined HSBC; An organisation can reap benefits of inculcating a quality of entrepreneurship in employees by giving them enough freedom and room to take their own decisions and to do whatever one can to the benefit of the organization with adherence to the fundamental rules. Infact now I proudly call my self an ‘Entrepreneur in HSBC’ ,as the term holds a broader meaning for me than just someone who is having something of his own. World economies and industries are reeling from the financial crisis, business leaders are struggling to survive and growing means operating on a different plane altogether; this is the time to use entrepreneurship within an organization as the only effective ammunition to combat the same. I am an entrepreneur if I get things done, I am an entrepreneur if I ward off bureaucracy, I am an entrepreneur if I think out of the box and bring something different to the table, I am an entrepreneur if I stand beside my customer and also have guts to take a difficult call. I am an entrepreneur if i have my own way which gives better results, I am an entrepreneur if i can come up with a better way of doing things then just to follow a herd.

Its time for all Rocket Singhs to fly!!!

GREEN ADVENTURE

Green Adventure

Trekking Western India’s one of highest peak – ‘Rajmachi’ was my first appointment with not just adventure but also nature. We were a group of 5 enthusiasts, all first-timers with respect to ‘trekking’, to add to that, I had fear of heights. Though the trek was only for around 8 hours to and fro, steep climb, rocky way, trekking in night, unaware of the correct path and non availability of fresh water made it very difficult. While trekking, to make things easier, I decided to not look down or back. It is human nature to do something, what one decides not to, especially if one fears it. And I did it! I looked down and bang!!! my head started spinning. I lost control and tumbled like the fabled nursery rhyme character - 'Jack'. Luckily my friend supported me. Dizzied and ready to give up, I decided to wait till my other friends returned from the peak. However, something struck me inside and I decided to continue. Adversity had brought the best in me. In the end, I not only completely ended my fear of heights (hopefully) but I also found one of my biggest passions – Adventure. I have now completed around 10 treks of varied difficulty levels. Attitude of never giving up, consistency, persistence and crossing all limits are some of the values I have learnt through these activities. More importantly I have come to respect nature’s beauty which lies hidden. It was only for ‘trekking’ I could explore all the serene unexplored places and get a quick change from the polluted, traffic ridden lives of Mumbai city.

It will be a shame if each one of us do not contribute or give our due back to the environment. Even an hour per week dedicated to save the environment will make a difference. Recently I have started my own facebook community (Save Aarey Milk Colony) to protect one of the last remaining green patches of Mumbai city – ‘Aarey milk colony’. Development has taken a heavy toll on Mumbai gardens with most of it completely wiped off. The intention behind this community is to save the last remaining green area from real estate / government related encroachments and deforestation. We have got support from another NGO working towards the same endeavor and joint efforts are now being planned.

By working for a greener tomorrow, I guarantee you a sense of satisfaction in fulfilling a moral compulsion.

(I Support SAVE OUR TIGERS http://www.saveourtigers.com/ Do you?)