Realizing the Deeper Meaning of Entrepreneurship

One fine Sunday afternoon,  amidst the hectic work schedule while experiencing sleepless nights thanks to my 3-month old daughter, got a chance to travel on the train from Delhi to Mumbai. My mind was certainly more relaxed enjoying the 16 hrs long journey,  since it was slightly away from the daily cash flow management and project issues that otherwise clouds my entire day.

Ended up having a casual chat with my co-passenger Mr. M. Raghavaih, General Secretary of National Federation of Indian Railwaymen,  about his accomplishments, about how even at his age of 72 he is representing 14 lakh Indian Railwaymen and working for the prosperity of not only them but also for the Indian Railways and the entire Nation ensuring a comfortable experience for close to 2-crore daily passengers.

I realized that even though I am responsible for the operations of a much smaller organization in his comparison, I am still responsible for the happiness of somewhere close to 600-700 families who are directly benefiting from the existence of our company. How can I go wrong when the goodwill of these families depends on my actions?  How can I afford to get bogged down when certain things doesn't seem to be falling in place as quickly as you'd expect them to? How can I even think of calling it quits?  Can I?

This is when you realise a somewhat deeper meaning of entrepreneurship - of responsibility you have on your shoulders.  And you realize that you need to fight harder, just a little bit harder.  You do realize that the Army men go to war probably once in 10 years, whereas you have to fight a war in your own sense every single day.  Hence,  there is a much bigger task that you have up your sleeve.

This makes it very important for me as an entrepreneur to charge my batteries every single morning and get ready to fight.  Why? Remember those 600 odd families who are hoping that you would end up doing something today that will result in their better livelihood sooner or later.  And mind you, the numbers are growing at a very fast pace.

So pull up your socks and get going!!

When you are in the middle of growing a business there are such limited resources. Money is scarce. Time is precious. You have to put in long hours. Stress levels run high when you are expecting a check to come in and it doesn't show.

Someday...

Cant help humming these lines from an awesome song...

SOMEDAY....

In my search for freedom and peace of mind,
I have left the memories behind.
Wanna start a new life but it seems to be rather absurd
When i know the truth is that I always THINK OF YOU!
Someday, Someway, together we would be baby
I'll take and you'll take your time.
We'll wait for our fate 'cos nobody owns us baby,
We can shake, we can shake the rock.

Try to throw the picture out of my mind,
I try to leave the memories behind
Here by the ocean, Waves carry voices from you
Do you know the truth, I AM THINKNG OF YOU TOO!!
Someday, Someway, together we would be baby
I'll take and you'll take your time.
We'll wait for our fate 'cos nobody owns us baby,
We can shake, we can shake the rock.

The love we had together just fades away in time
And now you've got your own world,
And I guess i've got mine.
But the passion that you planted in the middle of my heart
Is a passion that will never stop
Someday, Someway, together we would be baby
I'll take and you'll take your time.
We'll wait for our fate 'cos nobody owns us baby,
We can shake, we can shake the rock.

Someday, Someway, together we would be baby
I'll take and you'll take your time.
We'll wait for our fate 'cos nobody owns us baby,
We can shake, we can shake the rock.


- MLTR (Someday)

Reclaim Your Life - Roadtrip No. 2

Delhi - Agra - Lucknow - Bareily - Rudrapur - Rampur - Corbett - Moradabad - Delhi
Distance covered: 1415 Kms
Date: 11 - 14 Dec 2008
PIC: Safari Dicor 2.2L VTT

I had been planning a leisure "roadtrip" for almost 4 months now, amidst a hectic professional life with like a zillion trips to Jaipur, Kota, Amritsar, Mussorie, etc. Finally it happened! Occasion - Dopa's brother was getting married in Lucknow.

Idea of driving down from Delhi to Lucknow, covering a one-side distance of 550 Kms, was not a very pleasant one for my folks. After a lot of convincing and blatantly lying to them, they finally gave in to my whims! :)

The journey begins on 11th December 2008, with Mr. Avinash Kumar, Mrs. Nupur Shantanu Jha and myself leaving Delhi at 6:30 in the morning! The plan was to reach Lucknow by afternoon, attend the wedding in the evening after being joined by Mr. Arunabh Trivedi, Mr. Saurabh Gupta and the "great" Mr. Shantanu Jha! Next morning, leave for Corbett - which as per the research done by the "great" guide, was just like a 2 hrs drive from Lucknow. He had it all planned out. Relax the entire day at Corbett and leave for a full day tour of Jungle Safari early next morning. Come back in the evening, drink some wine, and be fresh again for the following day! "The following day might be a little rough", he said, "with an Elephant Safari planned for the day alongwith the drive back to Delhi". What a "great" planner he was! Or was he? More on it later.

The journey began on 11th December at 6:30 am. The weather was nice, and the road looked fresh. It couldnt have been more awesome! A 6-lane highway all the way from Delhi - Agra - Etawah - Kanpur (NH-2) was a welcome surprise. We had done our bit of research in figuring out the best Delhi to Lucknow route , but for some reason there was hardly a mention of the 6-lane highway! Distance of around 470 kms to Kanpur was covered in 7 Hrs including two halts at Agra and Etawah. We knew we were doing good on the time front. Kanpur to Lucknow was a bit of a nightmare though. The only relief was the chilled beer we managed to pick-up somewhere near Kanpur. A road, not longer than 80kms, took us more than 2 hrs.

A record was established though! 550kms in 9.5 hrs was not as bad as 530kms in 21 hrs (Roadtrip No. 1 - Mumbai to Goa - Feb 2005 - Pulsar DTSi 150cc). I do swear by the saying "Reaching your destination is one thing, enjoying the journey is another", but honestly, reaching Lucknow meant a lot to me. Why? Over the last couple of months, life had been too monotonous. I had already started to feel that I am probably too old for this stuff (inspired by HIMYM 4x19 ;-) ). I desperately had to do something to break the shell. And it felt as if I was just there. The blood was being pumped at a much better pace, the excitement was back, the adrenaline rush could be felt!

Lucknow - a city full of Mayawati's posters and hoardings - was a quiet town in the afternoon. The entire bunch of us got together in the evening, drank a couple of beers and left for the wedding. Some more drinks, dance, drinks, dance, drinks and drinks is what followed in the evening! The planner had informed us that our next destination, Corbett National Park, was just a 2 hr drive from Lucknow and therefore we could afford a couple of extra drinks! As I said earlier, he had it all planned out! :)

We set out for our next destination at a comfortable 3pm instead. The route was Lucknow - Bareily - Rudrapur - Rampur - Corbett. A comfortable 2hr journey! We grabbed a couple of breezers and beers to make it even better! It was only after encountering the first milestone having left Lucknow, we almost knew what we had in store for the next 2 days! Bareily itself was a freaking 243 kms away! By the time we reached Bareily it was already dark. We somehow managed to get hold of a road-map then. Yes, until now we weren't carrying one!

Bareily - Rudrapur - Rampur was a nice drive at night with lots of fog though. Visibility - hardly 5mts! Rampur to Corbett was rather interesting! Driving at a speed of not over 20kmph due to decreased visibilty, entering in the jungle, we were probably expecting to be chased by a tiger or be caught by a herd of elephants. Believe me or not, we all could actually sense being chased by some vehicle which was later confirmed by a commander who also happened to own the beautiful resort we were going to stay in - "Camp Riverwild". At last, we did check-in at 1am, after like a 2hr drive which took us 10hrs instead! After the usual round of our sacred drinks, we crashed on our beds, only to get up at 5am for the exciting Jungle Safari!

Six of us, all together in an open jeep, left for the deep forests, following the trail of the lion only to get a glimpse of the wild! An hour went by, and then another, and then another! The beast was probably too scared to come out in the open, specially when he knew his territory was under an attack of foreign invasion - so we thought! After having spent 11hrs in the forest, it took us only a couple of arguments with the officials, in order to allow us to leave before the safari was officially called off for the day. The day wasnt as bad as it looks like - there were moments of excitement too! Our jeep broke down, we were trapped on foot in deep forests for almost 3 hours, etc, etc. :)

The evening was great, thanks to the resort we were staying in! A lovely bonfire on the banks of a river stream is all that we could ask for. We were getting wiser, and we did very wisely gave up our plan of going for an elephant sarafi the next day! We decided we wanted to stay back in the resort, sit in the sun, take a dip in the river, and do nothing! Nothing at all! Thats exactly what we did all day before we started with our return journey. It took us 5 hours to get back from Corbett via Moradabad.

No Stories here, a simply drive back home! Rejuvenated by the exciting trip, I was ready again to take life head-on. At times I wonder how such trips help lift onerself up from the usual lows of life!

I WONDER - If you looked back on your life...What would you remember? The Corner Office? The corporate powerplays? The VIP Lounge? What would you remember? :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa8SelN6U-4

RECLAIM YOUR LIFE! :)

~Khan

Insight #1

Does merit really count?!

This blog goes out when I am fully satisfied with how the week progressed for me on the professional front! Looks like things have started moving and taking the shape as desired.

But to be honest, my belief that there are people who make it to the top because of merit seems to be shaking with every passing day! There isnt any MERIT in today's business environment. Its about grabbing the opportunity even when there is none. Its about manipulating the world!

Every second day you are given two choices - be the Howard Roark and get fucked for life, or be the Peter Keating and silently fuck the world! My due apologies for the language being used in here, but it hurts that a heroic character from my days of adoloscence is turning out to be the greatest loser in my own eyes. You cant be a rebel and think of changing the system. You are being a coward if you quit and say "I dont care, I know I am good".

If you are good, prove it! Get your hands dirty, get into the system, and play it better than anyone can think of. The real merit is in how well you can do that. Opportunities dont knock at your door. You open the door, and grab one! Reminds me of these awesome lines from a Bollywood movie:

"...Sarkari darwaze the yeh aap logon ke banaye hue! Ya to laat maarke khulte the, ya ji hazoori de ke. Maine dono kiya! Jahan laat maar sakta tha - laat maari; jahan aapne bola salaam do - maine bola salaam lo!!"

No matter what business or industry you operate into. After a certain level, I am sure you reach a similar decision point. But I guess thats the underlying truth of everything even remotely known as business in this world.

Well, on the second thoughts - Who is complaining anyways?! ;)

Feeling Lost...

A few lines from times long-ago....

Feeling Lost

My Life seems to be a game,
A game of reality and truth.
She said its me who makes her happy
and played the strings forever untouched.
I knew she wasnt lying then
guess she was just too high on love.
Its me who took them seriously,
And am now feeling lost.

Never dreamt it could happen to us,
thought things were in control.
Its like an ideal relationship,
with understanding and trust.
Be it long distance or otherwise,
we knew we could sail.
It doesnt seem to happen now,
Should I blame it to fate?

Fate, I thought was a mistress
that would succumb to a human mind.
Didnt realize it had gained power,
And I will have to fight.
Am not afraid of the war,
its fighting alone that shivers me.
The purpose right now seems senseless,
A war long lost.

Am hoping things do change,
and the spark rekindles.
The spark that caused euphoria.
The euphoria that is lost!

MBA - Really?

“Now that you have an MBA, you will never be as successful as me!” – Larry Ellison, co-founder and CEO, Oracle Communication

I did grow up strongly disagreeing with statements like these. Like most of the non-medical students, IIT + IIM had always been a dream for me as well. Having cleared the IIT, IIMs (or any popular B-school) should have been the obvious next stop. Guess I had matured a little too early!

No, neither do I have anything against the MBA grads, nor am I against the idea of doing an MBA myself! But yes, I was against the idea of doing it a little too early in my career! I did not want to pursue a course I didn’t value as much, and do it only because people around me were doing it. That’s herd mentality if I am not wrong, a characteristic not very rare in the MBA grads. “Crazy you are, everyone’s doing it! That’s like the most suitable course to be pursued! And you are shrugging it off. You are wasting your career!” – is what people thought aloud.

Doesn’t it sound more like an MBA grad looking at the market and saying “I examined 30 popular biscuits and all of them were made of wheat flour, were baked, and used salt and sugar, except one that has some brown stuff in it called chocolate with a heavy vanilla flavor. My finding tells me our biscuit range should have wheat flour, should be baked, use salt and sugar. Only one guy has chocolate vanilla and he is the outlier – let us ignore it”

Not that I am a biscuit with chocolate and a heavy vanilla flavor, but probably an ambitious person who has his own way of doing things. Trust me, I wasn’t being different because it was the “in-thing”, I was just thinking on a different plane.

Three years down the line, I am really proud of my decision. Having had my share of interactions with the early MBA-grads, it won’t be too wrong to say that their “Out-of-the-box thinking” is probably written somewhere in the book and has a set procedure enabling one to come up with a fancy thought in no time. I won’t be surprised if a lesson such as “How to think Out-of-the-box?” forms a part of the MBA curriculum.

MBA curriculum has a lot of portions which are really valuable and equally exciting though. Finance, OB, Marketing – they are all very good, but probably of more value only when you know how and when to apply the knowledge. (And also know about the pieces to be ignored completely!)

The content above is strictly the opinion expressed by the author (inspired after reading an article in BW) not aimed at hurting anyone’s sentiment.