achal rangaswamy

Has the Salesperson lost His Cutting Edge?

2012-02-11T00:32:00.000-08:00

These are the thoughts of an experienced Sales and Marketing Professional. A person who has spent all his life listening to customers, salesmen, marketing men and trainers.

"THE cutting edge is not cutting sharp enough. I talk about the salesperson in the marketplace. The salesperson who fights in the field. The key worry many a practitioner faces in the marketplace is that the salesperson is losing his edge. Salespeople are getting blunted more and more.
Is the Indian salesperson getting more and more blunted over the years? Is performance on a downslide? Is it getting more and more difficult to get real salespersons in the market?
Don't get cross with me. I am the ultimate friend of the salesperson. I have been one for long many years myself. Nevertheless, let me put on the table a key worry of senior management in most organisations.
There is acute poverty in India. Poverty of good salespersons. We possibly have the world's largest sales force, but there are very few who are really sharp.
Listen to the accusation intently. The salesperson today aspires to work for the big organisation. And big organisations boast big brands. Most big brands are old brands that have been built by the painstaking effort of the senior sales folk who sweated it out in the market, selling the salt and tea and whatever intently, creating for these brands a solid market presence. Bigger the organisation and bigger the brand, less is the cutting-edge differential a salesperson brings to the table.
The problem is environmental. The problem is historical. Over a span of a few decades, we have written a self-fulfilling prophecy in the realm of Indian selling. In the quest to work for bigger and better organisations, salespersons have blunted their edge. Salespeople have not planned their careers with enough skill. Instead, the planning of a career has been one based on the bigger brand name in the market to work for. The bigger pay package, and indeed the easier-earned pay package even.
We are human beings after all. We want an easier life as we get along in life. It is fine to work hard when we are young and just about learning a job. As we grow older, and as we get going with the rest of the purpose of life — putting together a family, getting a wife first and children later — one aspires for the easier selling life. Can we blame anyone for this?
If I am a salesperson selling Anchor toothpaste, I aspire to sell Colgate. I look at the ease with which the Colgate salesperson sells in carton-loads to even the smallest of small shops, and salivate. I salivate equally at the respect commanded by the Colgate salesperson. I envy and want to throw that stone at the neighbouring salesperson who is able to collect his outstandings from the retailer with such ease when I have to struggle to make recoveries legitimately due to me. In short, salespersons working in smaller companies with smaller brands aspire to work for the bigger company with the bigger brands to tout. In short, hard-working salespersons aspire to work less hard as they progress in their career.
Salespeople over the decades have therefore blunted their edge, quite consciously. This blunting of the edge has been a viral disease literally. A disease that has spread far, wide and deep. Subliminally as well.
The process is a simple one. A novice enters the field of selling. He joins a small company and a small brand. He learns the art, science and philosophy of selling from hard-working seniors (if they exist at all). He picks up the nuances of hard-sell. He sells a small brand, which requires a lot more of personal selling than the bigger brand that depends a lot on the pull of the brand. Once he has does a bit of this, and once his superiors keep telling him he is doing a great job, he gets the itch! He wants to move. He wants to move to a bigger brand, a bigger place.
The contentious and ostensible reason for such a switch is the want, desire and aspiration to work for a bigger company. A company with superior systems. The masked purpose unfortunately is the key issue of wanting to sell a superior brand. A brand that requires less of push. A brand that brings with it automatic customer pull. Blunting happens!
Blunting happens almost unknown and unsung. Blunting of edge is a part of the self-fulfilling prophecy salespeople want to write for themselves. Unfortunately, salespersons have not been intelligent enough thus far to avoid blunting. In the bargain, good salespersons who develop unique skills, hurry up their careers to stagnate on those very skills in bigger organisations, as they don't necessarily add quantum leaps.
If selling skill is cutting edge, I am afraid a whole army of salespersons in the country are rather blunted today. Very few want to work with organisations that require the kind of cutting-edge skill of hard-sell. The tragedy therefore remains and compounds. Imagine the case of a new company in the business of selling soap. This is an international MNC, just about entering the Indian market. It wants to build a sales force of its own to sell this robust soap. The company cannot afford to splurge a huge amount of money on advertising. Further, even if it does, it will have to wait all of five years for it to build up equity of significance.
The company therefore wants a sales force with the cutting-edge ability of making inroads into the retail space of this nation of shopkeepers. Where does it find them?
The first attempt is to poach on the existing biggies in the business. The market leader is to be poached upon first. Biggest mistake! The market leader sits with an army of salespersons who have forgotten how to sell. They are at best "have been" good salespersons. Today, at best, they are good distributors of the product. The skill is distribution, not selling!
Savvy salespersons do not necessarily work in the big companies today. They work in the small and struggling entities. There is a small army of very good people here. The problem, however, persists. Each of these wants to migrate and work with the big brands in the market, like everyone at some time or the other does.
Blunting is a part of sales karma literally! Blunted salespeople are therefore the bane of modern selling. There is very little of selling left in the most advanced economies of the world. India is no different. Most salespersons are distribution specialists wearing the mask of the salesperson.
Salespersons need to learn from the realm of technology to keep pace with rapid change. We live in a world that is changing. The consumer is the one entity that is morphing at a pace that is just very difficult to discern. In an era such as this, learn from the guy in technology. No guy is too learned and no guy is too seasoned.
Change is the only permanent bitter medicine here. Very simply put, salespeople need to learn to learn more. Salespeople need to understand the cutting-edge value of their skills and market them at a price that is right. There are people waiting out there to buy you! Work in smaller companies. Work with smaller brands. Respect the strength of the small and, for heaven's sake, don't rush in where angels fear to tread — the big company with the big brand. Anybody can do that.
And you don't want to be that 'anybody'!"

What say, friends????

The Young Paint Salesman

2012-01-21T09:29:00.000-08:00

The young paint salesman

Now this is a very interesting story that teaches us so many things.

There was this little factory in a small town which belonged to an old man who was quite knowledgeable. He took great pride in what he manufactured - paint for use in specific industries. The old man took great pains to produce what he considered the best quality of paint.
He, however, had a problem with the sales of the paint since most salesman would come, work with him for a few months, and then go away complaining that either the price was too high, or the customer was too fussy, or the quality was a problem…….
One day, in a desperate move, he hired a young, inexperienced and absolutely wet-behind-the-ears salesman. He hoped that at least this young man would bring some luck and therefore, business.
Within four days of hiring the young man, the old man called him into his little office and told him-“Look, young man. I have given you all the training necessary for you to be able to sell our paint. You know exactly what goes into our product and what exactly the customer can get out of it. you know the pricing, you know the delivery schedules, you know everything.”

The young man nodded and said, “yes, I think I know everything”.
The old man then pointed out of his window and said, “across the hill is this factory that needs our kind of paint. I am sending you there to make your first call in this job. The guy out there is a bloody *#***##. He will not let you sell to him. He will run you down. He will call you names. He will call ME names. He will tell you that our paint is the lousiest in the world, and the costliest. He will tell you that we don’t deserve to exist, and that our paint should be trashed………
But there is one good thing about him. He does all this, but finally buys. He always buys our paint.”

Armed with this brief, our young friend wended his way across the hill to meet the customer who sounded tough. He entered the premises with fear and trepidation,
Now we don’t have a close circuit TV fixed at the customer’s place to know exactly what happened.

But we do know what happened when the young man came back to his aged boss. He walked into his factory and entered the office of the boss. The boss asked him how the experience had been.

The young man said- “this is amazing. This customer actually was a bloody *##**##. He also did the same things that you said. He called me names. He called YOU names. He trashed our paint. He said we didn’t deserve to exist.
And you were so very right. After all the drama, and all the shouting and all the cuss words, he bought. He gave me an order".

The old man rose from his chair. His jaw fell a few inches below. And he exclaimed “WHAT !!!???? He has never ever bought even a teaspoon of paint from us before!!!!”

Now my friends, tell me what exactly does this story mean to you. What is the lesson for us here?

I am thankful to my sales guru Zig Ziglar for sharing this story. It is from him that I learnt this story to share with you all.

A Tale of a Courageous Creative Crank

2011-12-28T18:21:00.000-08:00

A determined young lady is coming back to work half a year after she was told that she had cancer.

The season where a large part of India celebrates the harvesting and kite flying and the burning of old, unused and obsolete things to start life anew, this small-built, tough but cheerful young lady gets back to doing what she was always passionate about. She belongs to a famous martial race of Indians and talks their lingo very well too.

She has fought the dreaded C word and found her way back to the desk where she is going to let her creative mind loose and produce some truly good work. For her C is no longer Cancer. It may be Crazy, it may be Creative, it may be Commitment. But definitely not Cancer.

Would you like to know her story?

This happened quite a few years back. I had got back from delivering one of those "Orientation Lectures" at one of those B-Schools. And as usual I got a few mails. Mails of thanks. Mails saying how the student had felt at the end of the talk, how they would practice what I had preached !

One such letter was from a young lady who wrote saying- " ..this is my first and last mail to you, because I will now write to you only after my two years at the Insti are over. I would like to tell you then how I have become after implementing your suggestions.....".

I could have taken the letter as a show of pomposity and arrogance. I could have dismissed it as just one of those 'euphoric reactions, typical of adrenaline bursts at the end of motivational talks, soon to fizzle out'. I did neither.

I wrote to this young lady saying- "do stay in touch, maybe you could keep me posted about your progress". And then I quite forgot about it. She did stay in touch, now and then, as it always happens with students, whose priorities border on madness laced with laziness.

One day I got a message from her asking if she could meet me and talk to me about a dilemma she was facing, in terms of a choice of careers. I asked her to meet me during the short break in between a Sunday class at a Management Association where I would go teach a motley crowd of people what I like most- Sales. She coaxed me into meeting her after the class, when I would have more time for her.

The discussion was a revelation. Of course it started with talk of her total lack of interest in a career that looked likely to be starting out, with a fairly fat paycheck. She said she was interested in something totally different. It was as different as a student of Finance saying at the fag end of the course that her interest lay in Advertising and Communication !!

Nothing very odd, I thought. Most students take up courses on the advice of elders, seniors, peers and people who don't even matter, at times. Half-way through their semesters they realize the oddities. So i wasn't really paying much attention to what she was saying. The usual story, except that this expression of interest in something else practically at the fag end of a course did amuse me.

Then she pulled out something from a large collection of odds and ends. It was a piece of creative writing. Then another, and then yet another. Visual communication, crisp words, well- written copies. Amusing sketches. Blurbs, ditties, one-liners, what not !!! Then followed a proposed ad for a well-known brand.

I couldn't help saying- "what the hell are you doing with what you are doing?" Her answer was-"...that's precisely what I wanted to know. Where does my interest really lie?"

Her pluck, her determination and her creativity got her into a very well-known ad agency. She started out the way most people do- as an intern. But her work spoke well and she called up some time later to tell me that she was now part of the team there and was quite enjoying what she was doing. Her tone and the cheerfulness clearly indicated that she had found her true calling. She even told me that neither the clock, nor hunger came in the way of her carrying out the work assigned to her, and the work was growing in size.

Only much later did she actually share with me that she had walked out of the course she had opted for when she joined the B-School.

Her enthusiasm to learn, her desire to understand things that hadn't been taught her in those very structured and streamlined programmes that schoools had, made her ask me if she could could and spend some time listening to me as I conducted these classes on Sales at the local Management Association. I let her join the group. She did listen to me. But she spoke too. And tellingly at times, even ripping apart some of the more experienced and trained guys in the class. She would speak her mind, often asking difficult questions - to me and to all those who stood up to present and "mock sell" their own products.

Extremely good at sports, and very keen to part of any activity at college, she broke her foot, but actually walked into one of my Sales sessions with a limp and a big smile hiding the pain.
She attended a book launch with crutches under her arms.

Then one day she called me and spoke to me for a good fifteen minutes. Ten of those fifteen minutes were expressions of gratitude for having taught her a lot of things. I told her that she was sounding like someone delivering a farewell address. Or a vote of thanks after a formal course. She then dropped the bombshell. And said very calmly that she was going to undergo a very complicated surgery some four weeks later. She said she wasn't very sure about the success of the surgery, and that she didn't want to regret later not having spoken to friends. Or that she hadn't thanked them for having been in her life.

The other five minutes were of my stuttered replies, broken sentences, shocked response to what she was saying, with long punctuations of silence.
She told me that she was currently at her home town but was soon going to Mumbai for treatment and the surgery. She asked me the names of some good books. I gave her the names, and even before could tell her why I had recommended those books or what they were about, i heard a faint reply- "...ordered....!!!". Never one to waste any time, i thought.
She then disappeared. No responses to text messages. No response to mails. No posts from her side on her otherwise chirpy and active FB page.
I was scared, even shared this with a few friends who also knew her. There was a long bout of silence.

Then, a few days after Deepawali, Labh Paancham to be precise, just as i was entering my favourite and most revered temple at my place of birth where the family had gone for a short holiday, the phone buzzed. Reverence for temple rules made me tell the caller that I would call back in a few minutes. I went in, and got out as fast as I could. Because the caller was none other than this young lady.
I told my wife and son that there must be something happening, which is why she called.
It took her just three minutes to tell me that the surgery had gone fine. That she was absolutely fine. And also that she was going to come back to work soon as she could, though it would take her some time, given post surgery treatment and recuperation.

I had still not left the temple precincts when she was telling me all.
As usual, i didn't have much to say. And I couldn't either. All i could mumble was- "..rab raakha".

Two days back, I received her message. She is getting back to work. Very soon.

Hats off to you !!! And now go show the world that C stands for Courage, Confidence and Composure. But never Cancer.

Mohd Rafi Saab and Santa Claus

2011-12-23T10:57:00.000-08:00

Every year as December begins ( and I have written this in an earlier birthday post of Rafi Saab), I look forward to my birthday and also that of my Idol. But there is another great character who we all remember very fondly as the month of December starts. And we look forward to his appearing before us.
One wonders why we haven’t noticed this uncanny resemblance between the two of them!!
One man who smiled all the time, another a slightly older man who smiled and made everyone smile.
They both had very strong bonds with 25th December. One was born just a day before that date and another remembered and thought about very fondly at the same time.
One of them brings gifts for young children, amidst all the singing and ringing of bells. The other brought so many gifts for all of us through his songs and his great music.
Both of them strongly attached to children and always keen to be in the company of little kids. Very comfortable with kids, and becoming just like them in their company. Enjoying playing with them and behaving like them too.
Big in the stomach, one old man probably has gifts hidden in his multilayered red clothes. The other, also with a big stomach, with a fondness for good food, and with a large store-house of songs that found their way through his throat and his god-gifted voice.
A twinkle in their eyes, a big broad grin, always the symbols of great festive spirit and feelings, Rafi Saab and Santa Claus.
Santa Claus may herald the Christmas spirit, but the whole world, irrespective of religious stance loves him. The same can be said for Rafi Saab, who has been the epitome of true mankind, bringing together people from all religions to enjoy music and strive for oneness through the spirit of brotherhood.
We celebrate the birth of Lord Jesus Christ at this time of the year. We also celebrate the birth of another Godly character. As he sang in one of his songs- Zindagi hai kya sun meri jaan, pyaar bhara dil, meethi zubaan, Rafi Saab would definitely have noticed Jesus nodding and smiling in approval.
A most comforting feeling would come over me when in my childhood I would go to sleep listening to Rafi Saab sing “ Main Gaaoon Tum So Jaao”. I know that world over the kids go to sleep anticipating the arrival of Santa at midnight with those surprise gifts.
Happy Birthday Rafi Saab! May you live long and forever in the minds of your fans, who span all countries, all religions and all age groups. "Tu Hindu Banega Na Musalmaan Banega, Insaan ki Aulad Hai Insaan Banega" has been one of your most popular songs.
May you be the Santa that we all love. May you always be the warm person who brings great cheer during those gloomy cold winter nights, and at all other times too.

Keen, hungry Student ?

2011-12-16T08:34:00.000-08:00

Dear sir,

Hope you are doing great in life....

I know you would hardly recall me still i want to ask something from you as a help..

I have been working in a good company in marketing division for last almost one and half year but after all this i am not enjoying at all. It is not about the company but i have realized that i am not fit for marketing specially sales as it is against my basic nature. more over i am hardly inclined towards putting effort in this direction.

Just want to know from you how to know what field i should go in from here on as it will change my life forever but i desperately need to do this. I belong to middle class family so not courageous enough to take big risk.

Please suggest if there can be a way out.

I will be grateful if you take some time out from your precious and packed time schedule.

Regards
XXXX

dear XXXXX

why is your heart not in the job?
is it because you dont like to ask customers for orders/business?

first things first- when you dont sell, the world comes to a halt !!!
think of a day ...just a single day in the world when no salesman sells anything to anybody...what would happen????

the world would come to a grinding halt.

this is the role played by a salesman. this is his importance to society. this is his value.

if for some other reason you dont like your job you will have to spell it out. i cannot figure out much from your mail. please write in detail if you really need help.

and finally, i do remember you. i dont forget keen and hungry students.

you asked for help. so it shows you are keen. you wrote to me stating you have a problem, so it shows your courage and fearlessness.

Take care
achal rangaswamy

Dear sir,

You got it right...at the moment i consider you as my doctor,teacher,guide,friend..

At the bottom of all my problems is FEAR which is resulting in following:

1. I fear talking to people in my case Customers...

2 . I cannot say "I love You" to a girl whom i love fearing her reaction..

3. I keep procrastinating my work because of this and again fear that tomorrow i will be reprimanded though i take my work seriously and honestly...

4. Negativity has spread in my mind and not ready to leave ....

Apart from this i have realized that my area of interest is different than marketing and sales but still confused as any other common man moving on the street today.

I know theories(not all but many) but not the path to overcome fear.

I have tried to open my heart above still may have left few things which as an experienced mentor you can understand and let me know.

Your keen student waiting for his teacher's lessons.

This is something one hears quite often nowadays. And I think the solution lies somewhere inside the person himself.

What say?

Har Fikr ko Dhuven Mein Udaata Chala Gaya

2011-12-03T22:45:00.000-08:00

I don't smoke. But i do strongly believe that the philosophy this great man shared with all, has inspired many.
Having written about him just a few months back, on his 88th birthday, I just couldn't help marvelling at the greatness of this man, the greatness of his thoughts, and the way he just kept on and on with the things he was passionate about. I think he just grew on me, just like that.

My first look at Dev Saab was long long back....most of my friends know about it. I keep narrating this story of how i slipped on a slippery and wet pavement outside a cinema house in Madras after walking out into the rainy night. And how I had absolutely been possessed by the sight, the walk and the talk of this "tall, handsome man", I was a short, slightly built schoolboy of not more than six or seven. And how I fell in love with Khoya Khoya Chaand, Khulaa Aasmaan.

From that day on, i wanted to look like him, walk like him, talk like him, sing like him, and romance all the girls the way he did.

A Calcutta-based aunt of mine man fun of me as i stood in front of the mirror, trying to keep my hair up in a "puff", the way my hero did. She called me Devnath !!!

I grew up hero worshipping him through Hum Dono, Tere Ghar ke Saamne, and Guide. My nickname and his own name in the movie- Raju, made me think that he was me. I was him. When i went on a school excursion to Udaipur, i spoke to a number of tongawallahs and guides, and each one of them had called his horse Raju Guide or were very proud to be called Guide Saab.

Dev Saab symbolized youth, energy, the never-say-die spirit, the utter romantic, the optimist, the carefree gambling and totally magnetic persona that nobody will ever be able to match or project so effectively on the silver screen.

He may have been way ahead of the era he lived in. He may have had his dreams that people couldn't fathom. He may have had plans larger than life. But then he was always larger than the others. Larger than anybody could dare to think or reach.

I am very sure that at this very moment there are four people sitting together- and having a great time reminiscing together- they are SD Burman, Mohd Rafi Saab, Shailendra ji and Dev Saab himself.

And i can bet my last rupee that they are talking about how they could bring out one new dimension to "laakh mana le duniya, saath na yeh chootega, aakey mere haathon mein, haath na yeh chootega"......and then sitting back to relish their own handiwork, and marvelling at what team work can do.

The only difference between them would be that Burman da would be sitting very quietly, Rafi Saab would be smiling to himself and nodding his head approvingly, Shailendra ji would be taking notes over and over again, and Dev Saab would be all over the place, here one second, another corner of the room the next second.

Dev Saab, you have left us all thinking about one thing for sure. Live life on your own terms. Dont live with your sorrows. Keep going on, unmindful of criticism, success, failure, bouquets and brickbats.

May you continue to inspire everyone. May you keep smiling from up above, with that toothless naughty smile, and may you make ordinary looking young imps stand in front of the mirror combing their hair to get that "puff", even if they are erroneously labelled "Devnath".

I salute you, Dev Saab. Rest in peace, though i wonder if you ever believed in that !!!!!!

Reflection

2011-11-23T18:08:00.000-08:00

This is one blog post that has taken some time.

Perhaps because I also have taken some time. Maybe lots of time.

As I sit writing this, I cannot but help reflect on the time gone by. Seventeen years !!!!

Holding aloft a banner for sixteen years, I had asked myself and ask my friends as well. Am I being unfashionable? Holding aloft the same banner for sixteen years is perhaps in today’s context considered quite unfashionable. But many friends wrote, texted, called and told me- “keep going. You’re doing fine.”

Within a few hours of my writing this, the seventeenth year shall get over. And the question popped up again some time back. Am I still being unfashionable?

There is a difference this time, though. I am holding aloft not one, but two banners. Without any bias, and as anybody would agree with me, there is always a soft corner for your more familiar terrain, older associations and those small little things that you hold on to for years and years. But there is this new banner, a bigger one, the supposedly “all-encompassing” one. I have manfully held it for the last four months or so. I seem to be managing.

That is why I decided to call this blog post- “Reflection”. To look back a minute and count all the milestones, the blessings, those little feelings of achievement and satisfaction. To also count the more grey hair, if at all the total count remains the same !!

But at the same time Robert Frost comes to mind, with his most famous four lines. Those four lines that not only inspire, but also guide, make anyone think. Perhaps the best last four lines any poet or any thinker would have written anywhere in history.

And even as I think about the last four lines, it is the last two lines only that seem to matter now.

And miles to go before I sleep

And miles to go before I sleep.

There have been many occasions in the last four months that the situation would have looked daunting. But perhaps the sixteen years prior to this loom before me and seem to guide me, coax me, cajole me, and push me into looking at things with a new eye. A stronger will. And at times even with a newer sense of humour that I may have developed over the years.

Seventeen years. Almost the same old banner. AND ONE WITH NEW SHADES.

Miles to go. Before I sleep.

From an unpublished script ........

2011-10-01T05:52:00.000-07:00

Dad is Fun

Can you imagine learning cycling without dad?

It was dad who ran after me when I learnt to cycle…

It was dad who used to come running when I would have a great fall from the cycle…

It was dad who had bought the first bat for me, and it was dad who had thrown the first ball at me…

It was dad with whom I used to go to the zoo every Sunday…

It was dad who used to drop into school to give me my crayon box that I would have forgotten to take to school…

It was dad who had signed all my ‘red’report cards …

It was with dad that I used to enjoy watching India Vs Pakistan one- day cricket matches while having popcorn…

It was dad who taught me how to tie a necktie…

It was dad’s car, which I had banged for the first time and it was dad’s phone number I had given to a cop after banging the car…

Dad means- cycling, boating, horse riding, zoo, circus, ice- creams, giant wheels, campfire and holidays, cricket and pillow fights.

Dad means Fun.

It was from dad’s shoulder that I had viewed the world for the first time.

My dad taught me to cycle. It was fun to cycle in an open maidan but to cycle on the road? I was scared to even cross the crowded road. I was scared of vehicles and I would feel as if all the vehicles were going to ride over me. It was in the 11^th std when Jaydeep’s dad bought a scooter for him and he started coming to school on his scooter. He found it very useful in following girls and he had great fun zooming on his scooter. But once while trying to impress some girl he fell down and fractured his leg and remained in bed for six weeks. After six weeks he returned to his scooter but I took a vow never to touch a two wheeler. I never learnt to ride a two wheeler. But, at the age of 19 I had a license to fly.

My dad told me - “flying an air-craft is much easier than riding a bike. There are no traffic jams up there. Let the sky be your maidaan !!!”

I am quite sure you've figured out whose script this is......

Maybe you could look out for this ....in the near future......!!!

Main Zindagi Ka Saath Nibhaata Chala Gaya

2011-09-26T04:16:00.000-07:00

I have often mentioned this in various posts, blogs and conversations. The first time that I saw this handsome man with a very interesting gait, and a somewhat toothless smile, I decided that I wanted to be like him. I wanted to look like him, talk like him and sing like him.
Of course it took me a few years more to realize that the great voice when he sang was somebody else’s and that somebody else would become an Icon and a big big Hero for me.
But this hero too held my fascination. His hairstyle was something that had left a million hearts a-melting.
Slipping on the pavement on a rainy evening as we walked out of a cinema theatre in Madras, I told my mother and my grandmother that I would also sing “Khoya Khoya chaand….”. I didn’t let the pain of the injury sustained on my back and my knees bother me. Heroes didn’t cry. They only sang songs, wooed heroines and fought the villains.

Dev Anand had taken complete possession of my senses when I was barely six years old.

Those were the days of black and white movies, and there were great songs. In every song, whether it was soulfully sad, or mischeivously funny, or quite simply simple, Dev Anand looked great. I knew that he was invincible. Nobody could ultimately win like he did. He held everybody in awe of him. I grew up collecting pictures of his, and making a list of his films and his songs.

Then came the colour era, and he heralded the kind of technology most people hadn’t even heard about. He hired technicians and assistants who brought international skills to the screen. His dress sense may have seemed bizarre to some, but he carried of his jackets, caps, hats and scarves with panache and great savvy.

He may not have made great box office successes all the time. The crowds may not have got up and clapped till the very end of the movie, they may not have thrown coins at the screen, or performed aarti at his very appearance the first time in the movie.

But I know that secretly many many people admired him, aped him and even marvelled at his abundant energy and his never-say-die spirit.
Nobody could romance a leading lady like he did, whether walking down the stairs of the Qutb or seeking her out on a cold wintery evening on Simla’s Mall Road, or at a lakeside in Udaipur.
Nobody could go around singing even while peeping into a hundred doors and windows, as the heroine kept up a mock rebuff, only to succumb in the end. Nobody could deliver those touching lines that a Major in the army would, remembering his mother, wife and friends, as he battled the enemies on the desolate front.
And of curse, nobody, I dare say, nobody would have that kind of energy at the age of 88 to carry on making films at breakneck speed with the suave and charm of a twenty year old, combined with the experience of a fifty year old.

He has been the handsome Sharabi, the ebullient Pocketmaar, the lost Guide, the dashing Prem Pujari, the soft hearted Gambler, the large-hearted Bambai ka Babu and the charming CID. And of course, the smart Jewel Thief.
And this is the spirit that I want to salute. Actors there will be many. Stars there will be quite a few on the horizon. Box office successes there will be so many. But where will we find a man who can never be stopped. A man who carries on unmindful of success or failure. He reminds me of the famous quote- “don’t let success go to your head or failure go to your heart”.
He carries on, blithe as ever, nimble- footed as ever, colourful as ever.He has introduced to the silver screen more youngsters than he would care to remember.

And the one philosophy of his that I truly admire is- “I don’t stay with my sorrows”.
He has lived well. He has loved well and truly. It is not as if he hasn’t seen sorrow or loss. He has lost as well. But he carries on, stronger than before. More strong-willed than before. He has nothing to prove to anybody. Except perhaps telling himself that- “ I just stayed along with life”.

Joh mil gaya usi ko muqaddar samajh liya, joh kho gaya main usko bhulaata chala gaya.

Happy 88th Birthday to you, Dev Saab. May you continue to do films at 100, and even after that.

Salute !!!!

RIP, Tiger Pataudi

2011-09-22T09:19:00.000-07:00

I was hardly eight when my father took me on his Lambretta to the Ferozshah Kotla ground at Delhi to show me what a Ranji Trophy match was.

It was a Delhi-Bengal tie, and the touring team, led by the famous Pankaj Roy began disastrously, losing their celebrated captain for a duck off the first ball of a Rajinder Pal over. But i had no eyes for the Bengal opener, even though he held a world record batting partnership with another celebrity,Vinoo Mankad. All this trivia was being fed to me by my father, who probably never played any cricket but knew quite a bit about the game.

The only person who caught my attention and fancy was this fair, very fair and slim young man who walked with a lazy langurous air, yet looked very assertive on the field. The only thing about him that I couldn't understand was the rakish angle at which his cap was perched atop his head. It was almost pulled right over his right eye.

"He plays with just one eye", my father clarified. And i wondered, just how did he manage? Because by now I had started hearing from the cricket fans sitting around us in the pavilion class stands. About his great batting ability. About his famous late cuts, his square drives, his hook shots. And his tiger-like movement on the field when confronting a ball hit by a batsman. His great intuitive abilities as a leader, his attempts at bringing commoners on the same platform as the lordly men who dominated the game in those days.

He was the first international cricketer that I had set my eyes on. And what a man to idolize? My father turned around, craned his neck a bit and then asked me to turn around and look at the pavilion. Sitting there was a royal looking lady who it turned out was his mother and was popularly known as the Begum of Bhopal.

The young man we are talking about was called by many names. Those days he was simply Pataudi. My father elaborated that he was actually the Nawab of Pataudi. But he was fondly called Tiger by all, because of his demeanour and his character. He was later addressed as Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, when the privy purses were abolished. But for me he was always a Nawab. A royal man among so many lesser mortals.

I remember, sitting later in the day with my father at Wenger's at Connaught Place, digging into my first cutlet and listening to a Rafi Saab number on the juke box, the royal gait of this very handsome man in flannels. I decided that very day that I would be a cricketer. And that i would pull my cap right over my eye, at that rakish angle.

A couple of years later, when a long distance relative of ours landed up at Delhi as the manager of the South Zone Duleep Trophy team, he took us inside the dressing room at the Willingdon Pavilion of the Ferozshah Kotla. And I set my sights on my hero. He sat with a cup of tea and a cigarette, and in a deep and very impressive voice, spoke to his Hdyerabadi colleague and fellow batsman Abbas Ali Baig. He spoke so well, he spoke so majestically. The perfect Nawab. And along with the likes of people like Jaisimha, Durrani, Baig and Hanumant Singh, he brought grace and glamour to the game, like never before. I am sure the Dhonis and Yuvrajs of today would have found stiff competition from these legends.

With captaincy suddenly thrust on him during a horrific tour of the West Indies, with the scary injury suffered by captain Nari Contractor, Tiger went on to cement a team that had once consisted of many brilliant individuals but never a squad that wanted to win as a group. He won for India for the first time a series abroad. He fought for the inclusion underrated cricketers who went on to justify their inclusion. Even as a wounded tiger with a chin injury he faced the likes of Holder and Roberts to ward off defeat. All in all a perfect gentleman, yet a majestic tiger.

His book Tiger's Tale has many interesting sidelights on the game. His editorship, after retirement from the game, of a fine magazine called Sportsworld, was another high spot of his career.

He spoke less but spoke tellingly and with absolute command over the subject.

No wonder he was the heartthrob of many and lived a life of dignity. His death will leave a void. There aren't many Princes left in the game now.

RIP Tiger. You will be remembered for long.

Of course, you were the first ever cricketer I set my eyes on. And someone who inspired me to pick up a bat and a ball.

The Joy of Giving Week is just round the corner...

2011-09-17T05:25:00.000-07:00

How many times do we miss GOD'S blessings because they are not packaged as we expected?How often do we reject friends only because they didn’t come from the kind of families as rich as ours?How often did we ridicule people only because they couldn’t speak English the way we did?We turn away from people because their skin, or their complexion or their features didn’t appeal to us, or because they don’t possess designer jeans like we do..

How many job offers do we not even look at, just because the Package didn’t seem appealing? We don’t even take a minute out to look at the meat in the assignment, the friends we could make, the learning we could get from this assignment. This keeps happening all the time. We keep rejecting gifts in life.

Do take a moment to look at the gifts life has given you. You will always get more when you receive graciously and gratefully. Never mind the packaging…sometimes glamorous packages contain small gifts…and sometimes simple packages contain great gifts.No gift is too small and no gift is too large either.It all depends on who is giving it and who is getting it.
From life I have learnt that happiness and knowledge are two gifts that keep coming back in abundant measure when you share them.

Let us cherish all the gifts we have received in life, irrespective of the packing. And let us never forget to count our blessings...I assure you we will run out of fingers and hands !!!

Daily laughter has been shown to elevate our moods, promote creativity and give us more energy. The average 4 year old child laughs 300 times a day, and an adult 15 times a day, just imagine !!! And i said, the average adult. Which means that there are some who probably laugh a lot less!!!!

I keep sharing with friends and students alike one well known Chinese saying- A Man who cannot smile must not open a shop.

The best gift you can give yourself and all the others around you – is laughter. And you can give it even if the purse is a lot lighter today. You can maintain consistency in gifting, day after day, year after year.

Did you make a person laugh today?

Try it.

The Junglee Prince is No More

2011-08-14T01:56:00.000-07:00

Nagesh Sidhanti, my friend from Bangalore, jolted me from my morning reverie with this terse message that had only two lines.

I got up to post my first thoughts on Facebook. And i couldn't go beyond "Tum mujhe yun bhula na paaogey".

Thirty one years back, when Rafi Saab passed away, he had mournfully said, "I have lost my voice". Today it is his turn to go. The voice went away then. Today the man has gone.

Shammi Kapoor leaves this world of cinema and entertainment a lot poorer. Whe

re are we going to find someone who could combine boisterousness and sincere gravity with a lot of emotion and playful childishness with an almost effortlessly gay abandon ?

Where will we find someone who brought rock and roll on the screen in the early sixties and gave us superlative hits one after the other?

Romancing away, dancing away, making people laugh with his antics, and then suddenly becoming serious and taking over a melodramatic situation to believable and credible levels, Shammi Kapoor created a new genre in the days when acting probably meant a big gap with hamming on the one end and being wooden on the other.

Yahoo became the netizen's buzzword much later. We learnt it long back. Leaning out of a car or a chopper and singing out to a lady love came with great ease to Shammi. He was the master in this craft. I wonder if anybody ever will be able to shake his neck the way he did, legs a lot have learnt to shake.

The very fact that most advertisements today have songs of his playing in the background symbolizes Shammi Saab's evergreen stature. Just listen to Nigahon Nigahon mein jaadu chalana meri jaan seekha hai tumney jahan se......and you will know.

Long live Shammi Kapoor. You were the perfect Junglee...the noisy Jaanwar, the evergreen Budtameez, the ever present Bluff Master. But you were also the Prince. The lovable Brahmachari.

Tomorrow, when the country will be celebrating Independence Day, your mortal remains will be consigned to the flames, and you will be singing -"Ganga meri maa ka naam baap ka naam Himalaya, ab tum khud hi faisla kar lo main kis soobey wallah".

RIP- Sukh sapnon mein kho jaao.........tum so jaao

When Rafi Saab had a one-man audience, a special day for me

2011-07-27T22:54:00.000-07:00

This was perhaps one of those dreams…..

I sat , thinking to myself – “Lagta nahin hai dil mera ujade dayar mein”. I was missing my idol, my God, the great soul whose voice had taken total possession of me from the evening that I slipped on the rain drenched patch of road outside a theatre in Chennai, as I came out after watching a tall and handsome young man call out “Khoya Khoya chaand”.

It had been perhaps quite a few years that Rafi Saab had left us all to go and entertain a large audience somewhere else up there. But I was missing him badly. Even as I just murmured the first lines of Bahadur Shah Zafar’s mournful soliloquy, Rafi Saab appeared out of nowhere. He was immaculately dressed, as he had always been. And the same benign smile captivated me. Every time he would sing facing the microphone his voice would boom. But when he spoke, and many people have testified to this – he had a soft and almost apologetic voice that barely rose above certain decibels. I could barely conceal my happiness and count my blessings as the great man came and sat down next to me.

He continued to smile but said nothing, almost as if to say, “not only my voice, my very presence shall comfort you”. I looked up at his beatific face.

Just as I was about to ask him something, his face crinkled into a bigger smile, his eyes expressive as ever, and he sang softly- “meri awaaz suno, pyaar ka raaz suno”. I was ecstatic. This was one song that we all remember as Jawaharlal Nehru’s song for all Indians mourning his passing away. “thaa judaa sabsey mere ishq ka andaaz suno”, Rafi Saab ended the song with these lines and I coudnt have agreed more. He was so different, so divine. So utterly human, yet godly.

Emboldened by this offering of his in the form of his own song I picked up some courage to ask him- where have you been? We all miss you so badly. No day passes without your song being played on the radio or on the office computer or the car music system. But we still miss you. And he smiled again, the same charming and disarming smile. Gently shaki

ng his head, he said- “tumne pukara aur hum chaley aaye, dil hathaali par le aaye re”.

I realized now that this was going to be a very interesting albeit different kind of Antakshari. Rafi Saab was going to talk to me through his songs. Or maybe, he expects me too to talk to him

the same way. So I put forth this question- “zindagi kya hai?”. Promptly and without batting an eyelid he sang “Zindagi hai kya sun meri jaan, pyaar bhara dil meethi zubaan”. I immediately remembered the ice cream vendor from the film Maya. Played by my other hero, Dev Saab, the ice cream vendor passes around ice cream to all the kids, including one who has no money to pay for it. Rafi Saab came through as the same ice cream vendor, dishing out sweet songs for us, even if we had nothing to give back to him for those great desserts except in the form of rapt attention. Love, sweet words for all, and a happy countenance to remember him with.

I was now enjoying this tete-a-tete and I asked him- you smile all the time, don’t you feel sad at any time? And Rafi Saab softly sang-“ rahi manwa dukh ki chinta kyon sataati hai dukh toh apna saathi hai.” But then he also gently explained “gham ki andheri raat mein dil ko na

beqaraar kar, subah zaroor aayegi subah ka intezaar kar”.

This was so reassuring, I sank deeper into my cushion where I was sitting. I found that my idol too had made himself very comfortable and was enjoying talking to me through his songs. What amazed me even more was the fact that he seemed to be in no hurry to get up and go, and he just didn’t seem to having the airs that we associate with most celebrities.

Rafi Saab do you like children? I asked. Now this question pleased him no end, and he got up and almost danced as he sang “ hum bhi agar bachhe hote naam hamara hota dabloo shabloo khaane ko miltey laddoo……” Hmmm…so my hero was fond of children. Of course he had so many himself, I recalled. And each of his children have always talked so fondly about him.

People go around killing each other and hurting each other in the name of religion, I told him. For a fleeting second his face took a different expression. He appeared pensive, but putting his hand on my shoulder (the first electric touch of a great man, nay,God on my shoulder) he sang “tu Hindu banega na Musalmaan banega, insaan ki aulad hai insaan banega”. This song he went on to song longer and repeated the lines for my benefit –“maalik ne har insaan ko insaan banaya, humne usey Hindu ya Musalmaan banaya, kudrat ne toh bakshi this hamein ek hi dharti, humne kahin Bhaarat kahin Iraan banaya”. So truly said Sir, I told him. And he smiled back, his eyes becoming smaller with that smile.

So what should people do to become good human beings, I couldn’t help asking him. His answer was so simple- “kahaan jaa raha hai tu ae jaaney waley, andhera hai man ka diya toh jalaa le”. He added –“behakna hai mumkin, bhatakney ka dar hai”. This was his life’s method too, perhaps. Precision, discipline, a life of simplicity with no vices, no grudges and no ill-will.

Having spent so much time with him already, I decided to ask some bolder questions. You have sung so many romantic songs. How romantic are you, actually? And just like in that interview on Doordarshan ages back, he laughed softly, saying “arrey yeh kaisa sawaal kar diya aapney…!”

But soon enough he crooned “Main pyaar ka raahi hoon” and proceeded to add one more favourite of mine-“kisina kisi se kabhi na kabhi kahin na kahin dil lagaana padega”. The twinkle in his eye clearly showed a man who was born to love. Love all people around him. His family, his friends, people who worked for him and with him. My friend Bashir Shaikh always talks about an incident where after a recording, while the other singer walked out of the studio, Rafi Saab stayed back to check the welfare of various musicians who had played the instruments for him.

Suddenly, perhaps because I must have looked like a young child to him he sang “pyaar ki raah dikha duniya ko, rokey joh nafrat ki aandhi.”. He paused for a second and then continued “tum mein hi koi gautam hoga, tum mein hi koi hoga Gandhi”. Patriotism was always a hallmark of his songs, I reminisced. I remembered having grown up listening to him sing for Shammi Kapoor- “Ganga meri maa ka naam, baap ka naam Himalay, ab tum khud hi faisla kar lo, main kis soobeh walah”.

Rafi Saab, everybody talks about your competition with Kishore da. What was it actually? I was trembling as I asked him this question. I was perhaps stepping into hot water and uncertain territories. He leaned back, looked up and said “ baney chaahey dushman zamaana hamaara, salaamat rahey dostana hamaara”. And for ample measure he sang another one with gusto- “ehsaan mere dil pe tumhaara hai doston, yeh dil tumhaarey pyaar ka maara hai doston”.

Rafi Saab, why haven’t they still conferred the Bharat Ratna on you? You deserve it

more than so many of the others….! He simply sang “jo mil gaya usi ko muqaddar samajh liya, jo kho gaya main usko bhulaata chala gaya”.

By now I was basking in the warmth of the presence of this saintly messenger whose five decades of disciplined labour had earned him the love of all and sundry, even though there may have been a few unjust and unkind detractors. And just as I was beginning to feel comfortably ensconced in his company, he shook his head gently, put his hand again on my shoulder and asked for leave. What a great man, what a great soul ! He is such a big person, but he beseeches me to take leave of me. And like every human who is never satisfied, I (for the first time, and that too in his presence) sang-“ abhi na jaao chhodkar ke dil abhi bhara nahin”. He laughed that soft laugh of his, patted me on my head and said “aaj kal mein dhal gaya, din hua tamaam,

tu bhi so ja so gayee rang bhari sham”.

The halo around him shone, I can bet on it. That benign smile appeared again. That warm and affectionate touch of his remained with me, but he slowly faded away, even as he softly sang his last song for me- “tum mujhe yun bhula na paaogey, jab kabhi bhi sunogey geet mere, sang sang tum bhi gungunaaogey”.

I couldn’t help murmur “nafrat ki duniya ko chhodkey pyaar ki duniya mein, khush rehna mere yaar”.

Rafi Saab has been coming in my dreams now for the last two years with amazing regularity. And that is exactly why I started writing in these pages here. Maybe he wants me to keep a record of all the songs he has sung for me. Maybe he wants me to remember each one of them so that when I go up there (if at all I have done something good in life to merit being in the same place as he is) he may playfully taunt me and urge me to sing as I struggle the way I always do when I sing.

I can clearly imagine him playfully scolding me saying…..”Sa pe ruk gaya? Ab aagey badh……”

“lekin ek masoom sa dil bhi, in saarey hungaamon mein chhup chhup ke roney ka bahaana dhoondega….dil ka soona saaz taraana dhoondhega.”

This coming Sunday we shall observe Rafi Saab's 31st death anniversary.

Yet another from another old friend....

2011-06-14T22:36:00.000-07:00

Here comes another mail, this time from yet another ex-colleague. The only difference is that this ex colleague spent even more time with me than did Ashok and Rohit, who I often talk about.

dear sir,

you must be wondering why i put those symbols >>>

...thats 'rush'...that's fast forward >>>>

....the other day i called you was another evening...though litt

le charged up but not quite sure of what was happening & what happened later made me even more blank....at sea......me & my team won the dream team award for over all performance for the last quarter in our bank's commercial vehicle funding...

...yes i was dancing but perhaps without even listening to the tunes...i was thinking of my mentoring days...

...and believe me my first words of gratitute goes to you, t

he days at bell.....all i could visualise was my days with bell when i stepped in as a rookie sales guy (as you always said)....my days of struggle & days of triumphs....there were times in bell itself & there were times here, when i tried imitating you (dont mind pls)...the little-little things that matter in daily life...the little things that makes you clinch deals in your professional & personal life...i believe i always worked with passion there & i could carry the same passion here too...its just a difference of roles & place...

all the credit goes to you sir...the days at bell...i owe many things to you sir....i wish i could give it back to you in >>>> manner....but i still have so many things to achieve in life...i owe you much more than this...so would rather be looking for more of help & guidance in life....

thanks once again sir....thanks.

( i was thinking of penning down some good practices i have learnt here too....i think i owe so many things to this great organisation...Bell.)

with warm regards,

Nitumani Goswami

Doesn’t Nitumani sound so much like the poet Robert Frost? He is talking about many things still to achieve in life .and he is talking about not resting till he does great things….he is celebrating a major success and he is reveling in it too..but he is so grounded that he knows that he can’t stop for too long. He took time off to write to me this. How thoughtful of him!

When he joined us to work he was a "rookie" management trainee.

I had picked him up from a remote North Eastern B-School that very few predecessors of mine may have dared to visit !!

And then i plonked him in Delhi, a place so different from where he had grown up.

Today he has grown in every dimension. He has Runa and little Arunika to share with him his triumphs and his progress.

I wish them the very best in everything.

32, and Counting ....(?)

2011-05-30T00:07:00.000-07:00

This time around even I had forgotten.

Until a colleague of mine reminded me that it was exactly three years back that he attended the function at Ahmedabad Management Association where i was presented with the AMA-Zydus Cadila Marketing Man of the Year Award.

And it was then only that I realized that I had logged in 32 years in Sales and Marketing.

How come I didn't remember or realize this?

Well, the answers could be many.....

Too busy. Too busy to notice that time flies.

Or maybe I didn't want to be reminded or to remember that I am getting old !!

Or maybe that i am no longer so good at remembering dates !!!

Whichever way, I continue to enjoy what I am doing. I wish i could do more. Which means that I must manage my time even better (forget that fact that I'v written a book on Time Management !!) and do all those things that are probably lying waiting to catch my eye and attention.

My wife made me read something very interesting this morning.

It was about following one's dream.

I didn't tell her in as many words. But i surely intend doing that.

To make dreams happen.

Together, the wife and son have made some of their dreams really happen and happen well this year. Their published work(s) have pleased many. And most of all, pleased them.

They have merrily followed their dream and truly made it happen.

I hope to follow suit.

Wish me luck. And Pluck.

Hero meets Heroine....Part 2

2011-05-21T03:12:00.001-07:00

AbdulAbdul was a pickpocket, no doubts about that. But he was human too.

And siAnd now, sitting with that letter a hapless mother had written to her brave daughter, he couldn’t help tthelp thinking that this surely wasn’t the kind of money he wanted to make. From the purse of a girl who wwho was no less than a heroine for him. In his eyes she measured up like a Florence NightiNightingale or a Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi, not that Abdul would have known any of them.

So heAbdul decided to rush back to the restaurant from where he had pinched her wallet. And he decidedecided to quietly put that wallet back where it belonged. In her big bag.

He entHe entered the restaurant, quickly moved towards the table where the girl had been sitting and sure esoon enough, he spotted her.

She loThe girl looked worried and was surely looking for her wallet. Perhaps the shock of having lost the wallet wallet had kept her frozen here, rooted to the spot where she had been sitting while having her lunch.

He wAbdul only wondered if she had reported the matter to the police, or to the manager at the cash countecounter. Apparently not, he concluded, considering the generally calm air around the counter, because at such kind of places even a single, small incident could lead to a big uproar and commotion.

He quietly slid closer to her table and spotted the big bag. He was lucky, its mouth was open. He lost no time to pull it a bit more open and to slip the wallet in. I hope she doesn’t have to worry about money any more, he said to himself, recalling that he had slipped in another 600 from his side into her wallet before entering the restaurant. And that was almost two days’ worth of labour from his side…..

Suddenly he found himself being lifted off his feet and by his collar. Two big built men had seen him slipping the wallet into the bag. They lost no time in yelling out, firing obscenities at him and landing a few blows on his back and on his head. He received a few hard slaps too.

In no time, a large crowd had collected.

“Saala, chori karta hai? Ladki ke purse mein se paise nikaal raha thaa……maaro isko….peeto isko……!!” they cried.

It rained blows, his clothes were ripped apart. He was bleeding profusely now, he could taste the blood on his lips, and his eyes were closing even when he tried to keep them open.

Seconds before he passed out, he could just manage to see the outline of the girl’s face as she stepped forward and slapped him very hard on his face.

“Sab chor hain yahaan par”, he heard her scream.

Hero meets Heroine....

2011-04-25T05:25:00.000-07:00

Continuing the saga of our pickpocket friend Abdul

Abdul spotted this slim, tall and determined looking young lady at the crowded restaurant. Not the kind of place where you would find a pretty lady of this kind, Abdul said to himself. The eatery was not known for style but definitely dished out tasty and inexpensive food. Quick meals, served by sprightly waiters who were deft with taking orders and dashing back with numerous plates and glasses…..

Abdul wasn’t really interested in more details. His eye was quick to spot that handbag that the girl had perched on the backrest of the chair next to hers. His thoughts went to what could be in the handbag, how much money could he make today.

Lifting the entire bag by itself was not his idea at all. Difficult to handle, even more difficult to run in case things got hot or crowded, he thought. Just then, as if lady luck had smiled specifically on him, the girl opened her handbag and pulled out a small wallet. The wallet looked nice and stuffed.

Abdul’s trained eye did not miss the fact that the girl was rummaging through a lot of cru

mpled pieces of paper within the wallet, to ferret out some notes. The wallet appeared to be full of notes. Of course, for a moment, another thought did cross his mind. Once more, actually. What was a girl like this doing in an eatery like this? But once more, Abdul’s single-minded focus drew his thoughts away to the wallet and its contents.

Waiting for an opportune moment when her attention would get diverted, Abdul sat, tapping his fingers on the table top. He consumed one more cup of tepid tea. Tea was not a hot favourite during this time. It was lunch hour, really.

And that opportune moment happened almost soon after. A bit of a commotion at the payment counter where the brooding manager sat, with a customer refusing to part with small change and asking for his balance fast. The girl turned her head to look at what was happening, and Abdul jumped. He quickly moved across to her table, and with a flash had gone past it with her wallet safely in his grasp. Even as he moved out of the restaurant, he simply slid her wallet into his ample trouser pocket, ran across to the other side of the road, and jumped into a BEST bus that was going towards Fort.

The wallet felt nice and full in his pocket. Hopefully a good catch, Abdul kept telling himself. Unable to contain his excitement, he pulled out the wallet and opened its clasp. His trained fingers pulled out the currency. There wasn’t much of that ! Exactly Rs. 230 and nothing more, except a few coins.

Abdul swore into the wallet and pulled out the papers, more out of frustration than curio

sity. He was sure there would be no cheques or anything to do with money. As he pulled at the different sized papers, a letter caught his eye.

It was written in Hindi, a language Abdul knew from childhood. In fact, the only language that he could read with some fluency. The letter had a date on it. Five days back. But it had no address. Neither the sender’s nor the receiver’s.

With nothing much to do at this point of time he decided to read the letter.

It read like this…

Dear Daughter Neha

You must be wondering why I keep writing only sad letters to you. Why I don’t have any happy news to share with you. Why do I keep pestering you with letters that demand money and help and nothing else.

This morning doctor uncle came home and met us. Your father was lying in bed in the other room. Doctor uncle has confirmed that it is cancer and in a very advanced stage. The only

way we can keep him going is to ensure that medicines are taken on time and his check ups are regular and he doesn’t miss any of them. I too am not very comfortable with my wheezing and the breathing problems, but this news about your father has shaken me up completely.

I somehow pulled all my strength together to write to you since I have no other choice. Don’t even think of coming back to our town now. This town will not offer you the kind of job you have, which pays you at least the money to look after your father’s health and his medication. I know you don’t like the city of Bombay. I know you are not at all happy with the place you stay and the food that you eat. The climate, the mad rush and the noise all seem to have made you a very serious and sad girl, quite unlike the chirpy and happy girl we brought up at home. Your little sisters often tell me that your letters to them are full of harsh comments about your work and your little room where you stay in Bombay. They say they you have written to them saying you have lost weight too.

But dear daughter, we don’t have a choice. Father has to be looked after, and your sisters have to be educated. You are our only hope.

I pray to God every morning and evening to make some miracle happen so that we can all be together and that no trouble befalls us. I do hope that one day He will listen to my prayers.

I was just thinking if you could look for a job that would pay you more. We need the money.

I am sorry if I am troubling you a lot. But we really have no choice.

Your loving and sad mother

Sarla

Abdul sat in the bus, shaken and shocked. The bus had reached its terminus. He hadn’t even realized that.

Sitting on the low wall of a bus stand Abdul carefully went through each piece of paper to look for any clue- an address, some card of identification, some way which he could reach the girl he had stolen the wallet from. But there was nothing that could help him. The letter's envelope too was missing from the wallet.

Hoping against hope he dashed back to the restaurant where he had robbed her.

She wasn’t there either. Not that he had expected to find her there. He had been sitting at the bus stand for over an hour wondering what to do with this gain of his..........

Prince Salim, ODIs and the real Hero

2011-03-25T00:41:00.000-07:00

With the kind of aggressive batting that is currently seen in ODIs and limited overs cricket matches, one often wonders whether a few cricketers from the past may not have been even more famous or successful had they played cricket some twenty or twenty five years later.

And the first name that comes to my mind is of that regal, handsome and winsome all rounder who went by the name of Salim Aziz Durrani.

It was only a few days back that some friends were talking about

Yuvraj Singh and about big hitting, great incisive bowling and turning of games on their heads by single players and individuals, when I was asked about Durrani. I said that he was a complete left hander in every sense. A batsman who regaled spectators by hitting a six and making the ball land exactly where the demand for a six came from. He also bowled a crafty spell and used to mesmerize the batmsen and tie them into knots before dispatching them to pavilion. He looked lazy and languorous on the field, but was actually a fairly reliable fielder at slip. The laziness was visible only to the careless, but the avid watcher would have seen him take a very quick catch and actually pocket the ball with a sly grin on his face.

Even while this discussion was going on, I suddenly remembered something that

happened way back, way, way back in my life. That incident left a deep imprint on me and I have often talked about it to friends and colleagues.

It was probably 1970, the first time that I had picked up the guts to go with two friends of mine to the Feroz Shah Kotla Ground at Delhi to watch a routine Ranji Trophy match between Delhi and Rajasthan.

Those were the days when fencing and cordoning were not so restrictive, and we little schoolboys were actually allowed to sit on the boundary line itself. I remember, we had brought back chalk marks on our shorts at the end of the day’s play. The game was a bit dull, and Delhi were plodding on to a big score, albeit at a snail’s pace. It was a typical March playing day and the heat had just begun to show its ugly side in Delhi. We little boys were having a running conversation with a Rajasthan fielder who didn’t have much to do on the boundary line. He said his name was Surana, and he was giving us little snippets of information about his highly- revered captain, the diminutive batsman captain Hanumant Singh, and his star senior the great Salim Durrani.

Suddenly there was some action. The staid and sober Delhi batsman who had been occupying the crease for a long time, took a wild swipe at the ball and it zipped towards slip. The tall, elegant, lazy and languorous fielder standing there, dived and came up with the ball, inches before it headed towards the ground. The few hundred spectators in the stadium went into rapturous applause. By all means, it was one of the greatest catches that I had seen in my life. It was unbelievable. We had all been hearing about this mercurial cricketer as moody, laid back, and almost disinterested. But here he was, dusting his flannels after the catch and preparing himself for the next piece of action.

Come tea break, like most little schoolboys, we too dashed into the ground, and ran to shake hands and pat the backs of our heroes, known and unknown. I was focused on talking to only one of them. My new- found hero.

Going up to him, breathlessly and with admiration in my eyes, I looked up (there he was, all 6ft 2in of him) and croaked nervously-“Great catch, Uncle!!”. I had actually wanted to say “Great catch, Sir”, but you always go weak in the knees when you meet such people, don’t you?

I shall carry to my grave what happened the next few minutes. He broke into a big smile, his grey-brown eyes crinkled into a very friendly brightness, he lifted me up with his big strong hands and then he put me on his shoulder. Uncle Salim carried me all the way from close to the pitch to the Willingdon Pavilion, past the boundary line. All the while, my friends Kapil and Sandeep ran after us, wondering where I was being carried off by this great man.

He carried me right up the steps of the Pavilion to the entrance of the dressing room, where the other members of the visiting team had just started settling down for a cuppa in those fifteen odd minutes that they had. He then put me down on the ground, and led me to the table where all the goodies lay, ready to be consumed. There were pastries, biscuits, cold drinks and pots of tea and coffee.

Had it not been for a stern look from the Maharajkumar of Banswara, the stylish middle-order Test batsman Hanumant Singh, I would probably have partaken of this great spread laid before us. With a shake of his head, followed by a friendly, yet stern demeanour, the captain signaled to his colleague to show us the door. But before he did that, the great left handed all-rounder gave me a pastry. He ruffled the hair on my head, and said, “Chalo, beta. Ab jaao”.

We traced our way back to the ground and beyond the boundary on the other side. And after that moment I had eyes for nobody else in the game.

For years I had eyes for few people who played the game.

Salim Uncle and his gesture remain etched in my memory. His silk shirt, the scarf round his neck, his flannels, the smell of tobacco that emanated around him, those grey-brown friendly eyes and the creased lines of a face that had fascinated so many fans. Very few cricketers have acted in films. He did, opposite Parveen Babi, a debutante.

People have called him a reckless man. A man who squandered away everything. A man who did with his money what he did with the bat, throwing caution to the winds and leaving everything to destiny.

To me, he has remained what perhaps Sunil Gavaskar also would like to call him- Prince Salim. The real Prince Salim. Who would be the jewel of any court. Any cricket team,- yesterday, today, or tomorrow.

There will never be another Prince Salim who would walk with that aplomb and swagger on any cricket field. He held the record for the fastest fifty in Test Matches when the runs were compared with minutes not number of balls. He was the first cricketer to win the Arjuna Award.

He was the first cricketer to be my Cricketer of the Century.

46+14=06, A Story of a Genius

2011-03-12T06:42:00.000-08:00

He arrived as a small bundle, we almost left him behind in the car that brought him from the hospital, so excited were we when he came into our lives and our home.

He grew into a little imp with a wonky smile, each pic of his revealed that. Even then he knew how to pose for one. He was full of questions and both his parents would patiently answer his monosyllablic questions. All he would do would be to point out to the same things everyday and we would tell him what those things were. He hardly spoke, and when he did, the words were few and far between.

Time flies, they say. But I remember each and every moment with him. Taking him every Sunday to Sundervan, and occasionally to the zoo. Watching him skate, watching him do cross country running during football training. Playing cricket with him in the narrow corridor at home. And later, when computers became more popular, playing cricket with him on the PC for hours together.

There were many times when he would come back from school with the kind of marks we all have been familiar with, specially me, since I was quite pathetic myself with subjects like Maths. And at times he came home with scars, like the first time he went to play cricket and got a full-blooded hit right on his mouth and had to have twelve stitches on his lip. He rushed home crying "Daddy,Daddy.."

Then he left me alone in Baroda to go to Chennai to study in college. And from there he urged me by an SMS to go and watch a new movie called Lakshya. That’s probably when he showed me his own Lakshya. He reminded me so much of Jonathan Livingstone Seagull.

He always took us by surprise when he did something different. And he did a lot of things differently.

Today he doesn’t surprise me. Because he has achieved something he had set his heart upon. More than 3 years back.

I distinctly remember him telling me-“Dad, if one hasn’t done anything worthwhile by the age of 25, what is life worth?”

Very true, son. I am proud of you. The little boy, who probably was at the receiving end of many a stick, has shown the way to a lot of prospective writers and dreamers. That you must dream, and then work at that dream to make it happen.

46+14=06, A Story of a Genius.

This is his beautiful work of fiction, written alongwith his mom. Who dreamt along with him. And made sure that he fulfilled the dream. He didn't speak much when he was a kid. Today his book speaks about so many things, it is amazing.

I do hope that all of you reading this will read 46+14=06, A Story of a Genius. And then share it with your kids, your parents, your teachers and your students. And with everybody else.

Hero meets Hero Today

2011-02-28T02:53:00.000-08:00

I remember writing this long back. But lost it somewhere. I have tried my best to retain how I wrote what i wrote. Let me also confess that the original piece too was not a real original. Either someone had related this to me, or I had dreamt about it, or maybe (just maybe) I had read something similar to it. If it is somebody else's story I wish to be forgiven. Or thanked, for having dug it out after so many years!!!

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Abdul stepped out of the Irani restauarant into the sun-drenched outdoors. He was in a real dilemma this morning. Two thoughts flooded his mind and had been bothering him for quite some time. And both thoughts were somehow interminably intertwined and related to each other.

For the twenty-two year old Abdul, life had presented many opportunities in the form of job options, but he had chosen to take the easy (by his own admission) route. Picking the pockets of people in the crowded lanes and bylanes of Bombay appeared to attract him the most, and he seemed to be making enough to be able to afford the rent for his shack and the two odd meals that he wolfed down at the neighbourhood eateries that he frequented. He didn’t drink but ended up spending over thirty rupees a day over those stylish cigarettes that he thought added to his personality and made him look rather more mature than his looks actually did.

The clothes Abdul wore were influenced by the latest trends the Bollywood movies exhibited, and he made sure his haircut was in line with those of the in-form leading men on the silver screen.
Ritesh, the friendly neighbourhood tailor would often make Abdul’s wallet a bit lighter to enhance his sartorial grandeur but the latter didn’t mind that. Ranchhod’s hair styling too was never criticized by Adbul. After all, both these friends of his made him look so much like Rajesh Khanna, the current Matinee Idol.

This morning’s dilemma was something that the normally unfazed and cavalier Abdul hadn’t bargained for. It was the 26th of the month, and for once his wallet (hardly his own, really. It had been pinched from the backside of a bank officer two weeks back) had hardly anything in it. Well, ok, that was only one part of the problem. The second part was the one that had him worried, and thinking, and truly in crisis.

The Test Match was to begin today. A Cricket Test Match, after many years, in his own city. And one in which his idol was going to play. And apart from his idol, he could get to watch so many others that he had grown up reading about, or hearing about on Shyaam Paan House owner Raghu’s radio. The names were those that he could reel off without taking a breath. Pataudi, Wadekar, Solkar, Surti, Engineer, apart from the rival team’s players like Hall, Griffith, Gibbs, Sobers, Kanhai, Butcher, Nurse. But the reverence with which he took the name of his idol was something else.

Abdul was always in awe of Salim Durrani. How did God ever create such a fine-looking cricketer! What height, what looks! What an elegant,lazy, languorous walk, and almost studied indifference towards things. Abdul had an entire album, a scrap-book collected over many years of tearing up pictures and articles from newspapers and magazines in Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and even English.
And today, the morning papers had announced clearly, his idol was going to play. He had been selected to play for India since Borde wasn’t fit and was nursing a shoulder injury. Abdul wanted to have a good, close look at the left-handed all rounder. He wanted to watch him demolish the opponents’ bowling and then produce a couple of magical deliveries that would get some leading batsmen back into the dressing room.

But the terrible start to his day had been the discovery that his wallet had only fourteen rupees in it. Enough to get him his lunch for the day but not enough to get him into the Brabourne Stadium. Forget the Pavilion Class, he could not even afford to get into the “Royal Stand”, as the lowest –priced enclosure was fondly called.

Getting out into the open seemed to do some good to his imagination. All he needed to do was get hold of a good Gujjubhai’s “paakit”. And he set out in search of one. Joshiwadi in Kalbadevi was a good option. Full of small-time merchants and commission agents, all eager to make an early morning killing, this was the perfect place for his handiwork, thought Abdul.

It didn’t take him too long. The catch of the day was an aritificial snake skin purse, but nice and full, and it was an easy one. Out came the purse, and off went Abdul. To the nearest bus stand and he quickly boarded on the run. Out of sight of the recently-relieved Kutchhi businessman.

Abdul got into the queue for the daily ticket at the Stadium. He now had enough money for the ticket, meals for the next four days, and maybe a brand new shirt that he could pick up from the roadside stall near Flora Fountain. There wasn’t enough time for a bite now. He decided that he would find his seat in the Stadium, watch the proceedings till lunch time and then go and grab a Keema Pav nearby during the lunch break. He got his ticket- Pavilion Class!

Ah, now for a good look at his heroes. And his special hero. The match was about to begin. The entrance to the pavilion was already dotted with youngsters. College students from rich families, members of the local cricket association, officials from the representative missions maybe, and of course the Press.

The game began. India had won the toss and decided to bat. This was good news for Abdul. He would soon get to watch his hero come out to bat. He normally batted two or three down, and knowing the West Indies bowling he was quite sure that it would not be long before he got to watch Durrani walk out with his bat. He was looking forward to see his idol swagger out, his shirt collar up, sleeves rolled up to the elbow and the silk scarf billowing around his neck.

The game had got underway now and India were off to a sedate start. The pre-lunch session of the first day went its typical way with both sides wanting to settle down. Four day matches were always like this. There was enough time for theatrics later. Only Durrani reveled in it from the first ball, thought Abdul.
Suddenly a thought flashed in his mind when he saw a pretty young lady in dark glasses walk past him towards the pavilion and the dressing room entrance. She held a note book in her hand. Oh, an autograph seeker!!!

Why didn’t I ever think about it, rued Abdul. I should have got one too. My dream would have been fully realized. Not only meeting my hero, getting his autograph today so that I could treasure it, show it off to Naseer and Bilkis and all the others. Must get an autograph book. Today. During the lunch break. Finish off lunch fast and run across to the stationery shop next door. Yes, that’s it. I can get it almost filled up today. There are so many players and ex-players also here today. I can spot Umrigar, Nadkarni, and is that Gupte?

With this thought in his mind, Abdul almost forgot what was happening on the field. India had lost a wicket but the batmsan at the crease grafted away. Abdul knew from the stories told by his friends that the batsmen who waited their turn to bat would normally come out and sit near the dressing room window, to get used to the conditions outside, and adjust themselves to the glare of the daylight. He was sure his idol would come out., if not now then surely after lunch. Abdul’s own thoughts did not travel beyond lunch. All he wanted to do now was to go out, grab a quick lunch and get that autograph book.

The rush during lunch break was even more than that before the game began. Pushing and jostling around, people ran to get food packets, bottles of soft drinks, almost as if a new set of people would rush into the Stadium to occupy somebody else’s seat!

Paramount Hotel beckoned with its aromatic aura, and Abdul settled down to have his favourite meal. He took not more than ten minutes, coaxing and cajoling the young boy serving his table and reminding the boy that he needed to get back to the stadium fast.

What would the autograph book cost? How does it matter? Let it cost even 50 rupees, who cares!! I can afford it today, Abdul smiled at the thought.

He got up, walked to the wash-basin, and made sure his hand and face had got a good cleansing. He combed his hair twice, ignoring the board above the basin which clearly forbade young men from comparing themselves with cinema heroes in the mirror. He smiled into the dirty mirror. Hero meets hero today, he thought to himself.

Heading for the counter to make his payment, he ruffled the hair on the boy’s head, telling him that he was happy with the quick service.

Abdul put his hand into his hip pocket to pull out his wallet and make the payment.

There was none.

One of his own ilk had done him in.

And with the wallet had also gone the ticket to enter the Stadium.

A Classic Revisited, in Colour

2011-02-08T04:26:00.000-08:00

The early ‘60s.It was a Sunday noon in Delhi, ages back when I wasn’t even seven years old.

Our parents had left us at home to go and listen to a Carnatic music performance at a place far away from our Karol Bagh home. My elder sister and I felt very bad and wished that we were grown up enough to go along with them. I was on the verge of crying aloud.

Our uncle, definitely not a film fan at all, looked at us, and very reassuringly said-“Come, I will take you out to watch a film”.

Now this was dangerous stuff. I knew for sure that my uncle’s favourite publication was Bhavan’s Journal, a collection of religious and spiritual articles, and his favourite songs were all Bhajans !!

We had no choice, though. Sitting at home, waiting for our parents to return would have been more painful. So we decided to go along with our uncle.

Sheila Cinema in Paharganj area of New Delhi is not really a great location to go to.

But the interiors of the theatre fascinated me. And so did the music that the film (perhaps the third one of my life) started out with. The background music was lilting stuff, and very soft and pleasant, as the credits came on the screen. I couldn’t read or understand most of the credits. But Jaidev, and Mohd Rafi surely grabbed my attention. As did V. Ratra. He was director of Photography.

I have always mentioned this to my friends- I wanted to smoke the way the hero did, as I sang my song. I always wanted to be in the army. I always wanted to keep a moustache the way Major Verma did. And of course, I always wanted to sing to the heroine.

That was years and years back……

Cut to the present day…..

For the last ten years or so “Main Zindagi Ka Saath Nibhaata Chalaa Gayaa” has been the caller tune on my cell phone. There isn’t a day when I don’t listen to this song. Or for that matter “Abhi na Jaao Chhodkar…”.

And I was keenly looking forward to watching the colourized version of this

1961 classic. The newspapers and TV had been talking about this for some time. Dev Anand had worked hard at getting this film coloured, dolbied and cinemascoped. And I was sure that he would have done total justice to it, knowing him for his discipline, dedication and passion.

The film released across the world last Friday.

I wrote about it on every possible site that I could. I spoke to friends. I even celebrated its release with a few friends and relatives, and made a few new friends while having a great musical bash at my brother-in-law’s place in Kolkata the same evening. We began the programme with the signature song of the movie, which Dev Anand incidentally calls “meri life ka philosophy”!!

Sunday saw us trooping into the theatre in upmarket Kolkata. Anticipation, goose bumps. Nostalgia. Call it whatever. We experienced it all. We smiled at the people around us in the theatre lobby, almost as if they were old friends who had met us again to catch up on old stories and events.

We waited impatiently outside the screening hall, and finally, when the door opened to let us in, we rushed to find our seats and not miss a single scene.

Dev Anand’s short but passionate and stylish introduction had us smiling. This man is so full of life!!

The film, famous for its silent first five minutes, began. And then the famous song, perhaps the most romantic duet ever composed in Hindi Film music came on. After that the film was sheer poetry. I soaked in every detail. Every line. Every musical note. Every pause in the dialogues.

I wept. Watching those great songs come alive on the big screen and watching my favourite hero lip synch those absolutely delightful numbers sung by my idol. I wept every time the songs played. Each and every song. The sad one. The happy one. The philosophical one. I wept when I heard those bhajans. There were two of them.

Now I know why uncle probably took us to the film then. He probably wanted to Watch those bhajans being rendered.

I also wept for another reason. The theatre had only 9 people including us. There was nobody to sing along with us those fabulous songs. Nobody to shake a leg, mark a beat, clap out loudly, and whistle or cheer. The way they do to a Sheela or a Munni or a cop with his belt being played around with.

There was nobody to say – “array waah yaar, kya scene hai…” or yell “ chal udd dabannnggg”

There was a hushed silence as we walked out of the theatre. We looked at each other. We were smiling. But each one of us had those traces of tears on our cheeks. And did I notice a lump in a couple of throats?

I only wish there had more people. More families. More youngsters. More of today’s youth. So that they could have seen what cinematography was , even fifty years back. What romance was, with all its decency. What dialogue delivery was, with those crisp lines. And what detailing was in the shots- down to the mark of ghee on the letter that a mother sends to her son, with Prasad from the temple.

Hum Dono Rangeen needs to be seen by everyone. Please go and watch it. You can go with your friends, your family, your kids, your parents. And not feel offended, or scared. Or embarrassed.

Not at all.

Congrats, Ma'am. We are Proud of YOU

2011-02-08T01:59:00.000-08:00

She would, like a very good School Principal, catch me.

Doing things wrong. And also doing things right.

Or let me put it this way- doing the right things. And doing the wrong things.

If on one occasion it would be throwing small pebbles into the boys' loo on the first floor of the school building (i was always the first to change into cricket gear) to attract the attention of the laggards who took time to change their shoes, then on another occasion it would be to ask me to be part of the school chorus chosen to sing for Mother Teresa.

If on one occasion it would be for running away from the Annual Day practice

sessions, on another it

would be for winning an Inter School Essay Writing Competition.

On yet another occasion it would be to ferret me out of the crowd, to represent the school and Delhi State in the All-India National Integration Camp in early 1973.

Mrs Rajni (i never knew her real given name) Kumar was the ever-alert, ever watchful and ever-present Principal of

my school.

She gave a new dimension to all-round education. She gave new meanings to development of all-round personality. And above all, she gave a special sense of pride to everyone at

school, so that all of us would talk proudly of our Alma Mater when sent out into the bigger

, "badder" outside world.

She helped us write better, whether it was while bringing out our class Newsletter, or when we prepared for our English papers for the Indian School Certificate Examination. She encouraged us to perform well- on stage, on the basketball court, in a singing competition, or even in a cross-country race.

After a long gap of almost 35 years, when i met her last at the School Reunion of the real 'oldies', she took hardly any time to recognize many of us. She was her usual warm and ebullient self.

She had nice words for each one of us. She listened to us with the same rapt attention as she always did when we spoke to her as little school kids.

It was no wonder for me, when a former school mate posted the news that Mrs Kumar had been chosen to be awarded the Padma Shri this year for her contribution in the field of education. No surprise at all, I told myself. In fact she could have been given this honour long back.

I am proud that i went to Springdales. I am even more proud that I had the personal guidance of someone like Mrs Kumar. She was the one who encouraged me to quietly slip into the Humanities Class in the 9th Standard (those days we chose our streams in the 9th). She was the one who told me that I would be happy in that course, and that I wou

ld write one day.

Thank you, Ma'am. I just love to write. Whether anybody reads what i write, or not !!!

And I am glad that you gave me the strength to extend the same support to my son, who is thoroughly enjoying doing what he likes- taking photographs, and then writing about what he clicks, or what clicks in his mind !!

May you go from strength to strength (you are 85 now, and may you do a 100 more) and provide the same strength to many others.

And spread the message of Vasudaiva Kutumbakam.

Yes, you always made us feel like Family.

Meeting my School-days Cricket Hero

2011-01-24T00:50:00.000-08:00

I have met him earlier too, but this time around (last Saturday, to be precise) I got to talk with him at length and on many subjects other than cricket too.

Venkat (for that's how S. Venkataraghavan has been fondly called by all cricket followers and lovers) still stands ramrod straight. He is as slim as ever and and his eyes twinkle the same way as they did when he took a blinder of a catch at slip or gully, or when he deceived a top-class international batsman with a floater that just lifted the bails up gently.

When i spotted him this time at Mumbai airport I didn't take more than a minute to walk up to him and say with a big smile- " It's always a pleasure to see the man who took 8 for 72 at the Kotla, specially when it is someone's first Test Match as a young spectator". The smile was big, the eyes twinkled, and the "arrogant, snobbish, unapproachable" Venkat turned into a genial, friendly person who asked me a lot of questions. How wrong people could be in judging others !

We talked of some great bowling stints of his, his great ability to grab catches with those "bucket-sized" hands, and the fact that he has had many many grudgingly respectful followers from his umpiring days. No aggressive bowler or close-in fielder dared argue with him for a leg before decision or a silent snick to the keeper's glove.

But he was more curious to know the exact location of my ancestral home when i mentioned to him the reverential word- Triplicane. He smiled even bigger when i told him that i was lucky to have both sets of grandparents in the same part of this bastion of "Tambram" culture. I know he has been an Adayar man for a long long while.

I told him how i tried growing my hair long like his, how I would let it flop over my forehead after every leg break that i bowled (in spite of his being an off-spinner, i revered him more than all the others), and how i would push it back to get ready for the next delivery. I told him how i kept his picture in my school diary ( Suresh Payak kept Salim Durrani's in his diary), and how my PT instructor almost invariably called me Venkat for God knows what reason.

All this was happening in the departure lounge at Mumbai airport and his flight had already been announced.

"The pleasure was all mine", he said as he put out his hand to give that bone-cruncher handshake.

Schoolboys remain in a daze long after they have shaken hands with their heroes. I was no different. I SMSd some friends and colleagues who were unanimous in their response. "You are lucky", said a Bengal cricket fanatic. "Is he as sharp as he was?" asked another.

Forget that he was unceremoniously dropped from a team one match after he had led it only to be named the Twelvth man. Forget that he was informed that he was axed for a series even before the plane touched down on home soil. Forget that he was always regarded as aloof, touchy, autocratic apart from so many other things. Forget that he always had to fight for his place because of the presence of three other world class spinners in the same team.

And remember the man who brought elegant and studied academics into spin bowling (he was a brilliant engineer who later turned into a marketing man). Remember the man who commanded the respect of the youngest rookie Ranji aspirant, the man who transformed TamilNadu into a great cricket team. The man who gave India dignity in the English League. The man, who alongwith a handful of others, gave that leading edge to the bowlers, with agile and absolutely marvellous close- to- the-bat fielding. And remember the man whose career span lasted much much longer than most others, only because of his fitness, and his innate shrewdness and knowledge of the game. To go on to become the second-highest wicket grabber in the domestic circuit. And a man pulled out of wilderness to be asked to lead an international Test Team to a hostile land.

And the man who made even the likes of Wasim Akram, Courtney Walsh, Shoaib Akhtar and Shane Warne think twice before making that stupid, unwarranted appeal, as he stood his ground firmly just behind the bowling wicket as one of the most respected umpires, in a game that has lost its gentlemany image to gamesmanship.

Hats off to Venkat. He is sixty five plus but could put some close in fielders to shame. The same way that he did to sloppy fielders and poor triers.

He will remain an inspiration for all those who associate cricket with team spirit, elegance, erudition and intelligence.

Wow..a lovely start to the New Year

2011-01-07T03:54:00.000-08:00

The new year has begun in right earnest.

Everything is working well from day 1 and minute 1.

All resolutions are going perfectly in line with whatever i had drawn up a few days back.

Morning jogs, followed by Pranayam, and workouts in the gym in the evening. Diet follow up is perfect. And i have managed to shed that first kilo which is always the most difficult.

Now i know that the rest will be easy.

I begin my day with fruit. Or fruit juices.

My breakfast is two slices of brown bread toast with half a bowl of Oats with some nuts, which i just loooooove !!!

My face looks more radiant than ever before. Half a dozen young ladies have already told me this in this week !

I am now signing off since i must now leave for my run.

And just as i tie the laces on my Nike runners.....

my wife yells..."stop snoring so loudly..and wake up....it's almost 8 AM. Aren't you going to office today??!!"

As the New Year Approaches, No Horn Please !!

2010-12-29T05:36:00.000-08:00

One very interesting observation over the years- the more sozzled you look and the more bedraggled your appearance when you land up at office, or wherever, on the morning or noon of 1st January, the greater the fun you have had at your New Year Bash.

I am sure you are chuckling over what I wrote. So am I.

It is almost a herculean attempt to look ragged, with bloodshot eyes, a four PM stubble (is that what you guys call it?), and studied indifference with regard to clothes that day. And that attempt fails.

Because every other guy is trying to look the same. Whose hic is louder than the other's? Or whose gait has more swing to it than a cricket ball on a winter morning at Old Trafford?

I ask myself - Why can’t we greet the first day of the first month of a new year with gusto, fresh feelings and a desire to make something new happen, on the first day itself?

I always remember sharing a joke (a pun in fact) that on the morning of the new millennium (Y2K) I was at the Marina Beach in Chennai, up early, waiting for the sun to rise.
I wanted to catch the first glimpse of a new year sun and see how it looked.

And then I would go on to say…that after a long wait……the son rose. A few minutes past 9 am or so. And said “Happy New Year,Daddy!!” And how he reminded me of most people who probably slept late into the morning of a new year. And felt very happy about it, or maybe proud.

In my son’s case, things have changed. Nowadays be beats me by half an hour, and is off for his early morning Surya Namaskars and jog. And I hope to catch up with him one of these days. He is preparing for a marathon.

Even as I am writing this, I get a mail on my official ID from our sales depot in Goa. It makes very interesting reading. It says-

Sir

Seasons Greetings.

As you are aware 31st Dec 2010 falls on Friday and most Companies are also having a holiday on 1st Jan 2011which falls on a Saturday and 2nd being Sunday It will be a real long weekend.

As you already know thousands of people come to Goa from the neighbouring states of Maharashtra and Karnataka and also from far away Tamilnadu & Kerala, most of who come driving down in their own vehicles.

The accident rate in Goa in these days is quite high averaging to over 15-20 which are fatal due to rash, negligent & drunk driving.

In the interest of the safety of my staff who mostly reside 20-30 kms away from the depot, we are informing you that we will be closing the Goa depot on 31st Dec 2010 at 6.30 p.m. Normally on month ends we are open till late ,Closing at 8.00 pm and sometimes till 9.00 pm . Most of the dealers are also closing early as they will be ringing in the New year 2011 with their Families

This is for your information.
Wishing you a Happy and Safe NEW YEAR 2011 in advance

Regards
A. Gonsalves
CFA Goa

I am glad our depot manager and good friend Armindo Gonsalves is worried about his staff and everyone else.

How about starting this new year with some common sense as another good old (oops I mean young) friend Nandakumar from Chennai was talking about a couple of days back?
Nandu says that it would be a good idea if everyone used the car or bike horn a bit less than ever before. He says nobody likes the sound of the horn, specially when he is not blowing it. Not a bad thought at all, Nandu.

Reminds me of something that happened ages back, which taught me that horns are an accessory we don’t really need. In my early biking days, cutting through the crowded city market road of Kishangarh in Rajasthan, I needed to use the horn on my Enfield Bullet so much that the poor round top of the instrument gave way and came away in my gloved hand. I had neither the time nor the resources to get this problem sorted there and then and so carried on with my journey. I had by then got out of the city crowd and was back on the highway to Ajmer.

Laziness and preoccupation with other work kept me from getting the horn assembly on the bike repaired or replaced.

Can you believe it, I rode my bike for a good five months before my very stringent and caring auto mechanic Latif reminded me and put the horn assembly back in place. But these five months of intelligent and careful riding had taught me one virtue. Living without a horn on the bike.

And you have to believe me now. I hardly use the car horn. Except to greet a friend when I overtake him on the Expressway!!!!

So, following the crazy and highly expressive graffiti on the rear of trucks here is a slogan for the New Year:

Say TATA to HORN PLEASE. OK.

Well, I just turned those very familiar words around a bit. To make the sentence sound a little better. And a lot less noisy than a vehicle’s horn.

A VERY HAPPY AND SAFE AND PEACEFUL NEW YEAR TO YOU.

welcome 2011 with smiles....wider than the highway.

I am on Cloud 9, thanks to Rafi Saab

2010-12-24T23:09:00.000-08:00

When you write in celebration of your Idol's 86 birthday, and when other fans of his write to you about what you wrote, it can surely take you straight to Cloud 9.

And when the feedback comes from across the border, and across the oceans, and from Rafi Saab's fans from across so many countries, you surely float for a long long time on this Cloud.

That is where I am, right now.

Dearest Achal ji,
Outstanding write-up specially selection of songs are very high each song is a gem and you have justified the situation very nicely on true basis, without seeing any picture we can easily measure the situation about the song.

Now I am hearing a beautiful song of Rafi ji, from Barhamchari. La La La La Main Gaau Tum Soo Jao Dukh Sapno. Music by Shanker Jai Kishan ji.

I salute Rafi ji for your melodious Song “Tu Bey misaal hey teri tarif kia karun Mastana Chaal hey teri tarif kia karun.

Special thanks to Achal ji for outstanding article and all viewers.

Ghulam Mujtaba, Lahore Chapter

Old Home Town of Mohammad Rafi Sahib.

(Bhatti Gate Lahore)/ Pakistan.

Achal Rangasawamy Sahab,

Bahut khoob, Meri taraf se mubarak baad qhabool farmaiye. Bade ghazab ki tahreer hai, Wah Waah.

Is article ko to sunehre alfaz me likhna chaiye.

Happy birthday to our beloved Rafi Sahab.Long live Rafi sahab,

Dr. Khaja Aliuddin

Dear Achal Rangaswamy Ji
You have written a wonderful article A-Z the songs sung by Rafi Saab. It is the sheer love and respect that shows your immense attachement to our great rafi saab.
I congratulate you for your commendable article.

Please keep going
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR RAFI SAAB.
Regards
H.A.K. Walijah

Fantastic and well done – it was so good to see an article like this on the birthday of our idol. Achal, your love came through and since y ou’ve had a birthday too this month, wishing you a belated Happy birthday. I am almost sure you celebrated by just listening to his songs because that is the best gift of all.
Loved your choice of songs, even though it must have been a hard task picking out only one song out of thousands of gems. But good on you for doing it, and giving us such a nice article to read on his birthday.
Nasreen

Achal Ji,

Many many happy returns of the day. It is such great coincidence that i’m too a Rafi fan,my bithday also falls a day before Rafi Saab’s birth day and ‘main zindagi ka saath nibahta chala gaya’ is too my phone’s ringtone.your write up is an excellent piece of work.

regards

ravi

Dear Mr Achal

A few months back I took a decision not to write anything in this site as the acrimonious fight between variuos fans was too much for me to digest.

Just for today, for the sake of Rafi sahab and for the sake of you who has written a truly top of the world article (being the birthday of Rafi sahab, my and all our beloved farishta) , I am breaking my vow.

Excellent-I wish to preserve you article as I preserve the farishta’s songs.

Long live Rafi sahab.

Siva

Dear Achal ji,
Brilliant!

Excellent!!

Fabulous!!!

Awesome!!!!
Nothing else to say!!!!!
Anwar-ul-Haque

I guess you too may like to look at what i wrote-

http://www.mohdrafi.com/meri-awaaz-suno/a-to-z-of-mohd-rafi-saab.html#comments

A Young Corporate Learns....

2010-12-13T01:54:00.000-08:00

13/12/2010

Sir,
Good morning and greetings for the day.

I have completed reading your book.The book reached at the appropriate time when I really needed it. I was feeling completely mismanaged, whole work disorganized, everybody even my friends shouting at me.Saturday was the day when everybody was fed-up of me and I on my side had a complete breakdown.I had lost my confidence and did not know what to do except reading your book.

Now after having read " Time is Money" I have understood where the problem was.Time management on my side.Today I have jotted down all my work and am completing each as the day is approaching with a stronger conviction.

I'll keep analyzing my performance and would give you the observed and practical feedback on Saturday. and that is how I am working backwards.Because success would really depend on how fast I can implement the learnings from the book in my life.
Sir Thank you deeply for your guidance and support.

With Deepest regards

(name not disclosed to protect the identity of the person)

i guess this is a common issue. I am glad i was of help.

Too Busy to Grow Old

2010-12-11T01:58:00.001-08:00

Among the numerous friends and colleagues who greeted me on my birthday( yesterday) were two youngsters (well not really youngsters, today), both of whom I had picked up from a lesser-known B-school some ten years back. Both of them worked diligently at Bell, and made a mark for themselves during their stint here, before leaving for greener pastures. Both are doing very well in life, one running his own entrepreneurship, and the other, a very busy corporate. These two young men landed up at my office with sweets and flowers, and one of them actually sprang a surprise on me- we were meeting after more than five years.

His first comment when he warmly greeted me was- "Sir, you look the same. There's no change in you !!"

I don't know what made me says this but i just remarked- "well, I am too busy to grow old".

Vinod had asked me the question but my answer left Ashish applauding it!!

I do wish all of us keep saying this all our lives- that we are too busy to grow old. Too busy doing things that we love to do. Too busy enjoying what we do. And too busy to let small issues and worries stop us from living our lives.

Cheers !!!

Celebrating Two Birthdays...

2010-12-10T02:06:00.000-08:00

A to Z of Mohd Rafi Saab
The singer with a complete range of songs
==============================================

December is the month when I celebrate two birthdays – my own and that of my biggest idol – Mohd Rafi Saab. There is a difference of exactly two weeks between our birthdays, but I am in a celebratory mood right from the 1st of the month!

The other day I happened to try and list out Rafi Saab’s songs alphabetically by picking up Only 1 song beginning with each of the alphabets. What turned out as a result of this exercise was something truly profound- Rafi Saab’s songs encompassed every emotion, every mood and every kind of expression a singer could display.

I couldn’t help listing the songs, and here is the result. Kindly do not try and rate the songs in order of popularity or any other benchmark. Because each song is truly a gem.

Abhi Na Jaao Chhod Kar- from Hum Dono- if there is a romantic song ever created better than this, I would like to hear it NOW. The teasing, taunting, coaxing, cajoling, the entreaties, the simplicity in the background music by Jaidev, all combine to make this song, even 48 years after its composition, a true landmark song. Not me alone, there are innumerable fans who will say that this song features in their top ten or top twenty. Dev Anand definitely calls it one of the most romantic songs ever created.

Babul ki Duvaaen Leti Jaa- from Neelkamal- No marriage is complete if the band doesn’t play this song (generally in the wee hours of the morning) when the newly wed bride is being seen off by her parents. No other song has generated such emotions, either from a listener, or the singer, or the actor himself, when we think of this grief-stricken number rendered by Rafi Saab. His son Shahid has recounted how his father broke down during the recording of this song because he had just seen off his daughter a day or two prior to the recording.

Chun Chun Karti Aayi Chidiya- from Ab Dilli Door Nahin- a delightful song for kids. Remember, Rafi Saab was very fond of kids. He himself had many, and he has sung some beautiful numbers for them. I just love this song and grew up listening to it very often. No child would sit quietly listening to it. The song inspires everyone to get up and dance like little children. An absolutely heart-warming song.

Dil Jo Na Keh Saka Wohi Raaz e Dil- from Bheegi Raat- the jilted lover’s taunts come through so effectively and piercingly as Rafi Saab sings “aaj dil ki keemat jaam se bhi kam hai”. And it goes to Roshan made the song thoroughly enjoyable with the echo effect at the end of antara, as the great singer’s voice climbs to greater heights to bring out the hurt, the dejection and total agony the hero feels at the loss of his beloved to another person.

Ek Jaanib Sham e Mehfil- from Abhilasha- friends of mine know that I just love this song no end. I must listen to it everyday. A rare male duet in the sense that Rafi Saab and Manna Da turn out a truly peppy, zestful and playful number accentuated by the use of the piano, one of R D Burman’s very early compositions. Never mind that the film bombed. Never mind that the hero and the second hero never really made it big. The song just keeps its tempo right through and the two singers match each other brilliantly for effect.

Falsafa Pyaar ka Tum Kya Jaano- from Duniya- Dev Saab again, in a different mood. A song in praise of love, another lovely piano- based number. But here, the singer touches many notes and doesn’t lose control on a semi-classical compositon that has western tones. One of Shankar-Jaikishen’s truly hummable offerings.

Gham Uthaane Ke Liye Main toh Jiye Jaaoonga_ from Mere Huzoor- a total contrast from the previous song. A totally dejected and repentant Jeetendra sings this song that Rafi Saab has put his heart truly into. “Tera mujrim hoon musibat ke siwa kucchh na diya” just about explains so beautifully the anguish and regret in the singer’s feelings. A beautiful S-J number.

Hum Bekhudi Mein Tum ko Pukaare Chaley Gaye- from Kala Paani- Dev Saab, Rafi Saab and total intoxication. A sad Ghazal, portrayed beautifully to the tune of a dancing Nalini Jaywant and a very nostalgic and melancholic hero. Majrooh scores with great lyrics like “sheeshe mein aapko bhi utaarey chale gaye” but one cannot take away the total involvement of the singer in making this song such a big hit.

Ik But Banaaongaa Tera Aur Pooja Karoonga- from Asli Naqli- truly romantic number. A school teacher being wooed with rain in the background and a naughty attempt to gain the lady’s attention. Hasrat Jaipuri has always been known for his heart-warming lyrics. Rafi Saab adds his weight to the pleasant song with just the right touch of peppiness and vigour. The song remains one of the freshest songs even today.

Jahan Daal Daal Par Sone ki Chidhiyaan karti Hai Baseraa- from Sikandar E Azm- Total patriotism, as Rafi Saab makes one’s chest swell with patriotic fervour. This song is sung even today at various functions and every time Indians get together to celebrate national festivals. My personal favourite, and way way better than those Purab aur Paschim songs.

Kya se Kya Ho Gaya Bewafa Tere Pyaar Mein- from Guide-Shailendra wrote some mesmerizing lyrics and Burman Da gave magical music, but it is Rafi Saab’s powerful voice that takes this song to great heights. This song symbolizes wistfulness and a feeling of abject surrender and loss and helplessness. A truly terrific song.

Leke Pehla Pehla Pyaar- from CID- a wonderful song in the “teasing” mode. The street singers gently and lovingly tease the lovelorn lady as she goes around looking for her man. The mood is absolutely light hearted and pleasant and Asha Bhonsle renders tremendous support to Rafi Saab in making this song really memorable. Simple tune, the evergreen harmonium, O P Nayyar’s magical touch make the song one of my all time favourites.

Main Zindagi ka Saath Nibhaata Chala Gaya- from Hum Dono- my “signature song”. The philosophy of life. Forget the past, live in the present, enjoy each day, and make light of anything. Just a cigarette lighter, simple hummable tune, and what a rendering by Rafi Saab. My caller tune for so many years that I can’t even remember. Anybody who listens to this song is going to say- har fikr ko dhuven mein uda………………..!!!!

Na Tu Zameen Ke Liye- from Dastaan- a Dilip Kumar movie where the singer expresses total dejection and loss. Defeated, cheated and thoroughly out of sync with the world, “garaz parast jahaan mein wafaa talaash na kar” brings out the loss of faith in the world and a feeling of deprivation that only Rafi Saab could express so beautifully and with dignity. One of the last few songs that one would associate for the Rafi- Dilip combo, which produced many great numbers.

O Duniya ke Rakhwaale- from Baiju Bawra- Who doesn’t know this song? If anybody doesn’t know this song, he doesn’t know Mohd Rafi. And if anybody doesn’t know Mohd Rafi he doesn’t know music. And if anybody doesn’t know music he should just listen to this absolutely stunning song of Rafi Saab’s. In the movie, Baiju Bawra makes the idol weep in response to his song. I have no doubts that the Gods would have wept at the soulful rendering that continues to touch everybody’s heart even today.

Pyaar ki Raah Dikha Duniya Ko-from Lambe Haath- A sensitive yet stimulating patriotic song specially sung for kids by Rafi Saab. When he says”tum mein hi koi Gautam hoga, tum mein hi koi hoga Gandhi”, he inspires every child. The song explores high and low notes and has a children’s chorus which matches Rafi Saab beautifully to create just that right note of love for one’s country and the desire to excel in own’s work.

Qayamat Qayamat Hai, Yeh Kaisi Gham ki Shaam Hai-from Mr Natwarlal- Many people wrote off Rafi Saab in the 70s, saying his singing had declined. This song amply puts paid to such thoughts. In fact this film was made in the late 70s /arly 80s. It may well have been one of his last twenty five songs. This sorrowful community song offering prayers to God and asking for protection from evil and the misdeeds of a few,has been sung beautifully. Rafi Saab had another lovely number in the same film, where after the villagers get together to teach the villains a lesson, they celebrate by singing “Oonchi Oonchi baton se kisika pet bharta nahi, Ram ka bharosa jisey kabhi bhookha marta nahin”.

Radhike Tune Bansuri Churaayi-from Beti Bete- Rafi Saab continues to demolish the theory put forward by detractors that he was basically a Qawaali singer. A beautiful classical number with devotion oozing out of every word sung, it has remained for years a favourite of many fans of Rafi Saab. There are many songs of Krishna that the great singer has rendered but this one is definitely a notch above all the others. If Surdas had been alive today he too would have got up and applauded the great effort.

Saaz Ho Tum Awaaz Hoon Main- from Saaz aur Awaaz- Naushad Saab got just that bit more out of Rafi Saab than all others, say many music lovers. If that is so, this is a fine example of a classical number to accompany a dancer’s movements. The song explores many Raagas (Patdeep and Madhubanti for sure), many moods, and climbs to various levels in the notes, but Rafi Saab leaves one with a great feeling of satisfaction after listening to this one. Khumar Barabankwi wrote it beautifully, Naushad Saab gave it new flavours, but Rafi Saab topped it up with his zest, devotion and involvement.

Tere Mere Sapne Ab Ek Rang Hain-from Guide-Which lady love wouldn’t want to be assured thus? Who would not want someone to sing like this with just the right emotions and words combining to make one feel that there is nothing else in the world but YOU. It is not just because I am a Dev Anand fan, the song on its own stands the test of the time when it comes to being adjudged one of the most evergreen romantic solos in Hindi Films. It is now 45 years and even today the song continues to tug at heart strings, like always. An award winning song in any era.

Unke Khayal Aaye Toh Aate Chale Gaye-from Lal Patthar- a Ghazal par excellence. Rafi Saab’s own idol G M Durrani sat singing this song in the film, and what better tribute could one give to his senior than by singing such a delicately beautiful number. Rafi Saab was not all Yahoo or boisterousness personified. The film had many songs, each vying for attention against the other, but I choose this one right at the top. Even way ahead of Re Man Sur Mein Ga by Manna da and Asha Bhonsle.

Vada Kar Le Saajna-from Haath ki Safaai- Many people will wonder why I picked this song. The reason quite simply is- yes, quite simply, a simple love song. A duet. After many years one heard a Lata-Rafi duet that was so simple that it brought back memories of Ek Tera Saath Humko do jahaaan se pyaara hai, or Tum hi tum ho mere jeevan mein. Remember, this song is from the 70s, and Rafi Saab was sadly getting fewer numbers to sing. This duet stands out as a calming reassuring and an oh -so -absolutely-in-love rendition.

Woh Hum Na They Woh Tum Na They-from Cha Cha Cha-Unsung, treated as low priority, and perhaps not so popular, this song tugs at the heart strings. It makes you feel the agony and the sorrow combined with nostalgia that the great singer expresses here. A forgettable film, a low ranking hero, an unusual heroine, a lesser known music director, but Gopaldas Neeraj got Rafi Saab to mouth one of the most touching songs ever composed. Iqbal Quereshi kept the tune simple and Rafi Saab scored. Please do listen to this song and tell me why it should not be rated as one of his top 25 sad songs. Who else could justice to such lines as”luti jahaan pe bewajah, paalki bahaar ki”?

X – I know Rafi Saab had no song beginning with this so very English alphabet. But I can only think of one word to describe every song of his. Excellent.

Yaad Na Jaaye Beete Dinon Ki- from Dil Ek Mandir- a song that must have got the other tragedy king, Rajendra Kumar get kudos for yet another performance. Without the voice that sang this super nostalgic piece, who would recognize the actor? “kehne ko hain who paraaye”, these lines make one shudder with abject dejection and loss, but also feel thankful that there was one singer who could evocatively bring out just those right emotions and so perfectly too. This song is one which I say “seene se rehta lagaaye”.

Zindabaad Zindabaad Ae Mohabbat Zindabaad- from Mughal E Azm- this is not just a song. It is a powerful wave of emotions, a rebellion against the enemies of love, a staunch protest against hatred, and a revolution in its own way. A ballad or an ode to love, sung by a mad man. And the mad, open and absolutely zealous protest against an emperor with a heart of stone is bound to make anyone weep and take notice of the young lovers who are so besotted with each other. The chorus, the lovely use of the classical ragas in each antara, and Rafi Saab’s total devotion to this song makes it unforgettable. The courageous voice says “Seena Taane Maut se khele, kucchh na karey fariyaad”.
Now we all know why Rafi Saab was known as the singer for all occasions, for all moods and for all times.

Long live Rafi Saab. A Very Happy Birthday to my Idol. He shall live forever in our hearts.

Remaining "Unfashionable"...???

2010-11-22T23:08:00.000-08:00

I read this quote some time back

The highest compliments leaders can receive are those
that are given by the people who work for them.
James L. Barksdale

After reading this quote I just happened to rummage through my mail archives, and found a chain of mails.About two years back, I sent this mail to many friends and colleagues-

“this is a letter received from Mr N C Mehta, my first CEO at Bell.
i am proud to receive such a mail from a boss.
it makes up for so many opportunities in life that i may have missed.

at times it is not material gain that matters. it is the blessings of elders and the words of seniors that give you tremendous strength and a feeling of fulfilment.

Dear Shri A N Rangaswamy,
Just received today the invite for the award ceremony (AMA ZYDUS CADILA MARKETING MAN OF THE YEAR)- My Heart Gladdens while reading this invitation Card.
My sincere Congrats for Shining,and catching the eyes of the AMA. I can only say God Bless You.
This is a remarkable achievement and recognition of yeoman services you provided to Bell, the Ceramic tile industry, Building industry of India, while maintaining highest standards in Integrity, Great Team work and operating under severe competitive pressure for almost 14 years, setting new standards in managing and marketing ceramic tiles.
A task achieved with Aplomb.
Well Done My Dear. Keep it Up.

Many Thanks & Best Regards
N.C.Mehta”

Almost immediately after I sent that mail I received a reply from someone who spent quite a few years with me as a member of my team….

“Dear Sir
No doubt, the email from Mr. N.C. Mehta is a testimony & recognition to all the hard work & turn around that you have done at Bell. To get such an email from him speaks volumes of his appreciation & love. The journey was never easy, considering the number of transitions done during your tenure. I am glad that I could start my career under your guidance. I am sure you have touched many lives of sales & marketing people who have worked directly or indirectly with you and it is remarkable that you still continue to mould & inspire the lives of many Management Students across the country. You continuously keep on raising the bar…The journey has to continue… and there has to be many encores & testimonies!!

Best Regards,

Ashok Matthew”

They say that someone you report in to, and someone who reports in to you matter the most when it comes to feedback about you and your work.

But as I approach the end of yet another year at the same place, and complete sixteen years at the same institution, the question comes up again…..

as it did exactly 52 mondays back when i wrote on my blog....

“Remaining Unfashionable…………….???”

I really don’t know.

pics courtesy Ravikiran Rangaswamy

Humbled by Feedback

2010-10-15T02:27:00.000-07:00

When Dr APJ Abdul Kalam blessed this book by putting his autograph on a copy even before its launch i was sure his blessings would bring great fruit. My chance meeting with him on an aircraft and my realization that i had one copy in my bag, all led to this great event in my life.

But honestly, i didn't expect such a response.....

Just couldn't help sharing with you all the feedback that is flowing in from various places in response to my recently-written Little Book- Time is Money.

The letters are from friends, ex-colleagues, ex-boss, students....

Here goes.....

DEAR RANGASWAMY,

READ YOUR BOOK, BRIEF AND PRACTICAL. I AM FLATTERED BY YOUR QUOTE AND THEN MARKING IT. KEEP IT UP- YOUR WRITING. THERE IS A MOVEMENT OF INDIANS LIKE YOU WRITING INTERESTING BOOKS,

BYE

NC Mehta

(ex CEO and my inspiration to write this book)

My dear friends

Am heaving a big sigh of contentment ,of realisation ,for having found something--Eureka!

I have read it.I am able to relate to it,and plan to follow it unfailingly--

This book-- 'Time is Money' by Achal is a gift to people who have no time on hand or for those who think there is no time on hand.

It is a must read, for, it is unputdownable.

It cares,it educates,it leads and finally takes you to a destination where you experience a sense of fulfilment.

Tell me Achal--in going backwards what happens to the 3--

Just loved the sweet and short coffee table book.It carries one along with it and in the bargain intoxicates!

Thanks a lot friend!

Me going to coax hubby dear and my son to read --Time is Money
mmmmmm and Eiffel tower ----Shall I start visualising--or will I be thinking too much of my tomorrow and wasting my time-ha ha

Friends if you havent read Achal’s Time is Money you have lost your precious time, for, time is running out --So hurry up!---It is urgent and important.

Vasudha

(friend from the Rafi Fans community, and a naturopathy doctor)

vasu-kaay-jee,

i liked every word that you have written - as it is written " dilsey "
and is also true as we all know rangajee.

i have been using a great channel - called
www.achalrangaswamy.blogspot.com since quite a few months and gaining
worldly knowledge / advise / guidance - through his various
" gyaan blogs " as i see them.

i would have definitely got the essence of his book through his
various blogs in bits and pieces with a clear message - and now this
-

yes i have decided to receive the prestigious book from the author
autographed by him in my presence - i only hope the " light " above
shines on this thought.

sailor - just reflecting (Ramesh Narain Kurpad)

Hi Achalbhai,

Firstly, I received your gift for winning the quiz and thank you very
much for that.

A gift indeed because, it comes with invaluable lessons. I just read
it this morning sir and it really served me a refresher course in time
management. There are some time habits, that I should change and your
book spurs me to make those changes.

Enjoyed reading early this morning with steaming cup of filter coffee.
Both served me as wake up calls.

Cheers
Nagesh
(landscaping architect and fellow Rafi fan)

Dear Sir,
Read your book, Time is Money. Finished reading now and must say, the book is really good. Has good quality content and some easy to practice "LET's" (Life Elevating Tools). I love the 30 minutes/day approach. I have been an ardent follower of the To Do List for many years, guess around 23 to be precise. The diary has been my life organiser. So I know the value of this approach that you have written about.
Must say, many people after reading the book may say - hey all this i know, it is just that i don't have the time to practice it. That's the point when this book makes a lot of sense.
I don't know if you noticed something that speaks volumes of your book's effect on people who have read the book and have sent you comments, guess most of them are emails reproduced here(page 29-31), see the time the mails were sent, almost 70% of the mails have been sent during early morning hours. Time created!!!!
Just before I sign off, I want to share something a world renowned mridangist told, obviously translated here from Tamil - "If effort/initiative itself becomes an effort/initiative then god bless"
Congratulations again and wishing the very best.
Best Regards,
Krishnan
(ex-colleague and very old friend)

Dear Mr. Rangaswamy,

I received today your book by courier, with your kind autograph. Thanks very much. It is indeed interesting reading and lively.

Well done, and it goes to make you a legend at AMA.

Regards and best wishes.

Sushil
(veteran advertising manager and teacher of marketing at B schools)

It's nice sir...brief..matter-of-fact...pacy and helpful...n yess....well-writen!:-)

deepika arora- chandigarh
(former student and summer trainee)

Dear Achal,
Just received - and read - your book once. Like everybody else has said, this compelling thing can be your friend, philosopher and guide for all times to come. I am not attempting a review of your book but if genuine appreciation of this small package can be deemed as one, so be it.
Writing anything - more so a book - can be so tedious a job, Achal; you get so many ideas at the same time that it is difficult to accommodate each and every thought. Invariably, it is also followed by periods where one does not know what to write or how to put thoughts into words. A most difficult task, indeed.
You have been able to assimilate your random thoughts into a cohesive pattern. Brilliantly. It is not a book where the author forces his opinion on you but one where he takes you along with his scheme of things. It is direct, almost interactive and relates with events very commonly associated with one's own life. I doubt if I have read any book with so many questions and question marks. But, instead of testing your ignorance through those questions, they coax you into seeking a reply thereto. That, for you, was the intended purpose. Superb use of common sense.
That missing 3 amongst 5,4,2,1 too is a masterstroke. Aadhe-idhar aur aadhe udhar is no discretion at all. One has to be prudent enough to understand that either it is important or not important.
The only oddity is that it finishes off so soon! You have it in you to go bigger. mazaa aa gaya dost, mehnat rang laayi hai.
Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations.
Padmanabhan NR

(investment advisor from Hyderabad and fellow Rafi Fan)

Hello Sir,
I am thankful to you for giving me your autograph in the Book "TIME IS MONEY "which I will preserve for ever.
I have attended your lecture on "Time Management" at AMA which was conducted during SBI Young Achiever's Forum a few days back and I have benefitted a lot from your lecture and hence I came to your Book Release function also .
I am glad to inform you that I came to AMA on Saturday with my husband Mr.V Ganapathy who is working as DGM(MECH) in ONGC ,Mehsana and he enjoyed the programme and he thanked me to bringing him to such a programme and in fact he bought 10 Books to gift them to his friends also.
The book is wonderful and I am following the 5,4,2,1 process regularly and it gives a lot of Self Satisfaction and I am telling my children also to follow the same.
Thank you very much for giving such a Precious Book .
WITH BEST WISHES ,
LATHA GANAPATHY
(employee of State Bank of India)

Hello Sir,
I've read the book & it taught me several thing. I'm glad to know that on this common topic one can express several different views.
On behalf of the readers n my friends who read this book I *Thank U* for Your Contribution to the mankind.
Awaiting for Food & Beverages. I think it would take on international level. ( I believe more you know the person more you expect. )
I think I've started knowing you a bit now.

Thanks & Regards,
Jigna Brahmbhatt
(management student and avid book reader)

respected achalji
thanks to invite me in such a nice and very useful ceremony
I personally request you to continue to publish such books which will be permanently records and inspiring instrument for future generation .
I am very much thankful to you since long back due to inspiration got from you'.
you are a live book and spirit .please continue and non stop devotion with AMA.
many people will definitely get inspiration from you.
good bye
god bless us.
AMUBHAI ARDESHANA B.E.(Civil) F.I.V,M.I.E.
Managing Director
Accurate Testing Laboratory Pvt. Ltd.

Hello Achal Sir,

I must start this mail thanking you for remembering and sending me a copy of "TIME IS MONEY" I loved the first few lines written by you and made me feel proud - "YOU ARE MY FAVORITE STUDENT"

It just took a few hours for me to complete reading the book and am sure it must have been the same for people who follow your blog regularly. Its written in a simple, easily understandable language so that anyone can pick the concept and start implementing unlike today's authors who uses Glossy language and complex words. You have actually motivated a lot of people stating "YOU CAN DO AND WIN LIFE". At least thats the insight I carry after reading the book.

I wish every topic that we have discussed in your blog must be published as a book and must reach the bigger audience and am sure there will be millions of Nandus from thereon (applying the concept and succeeding).

Regards,

Nandakumar.G

(old student and now a budding corporate)

Dear Ranga

I would have zipped through it and got back earlier but we were playing host to a swamiji. Showed him around Amaravathi, a Siva temple on the banks of Krishna and a Narasimha temple at Mangalagiri.

From the title, I thought you were going to tell us how to save time to make more money. I am relieved to see the contents were not along that line. The overall picture I could get was how to manage your time to live a more disciplined, systematic, productive and happy life.

Madan Inamdar had left with me a copy of The Road Less Travelled by M Scott Peck, a psychologist which has been a besseller since 1978. I could getonly as far as the first few chapters. He also makes a strong pitch for discipline. Are you familiar with the book.

Liked your style of writing and use of pun.

Best Wishes

MVNC (M V Narasimha Chari)

(school days friend from 4th Standard and now a voluntarily-retired ONGC man)

Achal

I got ur book today. I was so anxious 2 read it, I opened it immediately and started. As if on cue, my wife reminded me that I had promised 2 disassemble her 101 step golu. Ofcourse after reading ur 1st chapter, which I had read before my bitter half interrupted, I couldn't say I do not have enough time. So I got 2 my task and I finished it in record time, and I realized how much time I had, and started reading ur book again.

As soon as Raji, my wife, saw that I finished her task, she didn't even wait 2 appreciate what I had done and demanded 2 be cheuffered around Bangalore 2 help her with her list of chores (???). I innocently asked her what they were... my mistake. I counted backwards (chapter 3 remember) to fulfil her chores. My calculations showed me I should have started about 21 hours, 14 minutes and 34 seconds ago. So I started playing the numbers game with her. She was confused why I always left out number 3. I didn't have time (I am sorry Achal) 2 explain that 2 her.

Finally I got her list down 2 a Managable list. Now I am looking for the 180 hours u promised me. Ha Ha Ha....

All jokes aside Achal, it was a thought provoking book. You have written it with great writing skills and wit that made it very enjoyable 2 read. We all have our choices in life. If we use our time wisely, we would not only live our life but enjoy it too.

If somebody told me I have only one year 2 live I will live exacly the way I do today and I promise 2 live the rest of my life the way I want 2.

Thanks buddy for sending the book and making my day.

Jay

(bangalore-based friend and fellow Rafi fan)

Respected Sir,

I would like to thank you for sending me a copy of the book as I had requested.It is indeed a great pleasure reading it. It was a nice reminder of the presentation made by you during my induction training.After working for Bell and today while working in Delhi, I can actually feel a difference.

The foundation of my career has been laid on the values and principles that I learnt from you during my days at Bell. Your trainings have guided me throughout the career till now and will always in my career ahead. I still see people around in my office when I leave on time. It is all because I prioritize my work well.

Still being in an industry, which is completely dependent on others, I try to follow the 5,4,2,1 to the best to delegate and to carry out my work and personal schedule in a proper manner. It has helped me to inculcate a sense of being disciplined towards whatever I do and has helped me to plan better for my day, my week, my year and my life.

Once again, I would like to thank you for sending me the book as now I can use it for ready reference.

Warm Regards,

Manish Chib

(ex-trainee,advertising honcho in the making, and one of my favourite students)

Dear Achal,

last night I reached home at 1.30 and checked my mailbox. And lo! there was your book. I was so impatient to see it, I tore off the cover and out fell the book. I couldn't wait. I read it there and then. For once, my time management went awry!... and I didn't mind!

Quite interesting thoughts on time. Writing a book is no easy task. Structuring your thoughts and the book while doing your regular work is not easy. The chapters are well-structured and the laguage is simple and direct. Hey, I am not reviewing the book but giving you my impressions. A good handbook for all.
I should confess that I don't carry about a diary or list my chores for the day. You may not agree but I find that time-consuming! ha ha!

Jokes aside, I liked the points you have made and you made me ponder over them. Those methods you have suggested for time management are invaluable. So easy to follow.

It is said time is free but at the same time it is priceless. Like once lost we can't get it. How true! Every day when the deadline approaches and we are lagging behind, I sing Samay tu dheere dheere chal.

Ending with a song, though not Rafi's.

Yeji woji
zara sunoji
it's not 12 ka 4
but 5,4,2 and 1 !

cheers

Utthara

(senior assistant editor at the Times of India,Bangalore, film and music lover and fellow-Rafi fan)

Time is Indeed Money, and Learning has no Age Limit

2010-09-28T00:15:00.001-07:00

Thank God that i sometimes peep into the spam mail box because at times the wrong mail (or rather the right one!) lands up there !!

And i found this one:

Dear Achal,

I was at AMA and just finished your book after having madrasi food dahibhat as dinner in Gujarti home.

My congratulations for your excellent presentation and for book also.

I liked most is planning for life (Page 23) and I will practise 5,4,2,1 and give feed back after some time.

at 9.00 am todya I was thinking why should I attend a lecture/book release on time management ?I am retired person having all the time but I realised that courses on wealth management is being attended by wealthy people only!

I have learned a few new lessons or tricks to ride horse whose name is life.

Thanks and wishing you and your family all the best all the time.

Jai shri Krishna.

J.P. Buch.

This gentleman's mail was sent by him to me almost soon after my book release and the talk that i delivered at AMA.

What i wonder about is- when senior citizens or people who have lived life to the fullest and have spread wisdom already, are still willing to learn and implement anything that they find new, why do youngsters think that life is already over ?

Here is another:

Sir,
Your talk was wonderful and the book will surely be bought by me.
I wish to suggest to you that the time management is best done when you have a quieter mind and hence the meditation and 'puja' ie devotion to God comes. I would have to discuss the point to convey the full meaning and that can be done for somebody worthy and willing.

This particular mail was probably sent from just outside the auditorium where the book release took place, and probably immediately after the function just got over. It came from a Blackberry.

Learners don't lose time.

Nor do they see time limits or age limits.

And they find quiet and peace and the space, wherever they are.

I have just learnt a lot from them.

My Book, Butterflies.....I am nervous

2010-09-24T23:47:00.000-07:00

Strangely, even though I have been delivering public speeches and making presentations to large groups of people, I have butterflies in my stomach today.

Perhaps it is because this is a first time. The first time that a ‘published’ book of mine is being released. It doesn’t happen every often and I must say that I have kind of fulfilled one pending dream. And what a dream come true for me when the book has been personally blessed and signed on by a person no less than the former President of India Shri APJ Abdul Kalam !!! My chance meeting with him on a flight and my little chat with him led him to bless me and my book and speak to me very warmly in Tamil.

The book is really Little. And that’s what I call it too. My Little book on Time Management, and it is called Time is Money.

Later in the day today I shall be talking on the same subject at the release function for the book. And I look forward to catching up with many of my old friends, customers, business associates, students and a lot of new friends as well.

I would like to share with you a small excerpt from the book here…

Do you take time out for renewal….? Do you make time for activities that bring energy, enthusiasm? Aren’t we actually working for such breaks and recreation times? If you are thinking you are working for money, if you think you are working for your boss, for your company, I think you should be working for these breaks too.
Marketing people talk of the four Ps. I want to talk about the two Es- energy and enthusiasm. If you don’t have them you cannot convey your idea and sell anything to anyone, as a student, as a corporate executive or as a businessman. I heard someone say this-“The biggest problem is that we think that it is a crime, a sin to take a break. If you check their leave record, some people may have about 200 PLs (Privilege Leave) accumulated in their account. Money can never replace a good holiday, never replace fun”. I couldn’t agree more.

Do you feel excited about seeing your goal accomplished? Let us say you have a won a contest to go to Paris. Do you visualize the Eiffel Tower, or your favorite restaurant in Paris, do you see the house that you want to get built. If you keep visualizing it, there is a better chance that you will get closer to it, because I am now going to give you 180 odd hours extra. But I need a promise from you. The extra time you are going to get, you will not use it to take care of today’s problem. You will do something new. That you will invest it to do something you always wanted to do. But never had the time.

To read more, you will have to pick up the book. Do that!
I assure you stress-free happiness.

Take care and keep smiling

P.S. I am feeling a wee bit better now, and the butterflies have reduced in numbers inside the stomach. I hope everything goes well this evening.

Setting Examples for Others to Follow

2010-09-13T03:00:00.000-07:00

This happened just a few days back. A young gentleman asked me a question. He said, “It is said that to sell or to do business you can’t afford to speak the truth. You have to lie most of the time. Is that true?”
My answer to him, supported by that of my Regional Sales Manager from Mumbai who was also with me at that time, may have startled the young man. But I simply told him. Always speak the truth. It helps in the long run.

Haven’t you heard this before – “character is everything”?
Strange, but reputation quite often precedes people. You often hear about a person that he is a great example or that he is not such a great example for others to follow.

No, it’s not just a label. Such tags have come to be applied to people based on so many actions, spoken words and minute things that they may have done in public. Why public? The simplest and most potent definition of character that I read was- “what you do when no one is looking”. Now isn’t that truly powerful?

A lot of people talk about guarding one’s integrity. But what is integrity? Put quite simply, integrity is- being true to oneself. If you are true to yourself you will be true to others.

Don’t worry. Speaking the truth may temporarily distance you from some people. But those who matter, and those who value your friendship, your companionship and your business will never dump you. They will trust you.

Don’t you like to do business with, or buy things from, honest people?

Since time immemorial people have talked about individuals as well as enterprises. Both of them have flourished or declined, to a great extent, based on how people saw them.

Earlier in my blog posts I talked about being mature and responsible. I am taking pains to emphasise this point further because unless you are seen to be honest, possessing a great character, you may not get taken seriously.

Leaders didn’t become leaders if people didn’t trust them. The same applies for captains of sporting teams, or managers in organizations. They led by example. They set standards for others to follow.
Some of the greatest leaders I can think of through all ages are Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. In life, as well as in death, they were revered.

Yes, character is everything.

This Just Isn't Cricket

2010-08-31T02:06:00.000-07:00

This Just Isn't Cricket

Mid '70s. A cricket match taking place at the Frank Anthony Public School grounds. Big built Gopal Verma, the batsman, was murdering the bowling attack and was particularly severe on a fellow Stephanian whose leg breaks were just not working. He blasted the hapless bowler for four 6s and innumerable 4s to post a double-quick hundred.On at least two occasions, the ball almost landed in the neigbouring Lady Shri Ram College ground, and it would have been difficult to even retrieve the ball, since men were not allowed anywhere near this College !

As soon as Gopal completed his century the bowler walked up to him and shook his hand, saying "Great batting, Gopu". The batsman put his arm around the bowler's shoulder and said, "Hard luck, Ranga". This was not because the bowler, yours truly, was a great sportsman or was letting the opposition win hands down. This was how cricket was played then. How could I not applaud the batsman for his great feat, in spite of the fact that I was being butchered by his batting skills?

I will tell you why I did this. I did this because I had seen Gary Sobers congratulate Sunil Gavaskar and Abid Ali for taking India to victory for the first time in Tests in the Windies. The picture is still clear in my mind. And i shall never forget the spectacle when the really very tall Tony Greig lifted up Gundappa Vishwanath and rocked him in his arms the moment Vishy posted a ton in a Test Match against England.

In the very next match Sunil Gavaskar tried to emulate his foe Tony Greig by trying to lift him when the Sussex all-rounder completed his century. Tony Greig was no softie. He was no sissy either. But in those days, when the opposition won, you applauded them. When someone bowled a great ball to beat you all ends up, you nodded from the other end, muttering "well bowled,sir" even before getting back to your original stance.

Gundappa Vishwanath earned many friends (and a few critics too, of course) for calling back Bob Taylor in the Jubilee Test Match when he thought that the English wicketkeeper was actually not out.England went on to win the match and this perhaps was the turning point. Yet, Vishy had no regrets. He had been sporting. He was playing cricket.

Alas, today money has assumed such large proportions in our scheme of things that sport has given way to spoilsports.

When budding careers are nipped in the bud itself only because an 18 year old was part of the same team that perhaps sold its soul to lose some games, you are left asking the question:

Another young (around the same age) man began his career in the late 80s and is still playing, with the world at his feet and with millions of big fans who adore him for the game he plays and for the sportsmanship he exhibits. How is he so different? He doesn't need to play for the money now. He has enough. But he still plays.

But, is he the last of a tribe that has disappeared from the pitches of life. Has cricket been buried deep into the ground? Are we going to now see the Final Ashes ? The ashes of a game that once had people glued to their seats as they watched a keen contest between the cherry and the willow?

It is not about Pakistan, or the sub-continent, or any specific race. It is about the end of a game.

A little over thirty years back, when i was leaving Delhi and my parents' home to seek work elsewhere, i gave away my entire cricket collection of books, memorabilia, souvenirs, cards and kit.

Today I forsake the game.

Rest in Peace, Cricket. Some day people will talk about your glorious days. Maybe one day, I hope, someone will lift a glass to his opponent and say,"Well played, sir".

Learning from the Leaders

2010-08-26T05:19:00.000-07:00

If you look around you will find many successful people. And if you look very carefully, you will find that they enjoy being successful.

They manage their time very well. They may have a written list of things to do. Of course, they are persistent and determined to succeed. And they look every inch the part. They add value. To themselves and to everything that they do and come into contact with.

So, why don’t you?

Are you wondering how to do that? Well, it’s quite simple. Have you ever gone up to a successful person and asked him or her for tips? Don’t be surprised if these successful people share with you their secrets of success. They will.

Listen to these people. Seek their advice. Ask for help. When I say ask for help it doesn’t mean demeaning yourself. It quite simply means asking them for tips on how they managed to look good, or do things well, or get such great results, or get to where they have got. Again, don’t be surprised if they tell you the same things that I had listed just before this point.

If I wanted to be a cricket commentator I would perhaps have listened to a Tony Cozier, or a Harsha Bhogle. If I wanted to be a great sportsman I may have followed the likes of a Muralidharan or a Jeev Milkha Singh. Or had a close look at a Geet Sethi, a Shiamak Davar if I wanted to be a master of the green baize or a dancer.I remember that as a schoolboy i followed my idol S.Venkataraghavan very closely. School buddies still make fun of me by saying i used to keep my hair like the great off-spinner!!!!

If you can’t locate international champs easily don’t worry. There are many successful people in your city or town. There are successful doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs and businessmen. Just look at them carefully.

In today’s times of easy access to communication you can simply download the best talks, the written notes and books written by successful people. Learn from them. Listen carefully. Watch avidly. And imbibe their ideas.

And of course, having decided to become successful in any field, make sure that you look the part.

Have you seen a cricketer in dirty flannels? Or a successful broadcaster in tattered jeans and a shirt with missing buttons? Have you seen a famous diplomat or Head of State in anything but a formal suit? Or a successful and pretty film actor shabbily attired?
No. Nor should you be shabbily attired.

If you want to be successful, start looking successful.
Stand tall, look bright. Smile. Look confident. Look people in the eye. Don’t wait to become successful to start looking successful.

As a young school boy I got a book from my dad as a birthday gift. It was a book written by Sir Donald Bradman, and I can only faintly recall the name of the book. I can’t remember most of the technical stuff from that book now. But what I can clearly recall from it is Sir Donald saying, “Wear clean clothes and have a clean gear. Even if you can’t be a great cricketer you can surely look like one.”

What It Costs to be Successful

2010-08-18T04:02:00.000-07:00

Pay the Price for Success
---------------------------------------------

You wanted something in life- a well-tailored suit, a brand new mobile phone. A powerful motorbike. A very useful book.
You paid for it, didn’t you? And paid the full price, willingly, because you realized its worth.

So should you be willing to pay the price for success.

Believe me, at the end of it all, it would be more than worth the effort. Because the results, and the satisfaction derived, would far outweigh the effort you put in.

So how do you pay the price for success?

First of all, be willing to work hard. Didn’t you work hard for that Maths Test at school? Didn’t you work hard to rehearse your part in the College Play? The long hours spent on the tennis court or on the football field got you that trophy and that standing ovation. And also got you those admiring glances from so many people who watched you perform.

I have written in earlier blog posts about staying longer and how successful people just stayed longer at their goals and kept working towards them.

In my Sales training Programmes I share with the participants an analysis of sales calls made by more successful salespersons. When most of them gave up on a prospective customer after the fourth call, the more persistent ones made just one more call. And got that business!! Now just imagine- one more call and truckloads of business. In a working month 25 more calls. 250 more calls in a year. The results may just be too BIG to measure!!

Starting early is a sure way to succeed. You reach a place earlier than the others. With no sweat, and no strain. And no traffic jams too. The early bird always does get the worm, and the juiciest one as well! Starting early also gives you more time. And more time means a better chance to hit the bull’s eye, or the target.

Do you see some mates of yours always rushing into class, gasping for breath, tripping over chairs, and somehow squeezing into the only vacant seat? The early arrival chooses his seat, at leisure.

Get going, and move fast. People who convey an active and purposeful body language are always taken more seriously. A determined gait, a well-planned and executed agenda, keeping appointments and sticking to commitments, all this will win you a lot of respect.

Give your 100%. Don’t hold back. You have one life, and that life was meant to be lived the fullest. And the best. So why hold back?

The description of Olympic sprinter Carl Lewis was that he never gained speed awkwardly. He just slowed down a lot lesser than the others he competed with.

Imagine yourself cruising down the highway of life. Going full throttle, but never ever without control. And then just go and fulfil that dream. Give life the very best that you have to offer.

And watch life unfolding itself and giving you the very best it has. That, my young friend, is savouring the journey, beyond the uncharted landscape.

Success is- always being in love with life and with yourself. And with everything else that surrounds your life.

A Note to all Colleagues

2010-08-10T04:50:00.000-07:00

attn team

=============

it is with deep regret that i have to inform you all that one of our team members will be leaving us shortly as a result of my expression of disgust at his loose talk and improper way of discussing company matters with outsiders.

this person had no business to talk of his personal views on company decisions with a rank outsider who happened to be doing a short project in our company.

if the matter was so critical and so difficult for him to handle he should have picked up the phone and spoken to me (i feel most of us say that we are working in a transparent organization !). he decided to cry on the shoulders of an outsider who had the basic courtesy to come and tell me what had happened. he not only cried on his shoulder, he even expressed his personal views on company decisions and gestures which by the way was one of generosity towards him.

such a person, he may be god's personal gift to our company in particular and humanity in general, shall not be allowed to continue with us. he is better off running his own company (he should try doing this) or join one of those numerous unprofessional shops that abound under the name of companies.

here i am, trying to build and keep a non-political organization where we are all free to express anything openly where it matters.

if any of you feels that i am wrong in my thinking please tell me so. and if you think i am right do let me know too.

i just want to share one thing with all of you that i read recently:

discuss your problems and tell your worries to only those who can help, or get only sympathy or ridicule.

i am sorry that we have such people in the organization who think they are doing the company a great favour by working here.

they are free to leave. we will run the organization still...and better too.

but i shall not tolerate loose talk and indiscipline.

please circulate this note to all members of your team including CNF agents, and let them acknowledge reading this message clearly.

best wishes

p.s. all readers of this blog- what do YOU Say???

Celebrating Rafi Saab

2010-07-31T02:49:00.000-07:00

On Rafi Saab’s last death anniversary I mourned the passing away of a legend and the fact that we all miss him terribly.

This time I want to say that I don’t miss him at all.

Because Rafi Saab is always with us. In each and every moment that we turn on the radio or listen to young singers on reality shows on Television. I also don’t miss Rafi Saab any more because he accompanies me in the form of CDs in my car, my iPod when I travel long distance, and my computer at my workplace. Not just that, I have been blessed to have been seeing him in my dreams for months on end. His ever-smiling face and his soft spoken voice tell me that he will never be forgotten.

I celebrate the fact that we all were born in the same era as the Voice of the Millenium. And the fact that we bask in the glow of Rafi Saab’s great songs and his memorable persona.

The other day, a fellow Rafi fan asked me to list out my top Ten favourite songs of Rafi Saab. I couldn’t help laughing aloud. Not because my friend was being stingy in his approach towards the number of songs that could be attributed to Rafi Saab (my friend was being naïve, of course) but due to the sheer difficulty that would be faced by anyone when asked to list a measly ten songs.

The ocean of songs that Rafi Saab has left behind for us as our legacy can envelope anybody and I am sure most of us would drown in our effort to list out even 100. Because every song suggested by one person would be countered by another as “not-so-favourite of mine, since there are four other songs to compete with it”.

Quite overwhelmed by the enormity of the task, I almost decided to drop the subject when another thought occurred to me. Why not suggest a song each for every actor Rafi Saab would have sung for. The song may not rate as the top favourite of that actor, but what according to me would be a “signature song” for that actor as a gift from Rafi Saab himself. Each of these songs would be welcomed by that actor as something only Rafi Saab would have done justice too. And that it would be easy for listeners to identify the actor by the song itself.

Not that this task was any easier, for the moment I began listing out the song, three or four others intruded, and demanded equal attention. All the same, I manfully decided to carry on with the list and here is my own compilation. I am sure that readers would have their own views and their own list too.

Dilip Kumar- for sheer playfulness – and Dilip Saab set new standards in this, he was not always melancholic as most critics would say- I chose the song “Hameen Se Mohabbat Hameen se Ladaai” from Leader. However, and I here I am, falling prey to the temptation of mentioning more than one song, I would like to mention the famous “Mere pairon mein ghungroo bandhaade” from Sunghursh. For serious numbers there are countless attributed to Dilip Kumar, but the one I like the most would be “aaj puraani raahone se” from Aadmi. Anguish, pathos, loneliness, everything poured into this song identify Dilip Saab very closely with Rafi Saab.

Ashok Kumar- the moment you think of this actor you cannot help singing “naache man mora magan thikda diggi diggi” from Meri Surat Teri Aankhen. And the moment one stops singing that song, that painfully sweet number of a talented yet reclusive artiste in the film comes to mind- “tere bin soone nayan hamaare” from the same film- Rafi Saab touched our hearts with this number.

Dev Anand- perhaps one of the most difficult tasks would have been selecting a top Rafi number for Dev Anand. There is a veritable treasure to select from. But perhaps a bias for the first ever Hindi Film Song that I heard in my life and tried to sing myself – “Khoya Khoya Chaand” from Kaala Bazaar makes me mention it. But in the very next moment two other songs rush in for attention and mention. They are “Tere Mere Sapne” from Guide (nobody even with an iota of romantic feelings in him would ignore this song) and “Tu Kahaan Yeh Bataa” from Tere Ghar ke Saamne. Distinctly different songs, both of them. One has the hero expressing eternal and endless love with a sense of assurance and the other has the protagonist singing his way through the streets looking for his lady love, with a clear sense of purpose. These apart, the song that has been my caller tune for years now, the highly-inspiring “Main zindagi ka saath nibhaata chala gayaa” from Hum Dono must rank as a very popular number even with youngsters who never heard Rafi Saab in person.

Shammi Kapoor- “Yahoo” may have been the signature yell for Shammi, but Rafi Saab sang his heart out for many a movie that had this hi-enthu rumbustious actor in it. My own favourite though, is “Khuli Palak mein jhootha gussa” from Professor. The bias crept in probably because my mother too loved this song, But there are some beautiful numbers – each one that would make Shammi dance again. “Husn chalaa kuchh aisi chaal deewane ka pooch na haal” from Bluff Master competes with “tareef karoon kya uski” from Kashmir ki Kali. Don’t you ever think that Rafi saab only yelled or made Shammi gyrate to his songs. “Tum mujhe yun bhula na pooagey” from Pagla Kahin Ka and “Dil ke jharoke mein tujhko bithaa kar” from Brahmachari stun the listener with sheer intensity and feeling.

Dharmendra- The two Punjabis always acknowledged each others’ role in their success! And Rafi Saab did produce some gems for Dharam. My favourite is “Mujhe dard-e-dil ka pata na thaa mujhe aap kis liye mil gaye” from Akash Deep, though I am sure many would also chip in with “Aap ke haseen rukh pe aaj naya noor hai” from Bahaarein Phir Bhi Aayengi. While there are numerous romantic songs that my idol sang for the handsome Jat I am sure a unanimous high energy high voltage song from their common land would be “Main jat yamla pagla deewanaa” from Pratigyaa.

Raj Kumar- it has to be “choo lene do naazuk hothon ko” from Kajal. This is the first song that comes to mind when one thinks of Raj Kumar and Rafi Saab together. Though the song was not directly picturised on RajKumar, the beautiful “unke khayal aaye toh aate chaley gaye” from Lal Patthar is very close to my heart. The person seen singing the song is one of Rafi Saab’s own idols- G.M.Durrani.

Jeetendra- one of Jeetendra’s earliest movies was Jeene ki Raah and I love both the numbers- “ek banjaara gaye” as well as “badi mastani hai meri mehbooba”. Fresh and innocent sounding Rafi Saab gave Jeetendra many a hummable number to keep this actor in contention among the top men at that time. A lesser known song- this one from Jigri Dost- “Mere Des mein pavan chaley purvaai” brings out the rustic and patriotic touch with great vigour. There are many of those twist, jazz, rock and roll numbers too. Jeetendra clearly hit the top charts thanks to the playback singer.

Shashi Kapoor- I grew up singing, or trying to sing “Likhe jo khat tujhe” from Kanyadaan, surely one of Rafi Saab’s most romantic Shankar –Jaikishen compositions. Shashi Kapoor had great songs sung for him in Jab Jab Phool khile, Patanga, Jahan Pyaar Miley. But here is my all time favourite Rafi-Shashi hit. It is “Tum bin jaaon kahaan” from Pyaar ka Mausam. Till film songs are remembered people will continue to talk of this song and continue to debate who did more justice to it – Rafi of Kishore. I refuse to be drawn into the debate. My vote goes for the version I just talked about !!!

Sanjeev Kumar- Probably because he took to character roles early in his career, or probably because of a late start, he may not have got to sing much or dance around the trees with the heroines. But all the same, Haribhai got some great Rafi songs to sing. And my favourite of them is “tere naam ka dewaanaa” from Suraj aur Chanda. Lilting music and extended notes make this song truly hummable. Another delightful song is “khush rahe tu sada” from Khilona.

Guru Dutt- some beautiful songs for Guru Dutt that Rafi Saab sang remained etched in one’s memory. But the most loved one for me is “hum aapki aankhon mein” from Pyaasa. Of course most of the songs for Guru Dutt were melancholic and of them “yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaaye to kya hai” and “bichade sabhi baari baari” rule over the rest.

Balraj Sahni- Most film goers remember him for his studied elegance and method acting. But few can forget some rare songs that he got to sing. “kahan jaa raha hai tu ae jaane waale” from Seema is an absolute gem. The actor also featured in the film and the scene that made Rafi Saab immortal that a TV Programme was named after the song. I just love “Meri Awaaz Suno” from Naunihal.

Sunil Dutt- Many will not agree with my choice here because they will talk of “aap ke pehlu mein aakar ro diye” from Mera Saaya. My favourite is the duet from Gaban- “tum bin sajan barsey nayan”.Rafi Saab sounds so realistic when he croons “majboor hum majboor tum, dil milney ko tarsey” in this fantastic composition with the rain in the background.

Amitabh Bachhan had the great singer sing for him in the background the refrain “array hasne walo kabhi yeh bhi socho, jinhe pyaar milta nahi,jeetey hain kaise” for the film Parvaana. Of course he also had another great number – “koi aur duniya mein tumsa haseen hai” in Pyaar ki Kahaani.
Talking of Parvaana we have Navin Nishchol too. And Rafi Saab gave him the thoroughly romantic and enjoyable duet with Asha Bhosle “jis din se maine tumko dekha hai”. Great music by Madan Mohan too.

The other famous actor was Rishi Kapoor. And how can one forget “dard e dil dard e jigar” from Karz as well as the great songs from Sargam especially “hum to chale pardes hum pardesi ho gaye”, a personal favourite of my mother too. Rishi Kapoor always revered Rafi Saab and has been heard saying that all the songs Rafi sang for him were GREAT Songs Great songs..in Rishi’s own words. “unki awaaz mein khuda ki awaaz thi” Rishi quoted Manmohan Desai talking of Rafi Saab. And, oh!! How could I forget “tere dar pe aaya hoon kucch kar ke jaoonga” from Laila Majnu? It is so difficult to mention just one song for any actor!!

Rajesh Khanna may have declared Kishore as his voice. But how can anybody forget that Aradhana had “gunguna rahein hain bhanware” and “Gulabi Aankhein” from the Train had Kaka turning romantic. Great songs in Maryaada and Chhoti Bahu and Do Raaste proved that Rafi Saab had a very big hand in the projection of Rajesh Khanna as the Super Star of the 70s.

Vinod Khanna generally did most of the fighting in the movies but when he wooed the heroine he got some terrific numbers. And my top favourite Rafi song for him is “waada kar le saajna” with the elegantly dignified Simi Garewal in Haath ki Safaai.

The next set of actors that I am going to talk about should (with due respect to each one of them) be utterly thankful to the great singer who was probably the main reason to catapult them to any kind of stardom that they attained.

Rajendra Kumar-I know that friends would say Mere Mehboob should be mentioned here. But my all time favourite Rajendra Kumar number by Rafi Saab has to be “Yaad na jaaye beete dinon ki” from Dil Ek Mandir. When he says with true sensitivity “moti ke daane deta, seene se rehta lagaaye” one can’t help wondering whether Rafi Saab knew the exact scene, the exact feelings in the doctor’s mind as he laments the days bygone.

I didn’t exactly grow up liking this song but over a period of time “ae phoolon ki rani bahaaron ki mallika” from Aarzoo began to appeal to me. Rafi Saab must have thoroughly enjoyed singing this song. Rajendra Kumar owes it to Rafi Saab for making this particular song click with the listeners. The number of times this song is played on various radio channels clearly indicates the song’s popularity even 45 years after its recording.

Bharat Bhushan- Baiju Baawra was perhaps not going to be a hit without those three great songs. One, a bhajan. The second, a passionate wooing of a girl going away on a boat. And the third, a clarion call to God to listen to the singer, the song that literally shook everybody, including god, to tears. Each one of them remains fresh with us even today. Who else could have created such magic but Rafi Saab? But all the same, the sheer poetry woven by Rafi Saab with his golden voice makes “zindagi bhar nahi bhoolegi” from Barsaat ki Raat, my favourite. Of course there is that nazm like Maine “Shaayad tumhe pehle bhi kahin dekha hai.” The actor who benefited the most each time a song was created, could be none other than Bharat Bhushan.

Joy Mukherjee- A tonga, or a guitar, and a lakeside view. And you have Rafi Saab giving this actor some of the greatest and lovable songs ever composed in Hindi Film history. My most favourite of them all is the title song from Phir Wohi Dil Laaya Hoon. Of course there were Love in Simla, Ek Musafir Ek Haseena, and Humsaaya. Joy Mukherjee was truly gifted. By Rafi Saab. Oh, I could make a top 25 of Rafi Saab songs for this actor who must rank as the luckiest man in Hindi films in terms of songs made for him.

Pradeep Kumar- I don’t think he acted at all. But how lucky can a man get? “Phool se chhehra, Chand si rangat chaal kayaamat kya kahiye” in Raat aur Din has me in great spirits even before one talks of “dil jo na keh saka” or “joh baat tujhme hai” or “paaon choo lene do”. Taj Mahal, Aarti, Bheegi Raat. Movies that only had songs. And Rafi Saab. That’s it. “hum intezaar kerenge” from Bahu Begum. Remember the movie? I bet you don’t. Nor the actor. But how can you forget the great singer!!

Biswajeet- Any day and any time, “Pukarta chalaa hoon Main” from Mere Sanam. The film had a few more lovely songs, but this is clearly a winner. Of course Biswajeet had one absolutely beautiful number which many people haven’t heard. Rafi Saab shows his class in the classical when he sings “kahan dekha hai tumhe” in Biwi aur Makaan.

Feroz Khan- When Chitragupta compsed “jag dil e deewaana” he could not have thought of anybody else but Rafi Saab. Dreamy, romantic and absolutely in love, this song has to be among the top in the list of the great singer’s most romantic songs. Feroz Khan could never act, but he got some great numbers from Rafi Saab in his later films too.

Sanjay Khan- It is a male duet. But Rafi Saab scored. And how!! “Ek janib sham e mehfil” from Abhilasha is my top Rafi-Sanjay Khan score. I know there were Mela, Upaasna, Abdullah (with that lovely Maine poocha chaand se), but Ek Janib…is one song that I Must listen at least once a day.

Comedians too got some great numbers.

Mehmood had the Hyderabadi hit “hum kaley hain to kya hua dilwaale hain”. Johnny Walker had some of Rafi Saab’s greatest hits to his name, with “yeh hai Bombay meri jaan” and Jagdeep had (ironically and surprisingly too) one of Rafi Saab’s greatest ghazals sung for him. “tumhari zulf ke saaye mein Shaam kar loonga” is a wonderful essay. Gulshan Bawra lip syched for Deewane hain Deewanon ko na dar chahiye.

And then there are those one or two- movie wonders who probably received some of Rafi Saab’s great generosity.

“Mile na phool toh kaanton se dosti kar li” sang Parikshit Sahni, almost talking about his own cinematic career but the song definitely will go down as one of the best compostions of Roshan for Rafi Saab. This song from Anokhi Raat continues to fascinate me even today.

Does anybody know or remember Rajeev? Well, he got to play the hero in the movie Nayi Umar ki Nayee Fasal where Rafi Saab produced two pieces of pure magic. “aaj ki raat badi shokh badi natkhat hai” and the epic “kaarvaan guzar gaye ghubaar dekhte rahe”. I just can’t seem to decide which of these songs I like more. Both are sheer gems.

Chadrashekhar may have acted as a cop in many films. But when he turned hero for Cha Cha Cha the only redeeming factor in the movie was “Subah na aayee Shaam na aayee” and “Who Hum na they voh tum na they”. There was a duet too. But these two songs showed how Rafi Saab never let down even lesser known music directors.

I don’t seem to tire making this list. Nor do I expect Rafi Saab’s fans to tire listening to these songs.

But surely, one for the road has to be- who else but the Smart man (I wish I could write the same way as he said it) Ajit the famous villain- who had two of my favourite songs sung for him- “Aaja ke intezar main jaaney ko hai bahaar bhi” from Halaku, and the peppy, bubbly “bhula nahin dena ji bhula nahin dena, zamaana kharab hai dagha nahin dena”. And another couple of villains made another song famous. “jahaan daal daal par soney ki chidiyan karti hai basera..voh bharat desh hai mera” from Sikandar e Azam. Prem Chopra joined Premnath in this song.

The last word had to be about Pran- “jeena to hai usi ka….hai kaam aadmi ka auron ke kaam aana” he sang in Adhikaar. Was this not Rafi Saab’s philosophy of life too!

So, my friendly advice to this fellow Rafi fan of mine. Never ever ask anybody for a list of top ten or top twenty. If you ask for a top hundred or so, we may just be able to make a list !!!

Rafi Saab was a singer for all seasons. A singer for all reasons. And a singer for all who appeared on the silver screen.

I celebrate Rafi Saab. Please join me in the celebration.

LMB at Jaipur and a day to feel Really Proud

2010-07-22T23:39:00.000-07:00

The signature sweet shop and restaurant of Jaipur-LMB (most people don't even know the full form which is Laxmi Mishthan Bhandar) is always on the tourists' map when one visits the Pink City. After a visit to the internationally famous Hawa Mahal, most tourists land up at LMB to have their fill of sweets and the utterly heavenly yet absolutely mammoth Rajasthan Thaal.

This particular trip of mine, just two days back, was for work and I really didn't have much time to check out what was happening at my old favourite eatery. But it has been years now since i stepped in, so i coaxed and cajoled my Rajasthan Area Head to join me there for lunch. A huge lassi, pressed on us by a highly enthusiastic dealer of ours just ten minutes before entering LMB, put paid to all my plans of diving into the multi-course Thaal. So i settled for the signature potato chop and Dahi Bada.

Staggering out of the restaurant we were walking past the sweet shop and retail counter when my eyes fell on a very old weighing scale perched atop the retail counter. It was an Avery 1215 BFH for sure, but i wanted to check out more details.

Upon checking the batch number and the manufacturing date (we had been taught to identify our scales this way by our ASMs) i found, to my greatest surprise and absolute joy, that it was the very piece that i had sold 31 years back to this famous sweet seller. Those were the days when i was a rookie salesman working with this leading MNC.

What followed was heart -warming and totally "chest -swelling" as far as I am concerned. The owner got down from his high chair and gaddi. He smiled and asked me who i was. In just two minutes he could recall that he was a very young boy when i had sold this weighing scale to his father.

Ajay Agarwal is a 3rd generation custodian of this sweet citadel of Jaipur. He proudly spoke of his father's training and the legacy he has inherited from him. More importantly he told me how he himself maintains this 31 year old weighing scale (now that the weighing scale major no longer looks after mechanical scales since it has branched out into electronics) and how it still shows absolute accurate weighment.

Ajay Agarwal smiles easily and sweetly too, naturally because of the business he is in.

But I am sure Avery and I too, in my own small way, contributed to this smile.

I learnt once again the lesson that I keep sharing with my team and my students- that the sweet satisfaction of a sale lasts long long after the thrill of earning some money on the sale. Sales incentives are temporary. Customer delight and recognition are forever.

LMB is a very important landmark in Jaipur. Their logo says- "Traditional Halwaies since 1727".

July..Monsoons...and a Tribute to Rafi Saab

2010-07-07T00:41:00.000-07:00

The month of July is hardly remembered for anything else except the last day of the month, which looms large. Over music lovers. The fateful day that snatched away from them all the Voice of the Millenium. The Great Man who remained humble all his life. The one and only Mohammed Rafi. His death anniversary falls later this month. And i couldn't help paying yet another tribute. To my idol. The man who has inspired so many......

Circa 1959 i guess...the movie Kaala Baazaar..Madras..a rainy evening..slick pavement..as we got out of the theatre into semi- darkness i slipped on the road and a lot of people had a great laugh...but all i could remember was...Khoya Khoya Chaand. i even forgot to cry after falling.

The hero fascinated me. but his voice fascinated me even more. Little did i know that it was the voice of a person i was going to worship over the years. Little did i know that the hero actually never sang. my grandmother kept making fun of me as i tried singing the same song after we got home. I never got it right. I realized many many years later that i could never ever get it right. It was no use trying to be so perfect. Only God could be so perfect.

Cut to another city- New Delhi, and a fantastic story of an architect who is faced with the dilemma of designing homes for his father and his father's arch enemy as well !! I didnt care much for the story, but yet another song from the same hero. God, that song is one i love even today. I have yearned for many such evenings. dark evenings in hill stations.running down the roads, calling out to all the girls in the balconies......singing Tu Kahaan Yeh Bataa......

But one film, and a song, and the same hero again. With a cigarette and a lighter. And his own reflection in a pond.

Main Zindagi Ka Saath Nibhaata Chalaa Gayaa...and i was well and truly hooked as a fan, a worshipper and a big big music lover.

Even though all three films had Dev Anand as a common factor, and he is still a great idol for me, the real magic was Rafi Saab's evergreen voice. I have been an unashamed and absolutely besotted fan since.

As i grew up in delhi and switched schools i used to sing at school functions and class celebrations. The songs were always- Tere Mere Sapne or Likhe Jo Khat Tujhe or Abhi Na Jaao or Chale The Saath Milkar or Mera Man Tera Pyaasa....the years were different..the class was different..and the schoolgirl i sang for was probably different. But the voice i tried to imitate with very little success was always Rafi Saab's.

There was a big fight at home one day, and as a result i didnt eat food for a full day. My elder sister was a Kishore Kumar and Rajesh Khanna fan. I was a Rafi fan. Full stop. We had such a big argument that my parents had to intervene. Luck stepped in in the form of my mother, who declared with authority...."nobody can sing Nache Man mora magan ...like Rafi". My sister sulked. I fasted. and the world feasted. On more songs from Rafi Saab.

I shall always remember Rafi Saab with doses of cricket. The first ever Ranji Trophy Match my father took me too was a tame affair. Bengal succumbed to Delhi. i had my first glimpse of the handsome Nawab of Pataudi- Mansur Ali Khan. And i also witnessed the great Pankaj Roy losing his middle stump to a devilish yorker from Rajinder Pal of Delhi. A little later in the day dad took me for the first ever time to Wenger's at Connaught Place, I was overawed by the ambience and the juke box. and the song that played over and over again there was...."kaarvaaan guzar gaya...ghubaar dekhte rahe". Just a few days later dad got tickets for a movie which i never understood at all. i remember being scared of an old man dressed like an emperor who kept hollering at a younger man. But there was another old man..a mad man...who sang loud and clear..and i loved that song..."Zindabad Zindabad..ae mohabbat zindabad".

Watching Bishen Bedi and Erapalli Prasanna rout Australia for 107 in the second innings at Delhi on a sunday afternoon was laced with the title songs of Pyaar hi Pyaar that kept wafting from various transistors in the stadium. My mother and sisters had gone to watch the movie that day while dad and son went to the Test Match.

Another disastrous movie- dad always managed to get tickets for disastrous movies. Leader. I forgot the film by the evening. but i just loved singing "Hameen Se Mohabbat Hameen se Ladai, Arrey Maar Daala Duhai Duhai" to all and sundry. i remember being sent out of Class 3 Hindi Test. for singing this song to some girl (forget her name !!) ..thank god i wasn't singing Mujhe Duniya Waloh Sharabi na samjho...

After this...it was winter nights in cold cold delhi..a razaai to keep me warm..and the Philips Vikram medium wave transistor, which i coaxed and cajoled my father to get us. he could never undestand why the big fat Eveready batteries needed to be replenished so often. the cause was Man Chaahe Geet on Vividh Bharati.

And later, it was always...lakhon hain nigahon main...and pukarta chala hoon main and kyaa se kyaa ho gaya.

I am and I shall always remain a Huge Huge Rafi Fan. My son has taken after me. He was born in late '85 but he enjoys some numbers like Tere Mere Sapne...and the other Guide songs.

Some traditions continue. My wife is a Kishore Fan, but i dont stop eating. Because if I do that she will fight. And i won't be able to enjoy my songs. Thank god i travel a lot. I have Rafi Saab for company- in CDs..on my iPod..and at office...oh..right now i have another delightful number playing...Ek Jaanib Sham e Mehfil.....from Abhilasha.

Part 2

Kaala Baazaar..Madras..a rainy evening..slick pavement was perhaps at a time when i hardly realized what was happening to me, i was too young to know most things.

But the first real taste of Bollywood in all its Eastmancolour clarity and beauty was- seeing Joy Mukherjee swing his guitar more like a cricket bat, wear a white sweater like a cricketer and croon " Laakhon Hain Nigaahon Mein" in Phir Wohi dil laaya hoon. It was a Christmas afternoon and Regal Cinema in Delhi. I fell in love with the voice of Joy Mukherjee, the singer's voice i mean, and was completely bowled over by the tonga -style rendition of Banda Parvar Tham lo jigar...the title song of the same movie. "paaon jahan rakh dogey adaa se dil ko wahin paaogey..." truly mesmerized me.
By the time the movie had got over i had fallen in love once more- with "Aanchal mein saja lena kaliyaan...."

You all must be thinking i am talking now of Ek Hi film ke geet, but this was the kind of magical influence Rafi Saab had over me. How could a person so beautifully mouth the lines "meri raaton mein jalaaye tere jalwon ne chirag...teri raaton ke liye dil ko jalaaya hum ne.." I desperately wanted to have a voice like this. but i knew all the while that only one person could be so good at it.

In the meanwhile Shaheed happened. We all dashed off to a school far away from home where they were screening the movie on a B and W TV. The movie was gripping but even more gripping was Bhagat Singh taking an oath with his palm held steadily over a flame. Patriotism filled me completely and i told myself - there can't be a better voice to protest against the British Rule even as the freedom fighters, now in the form of jailmates sang a beautiful number written by Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil- Sarfaroshi ki tamanna, I had started comparing one voice with another. and Rafi Saab started looming larger and larger in my appreciation of Bollywood music. The clincher came in the form of a re-run of Tere Ghar Ke Saamne where all i remembered of the movie, though there was an interesting story-line too, were the bewitchingly beautiful songs- all of them sung by Rafi Saab, barring just one, called Thaam Lo Baahein.

One game that i started enjoying to play was- and i know many of you do it even today- trying to recall the name of the actor by the way Rafi Saab made his voice curl, or dip, or laugh. Benazir must have been a forgettable film, but Dil Mein ik jaan- e - tamanna ne jagah paaye hai was an out and out Shashi Kapoor number. No marks for guessing right, i told myself.

After that it became much easier- Jaane Waalon Zara Hoshiyar had to be the rumbustious Shammi Kapoor, Yaad na Jaaye had to be a melancholic Rajendra Kumar, and Dil ki Awaaz Bhi Sun a handsomely romantic Joy Mukherjee. Even Johnny Walker stood out clearly with "suno suno miss chatterjee mere dil ka matter ji, calcattey wali rooth gayee kyon...."

God, how could this man sound so good and yet so different and yet so consistent? i could just never figure this out.

Calling my mother from a newly installed coin-operated phone instrument at school i told her- "there is a new movie in town called Kanyadaan. Its hoarding is right opposite my school and it has an amazing song called Likhe jo khat tujhe." And my mother, a wise lady that ever was, said- 'only remember the song and dont follow the advise '!!!!

Even as this song kept playing in my mind i was at the same time living out Main Pyaar ka Raahi Hoon and Bahut Shukriya Badi Meherbaani...the list kept getting longer and longer...

What i could never fathom was the occasional silence (i was to read aout it much later, and discuss it even later with all of you) of my Idol in the '70s, though there were gems like Tum jo mil gaye ho. there was a Yeh Raat Hai Pyaasi Pyaasi..but why had this great man been given only a few bits here and there, like Nafrat ki Duniya ko Chhorke...for the elephant movie ?

And even before the dark day before he left us all he had given some hugely popular and powerfully packed songs. the Yaaraana song for instance....aisa taraana jhoom ke gaoon sang sang duniya jhoomey..or hai agar dushman..or bas meetha meetha bolo...or god !! There were so many of them...

Very true...mujhko mere baad zamaana dhoondega, he had sung prophetically.

Now you know why i never BECAME a Rafi fan. and that is why i don't call this write up by THAT name. Rafi Saab just took possession of my very life, my being, from the day i really knew what was happening in life.

Only very recently, i shared this piece of information with a few friends of mine from the Rafi Fans forum....

That for about three months..running...and just prior to his last death anniversary, when I wrote my first piece,which also found place in a forum like http://www.mohdrafi.com/, Rafi Saab had been coming in my dreams every single day...he would just come..smile..and smile..and go away.

Now what do you call this ?

I dont know. I can't describe it. I can't write further, i am overwhelmed

Born 28/09/74.....left us on 26/06/10..not yet 36

2010-06-28T23:45:00.001-07:00

Just a couple of days back we received the shocking news of the passing away of a good friend and colleague, who until two months back, had been a part of my sales team. He had been leading my Pune team for the last couple of years.

On September 28th this year Shatru (short for Shatrughena) Parte would have completed 36. What an age to go!!

Why did he go?

I am still trying to come to grips with the question and find the right answer.

Stress? Worries? The fact that he smoked quite a bit? Oh, well. I know many who smoke more than Shatru did.

He was soft-spoken, rarely raised his voice, and i have never heard him curse anyone. He was built small and short and nobody would call him overweight.

Shatru left me to join another company, citing financial growth as a major reason for the shift. Did he get the benefit of this growth? Will his family really see the benefits of this growth?

He had been desperate to go over to the other place and earn more money, so I let him go, after prolonged discussions and personal meetings.

Through this forum i want to share one thought, though i really don't know if the answer to my question is this.

We need to have a life beyond our jobs. We need to have interests that divert our attention completely from work. We need to take mental and physical breaks- more often than we all do.

If Shatru had three attacks in the space of ten minutes, sitting at a dealer's shop, and nothing could save him, would money,status or all the trappings of the world save anybody at all?

I really don't know.

I am going to miss him a lot. Because he was my quietest, ever-smiling colleague. Who never raised his voice. Never lost his temper.

Or did he pass away because he never lost his temper, never raised his voice? Never got angry at anyone?

I guess we will never know the truth.

Rest in peace, my friend. I really wish you had fought with me, shouted at me, thrown things at me in anger. But had remained with us. At Bell, as well as in this world.

The Awakening

2010-06-21T02:59:00.000-07:00

With gratitude to my old colleague and friend Ashok Matthew who sent me this more than three years back. I have treasured it all this while.

Today, just on the eve of Ashok’s birthday, I thought I should share it with you all.

Read on, and enjoy… Fall in love. With yourself

A time comes in your life when you finally get it...when, in the midst of all your fears and insanity, you stop dead in your tracks and somewhere the voice inside your head cries out...ENOUGH! ----- Enough fighting and crying and blaming and struggling to hold on.......

Then, like a child quieting down after a tantrum, you blink back your tears and begin to look at the world through new eyes. ............ This is your awakening.

You realize it's time to stop hoping and waiting for something to change, or for happiness, safety and security to magically appear over the next horizon. You realize that in the real world there aren't always fairy tale endings, and that any guarantee of "happily ever after" must begin with you... and in the process a sense of serenity is born of acceptance.

You awaken to the fact that you are not perfect and that not everyone will always love, appreciate or approve of who or what you are... and that's OK. They are entitled to their own views and opinions. You learn the importance of loving and championing yourself... and in the process a sense of newfound confidence is born of self-approval.

You stop complaining and blaming other people for the things they did to you - or didn't do for you - and you learn that the only thing you can really count on is the unexpected. You learn that people don't always say what they mean or mean what they say and that not everyone will always be there for you and that everything isn't always about you. So, you learn to stand on your own and to take care of yourself... and in the process a sense of safety and security is born of self-reliance.

You stop judging and pointing fingers and you begin to accept people as they are and to overlook their shortcomings and human frailties... and in the process a sense of peace and contentment is born of forgiveness. You learn to open up to new worlds and different points of view. You begin reassessing and redefining who you are and what you really stand for. You learn the difference between wanting and needing and you begin to discard the doctrines and values you've outgrown, or should never have bought into to begin with.

You learn that there is power and glory in creating and contributing and you stop maneuvering through life merely as a "consumer" looking for your next fix.

You learn that principles such as honesty and integrity are not the outdated ideals of a bygone era, but the mortar that holds together the foundation upon which you must build a life. You learn that you don't know everything, it's not your job to save the world and that you can't teach a pig to sing. You learn that the only cross to bear is the one you choose to carry and that martyrs get burned at the stake.

Then you learn about love. You learn to look at relationships as they really are and not as you would have them be. You learn that alone does not mean lonely. You stop trying to control people, situations and outcomes. You learn to distinguish between guilt and responsibility and the importance of setting boundaries and learning to say NO.

You also stop working so hard at putting your feelings aside, smoothing things over and ignoring your needs. You learn that your body really is your temple. You begin to care for it and treat it with respect. You begin to eat a balanced diet, drink more water, and take more time to exercise. You learn that being tired fuels doubt, fear, and uncertainty and so you take more time to rest. And, just as food fuels the body, laughter fuels our soul. So you take more time to laugh and to play.

You learn that, for the most part, you get in life what you believe you deserve, and that much of life truly is a self-fulfilling prophecy. You learn that anything worth achieving is worth working for and that wishing for something to happen is different than working toward making it happen.

More importantly, you learn that in order to achieve success you need direction, discipline and perseverance. You also learn that no one can do it all alone, and that it's OK to risk asking for help. You learn the only thing you must truly fear is fear itself. You learn to step right into and through your fears because you know that whatever happens you can handle it and to give in to fear is to give away the right to live life on your own terms. You learn to fight for your life and not to
squander it living under a cloud of impending doom.

You learn that life isn't always fair, you don't always get what you think you deserve and that sometimes bad things happen to unsuspecting, good people... and you learn not to always take it personally. You learn that nobody's punishing you and everything isn't always somebody's fault. It's just life happening.

You learn to admit when you are wrong and to build bridges instead of walls. You learn that negative feelings such as anger, envy and resentment must be understood and redirected or they will suffocate the life out of you and poison the universe that surrounds you. You learn to be thankful and to take comfort in many of the simple things we take for granted, things that millions of people upon the earth can only dream about: a full refrigerator, clean running water, a soft warm bed, a long hot shower.

Then, you begin to take responsibility for yourself by yourself and you make yourself a promise to never betray yourself and to never, ever settle for less than your heart's desire.

You make it a point to keep smiling, to keep trusting, and to stay open to every wonderful possibility. You hang a wind chime outside your window so you can listen to the wind.

Finally, with courage in your heart, you take a stand, you take a deep breath, and you begin to design the life you want to live as best you can.

And, a never-ending love story begins... you fall in love with yourself.

(anonymous)

Thanks very much Ashok for sending me this. And have a wonderful Birthday and a fantastic year ahead.

The Person Who Hindered Your Growth Has Passed Away..

2010-06-19T04:25:00.000-07:00

This one is not originally mine. I read it somewhere and liked it.
Truly inspiring and thought-provoking......

One day all the employees reached the office and they saw a big advice on the door on which it was written:"Yesterday the person who has been hindering your growth in this company passed away. We invite you to join the funeral in the room that has been prepared in the gym".In the beginning, they all felt sad for the death of one of their colleagues, but after a while they started getting curious to know who was that man who hindered the growth of his colleagues and the company itself. The excitement in the gym was such that security agents were ordered to control the crowd within the room.The more people reached the coffin, the more the excitement heated up. Everyone thought: "Who is this guy who was hindering my progress?Well, at least he died!".

One by one the thrilled employees got closer to the coffin, and when they looked inside it they suddenly became speechless. They stood nearby the coffin, shocked and in silence, as if someone had touched the deepest part of their soul.There was a mirror inside the coffin: everyone who looked inside it could see himself. There was also a sign next to the mirror that said:"There is only one person who is capable to set limits to your growth: it is YOU. You are the only person who can revolutionize your life. You are the only person who can influence your happiness, your realization and your success. You are the only person who can help yourself.Your life does not change when your boss changes, when your friends change, when your parents change, when your partner changes, when your company changes.Your life changes when YOU change, when you go beyond your limiting beliefs, when you realize that you are the only one responsible for your life."The most important relationship you can have, is the one you have with yourself."

Examine yourself, watch yourself. Don't be afraid of difficulties,impossibilities and losses: be a winner, build yourself and your reality.The world is like a mirror: it gives back to anyone the reflection of the thoughts in which one has strongly believed.The world and your reality are like mirrors lying in a coffin, which show to any individual the death of his divine capability to imagine and create his happiness and his success.It's the way you face Life that makes the difference.

Profound. What say?

31derful Years...the Adventurous Journey of a Salesman

2010-05-29T04:26:00.000-07:00

31derful Years………… the Adventurous Journey of a Salesman

It all sounded like a prank. When the newspaper advertisement
Announcing this recruitment said something like- “Earn more than our MD and also get a Motorcycle free”, I thought it was a joke.

But when my father, who scrutinized every newspaper for every line written ( that was his job, by the way), told me that the Company in question would not joke since it was a highly-respected MNC, I decided to go and attend the interview.

The preliminary interview involved selling a tie to a Branch Manager of the Company. And he kept telling me during the discussion, you can’t sell anything in your life.

I don’t know what happened, but I got called for the Final Interview with the All India Sales Manager and the Resident Director- a fierce-looking Englishman if there was one. He bellowed “So you are the chap who threw eggs at his college Principal!!”

I used the safety route to answer him- “Yes sir, it was me who threw the eggs, but he ducked in time”. I guess it worked. I was welcomed aboard and that launched me into orbit as a Salesman for a Weighing Equipment company.

It was on 29th May 1979. 31 years ago- I started off as a Trainee Sales Rep- on a salary that I don’t want to mention here now because most youngsters would find it like a piece of fiction. All I can remember is someone telling me that it wouldn’t even get me my monthly quota of multivitamin pills. But with an Enfield Bullet as a Perk, who wanted multivitamin pills?

When I look back to see where I have arrived, I can say one thing with great satisfaction. The bike was truly worth riding. And the job was truly worth doing.

I took up the job to enjoy bike rides. I still enjoy bike rides. But today I can say that the perks truly added up. To many things.

Many many friends- most of them happy customers. Or should I put it the other way- many many customers, and lots of them great friends.

The other perks have been- so many new places to visit, languages to learn, cuisines to try out and industries and businesses to explore. Rivers in spate, drought-hit areas, snake and scorpion-infested fields, dacoits round the corner, curfew-affected towns, drawing water from wells to drink brown -coloured liquids (ferrous ?) that have contributed to my rock-hard stomach and constitution (!!!), dislocated train schedules and delayed airline departures and hotels with no rooms available so you slept on the terrace !!!

What started out as a fascination for riding a bike, later got converted to selling to keep the fire burning has now turned into something very different.

Do you know why I like to sell and why I want everybody to sell?

Have you seen those boards outside housing society gates asking salesmen not to enter? I wish that all those boards outside housing societies go. I wish they are all removed. Not by hooligans. Or even by enthusiastic salesmen.

I wish that these boards are removed by the Presidents and the Secretaries or office bearers of these housing societies. Alongwith a request to the salesmen to “Please enter. Because you save our lives. Because you make our lives”.

Till this happens I am going to keep selling. And I will keep telling people to sell, and to make sales their career. Their passion.

I wrote the other day about saving the tiger. The salesman is also another endangered species. Will you not save him?

Just think of a day in your life when no salesman sells anything to anybody. Nothing at all.......

You will agree that a million people will go to sleep hungry. Or may not be able to sleep at all. So, respect the Salesman for all that he does.

And may the salesman respect himself and be proud that he sells. May he not disturb people when they are resting at home. But may he not rest in the quest for making and saving peoples' lives.

In the meanwhile I raise a toast to the salesman in me. Cheers!!!

Thirsty Onederful Years !!!

I'm lovin' it.

These are a Few of My Favourite Books....

2010-05-22T04:48:00.000-07:00

I just felt like sharing with you a few of my favourite books.

Here goes....

1. "tuesdays with morrie" by mitch albom (my favourite book on informal mentoring )
2. "alive" by piers paul read (an aircraft carrying a football team crashes into snow capped mountains, and the members of the team fight for survival)
3. "to kill a mockingbird" by harper lee (a story of racial discrimination and two kids)
4. "rich man, poor man" by irwin shaw (two brothers and their intertwined lives, this book is way way ahead of the over-rated Kane and Abel).
5. "the alchemist" by paulo coelho (a book on following your dreams, simple,crisp)
6. "blink" by malcolm gladwell (an intriguing work on how we think, and decide, without realizing it at all !!!)
7. "the day of the jackal" by fredrick forsyth (edward fox may have made the movie memorable, but the book allows you to touch and feel almost every character)
8. "the godfather" by mario puzo (but for the book the movie would never have been there ...and the movie definitely didnt do justice to many characters. the book was chilling).
9. " the life of Pi" by Yann Martel. narration at its best. small, cluttered space on a lifeboat with a boy, a hyena, a tiger and some adventure !!
10. " the greatest salesman in the world" by og mandino (a must for all who sell- anything)
11. oops...see..i couldnt help crossing 10..
"the greatest test of all" by jack fingleton ( for all cricketers/cricket lovers like me, a taut, intense and absolutely unputdownable book on the first tied test of 1961 between australia and the west indies.

And here are my top 5 from indian authors (i dont count robin sharma here)

1. "swami and friends" by r.k.narayan (did he create me ??!!! Swami looks and sounds so much like me !!!)
2. "tin fish" by sudeep chakravarthi (i wish to go back to school and to st.stephen's)
3. "five point someone" by chetan bhagat. (keen observation at its sharpest, though this is the only chetan bhagat book i found good, the others were pedestrian).
4. "the three Fs of life- films, feasts and fables" by gul anand (this man lived his life to the fullest.....and since i am a foodie this book bowled me over, he is even better at food than wife karen anand)
5. the entire feluda series of books by satyajit ray. (wake up sir arthur conan doyle, feluda is neither pompous nor presumptuous)

AND OF COURSE the greatest book of my life is ..."THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN..." ALSO BY THE SAME AUTHOR AS LISTED RIGHT ON TOP OF MY LIST....THIS BOOK IS WONDERFUL

I would love to read lists from readers of this blog.

Intellectual Awareness- for Young Minds at Work

2010-04-29T05:01:00.000-07:00

No, I am not talking about locking horns with Hobbes ,Locke and Rousseau. I am not talking about having to disprove Aristotle or show that Socrates was wrong. I am not even talking about having to sound like somebody giving a discourse on the theory of Relativity. I am talking about being well-informed and up-to-date.
The world is moving so fast that it is just about impossible to get to know all there is. So how do you manage the flow of information or knowledge? Well first of all you need to read a lot. And converse a lot. With the added time I gave you in an earlier blog post on being a self-starter and a better time manager, start separating the grain from the chaff. Stop wasting time in idle chatter or meaningless chatting on the net. Use your time for gainful pursuits. Try solving the clues in a crossword puzzle. Today you have this amazing numbers game su do kuo. Better get used to the numbers game early in life!
Listen to the gurus speak on television. They all have something interesting to say. You may not agree with all that they say. At least you have something to debate about. Watch some of the best communicators in the business talk. And walk their talk.
Above all, please develop or sharpen your interest in reading.this is one habit I find sadly lacking in quite a few youngsters. They don’t want to read, or they just haven’t developed an interest in reading.Reading leads to a powerful vocabulary, a sense of humour and a very good idea of how human beings think. A sense of humour can often get you out of tight situations, believe me.
I remember at least half a dozen situations when alert and smart colleagues of mine have averted disasters at work by being cued in and using humour to their best advantage, whether in handling union negotiations or foreign delegations. Or even Press Meets for that matter.
If you hone your intellectual abilities you may just become more creative. And if you are not going to be creative you are going to be just another cog in the wheel. After all, it is brilliant ideas from ordinary people that have revolutionized our lives. Where did you think the Walkman or SMS came from?
Watching people carefully has led to many new ideas being born. And for this you need to have time and a clear mind. Both will come from better planning and removal of clutter- physical and mental too.
Thinking comes from training the mind. Management and leadership expert Peter Drucker impressed everybody by his ability to keep thinking and to stay sharp past what many may consider “old age”. When he was 88, Forbes magazine featured him on its cover along with the words : “still the youngest mind”.
I picked up some reading material about Drucker. It went as follows-
“Motivate yourself to keep thinking and reflecting. Don’t just let valuable information pass through your eyes and ears each day without taking time to think and reflect on it. The world is filled with people who can perform tasks. But to be unique, like Drucker, stay sharp, and be respected for your contributions well into your later years by developing the habit of always thinking and reflecting upon whatever you read or hear”.

I received a quote recently from a friend that had Ben Franklin saying
“…….If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing……”
Very apt. very very truly said.

By the way, how many books do you read in a month?

In a year?

Would you like to better my score of 72 in a year?

Personal Appearance and Grooming- for the Corporate World- Tips for Young Managers

2010-04-19T05:34:00.000-07:00

I am not going to ask you to be dressed as in Hollywood films. I am not going to ask you to invest in Bally shoes or tuxedos. All I say is, be dressed for the occasion. And be well- groomed. You are going to make your career in the corporate world. So be dressed to mean business. Wear your college blazer with pride, but make sure it is ironed and the buttons aren’t coming off.
It doesn’t matter that you don’t have half a dozen expensive suits or shoes. What is important is that you look neat and clean and professionally well-groomed.

Your clothes should not indicate what you had for lunch. No traces of ice cream on your tie. No marks on your shoes to indicate that you had been playing football with stones on your way to work.

In today’s fashionable times a lot of people tell me that they can get away with jeans and T –shirts at work. I don’t think this is funny at all. Nor do I subscribe to this. Ok, don’t wear a waistcoat to work. But do at least let the visitor to your office, or your customer, know who you are- an executive or the head of the office cleaning department. If you are working alone in the research and development cell in one corner of the office, with no one for company except your own self, by all means wear what you like. But if you are going to meet customers or official visitors please dress properly. There is a time and a place for everything in life, even for clothes.

I read somewhere in a book on grooming something which was very important and impressive. It said “Dress well and people will notice you. Dress shabbily and people will notice your clothes”. I couldn’t agree with this more.
Unless you are a ramp model walking down displaying the latest collection of a star designer you don’t need to show off your clothes. You need to be taken seriously. You need to be listened to as you make your sales pitch. You don’t want the customer to be shocked at the pink shirt you wear with your orange –coloured trousers. Or let someone have a peek at the manufacturer’s label on your inner wear, which I say with the deepest regret that many youngsters today almost get a vicarious pleasure of displaying!!(?)

Young ladies, be aware that being fashionable and stylish are far- removed from being dressed to attract lewd remarks and passes. You are supposed to get business for your company and not passes, not even passes to a drama or music programme. Don’t forget your professional priorities. Ladies who don’t take their grooming seriously often don’t get taken seriously.

Quite unfortunately recently, I had to ask a young man from a biz school to leave the interview table. He had not bothered to keep his shirt collar clean. The grubby clothes showed under the blazer and I thought the young man had no respect for his college, a fine institution if there was one. He also probably had no respect for the job he had come to be interviewed for. When asked why he wore the same shirt for two full days, he muttered something about lack of time or something to that effect. One mistake led to another. He displayed lack of time management and maturity too. He pointed fingers at bus time- tables and late college classes, he blamed his placement coordinator for telling him things late…the bickering went on. And he went out. I don’t hire people who aren’t wanting to look good. Or feeling good, about themselves or about others.

I notice youngsters trying to ape well-known film and sports personalities and often growing their hair or beards like them. If you are growing a beard, check out the general reaction that’s likely to take place at your place of work. And in any case, grow that beard first before going back to work. Nobody likes a colleague sporting a 4- day old stubble to work. Film stars may carry off this attempt at studied casualness. It may not work at office. Please do remember, shabbiness is never a substitute for informality. Tell me, would you do business with someone who is shabbily- attired, or grubby in appearance?

Again, you may not be born great looking. But does that matter? What matters is- how great do you feel? God may not have made all of us good-looking, but he hasn’t prevented us from at any time, feeling great!

Farewell, friends !

2010-03-31T22:38:00.000-07:00

Friends

It was wonderful while it lasted. I thoroughly enjoyed writing in here. And have been amazed by your wonderful and heartwarming feedback on my blog posts.

But it is time to move on. Time to stop blogging. Time to hang up the proverbial boot (ooops....the pen...wonder how one hangs up a pen, though!!).

This is my last communication with you all

Until I return from my vacation.

See you all, as I am off on a well-deserved (or so i think) vacation.

Hope to come back with loads of new thoughts to share.

Take care

(this post was written on the eve of All Fools Day- April 1st.)

Where Have All The Sparrows Gone ?

2010-03-20T05:58:00.000-07:00

Today is World House Sparrow Day.

But where are the sparrows??? Do you see them anymore? As kids we used to try and play with hundreds of them....to the strains of "Chun chun karti aayi chidiya..daal ka daana layi chidiya....."....All gone :(

And where are the crows and the pigeons too?

All that i can see outside my window at home is wires, cables, a lot of digging up, and lots and lots of dust. And a city that has been dug up far more than Mohen jo Daro and Harrappa.

And all i can smell is the oily and spicy tones of various foods cooking at the open air food stalls that have pervaded every corner of the city. And the stench that symbolizes any city today. It smells grey, I don't know why.

The Buck Stops Here. Maturity and Responsibility at Work..

2010-03-18T02:21:00.000-07:00

Haven’t you heard this phrase “the buck stops here”?
It is quite simply a way of saying – I am responsible and everything happens here. Nothing goes unattended and I am going to take care of things.
This is maturity and responsibility. When a team leader tells his men-“go ahead and implement the plan. If it succeeds the credit is all yours. If it fails I will take the flak”. Such a team will surely win.

Having broad shoulders is maturity and responsibility. Willing to take the rough with the smooth and not pointing fingers at other colleagues or other departments. Not blaming the question paper or the examiner. Not hunting for excuses. Simply telling –“ok I guess I failed this time. I shall make up for it. Count on me”. When you point a finger at someone, four fingers point at you, don’t they?

There is a simple way of saying it in Hindi – “Main Hoon Na….”
It means you can tell somebody, “relax, just leave it to me. I am there. Let me handle this.” And then watch the number of chances you get to show what you are worth. Just try it, it works.

When you travel on behalf of your school or college you are going somewhere as a brand ambassador. I can never forget something that happened to a bunch of collegians known to me. They were returning from another town after winning an Inter-University competition. They were carrying their trophies with them and naturally were feeling pleased with their effort and their victory. A rush of blood to their head got the better of them and they did things in public one would not associate with mature and responsible students. One unruly act led to another and soon there was chaos. They attracted the attention of fellow passengers who were aghast at what was happening. A group of senior citizens who happened to be sitting nearby came to know where these students were from and news of their unruly public behaviour reached the Principal even before they reached their college. In fact one of those senior citizens happened to be an alumnus of the same college. What started as a journey back to more applause from their own institution turned out to be the step that led to their suspension from college and ridicule at the hands of so many mates. Please do remember, you represent your organization whether you are in uniform or not. Even at midnight at a railway station or at four in the morning on your way back from late shift. How you conduct yourself will indicate to all and sundry the character that you possess.

Talking of character, I read a beautiful definition for this word. It says “character is- what you do when no one is looking”.

Being assertive is being mature too. Being too loud and crass is not. You don’t need to throw your weight around. Truly successful people are very humble. They don’t show off. They don’t need to. Success tends to make most people a bit immature. But the really successful men will be quiet and peaceful and at peace with themselves. They will conduct themselves in the most mature manner. Almost self-effacing. One such person in today’s times is the chief mentor at Infosys, Mr Narayana Murthy. He is so simple and so much at peace with himself. He has earned success most deservingly. So he doesn’t have to throw it around.

I find the same quality in ex-President APJ Abdul Kalam. He is so down to earth and so friendly. It is so easy for people to open up and talk to such people. When people listen they succeed. No wonder they are so down to earth. They make it easy for people to approach them and talk to them.

Humility, maturity and responsibility will get you many friends. And these friends will be true friends. Not those who hang around you when you are doing well and then just disappear when the chips are down.
I somehow always feel that the maturity and responsibility is by far the most important quality that corporates look for when they are recruiting freshers. After all, we do know that it will take you a while to get other things organized. Knowledge and skills are factors on which a lot of training needs to be given and acquired. But maturity and responsibility is something you can bring with you even as you walk into the office for your first day there.

Please don’t mistake the informal environment at your new place of work as a signal to behave in an immature manner. Once, quite early in my professional career, I made the mistake of misunderstanding the use of first names at a new place of work. I had just joined this company from another where the atmosphere was very staid and sober. Hearing a few colleagues address the regional head of the organization by first name I took the cue and almost got into the back-slapping and “Hail Fellow Well Met” mode before another recently commissioned colleague drew me aside and said that I was going a bit too far. I am thankful to him for pointing this out to me. Or else I may have ended up rubbing a few egos, and ruffled a few feathers too.

Maturity and responsibility also means having the guts and the integrity to not let the small pleasures of life come in the way of bigger causes. Right through life you will come across temptations – small and big. Remember that all is lost when character is lost. Health and wealth may perhaps be restored with some hard work, but character has this irreplaceable air to it. Once gone it is difficult to get it back, in the eyes of people whose trust you have lost once.

Just ask yourself this- why is it that some colleagues or classmates are given important work to do when others aren’t? You might just get the answer.

Often, while going to a biz school to present my thoughts I am accompanied by a couple of youngsters who come to pick me up from my hotel or office to their campus. Those thirty odd minutes of interaction leave me with a very good idea about them. And I must say I have met some very mature and responsible youngsters amongst them. Some of them have already passed out of their college and have begun making a mark at their place of work but I am also sure that they have left a great mark at the place where they studied.

Kick That Butt...No Ifs and Buts

2010-03-10T05:02:00.000-08:00

Did I hear someone say that today is World No Tobacco Day??

Whenever I talk to young men i tell them to kick the butt.

Ooops...don't get me wrong. I meant kicking the habit of inhaling something to the last butt !!

In simple words- Quit Smoking.

I will give you three reasons:

1. Smoking burns a hole in your lungs

2. Smoking burns a hole in your pocket

3.... and i recommend this strongly to all young men..

smoke a cigarette, and immediately go and sit next to a young lady. Her reaction should be enough to motivate you to Quit Smoking.

"If this also doesn't motivate you to give up smoking, go ahead and smoke. You have no right to live..",I say !!! :)

And of course, the last advice is- "if you genuinely can't give up smoking, at least don't Exhale....."

COMMUNICATION KILLS....AT TIMES IT DOES !!

2010-02-19T01:24:00.000-08:00

Don’t get me wrong. I am not talking about the person who makes the greatest mind-blowing presentations. Well, I surely would like to witness some of those, but the skills I am talking about here go far beyond using the latest technology to Zap the audience. The word COMMUNICATION itself has two parts. The first part are the two letters C and O which put together clearly show that you need two parties to carry out a communication. A one way boring speech is not about communication. It is a monologue not a dialogue. Taking the audience along right through is a successful piece of communication. Conveying one’s message right is what we are talking about.
Communication encompasses the spoken, the written and even the silent methods of conveying our messages. Whether in letters, personal discussions or e-mail we show a lot about ourselves the way we communicate. A brand is a communication by itself as is the logo of the company. It has to elicit a response, a positive one at that.
Do you elicit a positive response? At parties, get-togethers and seminars are you the one in the corner or are you the one actively involved. No, I don’t mean to say that you have always to be the centre of attraction. But, surely you could put yourself in a small group where you are listening as well as being heard.
Some people talk too loudly. Quite often a colleague of ours is told at the office to “use the phone when you talk outstation !!!”. and then there are those who mumble, in such a way that no one can understand what they are saying…. This reminds me of a great quote , funny though – “when in doubt, mumble !!!”. No, you don’t mumble. Because people don’t listen to mumblers. They can’t.

Get rid of that artificial Yankee accent. It is only going to cramp your style. Be yourself. Be natural. And make sure you are heard clearly and understood well by the person you are talking to.

One of the most powerful pieces of communication is a smile. Do you use it often? Do you receive it often? Check that out. It will go a long way to make you a very powerful communicator. It is often said that a smile is a curve that sets many things straight !

Communication is about listening..yes, you heard me right. Use the 70:30 formula for success. Listen 70 times and speak only 30. reverse the rule and regret at leisure. Just try being a good listener and see how people warm up to you. Talk all the time and see how often you are left alone, fending yourself. Just try it.

In the corporate world communication plays a vital role that just cannot be undermined.
“Crisp, clear and easy to understand by the salesman located farthest away from you” said one of my bosses when we were discussing how to get office circulars read. A good piece of communication must result in action, not another piece of communication asking “what exactly did you mean?”

Do you remember the story of the two kings who fought each other only because each one of them had sent an incomplete and confusing letter to the other ? Improper communication led to a battle between the two kingdoms and only the wisdom of an old man who stepped in to ask how the war had begun led to a talk between the two kings. Both had left their letters incomplete and both had ended up confusing each other!!! Many lives could have been saved and a lot of turmoil averted had the letters been complete.

I talked about smiling. You use your lips to do that. You also use your lips to do something else. KISS. But hold on, don’t get me wrong again. I am talking about this word as an acronym. KEEP IT SHORT AND SIMPLE. That’s it. Short and simple.
But for God’s sake please do not use the SMS forms all the time, at least not in official communication. Or else when you wanted to say SHORT AND SWEET and just messaged it as – “shrt n swt,” your colleague or friend who loves his Louis Phillips and Allen Sollys shouldn’t think you meant SHIRT AND SWEAT.

“I’m gng thro’ brd” came a cryptic message from a young friend of mine one day…it had me guessing – which gang, who would throw what ? what he was trying to tell me was that he was likely to be traveling to Mumbai via (through) Baroda and that he might like to look me up.. I had the patience to try and decipher that coded message. Some cop (oops…policeman) may have arrested him for thro’ing something !!!
during a chat on intelligence and the use of the brain someone asked another “whch skul u went den?” I didn’t know people used different skulls for intelligence and other ones for not so intelligent answers.
There surely is a dividing line between campus lingo and corporate talk. You get that, dude ? !!! corporate lingo is clear crisp and easy to follow. It doesn’t have to be Gr8. it has to be effective all right !!! beware the use of such talk..or your boss may just tell you that you are lay8 !!!

Orkut may have brought you close to a lot of people. I do agree. But don’t use the orkutting language to get yourself ejected not only from Orkut but also from jobs ! And again, Orkut may be the communication portal for the young. But please don’t be rude or nasty when you write to people especially those who aren’t so familiar. The scrapbook in Orkut is truly an “open” book ! anybody and everybody can read what you write and what you look like. So be responsible as to how you communicate.

Communication is also about body language. Positive body language. Not a slouched posture, not a shuffle. A bold walk. Stand tall, walk with assurance and keep that shoulder straight. You will look a couple of inches taller and smarter too.

And don’t walk with hands digging deep into your pockets with your shoulders hunched up. Leave that to the Hollywood gangsters. Be yourself. Be natural. That makes for good body language. When our style is cramped by imitation of successful celebrities of the silver screen we end up looking very unimpressive. And we end up missing making the point that we want to make, simply because we are too busy trying to be someone else.

Communication is also about eye contact when you talk- whether to a group of people or any individual, because eye contact means you are confident. You are not scared of looking someone in the eye. Eye contact says that you can be trusted. I have seen a lot of people talking the fans – not their fans, but ceiling fans ! what I mean is you need to alter your gaze between people, but don’t look so high that your words actually go overhead !

There are others who talk to the shirt pockets of their audience. That too is not done. Ok, you may want to gauge the budget of your customer but that’s no way to gauge it. please look your target audience in the eye. They will listen to you, believe in you and trust you. Eye -contact actually says- you can trust me.

I CONTACT. YOU CONNECT. WHAT SAY???

The whole world sings his praise..but he has no place to rest....

2010-02-12T23:17:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's Times of India carries a front page article on the news of Mohd Rafi Saab's mazaar having been demolished to accomodate more bodies for burial. in this process many luminaries' tombs also have been razed. this includes Sahir, Jan Nisar Akhtar, Naushad Saab and Madhubala, amongst others.
Islamic law- the shariyat says it does not approve of tombs to be made for the dead.
How come we still sing praises of the Taj, Humayun's tomb, Bibi ka Makbara and so many other monuments and show them off to the whole world???

A great singer and messenger of God brings together people from various places and all walks of life together. even thirty years after his passing on...and he doesnt get a place to rest....???!!!!

"khush raho ehle chaman..hum toh chaman chhor chaley...khaak pardes ki chhanengey watan chhor chaley."

....this is what Rafi Saab must be singing ....

A Chance Encounter with a Gentleman- We Must Save Him

2010-01-31T20:05:00.000-08:00

TIGER, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

William Blake wrote this poem some time during his 70 years of existence in the 18th and 19th centuries.
He marveled at the wonderful image of this great creature and wrote many lines in its praise.

Did he or would he have imagined that in just a few more hundred years the tiger would be fast disappearing from our sight?

At the turn of the last century there were more than 40.000 tigers in India. The latest count indicates 1411.

What are we doing to save this Gentleman?

Now you must be wondering why I call the tiger a gentleman. Well, because he is.

It was a cool October evening in the year 1981. I was returning to Jaipur from Alwar on my Enfield Bullet after completing yet another business trip at this Industrial town in Rajasthan. Almost every time that I worked at Alwar I would make ensure that I stayed over at the Tiger Den Tourist Bungalow that was run by the RTDC (Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation) at Sariska.

For those who are unaware Sariska has been on the Indian Wildlife Map as a very exciting place. The Sariska Tiger Reserve is one of the most famous sanctuaries in our country, located in the district of Alwar in Rajasthan. This area was a hunting preserve of the erstwhile state of Alwar and was declared a wildlife reserve in 1955. In 1978, it was given the status of a tiger reserve making it a part of India's Project Tiger plan.Many lovers of wildlife have spent a lot of time energy and money in making this place a treasure.
In 2004, there were strong and persistent reports that no tigers were being sighted in Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan. It was not only that tigers were not being seen but also and more alarmingly, there were no indirect evidence of tiger’s presence (like pugmarks, scratch marks on trees etc.) being found.

But I am talking about a time before all this happened. I am talking about a time when this majestic animal was very much around and thriving in the luxury of the vast open spaces that Sariska, Ranthambhor and even the Sunderbans, provided.

As the setting sun disappeared quickly into nowhere and it grew darker, I was riding out from Alwar and was headed in the direction of Jaipur via Sariska, Viratnagar and Thanagazi before hitting the main NH 8 and touching Shahpura and later Amer.

I would normally have left much earlier, preferably late afternoon, but a slightly difficult sales call and an even more difficult customer who took much longer to pull out his chequebook delayed my departure. With the order and the cheque in the bag I pulled out, having already vacated my room at the Tiger Den in the morning before proceeding to Alwar for the day’s work.

Just as I entered the periphery of Sariska, my bike wobbled, shook and I had to grind to a halt. A Flat rear tyre !!!

Not a very big issue nowadays I guess, but in the good old days,Enfield Bullets and their wheels were not so easy to handle. The chain and sprocket arrangement warranted the removal of the entire assembly to take the wheel out for removing the tyre. Today, all you need to do is loosen a nut !

And in any case who was going to be available at that god-forsaken place on this route to help me get the puncture fixed…? I was well and truly stuck. Literally in the middle of not nowhere but in a tiger den!

A good two-hour wait ensued, waiting for the only solace. And that was going to be- a truck or a bus that would carry me and my bike to relative safety. And in this two hour wait I realized a lot of things in life.

One was, that in the middle of a thick wooded jungle you are all by yourself. Every decent man driving a vehicle is not going to stop for you. Because he thinks you are a thug, a highway robber or worse, a cop.

The other realizaton was, that you must always be prepared for any eventuality when you are driving or riding, or being driven or being ridden by a piece of engineering. My level of preparation was restricted to a slightly thick wind-cheater, and a packet of Parle Gluco Biscuits (as they were called then).

But what I didn’t realize then, but did later, was that the tiger is a gentleman. I was not at all prepared to meet him ,but ended up doing so, albeit not from handshaking distance. At first I didn’t even notice this royal feline champion. He blended so beautifully with the now dark foliage. But when I did, I froze. Even at around 500 metres away, he was breathtakingly alive. And what a presence! I froze because there was nothing else I could do or dare to do.

The few seconds-maybe thirty or so that we gazed into each other’s eyes still remind me of an interminable period of time. But it looked like ages. At the end of it, he just shook his head, and trudged off, almost as if dismissing me as a commoner, not yet ready to get his audience. That was the time I realized that the tiger is not a preying, harmful, aggressive and cunning animal. He is a gentleman. He did not attack, he didn’t even roar. I had no weapon with me except my half eaten packet of biscuits and sweat stained shirt and wind-cheater. The helmet that I held in my trembling hands couldn’t have broken his blow had he let go off his paw at my head. The tiger does not attack unless he is attacked. The tiger does not kill unless he is wounded, aged, or badly maimed.

And what shoulder and what art
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand and what dread feet?

William Blake must have visualized my predicament almost 200 years back !

The truck driver who picked me up half an hour later confirmed to me that tigers did frequent the edge of the park where I had been stranded. He also confirmed to me that I was still shell-shocked and hadn’t got over this meeting.

I still haven’t got over that meeting. Sariska still sits in my memory. But the tiger sits in my mind as a perfect gentleman.

I request all of you reading this- let us save this gentleman. He deserves a royal place in our lives. He deserves to be treated the way a royal is treated. We need to protect, save and keep the tiger so that we can all proudly say that the tiger is indeed a symbolic representation of a country that we are proud of.

1411 is too small a number..

Discovering and Unleashing Creativity..

2010-01-13T04:00:00.001-08:00

Unleashing your Latent Creativity (from my interactions with youngsters)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --

I am going to surprise you now. Just take a look at your Nokia mobile phone handset. Go to the Create SMS message option in the Menu. Opt for the T9 or Dictionary mode of spelling words. Simply type REJECT. Now look for alternate words in the T9 mode. What do you read? You read SELECT!!!
How simple it is. When you look at things differently you see yet another word. Yet another meaning, even a contradictory one.

The same happens inside you. LATENT means lying unused, untapped. When you unscramble the word, as in an anagram, you get the word TALENT.

Lying dormant inside you is an ocean of capabilities, a volcano of ideas, thoughts and the road to success.

Tap it. Discover it. Unleash it.

Now you are going to ask me-“but how do I know I am creative. Or what am I creative at?”

I can’t think of a simpler rejoinder to this than ask you a few questions.

- is there something you particularly enjoy doing?
- Is there something that completely absorbs your attention when you do it?
- Is there something you love to learn? More and more?
- Is there something you love to talk about?
- Is there something you find easy to learn and to do?

Well, that’s it. This is the thing that draws out the creativity in you. For this you will go places to do it right, to do it better and to do it to your heart’s content and utmost satisfaction.

This is your latent creativity. Unlock it. Open it so that you can do things that will make you and the others around you, happy. And successful too.

Because if you are surrounded by successful people, you are among them, aren’t you?
So the steps are very simple.
Tap it. Discover it. Unleash it.
And watch the result.

Are you smiling now? Have you discovered your latent, inborn creativity?

One more play of words, one for the road.

LISTEN becomes SILENT..which is possible if your INLETS (your eyes and ears) are wide open. And to listen well, you need to be silent, when the other person is talking.

Hey! Wasn’t that creative?

I love word play? And use it creatively too!!!
What do you love?

That’s it. When you do what you love to do, and you love what you do, you unleash your own creativity. And give birth to ideas, actions and results that you could never have imagined.

And who knows.....maybe that's your career goal too !!!

New Year Resolutions....the lighter side of things

2009-12-31T22:11:00.000-08:00

Everybody makes new year resolutions.

My resolutions for the New Year are:

To untie the laces on my shoes before slipping my feet into them, and then tying them back. This means I should be able to bend down and tie my laces. This means I need to be able to bend down. This means to be about 6 inches less in terms of girth. This means to be about 10 kgs lighter and kinder on the weighing scale. This means hitting the gym, not the guys at the gym, daily, come what may. Now, isn’t that quite a few resolutions already?

To eat slowly and chew my food deliberately and methodically. Now guys are going to call me a good “gai” after this. This also means I shouldn’t be on the cell while I eat, shouldn’t talk to anyone while I eat, including my family. So, when will I talk to them? I can’t even chew on their thoughts as I lsten to them. My mouth is going to be full at all times.

Not to snore when I sleep. Now how do I control that? So far it has been a big fat pillow that challenges all laws of levitation, (or is it gravity...??)
a small bottle of nasal drops that kills all the other taste that I have enjoyed during the day indulging in my favourite pastime-eating. That’s because the nasal drops find their way into all parts of my face, leaving behind a more worried look while going to sleep. Even more worried than the look I wear all day.

To invest in a new wardrobe. Now how is that possible when I plan to lose weight, girth and so many other things, including the money that I will spend on this new wardrobe idea?

I read a wonderful quote this morning in the newspaper- because I had all the time in the world to read the newspaper.

“may your troubles last as long as your new year resolutions”- Joey Adams.

Now do you understand what they mean by the word “troubles” and “last”?
Does it mean that if your resolutions last, your troubles will also last ????

After reading this quote I just told myself- "not worth all the trouble. I like you as you are.....".

Homeward Bound, Back to School and Attending Morning Assembly Once Again

2009-12-25T22:57:00.000-08:00

I’m sittin’ in the railway station

Got a ticket for my destination

On a tour of one night stands

My suitcase and guitar in hand

And every stop is neatly planned

For a poet and a one man band

Homeward bound I wish I wasHomeward bound

Home, where my thought’s escapingHome,

where my music’s playing…..

Simon and Garfunkel sang their heart out for this one, and I have truly loved this song. It kept playing in my mind as I drove down to School early morning on Christmas Day. To reunite- with teachers, classmates, old friends and of course, our Principal.

Yes the time had come to redeem something that had been thought of long, long back.
When the mind had probably sung this song…

Aankhon mein sapne liye

Ghar se hum chal to diye

Jaane yeh raahein ab le jaayengi kahan

Mitti ki khushboo aayePalkon pe aansu laaye

Palkon pe reh jaayega yaadon ke jahan

Manzil nayi hai anjaana hai kaarvaan

Chalna akele hai yahan

The lone long walk that most people talk, and that I also took. Not that it was a lone walk always, there were many fellow travelers too. But yes, the walk had to start alone.

Nostalgia isn’t the right enough word. It was more than that. As I stepped into the school premises, almost 35 years after walking out with a Certificate, was filled with a sense of pride, of fulfillment and at the same time of perhaps wanting some more. I suddenly felt as if the years had just slipped by, while at school.

The Old Springdalians' Association had organized Homeward Bound, a reunion of a special kind.

Registering for the event, standing in a line patiently while someone else was being attended to, I caught up with a few guys, yelling, hugging and generally commenting on subjects that were bound to be discussed. Girth. Weight. The length, or rather, the shortening or loss of the locks on the head. And of course, “where are the girls?”
At least half a dozen guys who had shared desks with me in different classes at school said, “you have become Huge,man!!!”

Yet, I felt small, almost humbled, as I looked up at the school building that had also been growing even as we grew out of school and grew up in life.

Catching up with classmates was fun. There was so much to talk about. Yet we keep tripping over our words, and losing track of the talk, as yet another old boy would walk in and join the crowd. Gosh, I have never been hugged so many times in thirty minutes!! 35 years is a long time, said someone. And someone, even more sensitive to the event said, “wonder if we will be here for the 50th…..”. No wonder then, that the other sound which was drowned out by the general din of laughter, yelling and shrieks of recalls, was the click click of so many cameras.

The school assembly went on as usual. It was long, as usual. But we didn’t mind, this time. We sang with the choir. Most of the songs were easy to remember. Hadn’t we sung them so many times…..?!!!

When our Prinicpal spoke we listened in hushed silence. Just as before. And just as before, she had something really good to say. She was celebrating Christmas with all her children for the first time after a gap of 15 years, she said.We hadn't seen a more sprightly 87 year old person.

As old students spoke and reminisced, we nodded, recalling names, events, successes, losses, ruing the loss of some great teachers who had worked hard, very hard to make us what we had become.

Can you imagine how great you feel when your school-day heroes turn around to greet you, and even recall you by name or some happening?
Girish Sethi had been my senior and he was the cross- country and 1500 m running champ. He was also my House Captain. We used to be in awe of him and kept a respectable and deferential distance those days. I tried to imitate him in my school days running up and down the famous (and infamous too) ridge road with friends Suresh and Ramu. And here I was, going up to him, clasping his hand and telling him how he had been my hero. He smiled, greeted me warmly. He asked someone to click us together. And we discovered that in all these years we have been living just two hours away from each other. Girish runs a textile unit at Surat! You can see Girish in the centre of the pic, alongwith me and Gurmeet Grover, another "Gujju" man, by virtue of his having been posted at Ahmedabad with the Insurance Company he represents. We may well have a Gujarat-based Old boys' group soon !!

Meeting Ashwani Nanda after so many years, and recalling the cricket match that we fought and lost, replete with his off-cutters and the catches i took at forward short-leg, and even trying to remember the exact number of runs one scored, all this brought huge smiles to our faces.

Old names, nicknames, pseudonyms, even the familiar calling of names……..all came back to us.Even the saving of Mobile Numbers and e-mail IDs was by using these names.

The moment the formal assembly got over there was Chaos. Everyone wanted to capture a Kodak moment with favourite teachers, and Mrs Kumar, our principal. Pride and confidence melted into a weak-kneed emotional and tremulous exchange of greetings as I thanked my Maths Teacher Mrs Sunderarajan for making me like Maths finally! “You did it Ma’am, you succeeded where so many failed. I don’t even use a calculator now, Ma’am, I am not at all bad with figures now”, I stuttered.

Benu Sinha,the dance master who I had avoided all the while in school was the next, as I needed to tell him that I had fallen head over heels in love with a dancer and had married her, even almost kidnapped her from college on my bike to get married to her. He had a hearty laugh and said he had always known I would do that.

I tried my best English, albeit with a lot of trepidation to tell our English teacher Mrs Jesuratnam that not only me but even my son had gone the Literary way. With great reverence and trembling of hands I saved her number on my cell as I told her that Bangalore, which is where she resides now, was on my official beat. The thrill of hearing her tell a bunch of my juniors, “wait let me first give Rangaswamy my number” humbled me.

Truly humbled, I told myself as I threaded my way through the thick circle of people around Mrs Kumar our Principal.

And then I opened my heart out and told her everything. About how I had hated it when she had asked me to go to the Humanities Section for the last three years in school. How her asking me to edit a class magazine, and then later write for the school magazine "The Springdalian" turned things around for me. How I started enjoying myself at school. And how I went on to study at a great college.And how from there too i walked away not wanting to walk the oft-trodden path for which most people enrolled at that college. And finally how my son had himself chosen the path that I had myself detested earlier in life. And how he is truly enjoying himself. She nodded in her famous emphatic and enthusiastic style, and said “enjoy life, enjoy studies, do what your heart says”.

Did I blink because it was a cold morning or was it because my eyes had gone wet? I don’t know. A silent prayer went up for three people who taught me a lot. Mr Byomkesh Bannerji, Miss Bela Mukerji and Miss Rosalind Wilson. They are busy i am sure. Up there. Inspiring, teaching. Singing. And writing.

Homecomings can be fun. They can be heart-wrenching too.

Work -related exigencies prevent me from attending all the other events associated with this great 3-day movement. I am going to miss it. I am going to miss the sports events, the cultural programmes, the evening get togethers.
But I am not going to miss basking in the warmth of all that happened. After all, it is December, isn’t it?

December means a lot to me. Birthday. End of the year. A new awakening. And above all, the end of every year at school. And a new beginning.

Leaving a mark, building for the future

2009-12-16T03:07:00.000-08:00

the carpenter who wanted to retire
(i heard this story from someone- or maybe it did the e-mail rounds a few years back)..but it is surely worth telling. thank you, whoever sent me this. i often share this with young friends. even older ones, too....!!!

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire.he told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house-building business and live a more leisurely life with his family. he would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. the family could manage.
the contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favour. the carpenter agreed. but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. he resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. it was an unfortunate way to end a dedicated career.
when the carpenter finished his work the employer handed the front-door key of the house to the carpenter and said "this is your house, my gift to you". the carpenter was shocked !! what a shame !! if he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently.

So it is with us. we build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the building. then with shock we realize we have to live in the house we have built.
You are the carpenter. life is a do-it-yourself project,someone has said. your attitudes and the choices you make today, build the house you live in tomorrow.
Build wisely.

If a job is worth doing, it is worth doing well.

Let us always keep this in mind, that what we do must be done as best as we can.
Or we may be like the carpenter who ruined his entire life’s good work with one shoddy piece of work.
The house we build is just like the career that we want to build. Not a slab out of place.
We don’t want to build just a beautiful house. We want to build one that lasts long.

This is all about attitudes. The way we leave our place of work each day, or the day we leave that place for ever. The way in which we leave a mark at our workplace or our educational institution. What kind of marks do we leave ? hopefully not bootmarks or dirty finger prints.
Having been a student of history I grew up loving architectural marvels of the bygone years. I grew up in Delhi and was lucky enough to visit places like Agra and Fatehpur sikri etc. I also got to visit places like the Red Fort ,Qutb Minar , and many of those forgotten monuments the sultanate era and the Mughals have left behind for us to wonder about.
Quite often I am dumbstruck by the carvings, the filigree work, the delicate use of chisels and pens and what have you…
But it’s also quite often that I marvel at the marks left on the walls of these buildings..
“came in 1975 with wife…had great fun !!!”
and below that is an even more bold statement.. “came in 1977 without wife..had Even more fun”
is this the kind of mark you want to leave, for the others to read and speak about you ?
Somewhere earlier I have written about Ashok Mathew and Gurpreet Bedi. They also left marks, for others to follow.
There are people who leave their marks on the Boards outside the school or college Principal’s office- this board is called the Scroll of Honour.

What mark do you want to leave?
You decide.

My birthday- a train journey and Ramesh Narain Kurpad

2009-12-13T22:17:00.000-08:00

Only 4 days back I turned 53. I don’t know how I am expected to feel, or behave! Over some great south indian lunch,my wife asked me, "how do you feel?" I said "I feel very good."

My son said “Dad looks 48,not 53”. I might just believe him because he doesn’t lie.

But yes, even as I was talking to them over my Poriyal and Sambaar Rice,
my mind did travel back a number of years, and to various places and many
people who have been part of this wonderful thing called My Life.

Mitch Albom has written movingly and tellingly about the Five People You Meet in Heaven, but there are so many people we meet on earth that they too make you feel different, feel good and make a difference to your life.

Ramesh Narain Kurpad is 60. He spends most of his time on a ship. He is the communications man on the ship. He has had a triple open heart surgery done on him last year. But that heart of his beats and how beautifully it beats. It beats every time a Mohd Rafi song is played or talked about. I met him thanks to www.mohdrafi.com where he posted some extremely flattering comments on my maiden write up on Rafi Saab. I am yet to meet Rameshbhai personally. We have chatted online on a few occasions and I have spoken to him on the phone a couple of times. He is lively, endearing,caring and absolutely in love with life. At times he sounds like a child, but so what, we are all children, aren't we?

I met him only a few months back, but we seem to be great friends.

Rameshbhai sent me a wonderful presentation about a train journey and how it so closely resembles the journey of life. I first thought when he sent it- oh, one more forwarded ppt !!. But because he had sent it I didn’t have the heart (the pun is unintended for sure !) to pass it over. I opened it. And believe me, I went through it after pushing back an important meeting in the office by fifteen minutes.

Let me try and encapsulate what the presentation said, or rather taught me.

Life is like a train journey. We get on the train and get off it, at times unmindful of what is happening around us. At times there are people who we think are going to be with us till the last destination but they actually disembark much before we think so. They might be our elders and those who taught us things.

Then there are people who join us on the train ride, and travel quite a distance with us. Perhaps family, friends, colleagues. These are people who we care a lot for and those who also care for us.

Many people take this journey as one big joy ride, while for some others it’s a tough daunting journey fraught with worries and fears. At times we feel bad that some passengers choose to take a seat far away from ours when we expect them to sit next to us. At times we even seek them out but once found they don’t appear to be as great travel mates as we originally thought.

For everyone this journey is full of dreams, hopes, aspirations, fear, trepidation and thoughts.

At times our companions will need our help. To help them with their baggage. To help them get on board. At times we too will need their support as we could trip, hesitate, vaccilate.

The greatest mystery of this journey is- we don’t know our last station. Nor do we know the last station of the others sitting near us or next to us. Nor do they know it.

But there is definitely an end. The question is- why fear reaching the last station? Reaching it, or the thought of reaching it may make us feel sad. For we are going to miss those companions or the time we spent with them. But we could cherish those moments as well.

The presentation ends with a great thought.

We can always get back to the main station once more. And look for the companions. And look forward to a great journey again.

Ramesh Narain Kurpad is one great traveler. And he is one great seaman. And he is one great friend and fellow train traveler.

He calls me Guruji and himself my Shishya, just because he liked what I wrote somewhere.

I respect him for his years and for his wisdom.

And thanks to people like him I don’t feel 53. I feel I am 35.

And have just begun to learn things.

When he goes back in January to the waters, after his leave gets over, I am going to miss him. We may not be able to talk so much as we do now. I may not be able to catch up with him at his Bangalore residence.

But I know he is going to be back .So that we can have some more hearty laughs. And we can do “teeka tippani“ as he describes our discussions about our favourite songs, once again.

The presentation he sent me ended with a nice message.
“All Aboard. Safe Journey. Bon Voyage.”

I wish you all this,Rameshbhai.

And some more.