A Very Special Mail

This is one mail which I saved it for a lifetime. I worked with this person indirectly and when we met it was always a casual talk. I like this person because he is very polite and helping. I never knew this person until this mail that I have helped him. Many of my coworkers said a lot of "farewell's" adjectives in praise but this is special and will be special always. Thank you!!!!

Personalised Driving Instructor - Business for a social cause

    Newspaper reads.  "For past 10 years, Chennai has the highest number of road accidents in India"
I travel everyday in highways for about  60 km and I almost see accidents every 2 days and some are really fatal in GST Road (NH). I found a lot of first time car owners and they are always driving it very fast with little road sense.
The reason they do not follow rules are,
1. All cars can go at 100 km/h. They are always in hurry when on road. They do not stick to rules
2. The traffic police is not strict with speed limits (At Delhi I think it is very strict)
3. Driving schools run to make profits and driving like typewriting takes some time to learn.
4. It takes about 45 hrs to become a good driver. Many new drivers take their cars to highways after completing about 10 hrs of driving

    As I have spent who spent about 4 years in vehicle testing group, I was confident that I can  teach people how to drive. I fixed my goal as to make Chennai a better place for drivers to drive. I always talk to their family members and emphasis about safe driving. I also request them to pass the message of "Safe Driving"

I published an advertisement and I asked people to contact me only if they owns a car,  hold  Indian Driving License (which is very easy to get) and still not confident of driving a car. I fixed a price of Rs. 500 per hour. I bought money only if  they found my instructions good and they are completely happy about my service. If they are not happy I tell them to decide on. And till date I do not have any unhappy customer and everyone paid me Rs. 500 per hour.  I thought my customer base is less but I was taken by surprise. I had several inquiries but I restricted to teach not more than 2 persons a week.

Zig Zag driving (Slalom) at low speeds
Just to understand the speed in which they have to steer

A customer learning how to take a  narrow U turn at 20 km/h
(by steering very fast)

My teaching method is simple, I first make sure they get perfect sync between pedals, steering and gear shifting . After that I teach them Parking, emergency braking, overtaking or quick accelerations and Judgements.  All this I do in my Saturdays and Sundays and I am having a wonderful time interacting with "customers" and understanding their way of driving.

About my business achievements,

Investment cost = Rs. 3500  (for 20 cones)

"Breakeven" at with my first customer itself 

Profit achieved Yes!! X times the investment with about 6 customers

After starting this activity in weekends, I worked for all 7 days a week and all days of a month. [It was very tiresome but I enjoyed it]. This activity is helping me to understand how a common man drives and his liking in a car.  I was very happy learning about what a service industry is and I am already learning lessons.

I am sure this experience is giving me an incite into commercial side of a business

I am putting a hold to this because I have much bigger aims to do and concentrate. My Saturdays and Sundays are now completely full. I am working for 7 days a week :) . 

Driven: Autobiography of Mr. Jagdish Khattar

By Suveen Sinha


         I have heard about Mr. Jagdish Khattar as a great man who can be brutal in making decisions and he takes the right one. He was in Uttar Pradesh (a state in India) as an IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officer and revolutionised the transport industry with his ideas, though the mob there was very arrogant and not ready for any change.
Before reading this book, I strongly recommend you to read, "THE MARUTI STORY" by Mr. RC Bhargava. (else wait for my post)

Let me put some best points in his book which I liked about the book,
(this is only a part of the book I have summarized, few more points I will update as I learn)

1. Government Politics and Suzuki's technology
     Right from appointing a MD , appointing a labourer, dealer, vendor for Maruti Suzuki, ministers from government wanted a pie. Most of the issues will be on Prime Minister's table for taking decision. Hence all decisions like technology transfer or training has to wait for a long time.
2. Maruti 800 sold at Rs. 45000 (at a loss)
    No body agrees to sell a product at loss. That is a fundamental business line. Actually Maruti was selling a car at Rs. 45000 and that price would have created a loss. But customers were willing to pay for a car that is to be manufactured 2 years later. So they could get investment from customers 140 crores and remaining 60 crores were invested. "So there is least investment cost". Govenment helped very much for the investment. That is the sole reason even today why Maruti's have cost advantage though they pay to vendors much more than other OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer)
3. Pioneer in Production
    It was during his tenure, Maruti production plant was bench marked with other Suzuki's Plant in Japan and they achieved it by continuous improvement, educating workers and managers. And today yes the plant are world class and highly cost efficient.
4. The Maruti Strike
    The labour union was always favored and their union strikes became often and for all reasons. They were going very powerful that they could not be managed. Khattar took a firm hand. He gave a warning to all employees to stop striking and start working. When they refused he brought in young kids from village who had completed basic ITI training. Made them work in plant supervised by managers. All people who were striking were removed from company. This was the first time the voice from the union was taken out. Here too Prime Minister took the decision to solve the issue.
5. Carnation
     Maruti today has more than 1500 service outlets in India and still expanding. But other companies like Toyota, Fiat, Ford etc do not have such network which is ruining their sales even today. So Khattar once his tenure as MD at Maruti ended, he started Carnation a multipurpose service centre. Yes he is an entrepreneur now and yes he earns in crores.
    

The Little Black Book of Project Management

By Michael C. Thomsett

I was suggested by one of my good friend to read this book.

I have noted the best things which I am sharing here.

First the best lines in the book I liked,

“Your ability to keep the project on schedule is the real test of your project management skills”

“A committee don’t work if there is too much of democracy”

-       So true, I believe everyone can be given a choice to suggest but there should be only one who should be in charge for taking decisions.

“Even if the project is well managed and kept on schedule for 99% of the time if the last step isn’t fine then the whole thing is lost.  The final report is the hardest part”

-       Yes the final report that you make is going to stay and will be the reference document for future

“You read a book from the beginning to the end

You run a business in the opposite way. You start with the end in mind and then you do everything you must to reach it.

Summary of the book:

-       A large project with constrains and no direction will be very difficult to manage if it is not addressed well in the beginning. Clear objectives of the project even though they were not laid down during assignment will help

-       A project success depends on,

Ø  Result  (well defined and broken into smaller tasks)

Ø  Budget

Ø  Time   (Planning / monitoring / Completing)

-The same  can be put as

Sno	Definition	Control
1	Purpose – the most fundamental	Team – Coordination
2	Task Breaking	Monitor – find problem & correct it
3	Scheduling	Action – action taken for the problems
4	Budget	Completion – 100% control till the end

CHECK LIST FOR PROJECT MANAGER

1.    Purpose     

2.    Outcomes        

3.    Problem Kind

4.     What is my responsibility  (it should be laid down clearly and shared)

5.    What is my authority?     (it should be carefully described )

6.    Ask for deadlines          (only if you get the deadlines planning / scheduling/ budgeting can be done)

7.     Network??                (how much network you have within and outside departments also plays a role)

CREATING THE PLAN

After the “purpose” is clearly defined you can define the functions for you and your team. For example,

1.    Clarify the leadership role:        A project manager may be temporary head. So clarify to the team for its smooth running

2.    Do follow through:      But be very careful not to make people feel that you are pinching them

3.    Beware of team priorities and conflicts:       Team members would already have some routine jobs, sometimes for new work addition they should pick out their time. So be sure to use the limited amount of the time effectively

4.    Be available to the team members:            No matter how much pressure you are in you should have time for them when they are working

5.    Remember constantly the end in mind:      If the team is large or comprises of different verticals prepare an organization chart

PROJECT ANNOUNCEMENT MEETING

1. For a healthy start prepare the responsibilities, define them, call a meeting with the working group and if required with their senior people too.

2. Give information / access to the teams wherever required

3. Give each team member a chance to excel. If they repeatedly fail it is very important to have alternate resource to support

4. If a team member already performs well as a team pick him again

5. Be in the team selection process

THE COMMITMENT PROBLEM

1.Why should I work hard to make a project succeed when someone else is going to have the credit? This is a very common thing which hinders the team completely

2. The best way to handle it is identify the member’s contribution and give the credits to him

3. Never make a member work between two demanding managers. He will get fed up.

THE TOP MANAGEMENT PROBLEM:

Sometimes the “top” may not be interested or may burn the bridges you have built. Both are harmful.

Just do your best, be diplomatic and work around these kind of problems.

DELEGATION PROBLEM & SOLUTION

1.    Emphasis on assignment and never on people

2.    To be like that make sure you pick the right people

3.    When work is structured and done in routine it is a “no problem job”. But when it comes to projects you may have to encourage the individual to take responsibilities / calculated risk and on the spot decisions.

4.    Stress team and project goals over individual goals

ESTABLISH A SCHEDULE

“Your ability to keep the project on schedule is the real test of your project management skills”

THE GANTT CHART

It is the best and one of the ancient ways that we cans till follow

THE AUTOMATION SOFTWARE PROBLEM

1.There are softwares to model it but things may not be designed to the specifics you require. If you decide on automation first set the relationship because softwares cannot help in building relationships.

2. The recurring process can be handling through automation

3. The objective of  using a “software” should not be the stress. It is always the project.. as always.

4. Automate for efficiency and not for replacement for your involvement as project manager

5. First overcome the problem involved with project management.

The booked touched on various others topics which I have not added here. I liked the authors examples whereever required. That helped in understanding the concepts easily.Happy reading...!!!!

Memorable Moments

I got the pleasure to be a Chief Judge at Magna Engineering College (Because a senior boss could not attend it).  

The other Judges are at least 10 years elder to me, but my name is on top. It is just because this slide is prepared by Mechanical Students.

 All credits goes to Toastmasters club for teaching me how to give a proper public speech. 

I really loved to hear 300 students clapping after my very short speech (less than 2 minutes on dice). I felt I achieved something. 

I remember my first public speech in a school with Ms. Aparna (State 2nd Rank holder in 2008, 12th board exam).All thanks to our Physics professor for giving us an opportunity. We gave a speech in front of school students of Amrita School in Coimbatore. She gave a wonderful speech on how dedicated one should study. I gave an ordinary speech and key message I said  was to follow your heart, if you love cars become automobile engineer. One 7th std kid came up with his collection of car pictures  that he carefully cut it from auto magazines and said, "This is for you". I accepted it after denying for few times. That was also a memorable experience.

Toastmasters

For people who do not know about Toastmasters club, it is a great place to be if you want to improve your public speaking skills. There will be a mentor for you, they will give positive feedback and areas for improvement. Few great things that I noticed there are,

Fire your Confidence

In 2002 a person joined the club and he said his only target was to stand before the crowd for 60 seconds irrespective he is speaking or not and said he failed in it. He fails miserably to greet people. But now, he is rocking star in front of crowd and he is one of the most admired man.

He is not alone, there are so many people who take toastmasters seriously become better and confident people. They all say one thing in common. Practice Practice Practice!!!!

Mentoring

You get to see some Directors of IT firms, Experts technical people and others who excel in one thing or the other and have passion as public speaking for years. So with their past experience, they really do good mentoring. Mentors are must and I have seen a lot of people who can inspire you.

Networking

I would have spoken to about 100 people from different Toastmasters club. I really liked it. I am making new friends.

Listening to other peoples thinking

When you hear a prepared speech from  Toastmasters, some people can  to throb your heart and most of them prepare their script thinking a lot from their mind. That can pierce into your mind and stay there. I was very much fascinated to watch them. Sometimes when I see people giving their first speech and it is awesome. And sometimes that helps to know about them too.

Best Hobby

I had never had any interesting hobby. This looked very perfect for me. And whenever I hear an applause from audience, I feel GOD.

The Chennai Start

I moved to Chennai somewhere in March 2012. In this 1 year (1 year and 6 months) at Chennai, I experienced new things, let me put it in points,

1. Train journeys:
As my hometown is 500 km from Chennai and my office is 30 Km from home. I almost travel about 1200 kms per week and I commute by using trains. (as it takes Rs. 250 to travel home and Rs.10 to office). I used to observe a lot of people. Sometimes I used to start conversations and I allow them to speak. One thing they teach is life is not fair. [but life is not fair to everyone and that is life]

2. Learning to Enjoy the solitude:
Seriously, being alone in a room without any disturbance is a luxury nowadays. That helped me spend time on thinking. Though lots of things run in mind, after a certain point you start to focus.

3. Visiting Government hospital, Police station and Court room:
That was the worst days of my life. My friend died of poisoning. I visited government hospital for autopsy report, police station for closing or taking action and court room for altogether a different issue. It is very hard to work with government agencies. (Thanks to CCTVs at least now people do not ask bribes open)

4. Step to change the way you speak:
To make other people understand what I think and to understand the exact meaning what others speak was really a tough task. So to express myself properly I found a mentor and to understand the exact meaning for what others speak I started to ask questions.
The first golden rule to speak. Listen to others carefully when they talk to you. Understand their needs.
(this was really a new learning)

5 Run Lola Ruuunnnnnn.....
When I was in Gurgaon, to run 500 mts was a big thing. Now I can run non stop for 3 kms and with little pitstops, the maximum I have run is 7 kms.(I call that as endurance run)

6. Karting and Driving in Race tracks
I have spent about 4 years in test track testing cars which has too many safety rules.But the best way to enjoy car is taking it to test track on a sunday morning and driving  it crazy with max speeds. WOW you will feel GOD.

7. Meeting with Chandoo.org
That was one of the best meeting I had. He is expert in Excel (IIM graduate too!!) I love his website and I will create one similar to him.

8. Teaching others how to drive
I was trying to teach 3 new people how to drive. (may be against their wishes, as I asked them to take care of petrol cost which they wanted organisation to take care). But one thing I learnt out of it. This is one of the simplest thing that can be taken out of the closed business of Automobile Industry.

9. Joining Toastmasters
ha ha!!. I thought public speaking is easy. But when I saw some prepared speeches, it was stunning. I wanted to be best in public speaking. It is my hobby now. Listen to speakers and present speeches in front of the crowd.

10. New Friends:
I have new friend circle at office and I meet random people at toastmasters who are good speakers. I get energy when I meet people and trying to understand them. 

2012, A year to remember!!!!

2012 it is one of the best year which turned my life.

January  - I realized that I was getting angry for simple things. Started to note down few mistakes in my life

Feburary - Good bye to the company that was turning me into an aggressive manager. I was very very happy that I am not part of it anymore. Well the organisation is good. The best thing I like is the discipline in many departments. But the exposure to American, Europe culture, working methods makes the younger generation difficult to adapt to their self made methods of working. Also I wanted more. Not just a test driver or testing group head after years. I wanted more, CEO :).

March - Took a break from professional life for 45 days. Learnt tennis. My childhood dream. I can now rally, serve and play. I could lose around 5 kgs :)

April / May / June - Joined a Automobile OEM new to India. They believe that the power comes from the skill of their employees and they give perfect training. They gave me books to read for 3 months. Training how to drive cars, and even Excel (advanced course like how to wrk in VBA)

July - Got a chance to visit Japan on my Bday and the first day in my professional life I wore a blazers.

August / Sept - Confirmed that we will be working for a luxury sedan for next 2 years as part of training and then may be shifted to any other departments


October - worked to establish Library for 40 lakhs with only condition that it should be with vehicle dynamics books, NVH and Crash testing. (a very different work). It seemed easy in beginning but it was tough and time consuming. I would say this was the first project that was given to me with just one statement.
I made the rules and direction for the first time.

November - Training by IDIADA. The best and the costliest training I have attended.
12 Lakhs for 3 days. I think that would be half of the total cost spent on my education from 1st grade to undergraduation. he he!!!!

December - Month full of rest. No work. Getting ready to go to Japan. But this time we are going to do some serious business.

But yes I consider this year was the best year that I spent some time thinking and took some good life changing decisions.

I consider being born in this world itself a blessing and I am very grateful to my mentors who made me realize this, in 2012.

I lost and I found it

A year back one of my senior (I should say old senior who is expert at managing things) gave me about 6 GB of Automotive presentations, ebooks and management books too. He also gave his lectures that he used to share with college students which he usually does as a part of social service.

I had for a long time in my system and one fine day I arranged them based on subjects in 10 folders. Next day I lost where I saved them. I thought I deleted them unknowingly as I was seriously clearing data from my laptop. I really felt very bad for losing them. I found it very difficult to collect information without it especially on automotive subjects. And today I found them. eeeeee :) Cloud computing where are you???????

Values of life is not in degree certificates

A wonderful article from The Hindu. Author : Sriram Balasubramian.

I strongly believe this article is a fact. I am also to an extent victim of the Indian Education System of studying books without understanding, mom forcing to study English though I never knew why I was forced. But after my college and in my professional life, I got chance to meet and see some best people who really made me realise the value of life.

There is one instance I remember during my 12th std school. My good friend asked to memorise all Thirukural (poetry in Tamil) so that I could answer my board exam and get additional marks if we could quote the same words. I told her that, what it says are principles in life that has to be followed in life. I will remember them for lifetime and I need waste time in memorizing the actual words. (And hidden fact is that, Language marks are counted for admission in Engineering or medical colleges during my school days!!!)

I am happy I also had some brain!!!! I am proud of it!!

Dropping out has always fascinated me. Dropping out of college is always something that has intrigued me a lot. The reason being that quite a few of them who actually drop out go on to become not just world beaters but path-breaking innovators who actually improve humanity as a whole. While my intention is not to encourage people to drop out, I feel that this actually works for a certain section. Here's why:

Education is defined as a process in which we gain knowledge, values and skills set that can aid our future lives. In today's educational systems, we are told that these three core competencies are imbued in us, unfortunately that is not always the case. The fact is, in quite a few cases, we are stuck in the illusion that we have obtained these under the garb of a degree certificate. A degree certificate is largely (not always, there are exceptions) a reflection of our memorising ability, our ability to study local author books to pass the exam somehow and also of knowledge which eventually gets diluted once we enter the working world.

In essence, our educational experience fits the person who is comfortable with adapting himself to a structured system. The structured system is efficient in its own ways but it suits only certain types of people. On the other hand, the person who has dropped out, ironically, attains all the three competencies with his experience with the practical world.

First, the dropout experiences downright humiliation from society. Our society would decry and despise him for his inability to cope with the Engineering/Medicine demands. He then goes through a stage where he is mentally cornered and he decides to pursue the unknown. He starts to explore himself more since he has the time to do so and doesn't have much of a choice.

Once in the exploration process, he decides to explore the unknown in his area of interest. He is not confined by the structures set by either society or the system; thus the exploration covers a much wider area of study since that individual never takes anything for granted.

For example, if I was an engineering student, I would forgo some chapters in my syllabus since these would not be covered for the “exam.” On the other hand, the dropout would try to explore the practical implications of this subject and explore the unknown within this subject by reading on his own. As such, this allows him to study beyond the realms of structural education which narrows down our intelligence to a streamlined path. This immense exploration enhances that individual's knowledge in a much wider perspective, a perspective that would enhance his skills set also.

Skills set is a very crucial aspect of education. In fact, the focus on education should be on the skills set more than the academic jargon. Once an individual starts to explore and settles in one specific area (owing to his own exploration and not what the system pushes him into), then that individual will look for skill sets that can help him out. Additional courses can help him gain this practical knowledge that can directly help his area of interest.

When the dropout ventures out to earn his skills set, he comes across the wrath of social prejudice at a very early age. The impact of social inequality and social prejudice sets into that person very early on. As such, the dropout understands the need for finding ways to enhance the fundamentals of long-term success. Most of the dropouts generally look for role models and they realise that the values system is the base for any success at any stage in life. The fundamental importance of values, which the educational structure often overlooks, is imbibed by the dropouts at an early stage. The practical hardships of surviving without anything also make them yearn for more sustainable success mantras. As such, life corners them to imbibe values within since their survival is at stake.

My reference here is to people who want to succeed but they are not able to do well in the structured and rigid education system we have. In no way do I encourage people dropping out, if given an option it should be avoided. However, if someone is forced to drop out (or feels that's the way out), then the world is equally at his feet. It offers him enough possibilities to gain knowledge, attain skills set and enhance their value systems.

Just because you drop out doesn't mean the world ends, it is just the beginning of a whole new exciting world!

(The writer's email ID is: rams7777@msn.com)

Best of 2011

My Bday

I had the best surprise for this Bday. All my school mates together in chorus singing me a Bday song at 12 noon through phone. Wow!!! That is the best thing that happened in 2011. My college roomies also gave a wonderful ‘blast’ at Gurgaon.

Trip to Manali and Agra

My mom, dad, sister and brother in law were here for a trip. We started early to rothang pass and the road was even skidding. Wow that was the best experience. I made them play in ice. I made them have an experience of para-gliding. Wow!!!! Wow!!!! Wow!!!! The best trip of my lifetime.

My best friend wedding

It is a beautiful love story. Arranged marriage though. He was not interested in marriage at all. But his mom forced him to her house. I still remember his words, “When I saw her, I could not refuse”. The best one is that she wanted him to write a poetry and the William Shakesphere searched in internet and sent to us for grammar correction. Ha ha J

Well there were other school friends wedding though but I could not attend.

I was very happy to see many happy faces.

Trip to Rishikesh for rafting

We were about 21 college guys having a get-together. We enjoyed to be best. The pics at facebook talk louder than anything else.

Pushing my swift hard

The pleasure of driving in beautiful road 2 lane road in Tamil Nadu. I travelled 400 kms just to take my dad home for new year early J.

My colleague words

He joined my team beginning 2011 and he introduced me to his friends one day as “Mentor”. Ha ha. J That was the first time I realised that I should teach him.

He made me refer books.!!!! Later during end of the year, he said in a meeting that, “Naresh sir is responsible for whatever I am today” Wow!!! I never expected these words from him. (I think the truth is he is best. He was sincere in learning. He had the urge to learn, work. Any kind of work )

I consider it as an achievement in life. Also there are other people who have told me, “Sir give us orders, we are there at your command” ha ha J I felt too good though it was for fun part.

I am happy that I could team up with people

The urge for money

There were many of my friends who has a BMW and one with posted with a Lexus. I could not resist the urge going abroad, especially after visiting Japan. I was mesmerised with the perfection and the quality of living of the developed world. The easiest way is study there and get a job.

It made me sick. To come out of the madness, it was very hard. It was very hard to convince myself that job is same everywhere. One should compromise few things if we want something. I was completely convinced that I was not the guy for taking up "research" for rest of my life and fooling myself. I will take the research on what I like :)

I found very difficult to convince that I should do what I like and prepare every step for a long run. It is one life and I rule it not the environment or the money.

The professional life

I had the bad time. I was seriously angry on my boss, the systems we followed and some rules which I could not accept. I grew lazy and I stopped working. It made me feel low at working place too. In professional world problems are not like 10th std Maths question paper where you try to solve by yourself, we can work in groups and solve them. The only thing you should have is the willingness to work together.

2011 was a big year in my life. It made me think to take me to right path.

Rotang Pass trip

This is the trip of lifetime

The trip to Japan

I visited Japan for a week long trip. My school friend commented that I was too casual in packing things to Japan. The trip was a big eye opener in my life. I really loved the developed country and it was a learning as soon as I landed there.

All I did in the week was to observe people and work. If I need to communicate something I had my boss to interpret for me :)

The office was looking too old but the 'proving ground' was rocking. It was with banking and cars can fly at 200 km/h or more. It is the best testing place I have been.

Well the important learning was the about the Job. How the same work which is done at Japan is done (oops messed up) at India .

The office was very silent though it was packed with people , unlike my office which will be like a fish market sometimes.

Each and everybody is alloted the definete job, planned work and work is made simple. The best part is there is definite procedure in which each and every job has to be done and is done the same way. "Each time every time and flawless". And yes to cap it all, they are technically very very strong.

Do you know how I was working?

A bit of job 6 people were doing at Japan.

And hence every thing, is not perfect, incomplete and in hurry.

We also do planning but it never worked.

We also have procedures in written but its clause keeps changing with respect to time, boss and whether the person is willing to do.

Well that was the first time I felt very bad, about my working at India.

The next was when my senior returned from Japan after learning their testing methods. He tried very hard to teach people to work on specific way, but nothing worked.

That is the same case with all my seniors, some give a push for 3 months some 6 months but later everyone changes to Indian style.

In fact they were frustrated after learning the Japanese systems and may be this is the reason why even after 25 years of collaboration things do not change here. Each department fighting with each other!!!!

I think my Japan trip is my life changer. (As I started to fight with my boss or anyone who just makes testing standard in air and on the spot)

Seriously the Japs are great, I have a special respect (Indians are too below their standards) for their way of life. (simple and loving!!!!). They are patient and the repetition in testing or experimenting with things is on very higher scale which a few at India also follow.

To put it in one line, "Japs are like monkeys and Indians are donkeys" A famous quote in our working area. he he :)

The passion for driving

This kid is one of my best junior who has "invested" all his money for his passion for cars.

Actually what makes him special is, he does not know driving but he has too much of passion to race. Good luck junior enjoy every pleasure of driving.

Professional ??? - who wants to be one

3 years into an automobile sector will definitely make u the so called PROFESSIONAL.

I remember my friend when he left for higher studies said, " the only best thing I learnt in my job is 100 different ways to screw people".

Well, that was not the learning I wanted to have or I never aimed at it.

The only time I think I was serious in learning the job was the first year. I loved it. The next year I was handed over the best team, 3 people to work with me. They are the fastest at work in my department, very young too(with better technical skills and exposure than me). So all I need to do was to tell them the work. The project we are associated is a milestone for Maruti." We design and we test" the model that we are going to launch 3 years later. Hence the board is very strict.The test reports that I used to make in a hour ended after 3 days. The work I do is small but heavy documentation and observation remarks were expected, which I have never done nor my 'fast' team.

We were slowed downed in every report that we sent. And if any query sent by Japanese officials, we are screwed. Just to answer his query, I would have to spend 2 days. But when I recieved so many queries (imagine questions like what is the ambient pressure in test track?), at one point of time I stopped answering them.

But working with this team, I would say is the biggest lesson. All my life be it school or college or my first 2 years at Maruti, I never aimed for perfection. The 100 percent.

Now whether I like it or not, I should be perfect.

I thought becoming professional is simple. (Talk less. Smile less. Ask as many why and how questions). But the biggest factor is like I was taught in college is the'common sense' or Leadership.

I think that is for the individual to think and develop. And I think I will make it in this year.

This is my target this year and I know I will die to make it.

(and one more target, changing the minds of few assholes who still think we are a government organisation)

Our First Road Trip. Pleasant memories!!!!

he he :)

This is one good memories.

'Working for' a company ????

I remember one of my conversation with my dad (when I was a school kid) at a small hotel while we were eating there, I calculated how much the hotel earns and how much is his profit approx. I told him it is as equal to what you earn or more than that. ha ha.

That was a good conversation. He told me a lot of things his experiences and learning about business. He said the target is earning money only, and people generally go to any extent for achieving it. The basic quality one should have to do business is to lie.

Well that created a bad thinking on my mind on people who do business. (I even thought that the people who do business are rich because they suck the money from the commons by cheating)

But later when I joined college, I could meet good people and it questioned my basic beliefs. The best one is the above. It made me to think on how each and everything can be turned into business though I was not interested much in starting up own immediately after college as I seriously lacked direction.

A big truth is that in most of the families (in south India especially) are brought up by saying study hard and then one can get good 'job in esteemed organisations'. Entrepreneurship is not a term used at all. It is actually looked down. Usually people who do not get jobs try their hands in it.

That is not the scene now. One of my friend in college, is now a CEO of logistics company. What he did? He invested in lorries and he is having considerable amount of profits now. And one more guy, left his job and started a drinking water purifying plant in Coimbatore. Well I can list down more and more people I have known who are now 'real young masters of business administration'

I had a conversation with one such young entrepreneur, and few important things I could find is,

-- he was not interested working for a company (he indirectly abused me by saying they are giving peanuts to what we do)

-- he went to streets of India to understand business. (The guy drove a truck for a month to understand pros and cons)

-- the risk taking ability

-- the best one I found is, the urge for money. He spoke to me like as if he wanted to turn time, space and his life into money.

It made me feel great. But when I asked myself about it, I was still a BIG NO. In fact many. Hence we are "working for" company. ha ha. (we are people who like what we do!! ha ha)

My Car

Finally I bought a Wagon R.

Took a 12 ‘o’ clock drive on the same day along with other friends till the needle showed some ‘empty sign’ for fuel. Ha ha.

Let me tell you about my confidence builders in buying a car.

Test Track – My first confidence builder

I learnt driving after coming to Maruti and my love for it increased when we (only lucky 3 guys out of 268 people in my batch) were put in department which owns the test track. We were first asked for government license. I did not have and I went to a training school for learning and “making” a licence.

Actually licence at Haryana is very simple process. Pay Rs. 2000 and you get the license in a week. Everybody knows that. But unfortunately for me I did not even have a “government ID card” as proof. I did not have Voter ID, or Pan Card or even my name in the home Ration card (as we had just shifted out house back to Coimbatore and I shifted to Haryana). I was allowed to drive with a Learners License that I had got during my college final year.

I learnt driving on test track. Initially a small patch was blocked (so that no vehicles comes in the way) and we were allowed to drive with “experienced” persons (actually they all have experiences of banging their car during their 20 years of driving). Later after weeks we were allowed to drive with hazard lights ON. (Indication to other test persons that some “hazard” is driving) I used to drive after 5:30 pm as there will be fewer vehicles in test track. (But some seniors do not permit as it gets dark).

Driving in a test track is very easy. Broad and perfect roads and you are sure that there is no vehicle close to you, no vehicle opposite to you as well. And one full year went driving inside test track. I have taken my vehicle in all kinds of tracks, muddy, sandy(this is the best one I loved it is hard sometimes), rough road, high gradient etc. (I still remember when I was practising stop and go in gradient, the cluch burnt very badly and there was heavy smoke from vehicle. poor vehicle!! 4.5 lakhs burnt out in just 1 hr and no body used it after that).

The accidents – Second confidence builder

I have seen accidents in test track. (How did I see matters more).

In codriver seat. I remember it still. It was an SX4 and its suspension was completely altered and was out for trial. The vehicle swayed like hell, went out of control and in fraction of seconds we were into bushes leaving a long tread marks from tyres. That is a huge learning. It thought me morals of driving. From that day I respected “seat belt” and safe driving. I am sure I would have been out of front windshield if I was not wearing it.

(I think this will be my only order to loved ones, “wear your seat belt else you are not coming with me” )

I should also mention about my boss, I do have broken some headlamps and body dents etc. He always asks, “Are you OK?” and no action / lectures from him.

Once the track in charge made a complain for speed driving and he replied, “New guys are doing high speed turns huh. Good yaar, they have learnt it fast”

He has been our motivation and he always asks us to be cool when driving.

“The outside driving” – the ultimate confidence booster

3 different routes of 200 km each in Haryana and Delhi, one to simulate high way, other for traffic condition and third for rough road simulation. (I finally got my licence by actually driving in front of the authorities.) I really loved driving on the roads of Haryana. I should thank my seniors as they have taken responsibility for my driving and the vehicle also. That was the best learning. My urge for buying a car increased exponentially after I started to drive on Indian roads. I my first 3 days I was bit slow and was sweating, but after that I became a very cool driver. I have driven all vehicles be it small car, sedans or the MUVs from Maruti.

I would have covered around 2000 kms on Indian roads and I would have at least clocked 10000 km of driving in my 2 years at Maruti. What else you need to buy a car? (Apart from money, which I think I am paid enough, to quench all my thirst)

And finally I ‘feel’ my car. Ha ha.

Sports and Me

I think it started very early. In my dictionary Sports always mean fun and smiles. I had people with me to play cricket and badminton even at 1^st std. Chess, carom, video games, cricket, football, volleyball and even I tried basket ball and every other game that was there available at school.

I think sport is the best thing I learnt from school. I walk to my school till 5^th std when at Chennai.(I mean my home is so close to the school so that we can play till late evening) I think that was the best period of my sports life. Every body loves to play. There will be schedule for competitions all over the year. I think that is the best part of Chennai schools. (at least the one I studied)

Then got shifted to Coimbatore and I could only find bookworms in the new school though there is good ground. The truth is there are no sports activities. Matches come once in a year and after that no body goes to ground except people like me who loves to ‘relax’ after several hours being in class.

Like most of the Indians I am also impressed of cricket. Well for playing rather than watching. We played in streets and even in smallest possible places. I was one of the youngest to be in the school team that usually gets lost in either first or second match. I remember playing 50 overs match and we were all out in 15^th over.

My childhood heros for me were the best players and the sports staffs in school.

College it was different. I was not even selected in top 20 list for cricket. (Actually I was not that interested as I thought college is the best and last chance that I have, to show to the world that I have some brain.

So did not turn to sports till I got placed) :((

And in final year, back to the ground, quenched all my thirst for games. 3 hrs in the morning then go to sleep and 3 hrs in the evening and have a nice dinner with friends and sleep. This was my routine after I got placed. (And in 7th sem I think I got my least marks )

Still after coming to Gurgaon we sometimes find time to play. If late night it will be football and in holidays we played cricket especially during winter. The best part here is the company organises events and hence it would have waving period of lull and peak.

And one more, there is an automatic alarm set in my brain - when ever my waist exceeds 34 inches, I start to work out heavily in gym. I think it first happened in college when I became a 82 kg idiot at the end of third year and brought it down to 72 kgs (sporty) at the end of final year.

I am sure I will take care of my waist as it is the confidence meter for me I guess.

I love sports and be sportive. Ha ha

My Junior in College joins as junior at Corporate as well

From the day we joined Maruti we 6 classmates (brother from another mother!!!) are staying together in a rented home. After our one year of training, 2 guys got the opportunity to leave Japan for another one year of training. So our count reduced and we badly needed at least one person to share the home (at least the bills). Fortunately we had our junior joining in the same month.

What good things happened to be after that?

1. He gets up early and wakes me up on time. (it is six sigma till now. No errors)

At least once in a week I will be late to office. I sleep late and hence one alarm is not enough to wake me up the next morning. In fact he is better than alarm. Sometimes I used to have shock treatments (shocks but not electric) and wake up baffled.

2. We burn out in gym. We get motivated by each other. The attendance has terribly improved to more than 20 days a month which used to be 5~6 days a month

3. A good source of information also. Our conversations sway from anything to anything on earth. Just out of college !! they will obviously be very very curious about industry that makes us to think.

Well these things are not because I got a junior; it is because of the person. (And these are what I have mentioned others will even write more)

I remember when I was in college I used to dump him with all club activities and at last I took him for a grand dinner in one of the best hotels in Coimbatore (as a way of telling him a big thanks for his support).

Being with college mates (hostellers in fact) itself is a real blessing and when ‘best’ junior also joins the club, ha ha, my personal life is rocking with fun.

Thank you junior.

You have been a positive change for us.

Car, car and cars

I think of most of the people in India, buying a car is really a big thing at least in my family. From the day I joined Maruti I force my dad to go for one. I suggested him an Alto as he can learn driving and may be after few years we can upgrade. But his answer surprised me.
“Naresh I think, Alto is little puny and I think I will go for SWIFT”

This happened at around 2008. And I succeeded in end of 2009. And still he feels that it is something a sort of expense rather than a need. (Unfortunately the SWIFTs have become hot selling car in recent times that we have a huge waiting period).
This is one part

Second one, a car for me, to use in Gurgaon. (Gurgaon has one of the worst weather conditions, best roads and good must visit places in just a 6 hrs drive which makes it a need rather than a pleasure toy). I started to hint for a car to dad once I finished my training. My dad never refused but he did not comment as well. I saw some of the second hand vehicles Altos, Wagon R etc (but only Maruti cars as I can understand and service small issues by myself) but every thing I felt like shit. I told my father I am going for a newly launched vehicle and he said OK.

Now the confusion starts.

Should I go for a vehicle that costs about 3.5 ~ 4 lakhs or should I save?
Am I going beyond my limits?
Will a car turn to be a burden?

And to add to that my sister also confused me.

“Naresh do you really need it? You are so young to own one? Save money? What will happen if there is economic slowdown again? What will happen if you bang somewhere and cry for help (Ladies have their own imagination)”

I also think car is not a necessity.Also I love cars. I want it. So I need it. I trust the future is great and I do not go bankrupt because of buying a car. I feel I am missing a car badly.

Ohh sister I am buying just a car, not an airplane.

Upset? Are you feeling low?

For everyone there can be a great period of joy and success happening. But a period of lull is also not avoidable. That is the testing period of a person. I think the best time to attack a person is when he is confused / stressed / mentally sick / when he is angry.

By my personal experience, I think during those lull period every person needs support. And that 'support' is very crucial. Some fall prey to other people who takes advantage and become masters of them. The best example are the "gurus"(so called gurus) who say they give salvation and peace to souls. You can see many big industrialists and many professionals falling pray seeking that "support"

This is a wonderful mail from my inbox. Dated somewhere around end of my college final year.

This email was written to me from my senior when I went through for a period of lull and when things were all out of my hand.

Hi Naresh,

It was nice to have that long conversation with you last night. Just want you to keep a few things in mind:

1. We have limited/no control of our environment - what we have control over is our performance and only excellence speaks in the long run.

2. What would be required is that you make sure you understand yourself first, then it'd be easier to understand the others .... what I mean by this is know the strengths and weaknesses (not a placement question!) - in other words, know the possible mistakes and flaws - let me illustrate this - say you know that you can do 98/100 things to be done right and there's 2/100 you do wrong - then it'd be easier to make sure you do not make these 2 mistakes rather than think of the 98 you can do right - in this way you never go wrong. If you make a mistake, 1 out of the 2 in 100 - then you still learn. You can make yourself 99/100 right .... I'm not confusing you with length nonsense, but think about it ... winners don't take the joy ride to the top, people introduce bumps on the road below and don't be surprised if they introduce the bump from above also!

3. I like eagles - for one reason - (I'm not speaking like a maniac poet ;-)) - do you know that mother eagles drop their offspring from great heights and see their little offspring scream as it goes crashing towards the ground? The mother catches the offspring before it hits the ground - it does this maybe 5 times, maybe 10 times, but the next time - the little offspring soars high on its wings!

4. I'm not sure if you'd like this example, but I like it - The Bible. Look at the life of Jesus - he was killed and humiliated by his own people (the Jews, not his disciples/believers). What did he do wrong? Nothing other than speak the truth and heal and bless people.

5. Reality now - keeping these and making one self strong is not at all easy. It can be traumatic. I still get disturbed and irregular heartbeats when someone knocks/bangs the door in the dark. But, the end result for us is that we come out a stronger person.

Please take whatever would be of use to you from this e-mail and discard the rest.

Pls do keep in touch.

I came across this mail today in my Inbox. Wow it gave me a great feeling that I do have good people who can "support" me.

Please friends if you are upset about something all you need is 3 good friends for support