Welcoming the Year of the Growth

This comes in very late for a year that might be so important.. but better late than never.. this continues my tradition of naming every year and working it around a theme and that helps me organize my life. A quick recap on this :-

2006 - The year of the 'Transformation'
2007- The year of the 'Rising'
2008 - The year of the 'Making'
2009 - The year of the 'Realization'
2010 - The year of the 'Blossoming'
2011 - The year of the 'Consolidation'

and now it is only likely that after consolidating .. new life and new beginnings ought to be made in this year.. and yet there has to be a precursor to growth. This year can be nothing but the year of the 'GERMINATION'.

'Germination' arises from preparation and also sowing of seeds and irrigating them . The Vedas says that new life is created only when fire and water come together . Thus this act of germination is going to be interesting for the times to come. What we sow is what we reap and out of what we sow .. we germinate few ...and even fewer see the light of day and grow into something tangible and productive later on with time.

Germination is therefore the cusp for the past and the future and is firmly the present and this is how i can expect this to be. However, Germination can be a lot more and can be described in many other ways as well and only time will tell how this turns out to be in actual apart from expectations. It is this very uncertainty about germination and life that fascinates me as a cause for evolution and therefore survival. I am also eager to learn what changes in this process necessary for survival and being poised for growth.

I look forward to new beginnings which might be small but are connected to the strong branches of the past and grow to become the strong branches of the future.

To sum it up, Germination can be representative of precursor to growth, life , evolution, survival and success, and a cusp between the past and the present. Germination also represents a lot of fulfillment of hope and faith and leads to expectations. Only Time will tell how this goes for me and all those with me..

Report Card for the Year of the CONSOLIDATION

I think i had something in mind when started this year and decided to call it the year of the CONSOLIDATION. This year has been lot different than what was expected of it by many around me. Precisely what i had in my mind is what makes it so different from people's expectations. Having said that i submit the report card for the year of the Consolidation hereby.

I completed my shift from IIM Indore to IIM Ahmedabad in January -February amidst a brief trip home to be with my parents on thier 40th Marriage Anniversary. Only this time i wasnt alone and i was home with my wife, their daughter-in-law. I reaffirmed within me that pleasures of life are not only mostly non-economic they are also emotional in character. Common Sense will tell that Pleasure is an emotion of sort.

The IIMA story has been sort of revelaing itself slowly and the year was defintely less ventful than the year at IIM Indore :). I taught one course (management of agri-inputs) and am teaching another one that i have developed as a new elective - agricultural entrepreneurship.


This is proving to be an interesting journey as it is very cose to grounded theory involving generation of transmitable knowledge as close to the phenomenon as possible. The classes are largely in a workshop mode.


Work apart from teaching saw me fnially get my case on KNIDS green pvt. lts pubslihed at the Indore Management Journal. I am already working on two more cases - one on Jain Irrigation Systems Limited as an Indian company that has gone global. The other case is about a Farm mechanisation project which is a partnership between the DSAG (Development Support Agnecy of Gujarat) , John Deere and NGOs in 4 districts. This might also expand into a bouquet of cases on entrepreneurship, PPP, New Development project managment for NGOs, and tapping of hitherto untapped markets for marketeers and manufacturers.

The year also saw a project proposal on studying the consrvation impact vis-a-vis the water utilisation impact and economic impact of micro irrigation systems being accepted. This is slated to start soon as well but the action will happen in 2012. apart from this the year saw me and my colleague and teacher prof. Gandhi develop three chapters for the India Infrastructure Report for the policy group of IDFC.

This year Also saw me being invited to a group of researchers brought together by Ford Foundation and Prof. MS Sriram inducted me into it to take a closer look at NRLM and it has developed ino a huge learning exercise for me abut government systems, livelihoods and rural management and developemtn as such.

I made some progress finally with the help of Rini in doing data entry for a study on happiness and MBA students which is still in its infancy but shaping well. I also made some progress on a data set in hindi on decision making by farmers. This year also saw two Independent Projects by Students - one on Organic food and elasticity of consumers choices and the second one on the hybrid seed sector using a system dynamics model. The Year also saw a paper presented in a conference in US on development of a framework for anti corruption and transparency led governance change at grassroots in three Eastern States.

On a personal Note, i tried to collect the results of the social project in greetings but the results are incomplete and what has been compiled has not been either stated very crisply by me or it has not clicked with the readers as per their feedback. This year also leaves with a wish left unfulfilled of taming my Temperament and the passionate me is still at unease with the logical me and the fight within continues. I was also unable to connect to as many old friends as i wanted and was unable to take over a 500 year old scroll of genealogy. That sums the year that has gone by and it closed on a note of a ranking of our PGP-ABM (Post Graduate Program in Agri-Business Management) as the best of its kind in the world by Eduniversal.

Overall This was a year to consolidate my development of the past.

Yeh.... Aaj ki Zindagi

ek khwaish si hai zindagi..
ek aazmaayish si hai zindagi..
kisi hod mein fasi hui si hai zindagi...
rukk ar sisakti si hai zindagi..
daud kar thakti si hai zindagi..
ek aazmayish si hai zindagi ..
ek khwaish si hai zindagi

gar khwaish ho puri ..
to khushi ki fuhaar si hai zindagi...
aazmayish ke baad na ho haath khali...
to aksar ek numaish si hai zindagi...
daud mein niklo aage..
ek tamge mein samayi si hai zindagi..
aur kinara kar ke dekho to..
aksar insaan ki ghulam hai zindagi..

ek nirantar dhara si firbhi hai zindagi..

dhara jaisi khud ko nirantar naya banati hai zindagi..
ek nashe si bhi hai zindagi...
kyun ki har nas nas meni rahti aur bahti hai zindagi...
har din suraj si aati hai ek nayi zindagi..
aur chand si sheetal chandni andhere mein deti hai zindagi..
chandni mein sapne piroti hai yeh zindagi..
ek khwaish si hai yeh zindagi

V.B. 15th November - 20th November, 2011

the field of management and the affective domain ..how insensitive!!!

We talk about professionals need to be logic oriented and not emotional.. and then we only crib that they don't bring any "passion" into their job..
tell me o wise businessman and academicians.. when did 'passion' cease to be an emotion ?

ek aane ka sach..

main sirf ek aana hoon.. aaj ka zamana rupye aur paison ka hai.. main isme ak aana hoon...
aise to zamane ko meri koi zaroorat nahi mehsoos hoti lekin jab logon ke paas kisi naye shahar mein thoda samay hota hai to museum mein jakar mujhe dekhna man kafi khushi hoti hai.. mujhe dekhte hue.. nawvadhu ka haath uska pati pakd leta hai aur dono mein romance ho jata hai..
mujhe dekhte hue gusse se alag thalag hue dampatti bhi ekdoosre ke paas akar apni ekta ko jagruk kar gussa pee jate hain ..
mujhe dekhte hue kitne Boyfreind apni girlfreind ko kissa sunate hue "patate" hain...
thik waise hi jaise kisi chote bachche ke ma baap use meri kahani suna kar rijhate hain..

par main ek display mein band item matra hoon.. shanti se ek sthir bhaav se sab kcuh mahsoos karta hoon . dekhte hoon samajhta hoon .. lekin kuch kahta nahi.. gir kar awaaz karta hoon ya takra kar.. lekin use koi na to sunta hai aur na samajhta hai...main chup chap apni jagah mein pada rahoon tabhi achcha hooon...

mere saamne jo aata hai woh meri banavat and dhalti umar ko dekh kar apna man banata hai .. ki main dekhne layak hoon ya uske samay ki barbaadi hoon.. aakhir main sirf ek aana hoon...

waise majboori mein bade kaam ki cheez hoon.. bechne par apni rupye mein keemat se zyada hi laata hoon kyun ki main antique hoon.. aur kafi achche dhatu se bana hoon isliye "thos" hooon ..agar kuch na ho to mujhe bech kar kahin bhi fit kr ke kafi kaam ban sakta hai.. suna hai kayi automatic locks mere kone se ghumne par khul jate hain.. main kaam pade to aise hi tale kholne wali chaabhi hoon.. lekin agar mueseum main qaid hoo to sirf ek item matra hoon.

waise socho to is duniya mein sabhi buddhe aur purane logon ka yahi haal hain. item matra hain.. sab kuch dekhte hain samajhte hain .. lekin kh kuch nahi sakte.. jab tak apni jaagh baithe hue hain tabhi tak achche hain.. uske siwa waqt ki barbaadi hain.. aur haan waqt pade to kafi kaam ki cheez hote hain khas kar jab chote bachchon ko palna ho.. unki dekh rekh karni ho aur unhe kuch sikhana ho..ie automatic locks ke liye main ek mast chabhi hooon.. kyun ki logon ki apni chabhiyan to aaj ki bhag daude mein kab kahan gir kar kho gayi kisi ko bhi pata nahi....

buddha samjho ya antique main sirf ek aana hoon..waise kaam aata hoon to main sirf "anna" hoon

Captain Cool and Public not so cool..!!!

I have been interested in that phrase called 'Captain Cool' coined for Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He is definitely an icon like no other, sharing space with Tendulkar yet so commanding in his presence that he stands taller. However the recent spate of criticism of Captain Cool has led me to think of why are we as Fans and public not so cool.

The captain was 'cool' when his attitude to risk taking paid off and won us matches , series and tournaments.. He is the one who brought stability to the captaincy of the team and to the team.. do we remember how we had the best individual players and managed to lose so many series and matches when we were poised for victory. He and Saurabh Ganguly are to be credited to make us believe that we can do it as a team. They stand out.. they took some risks and they excelled. Risks by nature will not work out all the time. Ganguly took risks and didnt work out. This series the risks of Dhoni did not seem to work.

Isnt it all part of the plan.. you keep taking risks.. and you keep learnign to take better risks.. and take risks better...but if the personality of the captain is about taking risks .. he will and he should continue to..cause that is what works for him. You stop him from taking risks and we lose one of the best players across the various fromats of the game from the infant T20 to the over aged Tests. A player who probably comes second in consistence to Rahul Dravid in the last half decade. A record of consistency better than even Tendulkars at number 7 down !

for me clearly the captain is cool.. he has give us the team of tomorrow... ajinkya rahane.. murali vijay...suresh raina.... virat kohli....Rohit Sharma....r ashwin ... Ravindra Jadeja...R P Singh..Sreesanth.. and more importantly he has made them play together as one unit.. which was difficult even when the greatest of individual players ramped up the Indian team together in a group of 11.

To me the captain has a more long term focus than most critics and analysts of the game can have.. he has made us think.. what beyond the world cups and the best coaches and the best individuals players... ask yourself .. Do you think Team India can be a world winning side without Tendulkar / Dravid and Srinath and who takes the credit for enabling that..

Take it from me.. The Captain is Cool.

Hope is a subtle glutton

Emily Dickinson had written

"Hope is a subtle Glutton
He feeds upon the fair;
And yet, inspected closely,
What abstinence is there!

His is the halcyon table
That never seats but one,
And whatsoever is consumed
The same amount remains"

Little did i expect to see a mass explanation of this ever in my life. But i am only lucky to see it so. How many of us had ever expected this to be the result of the movement against corruption led by Anna Hazare vouching for the Lokpal bill ?
Yes the answer is not that we had not, But not so surprisingly the answer is that yes most of the common man worried about corruption had thought that this will happen - a middle path shall emerge and the country shall stand united against corruption.

There is no point to doubt that the country today and actually the society stands united against corruption. whether we are or we are not for or we are still considering where to be for on the lokpall bill, we are all definitely against corruption and stand united in an effort to take the first step. An Individual taking a step ahead had no hope but a huge mass of people like India (which is practically like a continent in itself given the diversity and vastness we have) move together .. who will feel afraid? being on in such a mass can only give hope.
Gandhiji was the first one to realise the combined power of mass of people and non-violence. Anna ji has proved that it is not a ghost of the past but a living giant of the present times and of probably many more centuries to coming ahead.

Hope it was that bound us together in this movement from a corrupt society where the head is not held high to a society where the head is not only held high but also is allowed to work in peace. This is the dream of hope.

Hope is that we will be able to create the space and willingness towards this goal / dream. Hope is that we will be able to stand tall and hold hands together and not let this huge movement go in vain. Hope lies in our collective being and collective fate as in Ramlila ground we saw not only young IIM and IRMA alumni from metropolitan cities rub shoulders with illiterate and octogenarian members of the movement from hinterlands like Gorakhpur and Nalanda. In this Hope against corruption , i have hope for the disappearance of the differences that fissure our society into oneness of holding our head high.

So this is a toast to Hope, Oneness in society ( India) and ability to connect between different Indians (members of society).