Staying the course

Recently there were a lot of things happening on the professional front. Huge demands meant 24 hours per day are not sufficient..at the end of each day it was the same feeling that something more could have been done...in short, it is like "Hey God, can I have one more me please?" Difficult times, indeed.

And then, when I stopped working for an hour in the night to catch up on personal mails, I had the regular mail from simpletruths.com. Well, I call it regular because I get such mails regularly but the content of that mail was nothing regular; it seemed like it was written specially for me, considering the messed up state of mind I was having at that time.

The mail was talking about BJ Gallagher's book The Best Way Out is Always Through. It had a poem excerpt from the book that seemed to fit in so well...

Our journey of life is about progress,
not perfection.
It's not about doing one thing
100% better -
it's a matter of doing 100 things,
1% better each day.

Progress is evolutionary
not revolutionary,
and most days we measure our progress
in inches,
not miles.

What matters most
is showing up for your life
whether you feel like it
or not.

Ask yourself,
"What two or three little things
can I do today
that would move me forward?"

You'll be amazed
at how much distance
you can cover
by taking it in increments.

The little things add up;
the inches turn to miles;
and we string together our efforts
like so many pearls.
Before long,
look what you have -
a whole strand!

It was definitely a WOW! moment.

We should never forget what we all have in common. That is...at some point in our life, we will face adversity. It's not a matter of if, but...when. And when adversity strikes, it's not about what happens that will determine our destiny, it's about how we react to what happens. And so many times, it'll be about...staying the course

- Mac Anderson
Founder, Simple Truths

Strong @ Sixty One

A great moment for India. My country. Our country. Number of years, as such, do not enhance or diminish the importance but an occasion arrives to celebrate and one just relishes getting mixed up in a lot of emotions associated with the day.


This August 15 was one such day when individuals, by default, have to take a backseat against thousand others who made this journey a worthwhile one. Great sacrifices, great efforts and amazing resilience by millions of people...there can be no substitute to the feeling of pride and belonging.


Right now, it's really a mixed feeling. There are thousand great things brightening up. There is something for everyone here to feel proud.


And then, sadly, there are also few things that we could do much much better.


The economy, of course. I am no expert on this, but the rising costs, sudden black out of certain essential commodities, the mad rush for petrol & diesel we faced recently, for example...these things clearly indicate a gaping hole in our system. The worst part is that other than making statements on issues, we haven't seen any real action from the empowered leaders. If we cannot assure certain basic things to our people, then what have we done with the 61 years of our lives as a country? This is an area of real concern. Has the exercise of choosing our own governments not ensured a steady movement towards a better system, however incremental whatsoever, over all these years?


The chain of events that have rolled out in the last one month where common man was targeted through a series of blasts speaks of the mess we are right now in.


Independence days are clearly marked as terror-targeted days. We see more check posts and restrictions on such days. Sadly, individuals with limited options and powers are trapped in these situations and cannot do much about these things other than thanking one's stars for reaching home safely every day.



Whenever a catastrophe strikes a city there are reports praising the resilience of 'the common man' who bounces back. Frankly, do we have a choice to do anything else?

Looking at the medal tally in the Olympics brings a lot of comparative revealations among the countries of the world. Much smaller and much younger countries are sweeping the stakes while we are struggling. We win one gold but then we understand that it was won despite our system.

The scarcity, the prices, threat to peace could all be taken care by an effective system put in place and nurtured by effective Governance.

Abhinav had to build his own practice range at home and had to go out of the country for his training. And at last, he earns his gold but there are stories - real or fictitious, they have done enough damage already - of attempt to sabotage his rifle. And then, we complain that he did not display enough pride and patriotism at the podium while receiving the medal.


Is it enough just to praise our past? Is it enough to just say we are the biggest democracy in the world? I have no idea what it takes. Like the Spidey says...with great powers come great responsibility. Let's hope that the people with power realise this.

At 61, there is no doubt that our country is strong... but we could have been even STRONGER.

I hope and pray that at 62 we get a bit more stronger.

A promise is a promise

They said it's impossible. Many laughed at the idea itself. Some went into analytical mode and said it just cannot be done. Some wanted the project to be scrapped. Some wanted to ban it. One man's dream and his commitment to a promise made five years back took the entire world by surprise - the 'Nano' which by any means is not an apology of a car as many had expected.

It's sheer engineering excellence. The specs indicate a courageous act of breaking all barriers and limitations to deliver a car which promises much more than any one expected, applying multitudes of skills and knowledge to reach technology to common man.

In delivering the dream, the Tatas have lifted India to great heights and made the worldwide biggies wonder, "how on the earth did they do it?"

Just look at the reactions:

We cannot make a cheaper car. We don’t know how to make a 1 lakh car unless we sacrifice something. We won’t go below the 800 in our product line-up. Shinzo Nakanishi MD, MARUTI SUZUKI, INDIA BEFORE THE NANO LAUNCH

We have been considering the possibility of a mass car. So far, even our feeling was that such a car can’t be made, but we'll take a closer look at this and explore all possible ways. Arvind Saxena SENIOR VP, MARKETING & SALES, HYUNDAI

I haven't seen the car yet, but there must be something for us to learn from the viewpoint of manufacturing technology and costcutting measures. M Takedagawa PRESIDENT & CEO, HONDA SIEL CARS INDIA

Here is the brilliance of it.

- Dealer price of just one lakh, almost half the price of currently available cheapest car making it the world's cheapest car

- Addressing all safety concerns, they have come out with an all sheet-metal body, with safety features such as crumple zones, intrusion-resistant doors, seat-belts, strong seats with the rear tailgate glass bonded to the body. As if these were not enough, they have added tubeless tyres which have also reduced the overall weight of the car..

-Environmental concerns: The nano promises to bring emission performances exceeding current regulatory requirements with an expected fuel efficiency (20 km/litre) along with low carbon dioxide emissions.

- Over hundered vendors had worked with the team for 3 years to make this a reality

This is COMMITMENT to deliver on a promise made. The value of the impact can only be undestood by counting the number of people who said it is not possible! In fact, it was almost a forgone conclusion that even if some one from Tatas had actually announced that the project will be kept in cold storage, every one would have understood and left it at that. But rely on the Tatas to deliver through engineering excellence and above all they have shown the real meaning of commitment, value & shown the world what it takes to keep a promise.

This could very well be the achievement of the millennium. India salutes. The world looks at him in awe. And, as if all these were his daily routine, the great man has quietly changed gears and has his sights firmly on the other end of cars with Ford.

A well kept promise that will change the way a nation drives.

'...A promise is a promise' Chairman Ratan Tata said as he announced the Tata Nano at a dealer price of one lakh rupees