A walk to my birthplace Day 6 (29 Km covered so far)

As I started walking today, a call that I received the day before kept coming to my mind. This was someone who talked to me after a gap of 15 years. His name is Sunil.  He reached me through a common friend and was glad to know that I not only remembered his name but also parts of our conversation 15 years back.

Sunil went abroad to US and I played a part in his movement. During the late nineties when I was an entrepreneur, I had signed contracts with some boutique firms in US to provide them technical manpower from India. Sunil was one of the early ones to go abroad through me. He remembered me because it was his first travel abroad and for me, his departure was one of the early successful transactions.

Sunil’s call gave me a joy because it took me back in time when I started my own entrepreneurial stint in late nineties. After getting an early break to head HR for a software company, I was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug. I was 27 years old with hardly any network of my own. I just got across to a few people through personal network, who indicated that they may do business with me.

My first client was a gem of a person. He had come to India on personal holiday and had earmarked 3 days for me to get some people interviewed in Mumbai and Pune. This was my first assignment and I decided to give it a best shot. I had released an advertisement but the response was minimal as there was a strike by Postal department - yes! Emails were not that common and I started with a character based internet account about which less said the better! I went berserk contacting people on my own through whatever means and carried out the first assignment successfully. Sunil was part of the first few people who were to go abroad through me.

While I was in the euphoria of my first success, my client asked me to send him an invoice.  The amount involved was more than half my annual salary in my earlier job! That was a time when I realized that I do not know how to prepare an invoice! I sheepishly went to my father who was a banker and asked him for help! I still remember format of that invoice and of course the amount of my first invoice!!

Early days in my entrepreneurship taught me certain principles that have become an integral part of my belief system:

·         It is great to start with a heart, from wherever you are and with whatever you have.

·         Logic is great but it generally ends up telling you about limitations.

·         If you have a burning desire to succeed - paths emerge, working models evolve and you definitely pick up technicalities as you go along

If you deal with people in a manner that you would like to be dealt with – you become a part of their cherished memories!!!!!

A walk to my birthplace Day 5 (24 Km covered so far)

I set my new APP on iphone to calculate the exact distance of the route today. It’s a GPS based APP and gives you the route as well as distance you walk. Just to ensure that the APP works alright, I took a route measured accurately earlier and walked 6 Km. The APP turned out to be accurate – such a joy!

If you are wondering about what’s the big deal – there is a little background to it. I bought a simple pedometer when I started my walks and it turned out to be way off in measurements! It was frustrating and I then calculated some couple of routes using my vehicle’s digital odometer and stuck to those routes as I started a walk to my birthplace!

When I narrated the pedometer incident to my senior colleague in office, he was little puzzled – he asked me, ”Why would you buy a pedometer when you have a smartphone! Just download an APP – there must be plenty free APPs”. He then went on to explain me how this can be done even on Google maps which went way over my head! But I noted his suggestion to download the APP and it worked.

I always admire this gentleman – he is in his late fifties but he is fairly updated on technology. This is not only limited to IT or gadgets. He would take a trip of 600 Km just for one night to watch lunar eclipse, he also attends classical music concerts and understands the technology of music. I always wondered what keeps his interest alive in technology, science and knowledge in general. I got my answer a few months back when we traveled together to a place in coastal Maharashtra. On the way, we passed by my birthplace – Kolhapur. I generally took upon myself to talk about the place like an expert guide. I was talking about black soil and the sugarcane crop that defines the land. I have a gift of glib so I talked about the crops as if I have worked on those farms right from my childhood. All of a sudden this colleague of mine asked me – “How do they plant sugarcane?” It was a genuine curious question which I had no answer and it had never troubled me all these years!  While I was stumped searching for answer on sugarcane I instantly got an answer for the other question that always troubled me! I realized that this man keeps his interest in technology alive because he is gifted with a genuine curiosity about everything he comes across. He also does not mind asking knowledge seeking questions and you can see the joy when he gets a new piece of information! There lies the secret of his motivation! He could not have kept his interest alive only with extrinsic motivators like growth in the career!

I generally admire things, explore things and move on but the scientific curiosity never really bothers me. For me it’s a romance with the world as you move along. But my colleague is different – he is a true seeker of knowledge. Rather than trying to be judgmental about which type is better, I have figured a way out for myself.  I naturally make friendship with these knowledge seekers just like the opposite poles attract! Sometimes it is better to make friends with the chef than trying to master the recipe!

A walk to my birthplace Day 4 (18Kms covered so far)

Taking advantage of the Saturday, I walked 6 Km instead of my normal 4 Km. More the merrier. While walking I passed by a “Bolero” (One of the Utility Vehicle brands of Mahindra & Mahindra). My mind raced back in time …..

It was year 2000 and after a 3 years of break from the Industry, I decided to join the Industry back as Head of HR for one of the IT companies in Mumbai. It was during this transition time that I came across the launch Ad of ‘Bolero’ – If you grew up in India with a childhood period of 70’s and 80’s you were always fascinated by two things – any utility vehicle that looked like police jeep and Royal Enfield motorcycle! When I saw the Ad, I was excited with the good old traditional boxy looks of that vehicle and decided to buy one. That time I was using a Van which was the  vehicle most reasonably priced amongst the four-wheelers. In my hurry to ensure that I get an early delivery, I went to the residence of a person who worked with the Mahindra & Mahindra Dealer and gave a cheque of initial payment. It was a holiday and that’s the reason I went to this person’s home rather than waiting for the next day.

I came home happy as a lark. I could see that my wife Pallavi was little pre-occupied. That was strange as generally we always share the excitements in life – big or small! I asked her about it – she was little hesitant – that was odd – generally she speaks out her mind. After persevering with her, she finally told me, “ Look, I don’t want to play spoilsport but I am not very comfortable. Generally, when you get into a new project or an assignment, you go very quiet – all the time thinking about it. But while you are joining a new job, I don’t see the traces of that behavior. The only thing you are talking or thinking about is the new vehicle!” I was little irritated,”But is it not natural? We are finally buying our first big vehicle!” Pallavi explained patiently “I understand that. But there is something else that is bothering me. I may be wrong but somehow I get a feeling that you do not want to join your new job as head of HR while driving your Van. You are desperate to go in a better vehicle. That’s not you. You never bothered about such things – your focus is shifting from what is core to you” I was speechless … After a while I asked her, ”Do you really think so”. She shrugged “ I don’t know for sure but yes I feel so!”.

Half an hour later, I walked back to the same man whom I had given the cheque and took it back on some pretext – being a thorough gentleman he did not probe any further on the matter. I joined my new assignment with full energy and drove my van to the job for the first three months. Once I felt settled, I went for my vehicle again. Our first few long distance drives were with our “Bolero”

Its easy to lose your way and not know about it …. It happens with all of us …. Sometimes you need someone to keep you on the track!

A walk to my birthplace Day 3 (12Kms)

I could not walk in the morning so decided to do my 4 Kms in the evening.  I am so excited with this project (A walk to my birthplace) that while driving back home, I already started thinking about what to write. Couple of things came to my mind and all of a sudden I felt – ‘hey this is cheating. I had decided to write on the thoughts that come to my mind while walking’!!

The idea of linking writing to my daily walk was rooted in spontaneity and the sheer joy associated with it. Then, why am I getting tempted to deviate from it? And that too,  just on the third day? …. The reason seemed obvious – I got some great response on the initial write-ups and the very fact that so many people started reading it, was exciting. I guess I was getting drawn more towards ‘playing for the gallery’. I am pretty sure that if I drift more towards this direction, I will soon lose the joy of writing and maybe there would not be any joy in reading it either.

But what’s wrong in playing to the gallery? Finally, if so many people do not read and comment on my writing, would I still be motivated to keep writing and more importantly keep walking? I am not sure!

Perhaps the competitive world we grow in makes us addicted to the adulation too much too early. We are then in a hurry to take control of setting the direction rather than letting things evolve by focusing on the basic purpose … Letting things evolve does not mean fatalism. It just means living in every moment and getting guided on way forward by the experience of that moment….. I just finished a 7000 Km driving expedition to Leh with my family. Journey took us six days just to reach Leh. We passed through highways, desert, mountains and valleys. Journey itself was a destination as unknown terrains unfolded in front of us. By the time we reached Leh, we were so content that it did not bother us that we could not visit couple of famous tourist spots …. May be the goal I am trying to achieve is getting more and more comfortable with spontaneity and it has got nothing to do with either walking or writing ….. Too many questions without clear answers …. But in the end decided to just stick to the basics and write what was on mind today …. Tomorrow is another day!

A walk to my birthplace Day 2 (8Kms)

I added another 4 Km today as I walked. While walking, I wondered – why does a mere thought of exercise puts me off so much. It’s the same amusement I had about what excites me about walking!

It is not that I am a low energy guy – in fact I love traveling, generally complemented for my high energy. But when it comes to exercise – I behave like a stubborn mule that suddenly refuses to move an inch further.  Every time I think of it, I come to only one conclusion which I myself find hilarious. I have never really dared to share it out in the open for the fear of being laughed at but let me give it a try as I take this journey of reflections about life in general.

It is said that if you develop a deep-rooted belief about something early in your childhood, it is difficult to shake off! As I mentioned earlier my birthplace is Kolhapur. Apart from the footwear that bears the name of the place – Kolhapur is extremely famous for one more thing – wrestling! Yes good old fashioned wrestling! These wrestlers spend hours in the ‘akhada’ (most traditional form of gymnasium) to build their muscles. Way back in the childhood, I heard a random comment that too much exercise affects their brainpower and that’s why most of them are dim-witted!!

Somewhere deep in my mind, I fixed a correlation between exercise and being dim-witted! As I grew up I knew the folly of the argument but it was too overbearing. So even in the phases when I exercised  regularly, I used to avoid exercise around exam time – I guess with some fear of losing part of my intellect along with some calories!! Many a times I had temptation to try out the other way but I used to study just before my exams and never dared to challenge my luck.

Jokes apart – so where does this leave me? Does it weaken me? May be …. If I so clearly know the stupidity around the whole issue – why am I not doing something about it? Well, I don’t have the exact answers but may be such things give me a reason to laugh at myself, may be the stupid apprehensions remind me of being a mere mortal. Whatever it is, I have made a peace with myself …. May be its too hard to give up this stupid apprehension for the fear of losing something to laugh about …. You never know!!!

A Walk to my Birthplace - Day 1 (4 Km)

It is pretty interesting to start this project as I walk a little distance to cover 240 km in the year 2013. I walked my standard route of 4 Kms today. I wondered what is so special about walking that I love it so much. Well, I don’t know the reason but history of my walking dates pretty long back well into my early childhood.

I was around 5 years old and was enrolled in Sr Kindergarten  in one of the reputed schools in Mumbai. Only problem was the distance to that school. My father had bought the house in the suburb of Vile Parle but we were yet to shift there. At that point of time we used to stay in Andheri – a suburb next to Vile Parle. Distance to the school was roughly 2-2 ½ Km. The only mode of travel was walking to the school! My mother used to be busy with my younger brother who was not even 2 years old, so there was a maid appointed to drop me to school. My first clear memories of childhood are about that road to the school which I used to walk every day. It used to be a pure joy walking on that route. For almost half the distance the road used to be a dirt track and then one had to cross the railway-crossing. My mother had given clear instructions to the maid about not walking across the railway-crossing unless the gate was opened to walk. That was an accident zone and quite a few had lost their lives trying to walk across the railway lines without waiting for the gates to open. I always enjoyed standing there – sometimes almost 5-10 minutes and watch the trains go by.

I used to be drenched in sweat by the time I reached school. So, the maid used to carry an extra shirt for me to change once we reached the school. I used get a little irritated with the ritual of changing my shirt on school premises but never had any choice. Years later my mother told me that this ritual was to be followed for her to know that I had reached school safely! The logic of it can be argued but as I look by I can really feel the agony my mother must have felt that time.  It was her own way of calming her mind in those anxious moments as her little son walked to school every day crossing railway line with a maid!

It is strange how un-knowingly you adopt your parent’s behaviors. Today whenever my kids go to school/college I like to stand by and see them off as long as they are in sight! It’s a butt of joke in the family, especially with my wife as she does not get the logic (of course if there is any!).  

As I walked that distance every day in my childhood, my mother used to pray for my well-being and safety. I believe that my mother prays for me and blesses me every time I walk a distance!!

A walk to my birthplace - Day 0

Right from my childhood I have never been very fond of any form of exercise. In fact as a child I was fairly obese and never a sportsman. I was always more into theatre, elocution and anything that took me to the stage!

Life went on and I kept fooling myself that I am tall ( 6Ft 3) and so do not look really obese till one day at the age of 37 the weighing scale showed reading in excess of 100 Kg! That was a wake-up call. I was little disturbed not only because of weight but there was something else. My son was just born. Though I was financially much better off compared to the time when my daughter was born, I felt something amiss. You can bring any number of gifts for your child but what every child deserves is hi-energy parents – that was it! In next 4 months I managed to lose 14 Kgs with help of disciplined regime of diet and lot of walking/jogging.

Some years went by and I realized that I was getting back to my normal. Yes – as I am 43 now, I have started putting on weight again. I also realize that not being an athlete or sports person or even a fitness freak, I always need some external motivation. I am also not much into Gym – all the Gyms in the surrounding area can stand testimony of my generosity of donating money regularly without using any services.

The only form of exercise that I enjoy is walking. My natural inclination being stage, I decided to set a stage for myself to perform. By the way not only with my physical fitness, I am also currently struggling with my writing fitness. I decided to combine the two needs and thus came the idea of “A walk to my birthplace”.  It’s simple – I currently stay in the city of Pune and I was born in Kolhapur. Kolhapur is about 240 Km from where I stay. So I decided that I will walk everyday about 4 to 5 Km and walk 240 Km in the balance of 2013 – gives me around 56 days to do that. “A walk to my birthplace” is also a  metaphor. A rigorous walk is also the time when mind is in the best condition. So, as I walk to my birthplace I will go on discovering myself – bare open all my thoughts, inhibitions, apprehensions and also beliefs! Hopefully as I enjoy my walks, you will enjoy reading “A walk to my birthplace”