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The YES Bank Fiasco Explained by the Former Chairman of SBI

Posted on by malika

As the Chairman of SBI, Rajnish Kumar recounts in his memoir, The Custodian of Trust, his term was rather momentous as the period-from 2017 to 2020-during which he shouldered this responsibility, was rather unique under any circumstances. The Indian banking sector was going through one of its most tumultuous phases. The problem of non-performing loans (NPLs) had severely impacted the balance sheet and profitability of banks, especially those in the public sector.

Here is an excerpt from the book that talks about the YES Bank fiasco!

 

Custodian of Trust FC
Custodian of Trust||Rajnish Kumar

The Saga of YES Bank

The successful rescue of YES Bank in a short period of time is a unique example of perfectly coordinated action by the government, the RBI, and Public–Private partnerships. Of all the names, I have picked YES Bank to write about because of this uniqueness.

The saga of YES Bank started unfolding in June 2018 for me, when I received a request for an appointment from GVK Reddy of the GVK Group, a company in the construction business. My brief for the meeting with Reddy was to discuss the financing of the Navi Mumbai International Airport. GVK Group had built international airports at Mumbai and Bengaluru under the Public– Private Partnership model (PPP) and now had been awarded the contract to build another International Airport at Navi Mumbai. Although the SBI had re-financed Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) a few years ago, it was not otherwise involved in financing any other project for the GVK Group. However, that was no reflection on the credibility or stature of the Group that had created world-class international airports at Bengaluru and Mumbai, especially the latter, which is undoubtedly one of the finest airports in the world. The infrastructure at airports in other countries may be better than at the Mumbai airport but the unique artworks at Amchi Mumbai never fail to fuel a deep sense of pride in Indian traditions and culture among travellers like me. I was actually looking forward to the meeting, mainly because of the deep impact created by MIAL in India’s infrastructural space.

 

It was fascinating to learn from Reddy how he had entered the infrastructure business exactly after his return from the USA, and how the GVK Group had subsequently become one of the leading infrastructure companies in India, at par with other large south-based infrastructure companies like the Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao (GMR) Group, Iragavarapu Venkata Reddy Construction Limited (IVRCL), Lagadapati Amarappa Naidu and Company (LANCO), and Ramky Infras. In addition, many other smaller companies have mushroomed in the South, especially in Hyderabad, arousing my curiosity about the business environment in southern India that nurtures their growth and what distinguishes them from their counterparts in the North. While each of these companies deserves admiration for creating a unique niche for itself, I later learnt from one of the promoters that political patronage had also played a critical role in their success.

 

The Mumbai airport is also a reminder of the rapid economic progress made by India over the last 25 years, especially when compared to the pathetic conditions witnessed at the Delhi and Mumbai airports in the mid-1990s with stinking carpets and toilets. The modernization of many of the airports in the country has been carried out successfully under Public Private Partnership (PPP) between the Airports Authority of India and a private developer. The PPP model has been relatively successful because of the capability to generate higher revenue by levying higher user fee and development of real estate around the airport.

 

YES Bank, the Lender of Last Resort

During discussions with the GVK Group, it became clear that the proposed project of the new international airport in Mumbai would be a highly complex one. Construction of the airport entailed flattening of an entire hill and re-routing of a rivulet that flowed right through the land designated for the project. It also necessitated a huge amount of earth work. Of course, the future of the project was never in any doubt as Mumbai badly needed a second airport. The existing airport was running to its maximum capacity and flying in and out of Mumbai had become a nightmare for passengers. The departure and landing of most flights were inevitably delayed and it was very rare for any flight to take off or land on time at Mumbai. Since the existing airport was surrounded by slums, there was no scope for its expansion. Both the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), the local authority, which was responsible for the development of New Mumbai, were keen for work on the project to commence at the earliest.

 

The mandate for appraisal and arranging of financial closure for the project was accepted by SBI without much persuasion. The project finance team started working earnestly on the project. The MoCA, CIDCO, and the Maharashtra Government were keen to ensure an early financial closure, and ‘in principle’ approval had already been given by SBI. However, there was a lot of apprehension and unease within SBI on one issue, that of defaults on loans by group companies in the power and road sectors, as a result of which the bank had been insisting that the promoters should settle the default payments of the group companies. In the midst of this, suddenly one day, I learnt that YES Bank had sanctioned the entire loan amount enabling achievement of the financial closure. Simultaneously, reports were doing the round that YES Bank had charged a very hefty fee for the transaction.

 

These developments took the entire team at SBI by surprise. Reddy called to explain the urgency for achieving the financial closure and the difficulty the Group was facing in complying with the terms stipulated by SBI. Deciding to end the matter then and there, I wished him good luck and did not discuss the issue again with him. The lending model of YES Bank was apparently to be a lender of the last resort for borrowers who were under stress or were unable to raise borrowings from other banks, and to charge a high fee for this service. These dealings were shrouded in a degree of ambiguity, and only ongoing investigations by the Enforcement Directorate would reveal whether a part of the fee was being diverted to group companies owned by the family members of the management of the bank.

 

He was silently managing the crisis in India’s banking sector then. Now he shares these stories in his memoir. Get your copy here!

Five evergreen songs by Gulzar that will turn your day around

Posted on by prhi-dev

Gulzar Saab’s poetry has carried us through many difficult days, his lyrics a balm to the weary soul. His songs have filled our days with light and love, given us strength to go on when all seemed lost and reminded us of the myriad gifts that life has to offer.

 

In his latest memoir Actually… I Met Them, Gulzaar Saab goes down memory lane to bring to light his relationship with the doyens of cinema, music and literature, who he had known and worked with over a long period of time.

 

We bring to you five of the evergreen songs that he talks about in the book, sharing nostalgic stories of how they came to be.

 

  1. Mora gora ang lei le… (Take away my fairness and…)

 

This was the first song that Gulzar wrote for Bollywood. Penned for Bimal Roy’s Bandini, the song gave us a glimpse of his genius early on. Created with undertones of Vaishnav bhajans, this soft melody had a depth that few can manage to conjure.

This song led to what was to be Gulzar’s first encounter with legendary Bimalda. Gulzar was in awe of the simplicity that the film directed exuded, despite his stature in the film industry.

Talking about the song sequences Bimalda’s movies had, Gulzar had the following to say:

‘Bimalda believed he was not very good when it came to directing song sequences. Consequently, he worked on every such sequence with so much attention to detail that they became exemplary. If in the middle of a song a musical arrangement was changed or a new one introduced, he would immediately say, ‘Change the shot. How can the rhythm or the instrument remain the same in the shot?’’

 

  1. Humne dekhi hai in aankhon ki mahekti khushboo (I have seen the fragrance in these eyes…)

Perhaps one of his most iconic songs, Humne dekhi hai in aakhon ki mahekti khushboo beautifully puts to use synesthesia to play with sight, smell and touch that are characteristic of the literary device.

A lesser-known fact about the song that Gulzar reveals in his memoir, Actually… I Met Them is that the song was written from the point of view of a man. However, Hemantada, who had composed the song, felt that the song would suit Lata Mangeshkar’s voice. Though Gulzar was aghast at the decision at first, he later realised that Hemantada’s music and power of observation were magical.

 

  1. Mera kuch saamaan… (I left some of my things with you . . .)

Quintessentially ‘Gulzarish,’ Mera kuch saamaan’s poetic imagery is why Gulzar’s lyrics are deeply cherished by his fans. Seemingly mundane in its theme, the song is a deceptively beautiful ode to heartbreak and lost love.

 

  1. Musafir hoon yaaron… (I am a wanderer . . .)

A short, sweet melody, Musafir hun yaaron… evokes the journey of life and how it asks of us to keep moving forward, no matter the circumstances.

This was the first song of Gulzar that Pancham set to music and the rest, as we know, is history.

 

  1. Ek hi khwaab… (Just this one dream…)

In his memoir Actually… I Met Them, Gulzar reveals the hilarious reaction that the song’s lyrics elicited from Pancham, the song’s composer.

‘What are these lines? You call this poetry? How can song lines be so trite? Gullu, can’t you write stuff properly? And you’re asking me to put these lines to music?’

He went on to tell Gulzar to put the lyrics into a scene, asking him to write a different song.

To this, Gulzar calmly responded with,

‘Pancham, I can always do that. But the thing is, when I work with you, we do it because we want to do something unconventional, isn’t it? So…’

Isn’t it wonderful that this splendid duo stuck to the original lyrics?

*

 

Actually…I Met Them by Gulzar

 

Chatty, anecdotal and deeply personal, this book of memories chronicles Gulzar Saab’s life and career through different eras of Indian cinema as he successfully transcended commercial and critical arts.

Studded with rare photographs, Actually .. I Met Them will be a treat for his huge and devoted fan base.

 

 

 

What is the one thing successful managers do differently?

Posted on by kavyawahi

The best way to keep growing one’s team and creating a community of positive leaders is by carrying one’s team together and passing on the learnings. Therefore, it is imperative for the managers to exhibit true leadership skills and focus on results through teamwork and delegation.

A Tata group veteran and the author of 10 Steps to the Boardroom, Gurpal Singh Rattan, distils years of experience into lessons useful for the readers. Read this excerpt to know about the essential ingredients required to cook up your own recipe for your team’s success.

*

10 Steps to the Boardroom
10 Steps to the Boardroom || G.S. Rattan

You are responsible for your team’s success and failures. You carry all of it on your shoulders. No one likes or promotes a person who will take credit for success and dump failures on the team. Giving credit where it is due, identifying the winners and throwing the spotlight on them will not only enhance your credibility in the eyes of your team members, but more so in the eyes of top management. As you move ahead in your career, remember that every year new graduates will come in, new technology will be introduced and new skills will be required to keep moving ahead. Lead your team by being the first person to upskill and learn new technology. When you lead by example, you let them know that life doesn’t halt when the rules of the game change. You learn the rules and then change the game. Your team will look towards you to lead them. Their trust in you is what will move you ahead.

Our company had a vision of introducing IT across the board and SAP ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning software) for the ease of managing business. This was announced in 1995 and computers were being introduced in all departments gradually. Many old timers like me were not familiar with computers and the company offered to train middle and senior management executives on the basics of computer learning to start with. Without any inhibitions, I immediately opted for this and started devoting lots of my spare time to upgrading my knowledge, contrary to many seniors who avoided it and delegated this job to their subordinates. The first day of class was a tad intimidating, as I seemed to be the senior-most person there. I braced myself and entered the class with a learning mindset. The trainer was far younger than me and being one of the seniors in class could be perceived as a disadvantage if I were to ask a question. It took me another hour or so to let go of my age prejudice. I knew this was my opportunity to learn. If I hadn’t clarified my doubts then, despite the snickering from the backbenchers, I might not have got a chance again. My team members started talking about my newly acquired knowledge and I quickly became at par with them and was able to discuss the subject with ease in person and virtually, I encouraged all my team members to follow suit.

Being a part of the first rush of learners paid handsome dividends as, with the passage of time, I became fairly good at it and could successfully survive the onslaught of the computerization tsunami in the organization that followed. In a couple of years, your proficiency with a computer became one of the parameters that decided how your career progressed. Letting go of my inhibitions, discomfort at being judged for asking questions and learning from young trainers was an advantage that led me far. If I had to, I would do it all over again rather than sitting in a shell and pretending to know.

Carrying a team also means that you will spend a lot of time managing people and planning ahead. If you have the right team working with you, then spend more time micro planning and foreseeing pitfalls, anticipate obstacles and look at providing timely interventions and resources for your team. Your role at the helm will be crucial till the last minute. The game is not over till the last second.

Tête-à-tête with Kulpreet Yadav

Posted on by prhi-dev

Kulpreet Yadav’s The Battle of Rezang La documents the bravery, gallantry, and patriotism of the soldiers who fought for India in 1962 war. The soldiers chose to hold their ground to the end, despite the fearful odds, defending their nation. We got the opportunity to ask him a few questions. Here are excerpts from our conversation with him.

 

What inspired you to write about the battle of Rezang La?

The story of Rezang La is very popular in Haryana, particularly South Haryana, from where most of the soldiers who laid down their lives in the battle came from. I hail from that part of the country and since my childhood, I have been hearing about this brave last stand of the Indian soldiers. But, at school, at college, and later as an officer in uniform, I realised that no one had heard of this battle. Somehow, due to lack of information, these brave men who sacrificed their lives for the nation had remained heroes for only the people of the villages they belonged to. After writing a dozen books, around 3 years ago, I thought, I must bring this true story of valour before the nation. The Indians, particularly the youth of the country, need to know the story of Rezang La.

 

The Battle of Rezang La

What kind of research did you undertake before writing the book and did you face any particular challenges during the process?

I found out the addresses of the 4 survivors from 13 Kumaon battalion. Then I drove down to meet them. Their personal accounts were as moving as they were informative. I then started to read all the available books on the 1962 war with China and there are quite a few. This took me more than a year. The next step was to read the articles in defence journals and web portals. These articles were written by either those who had participated in the 1962 war or had information about the Ladakh sector through their colleagues. I also accessed the newspaper articles from the period just preceding or during the war. The memoirs written by the officers who were involved in the war either at the headquarters or in the field, further added to my understanding of the battle.

I also visited the 13 Kumaon battalion headquarters a few times. Since the Rezang La museum is co-located with the battalion headquarters, it became a good resource for me. The CO’s team successfully located the old war diary and when I was shown this old, hand-written account of the battle, I could get a better grasp of some of the events. I also read the official MoD’s account online. I also met and spoke over the phone to some of the officers and family members of those who were directly involved in the battle. Finally, there were a few private researchers who had been collecting information about this battle for a long time and I’m grateful that they shared the information with me. I have thanked each person by name in the acknowledgement section of the book.

 

What kind of emotional trajectory did you go through while writing about such a painful period in history, where we lost so many of our soldiers to the war?

It was tough. Since two of the soldiers who sacrificed their lives were related to me, it was emotionally exhausting to relive their final moments. But reliving the battle was important to write honestly and authoritatively. I had to be strong and travel back in time to see all the events through my mind’s eye. As I expanded my research, it was easy to imagine the sequence of events. I also spent a lot of time thinking about the individual soldiers, their respective positions (section post / platoon post / command post / LMG det / mortar section / Listening post (LP) / Observation post (OP) etc.) in the battle and what they must have been thinking in their final moments. To appreciate their unimaginable courage better, I also researched about their families. All of this was disturbing, but it turned my resolve to write this book that much stronger. If earlier I was sad that Indians didn’t know about this true story, by the end of my research, I was mad about why the nation didn’t know about it. Now that the book has been written and it’s available for everyone to read, all I feel is the deepest respect for these soldiers.

 

In what ways did you find writing a book about war different from the other books you have written?

Every book is different and takes the writer on a different journey, both internally and externally. Comparing the genres would not be the right thing to do. Let me give you an example. When I wrote my first romance novel called “The Last Love Letter”, I was confident that I would not be able to write a book that has no antagonist. But, as I started to write, it helped me discover a part of me I didn’t understand that well. Whether we write a book or read a book, books have the power to change us. To answer the question specifically, this book was different because it required me to research a lot, so it took longer and every aspect needed to be double-checked for correctness before putting it down on paper.

 

What do you hope readers will take away from your book?

The readers would perhaps value freedom more after reading this and realise that they need to become better citizens. That would be the proper homage to these martyrs. And one doesn’t need to be in the army to serve the nation. Each one of us needs to do what is expected out of us — in our professions and at home — and that is enough. The bottom line is, these soldiers fought and died for our motherland because they loved her. We, the readers, need to dive deeper into ourselves and learn to love our motherland more, and respect the freedom we have. Last, but not least, I would request all the readers to travel to Chushul in Ladakh at some point in their lives and pay homage to the war martyrs at the memorial called the “Ahir Dham, Chushul” that’s maintained by 13 Kumaon there.

 

 

Only way to find peace is to be at peace within you

Posted on by prhi-dev

Witnessing the devastation of 9/11 before his eyes and narrowly escaping death, Kushal’s life was never going to be the same again. Suddenly, all his pursuits felt meaningless and he felt a void within him like he had never felt before until one day when he reluctantly decided to spend an afternoon with a spiritual master in New York City.

 

From being a Wall Street trader immersed in the material world to embarking on a quest to find answers to life’s biggest questions, Kushal Choksi writes about his doubts, struggles and revelations on a spiritual path as a left-brained skeptic in On a Wing and a Prayer.

 

Read an excerpt from the book that emphasises the importance of finding peace within oneself instead of looking for it outside.

 

*

 

It had been a year since we had moved back to the US. My entrepreneurial struggles were showing no signs of slowing down. The previous week had been a period of intense inner turmoil. The sense of balance and security I had come to rely on had all but vanished. My body was fatigued, and my mind was in a complete funk. To take a break from our maddening routine, Alak and I had decided to visit the Art of Living Ashram in Quebec, Canada. I knew that Gurudev was going to be there. I always experienced a peculiar feeling of warmth and unconditional support around him. I could use some of that.

A Canadian autumn always starts with a tinge of melancholy, yet the crispness in the air and the hazy evenings add a unique texture to the surroundings. The autumn foliage in Quebec was at its peak. White birch, pine, and sugar maple trees were showing off their new wardrobe, and the entire countryside was breathtaking. But when the mind is not at ease, nothing gives joy.

Nestled amidst this setting, in the heart of one of the most beautiful forest regions of Mauricie National Park, rests the quaint Art of Living Ashram, sprawled across acres of natural surroundings.

…

Gurudev was at the front of the room, sitting on a small couch, deep in meditation. The lights in the room were subdued. I was sitting on the floor in a corner, and my view of him was partially blocked by a slender, white column. The soothing chants of kirtans filled the room, creating waves of uplifting energy. I keenly observed everyone. People in the room seemed to be happy and peaceful at the same time. This put me even more on edge. I badly wanted that feeling, but given my current mindset, it seemed out of reach.

The singing concluded, and Gurudev opened his eyes after a long meditation.

‘Hmmmm?!’ The familiar conjecture appeared again. ‘Are you all happy?’ He asked right out of the gate. The crowd responded affirmatively in a loud chorus.

‘Nooo!!!!’ I screamed in my head. ‘I am miserable. Help!’

I felt even more isolated.

‘Pierre, do we have any questions in the basket?’ he asked the person sitting next to his couch, who had been collecting questions from the audience. Although Pierre’s flowing white beard covered most of his face, his pleasant smile shone through.

‘Dear Guruji, how should I deal with a failure?’ Pierre read as soon as he uncurled a piece of paper from the question basket.

My ears perked up. Clearly, I was not the only ugly duckling in the barnyard. Somebody else was hurting just like me. I scanned the room in the hope that I could somehow identify this other misfit. Misery loves company after all.

‘Do you want to hear a Mullah Nasruddin story? I think I’ve already told this story before,’ Gurudev asked.

…

In his inimitable style, Gurudev began narrating the story of Mullah, who once got into a very bad accident. The poor guy had multiple fractures all over his body, and pretty much every part of his face was bandaged. A friend of his came to visit Mullah in the hospital, where he lay in pain.

‘How are you Mullah?’ the visitor asked.

‘Oh, I’m fine. It only hurts when I laugh,’ Gurudev asserted Mullah’s response with a smile on his face.

The perplexed visitor began to think that Mullah had completely lost it.

‘What is there to laugh, Mullah? Have you looked at yourself? How could you laugh in this condition?’ asked the concerned friend.

Gurudev paused. One could have heard a pin drop on the carpeted floor.

‘If I don’t laugh now, I have never laughed in my life,’ said Mullah.

More silence in the room.

‘Everyone can laugh when things are going well. It takes tremendous courage to smile through when the world around you comes crumbling down,’ Gurudev said with a level of conviction I had never seen before.

…

On A Wing and A Prayer by Kushal Choksi

Gurudev ripped open this topic, talking about how the disappointment of failure is amplified by underlying desires.

‘Just before a desire arose in you and after a desire completes, where are you? Have you noticed?’ He asked the everyone in the room. By the look of his face, I could tell it was definitely a trick question.

‘The same place.’ He quipped. The answer had now created more questions in my mind.

How? I had really never thought about that. He continued. ‘And in the process of fulfilling the desire, one loses the sight of the self.’

‘You don’t lose the self . . . you just lose the sight of it, hence the restlessness and agony,’ he added.

My mind was always on the run. Desires arose. I started chasing them. In that chase I was sometimes happy, sometimes miserable. Most of the time, my desires were fulfilled. When that happened, it boosted my ego and brought some satisfaction. Then I went back to the same place that I was in before that desire had arisen in the first place. And repeat. I was beginning to appreciate the big picture that had just been revealed.

Was there any point in chasing desires? Did I really have a choice to not chase them?

‘It is like being on a merry-go-round. You start and get off at the exact same place, having gone nowhere.’

As the evening concluded, the waves of negativity in me had somewhat subsided. I wondered what had changed. The problem at hand remained the same. So did my circumstances. However, in that moment, I could detach from the thick wave of negativity that had enveloped me. I could see how easily I had lost sight of the self, the inner space that is always joyful and at peace.

*

On a Wing and a Prayer is a true account of one man finding himself on a fifteen-year-long journey shadowing the spiritual leader Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

The making of two heroines: A look at the lives and legacies of Rani Lakshmibai and Begum Hazrat Mahal

Posted on by prhi-dev

Exploring the lives of two remarkable women who chose to enter a field of activity which, in the middle of the nineteenth century, was seen a male domain, Rundrangshu Mukherjee’a A Begum and a Rani brings to light how unusual circumstances catapulted Begum Hazrat Mahal of Awadh and Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi into the rebellion of 1857. Both of them sacrificed their lives trying to overthrow British rule, which they considered to be alien and oppressive. The afterlives of both, however, took on very different hues. The rani was made a nationalist icon: a woman on horseback with a raised sword, who died in battle. The begum was a relatively forgotten figure who did not get her due place in the roll-call of honour. Revisiting the revolt of 1857 from a unique perspective and looking at their afterlives, the myths, this book attempts to set the record straight, while tracing their fascinating trajectories.

A Begum & A Rani || Rudrangshu Mukherjee

Read on for a glimpse into the convoluted process of historiography that deifies one heroine while appearing to disregard the other.

The way Lakshmibai is revered and remembered is in sharp contrast to the remembrance of Hazrat Mahal. It is not that the latter is effaced from history. Rather, she is not given the kind of attention and importance that was and is still accorded to Lakshmibai. To an extent, this neglect is derived from the nineteenth-century British historians who described Lakshmibai as a heroic adversary but did not use such accolades for Hazrat Mahal. Indian academic historians in the centenary year followed this trend. R.C. Majumdar in his book has a section called ‘Heroes’. Hazrat Mahal does not feature there; Lakshmibai, of course, does, as does Maulavi Ahmadullah Shah. Unwittingly or otherwise, writers on 1857 seem to have set up a hierarchy of heroes in which Hazrat Mahal was many rungs lower than Lakshmibai. A hierarchy of heroes is suggested by Savarkar, who in his influential book devoted one chapter to ‘Oudh’ and another to ‘Lucknow’. In the latter, he wrote, ‘This Begum of Oudh [Hazrat Mahal], though not quite another Lakshmi Bai, was undoubtedly a great organizer, full of love of liberty and the spirit of daring [italics mine].’ This statement is appreciative of Hazrat Mahal’s courage, her qualities as an organizer and as an upholder of freedom (Savarkar, as we shall see in the next paragraph, detailed her organizational and administrative skills) but is unwilling to place her at the same level as Lakshmibai. Savarkar did not say where Hazrat Mahal—who was also brave, a fighter for liberty and an able administrator—fell short in comparison to Lakshmibai. The italicized phrase in the above quotation thus hangs as an enigma. It would be utterly erroneous to say that Savarkar was making this comparative statement on the basis of his religious predilections. In 1909, when the book was published, Savarkar had not yet emerged as the principal ideologue of Hindutva that he was later to become. His book on 1857 argued that Hindus and Muslims had fought together in the war of independence. In fact, in his introduction to the Savarkar noted very pointedly, ‘The feeling of hatred against the Mahomedans was just and necessary in the times of Shivaji—but such a feeling would be unjust and foolish if nursed now, simply because it was the dominant feeling of the Hindus then.’ According to Savarkar, hatred of the Muslims was an emotion arising out of a particular historical conjuncture. In the early twentieth century, as in 1857, such sectarian emotions were unfair and irrelevant. Savarkar thus had no hesitation in devoting a full chapter to Maulavi Ahmadullah Shah (he called him ‘Moulvie Ahmad Shah’). This only makes his non-inclusion of Hazrat Mahal in his gallery of heroes more complex, if not incomprehensible. This almost complete erasure of Hazrat Mahal is particularly bewildering given the fact that she became a rebel long before Lakshmibai and remained one even after Lakshmibai had met her death on the battlefield. Describing the actions of Hazrat Mahal, Savarkar wrote how she went about appointing various officers to the judicial, revenue, police and military departments. He added, ‘These officers selected were such as were loved and honoured by the representatives of the Sepoys, by Mahbub Khan [Savarkar noted that Hazrat Mahal had ‘perfect confidence’ in him] and other leading Sirdars, and also by the large numbers of the people who hurried from all parts of Oudh to Lucknow to join the great War of Independence.’ Savarkar went on to say that every day Hazrat Mahal held a durbar to discuss political affairs and ‘there the Begum Sahiba exercised authority in the name of the Nabob. The news that Oudh was free and that not a trace of English rule remained there was sent to the Emperor of Delhi, under the Begum’s seal, along with valuable presents.’ Hazrat Mahal, Savarkar wrote, sent letters to all the neighbouring zamindars and vassal rajas to come to Lucknow with armed followers. According to Savarkar, ‘From the appointment of the various civil officers, from the good order in all the departments of Government, from the daily Durbars, and other signs, it was apparent that the revolt had ended and constructive government had begun.’In his appreciation of the role of Hazrat Mahal, Savarkar did not include the fact that she had actually drawn up battle plans and deployment of troops. Hazrat Mahal was a military leader, not just an administrator.

What had moved Ratan to leave America and return to India to begin a career in the Tata organization?

Posted on by prhi-dev

If you’re looking for a real glimpse into the history of Tata, here is an exclusive excerpt from the first and only authorised biography on the Tata Group. This book includes the Tata-Mistry legal battle, exclusive interviews with Ratan Tata, and never-before-seen photographs of the Tata family.

Happy reading!

~

The Story of Tata||Peter Casey

Ratan was not anxious to give up the freedom he found in America, but he did want to get out of the cold, which he ‘never did get used to’, complaining that he ‘couldn’t ever feel warm enough’. Vowing that he ‘would never live in a cold climate again’, he left Ithaca as soon as his coursework was completed, but instead of returning to India, he headed out to Los Angeles, where he moved to an apartment complex, complete with swimming pool. He intended to use his architecture degree to get a job in the area and, eventually, to set up as an American architect. He had no intention of returning to India. However, his grandmother, Lady Navajbai, fell critically ill and called for him. He could not resist flying back to India to be with her. He had an American girlfriend at that time who was to follow him to India but never did. Lady Navajbai survived the crisis, but her health continued to deteriorate, and Ratan found himself extending his stay in India.

In later life, Ratan spoke of having four serious girlfriends in his life and ‘once even got engaged, but broke it off before the cards could be printed’. But he never married, and the absence of a spouse and children has, over the years, caused some to speculate about what motivates this incredibly motivated man. The bond he felt with Lady Navajbai was strong enough to pull him out of Los Angeles and back to India, and after a short period of time, he got drawn into working in the Tata organization. It was one of those emotionally-driven decisions. As for avoiding marriage, it could well be that the example of his parents’ unhappy union made him gun-shy. What had moved Ratan to leave America and return to India to begin a career in the Tata organization? It was certainly not what he had trained for at Cornell. Nor, he once said, was it the money. ‘Perhaps,’ he offered, ‘the challenge’ was sufficient to have motivated his career. Yet, he mused, ‘If I had an ideological choice, I would probably want to do something more for the uplift of the people of India. I have a strong desire not to make money but to see happiness created in a place where there isn’t.’

When Jamsetji Tata’s nephew and Tata chairman Nowroji Saklatwala died in 1938, the chairmanship passed to Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata-JRD-the son of Jamsetji’s cousin. Born in Paris to Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata and his French wife, Suzanne Briere Tata, JRD received a cosmopolitan education in India, London, Japan and France. A French citizen, he served a year in the French Army and became passionate about flying-as Ratan was. In 1929, he earned the first pilot’s license issued in India and just three years later founded India’s first commercial airline, Tata Airlines. (It would become Air India after World War II, and from 1986 to 1989, Ratan would serve as its chairman.)

Lady Navajbai’s summoning of Ratan to return to India was soon followed by JRD’s formal invitation to join the firm. In accepting, Ratan wrote that he would ‘attempt to express my thanks by serving the firm as best as I can, and…do all I can to make sure that you will not regret your decision’.

Ironically, more than sixty years later, this was likely one of the reasons he realized that allowing Cyrus to remain chairman of Tata Sons would be the wrong decision.

Ratan did not begin his Tata career in a corner office. In 1962, he was sent to work in Jamshedpur, in the factory of Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company-TELCO-and, after six months, was transferred to what was then called Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited (TISCO). Here he spent two years on the shop floor, shovelling limestone and tending the blast furnace, before moving up to the engineering division and, finally, to the position of technical assistant to TISCO’S CEO (at the time called the director-in-charge). Clearly, Ratan’s bosses sent favourable reports to JRD, who called him to Bombay (today Mumbai), briefly sent him to Australia, and then recalled him once again to Bombay. In 1971, JRD gave him command (as director-incharge) of what Ratan later characterized as ‘two sick companies’. The assignments, he said, were made ‘supposedly to train me’. One of the ‘ailing’ firms was NELCO, radio and television manufacturer, and the other was Central India Textiles.

Being assigned to lead the Central India Spinning Weaving and Manufacturing Company made sense, since Ratan’s father, Naval, had long been involved with the firm’s mills. Indeed, Ratan later commented, with justifiable pride, that under his leadership, ‘Central India was turned around, its accumulated losses were wiped out and it paid dividends for some years. A recession in the textile industry, however, later drove it into voluntary liquidation. No one blamed Ratan for the recession that laid Central India low, but NELCO was another story. Its history was troubled, and that ‘has forever been held against me’, Ratan later reflected.

When, in 1973, he was named director of Tata Industries, some outsiders, citing NELCO, complained that the promotion was undeserved and conferred only on account of his surname. In his own defence, Ratan has pointed out that NELCO actually became profitable and ‘went from a 2 percent market share to a 25 percent share’. In fact, the company remained profitable under his leadership from 1972 to 1975, when the general recession crippled demand for consumer goods.

A whisper of the eternal echoes

Posted on by prhi-dev

Sadhguru, the yogi, mystic and visionary, is a spiritual master with a difference. He has smitten the world not only in spiritual matters but with his business, environmental and international affairs along with his ability to open a new door on all that he touches. After having founded the Isha Foundation and penning down various books on spirituality and wellness, he has now brought out a poetry book called Eternal Echoes.

Eternal Echoes is a compilation of poems by Sadhguru written between the time period of 1994 and 2021. These poems cover every aspect of his life and travels ranging from nature, environment, human nature and the resonances he has felt during three decades and more. Seemingly simple at first, one begins to understand the hidden layers within these poems slowly and the meanings linger on.

 

Here is an exclusive excerpt, the introductory note to the poems in his book, where Sadhguru explains what made him turn to poetry:

*

Poetry is an in-between land between logic and magic. A terrain which allows you to explore and make meaning of the magical, but still have some kind of footing in the logic.

When people experience something beautiful within themselves, the first urge is to burst forth into poetry. If you fall in love with someone, you start writing poetry because if you wrote in prose, it would feel stupid. You can only say logical things in prose, but you can say illogical things in poetry. To express all those dimensions of life which are beyong the logical, poetry is the only succor, as it is the language which allows you to go beyond the limitations of logic.

Eternal Echoes by Sadhguru
Eternal Echoes || Sadhguru

As a child and youth, my mind was so unstructured and untrained that I could never find a proper, logical, prose expression. Naturally, poetry became so much a part of my life.

My poetry first found a big spurt when I decided to start a farm. My farm was a very remote place, far from the city. I lived there alone for days, and sometimes weeks, on end without any contact with other human beings. At this time, I started writing poetry about pebbles, grasshoppers, blades of grass- just about anything. I found each one of them was a substantial subject to write about.

There was no power in the farm and around six o’clock in the evening it would get dark. I would stay awake till midnight, in almost six hours of total darkness. Somehow, I always found when your visual faculties are closed off, you naturally turn poetic. Maybe that is why we have heard of so many blind poets in the world. I am not saying that having sight should not evoke poetry- it has. But the nature of the human perception is such that is sees much more when the eyes do not see.

In about four months, during this dark period of the night in my farm, I wrote over 1600 poems. Unfortunately, none of these poems are with us today. I had written them on small sheets of paper that I found all over the place. I had kept a whole bunch in my car. Then there was a small fire accident where my car burned down and those poems got burnt.

The poems in this book are only what I have written in the last thirty years, since we moved to the Isha Yoga Center. I hope they find some resonance with you.

A poem is a piece of one’s Heart, hope your heart beats with it and knows the rhythm of mine.

Much Love & Blessings,

Sadhguru

*

This note by Sadhguru would surely entice you to pick Eternal Echoes and join him on his soulful journey, also serving as a keepsake which has a short poem for every day and every feeling you’re feeling.

 

A guide to Novoneel’s crime thrillers and Obsession Trilogy

Posted on by prhi-dev

Since the past few decades, India has seen a rise in the number of young Indian novelists and while most of them write stories about youth, love and family, there has been one author who has managed to change the face of the genre of Indian thrillers. Indian book stalls’ thriller section has often been graced by the famous Sidney Sheldons and Agatha Christies through years now but Novoneel Chakraborty is the one who seemed to transform everything.

He has managed to write over 20 novels, many of which have gone on to become bestsellers, some have been translated into 6 languages and a few have even been converted to web series productions online! With his latest novel Whisper to me your lies hitting the shelves, we bring you some of his past novels and a guide to step into Novoneel’s world before picking up his latest book.

         

Marry me, Stranger               All yours, Stranger              Forget me not, Stranger 

 

The Stranger Trilogy is one of his initial major successes traces the story of Rivanah Bannerjee, a regular, young Bengali woman working and living in Mumbai and her life’s intersection with a stalker she refers to as Stranger. Marry me, Stranger, All yours, Stranger and Forget me not, Stranger– all unveil several mysteries and their relationship unfolds in front of the reader’s eyes where the annoying stranger becomes a romantic interest for Rivanah, while constantly bringing mystery, thrill and drama to her life. If you’re into mysteries, this one will surely keep on you edge.

 

Forever is a lie                         Forever is true

 Forever is a lie and Forever is true are part of the popular thriller Forever series by Chakraborty and traces the life of an 18-year-old girl studying mass communication in Bangalore and the story of a dark romance that ensues between her and a man she falls in love with. The second part of the book narrates the twisted past of the man and what deadly limits one can go to because of a ruined childhood.

 

Roses are blood red     Cross your heart, take my name       Whisper to me your lies

His book Roses are Blood Red, (2019) and Cross Your Heart, Take My Name (2020) are the first two books in the Obsession Trilogy whose third book Whisper to me your lies is finally being released on the 18th October, 2021. After Vanav and Nihira’s encounters with obsessive crime, it’s now time to listen to Ekantika’s story of facing a murderer, who could perhaps be the Cellotape Killer of the 90s!

 

Career planning made easy

Posted on by kavyawahi

Finding the right job at the start of your career can be a hard row to hoe. Several factors such as the company’s reputation, job description, your designation, remuneration, skill set, attitude are to be considered before you embark on a career in a company.

Here are some general questions for you to think about and look answers for while planning your career. These questions may help you streamline your choices and develop your career.

  1. What roles interest you?
  2. Have you shortlisted the companies you’d want to work with?
  3. Have you made a priority list of the shortlisted companies?
  4. Have you found the right people to network with?
  5. What are the most appropriate platforms for the job you are looking for?
  6. What qualities do you have that will help you excel in the role you’d be applying for?
  7. What value will your organization add in your career?
  8. What value can you add to the organization you join?
10 Steps to the Boardroom
10 Steps to the Boardroom || G.S. Rattan

 

If you’re on the first step of your professional journey and have found answers to the above questions, then jot down the information on the template given below. It may prove to be your guiding light in achieving your dream of reaching the boardroom.

 

Your Plan 

The Company You Want to Work in:

Key Stakeholders:

What I Admire About the Company:

Vision of the Company:

Mission of the Company:

Why I Belong Here:

Job Description and Responsibilities

  • JD:
  • Responsibilities that I can take on:
  • Responsibilities that will require learning on the job:

Area of Jurisdiction

  • Performing areas:
  • What I can take a shot at:

Defining Results

  • Tangible:
  • Intangible:

Network and Follow

  • Possible Mentor 1:

Network to Follow on

  • Possible Mentor 2:

Where to Start:

Department I Would like to Start With

  • Option 1:
  • Option 2:
  • Option 3:

Attitude Matters

  • My key strengths:
  • What I need to work on:
  • What is valued by this organization?

 

Remember the words of the author of 10 Steps to the Boardroom: ‘The most important factor will always be the intensity of the fire in your belly. Everything else is either a catalyst or a deterrent.’

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