Wish you all a very happy pongal/sankranthi (belated wishes). May Lord Ganesh remove all obstacles in the dreams which you are chasing.

From The Aha Moment of the Week

1. Aum Vinayakaya Namah
Salutation to the remover (of obstacles)

From The Aha Moment of the Week

2. Aum Vighnarajaya Namah
Salutation to the ruler of obstacles

The first part of the interview with Mr. Mehmood Khan can be found here.

Me: How do you ask a young kid to go school when they dont have food to eat.. I know education adds value.. but the returns are so long dated.. The current problem should be resolved first right? I always have this thought in my mind..

MK: Parents are actually convinced that education adds value. Now the rest boils down to the education system. The most of the parents want their kids to be educated today.. As I mentioned earlier, society is now ready for the change. Now the government has to be pushed to provide the service.

Now there is an act passed called right to education. All children from age 6 – 14 are provided with facilities and training in reading and writing skill.. Ofcourse there is scope for improvement. The skill gap will continue. Slowing down of the economy leads to some soul searching.. We have 100,000 children coming in every year.. 95% of those who go to school come to job market.. How do we make them relevant to the market.. Extrapolate this to the whole country.. We have one australia coming into the market every year..

Me: Do you think the model which RKK trust is developing, is a scalable model which can be transported to other villages? or should each village be analyzed independently and model should be customized depending on its needs?

MK: Model can be applied any where. Somthings have to be tweeked to the local environment. Farming for example, might depend on the region.. Rice and paddy will require water.. So it has to be customized. But the model will scale.. We have to work with the community.. Bring partners… Technology, finance, marketing etc.. So.. sustainable model has to be tweeked based on the needes..

Me: What do you see are the current challenges..

MK: Well many.. Firstly, Talent.. Rule India has a lot of raw talent.. But they have to shaped and moulded to be productive.. A lot of such talented people leave the villages and go to city.. We dont have IITs and IIMs there.. We have to retain talent there..

Second challenge is the local stake holders.. There are always hinderances and blockages to positive forces.. A lot of beurocracy feels uncomfortable or out of comfort zone when such initiatives taken. But when they see that it does have positive impact, they join the force.

Me: How did you find your purpose..

MK: Well, I would say it is a part of the learnings from the vedic period. What is the meaning of life? It has various parts. Initially you build a character in the age of Bramachari. Then you move on to the family life. You earn enough for family etc. Then you reach a stage when you realize enough is enough for yourself.. You start thinking about the society as a whole.. By then you would have raised children.. saved money for wife etc.. Now you want to put youwr body to use for the society.. I think I am in this stage in my life cycle.. I want to put my time to society’s use. This keeps me happy.. It is a process of mind I think

Me: Why didnt consider settling abroad?

MK: Well, I have a base in London, Mongolia, USA etc. I can go whenever I want. But I belong to the villages. Whereever I can add value, I belong there.. To be honest, we are in this virtual world.

Me: What is your message for Indian Youth sir?

MK: Today the Indian youth are in their 20s.. When they come to my age.. India would be the world’s no.1 economy.. Within the next 30 to 40 years.. it will be No.1.. There is no doubt about it.. But the question is.. do the youth want a choatic way to reach that stage or do they want to reach it in a planned way..

The real challenge is what role they want to play.. How they want it shaped.. Every body will add value.. You will prosper along the way.. Just how you want it to be is a choice that you have to make it..

I made no sacrifices.. No favour to any one.. I am doing these activities for the peace of my mind.. Youth can contribute to the underprivileged in a number of ways.. through jobs.. through education.. monetarily .. Infact, it is in ones own interest that we contribute to the upliftment of the society.. to make the democracy work.. otherwise, we will have unequal distribution of wealth and serious problems on earth..

People abroad can also contribute.. World has become a single place.. There is no difference between India and abroad.. Technology is uniting us.. You are in London now. but I can see you taking notes real time… People can contribute to the society wherever they are.. and in whatever way they can!

Good luck!

Me: Thank you very much for your time sir!

Readers, hope you enjoyed this edition of Coffee With Experts.

Previous interview – Anil Gupta – Founder of Honey Bee Network
New Year Message - Be a Seeker! Happy 2012
Latest Art work - Tum ho tho

Stay tuned for more!

My latest art work is here.  The concept is based on the song Tum Ho Tho from the movie rock on. The lady (here) is playing that song in this contemporary indian painting as a dedication to her lover.

Concept: Tum ho tho..
Medium: Poster colour on acrylic.

From The Aha Moment of the Week

In the new year, CWS continues the search of role models for Indian youth! Today, we have a very very special guest – Mr. Mehmood Khan, Former head of global innovation at Unilever, who recently returned back home to his native village, to turn it around. There are a lot of people and NGOs out there addressing different problems in the economy. But here is a man, who is reviving the economy of a village in Mewat. Please join me in welcoming Mr. Mehmood Khan, IIMA Alumnus with rich corporate experience who is here to share his story! The first part of the interview is here today!

Me: Sundar Rajan G S
MK: Mehmood Khan – Managing Trustee, Rasuli Kanwar Khan Trust

MK: I am born in a village, I was the youngest of 5 siblings.. So I would say I was a spoilt child. I grew up in abundance. My family was a farming family.. But my father and mother ensured that I had a plenty of everything.. Ofcourse I did walk to school to another village.. About 2 kms.. I dont think I would ever complain.. I studied in a government school, where the teachers were very sincere.. They taught us to read, write, maths etc. Then moved to middle school, high school.. the usual school life.. I got the best in the circumstances.. A rural upbringing.. but definitely an upbringing of abundance..

Me: Did you join Unilever immediately after your education at IIMA? Can you share some of your anecdotes while you were there..

MK: I worked for 2.5 years in voluntary sector.. and then 2.5 years in a corporate sector.. So I had 5 years of experience before joining Unilever.. When I joined there, Forex was very important. So, I was earning FX for them. Govt. of India had a number of restrictions.. So I worked there for 7 years to help them build their balance sheet..

Then I went to Holland.. Berlin wall had just fallen.. I was managing the pioneer market.. basically all the ex. communist countries.. I then opened unilever office in Vietnam.. then Singapore.. where I set up a full fleged operation for Unilever in east asia, which includes Vietnam, China etc.. By then I had gained cross country experience in various global roles.. Then I moved to London, where I was their Head of Innovation till 2009.

Me: You are currently the managing trustee of Rasuli Kanwar Khan Trust NaiNangla, which is transforming lives in rural Mewat. Can you talk a lot about this role..

MK: In 2003, I got engaged with India’s Pratham. Between 2003 to 2009, I was in Unilever but was guiding them part time, weekend etc.. That is how it all got started.. Pratham sent volunteer in the area I work now.. They gave reading/writing test.. That is when I realized that situation was very bad.. Then we did voluntary class.. 1 volunteer was doing classes.. The society was ready for change..

We organized a stake holder meet and prioritized what we wanted to do.. We realized that we needed a total transformation of the village.. This includes work in key areas such as
- Education
- Employment
- Water
- Hygiene
- Infrastructure

Enrolment of children in our volunteer programs gave us the confidence that the society was ready for the change. The government and system was not ready or prepared sufficiently, but society was waiting and supporting any new initiatives. A series of volunteer classes were organized.

We also tried to stir the economic activity of the region. We negotiated with the Dairy which procures directly from the villagers. This helps the villagers to get better prices. We also worked with the companies to recruit youth from the region. We continue to improve the lives of the people at different levels.

Now we have 95% of the children in schools now. We are always looking to improve the quality of education. We tied up with NIIT to install computers in the school.

Me: What are the challenges you face?

MK: Well, these initiatives are never easy. We have to work continuously. We are continuously engaging at different levels. You must understand that if a region is backward, there is a reason for its backwardness. So it is a continuous battle to turn the tide. So it Work in Progress. We get bright students. For e.g., parents have told us that they have learnt more in 6 months than in the last 2 years.

We have 650k villages in our country. Job is never enough done. You know the real problem I face is not these difficulties. But the difficult of retaining the talent. People and talent go to urban localities. Very few people stay back and turn around the villages. The real challenge is to turn these from negative to positive force.

Me: What kind of feedback do you get from firms such as ICICI and GenPact etc, where you place people..

MK: They are quite happy with our youth whenever they carry out their expansion plans. But companies are themselves facing a lot of ups and downs.. For the last 2 years, they have been in consolidation model, except say mobile operators and FMCG. So they are not really recruiting from the villages now. All the firms have their own priorities. So, last 2 years rural participation has reduced. But we carry on with our work. It is currently not a part of their core strategy. Mewat is a small village, so it is not a part of their core, which understandable. Marginalized region wont fit a part of their plans. But our activities and effort continues.

There are new initiatives. Vijay Mahajan has started an initiative to bring the unbanked to the banks. There is a Govt and RBI stipulation on the banks to bring in more people in through their virtual branches. This new initiative is helping our youth.

Another initiative is the First Village Factory concept. A garment factory has been set up. It is a challenge for us to make it a viable and we have added it to the portfolio of initiatives.

Previous interview – Anil Gupta – Founder of Honey Bee Network
New Year Message – Be a Seeker! Happy 2012
Latest Art work – Losing myself to you!

Stay tuned for more!

Time just flies.. 31.5 million seconds have silently ticked away from the start of the year. I vividly remember this day last year.. I had taken a day off from work to clean up the website and write the message – “Be Awesome – Happy 2011“.. Between that day and today, CWS has also clocked quite a few important moments!

Before I go into it, I want to put in a strong disclaimer.. Look what banking does to you. You start off with a disclaimer

A parent of a 3 year old will find his or her child’s developments to be very special.. Although, in the bigger scheme of human existence, the child is not doing anything exemplary.. You may call it love, bonding etc or if you are cynical.. you can term it as emotional attachment, stupidity etc.. Well the fact is it exists..

Such is my love for my 3 year old CWS… Yes! CWS completed 3 years in March 2011 with some amazing interviews.. The likes of Chinmayi (playback singer) and Arvind Gupta (Toy Maker) were featured.. It scaled new heights to interview a couple of Padmashri awardees as well – (Ananda Shankar Jayant and Anil Gupta).. Still a long way to go in its journey.. But what joy is it if we dont sit back and enjoy some interesting milestones along the way.. Yes! CWS completed 100 interviews this year.. Ofcourse, the journey has only began.. Still a long way to go in pursuit of the role models for Indian youth..

From The Aha Moment of the Week

This CWS story made me realize that I look at myself as an Venture Capitalist.. The VC who invests in various potentials in me.. Some of them click.. Some of them see the light at the end of the tunnel.. Most of them dont.. But the ones which click go some distance.. It was an interesting year.. My tryst with craziness continued as I was intellectually curious and continued to learn from different aspects of life..

Life.. they say is a journey to find a direction.. and this year.. I just did that.. I was looking for a direction in everything I did.. be it work.. or cws interviews or books or poems or art works.. In everything, I was consciously searching for my niche.. A light that would guide me in the long run.. In some I found my purpose.. in many I didn’t..

For example.. I read books voraciously.. as though I had never seen books before.. I didn’t just read text books but all kind of crazy books.. On a wide ranging topic from Buddhism to banking.. from fiction to philosophy.. I realized that there is just too much to learn.. I was clear I had a to find my niche.. else I would continue to search indefinitely.. Sometimes.. the mind never lets you open your eyes.. But when you find your purpose.. the mind doesn’t let you close it either..

There was a common string across everything I did.. The very thought of India, Indian culture, food, languages, art, history, geopolitics, challenges at hand, the future… excited me.. it turned me on.. India was what I was fascinated about.. So much more to learn from India.. So much more to learn about India! So much more to give back to India! There was India in everything I did.. Coffee With Sundar was searching for India’s role models.. Aha Moments, my art works were based on Contemporary Indian themes..

“Go as far as you can see; when you get there you’ll be able to see farther” ~Thomas Carlyle The search has only began.. but I realized that it is worth searching.. I also realized, more of then than not.. the search within would involve facing some serious questions from heart.. the ones which I had conveniently evaded all these years..

“Eagerness to learn is the beginning of all wisdom.” said Akbar the Great!
Experiment till you find what you are searching for.. To be awesome, one must constantly be seeking.. Just like buddha’s gyaanoodaya.. hopefully, one would achieve a state of clarity… A stage when self doubt turns to confidence..just that right amount of confidence.. not too much.. not too little, but just the right amount that you complete the journey one has embarked on..

Remember.. your mind is your final frontier and being awesome is just a state of mind.. To be in that state.. one should persistently be a seeker.. Seeking makes you humble because there is so much to learn.. And always seek excellence.. As Robin Sharma says.. Excellence is not for someone else to notice but for your own satisfaction and efficiency..

A new year is dawning at us.. Be awesome! And to be awesome, be a seeker.. Be a seeker! Happy 2012!

I am very happy to inform you that I sold my first piece of art today. My colleague at work purchased the art work as a Christmas gift for her husband.

From The Aha Moment of the Week

Ofcourse, still a long way to go.. The journey has just began.. And the rest as they say.. is history!

All my art works can be seen here.

Continuing my focus on Contemporary Indian art, here is my own idea… The woman is playing violin all day long and losing herself into the violin..

Losing myself to you.. Oh you violin!

All my earlier art works can be seen below.

My tryst with art started out as fun activity with random attempts at Cartooning! Today, It has come a long way from that.. Well, this is my 50th art piece! Thanks a lot for all the support.

This contemporary Indian art piece is based on the concept – Just play it! The subject (inspired by Lord Shiva) is clearly an Indian, but neither the clothing nor the instrument suggests the same.. But the message clearly shows that Indians are doing things which they have never done before.. It need not be the way.. the world expects them to do it.. They just do it their way!

JUST PLAY IT!

From The Aha Moment of the Week

The journey has just began. Still a long way to go!

Part 1 of the interview with Padmashri Anil Gupta, founder of Honey Bee Network can be found here. Let us continue with the part 2 of the interview today.

Anil Gupta’s TED talk on India’s hidden hotbeds of invention can be found here.

Me: Sundar Rajan G S
AG: Padmashri Anil Gupta, Founder of Honey Bee Network

Me: The way I see Honey Bee Network is that.. it is trying to build an ecosystem to facilitate grass root innovations.. Sustainability of such ecosystem would require an organization in the ecosystem.. which ensures the quality of the goods & services meets a certain minimum standard.. Do you have such players at all.. How do you ensure that the goods and services created are of good quality?

AG: Fair point.. For example, take a food product.. We will not accept a lower quality product just because it comes from them.. We have to meet the minimum standards.. This is where we need institutional support for testing the product.. But what is happening is that.. testing of quality and regulatory requirements are quite expensive.. Many innovations cant afford these.. For example, a small tractor innovator cannot afford the same price for testing as a big tractor.. While the standards to be met have to be the same.. the cost of testing have to be different..
I keep writing about this to various authorities.. reading it in council.. I am sure someday a solution will come.

Me: In the polycentric model of innovation.. do you see the concerns of reinventing the wheel across different groups.. What I mean is.. there are going to be same innovations being made.. same mistakes being made at different parts of the world! How often do you see this? Do you see challenges in knowledge seeping through from one set of learners to another?

AG: Yes, we share ideas.. I do walks across different parts of the country to share ideas from one region to the other.. Recently, I was in Meghalaya… I have walked in Assam, Andhra, Kashmir.. in 22 states of our country.. And all we do there is to diseminate ideas from different parts..

To increase the diffusion, we work with ICAR – the agricultural research centers.. These can be science centers where people can come and see various ideas in action.. I do believe in the need for large scale trial and demonstration..

Me: How do you think common man can contribute towards increasing innovation and thus improving the lives of the people behind such innovations..

AG: I think every person irrespective of place & profession can contribute to this ecosystem.. Say for example, if you work in Govt office in Tamil Nadu, when you get free time in the evenings.. you can translate the information in tamil .. or translate the information from tamil to other languages.. This way.. his or her community can get the information.. You can send CDs to villages.. to the village school you have come from.. do a video conference to school children.. one person can reach many many school students that way.. so there are many ways one can contribute.. So, one can help in dissemination of information and inspiring people.. inspiration is also very important..

For example, you are can be a illustrator.. I have seen your cartoons on the website.. You can probably help in propagating ideas through comic strip…

If you are scientist.. engineer.. or a website maker.. spanish person.. german.. anyone can contribute.. You can get the ideas across to the different parts of the world! There is no one who cant contribute to this ecosystem..

Me: What is your message for Indian youth..

AG: I would say please identify & empathize with problems of people in this world! This as a global citizen.. Dont be interwined in your own world! Make this world a society which is empathetic.. Experience the pains of others and not just live on your own..

Please make an effort to overcome habitual inertia.. In Rajasthan, a 7th std student Md. Anzar came up with a tool to sort rice.. He lives in slum and had seen his mother do this.. This saves a lot of time, effort & energy..

Sow the seeds of impatience and contribute to the larger good of the society!

Me: Thank you very much sir. Thank you once again for your time.

Readers, hope you enjoyed this conversation with Mr. Anil Gupta. Previous interview with Padmashri Anandha Shankar Jayant – Renowned dancer and figher of breast cancer can be found here.

All interviews can be found at: Coffee With Experts.

Here is my latest art work – Beat the drums! It is painted using acrylic on canvas.

From The Aha Moment of the Week

All my art works can be seen below.

Thoughts and feedback welcome!