Wit Wisdom and Whoop

In early 2001 I was on my first visit to USA and it was a roller coaster ride I share to provide the foundation to this subject. Landing in New York, the flight delayed I literally, I mean literally ran through the airport - unchallenged. Needing to board a bus, by force of habit went to the “wrong” side and sprinted back amidst traffic to get in, as driver shook his head in amusement and cop wagged his finger like to an errant child. Wanting to see Washington in a day, started off by taking the wrong exit and landed up at the Pentagon and sent back with a smile. Finding no parking, found an empty place, decided to park anyway but asked a dignified gentleman also parking his car if it were OK only to be told that we had parked in the Senators parking area but being a holiday, the cops would maybe be nice to me. Later driving in slow moving traffic, jumped off, stood in front of the White House grill, got someone to click a quick picture and jumped back into the car. Later in the evenin...

One of the challenges in one’s career is that you grow up, become a “boss” yourself and then its not easy to place a person you report to on a pedestal. The relationships grow more equal and you become an equal partner in most situations unless there is a situation that exposes ones own limitations. Yet there can be exceptions and Mr. Dev Avadhani is that for sheer attitude, energy where he could shame a 25-year-old. Dev also provided maximum “thrills” in a manner of speaking. If the reader wants a trailer, then he can read this blog of mine from 2015. Hence, this piece is also written in a light-hearted manner. A Meeting with Dev When I was appointed to the job, I was supposed to join a totally different division. Days before the joining date I was moved to the division headed by Dev. Normally anybody heading a business would throw a fit at being given a 2nd in command he had never met. But Dev simply took it in his stride like everything else. One meeting over coffee and we were frie...

As the world ushered in 2020 nobody except maybe a few knew what was in store and coming. Even those who knew what was coming may not have fully grasped the impact of their actions. Someday in the future hopefully the truth of what happened, why, how and by who will be known. Till then we just need to live with the current reality and grapple with it as best as we can. Statistics of course always tell a story and its tempting to analyse data and jump to whatever hypothesis a writer may want to present. But that would take away the human factor amidst this pandemic. I have not travelled the globe during the pandemic, seen or experienced anything to say who did what, who did better, why etc. But one does read, see even if one does not listen to the commentariat who are busy espousing their views as news. When the pandemic started the logical assumption was that advanced western countries with far greater infrastructure (number of beds and such statistics again), far better knowledge, far...

  The toughest one to write – Where do you start and how do you write about a man who travelled the world on a motorcycle 5 years before I was even born and my father was still a student, who built a Billion dollar business empire that covered 17 countries, 4 business segments and 43 manufacturing locations and ran it as Chairman and CEO, Distributed his entire ownership of the company amongst the company employees in a unique ESOP that wasn’t traded publicly and in a profit sharing scheme paid out profit share to employees on a weekly basis thanks to a daily profit and loss performance report. That man was the legendary businessman, philanthropist, collector, amazing human being, Manager par excellence and my boss as a member of the company board – Mr. Gordon Lankton. For those who wish to know more, please do read the various links I have shared below. When I first met him, it was like meeting your friendly grandfather and within seconds the chasm that I had created in my mind ab...

A tough one on where to start because I had a “destined” meeting at his home in Delhi just a few days before he suddenly passed away. Driving back to my hotel, on an impulse I messaged him, and he immediately called me. He asked where I was and immediately invited me to visit his home. His first comment when I met him was “You still don’t drink, or will you have a drink?”. I spent a marvellous evening with him and his wife Dr. Mridula and for the first & last time I had a gossipy, personal relaxed chat with him and his wife. We chatted till late in the night. He spoke of his visionary plans for identifying leaders, leadership development, marketing them suitably and creating a “pull-demand” for them and placing them in high positions in industry - as a business. It was a fascinating strategy he outlined, and I was hoping to go back to him on this. But destiny played spoilsport. To get back to the beginning. For long I knew him only by name. The only memory of him was the dapperl...