Wit Wisdom and Whoop

3 years into consulting and independent, the learning never stops which makes the journey gratifying. I shared my first 2 years of education in a earlier blog and this is my continued education. An important disclaimer - these are my experiences, lessons and opinions.  Consulting Blog Year 1 & 2 I said in the beginning that professional life could never be a popularity contest. A consulting job is no different. But here popularity isn’t about saying stuff that pleases your client, it is about MINDING YOUR OWN BUSINESS. Let me explain. Firstly, a consulting assignment is almost always on the basis of your past professional history and contacts where your interactions with some organisation and its employees were very different in terms of role and responsibility. Let’s say you were in a leadership, decision making position in one organisation and you dealt with some other organisation, who is now your client. While you then dealt with a counterpart, fact is you would have also...

  With everybody clamouring to write about Shri Narendra Modi as he turns 75, I decided to instead put together my personal comments I have made in my blogs over the years. Here is the compendium over 12 years. They give a glimpse of evolving opinions rather than an article with a flow.  2013 Like many of his critics say, Modi had a great state (Gujarat), people and culture on which to build. What must be acknowledged is he managed to harness this capability to push Gujarat from a lower orbit to a higher orbit with  new ideas, innovations and a results  based approach.  Whether Modi can work the same magic elsewhere is a question, but he has been able to provide astute and excellent leadership is a fact.  I recently heard him speak in Hindi which was excellent but in English he did not ignite any spark at all. My take is that while his performance and leadership bestowed upon him substantial aura, it is his opponents who have catapulted hi...

The Modi govt turned 11 and was celebrated. Why 11 years, why not 12.5 years I wondered. Most were convinced after the subpar results in the 2024 elections, Modi 3.0 was on crutches that could be pulled down anytime. After initial attempts where everybody was convinced that Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu would jump ship or make unacceptable demands and walk out, both stayed put and how!!!! Once again the propensity of Modi to play Russian Roulette was demonstrated where it is told that he refused to budge on any preposterous demands made and said Dirty Harry style – go ahead, make my day. Hopefully guns weren’t used.  Picture sourced online, due credit to whoever owns it, NO commercial or IP infringement intent Completing 1 as Modi 3.0 and Modi@11 did demand attention especially since he now looks more stronger after Operation Sindoor. While much has been written and discussed I focus on a few issues that are not debated much. NDMA/ NDRF: The National Disaster Response Force w...

There is a rather inappropriate but very appropriate saying in Kannada which when translated means – “The grandmother was in such a hurry, that she ended up getting her menstrual periods back”. This rather appropriately explains two major events of the past few days. Bangalore Stampede: The IPL is neither an international or national tournament, the winner is neither a nation, state nor even a city by definition. It’s a private inter “club” event where each club is owned by an humungously rich individual or corporate but still run by the individual who runs the corporate. It’s the ultimate ego boost for an individual and for the corporate the cheaper option for advertising with higher returns. The cricket played is entertaining and including me, millions enjoy it. After 18 years Royal Challengers Bangalore won the title and their star player was Virat Kohli a much-admired batsman. This lack of victory for 18 years was such a sore story for all cricket fans that the victory this time dr...

You don’t choose experiences, experiences choose you. When you come out of it unscathed, they become memorable. Here are a few from my life. Filmy style negotiation: My employer had taken a project order from a public private partnership organisation for a technology that was experimental, first time in India. There was a risk that it may not be suited for India and could fail. The project included a process plant with machinery, tanks, pipes, fittings – a complete factory. The cost around 35 yrs back was about Rs. 2 Cr (about 1.2 million USD then). If it succeeded, could be a game changer, but if it failed, we would take back the equipment and refund the cost. We agreed, implemented the project, but finally agreed it had performed sub optimally and hence a failure. We refunded Rs. 1.75 Cr (about 1 million USD) but the client had not allowed us to take back even one item. We had not even been permitted to dismantle the plant. That is when we doubted the intention of the client. As the ...