My big brother

2011

When I glued for writing this, I didn’t know where to start with and what to write. As there is so much to narrate. I close my eyes and thought of God and only my brother came in my mind. I wonder, how in this selfish world a person can be so dutiful and so responsible yet so affectionate and lovable. Who else, but bhai sab. My brother Mr. Prakash Kumbhat is the eldest member out of 9 siblings of my parents. In olden days, people used to have meagre resources, but large and happy family. People used to say every child come with his own destiny. Our family is outcome of perhaps that adage. So bhai sab while studying in class VIII took the responsibility of running a PDS shop alongwith my sister who was then class VI student. Just imagine kids of these classes running a government approved ration shop! This continued till matriculation and then he shifted to Jodhpur to pursue higher studies. He clinched a job with Electricity department just after matriculation and continued his studies. He opted for BA in English literature. Despite having a village school background, he developed terrific writing skills in English. I admit, I cannot choose the words and letters which he used to write when he was BA student. And it is rightly said, there is no dearth of opportunity for hardworking and talented people. Immediately after high school, he got offer from Syndicate Bank which he joined and associated with it for almost 40 years and now retired at the age of 60. At the age of 21 he first took the responsibility of marriage of my eldest sister and that include helping parents not only finding suitable match but also to shoulder the marriage expenses.  There is old adage “the relatives also help if you are powerful or resourceful.”Here all the help came from his best friend Devki Nandan Bohra who continues to be his best friend even today. 

 And this continued till marriage of all bros and sisters. Of course, the credit goes to my Bhabhi also because she supported bhai sab in his endeavour to fulfil his duty. His ambition to acquire more knowledge never ended. As a result, he bagged the degrees of M.Com, MBA, CAIIB, LLB and so on. Though now he is 61 and retired from Bank, he continues to pursue his passion. Baosa (My father) was hale and hearty till 85 and then one fine day he fell down in his house at Ahmedabad. From that date, father became bed ridden and all other ailment started. Bhai sab and bhabhi both took the complete responsibility of his care. They would feed him, give medicines, clean his bed, give him showers, take him to toilet. I wonder how many of us would do this? Now my mother 79, is suffering from nerve depression, cannot walk, stand up or even feed herself as her fingers do not always obey command of her mind. Who else….but bhai sab and bhabhiji are taking care of her. It is more difficult to handle an old ailing lady then a man, because man still can control himself, have passion and understand the problems of the caretaker. Anybody from family who is not getting medical help from Jodhpur will directly go to Ahmedabad. I would say Ahmedabad is blessed with some of the best doctors in the field of internal medicines, orthopaedics, neurology etc. Patients who lost hope in Jodhpur found solace in Ahmedabad. It is sheer determination and support of bhai sab, that all his brothers and sisters pursued their education and today we proudly say no body in the family is less than post graduate and all male members are professionally qualified too. This was enough lesson for the second generation. They (sons and dauthers of brothers and sisters) have become more and more active and they made family honoured by excelling in their academic and professional career. But despite sharing so much responsibility, he is always in a happy mood. Always ready to go for a walk, shopping, yoga, kirtan, visiting temple, going to friends or relatives house and so on. He says unless you spend, money never come. So don’t be miser, spend for a good cause. God will shower you with his blessings. Bhai sab family consist of two sons, bhabhi and dauther in law. Pinku is a Chartered Accountant and dauther in law Priya is a banker. The yonger one Chinku is Engineering student. But his life does not revolve round only these people. He takes care of all other family members. No day goes without talking to him by practically by every member as he is a great problem solver also. So my brother is not only a brother, but a true mentor, more than a father, more than God. Oh …lord….bless him.

23.6.21

Today is his birthday. Things have changed. His elder son is posted at Sweden who takes care of strategic business development of a multinational company.  

His younger son Kshitij is posted in Japan with IBM as software engineer. He will be shifting to Canada shortly. 

I wish him a very happy birthday. 

💐💐💐

EGO

 

“Sir,  I have closed the deal with XYZ Chemical company for the supply of ABC chemical at Rs. 50 per kg and sir we will be saving around Rs. 50 lacs on this deal”,  Ashok, the Purchase Manager told his senior  Mr. Gupta, Gen Manager with a lot of excitement and hope to receive appreciation.

 

“How dare you!!  The deal was already closed by me at Rs. 55.00 per kg.  What do you want to prove?  Am I a poor negotiator?    This will also spoil the name of the company.  My commitment was final. “  an agitated boss, blasted on Ashok.

“But Sir, you only told me to close the deal”.

“No, I told you to close the documentation work”, GM cried in full throttle.

“Sir, I am sorry, I couldn’t understand you properly”, Ashok tried to pacify his boss.

At Sunlight Housing Society, the President of the Society Mr. Gaurav Sharma,  ordered for AMC of elevators before the expiry of the earlier contract so as to continuity of the service.

“Mr. Sharma, this is absolutely not acceptable.  You haven't consulted me.  I am sure I would have saved you at least one lac rupee on this contract.”  One aggrieved member of RWA Mr. Gyan Chand told the President.  “It seems you had mala fide intention of deliberating ignoring me”, he further vented on him.

“Mr. Gyan, it was your prime responsibility to close the contact of AMC, but you were unnecessary taking your own sweet time.  I am here to discharge my duty as President and not to satisfy your ego” President retorted back.

“Ms Soundarya, Can I talk to you?” Anubhav, a classmate of her in college politely asked her.

Instead of responding Ms. Soundarya simply ignored Anubhav.  He felt insulted.   Ms Soundarya became very famous in college for her attitudes.   She got married at the age of 24 and but divorced within six months and now she is leading a solitary life for the past 45 years.

Most of us come across such incidents in our day to day life.  I call them “Ego” issues.

“Ego” is nothing but self-imposed importance of oneself.

Knowingly or unknowingly,  some persons keep a distance from their own colleagues, subordinates,   their relatives because they feel they are superior to others.

Ego hurts.  We stop learning because we think about how can we learn from our juniors?  How can we learn from the person who doesn’t have technical knowledge?  Why should I accept my mistake?  Why should I ask my colleague to do me this favor?

An egoistic person will have devoid of good friends.  He will crack poor jokes to remain in limelight.

Taking on such an egocentric outlook will close your mind to new solutions and inhibit your from learning the lessons at hand.  Growth will soon come to a halt, as will your contribution to the organization.

 

A businessman can’t afford to remain egoistic.  He has to deal with all kinds of customers.  He has to in fact satisfy the ego of his customers to get his work done.

 

Now let us examine the word “Pride”.  Pride is entirely different from the Ego.

 

“Pride” a feeling of fulfillment, satisfaction for any action or an event.  It may be derived from any achievement of oneself or his family.  He will normally be altruistic.

A person can take price in his value system, his family, his society, his country and always feel happy about this.

An IAS  officer gets an enormous opportunity in making money through dubious means.  But still, he remains honest.  His integrity remains impeccable.  This value system is his pride.

 

Now it's up to us in which category we want to fall in.  But in any organization or business, Egocentric people are ultimately discarded or marginalized.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RELATIONSHIP

Nowadays you will hardly find any advertisements in the newspapers for job vacancies.  Earlier papers were full of such advertisements.    What has changed?   The positions are being fulfilled but the methods have changed.   Relationships and references play major roles.

An investor/cum landlord approached one Corporate Leasing officer and offered his space to his company and despite his requirement, the leasing guy refused to accept his offer.  Reason: this investor behaved very badly with the other company executives during the previous tenancy.   His space remained vacant for consecutive 8 years. 

A daughter-in-law refused to say even a single word in the appreciation of her mother-in-law even after 10 years of her death.  

Mr. Bhandari surprised to find a call from an executive from a company after a gap of 5 years.  “Mr. Bhandari, hope you recognize me”, a voice from the other end said.

“Mr. Mehta, what a pleasant surprise!!  Your number is very much saved.  How are you?  How is your family”, Mr. Bhandari said.

“Sir, 5 years back we backed out from a contract of supply from you due to some teething problem at our end you had to suffer, but you never complained.  We still appreciate that gesture and now we want to place a bulk order against advance payment”, Mr. Mehta said.

“No issue, don’t worry about the payment part, you simply email me your requirement,” Mr. Bhandari said. And the deal was done.

Now see the difference in these three instances.

 A good gesture, a good relationship always matters.

Many times, as we grow on corporate ladders, we tend to forget our old association, our old friends, our relatives on folly assumptions of “superiority”.   People even don’t bother to respond to telephonic calls.  Nor they call back too.  A simple arrogance.

We all are human beings.  We remember both good or bad instances and co-relate immediately. 

The difference of opinions is always respected.  The matter must end then and there itself.

A person will always remain beautiful not by age but by his conduct.  Everyone loves the company of good people.  Because those who are good will remain beautiful.  Half of your work is done by your relationship with your superiors, your cross-functional executives, your vendors or colleagues,

"rahiman dhaga prem ka mat todo chatkaye tute se phir na jure jure ganth par jaye"

INDIA VS PAKISTAN

India and Pakistan are always at loggerheads since independence. I wonder why?

Partition was a harsh reality.  It was based on political aspirations of the leaders. Thousands of the lives were lost. But why do we fight now when:

1. We share almost same culture
2. Our food habits are same.
3. Indians love their TV drama. Pakistanis love our cinema.

4. We love their singers and they enjoy our songs.

5. Both the countries are not expansionists.

6. Kashmir is mere an excuse. It’s part of India is a reality.

Then why to fight?  Why to waste billions of dollars on defence?  Why not spend on education and health care? Why leaders fail understand this?  Or existence of the country itself depends upon  belligerent attitude towards India!

China is bigger threat to both the countries. It will simply eats away Pakistan in the guise of funding. Better Pakistan realises this early. Otherwise, let it also face fate of Sri Lanka.

Life is short

“Good morning Khatriji.  What a pleasant surprise”, I responded on hearing  ring on my mobile phone.

There was pin drop silence from other end.

I said, “hello sir....”

“Pradeepji, I am his wife. Khatri sab is no more”. The choked voice said.

“Very sad” I responded.

“Since everything happened so fast, I am clue less and checking from his mobile contacts, if you have anything to do with him”,  she said.

I was stunned and felt sorry for her.
Mr Albela khatri was very young.

A few days ago, I called my doctor Mr. Gill on his mobile.

“Good morning Dr sab.  How are you?”, I said.

“uncle papa ab nahi rahe”, his son responded.

I was taken aback. Dr Sab was hardly 45 and cancer took toll of his life.

Life is short. Nobody knows what  is there for us tomorrow.

Let us avoid jealousy, learn to love each other, respect friends and burn “ego”.  Ego is the sign of inferiority complex.

If you can’t help someone. Atleast don’t harm him.

Key role of HR Managers

I checked in Hotel Taj Palace, Delhi at midnight sometime in last year and the executive at the desk welcomed me.

“Sir, it’s already midnight so I kept all your documents ready, kindly sign the form and you can go to your room.

Sir, though you have booked a normal room, we have upgraded to our club room, I hope this is ok with you?" the executive smilingly told me further.

I said, “Thank you.  In the morning my friend will join me for breakfast, please book a table for two."

He said, “it's alright sir. You need not worry. Enjoy yourself”.

“Sir, breakfast will be complimentary for your friend too", he said.

“Noon is checking out time, but I want to spend more time here. Is there any issue?” I said.

“Absolutely not sir. I will do the needful. You can stay up to 4 pm tomorrow.” He said.

This gesture of the reception desk executive has made me a permanent customer of the Taj Group of hotels.

And this incident was not in isolation. My subsequent experience has always been like that.
Having stayed in many hotels, I feel there is something different in Taj, which makes it unique despite comparatively high tariffs.

Now the next question is whether it’s part of their organizational policy or something beyond that.

Here, comes the role of HR managers. A very sound HR practices must have gone into the building of work culture at Taj and therefore, their executives make the experience different.

Traditionally, the HR function was known as Personnel Management or labor-management or Workforce management but now it is re-cherished as Human Resource or Asset Management.

Many organizations though very good at innovative practices when talking about their product management but fail to recognize their most valuable assets i.e. Human Resource.
The great entrepreneur and visionary industrialist late Shri Dhirubhai always used to say, “people are biggest asset” and rightly so today RIL is India’s biggest company and a Fortune 500 company.

So what is the role an HR manager is expected to play to channelize the Human Assets?

The first and foremost important task is to recruit suitable candidates for the function. The person doesn’t need to be highly qualified or have relevant experience. A candidate with a strong desire to learn will excel even if he doesn’t have qualifications or experience.

The next best action will be to organize a structured induction program for the selected candidate whatsoever position it may be. A new employee in the organization must know about the product, services, area of operation, competition, management people, cross-functional areas, ethics policies, welfare policies, and so on.

The market is fast evolving. Artificial Intelligence is taking a big toll on manpower. New technology is replacing the outdated method of work. So instead of hard work, a Smart work concept is taking place. Therefore, periodic training programs, organizing seminars, and encouraging employees to be more participative in the overall affairs of the organization is another crucial function which HR Managers must undertake.

The high attrition means loss of many productive hours and high cost of replacement. Therefore, the periodic study on the behaviour of the employees, their satisfaction level, their money as well as the psychological requirement is a must for a growth-oriented organization. Its rightly said, “Employee doesn’t leave and company, but leave the Managers”. Therefore, HR managers must play a vital role in checking such practices.

Another area where HR Managers are challenged is to design an appropriate compensation package for each grade of employee. It's difficult to fix the same compensation for the same nature of the job, but then it’s the HR job to design packages in such a way that recruit doesn’t pose a possible threat of dissatisfaction among the existing employees. The employees' welfare measures like a good workplace, medical facilities, conducting team building programs, retirement benefits, etc are other key areas where HR Managers need to sink in.

The organization itself is nothing, without good human resources.   And therefore, a strong investment in manpower and upgrading them from time to time become the key areas for any HR Manager.

Letter to PM : Strong foundation of India

Respected Prime Minister,

My views to build India as a strong nation:

1. Primary education: Currently quality aspect is terribly ignored in primary education in India which is should be the best as this is the very foundation of the nation. Teachers are very low paid. In some states, their salaries are as low as Rs 5000 per month which is even lower than domestic help. Select the best teachers with the best remuneration. Attract talent. A movement should be done to bring the best minds to education instead of going them to join white collars jobs.

2. Basic health care: The successive governments have tried to improve health care in villages, but the budget allocation is minuscule in comparison to the requirements. Encourage establishing more medical colleges, attract students from rural areas, and let them serve villages at least for 3 years. A healthy citizen will build a healthy nation.

3. Rural Economy: We are a nation of an agricultural economy. But unfortunately, our farmer who feeds us is again one of the most neglected persons. He always toils in poverty. He is often a victim of drought or flood. If some time production is more then the market price becomes less than his cost and he has no choice but to destroy his crop. And this is practically repeated every year. It’s criminal. Let our farmers prosper. Provide him storage facility, provide him market, provide him minimum guarantee price. Our most agriculture prosperous state like Punjab is marred with migration to Canada, Australia, and US. Please check it.

4. Research and Development: The Indian taught IITiens, Engineers, doctors are serving USA. No issue. They send hard-earned dollars to us. But we rarely hear any new patent, copyright, or development to their credit. We need very strong R&D departments insulated from political interference. Encourage technocrats to work here. Pay them handsome salaries. Let the nation shine with new technology, medicines, or new methods to its credit.

5. Social security and social recognition:

There is hardly any incentive for tax compliance and therefore the rate of the direct taxpayer is abysmally low. Introduce social security measures like old-age pension, unemployment allowances, free medical care, free primary education which will deter people from tax theft. Reward the taxpayers publicly. Surely results will be tremendous.

6. Role of Babus : So far the role of bureaucrats in India has been perceived as “dadagiri”. Now reverse their role. Give them targets of employment, give them targets of productivity, give them the target of a green and clean environment. Surely, these people will work hand in hand with the industry.

Sir, these are very basic things which could be implemented. Only you require to push and engrave your name permanently in the history of India as a Revolutionist.

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