“I did not fail, but only found 9999 ways of how not to invent a bulb” ~ Thomas Alva Edison

“If failures still motivate you to try again, then you are in the right direction” ~ Naveen Lakkur

“Past is History; Future is a Mystery; This moment is a gift and that’s when it’s called present.” ~ Deepak Chopra

“Learn from the past; Explore the future; Enjoy this moment.” ~ Naveen Lakkur

“Iron fist in the velvet glow - being nice not necessarily means being weak” - Naveen Lakkur

“Innovation is a journey starting with Dream while Determination, Dedication and Discipline are the milestones leading to Destination” - Naveen Lakkur

Family of my close friend Prakash Venkatesan use to organize ‘Satsang’ (program where people of different walks of life get together to share words of wisdom). It used to be a monthly affair. They used to bring specialists in different fields and they used to talk on a specific topic. I use to look forward for an invitation every month, schedule my calendar and participate diligently. While I have attended many of the Satsang programs organized by them, there’s one program I will never be able to forget. The topic was ‘Death’ and the discourse was by Dr.Anil, a neurology surgeon. Even though this particular satsang on the topic of Death happened in 1996, it still is hail & healthy living in my mind.

While the discourse itself by Dr.Anil was captivating, I could also sense the inquisitiveness in everyone who participated, I could understand because it’s very logical as the topic was a discussion amongst those who have not had a personal experience about it. Rightly so!

Towards end of the session Dr.Anil opened the floor for participants to come on stage and share their thoughts on ‘Death’. Couple of them shared their thoughts but what’s very vivid in my mind is that of a lady who walked up on the stage and the first words she uttered was “i would wish that my husband die before I do; my loved daughter die before I do and my son die before I do”. She got everyone sit up either astonished or shocked. She then went on to explain that she said so only because of pure love towards her husband, daughter and son. She was the central force and all of them were very dependent on her. When she imagined her family’s life without her, she could see everyone suffering, suffering and only suffering.

I got a chance to take the stage next, and my expression was that, “it looks like most of us have started relating death to suffering, pain, agony, misery, etc., may be whatever is the reason - could be we read newspaper everyday which has the news of how and how many deaths happened,  Or witnessed people suffering from ill health leading to death. It’s all about our relatedness. I recalled a quote from the book Passion, Profit and Power by Marshal Sylver - ‘Death is such a wonderful thing in life that everyone spared it to the end’.” Wow! What a quote, it’s deep and philosophical. I could easily relate it to a dry fruit ice cream which is my favorite that when I eat, I always spare the best part topped with honey and nuts to be had at the very end.

According to me, Steve Jobs founder of Apple Inc., is one person in our era who demonstrated that even though death is inevitable it could be planned. Suffering from cancer for seven years, look at him and his achievements, phenomenal! I feel death has played a critical role behind all the success he has achieved. In his own words, “No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there…Yet death is the destination we all share…Death is very likely the single biggest invention of life. It’s life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new”. “Steve made choices,” said his physician Ornish. “For Steve, it was all about living life on his own terms and not wasting a moment with things he didn’t think were important. He was aware that his time on earth was limited. He wanted control of what he did with the choices that were left.” The man who valued his privacy almost as much as his ability to leave his mark on the world had decided whom he most needed to see before he left. Jobs invited a close friend, the physician Dean Ornish, to join him for sushi at one of his favorite restaurants in Palo Alto. He said goodbye to longtime colleagues, including the venture capitalist John Doerr, the Apple board member Bill Campbell and the Disney chief executive Robert A Iger. He offered Apple’s executives advice on unveiling the iPhone 4S, which occurred on Tuesday, just the day before he last breathed. He spoke to his biographer, Walter Isaacson. He took his company Apple Inc., a few months ago to the level of world’s most valuable company and then hands over the responsibility of CEO to his successor Tim Cook and bids an adieu…truly, a death by choice! In his cornerstone speech at Stanford he even said, “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. … Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”

Who says Steve Jobs is dead. He has done his job so well and planned his death also so well that he will always live in millions of hearts for many many years to come…Just after his death, the company witnessed pre-order booking of 1 million pieces in one single day, 67% more than previous versions of the devise for its latest product iPhone 4S. Last product launched during his life by his company Apple Inc., This is Steve Jobs raising even after death and making death just a milestone in his life.

I keep saying, “Life is the way it is, because we planned it”. But for one person, Steve Jobs - the legend, I have to rephrase and say, “Death is the way it is, because he planned it”.

Have you invented anything?

One of the best inventions that’s been very useful till date and will remain very useful for generations to come is the numeral ‘0’. It’s just a round patch with a big hole in the middle. It’s actually empty and meaningless all by itself.

It will never harm if it’s prefixed with any other number but it multiplies the value of the number if it gets suffixed. While nothing can divide it, infinite will be the outcome if it tries to divide anything.
Zero - What an invention! I am amazed about it. If you have not invented anything till now, you can say that you invented 0.

“Innovation opens up new vistas of knowledge and new dimensions to our imagination to make everyday life more meaningful and richer in depth and content. Invention is a manifestation of originality in thinking, originality in conceptualizing and natural inventiveness of the mind. This quality, I am firmly of the view, is latent in all of us. What is required is a natural effort to exercise it in the positive direction.

India with its billion people population – 30 per cent of representing the youth – is a tremendous talent pool to tap, much of which may be latent, but imagine the situation when the entire sea of talent is allowed to manifest itself in path-breaking innovations! Our country can surely be a torchbearer of progress for the entire world.” ~ said Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the honorable former president of India during his address in January 2010 to the National Innovation Foundation, India.

He also said in an interview with Global Dharma Center in 2005 that, “A developed nation has two components: One is the economic growth and prosperity, which is what the western societies normally look for. The second component is the preservation of civilizational heritage. In India, we have a heritage of values…We want to couple the economic prosperity and the human values, which are drawn from this civilizational heritage.“
Just to recall; India invented ‘0’ (zero) that’s holistic, powerful, whole and complete yet selfless.
Let me now illustrate with a simple case of holistic innovation that I am able to relate and appreciate.
Back in the past, ancient Indian civilization as part of their cultural heritage were unique in their culinary taste and serving of meals on a plantain leaf – a natural and bio-degradable material. Even though it’s bio-degradable, not enough chance for it to degrade by itself was given as these used plantain leaves became fodder for cows. Cows probably loved this natural food for itself and produced great tasting milk. Cows then dropped the dung that was in-turn used as natural fertilizer to grow plants including the plantain trees that produced the plantain leaves which was cut and sold to make a living. Thus, the whole cycle was complete.

While we may, in the haste of our youth, misjudge and misled by this doctrine that as part of new age generation we have moved ahead, the archaic structure of yesteryears that are by-gone may not become applicable for this era and to the coming, according to me, the approach to innovate still applies – to think and make our innovation holistic. In the above illustration, look at the utilization factor which is full and the residual waste that is nil. Just the way the number zero is!
Look at many new age innovations, like the electronic gadgets or computers that’s creating huge amount of e-waste that’s not easily degradable. For that matter, the new age disposable plates that we use for having a meal. Most of it is only disposable but not degradable, creating a waste and worsens tomorrow. The rate and the direction that our innovation is going and growing, we probably would need three size of our planet to only carry that waste that are generated.
One other important aspect to be noted in the above illustration is that there was commercialization in the whole process of innovation. The emphasis is that the innovations were commercialized only after it was ensured holistic.
“We have been innovating; we will be innovating; we are innovating even right now and it’s in every one of us”. If this is true, it’s important for us to learn from this little numeral zero, enable ourselves and ensure our innovation is holistic.
Come, let’s create a better tomorrow!

Thoughts are like waves in the ocean, it’s a continual process, one following the other tirelessly. There’s an opportunity for every human mind to create a mark on the shore that could make a valuable difference.

“Everything in this World is born twice. First in the mind of the creator and the other in reality”

We as humans are gifted with the brain that has the potential to think. Remember, no single thought is useless. What matters is the effort to recognize these thoughts, nourish them till it emerges as an idea. Then, it becomes important to provide the right eco-system for these ideas to evolve into reality. As a creator it should also be our responsibility to ensure that the reality is also meaningful and beneficial to others as much it might be to us. That’s when the creator can experience contentment or fulfillment.

This is how Einstein’s and the Newton’s were born in this world. Just think for a moment, You will realize that’s how every successful entrepreneur is born in this world. Entrepreneurs have been committed with an objective of being the true partner to the purpose from ‘Thought to Finish’ understanding the power of ideas and through a strong eco-system nurturing the ideas into realities, solving some real challenges and making a valuable mark in this world.

It’s the disciplined effort that’s been instrumental in transforming ideas into realities that mattered to this world. “Discipline is the catalyst that has the power to transform talent into ability” is what one of my mentor V.V.Ranganathan repeatedly says.

Who says Einstein’s are born only once? Our objective should be to think, provoke and empower the thoughts in a disciplined way that could make a valuable mark.

“Thought to Finish - Discipline is the Driveway to Destination” – Naveen Lakkur

It was a bright Sunday afternoon. I was dressed in full white and standing in the queue amongst thousands who all were dressed in full white. Even though there were thousands waiting to get into a hall to get a glimpse of the spiritual guru Sri Sathya Sai Baba, they were absolutely disciplined. As people entered the hall and seated quietly while waiting, there was peace experienced even amongst thousands of people gathered under one roof. What a wonderful sight it was, like that of a pure and peaceful ocean.

This is still lingering in my mind as fresh as a new wave that wets the shore making it very fresh and shining. It’s remained fresh just because of the incredible learning and experience that I had that day.
I was very fortunate that day for having got a seat in the very first row, that too in the special seating area. I was feeling so special being able to see my spiritual guru from such close quarters. I was thrilled!
As I was enjoying every moment of a special cultural program being performed in front of the spritual guru, he calls on one of the students who was performing and grants him a gold chain by materializing it from the thin air. That sight was magnificent. There was a big applaud in the hall. As this was happening, in parallel I was praying in my mind and asking the guru “will I ever get something from your hand? It need not be a golden chain, it could be even a bit of holy ash”. It didn’t take even a fraction of a second to hear a sarcastic laugh of guru followed by his words “MAD guy, you are asking for material stuff, I have given you vision”, believe me – I was shivering and didn’t know how to react. While I was still trembling, the cultural program continued and got completed.
I met Mr.William Miller that afternoon and started sharing my experience with him and he curiously listened and then said, “Naveen, do you understand that there are 2 important things in the guru’s words. Guru said, you are a MAD guy and we know that you are determined to Making A Difference. Also, he said he has given you vision when you actually lost sight”. I got shook up the second time, the same day. I was taking time to digest the message.
I started reflecting on it and started realizing that as part of my entrepreneurial experience and association with many entrepreneurial initiatives, I had participated in formation of Vision Statements of several companies all of it after I had lost sight and partially recovered. Started reflecting on the distinctions of Sight which is what we get to see in physical form in definite shape, time and distance and Vision that has no boundaries, distance and it’s timeless. It took several days for the message to sink in and when it did, I re-defined my self and said “Naveen Lakkur is a person with limited sight and unlimited vision”.  It was very empowering. I went ahead and framed a quote:

“While most are blessed with sight, entrepreneurs are blessed with vision”

Entrepreneurs are blessed by a vision and the drive to see it to fruition. They work outside normal boundaries because they have an idea that can’t be contained. They plan, they test, they revise and they keep moving ahead. They strive to catalyze a vision, which is a property of the entire enterprise. Vision stands high up like a guiding star galvanizing all towards the common direction, making impossible possible that’s visible to the whole world.
Hat’s off and congratulations to all the entrepreneurs who are blessed with vision and who have set out with their life mission to making a difference in this world.

Victory! This word has some power, rather so much power that I am experiencing vibration in my mind and body as I imagine and write about Victory. People are ready to do anything for Victory, even adopt the path of violence by waging wars.

I remember Churchill’s war speech – one of the best ever captured in the annals of history, when as Prime Minister, he assures the house of commons “To form an administration of this scale and complexity is a serious undertaking in itself, but it must be remembered that we are in the preliminary stage of one of the greatest battles in history, that we are in action at many points in Norway and in Holland, that we have to be prepared in the Mediterranean, that the air battle is continuous and that many preparations have to be made here at home.” And thunders “I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this government: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.” Followed by “You ask, What is our aim? I can answer with one word: Victory - victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival.”

And goes ahead to conclude with “Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will say, ‘This was their finest hour’.”

Even today, this speech gives me the goose bumps. I am yet to hear a finer speech about fearlessness and Victory.

In fact, Britain entered into a pact with Indians to join them in the battle, and in return promised them independence. Post-war, Great Britain was not yet ready or willing to surrender her position in India.

Back home, Gandhi waged a war of different kind by insisting on showing the other cheek when the British slaps, instead of slapping back – Non-Violence.  “An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind” was how Gandhi articulated the need to abstain from the use of violence. He further counseled his countrymen “Nothing is so aggravating than calmness” and “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.” Well, he did shake the world and Britain handed India’s independence and much was owed to this man who personified simplicity with his loincloth and long marches. India emerged victorious. Gandhian principle of non-violence was hailed as the key proponent in securing freedom and echoed the victory cry.

That was history with war as backdrop. Flip over pages that pass through decades and century since then. Times have changed and modernization touched momentous scale – the war still continues. It has extended to newer spheres including business, hurting and harming not just the human beings but also the whole eco-system.

I feel it should be replaced with business battles that are more on a benevolent benchmark to better mankind and make this planet and the people inhabit a better place to live. Holistically, this war is waged to make a dream come true, nurture an idea and make it a reality; harness human capital to the hilt.  As a serial entrepreneur I have had the privilege in associating with my people around the globe who aspires to be successful entrepreneurs and believe me people, it’s a different kind of war waged with strategies and smart play. These wars are akin to the one Gandhi preached and practiced. Coming to the crux of the issue, how do you emerge victorious in your Business while upholding self-growth, upbringing society, undertaking to nourish environment and uncompromising on the principles?

Recalling from my personal experience, the key to any business venture is the vision. Someone said, “Knowing your destination is half the journey.” Always have a vision – it can be an aim, ambition, aspiration – anything or anyone that you want to become. That’s why Gandhi urged, “if you know your ends, you will achieve your means” - like boarding the vehicle after having determined the destination. Once the journey has begun, the vehicle gains pace, picking up in momentum. Remember, the direction of the momentum is the same as the direction of the vehicle’s velocity. The vehicle must be steered efficiently so as to sustain the speed and still maintain its stability. That’s the strength – or in other words Vigor. “Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will” said Gandhi. Align Vision, Velocity and Vigor in the same logical sequence and Victory is yours. That’s your destination!

“Bring Vision, Velocity & Vigor together to experience Victory.” – Naveen Lakkur

Why do we fear failures? because it draws flak? That people are highly opinionated and evaluate our performance only to condemn and crucify and finally culminate with character assassination. “He is a misfit”, “doesn’t know how to handle pressure”, “ill-equipped and lack the faculty in the functioning of an enterprise”, “doesn’t have it in him in becoming an entrepreneur” Comments as these sure aren’t a shot in the arm, neither does it set your adrenalin rising, but dampens your enthusiasm and deepens into depression. You start licking your wounds in self-pity or incriminate yourself in self-condemnation. Do you know why? Because you took it personally.

Recently I was watching a program on the television with my family and there was this toothpaste advertisement. The dentist visits the school and makes every student undertake the gum test and one boy fails. Sneered by his bus mates, he sits alone and aloof near a window when his best friend wraps his shoulder around him and assures” hey chum, chin up! Remember, You didn’t fail. Your toothpaste failed. Change your toothpaste. Simple”. I was reclining till then, but this advertisement struck me hard that I sat upright. What a message through school kids. That’s why I insist the message is important than the medium. After that I didn’t view that program but read the message in that advertisement which kept replaying in my mind.   To me, the ad made more sense to drive home the point that it’s not the person but the engagement that failed.

Entrepreneurs will face failures – but its not they failed rather the venture failed, or, it was a bad idea or the execution was poor. Whatever be it, even in failure, we stand to gain – and that’s experience. “Good Judgment comes from experience and Experience comes from bad Judgments..!”. For an entrepreneur, failure is not about giving up, but it’s about finding new ways to make it work.

People are entitled to their opinion, and you can’t seal every lip that speaks against but let it not disturb your sense of balance. If you have the maturity to respond to adversity and prosperity likewise, then you will realize that you have bettered yourself as a human. More often not, we tend to take the results personally. When successful we gloat and blow our trumpet, and in debacle get into depression. Triumph and tragedy are two impostors to be treated alike. Steel unless tested with fire cannot be stronger. If you can overcome the setbacks and still steer through the hardships by enduring, trust me, you will be empowered as there is no better a teacher than failure. If failures are the stepping stones of success, it’s when you really savor the taste of success.

Dare to defy – and that includes fear of failure.  You should overcome, overpower and overtake. Entrepreneurs are outperformers – only those who are smart enough to flush out the fear that inhibits or impedes initiatives. For me entrepreneurs are like those athletes who see the hurdles on the track not as obstacles but as launch pads that provides them an opportunity to take a leap.

“Future can be fruitful if YOU find failure as your friend than your foe” - Naveen Lakkur

“Entrepreneurship is like a river flow; it does not stop and starts rising even if it’s stopped”.

One of my favorite quote which defines and defends my passionate pursuit – fostering entrepreneurship. Some might question “is it just entrepreneur? It applies for any form of human struggle or quest“. True. I find it more relevant in the context of entrepreneurship and hence this quote. We are all born entrepreneurs – some chose to be self-made, some were made, some we made and most refuse to answer the awakening of the inner voice. There is indeed a struggle in any venture and entrepreneurs are those who dare to defy all the odds. In a way they are unstoppable as they are possessed with innate ability to overcome obstacle and optimize them as opportunities.

One of this generation entrepreneurs who impressed me a lot, and from where I drank the waters from his fountain of wisdom is Sunil Mittal. His saga isn’t strange nor is his path to glory phenomenally different from other successful entrepreneurs, but how he handled unexpected twists and turns and dealt his date with destiny is a definite differentiators and towering source of inspiration to stand tall amidst downfall and debris deducted out as debacle. His story isn’t free from flaws and failures but how he made the most from his business misfortune makes him what he is today – a Telecom Giant in India with a net worth of $7.9 billion.

Read more about him…

Sunil Bharti Mittal, founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti Group can be labeled as the most ambitious telecom entrepreneur in India. Sunil a former student of Harvard Business School, graduated from Punjab University. The son of a parliamentarian, Sunil did not want to follow his father’s footsteps. He had shown an interest in business even from his teenage days. So after graduation, Sunil got together with his friend and formed a small bicycle business with borrowed capital in the1970s. But by 1979, he realized that this business would remain small. So he moved out of Ludhiana, spent a few years in Mumbai and in 1981, was running an import and distribution operation out of New Delhi and Mumbai. 

By 1982, Mittal had started a full-fledged business selling portable generators imported from Japan and that gave him the chance to involve himself in activities like marketing and advertising. Things went smoothly until the government banned the import of generators as two Indian companies were awarded licenses to manufacture generators locally. 

Sunil Mittal got interested in push button phones while on a trip to Taiwan, and in 1982, introduced the phones to India, replacing the old fashioned, bulky rotary phones that were in use in the country then. Bharti Telecom Limited (BTL) was incorporated and entered into a technical tie up with Siemens AG of Germany for manufacture of electronic push button phones. By the early 1990s, Mr.Mittal was making fax machines, cordless phones and other telecom gear. 

The turning point came in 1992 when the Indian government was awarding licenses for mobile phone services for the first time. One of conditions for the Delhi cellular license was that the bidders have some experience as a telecom operator. Mr.Mittal clinched a deal with the French telecom group Vivendi. Two years later, Sunil secured rights to serve New Delhi. In 1995, Bharti Cellular Limited (BCL) was formed to offer cellular services under the brand name ‘AirTel’. Within a few years Bharti became the first telecom company to cross the 2-million mobile subscriber mark. The company is also instrumental in bringing down the high STD/ISD, cellular rates in the country by rolling the countries first private national as well as international long-distance service under the brand name IndiaOne. In 2001, the company entered into a joint venture with Singapore Telecom International for a $650-million submarine cable project, the country’s first ever undersea cable link connecting Chennai in India and Singapore.

From selling cycles, to importing portable generators to cordless phones and push buttons and cruising all the way to the top as a telecom giant – his walk into hall of fame was aptly credited to risk appetite and unrelenting attitude to alter the situation however adverse to his advantage “Sunil Mittal was Always on the move and making an impact and excelling in whatever he did, this clear thinking risk taker has changed the face of the Indian ICT space.”

Entrepreneurship isn’t easy and shouldn’t be easy either. It’s a path strewn with struggle, suffering, hurdles and hardships, anxiety and uncertainty, yet the aspiration to accomplish, that burning ambition to become someone significant in creation and contribution makes the flow rise despite the blockades and barriers. The flow never stops. The failures and fallouts notwithstanding, the flow will rise again.

I remember Jnan Dash, Board of Director of Compassites and a valley veteran , who during his recent visit to our Lab, made an impromptu speech that was spiced up with science and spirituality, with special emphasis about handling failures “guys don’t get bogged because of failure. In Silicon Valley, people never perceive it as failure but always appreciate your grit to go for it. The attempt is openly acknowledged and always appreciated than the outcome. “ Quite a speech.

“Calm waters won’t make a skillful sailor!!  There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm!!”

Remember, there is an entrepreneurship in everyone of us!

Reflections – something in retrospect that makes us introspect. In front of a mirror the reflection is of yours; in the years that passed it’s that of yourself.

New Year makes me nostalgic. While I greet the New Year, it’s with longing that I look at the previous– good, bad or ugly, we leave a legacy. That’s the past.

Yesterday is history; it’s all memories; Past is past; Let bygones be bygones; you can’t rewind or reset the clock; The past comes back to haunt you; History repeats itself…….are we done describing ‘Past’ in whatever parlance or still some more left. Some of you might have few more to fill in but I am done with this description.

A circle is the reflection of eternity. It has no beginning and it has no end - and if you put several circles over each other, then you get a spiral. ~Maynard James Keenan.

You will appreciate this quote a with the narrative that follows. Just imagine, It’s a Friday and 6 in the evening and you are at your office, you are all set to pack and go home. The New Year is round the corner and you have promised your family of an early return and your kid is waiting and raring to buy the toys you promised. Your boss calls you to his room for a meeting. It was totally unexpected. What would be your feeling? Be candid. If I were you, I will be frustrated. The emotions would run high and I will be hurling curses within for interrupting at perhaps the oddest of hour. The boss announces “you have exceeded our expectations and rightfully deserve a reward. The company wished to sponsor an all-expenses paid trip to any destination of your choice to you and your family.” So now, what’s running in your mind? Notice the shift in your emotion – from terribly annoyed, you are thrilled at the prospect of a holiday at your will and wish. Just a minute back, you were cursing, but now it’s replaced with compliments. You embarked on your dream trip and enjoying your dream destination and now your holiday is about to come to a close and you are starting to pack your bags on to your way back home. What would be your feelings? Disappointed that you have to leave or yearning for an extension of the stay, hoping the holiday would still stretch?

If you reflect on the experience went through, particularly those moments, it is all based on futuristic things. For tomorrow’s trip you are excited today and before meeting the boss, you are frustrated. If you really look at the turns of events, we, as humans are actually living in the future.  All our current experience or the beingness is all created based on the future. Whatever we are doing now - the way we behave, interact, mindset and engagement is based on future.

Through this narration, it is demonstrated that our current experience of feelings are based on the future but then what stops us many times is based on the events happened to us in the past, like I touched fire and burnt my finger, so never in my life will go near fire; I partnered with someone in a business, and the business bombed and never will I do business with that partner again or never start any business at all in future. Now, it looks like past is driving us!

Because I did a business with partner and suffered losses, I hesitate to get into any venture – which implies that past is ruling me. While future is driving us, the past is ruling us. So the funda here is  - the way we are is a reflection of the past. We, as human beings, are driven by what’s there in the future, but controlled by the past just because the past is sitting in the future. It’s true that past comes into the future naturally and that’s why  the seers and sages advocate the purging (clear) of the past. Don’t bring that baggage of past into the future. Empty it.  In the world of emptiness, everything is created.

‘Out beyond ideas of wrong-doing and right-doing, there is a field. I will meet you there.’ – Rumi

I love this quote by a 13th century Sufi saint. That’s ‘nothingness’ – a large space where you can create whatever you want. The key is not letting the past play its role but it’s inevitable.

What’s happened has happened, but the context is decisive. We have the power to go back to the past, change the context of whatever happened in an empowering way so that when it comes into the future, make it as your ally instead of adversary. It’s all in the mind. This process will set you free and help you to achieve whatever you want.  Its for the losers to come out with lame excuses by exempting in the name of fate of derail themselves by blaming destiny. You cannot master your destiny but you sure can fight your fate. Cribbing about the past is of no avail. Conquering is all about overcoming the past.

The past business could have bombed. But, the learning is no less than getting double MBA degree. The money lost is the experience gained. If we care about our future, it’s important to set the context right of the past undesirable event. It’s a positive and  empowering in context, right! It might be easier said than done. I totally agree. “Good Judgment comes from experience and Experience comes from bad Judgments..!” It reminds me of Edison’s words when someone said that he failed 1000 times in the process of inventing a bulb. He responded, “No, I found 999 ways of how not to create a bulb”.

Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action. ~ Peter Drucker

“Don’t let failures go to your heart or success to head.”

I seriously lost count of the number of times this quote was quoted by me, but inexplicably it seems indelible in its imprint and impression on me. This is highly motivating a quote which helps when my spirits sag and ground me when I feel giddy with success.

We will introspect on the first part of the quote “Don’t let failures go to your heart”: In any journey we embark, or any initiative for that matter, the start can be prove to be the biggest stumbling block. Kick-starting is the first part of the journey, like turning the ignition on. Keep going – despite everything, and against all odds. Yes, there will be blockades and stoppages, but let that not limit your progress.

“When the going gets tough, the tough gets going”. Absolutely!

In every nook and corner there is always something to confront us, and we cannot be cowed by challenges but turn it around to your advantage because it makes you stretch your very limits far and beyond the bearable, and makes you believe that there is world out there with infinite promises and possibilities. In Gandhiji words ‘Books can mostly just bring you knowledge. You have to take action and translate that knowledge into results and understanding. Keep Going!

Once we start, sustaining the momentum is as important as the start and we need to keep going in the right direction. But what’s right direction? Something which has growth and forward movement like the east and north combination – the connotation is forward (east) and upward (North). North-East, in my opinion, is the right direction. In your initiative, if you have the forward movement, it eventually leads growth. Here is where more people get stuck in their loop and keep circling or stagnate. The growth should be spiral. Keep growing!

When you keep going and growing, the gradual and governing progression is to reach the slot at the top, which I state as leadership. “An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching”.Getting to the top is an achievement as a leadership but the trait is to lead by example such that you become a source of inspiration for many others to tread on your footsteps and follow your principles and practices.

“the more you spend, the richer you become” – there is no way in this world to accomplish that other than imparting knowledge. When you transfer wisdom to this world, it’s like the first gleam of the dawn, divine in manifestation, by dispelling the darkness of ignorance as a beacon of hope burning bright. As a Leader when you are prospering and success is beyond measure “don’t let your success go to your head”. When you are in that realm, you are glowing. Keep Glowing!

So it’s a journey from Start to Lead.  This perhaps defines the purpose of this blog Start2Lead as well.

(Courtesy: http://www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/TheLeaderLeads.gif)

Gandhiji in his younger days was fraught with stage fear that he used to stutter. The sight of stage used to shake him, but in the years that were to follow he shook the British stronghold and shipped them back home. He led his people to liberation which Nehru in his maiden speech as Prime Minister would proudly declare “Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom”.

Gandhiji kept going, without wilting in the wake of crisis that confronted him day in and day out but never took eyes off his people or their plight - be it Dandi march, Satyagraha, or Civil Disobedience movement. The path could be many; it eventually leads to your destination. Gandhiji, the universal apostle of peace, is known for ahimsa – non-violence. It’s not an act of cowardice to offer the other cheek when you are slapped on one. It’s the demonstration of character and courage even in challenging circumstances. He was exemplary as a leader practicing his own principles, the path undertaken and the ability to enroll people even in a rigorous route of reform to practise his principles - that’s how he led by example, and made a lasting impact as a legend whose philosophy is preached all over the world. And he was a mass leader with tremendous following, not just in his own country but across continents that inspired people like Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela and still inspires people as recently quoted by President Obama. That’s the glow in a leader. Keep glowing!

Gandhian principles are popular even today in the whole world as it can be applied in any walks of life or in the wake of a crisis. No wonder, the glow of Gandhiji makes him a luminary – a legend of his own.

I remember Elton John’ song “candle in the wind” during Princess Diana’s funeral, some of the excerpt of the song is captured here.

“You called out to our country
And you whispered to those in pain
Now you belong to heaven
And the stars spell out your name

And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never fading with the sunset
When the rain set in
And your footsteps will always fall you
Along England’s greenest hills
Your candle’s burned out long before
Your legend never will”

The candle is the supreme sacrifice of illumination. It exterminates darkness by extinguishing its own life. Die in this context is to put to death the ego in the form of  ‘I’. Only when ego is purged out in a person, and clothed by the virtue of humilty makes oneself level headed  and live their life for others. That’s how the person glows, like inscribed in the scriptures ‘The spirit of man is the candle of the god, searching all the inward parts ‘. and reiterates that ‘ men light a candle, and put it  on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house’. The candle is the leader who should lead the way by the glow of the light.

For all the non-violence preached by Gandhi, a pop of a bullet plugged out his life but his persona and principles were passed to posterity and remain immortal. Yes, Gandhi died, but his ideals and values glow even today. Like that song “Your candle’s burned out long before, Your legend never will”.

So, keep it going, keep it growing and keep it glowing…

Happy New Year! End of 365 days, there’s a New Year of-course with an exception every 4th year. We wish that to be a Happy one. We set resolutions, so that we can reach the milestones and achieve happiness.

A few days ago the most foggy morning was experienced in the last one decade in Bangalore city. Along with my walking partners Anupam and Venkat enjoying the fog and the walk with the new year round the corner, the conversation was all about the new year resolutions…while sharing amongst us what mattered most to us for this year, it was also a lighter morning while sharing what new year resolutions meant to many people and some of the interesting lighter ones that surfaced were:

- Resolutions are made only to break it!
- My New Year Resolution is to have No Resolution
- I want to shed 12 pounds body weight in the next 12 months, but later realized that I only shed 12 month of time

as the day continued to be foggy, during the lunch time my colleague Himani brightened the day by narrating the following,

“Imagine there is a bank account that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day.

Every evening the bank deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course?

Each of us has such a bank. It’s name is TIME.

Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds.

Every night it writes off as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to a good purpose.

It carries over no balance. It allows no over draft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day.

If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours. There is no drawing against “tomorrow.”

You must live in the present on today’s deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in creating a good future for yourself by learning & implementing in your workplace or anywhere else, as much as you can.”

While the narration above was shared to me in appreciating time and its productive utilization, my question is, which is more important in your perception – Time or Money? Depends on which side of the table, right? Those in surplus of finance might find Time as precious, and those in shortage might stick with money. But mind you, Time vs Money isn’t a subjective statement, but an acclaimed truth that between the two, Time has prevailed.

I remember my college days when we used to organize cultural shows during festivals. As part of fund mobilization, we used to visit the community residents for sponsorship – and the response was always mixed. Some were willing to contribute in cash, while some volunteered their time and came forward to support us with their efforts as part of workforce. It’s astonishing to realize today that those who were willing to part with cash were professionally very successful people who either didn’t have the time to spare or were already engaged in that hour. Time, to them, was too precious than bag of coins, gems or wads of currency or bars of gold. Time was too scarce to share or offer. Some successful people did contribute in both kinds – Time and Money, but that was more for the cause and because of contacts and relationship. Still, time was valued way high and treated sacred. To them there can be no high a price for their toil. That’s their interpretation of time.

Successful people treat time as the valuable resource. If that’s significance about Time for established people, then how it is invested matters even more. The investment is critical. The above narration captures this salient aspect as a double-edged sword. If Time is not invested then it’s gone altogether. Time, when invested and apportioned wisely will fetch the right dividends, but a bad move can boomerang and bite you back.

So it’s all about the importance on how wholistic the investment is. And its here the 16 forms of wealth which I call it Sweet 16, where time can be invested comes into the frame. Are we taking a balanced approach? Corporates follow a balanced scorecard to achieve set goals in a wholistic way. Then why not for our lives? If a balanced or wholistic approach is not followed, the returns too would be skewed.

It’s a New Year time – so set targets and goals. Achieve and measure. That’s Holistic growth - which is the essence for whole person. Are we becoming whole person? Well, that’s possible only when you can measure and assess. The whole effect is experienced with a holistic approach of investing your time and efforts.

In a nutshell,

• Time is an important and powerful resource for human beings.

• Wealth is of 16 forms, and if Time as investment is a resource, probe possibilities in investing in all the 16 forms of wealth.

• Have a resolution and a measure against these 16 forms of wealth to maintain a holistic approach and balanced scorecard.

Wish you a very happy new year! While we may get another new year just after 365 days, what also matters is how we live this available 365 days!

“Learn from the past, Explore the Future and Enjoy this Moment” – Naveen Lakkur

Courtesy: http://www.inthefaceofadversity.com/assets/images/adversityFace.jpg

Alarmed at the radical representation of adversity? Well, if we are open and willing to acknowledge ‘there is opportunity in adversity’, just think through and you will find that there is no education as  adversity. This was neither preached to me nor picked from a best seller, but personally enlightened through my own ordeals. There was a phase in my life – I was an aspiring entrepreneur and a bundle of energy electrifying people around me. In the day business, evening shuttle badminton and night working dinners. Life was on the fast lane. The road ahead looked rosy and as they say, disaster struck without a notice – as it always does. My sight became hazy and appeared to be shaky. I was very young then. Just 27, and married for just 2 years. One night I took my wife to a night show for the movie “pardes”. During the movie, I sensed great difficulty and squirmed in my seat in utter discomfort. My eyes were watering and it was then I closed one eye and looked at the screen. It was picture perfect”. I did the same with the other eye – and I was horrified. It was blank. I couldn’t see anything. I confided to my wife. It was late in the night and we couldn’t do much about it. The next day, the local ophthalmologist opined “one eye is gone Naveen. And its matter of days, before the next one too would fall prey. Please take a second opinion”. It took some time to sink in me and I was like ‘it can’t be happening. I am young, just begun my married life and business has spread its wings,’ and all that was painstakingly built disintegrated when I lost my sight as speculated – both my eyes became blind.

I had to be handhold and felt miserable to be at the mercy of others’ attention always. To know what I endured, blindfold yourself and try taking a few steps on your own and then you will realize the enormity of the reality – harsh reality. I kept questioning my own existence, surviving at the support of my kith and kin. Ceasing to exist was a call more appealing and alluring than continue in this vegetative lifestyle. You might question “what about those born blind?” that’s as painful, but in my case, I had eyes that could see until recently when fatefully I lost my sight. It was hopeless – as worse as it can get. Somehow my mind was always awake wondering what’s going to happen or what to do next. I even confessed to my wife that I wish to resign from everything and renounce my life. And may be run away.  My wife used to comfort and confront me “where will you run? How far? There is no place in this world that’s as far. You are tormented by trouble, I know, but from these trials you will emerge triumphant”. Wives are called better-halves for a reason. She is my lifeline always upping the ante when my spirit sagged with philosophical and practical quotes and anecdotes. We have no right to ask when sorrow comes, “Why did this happen to me?” unless we ask the same question for every moment of happiness that comes our way.

The fourth is my ophthalmologist Dr.Rajashekar.  By god’s grace, my sight was restored and I thanked my ophthalmologist “Doctor, you are like god to me. It’s because of you I can see”, and his humility touched me when all he did was say “thank god. I am only his instrument”. Though in darkness, that was an illuminating experience as I learnt a lot – one was to cope with adversity without complaining rather committing myself in coming out of the cornered condition. Human endeavor has no limit. However adverse your circumstances are, there is something to learn from both endurance and experience.

Pain is inevitable.  Suffering is optional.  ~M. Kathleen Casey

My learned friend Stephen Hopson  is profoundly deaf since birth. I deny he is disabled – in my opinion he is differently-enabled. He is former Wall Street stockbroker turned inspirational speaker, author and pilot. Today he is the torchbearer for those tragically impaired and advocates Adversity University. Philosophically he states, ‘So-called obstacles is the one thread that truly connects every single person on this planet’ and has his own way of sharing personal experiences in dealing with and overcoming adversity through stories, observations and tips.

DHANJIBHAI KERAI – THE MAN WHO DISMISSED THE NOTION THAT SIZE DOESN’T MATTER. IT’S THE DETERMINATION.

Well, that said, there is this very mystifying endeavor of an individual who was born physically challenged. Yet, he displays tremendous determination. His name is Dhanjibhai Kerai – a thirty-one year old hailing from a middle class farmers’ family in Kutchh region of Gujarat. In a way, he mirrors my own misfortune, and also the grit in getting out the situation successfully. Like me he too was supported to the hilt by his friend.

His movements are excruciatingly slow. At the age of two years, a severe attack of polio left him disabled permanently and ever since he has no use of his legs and one hand. Dhanjibhai recalls that he used to travel on his mother’s back, wherever she went, until he was 15 years old. It was at that point in his life he decided to take matters into his hands and literally so. Since then, he attends himself to all his personal chores. Not stopping at that, he was also determined to become self-reliant and to earn his own living.

But unfazed by this disability, he is full of zeal. Though he does not having formal education or training, he has also acquired knowledge of repairing electrical and automobiles appliances. He is reputed as an excellent mechanic in his area. The speed at which he can drag himself on his own may not be at more than three metres a minute. Dhanjibhai had always wanted to drive a scooter but it seemed practically impossible for a man who was unable to use two feet and a hand. Gradually, his desire turned into determination. To fulfill his dream, he started collecting a number of items with which to retrofit a scooter in a way that his handicaps would not be impediments in riding it. He bought two old auto rickshaw wheels and picked up a fairly strong steel pipe. With these, he set himself on the job and succeeded in modifying the scooter and customizing it as per his needs for his day to day conveyance so that he could drive the vehicle himself. Undaunted, he designed for himself a special scooter with which he can travel 150 km in a day. His friend, Kamalbhai, first test-rode the scooter for two days before giving Dhanjibhai his go-ahead after test-driving the vehicle. Kamalbhai’s role as friend, tutor and mentor cannot be undermined. Dhanjibhai, as a self-taught young man, is always on the lookout for ways to make his life more useful and more comfortable.

The most significant fact of the innovation being that it frees this physically challenged person from dependence on other people and restores a degree of normalcy to his life as well as extends his utility to society as a contributing member. Dhanjibhai Kerai, has demonstrated that where there is a will, there is a way, and adversity turned out to be his university. For a person with severe physical limitations, Dhanjibhai is averse to adversity as a deterrent and overcomes through his learning and exploratory experience, realizing that the ‘the sky is the limit for a person to keep learning’. This write-up is a dedication to Dhanjibhai’s dedicated effort in erasing dependent status to self-reliant and independent.

There are more of these Dhanjibhai Kerais, Stephen Hopsons and Naveen Lakkurs, and several others who arose above adversity, always attributed the learning and acknowledged its application in overcoming their shortcomings.

The word UNIVERSITY is derived from the Latin universitas magistrorum et scholarium, meaning “community of teachers and scholars” – or in other words ADVERSITY.