THE TALE OF TWO ARMSTRONGS!

Neil Armstrong, the first human being to land on the Moon, passed away at the age of 82 in a hospital in US on 25^th August 2012. He died a private person, away from the media coverage and his near family simply released the news to the World.

There was such an excitement when Apollo XI landed on the moon way back in 1969. As a student then, it was one of those landmark moments of one’s life. Though it was an American who landed on the Moon, to all of us, he represented humanity and we felt being part of his achievement.

The newspapers reported that upon his craft landing on the Moon, Neil Armstrong sent the radio communication to mission control at Houston Mother Earth: “Houston, Tranquillity Base here, the Eagle has landed.”

Little later, he set foot on the moon, the very first Earth being to do so, and pronounced the famous lines: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Though we are miles to go in reaching out to other part of the Universe and to be a larger player in controlling its stake, this one small first step will forever be remembered as a giant step for mankind.

Neil Armstrong made history and remained part of it.  In the annals of history, his position would like that of Yuri Gagarin (first man on space), Edmund Hillary (Everest) or Robert Peary (North Pole), if not bigger. So long as the world exists, his name will exist.

May his soul rest in eternal peace!

It is such a pain when we see our idols fall. I had made a similar post when Tiger Wood made his life miserable by his nasty indulgences, making him fall from grace.

What I am referring here is about the other Armstrong, Lance Armstrong. The legendary cyclist, the winner of a record 7 tour de France titles, considered to be the ultimate in human endurances - 3200 kilometres in 23 days, continuously across France that includes the hills and the lows.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) erased all his achievements out of the record books on Friday the 23^rd August 2012. It wiped out 14 years of Armstrong's career and barred him for life from the sport after concluding that he used banned substances - an Earth shattering pronouncement, I would say!

And Armstrong decides not to contest it. Is he accepting the crime or just disgusted to be indifferent? This, coming from a fighter called Lance Armstrong is very strange indeed. For such a legendary figure who fought to be the best, including a life terminating testicle cancer…….

For a person who gave hope to millions of cancer patients, who motivated thousands of sportspersons, this is a tremendous let down.

I hope one day he would come into the open, to come out clean. In the meantime, those achievements and victories, that is still fresh in the memory, can that be erased, simply by the stroke of a pen?

APPLE Vs. SAMSUNG

Samsung lost the mobile phone case against Apple in the US and is ordered to pay a billion Dollar as compensation. Surely Samsung can pay the money but this verdict has ramifications that transcend the Apple- Samsung war.

It is a fact that the originality of the design completely belongs to Apple. Whatever we see in Samsung, HTC and similar company devices are nothing but imitations of Apple. Samsung and others had been ably assisted by Google, the makers of Android operating system. So the verdict puts Google too on the dock.

It could also be the beginning of Apple going after many others who imitates its design and patent.  About 4 months back, we were in Hong Kong and found brisk sale of I-Phone imitations in high volumes.  Though it is not easy to catch the thief in China, there will definitely be a lull in the clandestine production of I-Phone clones.

In this knowledge economy, cases like this projects the importance of design, trademark and patents. It gives thumbs up to authentic original research that is being undertaken by firms like Apple. No wonder the Apple market capitalization has gone into all-time highest and into the record books. Post Steve Jobs, this is a fine turn of event for Apple Inc., for most of experts predicted the shares to go bearish on longer term, after the demise of its founder.

The flip side of the story is the monopolistic tendency that this development could create for Apple. It is definitely not a good development for the consumers. Apple is not very famous for democratising the prices of its products and it always charged a premium.

That necessitates the imminent need to go for original research for an alternatives design to compete with Apple I-Phones & I-Pads. Necessity being the mother of invention, I am sure Samsung, Google, HTC etc. would now be burning more midnight oil to for an alternative design. Till then it is going to be Apple Times!

The developments give lots of fillip to Microsoft. It was very worried about the growth of Android and all those tie-ups with leading companies such as Nokia has not helped its cause. Windows 8 could encash upon this opportunity. Speed is the essence here. Is Microsoft ready to plunge in headlong NOW?

I am sure we shall hear more frequently about the developments on this technology front. Stay tuned…………….

THE RELEVANCE OF “EMERGING KERALA”

It is very good to hear about the Kerala Government’s plans to launch the Emerging Kerala Program in order to attract big investments into the state. One must complement the Government for taking the initiative to bring in large investment to the State. The biggest plus of such initiatives is the visibility that it can give to the state and the impact that it would make in the mind of potential investors located all around the world about the state.  To be seen in the radar of investors, the state needs to continuously make noise. Emerging Kerala must be a program and not an event. The program must run longitudinally; at least during the tenure of the present Government.

The worry is when the changing Governments are trying to undo each other’s policies and programs at every alternative tenure. The lack of continuity and the resultant non-commitment from the part of successive Governments on matters of industrialization and investment stand out as a scar- crow.  Similar initiative from the part of the UDF Government in its last tenure (GIM), which though was announced with a big bang, whimpered away later.  That should stand in good stead as learning in the conduct of the new Emerging Kerala Program.

At the outset, it would be better if the UDF Govt. takes a clear cut view on the investment model that it wants to have in the state of Kerala. During the last LDF regime, we had seen that the focus of the policy makers was heavily tilted in favour of investing in public sector undertakings and it went about rejuvenating those semi dead and  ICU based PSUs of belonging to the state Government. Industry majors in defence sector located outside the state like HAL, BEML etc. were roped in to join up with local PSUs in setting up their manufacturing activities here. Another example is the Coach factory at Kanjikode.  Now that the UDF has come to power, does it want to continue the policy of industrialising Kerala through the PSUs or does it want private investment to come in?  No specific policy guidelines are heard from the present government in this front. Setting foot in two boats simultaneously to go forward will only leads to mishaps and definitely, will not result in progress.

However, if one has to read from the Emerging Kerala plans, one will realise that it thru this, the government will want to have large private investments to come in to Kerala. But what model is this? Is it PPP model or is it purely private play? Huge projects such as Metro Rail, High Speed Rail Infrastructure etc. is conceived as governmental or government controlled projects only.  Infrastructure is probably an area where the PPP model is being sought. Kerala completely lacks good infrastructure within. I am not speaking about the need for roads and bridges alone, I am also speaking about ports, transportation (road, rail and water), solid waste management, industrial centres, logistic parks, shopping and entertainment infrastructure etc.

Going through the KSIDC document on Emerging Kerala, one feels that the state had identified the core areas in Kerala which need investment.  Which are the industries for which Kerala has an ideal ecosystem? Predominantly, it is in Tertiary area of services.  In this, Tourism, IT/ITES, Banking & Finance Services (particularly NBFC), Healthcare, Construction etc. comes to the forefront. What about manufacturing? Large scale manufacturing is still a no-no for Kerala. If it is manufacturing, it has to be in SME sector that too, predominantly in the area of Food processing, Ayurveda Products, Paint, Seafood and Rubber based industries such as Footwear and related things.

For a State whose laity is focussed on white collar employment, tertiary sector gives them more hope.  Looking at the shortage of local manpower in the constructions industry for semi-skilled and unskilled labour, it is not sure how manual labour based industries in Kerala will thrive?

What are the elements that can help Emerging Kerala Program succeed?

A well-known senior businessman was recently telling from his experience that when the then Government wanted the BMW to invest in Kerala, the company did not do so because the opinion of industrialists and businessmen inside Kerala did not encourage them to set foot here. Of course, there is truth in it. If anyone wants to invest in Kerala, he would first talk to the local industry community and not to a minister or bureaucrat. This home truth is always forgotten by people in power (both the executives & the bureaucrats). If any big ticket investment has to happen in Kerala, the government must involve the local industry fraternity. One sees a change in this trend and hears that decision makers are consulting the local business fraternity and trade and commerce bodies that they belong to. It is a welcome mind-set change on the part of our leaders. Please continue to involve the local players and the trade bodies in the process of bringing in major investment into the state.

One major impediment that we need to be concerned is whether our state has enough resource bandwidth within the government to manage the large investment that come in here. When I say resource bandwidth, I would like to include the personnel in industries and related departments, their behaviour, their approach and attitude towards the investors. I also include the systems and the processes to give clearance and to monitor these investments. These resources need to be very proactive in their approach and management. I do not think that such a resource system exist in the government.  What we have here is a system based  on the messy ‘red tapism’  of both executive and bureaucracy and that will never help in matters related to huge investments that we want to welcome in the State.

While huge investments are wanted here, which may happen in PPP model, what we need to be always looking out is the genesis and existence of adequate SME organisations within the state. SME plays a major role in the economy of India either in terms of the products/services or in terms of the employment generation capacity and under all circumstances; we must preserve and grow them. These SMEs also will become the back-up in the event of recession or calamities affecting huge industrial segments.  Strong economies such as Germany  has always ensured the existence of very strong SME companies  inside its system as the buffer and taking cue from that we must  treat the SMEs in a special way and continue to encourage them in Kerala. This calls for SME friendly long term policies, rules, financing system, marketing system and training system. Kerala Government must take the lead here to become a model state to the nation in the matters of SME industries. With the special focus of Central Government in MSME, this can easily be achieved and all that Kerala leaders need is focus and willpower to get it done.

Another mind-set that we need to have is the creation and celebration of entrepreneurship with in the state. For a state that is totally depended upon remittance which is spent not for creating wealth but on the consuming the same, we need to understand that the mind-set of entrepreneurship is that of creation. Creation means production and not consumption. Whereas consumption blows the wealth, production creates the same.  Decades of thinking in extreme socialistic pattern and the impact of remittance economy had combined to make the state take very dim view of entrepreneurship. The present stake holders; be it the citizen, the executive or the bureaucracy;  all look at entrepreneurs as tax evaders,  labour exploiters and profit makers. What needs to be understood is that it is from the profit that wealth is generated that can be distributed. If that is understood by all in the state’s stake holding systems, then the encouragement and celebration of entrepreneurship will happen. And that is exactly happening in leading industrialised states such as Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.  These states continue to flourish with entrepreneurship being the key ingredient of economic growth there.

So, it may clearly be understood that Emerging Kerala as a program and the first event that is planned out to happen on 12^th September 2012, may only be considered as the beginning point of our endeavours in industrialising the state, for bringing in investment to the state through the able means of building solid entrepreneurship within the state. We would then have changed our culture, a culture that encourages and celebrates wealth creation and distribution. And therein lay our hope!

THE TRUTH OF FATHERHOOD

The happenings of the last week in the life of Narayan Dutt Tiwari, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh & Uttarakhand, former Union Minister and former Governor of Andhra Pradesh; must have been very tumultuous. He was forced to face the truth which he dragged all his life. Ultimately the highest of the judicial system, the Supreme Court of India, needed to intervene to get him around to undergo the DNA test - the test of paternity of Rohit Shekhar. Being a much published and touted case, I do not want to get into the details of the same. Suffice to say that Rohit Sekhar and his mother Ujjwala Sharma has been trying, thru the judicial system, over the last 5 years, to get it proven that Narayan Dutt Tiwari is indeed Rohit’s father. Having proven conclusively thru the DNA test conducted by CDFPD, the reputed Central  institute at Hyderabad, Rohit Shekhar now could walk tall and wipe out the black mark of being a ‘fatherless kid’ from his life forever. Three cheers to him!

That brings me to my favorite subject – the Truth. Rohit wanted the truth to come out. Tiwari still says there is no truth in it. The court concurred with the results of the lab; the CDFPD and declared this as truth. Rohit Shekhar feels that the truth is out and  justice is delivered. Good.

How do you define truth? Is truth and justice the same? Obviously not. Justice could be based on exposing the truth. Many a times, it is not the truth that wins. Truth is circumvented, held back and something else is brought in as the truth and with that something being established as the truth, justice is delivered. This happens at majority of times in all the Indian courts. So truth is truth and justice is not truth.  They are related, though.

By the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, truth is the inner core of a thing. Scientifically speaking, truth is the DNA, that which you are, exclusively, totally different from the rest. So the DNA test is the truth test!!! Very nice to know that Science is helping to establish the truth. Jai ho Science!

Coming back to fatherhood, isn’t fatherhood all about the truth? Because it is your fatherhood that defines your own DNA. So you as the truth lay in the fatherhood of you. So your truth is truly your fatherhood.

So, Rohit Shekhar was trying to find the truth of truth! What could be more agonizing than this?…..

It all looks so funny and confusing, is it not?.........

Stephen Covey – An Obituary

Stephen Covey, famous motivational speaker and author of highly inspirational books, passed away at a hospital in Idaho Falls in US, on Monday the 16^th July 2012, the age of 79. The death was the result of complications that arose from a fall while he was cycling in April this year. 

Stephen Covey came from a family of committed evangelists. In fact his grandfather had started his own Church. Spirituality, therefore, has been the way from the very beginning of his life. An MBA from Harvard School, he was a professor at the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University at the time of his death. 

He will ever be remembered for the books that he had published. His most popular book was The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Other creations of him include First Things First, Principle-Centered Leadership, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families, The 8th Habit, and The Leader In Me - How Schools and Parents Around the World Are Inspiring Greatness. Almost all the books were best sellers. He had huge fan following across the world thru his books and teaching. 

Along the way, he established the Covey Leadership Center which later merged with Franklin Quest to form FranklinCovey, a global professional services firm with specialty retailing of both training and productivity tools to individuals and organizations. The motto of FranklinCovey was to enable greatness in people and organizations everywhere, a very noble objective!


In 1996, Time Magazine had named him as one of the most influential Americans. His organization was a mix of spirituality, entrepreneurship and knowledge dissemination. He drew immense strength from religion to become one of the most influential motivational speakers in the second half of last century and the first decades of this. Many of his trainees/mentees are eternally grateful to him for helping them chart a new successful course in their life. He brought reason, solace, values and love in their life. His examples and metaphors of teaching were very empathy provoking and enabled people to walk the talk.


His living was based on Mormon traditions but with the interpretations of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Perhaps going by its traditions he sired a large family of 9 nine children that included more than half century grant children. Thus he was a patriarch of not only his student fraternity but also to a big family of his own.

Many awards, recognition and accolades came his way.  The Thomas More College Medallion for continuing service to humanity, The National Entrepreneur of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award, The Sikh's 1998 International Man of Peace Award, 2004 Golden Gavel award from Toastmasters International,^, Maharishi Award from Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Corporate Core Values Award from the California University of Pennsylvania are some of them.

Stephen Covey will be remembered long for his motivational lectures and inspirational books. His preaching and adherence to values had captivated millions across the globe. May his noble soul rest in eternal peace.