4 Friends, 4 Thoughts

And they are...
Dinesh Nayak – “Health is Wealth”
Deba Sahoo – “Chicago Bull”
Subhendu Patra – “Techie No 1”
Bijaya Tripathy – “SAP Labs, What next?”

Thought 1: Premium Assets with Zero Depreciation
They are the most precious assets that I built in last 5 years. We fought at times on trivial issues. We enjoyed life to every bit of it. We struggled together for those waterless days at home. We cribbed about every movie that we saw together. We went for dinner to almost every destination in Bangalore. The only thing that I realize now is that every experience made the bond stronger. Now I miss them a lot. I wish I could get an immediate transfer to Bangalore to get my life back. Anyway, that’s part of life. We must stay away from something/somebody to realize it’s/his actual value.

Thought 2: Premium Service @ Zero Cost
Well, they are the ones who I know would help me under any circumstances. Same is the case with me as well. It’s the togetherness that made me feel so confident about them. 5 years and yet I never felt it when I was there. Suddenly I am out of Bangalore and feel the difference. But as I said, we helped each other always without any strings attached to it and hope to continue it in future as well.

Thought 3: Unique Brands
Everybody is so different than others. Oracle is Subhendu’s second home. He literally stays within the code. Dinesh still tries to convince himself that dieting would help him to reduce his weight. Unfortunately I haven’t seen any change so far. But his passion for technology always makes him stand apart. Deba feels he is here to conquer the world. And he is rightly so. 5 years down the line, I could see another BIG GUY on the Wall Street. As I said, everybody is a unique brand.

Thought 4: Finally it is a Brilliant Team
We together had discussed on lot of things/issues in life. We shared our secrets and at the end of the day we thought we could have faith on each other for rest of life. Everybody knew what other person’s thought process is. Accordingly everybody accommodates or adjust to suite the other person’s need. This looks simple from outside, but actually it’s complicated in all practical sense. We went for numerous number of trips, movies, lunches, dinners together. Hardly there was any conflict of interest. Even if there is any, we all were masters in resolving them. That’s why I call it as a brilliant team.

I am always thankful to have a set of roomies with whom I had best of my time in life. I will relish those 5 years always in my life. It gave me 3 of my closest ever friends, it brought a lot of change in me as a person. They all have some contribution towards all my success that I have got so far in life. I miss them all.

-Bijaya

Personality Matters

It’s being a while I have been contemplating on the topic of “Maintaining a Good Personality” in the society. I don’t really get a hang of what exactly it means. But finally understood in life that that’s the only thing which matters.

Now a days, life is not as easy as it used to be before. I often compare it with my life when I was a kid and find the other one to be more exciting and full of enthusiasm. Every word that you speak out now has good or bad in it. People judge you from what you say. So you must have control over what you say. If it is a professional matter, you may end up screwing up your career progression. If it is a personal matter, you may end up screwing up a marriage. Life has to move on. But you have to be the best judge of what you say. You can’t show up a persona that is true of yourself. You have to wear a mask where everything is good. Remember, everybody has problems. But your personality has to show up only the best things about you. That’s what going to win you everything in this world.

Childhood was not like this. It was simple. You behave the way you wanted to. You talk whatever comes to your mind. Everything was fun. There is no complacency, no hidden facts and no hard feelings. I wish I could go back and start my journey all over again. As we grow we are supposed to behave matured. We are supposed to make sacrifices. We are supposed to think on what we speak. We are supposed to be political in nature. We are supposed to be showing everything good about us. I don’t know, but I feel this to be a little weird. We all are human beings, we have our own way of looking at things. I still believe a little girl is much happier than a grown up one. It’s life and it goes on with all confusion and we never realize that we are just in the process of making it more complicated.

Thank you,

Bijaya

Customer Relationship @ Lawrence & Mayo

I am just impressed with the way Lawrence & Mayo handles its retail customers. They are doing what is very fundamental to any business. They are focusing on common sense.

I had been to one of their outlets (situated in Kormangla) off late. Even I myself have forgotten when I visited them last. Thanks to the system which shows details about my last visit, the diagnostic done last time and my personal information. This gave me the comfort level and confidence that Lawrence & Mayo really cares for their customers. They are cordial, sensitive to customer requirements and above all responsible.

Everybody has to understand that there is no rocket science required to impress and retain your customers. You just need to "take care" of them. This is what Lawrence & Mayo is doing.

However, Lawrence & Mayo needs to focus on getting more varieties of spectacles in different range to satisfy all kinds of customers. Particularly the mid range customers like me remain unsatisfied with the range of choices and price levels.

I wish them good luck and expect them to become more innovative in market place. I wish they defeat my expectations every time I visit their outlet.

Big Dream

I have been observing one very fact in life for quite sometime, mostly from my dear friends. Everybody is defining their own dream and achieving it. One of my friend got through ISB and I thought he must be a happy man now. But I was proven wrong by his extraordinary ambition to do MBA from one of the top 5 schools of the World. He was wait listed in Chicago GSB. I never thought that he was putting effort to convert this [because he had got one offer already]. One fine evening he said he is through. That was like a big surprise to me. I can't help but just appreciate his level of motivation in life. He is all set to achieve all those things which others normally don't aim to achieve. Watch him out.

Well things don't stop here. If I were from a financial background similar to his, I would have never dreamed of doing MBA in US. It's just too costly for anybody to afford. He again proved me wrong here. He went beyond all my comprehensions. There is no looking back in his life now. He is ready to do anything for making this happen. Can you imagine, how his BIG DREAM is channelizing his all efforts. It's amazing to be with a person like him and see how he is tackling the toughest time in his life. I have already become a big fan of him just because of his level of motivation and ability to channelize his efforts in right direction.

On a personal note, I would say, you are the master of your dream. You are the ultimate decider of your life's achievements. Opprotunitites would come. But only the prepared ones will get to act on it and succeed. Cribbers would always remain as the Cribbers.

the Pursuit of Happyness - What do you want?

First of all I must congratulate Will Smith for his extraordinary performance in the movie. Secondly, it made to one of my favorite movies of all time.

The movie is not just about everyday struggle of a common man.It's about pursuing somebody's own goal so strongly and persistently that it finally becomes impossible even for God to hold the success back. Brilliant thought!!! "Success is all about Persistence". Not everybody could really rise to the occastion. Many people would still follow a mediocre approach in life, would accept the defeat and crib about their condition. It requires a great willpower and strength of a character to get what you want in life.

Another point is also worth noting in the movie which is commonly known as Murphy's law: " When the going is bad, you end up facing all bad things". To put it in another way, if you are not prepared for the worst, better don't expect the best to happen. The law just helps you to understand if you really have the guts to get the best in life.

Most of all set our goals like: "I want to become a CEO/Doctor/Architect etc etc". But point is how many of us really rise to the occasion to become successful in life. And if at all we become successful, are we happy with that? The hero in this movie had a very simple goal in life: "To make a good living for his wife and kid so that his family can have a happy time like others." That's why probably the movie is named as pursuit of happiness. In the pursuit of his goal, he ended up working harder to succeed in the brokerage firm. There is a saying: "If you want to succeed, you better try harder than the hardest in that field.". Whenever he managed to sell one of his scanners(remember he was originally a sales man!!!), he would enjoy the most with his family. They would go to the best hotel, have best food, etc etc. It's like: "Don't crib, be happy with whatever you have, try more in future, but don't get bogged down by thinking about the future".

The movie ends with he being selected for the job in the brokerage firm. But wait! do you know what happened next? He finally went on and became owner of a brokerage firm. He eventually sold it out for some multimillion dollar deal. Try to see through the lines now. His goal was never to be owner of such a firm. He was just interested in keeping his family happy. But the motivation was so strong that it pushed him to realize his actual capabilities in life. Way to go!!!

Now do you know: What you want in life ???

Swimming, Tennis & Guitar - No matter how much I try...

I have been under coaching in Tennis over 1 year, I learnt swimming some time back and now I am learning Guitar. Well on face of it it looks kewl. I try to ensure that I continue each one of them on a weekly basis. I am an over enthusiastic person when it comes to outdoor activities. To some extent I do well in them as well. But, wait! I don't want to write a blog on what I do and what I don't. Rather I would like to tell something which I have learnt from each one of them.

Each of these requires concentration, mental strength and regular practice. But the right mix of these differs.

Tennis - "Mental Strength" is key here. Anytime I go for a service, I feel as if it won't go to other side (& it does). No matter how well your stamina is built, your mental strength could take you down to loose a game even against a rookie. Self Confidence and Regular Practice are inevitable to do well in Tennis.

Swimming - I am still wondering what my coach taught me. I am still an amateur. There is good amount of "tactics" involved in this game. On face of it it looks simple which actually is not. But once you get to know that tactics, you can swim for even 3km. No big deal. I am still fighting hard inside water.

Guitar - This is probably the toughest one for me. It's all about "concentration" and regular practice. I find it really tough to hold on to my concentration on the tune. But it's fun. Once you know it, nothing like it. You enjoy playing the tune again and again.

But at end of the day, I enjoy all of them.

No Place for Complacency

I saw on news paper today that my favorite player is unable to accept the reality.

I wish I could have made him read my blogs which are mostly devoted to him. At least my name would have been there on news paper by now (Instead of Greg Chappel)……

The point is very simple: For 17 years, I have hardly seen instances where big guns in Cricket have really shown guts to criticize him. Even if he plays badly, they would say “that was just too good a ball to play”. How stupid is that. You are unnecessarily making a person too much complacent of himself and giving him room for failure in future. Now we see the consequences. A player with close to zero confidence and an attitude which is way beyond my comprehension.

My take away is:

“When you grow in a world of complacency with nobody around to criticize, you tend to become superficial. Better have friends around you who point at your mistakes and create room for you to grow.“

IIMB Convocation - One of my most Memorable Day

26th March, 2007 --- THE DAY of my life.

I have never been to any convocation ceremony in my life. So obviously this is one of those memorable moments of my life. I shook hand with Mukesh Ambani and Nandan Nilekani. I also shoot independent photographs with them. Now what else could be more satisfying??? For a moment I felt as if I have "almost reached there". The rigor of 2.5 years in PGSEM came to an end. I enjoyed every moment of it. I was such a confident guy in college today that I felt like jumping all boundaries to be a successful person in life. I was talking to people as if I have achieved something great in life. I was quite surprised to see that in me. Some of my friends realized the fact that I have changed in recent times. What else I want! I was so happy!!!

I saw Nandan and Mukesh. Some kind of internal calling came to me asking "Dude! When are you going to be on the other side?". Of course as before I didn't have a definitive answer to that. But I was enthused by the fact that probably I have got good amount of motivation to become one more "big guy" some day.

Mukesh Ambani's speech was quite moving. He is a shrewed guy and knows how to move poeple's motivation. But I didn't find the same in Nandan's speech. It was filled with more hard data. However everybody is different. I mustn't really compare. Both are great and truly great leaders of this century.

Finally the day ended with all I wanted, a nice certificate from IIMB. Ofcourse PGSEM has taught me a lot and won me a good bunch of friends. Let's see where do I go from here on!!!

Sachin - Epitome of Indian Mindset

At least one thing I can predict correctly now a days: "How much Sachin is going to score!!!". Logic is simple! If he is out of form(as they say in cricket) and any pressure situation, he is not going to score more than 20. If he is in form, then this creates an opportunity for him to loose his form. He would score maximum 30-40. When he is in form and there is no pressure, then you would see the Best of Sachin and who doesn't love that!!!

This is him, the greatest player of Cricket, who doesn't like to be under pressure. If he is in, then he is going to screw up. Where is it coming from exactly? As one of my close friend, Deba says, this is a cultural issue. I am not sure though, but it may have some connection. It's about lacking positive attitude towards somebody's own work. We do well when everything is right around us. Life can't be that simple always. We get to come out of this typical Indian mindset and prove our strengths to the world. The only way to do is to expose the team as much possible to such situations and let them know that repercussions of not playing well would be as bad as loosing a position in team for next 10 matches or any weird punishment that you could think of!!!

Indian Cricket Team! Show me your guts, guys!!!

Why don't we compete with ourselves

There are two ways to become successful. One line of thought says: “Do something radically different”. Second line of thought says: “Focus on your strength”.

“Do something radically different”: Google, Orkut are examples of such model. Google changed the face of internet through its path breaking innovation of “Search Engine”. Orkut in no time won the mind of million people through it’s innovative way to connect people. But the point is such examples are scarce. Probably one out of 1000 such cases succeeds.

Second line of thought, which I am a strong proponent of: “Focus on your strength”. Actually this is a sustainable approach in long term. Can you imagine: Sachin Tendulkar was sent back from MRF Pace Foundation since his performance as a bowler was unsatisfactory? Well that’s the truth. But the same guy came out to be one of the most prominent bats-man the world has ever seen. The idea to drive home is: Once you are aware of your strength, keep working on it, success will come to you eventually.

Sony is a good example. What do they do to sustain in the market? They know that their sound quality is one of the best. They focus on that, keep improving it everyday. Essentially they try to beat the competition before even it appears. To put it other way, they compete with their own products of past and try to beat them next time.

This is a good learning for Indian IT Industry. They should have taken steps to beat the MNCs before even they open their shops in India.

I am Second, that’s why I am trying harder

Sachin Tendulkar and IBM …

“Sachin Tendulkar!” How many teams could really afford not to have a player like him? A cricketer by profession, he has made a big difference in the life of people on and off the field. People feel happy when he scores 100; get disappointed when he doesn’t perform. Why do people talk so much about him? Why do they want him to perform every time? Well the answer is simple: People Love him. He is a cricket icon. People feel proud to associate themselves in someway with him (e.g. He comes to play on the filed in front of my house, I know his brother’s uncle etc etc). Now let us consider “IBM!” Probably 10% of people who are familiar with this company would know its full form. But how does it matter? Customers feel proud to say that they do business with IBM. That is a sense of achievement for them.

Be it IBM or Sachin, the basic premises is that they are both big brands. They don’t have to blow their trumpets in front of anybody. Teams/Customers would walk onto them and they can always charge a premium for their brand. It’s difficult for anybody to take their positions.

Michel Clarke and Indian IT….

Now let’s take another player! Michel Clarke from Australian team. He is not a genius like Sachin, but he is an awesome prospective for Australia. He plays well almost every other one-day match. He knows one fact for sure that unless he performs well, he will be out. There is no “Michel Clarke Brand”. Couple of bad days at field is enough to throw him out. Poor guy! I think this is the reason why he gives his best every time he comes to the field. He tries to establish his brand.

In that way Indian IT brand is similar to Michel Clarke. Couple of bad projects, the deal is over. That’s why we must try to perform best every time we work for a customer. We don’t want to give him any opportunity to think twice for next deal. We need to be aware of the fact that in the due course of our project, we are building a brand for our company. It is the responsibility of the company to make their employees aware of their own brand and instigate in them the habit of taking actions that will increase its brand value in front of the customers.

Now I believe the saying: ”I am Second, that’s why I am trying harder.” . That’s what we are doing, right???

Stop being a mediocre - Learning from "Miracle"

I watched the movie: "Miracle". "Fabulous" - that's how I would categorize this movie as. Anytime I watch such a movie, it leaves a profound effect on my thought process at least for a day or two. What is that so special about this movie? Why does it affect my adrenaline so much?

Just to give a background, this movie is based on a real event. In 1980 USA won the Gold Medal for "Ice Hockey" in Winter Olympic. "NO BIG DEAL", after all it's USA. But actually this one was special. During that time there was cold war going on between USA and Soviet Union. Soviet Union was a champion in Ice Hockey. When it came to Winter Olympic, professional ice hockey players of USA denied to play in the Olympic. Then the "coach" of ice hockey team, Herb(Kurt Russel) decided to take a bunch of college graduates from different universities to create the national team. It's a tough job considering the experience level of those college graduates. But he was determined to build the best team out of this bunch of amateurs. He decided on the team, not based on the name and fame, rather based on the attitude of those players. Amateurs at one end, gold medal on the other end: it's more or less similar to India thinking of a Gold medal in Football. But he knew of one fact that attitude and hard work are the only things which matter. That's why his team selection was very crucial. And to surprise of all, he finally did it. USA won the gold medal that year. They beat Soviet Union in semis. Isn't that marvelous. It's just too inspiring a movie.

When most of us think of achieving something great, we just ignore it thinking that "It's just too difficult". Well as the coach said, if you want to be famous, you can't be just another common man. You gotta be an Uncommon man with an uncommon positive attitude and with an uncommon determination to work hard. Mind you! You will have to work harder than the best in that field. Success never comes easy though. This philosophy holds good for both Professional as well as Personal life. It is difficult to be successful on both ends. But I would say every happiness should be hard earned. Then only you really realize it’s worth.

Why do we always settle for mediocre achievements in life? Why people don't enjoy their work after sometime? Why some of the marriages fail? I believe there is just one answer to all these. Probably we don't try harder for success. When I failed in the interview of one of the prestigious company, I thought I was not intelligent enough. When I tried the same questions at home, I could do them with some effort. Then why I was mediocre in my approach in the interview. When I see people cribbing about marriage lives, I just have one question: Is it something they intend in life to happen, or they just don't try to succeed.

The key point to drive home is: When things don't work, just push yourself to the limit. Unless you push yourself, how would you get to know your capabilities? If those amateurs can win gold medal, then why can't we succeed in our life? Nobody is destined to fail. Just that we don't try to be successful.

I know I am talking common sense, but most of us still are far away to realize the obvious!!!

Passion - The most loosely used word

Ask a person: "What is your passion?" People who actually understand its meaning would struggle to answer such a question. However, the ones who have vague or no idea about the term will definitely come up with something.

Passion is doing something from heart. There is no string attached to whatever you do with passion. You do it because you enjoy doing it. You do it because it reduces the stress in you. You do it because it brings the best in you.

When we come to work place, we often listen to people telling about their passion and boast of saying that they love whatever they do. However, I strongly differ with those guys since they don't really prove what they say. My point is that when you have a passion, you don't feel stressed in doing that. eg, My passion is playing tennis. While playing I may get tired, I may seek some rest, but never really feel like stressed. Stress is something which comes when you don't really have deep interest in doing that. I never feel that playing tennis is a painful experience for me. I try to improve my game, concentrate as if there is no other thing in this world at that point. That's what called passion. Now coming to work place how many people (including me) really talk of concentrating like hell. Most of the time it is something forced on us. Hence, think twice when you say that you are passionate about your work.

I can’t imagine a person being successful in life without having a passion in life. If it is not there, then search for it. I strongly disagree with proponents who tell that “Passion can’t be generated”. I believe it can be, but requires lot of hard work and a “Passion to search for Passion" in your workplace.

Impossible is Nothing

If you believe you can't do this because of whatever reason it may be, then you have not met my brother. How could I say you that he has now become a source of inspiration to me. Now you must be wondering that what did he do which attracted my attention!!!

Let me give you a little background about him. A shy guy by nature, soft spoken, born and brought of in the heart of Orissa(Bhubaneswar). It's never a rosy career in his life. Always struggling and keep doing something to get to next level. His patience and self-confidence is probably worth praising. He was able to cross the hurdles of interviews in this competitive world with sheer hard work and perseverance. He deserves a pat on his back.

Perseverance and Self confidence can bring you ANY success in life. Don't think much. Just do it!!!

Entrepreneurship

All throughout the morning I kept thinking about "entrepreneurship". I got stuck at the very definition of it. I am not sure whom actually we call as entrepreneur. Can I term a Grocery shopper as an entrepreneur? If not, why? Well I asked somebody about it and was really happy to get a very satisfying answer form him. It goes like this!

If somebody has done something remarkable for the society & economy, then he is an entrepreneur in true sense! That's absolutely correct. As per him, Captain Gopinath is an entrepreneur who belongs to highest category. He brought the concept of low frill carrier to India. This has changed the way the Indian Middle class perceives the air travel. Really, that’s something remarkable. How about Naresh Goyal! Well I don’t consider him doing something as remarkable as Gopinath. He is an entrepreneur , no doubt about it. But probably he doesn’t belong to captain Gopinath’s category for sure. I would say captain Gopinath is an entrepreneur of “Gazzles” category.

Now coming back to a grocery shopper, he is again an entrepreneur. But point is where does he go from here? Does he have any motivation or plan to serve the society in a bigger way? Probably not. In that case he belongs to the lowest possible category of entrepreneurship which in other words can be termed as “job substitution”.

Secondly, I believe, Entrepreneurship is just another mindset. If I am happy with my grocery shop, then I mayn't think of doing something else. But If I have a burning passion for doing something great for the society, then my thought pattern may change. I think that's what happens with the entrepreneurs.

Argentina showed the way

I believe every event in life provides ample of opportunities to learn. Football is no different for me. I enjoy the game provided the players show exceptional skills (the way Argentina showed against Serbia & Montenegro). Though I am not an ardent follower of the game, yet I get inspired whenever I see such a skillful game.

About the facts of the match, Argentina won the league match against Serbia-Montenegro by 6-0. More than the facts, it was important to observe the discipline showed by every team member. They make you realize the essence of a team game. As a team you can do better. If you look at the second goal, it was a mere reflection of team effort. Have you ever seen a goal being scored through 24 continuous passes? It looks stupendous, isn’t it? It also conveyed the message that they have trust on other team mates. They know that anybody and everybody in team are capable. It’s not just me who can take ball all alone and score!!!

Learning: Apart from self discipline and fun at work, you also need to have a great deal of trust on other team members to win a battle.

Proceed if you think RISK is worth taking

Mumbai, the financial capital of India doesn’t seem to take rest at any point of the day. I think CITIBANK has taken inspiration from Mumbai and follow a tag line “The Citi Never Sleeps”.

Ask yourself this question!!! How many times do you think before going to MG Road? You may be thinking about Traffic, Parking etc etc. Same thing if asked to a Mumbaite, he will just jump into it and get ready to go. Can you see the difference? It is about the attitude of people and risk taking ability. “Proceed if you think risk is worth taking”. Now let us analyse it.

A Mumbaite believes that if risk is worth taking, then let me go ahead. In the above case, he believes that by going to MG Road, he can enjoy his evening. So no matter what the traffic situation may be, he will give a try.

Remember, your Personal life is no different from your Professional life as far as attitude is concerned. Now you can understand why CEOs often play golf with each other.

In one sense every new venture starts in the same way. You must have heard about the way Microsoft, Infosys started. If you think through, then you will find a very common element in all these entrepreneurs who start the ventures. They are NEVER Risk Averse in life. I am sure Bill Gates and Narayan Murty must be of “Mumbaite” type. They must have taken enormous risks without thinking about the road blocks. That's what makes them different.

When you take risk, either you prosper or perish. The point is how do you approach. The risk takers often think "If I succeed in my venture, then...". A Risk Averse person would think "If I fail in my venture, then....". This makes the whole difference. You can’t succeed unless you feel itin your heart. I think the same attitude prevails in Mumbaites and that’s what makes Mumbai as a city so different from others.

Poseidon: Review

The movie is awesome, spanning just over 90 minutes. You would keep biting your nail all through out!!! I liked the movie because of many reasons.

The movie is an excellent show piece of one saying: "Strong Self belief always leads to success". That's how the movie started with Poseidon sinking and Josh Lucas thought he still had a chance to survive. He along with other members tried all possible ways to escape and finally did. The most important thing to see here is that they never seemed accept defeat, whatever the case may be!!! It was quite inspiring for me though.

The movie is mostly based on application of common sense. It also shows some real things than unimaginable “typical filmi fundas”. At least 3 scenes are worth describing. First one is when they thought of filling up the container so that the valve will open due to pressure and they can escape. In another scene, Kurt Russell went down (150 meters) to stop the propeller switch. Obviously nobody will come alive after going so deep down water(unlike typical movie scene where the person would survive at the end) . Third and the best was the way they broke the Propeller to escape.

Just awesome.!!!

India - Hot Bed of Innovation?

Oracle's Chairman, Mr Jeff Henley has expressed his views on India as next Silicon valley. Read his comments at http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/apr192006/business1945492006418.asp

The following few lines drove me to write this blog.

>>>>

Silicon Valley is in danger of losing its crown as home of the technology start-up as India is on course to become the new hotbed of innovation, according to the Chairman of Oracle, the world’s second largest software group.
>>>>

Though my views are pessimistic, yet worth contemplating.

Look at the level of innovation done at universities in India. You can't compare IISC with MIT. Neither can you compare IIMs with Harvard or Stanford. The differentiation lies with the quality of teaching, infrastructure, research activities, etc etc. Nevertheless there is some level of innovation done in IISC. But IIMs, forget it!!! It's all a salary machine. If US has reached top, it's because of the level of education and innovation done at these universities. Bill Gates might be a drop out, but not Steve Ballmer. To become a niche market in Technology innovation, India either import people from these universities or start its own universities which are competitive. Mere outsourcing/offshoring(as done by Oracle) may not improve the level of Technology Innovation to that extent.

India's revenue has grown because of burgeoning services sector. The contribution of products market is very less (though I don't have the figures right away to support my views). Here is a very crucial thought! How much innovation really happens or required in Services sphere? Talk to biggies in Services companies, you will get to realize it. Though there may be some level of process innovation, but definitely very less Technology innovation.

So then where is the question of India becoming the "HOT BED" of Technology Innovation?

Thanks
Bijaya

My idea of a good Leader!!!!

Not all leaders are made in heaven. Some of them are "born-leaders" and others are "carved-leaders". A good leader always brings the best in a person no matter how bad the other person be.

I am trying to jot down some of the important traits(that I think) of a good leader.

"A good driver doesn't complain about the bumpy road":
A leader must play well under pressure. Dravid and Ponting have set good examples in recent times. They lead from front whenever situation demands.

"I would love to play Back-hand like Federer, I would love to Bat like Sachin ":
A leader must set an example in the team. Followers learn from the leaders. Every act of him must reflect his personality.

"Bill Gates called me up to ask how am I doing. I feel so great":
A leader must possess the ability to motivate people under any circumstances.Motivations do wonder for many people.

"My wife complains about my working hours"
A leader must provoke productivity in people.He must make people understand that working long hours, working on week ends don't necessarily mean that they are great workers.

"I think Out-Of-The-Box....":
A leader must bring creativity in a team. You don't deserve to go up unless you bring innovative solutions to problems.

"I work for fun...":
A leader must encourage professionalism. Professionalism may be a very hyped word across the industries. But that's what matters the most. It's all about having a good attitude towards work. When you love something/somebody you do things proactively. You tend to think beyond your immediate responsibilities and do other things which you think may be a value add. That's what called professionalism. People need to understand that they themselves are responsible for their future. Unless they show prfessionalism, they will be left behind.

"I am a studd guy..I do everything..."
A leader must promote dynamism in the team.He must encourage peole to do different things in life(not necessarily related to work). That helps people to become more creative.

"We found a solution during lunch time..."
A leader must build a team which believe in problem solving through discussion. Ask yourself a question: How many times your problems are solved over a cup of coffee or in a board meeing. Discussions are very crucial in a corporate life. The more you discuss, the better. It actually brings different prospectives to a problem. You tend to get multiple views on the same problem. That's why you end up taking a "wise" decision. More importantly it makes the participants think more on a topic and that's we need at end of a day,"thinking workers" .

By no means this list is comprehensive. Please add your valuable points.

-Bijay