Life of Jagadishchandra Bose, Great Scientist

The Parents

Jagadishchandra Bose was born on the 30^th of November 1858 in Faridpur in Dacca District. Faridpur was a part of India until 1947; now it is in Bangla Desh. His mother Abala Bose was a tenderhearted and affectionate woman. His father Bhagawanchandra Bose was a man of excellent qualities.

Early Education

As long back as a hundred year ago, Bhagawanchandra Bose started schools in which children were taught in Bengali. Jagadishchandra also received his early education in this school. Jagadish mixed with the poor boys freely and played with them; so he gained first hand knowledge of the sufferings of poor people.

There was another interesting person in his early life. This was a servant who used to take Jagadishchandra to school every day. He had been a dacoit in the past. Bhagawanchandra Bose as a judge had sent him to prison. After some time the dacoit came out of prison. But how was he to live? Bhagawanchandra Bose was a very good-natured man. So he employed him as a servant. The dacoit used to tell little Jagadishchandra. events of his past life the robberies he had committed and his cruel deeds. His adventures made a lasting impression on the boy.

Young Bose was all curiosity. He wanted to know about everything that happened around him. What is, a glow-warm? Is it fire or spark? Why does the wind blow? Why does the water flow? He was always ready with a string of questions. His father would answer as many questions as he could. But he never tried to impress upon his son that he knew everything. If he could not answer a question, he would frankly tell his son so. Thus Jagadish chandra’s parents took great interest not only in his studies but also in everything that shaped his character.

In Calcutta

Jagadishchandra began a new chapter in his life at the age of nine. He had to leave his hometown. He went to the big city of Calcutta for further education. He was admitted to Saint Xavier School there.

While he was studying at Saint Xavier’s, Jagadishchandra was staying in a boarding house. He had no friends and was lonely here. But he was a born scientist. Even as a boy he had many hobbles which showed his scientific interest. He used to breed frogs and fishes in a pond nearby. He would pull out a germinating plant and observe its root system. He had also a number of pets like rabbits, squirrels and non-poisonous snakes. Even in Calcutta he continued these hobbies to get over his solitude. He grew flower-bearing plants and had animals and birds as pets. He did well in his studies and was in the forefront. The teachers liked him for his intelligence. Jagadishchandra passed the School Final Examination in the First Class.

He joined the B.A. class in the college. In those days, science subjects formed a part of this course. He was most interested in Biology (the science of life). But Father Lafont, a famous Professor of Physics, inspired in Bose a great interest in the science of Physics and Bose became his favourite student. Even so, Bose was always interested in any branch of science. Botany, the science of plants, still attracted him much.

In London

By nineteen, Jagadishchandra was a Bachelor of Arts. He wanted to go to England for higher studies. Finally, his good mother allowed him to go. She had saved some money. She also wanted to sell her jewels to meet the expenses of her son’s voyage. Bhagawan chandra Bose prevented her and he managed to find the money on his own.

At last Jagadish was on his way to England. The year was 1880. Twenty- two-year-old Jagadishchandra Bose stepped into the ship; he was stepping into a new phase of life which laid the foundations of a brilliant future.

In London he first studied medicine. But he repeatedly fell ill. So he had to discontinue the course. He then studied Natural Science in Christ Church College, Cambridge. It was necessary to learn Latin in order to study Natural Science; Jagadish had already learnt it. He passed the Tripos Examination with distinction. In addition to the Cambridge Tripos Examination, he passed the Bachelor of Science Examination of London University also.

The Young Scientist  His Own Smith, Too

Jagadishchandra Bose was back in India. He joined the staff of the Presidency College, Calcutta. There was a peculiar practice in that college. The Indian teachers in the college were paid one third of what the British teachers were paid! So Jagadishchandra Bose refused his salary but worked for three years. This did not continue for long. His deep knowledge zest for work and cultured behavior won over those in charge of the college. They saw to it that he was given the full salary of the post and not one-third.

Teaching the same lessons year in and year out was very tedious to Bose. His was an alert mind, always on the look out for new ideas. He wanted to do research, to widen his knowledge and discover new things.

A laboratory is necessary for research. Many scientific instruments are required. Jagadishchandra Bose had no laboratory and he did not have the instruments. But he was not disheartened. For eight or ten years he spent as little out of his salary as possible, lived a very strict life, saved money and bought a laboratory!

Generally Marconi’s name is associated with the invention of wireless. (This made possible the use of the radio.) Jagadish chandra Bose had also conducted independent research in the same field. Marconi was able to announce the result of his work and show how wireless telegraphy worked, earlier than Jagadishchandra Bose. So he is called ‘the father of the radio’. In the year 1896 Bose wrote a research article on electro-magnetic waves. This impressed the Royal Society of England (which is famous all over the world). He was honoured with the Degree of Doctor of Science.

Bose became famous in the world of science. In India and in other countries there was a strong belief that only Westerners could achieve anything worthwhile in science. Bose proved this wrong concept. He showed that there were geniuses elsewhere too. He visited England again, this time to explain his discoveries to the scientists of the West.

Bose needed scientific equipment. But the instruments he needed were not available. But this did not hamper his work. Early in his life he had learnt to make his equipment with his own hands. The scientific instruments he took to England were those he himself had made.

Fame

After he lectured at the Royal Society, scientific associations in many other countries invited Jagadishchandra Bose. He visited France, Germany, America and Japan besides England. He lectured at several places and explained his discoveries.

When electricity passes through a man, animal or plant, we say there is a ’shock’. When it is passed through a living being the being gets excited, ‘irritated’. Bose developed an instrument that would show such a reaction of the organism on a graph. When electricity was passed through zinc, a non-living substance, a similar graph was obtained. So he came to the conclusion that living and non-living things were very similar in certain reactions.

In Paris he gave a lecture on this similarity between the living and the non-living world. Have you heard of ‘radar`? This is a very wonderful scientific device. Sailors on the sea use it; it is also used to get information about aeroplanes coming towards a place. So you see how useful it is during a war. If the aeroplanes of the enemy try to attack a city, the radar shows their movement. J.C. Bose worked out some details of very great importance; these are being used in the working of the radar. When Jagadish chandra Bose again visited England, Cambridge University honoured him as a Professor.

Generally, when a man invents something new he declares that nobody can make use of it without his permission. If anybody desires to, make use of it, he will have to pay him money, Why? Because the inventor has worked hard and he has used his time and brains for his invention. It is not right to make use of his work without paying him. An inventor can make lakhs of rupees by just one or two inventions. Bose had invented many instruments. They have since been used by many industries. When he was offered money for these he did not accept it. He was very generous and noble; he felt that knowledge was not any one’s personal property. He permitted any one the use of the fruits of his work.

 When an outside stimulus is applied to the muscles of a man or a non-living thing (says a mineral), they respond to it. Bose wondered whether this could happen in a plant also. To test this he brought a leaf, a carrot and a turnip from the garden. He applied the stimulus, i.e., and electricity. It was confirmed that plants also respond in a similar way. Jagadishchandra Bose explained this at a meeting of the Royal Society.

Challenges

When anything new is discovered, there will always be people who question it. The results of Bose’s work, too, were not accepted by all. There were people who challenged them and even said that there was not much truth in them. Bose gave a lecture at the Linnean Society next year to a gathering of scientists. He explained with suitable experiments how plants respond to stimuli. Even those who had challenged him could not find fault with his experiments or conclusions.

There is an interesting story about a demonstration that Bose gave in England. On that day he wanted to show some new things that he had found out. He had come to the conclusion that plants can feel pain like animals; that when we pinch them they suffer; and that they die in a few minutes after they are poisoned. Bose wanted to show experiments to prove these conclusions. A number of scientists and other leading men and women had gathered to hear him. Bose started the experiments by injecting poison into a plant. The plant should have shown signs of death in a few minutes. On the contrary, nothing happened. The learned audience started laughing. Even at this adverse moment Bose showed admirable calmness. He thought quickly. The poison that he injected into the plant did not kill it. So, he supposed that it would not hurt him also. With full confidence he got ready to inject the poison into himself. At that instant a man got up and confessed that instead of poison he had put similar colored water. Now, Bose conducted the experiment again with real poison, whereupon the plant withered and died as expected.

Jagadishchandra Bose continued his work and made new discoveries. He found that plants shrink a little during the night. He found out why plants always grow towards light even if they have to bend. He also found out the reason why some plants grow straight and some do not. He explained that this was due to the ‘pulsation’ in plants. This pulsation quickens by heat and slows down by cold in plants.

Jagadishchandra Bose did remarkable work, – and scientists outside India had honoured him. Yet there were people who opposed him. As a result even the Royal Society delayed publishing his valuable work in its publications, But nothing could make him give up his work. He was sure that years of research had led him to the truth. So he did not feel that it was very necessary to depend on scientific journals only. He wrote books and published them on his own.

The Questioning Boy – The Great Scientist

Nature had always been a source of attraction right from his early age to Bose. There are flowers on plants; flowers give fruits; the leaves fall off; seeds germinate into new plants – we see all these around us.

But Bose was interested in these happenings, which to many people seem quite ordinary. He asked others questions; he asked himself, too: ‘How do these things happen?’ Not always could he satisfy his curiosity. But it was his way to try to find answers to any questions arising in his mind.

Scientist And Man Of Letters

Jagadishchandra Bose was famous as a scientist. He brought laurels to his motherland. But his interests were many-sided. He was especially interested in literature and fine arts. The great poet Rabindranath Tagore and Jagadish chandra Bose were very good friends. The first time Tagore visited Bose, he was not at home. Tagore left a bunch of champak flowers. This was the beginning of their friendship.

Tagore invited Bose to stay with him for some time. Bose agreed to do so on one condition. The condition was that Tagore should narrate a story to him every day. This is how a number of Tagore’s stories  came to be written. Have you read the story ‘The Cabuliwallah’? It is very fine story; it narrates how a deep and strange friendship grew up between a rough pathan and a tine Bengali girl. This has been translated into several languages and is well known in a number of countries. Tagore wrote this story when Bose was staying with him.

Jagadishchandra Bose died in November 1937. To the very end he was busy with research. Wealth and power never attracted Jagadishchandra Bose. He toiled for science like a saint, selflessly. This great scientist is a great example to all.

http://www.freeindia.org/biographies/greatscientists/jcbose/index.htm

Inspiring interview with Larry Page, Founder of Google

Larry Page, what is responsible for your early progress in life? How did you get to where you are so quickly?

Larry Page: I think I was really lucky to have the environment I did when I was growing up.

My dad was a professor, he happened to be a professor of computer science, and we had computers lying around the house from a really early age. I think I was the first kid in my elementary school to turn in a word-processed document. I just enjoyed using the stuff. It was sort of lying around, and I got to play with it. I had an older brother who was interested in it as well. So I think I had kind of a unique environment, that most people didn’t have, because my dad was willing to spend all his available income on buying a computer or whatever. It was like 1978, when I was six. I don’t think there’s many people my age who’ve had that experience, or anyone in general. From a very early age, I also realized I wanted to invent things. So I became really interested in technology and also then, soon after, in business, because I figured that inventing things wasn’t any good; you really had to get them out into the world and have people use them to have any effect. So probably from when I was 12, I knew I was going to start a company eventually

How do you think you knew at such an early age that you wanted to be an inventor?

Larry Page: I just sort of kept having ideas. We had a lot of magazines lying around our house. It was kind of messy. So you kind of read stuff all the time, and I would read Popular Science and things like that. I just got interested in stuff, I guess, technology and how devices work. My brother taught me how to take things apart, and I took apart everything in the house. So I just became interested in it, for whatever reason, and so I had lots of ideas about what things could be built and how to build them and all these kinds of things. I built like an electric go-cart at a pretty early age.

It’s as if computers were the toys of your childhood.

Larry Page: Yeah, basically, and electronics too.

You mentioned reading magazines like Popular Mechanics. What else did you read that might have influenced or inspired you in some way?

Larry Page: I read all the computer magazines and things like that, and I was sort of interested in how these things really work — anything having to do with the mechanics behind things, either the mechanics or the electronics. I wanted to be able to build things. Actually, in college I built an inkjet printer out of Legos, because I wanted to be able to print really big images. I figured you could print really big posters really cheaply using inkjet cartridges. So I reverse-engineered the cartridge, and I built all the electronics and mechanics to drive it. Just sort of fun projects. I like to be able to do those kinds of things.

You certainly have an aptitude for it. Is this because of your early education or your parents? How do you explain that?

Larry Page: Actually, my brother was nine years older than me, and he went to Michigan as well. He brought home some of his labs for electronics and things like that, and sort of gave them to me. I learned how to do the stuff. I think there were a lot of lucky things like that.

You seem to have had no fear of any of this. Where does this self-confidence come from?

Larry Page: I think that’s true of kids today as well. If you have access to these things at a really young age, you just become used to it all, and it is natural to you. Kids certainly don’t have fear of using computers now. It’s the same kind of thing. If you grow up in environments where you have ICs (integrated circuits) lying around, you don’t have fear of that either.

And here you are now, a CEO at what age?

Larry Page: I’m 27.

Why is it that you perceived the need for Google before anyone else did?

Larry Page: Well, it’s actually a great argument for pure research because… So anyway… Search engines didn’t really understand the notion of which pages were more important. If you typed “Stanford,” you got random pages that mentioned Stanford. This obviously wasn’t going to work.

Larry, you’re a CEO at 27. What challenges or frustrations have you experienced at reaching this station at such a young age?

Larry Page: I think the age is a real issue. It’s certainly a handicap in the sense of being able to manage people and to hire people and all these kinds of things, maybe more so than it should be. Certainly, I think, the things that I’m missing are more things that you acquire with time. If you manage people for 20 years, or something like that, you pick up things. So I certainly lack experience there, and that’s an issue. But I sort of make up for that, I think, in terms of understanding where things are going to go, having a vision about the future, and really understanding the industry I am in, and what the company does, and also sort of the unique position of starting a company and working on it for three years before starting the company. Then working on it pretty hard, whatever, 24 hours a day. So I understand a lot of the aspects pretty well. I guess that compensates a little bit for lack of skills in other areas.

It appears that it’s people of your generation who have really introduced the so-called “24/7 mentality.” Are you aware of that? Do you think that accounts for your success?

 

Larry Page: I think it definitely helps to be really focused on what you are doing. You can only work so many hours, and I try to have some balance in my life and so on. I think a lot of people go through this in school. They work really hard. You can do that for part of your life, but you can’t do that indefinitely. At some point, you want to have a family. You want to have more time to do other things. I would say that it is an advantage being young. You don’t have as many other responsibilities.

What else are you doing these days?

Larry Page: I think I am really lucky. Being in the Bay Area, a lot of my friends have started companies that have been quite successful at different stages. So I go up to San Francisco and I hang out with my friends, and we talk about their companies and all sorts of different things. It is fun, but it is also work in some sense. I think within Silicon Valley there is really a mix of recreation and work a lot of times.

Where do you go from here? What do you see yourself doing in ten or 20 years?

Larry Page: Artificial intelligence would be the ultimate version of Google. So we have the ultimate search engine that would understand everything on the Web. It would understand exactly what you wanted, and it would give you the right thing. That’s obviously artificial intelligence, to be able to answer any question, basically, because almost everything is on the Web, right? We’re nowhere near doing that now. However, we can get incrementally closer to that, and that is basically what we work on. And that’s tremendously interesting from an intellectual standpoint.

We have all this data. If you printed out the index, it would be 70 miles high now. We have all this computation. We have about 6,000 computers. So we have a lot of resources available. We have enough space to store like 100 copies of the whole Web. So you have a really interesting sort of confluence of a lot of different things: a lot of computation, a lot of data that didn’t used to be available. From an engineering and scientific standpoint, building things to make use of this is a really interesting intellectual exercise. So I expect to be doing that for a while. On the other hand, I do have a lot of other interests as well. I am really interested in transportation and sustainable energy. For fun, I invent things on the side, but I don’t really have time to follow up on them.

What do they think of people like you at Stanford and Michigan? You are extraordinary people they’re sending out into the world.

 

Larry Page: Well, thank you. It was kind of strange for me. I went back to Michigan and there was all this faculty who wanted to meet with me. It was just very strange, going from a student to that. At Google, especially, we are really lucky. Everybody is our product! Or it’s starting to be everybody. No matter who you talk to, they’re like, “Oh, Google today was great. I found exactly what I needed.” Somehow we’ve done a really good job. People are really happy with our company, and we have provided pretty good service. So that sort of transfers onto how people interact with me as well, which is really nice.

It used to be that a Ph.D. candidate hoped to have his or her dissertation published in some obscure academic journal. Your dissertation started a company and launched you on a career.

Larry Page: There are a lot of students at Stanford who have started companies based on their research work. I think Stanford does a pretty good job with that. There is obviously a lot of infrastructure, but also there is an acceptance of it, which I think is good.

Is there an expectation?

Larry Page: There is sort of a joke that faculty members have to start a company before they get tenure. I don’t think that’s quite true. The faculty are very focused on what is going on in the world, which I think is a good thing. The danger is if you’re not doing research because you are pushed into things that are just practical.

Larry Page, what do you see as the responsibilities that go along with success and the accumulation of wealth that we are seeing in Silicon Valley today?

Larry Page: I think there is tremendous responsibility. If I was not in this situation, my biggest concern would be the concentration of wealth and power in a very small number of people. On the other hand, it is nice to be rewarded for what you do. There are a lot of things I would like to do in the world that having a lot of resources would really help with.

What do you want to do?

Larry Page: I have been really interested in applying technology to transportation. I don’t think that has really been done. Making cars better. There are a lot of interesting systems people have designed that basically are small monorails that run along sidewalks, and that route you exactly where you want to go. Some of these things are actually quite practical. As a side interest, I have kind of followed this stuff. When I was in Michigan, I tried to get them to build a monorail between central and north campus, because it is only a two-mile trip, and they have 40 full-sized diesel buses that run back and forth. Two miles! So that’s a prime candidate for new transportation.

Is there any reason for you to go back to Stanford and finish your degree? You have taken leave of absence from Stanford to be a CEO. Why bother to go back at all?

Larry Page: Well, I think Stanford is a really great place. There’s really, really smart people around, and it’s really a fun place to be. Some people from other startups have gone back when things sort of calmed down. So it does happen. There are things I want to work on that are very speculative, and Stanford is a great place to do things like that. I didn’t start out building a search engine. I just said, “Oh, the links on the Web are probably interesting. Why don’t we try doing something with that?” I was pretty lucky that it was a useful thing to do. If you’re doing something you’re not sure is going to work at all, a company probably isn’t the right place to be doing it. Having incredibly bright people around to work with is a really nice thing. I could see going back for that purpose.

 

http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/pag0int-1

Success story of India’s First Visually Impaired Chartered Accountant

Rajni Gopal is India’s first visually impaired woman to become a Chartered Accountant. Currently working with India’s leading software companies, it has taken Rajani immense grit, perseverance and patience to reach where she stands.

Rajani Gopal has come a long way after losing her eye sight. She treads on paths that make even sighted people think twice before taking up. Behind this chartered accountant, Veena player and social worker, lies a determined woman who has defied all logic when it comes to success. Let’s talk to Rajani Gopal and find out more about her.

You work with a reputed IT company. Tell us about your job profile.

I work in the Finance Department. My profile is to work on Indian & U.S.A. Generally Accepted Accounting Practices.

Where were you working before your current assignment? How did you get this break?

I was working for Indian Group of Hotels as Community co-ordinator. I had sent my bio-data to the placement cell of I.C.A.I. and that is how I got this break.

How have you adjusted to your work environment and how have your colleagues responded.

It has been comfortable to adjust to work environment as I am quite versatile on computers. Moreover my work to a large extent is on those applications that extensively support screen reading software.

My colleagues respond very sensibly. There is no discrimination of any sort. Now they know when I need assistance and come forward to give the same. The work atmosphere is very comfortable and friendly.

Becoming a C.A. is a tough task even for sighted people. As a blind person what motivated you to take up this subject and how did you manage?

That is what many told me when I thought of taking up C.A. as a career. But let me tell you, determination and commitment can help you achieve those milestones which seem difficult otherwise.

I lost vision in my right eye by the time I completed my graduation. I faced few interviews where my candidature was not considered because of my vision problem. I realised that I should have a better education to get a decent and dignified job. At this juncture I came to know about Chartered Accountancy. By this time I had learnt to pursue my studies on my own. I thought if I can pursue B.Com on my own then why not C.A.?

Of course, pursuing the course was not easy. It would be difficult for me to read for long time. I had to read keeping the book close to my eyes. Commuting was also quite difficult. For a moment my spirits would be shattered. But I would realise that this is not the way to tackle a problem. I will have to find out ways and means of solving this. I would read for sometime and then close my eyes and try to recollect whatever I would have studied. This way I was not wasting my time and was also giving rest to my eyes, which I needed the most. As far as commuting was concerned, I would prefer to walk short distances, as catching the public transport was difficult. For long distances, invariably I would take the public transport. It was quite risky but I had to take the calculated risk.

After I lost vision in my left eye too, I had to look for means to continue my studies and clear my examinations. But the important hurdle was to accept that I am visually challenged. This did take some time as I would relate myself with my friends who either had a good job or were happily married. I realised that I should come out of this trauma. Sahaja Yoga meditation came to my rescue. The meditation gave the overall balance which I needed the most. I realised that I should accept the situation and go ahead, instead of brooding. I came to know about the screen reading software and learnt how to use computers. My urge to pursue the course was rekindled. I got all the materials converted to soft copy and started studying. For few subjects I took the assistance of volunteers. I also had to learn how to communicate with the scribe, as I was availing scribe facility for the first time.

What are the special assistive tools you use for help at work? Especially when tackling numbers.

As I have already mentioned, I extensively use computers with screen reading software. My assignment does not include going through any written documents. By using Excel and other M.S. Office applications, I am able to manage my job quite comfortably.

How did you develop your eye problem?

I was prescribed penicillin tablets for common cold. This was given without test dosage and resulted in an allergic reaction which in medical terminology is known as “Steven Johnson Syndrome”. My vision started deteriorating gradually. This was coupled with growth of eye lashes inside the eyes which would constantly itch. I had to visit the doctor almost twice a week to get the lashes plucked. But the damage to the cornea was done and doctors were helpless.

Tell us a bit about your school and college days.

Early school days were as any other normal child. After the allergy, things changed. Because of redness in the eyes, quite a few classmates would avoid me. I had to hear to lot of sympathies from relatives and friends. It would be very difficult to listen. I would try to be all alone by myself. I developed the habit of reading to overcome my loneliness. Initially I would cry and weep. As I grew up I didn’t feel like doing that, for I knew that my parents would be disturbed. I learnt to keep all my emotions to myself. I had very few friends.

At my college things were little different. I was matured enough to handle the situation. I did have friends who were sensible enough. In fact in the final year of my graduation, my friends would write the notes for me, get the books from library, for I couldn’t attend the college due to surgery on my right eye.

What kind of support did you get from family and friends?

There was complete support from my immediate family members. Neither my parents nor my brothers made me to feel at any point of time that I had vision problem. My parents would encourage me in all my ventures as they would encourage my brothers. Even after I lost my vision completely, they would behave as if nothing had happened and gave me all the emotional support.

Though I had very few friends, they were quite sensible and helped me whenever I needed them most. Moreover they would boost my confidence and behave as they would with other “normal” friends.

What are your interests and hobbies?

As already mentioned, I practice meditation-Sahaja Yoga. I enjoy cooking. I play chess. I have learnt to play Veena. I listen to lot of music. I volunteer my services to physically, visually and economically challenged students by providing assistance in their studies.

Tell us any interesting experience you’d like to share.

There have been quite a lot of experiences which have moulded my personality.

As my vision deteriorated gradually, I could see the helplessness of doctors and my parents. At such heart breaking moments, each mile stone in my education would motivate me to go further.

But if you want to know of any particular incident that changes the course of my life, I feel this is it.

Around the time when I lost vision in both my eyes, my father was diagnosed with Leukaemia. It was the prime age of my life and with all confusion I was totally lost and mentally upset. One evening when I just couldn‘t control my emotions, my brother recommended me meditation. He advised that I should do it with open mind and take as hypothesis. I could see within a week that my overall personality was in complete balance and I obtained the necessary confidence and inner strength which I needed the most and which any amount of external counselling wouldn’t have done.

Now I feel, everything that happened was with some purpose and has helped me become a better person move ahead in life with greater strength and confidence

http://www.eyeway.org/inspire/int-rajni.htm

Indra Nooyi’s mantra for success

Indra Nooyi’s career at Pepsico began in 1994 as senior vice-president of Corporate Strategy and Development and she has been credited with shaping Pepsico’s current focus on the convenient foods and beverages business, influencing the company’s $ 3.3 billion acquisition of Tropicana, the juice company, in 1998, among other achievements.

From her roots in Chennai, where she grew up, Indra Nooyi hitched her career aspirations to a star and has emerged as one of the most recognised icons of corporate success to originate from India, being cited among rankings of global corporate achievers for the past few years.

At the banquet hosted by the Indian organisation, Indra Nooyi was invited to impart her formula for success, where she elucidated five principals that she has adhered to. Sounding neither pompous nor platitudinous, she expounded her ‘panch sheel’ before a rapt and admiring audience, illustrating her counsel with recollections from her life, often mixed with wit and humour, at times self-deprecating, yet delivered with aplomb.

She began her discourse with the exhortation that “there are no limits to what you can do”, but cautioned the audience not to let others define the concept of success for them, adding, “not even me.” In Indra Nooyi’s regard, success “ isn’t money, prestige, or power because net worth can never define self worth. True success is being happy with yourself, is being fulfilled. And that comes from devoting your time, your life, to doing what you love the most”.

The core of the concept of success lies in knowing “what you want to do in life” and those who have triumphed at “figuring out” that issue should consider themselves “tremendously blessed”, she explained. Such advice does not seem simplistic, coming from a business leader with verve, like Indra Nooyi, who reportedly balances and blends her corporate role with her other talents that include playing the guitar and singing, skills that she presumably developed as part of an all-girl rock band while attending college in India.

Indra Nooyi graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry from Madras Christian College in 1976, an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata, in 1978, and a master’s degree from Yale University in Public and Private Management in 1980.

Her corporate experiences include positions at Motorola that began in 1986 and led to her becoming vice-president of Corporate Strategy and Planning in that company between 1988-90 and at Asea Brown Boveri, as senior vice-pPresident and director of Corporate Strategy and Strategic Marketing between 1990-94.

In elucidating the attributes of success, Indra Nooyi commenced with the advice, “Aim high and put your heart into it,” recalling that while growing up with her sister, her mother who is one of her “greatest role models”, would have them deliver a post prandial speech every night, on what they wanted to be, “whether it was the president of India, prime minister … or chief minister of a state,” following which, she would cast her vote for the winner, the reward being a small piece of chocolate. On hindsight, Indra Nooyi believed it was formative in instilling confidence and ambition in them. “What’s important is trying to be the best and working to get there. And that’s how you fulfil your potential,” she averred.

The next rule of success, according to Indra Nooyi, is to “never stop learning” regardless of one’s age, and such learning should not be restricted to academic knowledge, but be supplemented with “street smarts” and being aware of matters and issues in the real world. “Keep that natural curiosity,” she advised, as she described her practice, in her present job, of going on “market tours and walking the grocery stores, for at least half-a-day, a week,” to understand the competition.

Another corollary to success, is to “keep an open mind,” said Indra Nooyi, in addressing the Indian-American community. “It’s a multi cultural world out there and we all have to interact with people who are different…Success comes with reaching out and integrating with the community…and giving back to the communities and neighbourhoods, more than what you took out of them,” she implored.

An important attribute of success is to “be yourself,” according to the Pepsico president. In illustrating the rule, she humourously recounted a learning experience when she was a graduate student at Yale University, seeking her first summer job, because she had “no money to live on.” She purchased a $ 50 business suit from the local budget store and attended a job interview looking like “the ultimate country bumpkin” in her ill-fitting clothes and shod in garish orange snow boots, that her appearance elicited “a collective gasp(of horror) from people there.” When she tearfully consulted her Career Development Counselor about her sartorial snafu, the latter advised her to wear a sari for her next interview, assuring Indra Nooyi that, “if they can’t accept you in a sari, it’s their loss, not yours.” She recalled that she not only wore a sari for her next interview with a very prestigious management consulting firm and clinched the job, but continued to wear them to work all summer and “did just fine”. She insists, “Never hide what makes you.”

The central pillar of success rests on three important factors, which Indra Nooyi cites as, “family, friends and faith”. Prosperity and comforts notwithstanding, “when things look bleak and uncertain, it’s your family, friends and faith that pull you through….And when I’m wrestling with change in my life, good or bad, the first place I turn to, is my religion. I tell you, it really helps,” she averred.

Invoking the image of the “kalpa taru”, or the wish-fulfilling tree in Hindu mythology, Indra Nooyi expressed the opinion that the Indian-American community is already living that dream and that “now it’s up to us to make the best of what we’ve been given.”

Pepsico’s president summed up success with simple ideals, perspicacity and conviction.

http://archives.chennaionline.com/Columns/BigAppleBite/article08.asp

Inspiring Video about Indira Nooyi’s Life

Click the following link to view a five minute video about Inspiriing Life of Indira Nooyi.

 

 

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=S6kys5-5VAY

Success Story of shooting star, Abhinav Bindra

Some toil for a place under the sun and some are born great. In his case the crown was thrust upon him, for he never aspired for one in the first place. “I hated sports,” confesses Abhinav Bindra, who lifted a gun, shot and became an Olympic champion – the first in the country’s history.

Yet, Bindra did not even exult when the moment arrived. For him, it seemed a ritual. But it was an unprecedented happening in a country where champions are a rare product; virtually non-existent when it comes to Olympic glory. India’s cricket icon Rahul Dravid lavishly acknowledged Bindra’s cool demeanour. “Phenomenal,” Dravid gushed even as Bindra blushed!

Shooting was not Bindra’s first choice. He attempted golf and then tennis. Having failed at both, he pursued shooting, and progressed at a rapid pace to reach the pinnacle of every sportsman’s dream. He has carried the sport of shooting from the realm of the rich to the masses. He has given sporting hope and dignity a new meaning by ‘shooting’ his way to stardom and greatness at mere 26.

Hated sports

Any fond memories of childhood? “The first 11 years of my life I just hated sports. I never watched and never played sports in schools. My parents always encouraged me to play sports though.” At the boarding school, Bindra received a letter from his affluent father every second day. “Never mind if you don’t study but play sports,” was one sentence that was common.

Shooting now is a “way of life” for the suave Bindra. He agrees, “For the common man, it is a sport hard to understand.” Even the world body is struggling to make it spectator friendly but the finals, it must be admitted, are always exciting because of the intense competition.

Bindra smiles when you ask him if sport is only about winning? “You can’t win all the time. For me personally what is important is how I perform. The pressure is maximum but I test myself and see how far I can stretch myself. One has to keep challenging oneself. There is always room for bettering yourself and your performances. Your goal has to be result-oriented and that’s why winning a medal is very important.”

What separates a champion from the rest? “I think it is the ability to keep testing yourself and hang in there a bit more.” That is what separates. It depends on the individual’s ability to try harder and to “survive those critical moments to face the pressure.” The nervousness, Bindra stresses, is not a comforting feeling and everyone wants to get rid of that feeling as early as possible. “I prepare very hard mentally and physically.”

For Bindra, an Olympic gold was always a dream. “We would come close and miss. The expectations were different.” True, there was a certain mystique attached to an Olympic gold medal in India. But he changed it. “When I started any colour mattered. Now it’s happened and with that I think the outlook has also changed. Now everyone wants a gold medal. It is not elusive anymore.”

High expectations

Expectations in India have always remained high. Bindra notes, “A sportsman has his own expectations. The external expectations don’t matter to a sportsman. He knows what to expect from himself. To me, values and perspective make a huge impact. Winning to me is not important but I hate losing.”

A toast of the nation, Bindra is very “proud” to be an Indian. “We are an emerging super power and a peace-loving community. Everybody likes us, our values, and our development in all spheres of life.”

Bindra loves the company of sportspersons. “They give me a lot of joy. I believe Indian sportspersons are an extremely talented group. They have extremely good work ethics.” But what concerns him is the lack of proper planning. “To compete against the best in the world we need to have a clear plan in place, a clear objective, clear goal. Other nations are developing at a fast pace and are far ahead of us in every aspect.”

Having travelled far and wide, Bindra has a few suggestions to offer to improve the state of sports in India. “Infrastructure is the key. Commonwealth Games is a fine opportunity to build a sports culture in the country and generate interest in sports outside cricket but I don’t necessarily believe in hosting these major events. I would rather spend the money and build infrastructure in smaller places all across India. More and more people should have access to facilities,” concludes Bindra, an epitome of humility.

VIJAY LOKAPALLY

 

http://www.hindu.com/mp/2008/12/06/stories/2008120651841300.htm