Mr. Pai: A Role-Model

Today morning, while reading a report in a local newspaper regarding the coming monsoon, my thoughts traveled 24 years backwards.  I was a student of Pre-Degree (equivalent to Plus-Two) in the Cochin College.  Mr. Sivananda Pai completed his M.Sc (Physics) with first rank from the Maharajas College, Ernakulam.  Hailing from a small middle-class family of Kochi, Mr. Pai had become the University topper.  This was an achievement, big enough for friends and well-wishers to celebrate.  The local news-papers covered the story of his achievement and many organisations felicitated him.  I was a member of two organisations, Saraswath Youths Association (SYA) and Gowda Saraswath Students Organisation (GGSO), with which Mr. Pai was also associated.  I was involved in organising a function to felicitate Mr. Pai.  He was a big source of inspiration for all young students like me.  We had many role-models whom we never met; but to have a person amidst us, whom we could look forward to as a role-model was something great!  'Pai D', that is how he was known among his friends.  Our parents started showing Mr. Pai as a benchmark for our academic achievements.  Though I haven't had much personal interactions with him, 'Pai D' was always an exemplification of hard work, determination and success for me.  Soon after this, I came to know that he had moved to Delhi for higher studies.  I changed my course from science to commerce; went on to complete my post-graduation; and moved out of Kochi in 1996.  Since then, I have been living outside Kerala.

 

Today morning, I was reading an article in the online edition of 'Mathrubhumi', where it was mentioned, "the monsoon would reach Kerala by the first week of June, says the IMD Chief Forecaster, D Sivananda Pai".  Within no time I realised that it was the same 'Pai D', who was my one-time role model.  I immediately searched for more details on Mr. Pai and I was extremely happy to know that he continued to scale newer heights.  He completed his second post graduation (M.Tech) from IIT Delhi and Ph.D in Atmospheric Science from University of Pune.  He has been a Scientist with the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) since 1993, and is currently the head of the Long Range Forecasting (LRF) Division.

 

Mr. Pai has many international research papers to his credit.  He was awarded the Certificate of Merit by the Government of India for his outstanding contributions in the field of Atmospheric Sciences.  He developed a new Statistical Approach to forecast the arrival of monsoon over Kerala; and this system is said to have increased the accuracy of Long Range Forecasts.  It is also reported that the forecasting system that he developed was the world's first such system.

 

In a country like India, the livelihood of majority of the population depends on agriculture.  Though the share of agriculture in GDP has gradually fallen over the years, it continues to be the sector providing employment to the largest share of population, directly or indirectly.  It has also been observed that even a small percentage point increase in the agricultural output is enough to kick start an overall growth-cycle in the economy.  Since agricultural output is heavily dependent on the arrival and the patterns of monsoon, the increased accuracy in forecasting becomes important.  In this context, the research of Mr. Pai and his contributions assume greater significance.

I was extremely happy to know more about Mr. Pai and was inspired by his success story.  I immediately thought of sharing my memories, because I strongly believe that Mr. Sivananda Pai is a great source of inspiration for all those (especially the youngsters) who dream of scaling newer heights.  His life is a perfect example of what one could achieve through hard work and dedication.  When I am writing this, it is raining heavily in Tumkur.  I feel something special about today's rain; when I look through my window, a thought fills my mind, that sitting in Pune, 'Pai D' is monitoring this rainfall !!

Note: Photo courtesy: India Today & IMD.
I have used Mr. Pai's photographs without his permission, and I hope he wouldn't mind.
Please see the following sites for more details:
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/indian-scientists-at-forefront-of-research-d.-sivananda-pai/1/150711.html
http://www.imdpune.gov.in/achivements2.html

Jugaad - A Wonderful Book

Few months ago, during a casual visit to a leading book store in Bangalore, a book titled 'Jugaad' caught my attention in the 'New Arrivals' section.  Though I have come across the term 'Jugaad' (a term used to describe frugal innovation), and read few articles on the same, I had not read any book on the topic.  In the first glance itself, I could conclude that the book was a well researched one.  Moreover, the book starts with a mention of the authors' interactions with Prof. Anil Gupta of IIM Ahmedabad.  I am a big admirer of Prof. Gupta and his work on grass-root level innovations.  So, I picked up the book immediately.  Recently, I finished reading it and let me tell you my first impression was completely right.

Written by Navi Radjou, Jaideep Prabhu and Simone Ahuja, it is a wonderful book that takes the readers through various aspects of frugal innovation.  To quote the authors, "Jugaad is a colloquial Hindi word that roughly translates as 'an innovative fix; an improvised solution born from ingenuity and cleverness'.  Juggad is quite simple, a unique way of thinking and acting in response to challenges; it is the gusty art of spotting opportunities in the most adverse circumstances and resourcefully improvising solutions using simple means" (Chapter 1, page.4).  The book is full of various stories of frugal innovation, drawn mainly from developing countries like India, Bangladesh, Brazil, Argentina etc.  In Chapter 9, quoting Paul Polak, the author of 'Out of Poverty', the authors write: '90 percent of the world's products and services are designed for 10 percent of the world's population - to meet the desires, rather than actual needs, of the richest people on earth'.  This is where the significance of Juggad lies.  It plays a crucial role in designing products to address the actual needs of the people at, what Prof. C K Prahalad calls, 'the bottom of the pyramid'.  The book identifies six principles of Jugaad and explains each one with many real life examples. The six principles are:

1. Seek opportunity in adversity
2. Do more with less
3. Think and act flexibly
4. Keep it simple
5. Include the margins
6. Follow Your Heart

In a world, where billions of dollars are spent on research and development for creating products and services aimed at the elite class or the upper middle class, Jugaad is the need of the hour.  The authors have explained the concept in the most interesting manner through simple, yet attractive style of writing.  Lot of research has gone into this book and I strongly recommend this book to all my students and friends.

The Banyan Tree of SIT

Dr. M N Channabasappa, the Director of Siddaganga Institute of Technology (SIT), Tumkur is a renowned Mathematician.  Before joining SIT, he was the Dean and Head of the Mathematics Department at NITK, Surathkal.  His colleagues and well wishers organised a function to felicitate him on his 82nd Birthday recently.  A souvenir was brought out on this occasion and I wrote an article  titled 'The Banyan Tree of SIT'.  The same is given below.

My first visit to Siddaganga Institute of Technology (SIT) was in June 1998 for attending the interview for a faculty position in the newly established MBA Department.  After the presentations in the morning we were taken to the Basaveswara Hostel Block for lunch.  A huge tree near the hostel caught my attention.  The shade of the tree was covering almost the entire ground in front of the hostel block.  I got selected in the interview and joined the Institute in September 1998.  Within no time, I realized that there was another huge banyan tree in the campus, providing shade, support and encouragement to all, who was none other than Dr. M N Channabasappa.

Since the MBA Department was relatively new, and there were only three full-time faculty members, I got opportunity to interact with Dr. M N Channabasappa on a continuous basis, who was the Principal of SIT at that time.  He was 68 and I was less than half of his age!  In spite of this huge age difference, he always treated me with great amount of warmth and grace.  One day I was in his cabin along with an administrative assistant, correcting a report that we had prepared, he suggested some changes and told the assistant ‘make these corrections and show it to Prof. Ajoy Kumar’.  Should I say, I felt extremely happy or a bit uncomfortable that such a senior Professor was addressing me as ‘Professor’?  Such is the respect that Dr. MNC gives his colleagues, irrespective of their age, designation and qualification.  When I reach 68, I am not sure whether I would be able to treat a person less than half of my age with the same grace with which Dr. MNC treated me.  But I consider this as a great lesson that I learnt from him.  What is more important is that he continued to shower on me the same affection throughout the last 14 years.  I still remember what he told me during my initial days as a teacher: “The students would evaluate you during the first two to three sessions and make an opinion about your teaching.  Once they put you in a pigeon-hole, they rarely take you out and put elsewhere”.

My interactions with Dr. MNC became more frequent when I got involved with the Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP), for which he was the Project Authority.  This was a World Bank funded project which required lot of documentation and transparency at every stage.  We, the TEQIP team, never had any difficulty as he was at the helm of affairs and he always insisted on a completely transparent and systematic work culture.  His style was to handpick the right kind of people and give them full freedom to work.  He never interfered or created unnecessary pressure. 

I would like to share few interesting experiences during the implementation of the project.   Once, a high-level committee from New Delhi visited the campus to inspect the progress of civil works funded by the project.  The construction was behind schedule due to various reasons and the committee was a bit unhappy.  At the final meeting attended by Dr. MNC and all other senior professors, the expert said he would like to have one person taking the entire responsibility, who would ensure completion of the work at the earliest and also would keep in touch with the authorities in Delhi.  After a minute of silence, Dr. MNC raised his hand and said “I take the responsibility”.  I could see a true leader here.  He could have turned to any senior professor and asked him or her to take the responsibility, and I am sure, no one would have said ‘no’.  But he rose to the occasion; and the expert could not have asked for anything more!  The project was completed soon.

When we were preparing for submission of the proposal for the second phase of TEQIP, an expert from Delhi told us that the proposal should contain a detailed ‘Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT)’ document and it would be better to outsource the services of a consultant to prepare this document.  Hearing this, I told the Project Coordinator that we teach SWOT in MBA and it would be possible for us to do it internally.  He immediately informed this to Dr. MNC, who in turn, directed me to take up that assignment.  What surprised me was the speed with which he took the decision and the confidence that he had in me.  He created a team consisting of the Principal, the Dean and the Project Coordinator to help me in the process and made all necessary arrangements for conducting a series of meetings with various departments.  We thoroughly enjoyed the process of developing the SWOT document for SIT and also won appreciation from the authorities in Delhi.

SIT has a system where the students give feedback on faculty members at the end of every semester.  Whenever faculty members get below average rating, a group of senior professors provide counseling and suggestions for improvements to such teachers.  However, there is hardly any system that recognizes the star performers.  During a recent review meeting of TEQIP, the expert, while enquiring about the faculty feedback system asked “what do you do with the teachers who get excellent rating?”  Immediately Dr. MNC replied ‘we ignore them’.  The entire group burst into laughter.   I was witnessing another quality of a good leader.  He never hesitated to accept any limitations or lacunae on our part and always indulged in self-criticism with a pinch of humor.

Doors of his office as well as his residence are always open for everybody.  He doesn’t even expect people to knock on his door before entering.  Anybody could just walk in at any time and he was available and accessible for all.  Many a times I have accompanied faculty members who had already left SIT to his room and saw him welcoming them with the same warmth that he showed while they were working for SIT.  Many of us, with very little experience in our lives, take great interest and pride in talking endlessly about our achievements; and exercise greater care to avoid talking about our mistakes and follies.  Dr. MNC is just opposite.  With six decades of professional experience to his credit, I have never heard him talking about his achievements to anybody.  At the same time, he would not hesitate to tell others about some mistakes that he had committed and how he came out of such situations.  I have often seen him waving his hands in a denial mode when somebody praised him in a function.  He once told a visiting delegation, ‘I don’t do anything.  I just come and sit here.  I am surrounded by lot of good people who keep doing all the work’.  This humility is what makes him stand apart.  I am reminded of an old Arabic prayer:

“When you give me Strength, take not away my Sagacity.

When you give me Glory, take not away my Humility.

When you give me Humility, take not away my Dignity.

And take not away my Grace, when you give me Authority”

I can not find anyone better than Dr. MNC who has lived according to the true spirit of the above prayer.  I have never been his student, but I can’t express in words what I have learnt from him, just by observing him and working with him during the last 14 years.  I can go on sharing my experiences.  But I would end with what Dr. MNC likes the most – playing with numbers.

When I joined SIT the difference between my age and his was 43 years.  This difference continues to be same even now; and would continue so forever.  But the difference between my age and half of his age has been gradually coming down.  I haven’t touched half of his age yet, and I need to wait for four more years for that to happen!  Though I would never be able to catch up with his age, I sincerely wish to surpass half of his age and continue growing this difference for a long, long time.  Let the almighty give him good health, so that he continues to remain a huge banyan tree, providing shade to all of us at SIT.  I can’t pray for anything else for him, as I am sure he doesn’t desire any materialistic comforts any more.  Thank you, Dr. Channabasappa for all the care and affection that you have bestowed on me.

The 'Great' Indian Railways

The Indian Railways has been my preferred travel partner for over a decade for obvious reasons.  Though I have always enjoyed my journeys and often wondered about the mammoth structure of the organisation that keeps moving people along the length and breadth of this country, I have had my own quota of disappointments and distresses.  Let me share some recent instances here.

In September 2012, I booked tickets for a Kerala trip scheduled for January 2013, because the Railways expects people to plan their journey 120 days in advance!  As per the schedule, we boarded the 2-tier AC coach of the train at Bangalore.  We felt the temperature inside the coach to be more than the temperature outside.  While the weather outside was pleasant, it was very suffocating inside and everybody was sweating as the air-conditioning was not working!  We could not find any technical staff in the compartment.  After about 20 minutes of journey, when the ticket examiner came to check the tickets, people complained to him and made their disappointment known in strong words.  He was forced by the passengers to summon the technical staff and switch on the AC.  In fact, the staff were supposed to keep the compartment cool even before the train is pulled to the platform.  But they just did not do it, and this is how the passengers travelling by the highest class were welcomed on board, that too, having made the payment 4 months in advance!

The next day I wanted to travel from Thiruvananthapuram to Ernakulam and boarded the Mumbai bound express train at Thiruvananthapuram at 9.50 a.m.  The train was supposed to reach Ernakulam at 1.50 pm.  In between, the train was stopped in a small station, where there was no scheduled stoppage, for almost 25 minutes for allowing a slow-running passenger train to cross over!  As if this was not enough, the train was again stopped in a small station for 15 minutes to allow a goods train to cross.  Finally, the train reached Ernakulam at 2.30 p.m., a clear delay of 40 minutes.  Remember, this was a long-distance Mumbai bound express train!  With the latest and most advanced communication and signal systems, I don't know how railways decides on the priority of train movements.

As if the above experiences were nothing, we were in for a bigger shock when we boarded the train for the return journey.  We had reserved the return journey tickets also four months in advance and were allotted berth/seat numbers 46 and 48 in the 2-tier AC coach.  When we boarded the train, we found that the coach had only 46 seats and seat number 48 simply did not exist!  After about half an hour of journey, another family joined us from the next station who were allotted seat numbers 45 and 47.  When, this was brought to the notice of the ticket examiner, even he seemed lost.  However, he comforted both of us saying that he would contact the reservation authorities and get us a solution.  When I asked him whether there were any unreserved berths in the compartment, he said 'No'.  After two hours, he came back to us and allotted berths elsewhere in the same compartment.  Out of my curiosity, I asked him, how he could manage two berths in an otherwise fully-reserved coach.  He told me that the reservation office had already noticed this flaw and blocked two seats elsewhere.  But the same was not communicated to him!  I had a sigh of relief that at least they realised it well in advance.  Otherwise, I really don't know how they would have found a solution.

 

A Teacher who made a Big Difference

Today is Vijaya Dashami, a day that is dedicated for offering prayers and seeking blessings of Saraswathi, the Goddess of Knowledge.  In my place, it is considered auspicious to start the process of any new learning on this day.  I take this opportunity to fondly remember one of my teachers, who made a big difference in my life - Bhaskaran Master of Government High School, Panayappilly.

In 1983, when I was a student of sixth standard, Bhaskaran Sir taught Mathematics and Malayalam.  He was a tough teacher, who never compromised on issues relating to studies and discipline.  Since he used to severely punish erring students, we were all afraid of him.  But he was a great teacher who used to make the process of learning highly interactive and enjoyable.  While he would make us solve many interesting puzzles in Mathematics, he would lead us deep into a story or poetry during his Malayalam classes.  I must say, we used to wait for his classes and miss him whenever he was on leave.

One day he took me to the staff room and told me that an organisation was conducting a district level competition in public speaking for the upper primary school children and he had selected me to participate in the same.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Though I used to be one among the top students and had participated in some school events in the past, I had never represented my school in a competition outside.  At the same time, there was a student in the seventh standard who used to represent the school in such events.  I managed to gather the courage to ask Sir why he was not sending that senior student.  Then he told me that he wanted to give a chance to me and he was confident that I would do well in the competition.  Next day Bhaskaran Sir handed over a three page speech to me and asked me to learn and practice it.  (I vividly remember Sir's hand-writing even today).  Within a week, I was supposed to give a mock speech in front of him and few other teachers, which I did reasonably well.   Bhaskaran Sir gave me lot of suggestions for improvement and encouraged me by patting my shoulder.  But I was still tensed.

Within a few days the news came that the competition was cancelled for some reason.  When Bhaskaran Sir told me this, I could see the disappointment on his face.  Though I was also unhappy, I probably felt a great sense of relief.  What Sir did after that was more touching.  We used to have cultural programmes at the end of every month.  During the next such programme, he kept my speech as the main item.  The interest that I developed towards public speaking at the tender age of 11, grew over the years and helped me win prizes in various competitions, including the state-level college youth festival.

What is more important is that the interest in public speaking took a serious turn and led me to become passionate about teaching.  Today, whatever little I have achieved, it all started with Bhaskaran Sir.  Even today I am puzzled as to how and why he could identify the hidden talent in me!  Though many other teachers have greatly influenced me, Bhaskaran Sir enjoys a special place in my heart.  I am sure each one of us has a teacher like this.  On this days of Vijaya Dashami, I offer my greetings and gratitude to Bhaskaran Sir, who initiated me to the world of teaching.



   

    

Complexity or 'Simplicity Complex'?

'Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex and more violent.  It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction' - Albert Einstein.

The above statement made me think about various systems around us, which were intentionally made complex.  For example, most of the government systems are highly complex with multi-layer approvals.  As a student of commerce, I remember reading the principle of multi-layer checks and balances in order to prevent irregularities.  Thus, with good intentions, we created huge, complex and multi-layer systems.  And what was the result? We have a system where the files move from table to table endlessly; there is unusual delay in most of the projects; the efficiency is highly compromised; and most importantly, we have corruption at each level!  So, like the Frankenstein's monster, a system that was designed to keep irregularities away, itself resulted in corruption at a larger magnitude!

Another problem with such systems is that they become cumbersome and difficult to understand for the common man.  This gives rise to a new breed of professionals who offer simple solutions in the complex system.  We first create a complex system and then build many sub-systems around it to simplify the same!  Let us take for example, the taxation system.  It became so complex over the years, with multiple rates, differential rates, variety of exemptions and umpteen number of modifications.  Tax evasion became a creative activity and many people thrived on the loopholes inherent there.  Finally, we needed a Tax Reforms Committee to suggest that the whole system be made simple and straight forward.    

A third problem with such a system is that it kills creativity.  Any creative activity requires certain degree of flexibility, which these systems never allow.  Let me look at the initiatives that are being taken at the higher education system.  Due to various regulatory requirements, we have so many standardized procedures to follow and documents to prepare, that a teacher works more like a machine and less like a teacher.  While people take pride in saying that they are an ISO certified institute, I wonder, whether teaching can ever be standardized to suit the ISO requirements!

Even at an individual level, we all make many things around us highly complicated.  Just look around, and I am sure, we would all be amazed to see how complex some of our daily activities are; and more interestingly, we have only made them so!  The word 'complex' has a different meaning in Psychology.  Carl Jung defines 'Complex' as 'personal, unconscious core pattern of emotions, memories, perceptions and wishes organised around a common theme'.   Here the common theme must be 'simplicity', that drives us to create simple and straight forward systems which are highly efficient.  So, what we really need is 'Simplicity Complex' and not simple complexity!

My Tributes to Two Great Men

About a month ago, I read in the newspaper, Mr. N R Narayana Murthy suggesting that the country should honour Sri. Verghese Kurien, the father of White Revolution, with Bharat Ranta.  Though I have spent two years in Ahmedabad, very close to Anand, I never got a chance to meet Kurien.  But I heard a lot about the miracle called 'Anand', which led the growth of co-operative movement in India.  So, I immediately ordered a copy of Kurien's autobiography - 'I Too Had A Dream'.  As I was reading the book, the news of Kurien's death appeared in the media.  I finished reading the book in one sitting; and let me tell you what an experience it was!  Kurien, indeed, did what many others could not.  The book narrates, how an initially reluctant Kurien, transformed the lives of millions of farmers.  It narrates the tale of creating a great brand 'Amul'; the strategies that he devised to fight the mighty MNCs like Nestle; his constant endeavours to keep the politicians and bureaucrats away from taking over the reins of successful co-operatives; and the story behind the Institute of Rural Management (IRMA).  He took the country from a milk deficient nation to the largest producer of milk; and in the process, provided economic freedom to the millions of farmers.  His life and work are not just another example of creation of a great brand; but it is far more, as it resulted in the transformation of the socio-economic fabric of thousands of villages.  He was a no-nonsense man and a hard task master, who knew how to get what he wanted.  And all along he kept saying that he was the 'employee' of the farmers; which he truly was!


Two weeks ago, I was saddened to read the news of Prof. N S Ramaswamy's death.  Prof. N S Ramaswamy was the founder director of IIM Bangalore.  But to describe him that way would be an understatement, as the directorship of IIMB was only one facet of this multifaceted personality.  Unlike Kurien, I had the opportunity of interacting with Prof. Ramaswamy at various occasions.  I met him first in 1999, when he visited my institute to address the students.  I was amazed by his ability to quote from vedic literature to explain the concepts of management.  He was a scholar par excellence, who, at a moments notice, could speak at length on any issue.  Coated with humour, he would enthrall the audience for the whole day and they would remain in rapt attention.  He was the founder of Indian Heritage Academy and the Centre for Action Research and Technology for Man Animal and Nature (CARTMAN), which made him popularly known as Cartman Ramaswamy.  He did extensive research to improve and modernise the slaughter houses and bullock carts.  He was an academician, vedic scholar, environmentalist, animal-lover, orator and much more, bundled into one individual.  He often used to make the participants of his programmes repeat the following words - 'the time to be happy is now; the place to be happy is here and the way to be happy is by making others happy'.

I was filled with the thoughts of these two men, when I found so many similarities: they both lived almost during the same time (Kurien - 1921-2012 & Ramaswamy - 1926-2012);  Kurien was awarded Padma Vibhushan and Ramaswamy, Padma Bhushan; while one created a whole industry around cattle and its products, the other designed better bullock-carts and slaughter houses; both were institution builders (IRMA & IIMB); both were Keralites, whose area of activity was outside Kerala.  Among all these similarities, I could find a marked difference, while Kurien was a strong atheist, Ramaswamy was highly religious!

I dedicate my first post in Reflections to the memory of these two great men.