Sarathababu Elumalai

Tags

entrepreneur, Sarath Babu

I wonder why Kolkatta’s famous newspaper The Telegraph chose to call him “The Idli Boy”. But they did give him, deservedly, a front page story.

Sarathababu Elumalai’ s story is one of the most inspiring I have heard. Born to a poor family in Chennai, he said of his childhood: “I was born in a family of five children in Chennai and my mother worked with the government’s mid-day meal schemes. The money was not sufficient to sustain the large family, so she set up a small idli shop near our home in one of the slum areas of Chennai.”

Despite many hardships, he went on to complete his engineering from one of India’s most prestigious colleges – the Birla Institute of Science & Technology at Pilani. “I had never heard of the institution as we never got such an exposure. Someone told me that if I study there I will get a job,” he said.

After 3 years of work experience, he did his MBA from what is without doubt India’s best business school- the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Not accepting many job offers that could have come his way, he chose to start his own business. FoodKing Catering Services.

The business, which started with a mere Rs 5,000 and a small kiosk at Ahmedabad, has today spread to 6 branches employing over 175 people whose only job is to supply nutritious home-made food to corporates.

“It was an idea that I chanced upon during my internship at Pilani when I learnt that 30 per cent of the country’s population go to bed without food,” he said. “More than working for somebody I wanted to give jobs to people like me, who did not have other means of livelihood.”

To me, his is an amazing story of grit, commitment to principles and dedication. Sarath’s story is aptly described in Chennaionline as: The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of.

 

 

Advertisement

Living Hard or Hardly Living?

Tags

Health, living hard, tension at work

The names are disguised but you recognize the man. There could be many like him in your office or your neighbourhood.

Living a hectic life was exhilarating for Arun. He liked to say that he worked hard and played hard. He enjoyed the tension in his work especially when he took on assignments that involved risk and living on the edge. He put in his usual 12-14 hours per day. Included in his day was a nerve jarring, tension-filled commute where he had to drive like a skilled cross- country driver even in the city roads. He spent the rest of the day ( or what was left of it) partying with his cronies – and there were many of them.

He was pushy at work encouraged by the initial successes given to him by his aggressive nature. Time to unwind meant parties and drinks with his friends. There was no time to relax. Besides, relaxing was for people who had nothing better to do.

The shooting pain caught him one afternoon at work just as he was leaving a meeting in which he had been a vociferous and excited participant. He had suffered a heart attack. Like thousands do every day. He was rushed to the hospital and because of the timely attention given to him he was lucky to survive. Otherwise he would not have lived to see his 31st birthday which followed a few days later.

Suggestions for the Aruns of this world: To succeed in today’s go-getting dog- eat- dog world, you need to be physically and mentally fit. Frenetic, unceasing activity puts a strain on your physiology and burn out results from this “overheating” of your system.

Set aside time for physical activity appropriate to your age and body condition. Use relaxation techniques to help you cool off amidst the hustle and bustle of every day life.
Success comes through living a full life.

Without interests other than work, without time for your family, without attention to your health, aren’ t you living hard – but hardly living?

Don’t waste time identifying this man. He could be anybody- just make sure it isn’t you.!

Why do Indian Students go Abroad?

Tags

Indian students, studies abroad

In 2007 more Indian students went abroad for studies than ever before. The Times of India writes about a survey done by Quacquarelli Symonds.

The main reasons for going abroad are:

• Availability of scholarships
• Quality of academic staff
• Career placement record
• Affordability
• University specialization
• Teaching style
• Accreditation status

Choice of country was made based largely on : Global recognition of qualification; (82.7 %); Availability of scholarships and financial aid (64.3 %) and Opportunity to work in the destination country after graduation ( 45.9 %).

Apart from the US and UK which have traditionally attracted Indian students, other countries with increasing admissions were Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Singapore.

CEO Cook-out

Tags

Bangalore, CEOs

If you thought that CEOs in Bangalore worked all the time, here is some news for you. Economic Times reports an interesting CEO Cook-out.

Wim Elfrink of Cisco, Martin Dlouhy of Metro Cash & Carry and Jean Marc Delpon de Vaux of SABMiller – protagonists for the expat edition of the ET CEO Cookout in Bangalore – shared their recipes and toolkits for the Great Indian Adventure to a rapt audience of 50 CEOs.

Cisco chief globalisation officer Wim Elfrink, who is from the Netherlands, has moved to India from California. Mr Elfrink’s task in India is to create the second hub for Cisco outside the US. Metro Cash & Carry India managing director Martin Dlouhy, who is Czech, has worked in Russia and is working to expand the footprint of Metro in the country. And, SABMiller India MD Jean Marc Delpon de Vaux, who is from France, has sub-continental prior experience: in Pakistan, where he worked with Unilever. Mr de Vaux faces the challenge of capturing market share in what could potentially be the largest beer market left to tap in the world. While Mr Dlouhy moved to India four months back, Mr Elfrink and Mr de Vaux have spent around a year in the country.

Our city of Bangalore is now home to many expats and indeed to people from almost every part of our vast country. Over the years Bangalore’s culture has changed very rapidly. From a typically conservative society, Bangalore has become the “with it” place and a melting pot of different cultures. We have cuisine to suit every palate and dishes from every nook of the globe.

But what about a recipe for Bangalore itself?

My “recipe” for Bangalore:

1. As the base, take the essentially good natured outlook of the people of Karnataka
2. Add the spirited aggressiveness of people from other parts of the country which has changed the dynamics of Bangalore’s society
3. Stir the international nuances brought about by the many global companies here who have influenced cross-cultural norms
4. Toss in the spice provided by the unreliable political environment which could spoil the dish if it is allowed to boil over
5. Temper with the strengths of every individual’s commitment to making our city a better place.
6. Garnish with the leaves of the few trees left in our city ( thank God for them)
7. Serves: our population of 5,280,000.

Don your apron and chef’s cap. Do your bit to think of a better recipe to make our city the best place to live in for its citizens.

Are you LinkedIn ?

Tags

LinkedIn, professional networking, relationships

I would like to share my experience in LinkedIn. It is a networking site for professionals which has as of November 2007 more than 16 million registered users, spanning 150 industries and more than 400 economic regions (as classified by the service).

I first joined LinkedIn in January 2005. I must confess that a paucity of time and other priorities came in the way of my making the best of this network. Recently I decided to connect with old colleagues, friends and business associates who were already in LinkedIn – all of whom I have worked with, in the course of my career as a corporate executive and for the last 7 years as an independent management consultant.

I am pleased with the results. My contacts have grown to over 210 across a wide spectrum of industry and geography. This explains the link to LinkedIn in this blog.

As of now, I have 212 trusted friends and colleagues. For the statistically inclined let me say that they link to 23, 900 others who in turn link to 1,550, 300 + users. Not that I will -but the total users I can contact through an introduction is 1,574,400 +.

If you have not got onto LinkedIn, you might like to join. Use it responsibly to get the best out of all that it offers.

 As is well said “Relationships Matter”.