What is value based Leadership?

Recently I read an article about new book of Mr NRN Murthy, titled "A Better India, A Better World". The book is a collection of Murthy's speeches over the years. The book was released by Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India. At the time of release of the book, Mr Murthy said: "For the first time in 300 years, India has seen a resurgence of its caliber; it was now time to take the fruits of growth and wealth creation to the masses." In his book, Mr Murthy seeks to show that a society that works for the welfare of the most number of people, based on the principle of let everyone experience joy, must focus on two simple things: Values and good leadership. Below is the video showing message from NRN Murthy about the book.



Talking about the book, he says that while India has made considerable progress in the last 18 years after the first wave of economic reforms, we are still lagging. So the real challenge we have is to bring inclusive growth. In order to bring inclusive growth in a country like India we need to solve three pieces of development -- first is creating a public opinion that values good work ethic, honesty, discipline, secularism. Second, we need to develop a cadre of leadership who espouse these values and serve as role models and demonstrate leadership by example. Third, we need the determination of the elite and the powerful in the society to eschew creation of asymmetry of benefits in their favor vis-à-vis the common man. Only when these three conditions are fulfilled will we be able to create a fair, just, equitable and inclusive growth in our society. In essence this is the fundamental thesis on which the book is based.

I have always been admirer of Mr Murthy. He has always displayed leadership with values, along with philanthropy. I have been with Infosys for past five years and always felt that Mr Murthy's value system reached employees of Infosys. In my view, leadership with values keeps one on right track and in some way, it also helps to identify one's responsibilities towards the underprivileged section of the society. Mr Murthy has been living simple life for many years and is always supported by his wife Mrs Sudha Murthy, who is also chairperson of Infosys Foundation. Recently I read about pledge by Murthys for giving Crores of their personal wealth for benefiting underprivileged people for basic education and basic health care.

I am sure, if each one of the aspiring leaders in India decides to focus on values in leadership, it can contribute tremendously for growth of India at grass root level. We all need to make values, discipline and leadership an integral part of life, for true development of India. Our collective actions can bring change in the society and it has already begun. Let's aim for bringing this change in our lives and lead by example.

Thanks for dropping by. Your comments are source of encouragement for me. I will be glad to hear from you.
You can also indicate your opinion using the check box below.
You can share this article with your contact(s) using the link below.

What does leading fund raiser event mean to me?

Though I led many mega events in college and organized may parties at Infosys, but this time I got opportunity to lead Vibha's Bowl for a Child event for year 2009 in Minneapolis. I would like to share my experience with you.

It started in December last year, when me and Shreejith were named as the lead for this event. Shreejith gave it a great start and then he had to visit India in January. I called managers of different bowling lanes in Minneapolis to find out which one suits best for the event. I had to look at many aspects like cost, number of lanes, distance from Minneapolis downtown, availability of pizza/pop etc., for finalizing the bowling lanes. Finally AMF at Brooklyn Center was chosen and Vibha-MN team gave green signal for it. The event date was finalized as 04-Apr. The ticket price was kept at $25 for two games of bowling, pizza and unlimited pop.

The next step was to prepare the flyer and publicize the event. We contacted different media agencies in Minneapolis. Shreejith designed the flyer and ticket. In March, we had to sell all the tickets. We had target of selling 216 tickets. Everyone in Vibha-MN team helped us a lot in selling the tickets. I remember, me and Shreejith used to approach people everyday in our office, explaining them about the event. That really helped. Most of the people are too busy with work schedule and we are not able to remember about such events. But when approached one by one, we get good response. We also had to make sure that tickets returning from Vibha volunteers or our contacts get sold to someone else quickly. We distributed tickets to Vibha volunteers during potluck at Veeresh' house. Also, we had two conference calls in between to check the status of the tickets and planning for the event. We also had Vibha-MN meeting on 28-Mar at the bowling venue itself, to plan for organizing the event and assigning responsibilities like Registration desk, Vibha booth, food counter etc. Just two days before the event, we were able to finish selling all the tickets. It was great relief, as we had reached our target. Actually there were more requests, but we had to say no to those. It really feels great when you reach the target. I must thank everyone who bought the tickets for the bowling event.

On 4th of April, we reached the venue at 1:00 PM and everyone got into action for their assigned responsibilities. Next eight hours at the bowling venue were awesome. With so many people at the venue, it was great seeing everyone having fun. At about 9:00 PM, we had finished our calculations and the result was great. We found that we had raised $3550 from this event. I had great pleasure in announcing this to Vibha volunteers (you can see the video below). This was more than double of last year's revenue from the same event at Minneapolis. Some of us went to Denny's for coffee and dinner, for a nice break after the day-long event.

The next Vibha event at Minneapolis is Taal, a dance and music competition for children. Everybody is invited and there is no entry fee for viewers. For any questions about the event or more information, you can contact Sindhu Nair at 763.221.5337 or sindhuknair@gmail.com



The satisfaction of leading a fund raiser event can not be expressed in words. I feel that each one of us has immense energy & capabilities and we should use that in right direction. I gained very valuable experience to lead event for a very well structured organization like Vibha and I am going to take it forward wherever I am. More importantly, I am more than glad to spend my time and effort for helping the underprivileged section of the society.

We are lucky that we can buy what we want, but not everyone in this world is fortunate. Some need our help. Give it a thought !!! Think beyond luxury of life and help the needy in some way. Please contact me, if you need a direction to go forward and it will be my great pleasure to do my best for the cause.

Thanks for dropping by. Your comments are source of encouragement for me. I will be glad to hear from you.
You can also indicate your opinion using the check box below.
You can share this article with your contact(s) using the link below.

Changing trend and opportunity for us to contribute for growth of India

Few days back, I saw Nandan Nilekani on "The Dailyshow" hosted by with John Stewart. You can see the video as well below. The show was about discussion on the book titled Imagining India by Nandan Nilekani. Being in Infosys for past five years, I know a lot about Nandan Nilekani. However, I would like to highlight some points from Nandan's discussion. Nandan says that getting the education right in India is going to be the key for next 20 years. There are many young people in the working age group in India, who can shape the future of India. At the same time there are many people, who are not getting the right education. There is one thing that makes me feel glad every time is that Nandan chose India as the place to grow in long term. They were seven enthusiastic persons with only $250.00 in hand and built a huge organization that represents the IT face of India today in many ways, if not all.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Nandan Nilekani
comedycentral.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

As a result of current slowdown in USA and the globe, many students are coming back to India. According to a recent report, about 100k students are expected to come back to India in next 3-5 years. Recently I read an article about Indian students saying no to American dream. The number of students willing to study in India or planning to settle in India is increasing. Recently I talked to one of my friends who has completed Masters in USA. He was of the opinion that USA is no more an attractive place for him in long term. I am sure that he phenomenon of reverse brain drain will bring benefits for India.

Even the Indians who have been in USA for many years for job, are now planning to come back to India. Actually some of them have already returned back to India and are in process of starting their own ventures in India. One of my colleagues at Minneapolis has spent fifteen years in USA and is now planning to settle in India, after seeing the current job situation in USA. He feels that he has been far from his roots in India for bright future, but in current times it does not seem to be right choice to stay away from family in India. Also, the demand for becoming OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) is increasing.

I feel that we all can make a difference. India has shown tremendous growth in past few years and it became possible because of effort from each one of us. Let's use our energy and talent to make this country the superpower. Each one of us can do a little to provide education to a poor child. We need to make sure that the next generation of India emerges with much better percentage of literacy and growth. Let's join our hands together.

I conducted a poll in my blog with question: "Do you think if given an opportunity, you would like to make positive impact for growth of India at grassroot level". Eighteen people responded and 94% of them said "Yes". I would like to thank all the respondents and mention here that I am working on some of the projects to benefit poor children in India for their education etc. If you want to help with your time, effort or financial assistance to make a difference, then I invite you to join me in growth of India. You can email me to take it further.

Thanks for dropping by. Your comments are source of encouragement for me. I will be glad to hear from you.
You can also indicate your opinion using the check box below.
You can share this article with your contact(s) using the link below.

Bowl for a child - At Minneapolis on 04-Apr

Vibha-MN is hosting its 5th Annual Bowling event ‘Bowl for a Child’, to be held at AMF Bowling Lanes, Brooklyn Park, MN on Saturday April 04, 2009.

The event proceedings will benefit the underprivileged children in India & USA, right from poverty to education and to health care. Come, join us to have fun and at the same time make a difference in the life of a child.

Vibha is a non-profit organization whose mission is to educate, empower and enable every individual who wishes to make a positive difference in the life of the underprivileged child. To this end, volunteers at Vibha have fundraisers in several action centers across the US and India. The funds are then directed towards grassroots organizations in India and the US which are selected after careful screening by volunteers. The main focus areas of the projects supported by Vibha are:
1. Education: With a belief that education is the key to unlocking the potential of children and for breaking the vicious cycle of poverty, about 50% of their resources go towards education.
2. Vocational Training
3. Physically and/or Mentally Challenged Children
4. Children in Vulnerable Conditions

The volunteers of Vibha’s Twin Cities chapter organize events, drives and campaigns in Twin Cities, Minnesota and create awareness about the cause, as well as raise much needed funds to support grassroots projects in India and US. “Bowl for a child” has attracted good participation in the past. The schedule for this year’s Vibha “Bowl for a Child” is below.

When: April 04, 2009
Where: Earle Brown Lanes (AMF Bowling Center)
6440 James Circle North, Brooklyn Center, MN 55430
Timing: 2-5 PM & 6-9 PM
Tickets: $25 (advance); $20 (advance-students);
Group discount: Buy 5 tickets and get 1 ticket free*.
(*applicable only for 2 pm to 5 pm slot till March 25, 2009)
Tickets are limited, so hurry and reserve your spot!

For tickets and more information regarding the event, please visit: Bowl for a Child - 2009, or you can email me.

If for some reason you are unable to make it to our event this year, you may choose to contribute by making a tax-deductible contribution at donation link for Vibha. Remember, your small contribution can make a difference in life of an underprivileged child.