Note #1 : Vajpayee – Born :1924, Nehru – Born 1889 – Vajpayee was 35 years younger than Nehru

Note #2: Vajpayee campaigned against Congress in Nehru’s constituency during 1962 general election.

It was India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru who had initially spotted Vajpayee’s talent in the 1958.

Vajpayee had spoken during a debate on foreign policy in the Lok Sabha. Nehru had been impressed with his oratory and grasp of foreign affairs.

When Nehru replied to the the discussion ( Nehru also held the Foreign Affairs) suddenly switched from English to Hindi halfway into his speech. He did it deliberately to enable Vajpayee, who was more comfortable with Hindi, to catch all the nuances in the PM’s response to his speech.

In 1960, Nikita Krushchev, the Premier of then Soviet Union came to India. It was a high profile visit. The government laid out a banquet for him.

Vajpayee, already an MP was invited to it. Standing next to the Soviet leader, PM Nehru was introducing the Indisn guests to him.

*When it came to Vajpayee, Nehru said of Vajpayee, “This is our future Prime Minister”*.

Nehru encouraged Vajpayee in those early years – he once instructed an Indian ambassador posted in the US to ‘introduce’ Vajpayee to people ‘who mattered’ as ‘he had potential…’.

Even though Vajpayee would criticize the PM Nehru continued to support the young MP – Nehru had pulled up the congress workers who were gunning for Vajpayee during election campaign…

*”Let him come, this youngster speaks well, let him speak.”*

*”If voters want to vote for me, fine, if they want to vote for somebody else, that too is fine. Let him speak. Don’t disturb him.”*

*Beautifully yours,*
🙏Ramu🙏

I recently listened to a remarkable interview between Nandan Nilekani, the interviewee, and Mohandas Pai, the interviewer.

During the discussion, Mohan asked Nandan how he was chosen by Dr. Manmohan Singh for the UIDAI project, a landmark initiative that significantly transformed India.

Nandan’s response was simple: “Probably Dr. MMS might have read my book *Imagining India*.”

Upon hearing this, my mind recalled two other examples where putting forth one’s ideas publicly not only altered the course of the individuals involved but also left a lasting impact on India.

**Example #1: Jawaharlal Nehru vs. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel**

When India gained independence, Mahatma Gandhi faced the monumental task of choosing the first Prime Minister.

*Gandhi was likely torn between Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru.*

In my firm view, Gandhi’s decision tipped in favor of Nehru partly because Nehru had already authored two acclaimed works:

*The Discovery of India* and *Glimpses of World History*.

Nehru’s ability to articulate his vision through his writings likely played a role in his selection as India’s first Prime Minister.

*Example #2: APJ Abdul Kalam vs. the Rest*

When Atal Bihari Vajpayee was Prime Minister of a minority government, he needed to select a consensus candidate for the President of India, a candidate acceptable to all parties due to his lack of a majority in the Rajya Sabha.

Faced with limited options, Vajpayee chose Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, despite some dissent within his own party.

*How did APJ Kalam manage to be the candidate no party could openly oppose?*

By then, Kalam had authored two influential books,

*Wings of Fire* and *Ignited Minds*.

His public sharing of ideas and vision through his writings established him as a figure beyond reproach in the eyes of all political parties.

**Conclusion: The Importance of Sharing Ideas Publicly**

The common thread in these stories is clear: sharing your ideas in a public forum can pave the way to achieving greatness. 

Sharing your thoughts in the public forum can shape your destiny and, sometimes, that of an entire nation.

*Sharingly yours,* 
🙏Ramu🙏

I often wondered why some avid readers describe certain books as *UNPUTDOWNABLE*.

Motivated by their enthusiasm, I would rush to Amazon, eager to experience the same thrill, only to end up disappointed.

However, this book is the first in my life to truly deliver that feeling of being *UNPUTDOWNABLE*.

For the past two weeks, I’ve dreaded preparing for work each morning because it means I have to *put down* this book.

What Ms. Neerja has achieved here is *PHENOMENAL*.

She has deliberately chosen not to cover the much-discussed stories of Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Narendra Modi.

Instead focusing on six others: Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, V.P. Singh, Narasimha Rao, Vajpayee, and Dr. Manmohan Singh.

Chowdhary delves into the critical moments that shaped our nation, such as the Emergency and Indira Gandhi’s political comeback, aptly titled

*“The Prime Minister Who ROSE from the ASHES.”*

In the chapter on Rajiv Gandhi, she thoroughly examines his indecision during the “Shah Bano” case and the opening of the gates at the disputed Ram-Babri Masjid site, perfectly titled as

*“The Secular Prime Minister Who Undermined Secularism.”*

The account of V.P. Singh explores his involvement in the three Ms—Meham by-election, Mandal implementation, and Mandir-Rath Yatra—aptly described as

*“The Crafty Prime Minister Who Remade Indian Politics.”*

I’ve only covered these three stories, and each spans nearly 100 pages of densely packed, small-font text.

*Conclusion / Opinion:*

This book, in my view, deserves a place in our education curriculum, perhaps as an abridged version under the “Non-Detail” books category for Higher Secondary levels, to help young generations understand Indian politics.

*Unputdownably yours,* 
🙏Ramu🙏

*Engineers’ Day: My 2 GOOSEBUMPS moments*
🙏Ramu🙏 15/9/2024

(Repeated from my own article on 15/9/201)

*Goosebump moment #1*

The first time I felt extremely proud of being an engineer was around November 1987. I was preparing for my 7th-semester Heat Transfer exam the night before.

As usual, I hadn’t used any of the study holidays. Three days before the exam, I picked up the book *”J.P. Holman, Schaum’s Series”* while all my roommates were studying from Indian authors like *Dom Kundwar* and *PL Balleny*.

Unlike the Indian authors, JP Holman’s book didn’t explain or derive equations step by step. When I was able to figure out the gaps on my own, I realized that night, not just for myself but for all engineers, that

*”Engineers are a different breed from the rest of the world.”*

*Goosebump moment #2*

In my first job at TVS Tribology India, there was a problem with “PEL-BUSH” that all my previous colleagues had failed to solve.

Our French collaborators were losing confidence in our company, and the task was handed to me by my great boss, Mr. Nedumaran (Nedu). A meeting was called with my senior boss, Mr. Balasubramanian (Balu).

Mr. Balu told me, *”You are the Neil Armstrong of our Tribology. You should feel proud to be an engineer.”*

He added, *”We engineers are like GODS because we are creators.”*

He continued, *”Doctors can only work with two models and can’t create anything new, but we engineers can create countless models and change the direction of the world.*

*”This is such a powerful profession, and you should use all your mental abilities to succeed.”*

*”Good luck, Neil Armstrong, in putting our company ahead of our French collaborators.”*

That gave me goosebumps for the second time.

I wish all engineers would realize today that *”We are like Gods who can create countless models and change the world.”*

Best wishes, 
🙏Ramu🙏

*Investing Wisdom:*
🙏Ramu🙏2/9/2024

*What is actually meant by BUY LOW; SELL HIGH?*

Whenever the markets make a big move in either direction or abruptly changing the course from gains to loss or vice versa, investors break their head to figure out why it happened.

The simplest explanation is : *MEAN REVERSION*

Mean reversion contends that outperforming markets will eventually underperform while underperforming markets will eventually outperform.

Everyone knows the phrase buy low, sell high, but most don’t understand how to actually put into practice.

*Rebalancing is a systematic contrarian approach as you BUY THE RELATIVE LOSERS AND SELL THE RELATIVE WINNERS.*

*Mean Reversingly yours,*
🙏Ramu🙏

*The order of three important traits that determine your personality:*
🙏Ramu🙏31/8/2024

To achieve anything meaningful in life, at least two out of three key traits are necessary: *interest, competence, and benefits.*

However, to sustain success over time, one must eventually develop the third missing trait as well.

Simply put, if anyone has endured in a field for a long time, they have likely acquired all three traits.

If one’s “interest” in a particular discipline leads them to develop the other two traits—competence and benefits—they become a legend, role model, leader, etc.

On the other hand, if someone is driven primarily by “benefits” and develops competence and interest only for that reason, they end up as a victim of life.

Such a person gains no respect or recognition in society, leads a self-centered existence, and never experiences the true joy of life.

*Interestingly yours,*
🙏Ramu🙏

*Mindless Eating: Why we eat more than we think:* Part 1
🙏Ramu🙏28/8/2024

The following exerpts, I have made exclusively based on my daughter’s request.

I am not sure how many parts it may go and surely it depends on the readers’ feedback including my daughter.

*Chapter 1*

*THE BEST DIET IS THE ONE YOU DON’T KNOW YOU’RE ON.*

(1) We overeat not beacuse of hunger but because of family, friends, packages, labels, numbers, colours, candles, shapes, containers, etc..

(2) *Experiment #1:* Stale Free Bucket of popcorn of two sizes viz..medium and large were given to two separate groups.

*Findings:* (a) There is no “RIGHT” amount of popcorn to eat during a movie.

(b) People eat as if it is our mission to finish them.

(c) *GIVE THEM A LOT, AND THEY EAT LOT.*

(d) It doesn’t matter whether the popcorn is fresh or stale, hungry or full when they sat down for the movie.

(3) *Experiment #2:* Diners on the left side was offered free complementary wine with *new California label* and  proudly announced that it was *”NEW from California.”*

Diners on the right side of the room had exactly the same dining experience – with one exception.

The waitress carefully scripted welcome address offered the same wine with the label was identical to that of first bottle except for the words *”NEW from North Dakota.”*

*Findings:* (a) Both groups of people drank about the same amount of wine – all of it. This was not surprising.

(b) It was only one glass of wine and it was cold night. Where they differed was in how much food they ate and how long they lingered at their table.

(c) People who thought they had been given a free glass of California wine ate 11% more of their food and they also lingered an average of 10 minutes longer at their table.

(d) Exact same meals; Exact same wine; Different Labels; Different reactions; more food; more time.

(e) *Once they concluded, “this was going to be good”, their experience lined up to confirm their expectations.*

*Experiment#3:* Concept of Anchoring…..

*Mindlessly yours,*
🙏Ramu🙏

*One childhood incident that often helps me in tough situations:*
🙏 Ramu 🙏 25/8/2024

In the past month, I’ve been part of a tough negotiation team on behalf of my friend.

When things got stuck or tense, and my friend demanded the negotiators to ask the opposition for clear “yes or no” answer.

As one of the negotiators, I have been trying to quell my relative using the lesson I lerant during my childhood.

When I was about 13 or 14, I was part of the Nidamangalam Senior Cricket team as an extra player. Our team often arranged matches with neighboring towns.

One Sunday, the Tiruvarur Senior Cricket team came to play against us.

We batted first but were cheaply all out for around 60 runs. Back then, there were no neutral umpires and DW method; the host team handled umpiring.

As hosts, one of our senior players was the umpire. The visiting team had a strong start, with their opening batsmen setting them up for an easy win.

However, our team started bending the rules, giving unfair LBWs and run-outs to the visitors.

Despite the visitors reaching over 50 runs with only a few wickets down, the unfair decisions caused tension.

Some of their players started arguing and wanted to call off the match.

*We, the hosts, insisted that they couldn’t leave without signing the score sheet, confirming that they had lost.*

The other visiting team players had demanded their captain to “sign off as losers” instead of playing against with unfair host.

The visiting captain, calm and composed, tried to reassure his teammates, saying they were only a few runs away from winning.

But his players feared more unfair decisions and refused to continue.

Facing a stalemate, the visiting captain gathered his team and spoke to them calmly and logically.

*He explained that even if a few more bad decisions were made, they could still win.*

*He pointed out that it’s not going to make any difference by quitting now signing as losers, and continuing to play and signing as losers after 10 minutes or so.*

*But if they kept playing, there was still a chance to win.*

*In the end, the visiting team chose to continue, and they won the match.*

*To my surprise, during the shake-hands ceremony between winners and losers some of our senior players even apologized to them for the unfair play.*

From that experience, I’ve learned that ,Instead of demanding a clear “no” from the other side during any negotiation, I remind to stay patient and leave room for a possible “yes” after further negotiation.

*Negotiatingly yours,* 
🙏 Ramu 🙏

After Charu’s incident, I strongly believe, you should go for second child soon, at least for better upbringing of Atharva and your life after 50.

Atharva shall become more responsible only when he has to be a role model for his siblings and  feel a  competitive pressure to construct his life better than his siblings.

For you too, once Atharva crosses 15+, you both are left free and no responsibilities.

That either bring psychological problems for both of you, viz… expectations between you both shiva and you on each other shall be enormous or none and both conditions shall lead you to sad state.

Consider the above is just my observations about my surroundings and my own life.

Decision and faith in my advise is purely yours and you shouldn’t blame me if anything goes wrong by following my advise.

Of course, if you go for second, 35 to 45 shall be the most difficult time in upbringing second.

Lots of fights between you and shiva are inevitable. Job pressure, job loss, recession, visa and so many issues may be cropping up along the way.

However, you are the BEST JUDGE for your life. Hereafter, I can  just be a spectator in your life. I can’t help you much if anything goes in other direction.

So, take my advise as a pinch of salt, you put your logical and analytical mind to work and decide.

Thank you.

*What are the essential skill sets of leaders, whether for a country, an organization, or small enterprises like MSMEs?* 
🙏Ramu🙏 18/8/2024

Consider leaders like Mr. Modi, the late Rajiv Gandhi, Vajpayee, or even Rahul Gandhi, among others.

We know that these leaders often have less expertise in economics, finance, or commerce—the driving forces of any nation—compared to figures like Mr. P. Chidambaram, Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal, PTR, and others.

So why can’t individuals like Chidambaram, Sitharaman, or PTR be the leaders at the top, despite being superior in their respective fields, but instead serve as top executives rather than as leaders?

Let me share a small anecdote from our company, which has just over 25 employees.

I was abroad for two weeks, and during that time, my wife, who is the company’s accountant, managed the day-to-day operations along with two key personnel—one from production and one from sales.

When I returned to the office, my wife casually remarked:

“Over these two weeks, I’ve gained a deep understanding of our company’s product flow and cash flow.”

“I now know each employee’s capabilities and who to approach for specific tasks.”

“But there’s one thing I still don’t understand—what exactly is your contribution to the company? What is your role here?”

“After some thought, I (my wife) realized that I could successfully run this company on my own, with the help of those two key personnel.”

*”So, why do we need you?”*

*I simply replied my wife,*

*”Those two key personnel work ONLY for me, not for you.”*

*”That’s my contribution to our company.”*

*Leadingly yours,*
🙏Ramu🙏