Buddy Who Never Forgets

This is a poem written for Ghumakkad's buddy on his 67th Birthday!
_________________________

Buddy Who Never Forgets

Today is the birthday

of a buddy who never forgets

others’ birthdays, anniversaries and life stories.

‘Others’ are not only his family, buddies from school, college or 

work life

but also their parents, children and grandchildren!

He is a living encyclopedia

of names, dates, old film songs, lyrics, singers and even the performing actors.

Events which may go back 50 years

are narrated in graphic detail by him even today.

Even though living far away

he never lets the distance come in between.

In fact, his warmth, love and affection

have got multiplied with the distance.

Whom are we talking about? 

No prizes for guessing!

Yes, he is none other than Annu bhai

our dear buddy Anand Jain!

‘Jigri dost’ as he prefers to call us!

May God keep his power supply always ‘on’ and his hard disk always connected!

Happy Birthday Annu and lots of love

- All of us in Hyderabad/Mumbai/Bangalore/Delhi/ Canada/ Germany/USA

30th October 2018

Postscript: Vinod Agarwal from USA added the following lines in Hindi:
अन्नू भाई तुम्हारी तारीफ जितनी की जाय कम है। 
हम सबकी जिंदगी में तुम्हारी  दुआओं का दम है।  

क्या क्या तुमने नहीं किया हम सब के लिए ही हमेशा। 
बिना बोले बिना जताय हमारी मदद करते रहे हमेशा। 

चाहे जन्म दिन हो या बर्ष गांठ या हारी-बीमारी घर में। 
सबसे पहिले ही तुम्हारा फ़ोन बजता है हर हर पल में। 

और बेगम फरीदा की बात क्या करे हम माशा अल्लाह। 
उनहोंने चार चाँद लगा रखें हैं सब दोस्तों की जिंदगी में। 

तुम्हारी खूब लम्बी उम्र होऔर दुनिया की हर ख़ुशी मिले। 

हमारे और तुम्हारे दिलों की नजदीकी एक मिशाल बने। 

Superb VK, thanks.

__________________________ 

#anandjain #buddyforever #buddywhoneverforgets #67thbirthday #love #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh

More Than A Prison

"Be an adventurer."
"At age 50 and beyond?"
"Good question. You need not do physical adventures at your age."
"Then what?"
"Do adventure in your thinking and at your work place!"
"How?"

That is part of the conversation between senior officers of the Prisons Department of all the States and Ghumakkad. I had been invited to take the concluding session of a 3-day workshop on Personality Development in Hyderabad yesterday. My brief was to give some practical tips based on Robin Sharma's famous book 'Who will cry when you die?' The book gives 101 suggestions to live life.

Keeping the age and experience of the participants in mind, I decided to make it experiential rather than prescriptive. Therefore, we chose six points which each participant could assess for its relevance in their and professional life. Participants shared their personal experiences on each of the six points listed below. Readers may also assess the relevance of these points.

Here are some pictures of the interaction. This was the first time when Ghumakkad got an opportunity to interact with officers from the Prisons Department. Over last few decades, I have had the privilege of interacting with senior personnel from the military, industry, academia, IAS, IPS and allied services. These senior officers from the Prisons Department had come from different States- from Meghalaya to Maharashtra and Punjab to Kerala. It was quite an eye-opener to listen to their professional challenges.

Talking of adventure, the Prisons Department of Telangana State has embarked on a mission called 'Anand Ashram'. The mission is to rehabilitate the beggars of Hyderabad city. Adjoining the prison complex, a home has been created for 300 beggars. They are given shelter, food, clothing and medical attention. Those who are physically and mentally agile are also given vocational training in areas like stitching and tailoring. The aim is to make Hyderabad beggar-free. This is what we meant by being adventurous in one's thinking and action! Kudos to Mr VK Singh IPS, DG Prisons Telangana State and his team. Few pictures of a prison complex which in Ghumakkad's opinion is 'More Than A Prison'.

Readers may browse a recent media story on the laws regarding begging and making Hyderabad beggar-free. It is still a long way to go but a beginning has been made. The Prisons department runs a campaign 'Spot a beggar and get Rs 500 reward!'

Thanks are due to Mr Sampath, Vice-Principal of SICA, Hyderabad and his team for giving Ghumakkad the opportunity. 

Links to some of the earlier stories of Ghumakkad's interaction with government functionaries/departments are given below. Just click to browse the full story.
Finding Solutions Together- A Workshop for IPS Officers
HRM in Government- Does it need changes?
Zoo with a Difference- Story of Indore Zoo

Thanks for browsing. Your feedback is welcome, as always.

     - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 28th Oct 2018
#Personalitydevelopment #prisons #robinsharma #adventureinthinking #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #SICAHyderabad #beggarfreehyderabad

Learning from Failures

“I flunked in my first semester.”

“Me too!”

Sounds familiar? We are not talking about the other kind of #MeToo!

But what happened after the first semester? Did you bounce back? Most people did.

And that’s the point.

Did we learn from our failures in life? If we did, then we are on our way to success.

As Swami Vivekanand had said, “Take risks in your life. If you win, you can lead. If you lose, you can guide”. We can help others not to repeat the mistakes we did. This applies equally well to the Startups.

As part of the core course ‘Entrepreneurship and Startup Management’ in the PGDM program being taught by me, we included the topic ‘Learning from Failures’. The course participants had learnt all the foundation courses in Finance, Economics, Marketing, Statistics, IT, Operations, OB, HRM, Accounting, Business Laws, BRM etc in Semesters 1 and 2. Therefore, they were in a position to apply that knowledge to real life situations. 

To make it more experiential, we assigned one startup each to a group of students. These startups had all been closed down or panic-sold in last twelve months. Each group had to study and analyse the failed startup and identify the reasons for failure. They were given 12 hours overnight to present their findings in the class. Although the mid-semester exams were on, the participants did a great job at researching and analysing. This post summarises the ‘Learning from Failures’ for few of the startups studied.

Note: Our analysis is based on information available in open domain. The purpose of the study is for education and learning. It is not to be viewed as being judgmental. Should any reader like to supplement it with more facts and figures, we would be happy to update our analysis.

The above methodology once again proves that best learning happens when we ‘learn by doing’!

Class of 2019 at VVISM Hyderabad- keep it up.

Our earlier posts related to Startups are listed below. Click on any link to read the full story.

How to Identify a Startup Opportunity?
Startup Ecosystem in India

Skateboarding for Startups

Can Startup Management be Taught?
Proof of the Pudding- Inspiring Stories of Ghumakkad's Former Students-turned-entrepreneurs

Fellow teachers and startups- you are welcome to share your experiences. 

Thanks for browsing.

-          Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/25^th Oct 2018

#startups #startupindia #failures #learningfromfailures #entrepreneurship #learningbydoing #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #experiential 

Skateboarding for Startups

What is skateboarding? Not as a sport but for a business!
Can it be used by Startups?
Are their some examples from India?
Read on to get answers and plenty of live 'ideas' for skateboarding.

Skateboarding means developing your product or service in stages. Coined by Henrik Kniberg, it signifies incremental product development. He drew a sketch reproduced later, which went viral. Also called MVP- minimum viable product- it helps the user to get a feel of your product. You get valuable feedback based on which you design the next stage and so on. Sounds cool? It is.

But there are guys who criticise it saying it oversimplifies things. Agreed it does. But by simplifying a design process if you get more users who are willing to try it and give you valuable feedback, what more do you want? That is why we included this topic in our Startup Management course at VVISM Hyderabad. 

This post brings out the applicability of skateboarding concept to startups. Instead of using the oft-quoted example of Dropbox, we analysed the Indian startup scenario. We share here the highlights of concepts and cases discussed as also further reading. Thanks are due to the PGDM Class of 2019 at VVISM Hyderabad for enriching the process of learning. Ghumakkad currently teaches at VVISM.

We present here six business ideas out of 80+ ideas submitted by the students. These submissions bring out the applicability of the skateboarding concept while developing this business idea.

It has been a fulfilling experience by using the philosophy of  'learning by doing'. As is evident from the students' business ideas and skateboarding above, the concept is not only relevant but practical too!

We had shared the following related posts earlier also based on the Startup Management course:

How to Identify a Startup Opportunity?
Startup Ecosystem in India
Can Startup Management be Taught?
Proof of the Pudding- Inspiring Stories of Ghumakkad's Former Students-turned-entrepreneurs

Thanks for browsing

    -Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 23rd Oct 2018
#Startups #skateboarding #MVP #entrepreneurs #leanstartup #startupindia #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #vvism #vishwavishwani 

You helped Ghumakkad cross 150,000

You made it happen! Each one of you- the readers of Ghumakkad's blog- did it. 

Ghumakkad crosses 150,000 page views. No big deal. Numbers don't matter. But the smiles on your faces, added happiness in your lives and sharing your insights with us-- all of this matters. It gives us joy in the journey of life. Milestones will come and go. But the journey continues. Journey of discovery and learning together.

From a mere picture travelogue started six years ago, your blog now has a broader canvas with 310 posts. Has Ghumakkad kept pace with change- the only constant in life? The answer is yes. We have added 'guest stories' during the past year. Links to some of the guest stories as well as other posts in 12 sections are given below:

• Guest Stories (Hiking in a stream by a 10-year old, Winning the hearts by an Army Officer, Encounter with a Tiger by Koushik Gopinath)
• Travel (Bhutan, Hampi-Saga in Stone, Belgaum, What's new in Goa, Kumbhalgarh-Pride of Mewar, Ranakpur-Marvel in Marble, Taj@Dawn, USA-Casinos, USA-Camping)
• Wildlife (Africa, Sloth Bear, Tigress of Tadoba, Birds of Ranganathittu)
• Environment (Port Blair Flora and fauna, Friendly Munias,Rescuing an injured Bat, Learning from Caterpillars)
• Joy of Giving (College alumni felicitate their gurus, Hand-me-ups from a grandson)
• Learning and teaching (Plants and Leadership, Bringing realism in the classroom, Startup Management, Learning from students, Life beyond an ECG)
• Picturesque Quotes (PQs) (Love All, Play to Learn, Be like a Duck, Love is...)
• Obituaries (Dr Abdul Kalam, Dr PM Bhargava, Elfo our dog)
• Reunions (Navy, College-BITS, Campus BITS Goa)
• Fitness (Guava's Power, Grandpa's Gym, Why Golf, Hiking, Scuba Diving at 65)
• Poems (Ansh enters the Teens, So what if I can not see, Our Little Princess is three)
• Books by Ghumakkad (BITS of Success) 

In today's world of analytics, Ghumakkad can't be left behind. Thanks to Google analytics, here are some stats on our growth, all time favourite stories, audience, access devices and technology.

Once again, our gratitude to each of you for taking us where we are today. So many of you are regular readers of our blog. We would have loved to mention names but the list would go into pages. Kindly accept this as personal acknowledgement of your continued support. If we have brought some cheer in your life, we have succeeded. We would welcome more contributions from readers worldwide. Guest stories are given due credit. Ghumakkad only provides the platform.

From 150,000 to 300,000 and beyond- we will keep climbing with your support. Stay connected.

Thanks for browsing,

    -  Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 16th October 2018

#150000pageviews #ghumakkadharsh @ghumakkadhb #travelblog #blogofindia #nature #wildlife #travel #photowalks

Startup Ecosystem in India

Are you already a Startup?

What is a Startup?

Do you want to set up a Startup?

Or are you a student studying startups?

Either way you must know what support is available in the country for startups. For those not familiar with startups, a  startup is an entity not older than 7 years. Readers may refer to the government site for a detailed definition of a startup and related information.

As part of the Entrepreneurship and Startup Management course being taught by me this semester, our MBA/PGDM students studied the Startup Ecosystem in India as a team task.

What do we mean by the term ecosystem? Simply stated it is the overall environment which supports the startups. Apart from the Government of India and State governments there are many initiatives taken by the industry, academic institutions and PPP (public private partnership) entities. Therefore, we first prepared a list of more than hundred incubators in India who support the startups in one way or the other. Credit for this compilation goes to Rashmi Raj, Class of 2019 at VVISM Hyderabad.

An incubator is an organisation which provides the following support to the startups:

• Infrastructure 
• Mentoring support
• Professional networking
• Market reach
• Funding support or access to investors

We then designed a 20-point template for studying and comparing the incubators. Some of the key points included in our template are listed below

Number of startups that can be hosted simultaneously

Total startups hosted so far

Sectors supported (Technology startups, e-commerce, Fintech, Agri, Foodtech, entertainment, healthcare, Edutech, travel, marketing, analytics, social ventures etc)

      Bootcamps held with details

      Access to investors or funding support and conditions for qualification if any

      Special support for student startups and women entrepreneurs

      Survival rate of startups incubated/supported

         Patents filed by incubated startups

Some of the incubators studied by the students are listed below.

Technology Business Incubator (TBI)-BITS Pilani Centre for innovation incubation and entrepreneurship-IIM-A Kakatiya Sandbox Nizamabad NS Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning IIM-B D Labs ISB Hyderabad Incube Ventures- Ahmedabad Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) Chhattisgarh Infotech Promotion Society(36Inc) Atal Incubation Centre Banasthali Vidyapith Dasra (Impact Foundation) Mumbai iB-Hubs India Wadhwani Centre For Entrepreneurship Development T-Hub Hyderabad VillGro Chennai Bala Vikasa International Warangal

Few facts that emerged from the study are:

1. Although large number of incubators have come into being, success rates of startups need improvement
2. Very few patents have been filed
3. Linkages with investors need to be strengthened

It was a great learning experience not only for the entire class but also the faculty. The students appear confident of applying their knowledge whether setting up their ventures immediately or in the future.

Earlier on, we had carried several related stories which you may like to browse:
Can Startup Management be taught?

Its all about Identifying the Opportunity

Proof of the Pudding- Inspiring stories of nine successful Startups set up by Ghumakkad's former students

We end with one of my favourite quotations on entrepreneurs.

Special thanks to my students of PGDM Class of 2019 at VVISM Hyderabad for joining me in this exciting journey of entrepreneurship and startups.

Thanks are also due to you the reader- for browsing the post. Your feedback is welcome as always.

     - Harsh-the-teacher-cum-Ghumakkad/ 14th October 2018
#Startups #entrepreneurship #ecosystem #startupindia #vvism #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh

Guava A Powerhouse of Nutrients

We all love Guava except those with cavities and gaps in their teeth where guava seeds get stuck! Even the birds love guava. In fact the birds announce that the fruit is ripened.

We have two guava trees in our garden. One each with pink and white pulp variety. It is a tropical tree. It is a treat to pluck the fruit and then sit together to eat it with a dash of salt and chili powder. Mouth already watering for some of you?

Guava has been called 'a powerhouse of nutrients'. According to LinkedIn "This humble fruit is extraordinarily rich in vitamin C, lycopene and antioxidants that are beneficial for skin. Guavas are also rich in manganese which helps the body to absorb other key nutrients from the food that we eat." 

Guava is also called 'super fruit' like super cars and super bikes! It contains 4 times more vitamin C than orange, 3 times more proteins and 4 times more fiber than pineapple, 2 times more lycopene than tomato and slightly more potassium than a banana. Guava is used in treatment of high blood pressure, constipation, respiratory disorders and hypercholesterolemia. Readers may browse the LinkedIn article for further details. 

Here is an earlier picture of the pink pulp guavas plucked from our tree in July-18.

Eat guavas and stay healthy!

Thanks for browsing.

    -  Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/2nd Oct 2018
#guava #nutrition #nature #fruits #heart #skin #health #antioxidants #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh