Once upon a time , on a windy day at Wharton Business School in Philadelphia campus on 24th Feb 2017, last day of Finance Module, A CEO of IT Company asking a Gentleman to explain concepts of What Finance Professor Michael Roberts lectured and on the same day, The same Gentleman went on to summarize five day module in nutshell to all high profile corporate participants and proposed the Vote of thanks to both Academic and Administrative staff and also received congratulatory message for that spontaneous speech from another participant and CFO of Otsuka , A Pharma Giant from Japan…..
Pic : Wharton Business School, Philadephia , USA.
One busy day in Mumbai in October 2016, A senior corporate professional from Meadows Building in Andheri Sahar Plaza Complex going down from 6th floor with tension in Elevator and reached car parking, told the driver in Mumbaikar Style “ Bhai, Lets go to American Consulate in BKC”. Car started cruising towards BKC and he was busy in checking the Visa papers once again, counting one plus one sets intact, thinking of Back up Plan, Plan A and Plan B etc etc. Aftersome time , he raised his head checked the location and shocked to know that, vehicle is going in opposite direction to Consulate.
Suddenly, he asked driver to reverse the car and moved for some time and in 20 minutes, struck in Mumbai traffic and he had to cover 10 kms in one hour. Countdown started….he reached closer to Consulate at about one km from it, with around 15 mins in hand and rain started. He was still stuck and crawling in traffic. If he get down and runs , he may reach Consulate in time , with sweat on his forehead and with raising heartbeat, “ he opened the car door …??? ”
One Day, My grandfather woke me up in my village at 4 am. in Andhra Pradesh ( India ) , a 12 year boy then, to keep the bulls ready for carting the natural compost fertilizer to our fields and by the time , we reached , my father and my brothers are working on the paddy fields . We have unloaded that natural Fertilizer in our Paddy Fields. Then, I was started jumping here and there by doing little works like a calf and we have to till our lands and keep them ready for khariff Season ( Sarava).
Pic : Village Life
On the same day, I came rushing to home by bare foot to collect my mid day meal to go to Government school . In between, I took bath in open air under sunlight near village well and went to school along with my friends with Books in Raffia bags , re-stitched and re-sized , made out of urea bags . Later , I went on to secure School First in 10th Class.
Recently, When Reunion of our Engineering announced , I have expressed my views on partiality shown during our Engineering College days, in the similar way that of Marlin Brando, Who refused to accept Oscar Award for “ The Godfather ”, movie instead , he sent a Red Indian female to receive and sent a protest message of insults inflicted on Red Indians in TV programs and Hollywood movies in 60s and 70s in US.
Later , I had completed MBA as a First Rank student in the College, affiliated
to Andhra University . And Then, with 2 months of maintenance money, I moved to Chennai with the help of a friend. Fortunately, I got a job on the second day of arrival in Chennai and joined as a Lecturer in an Engineering College. And took a very Important Decision of my life that, " I should never take a property share from family and should never claim any inheritance in future ".
That way, I have started my life at “ Ground Zero ” in September 1996 without any Assets in possession or Assets to claim in future, and determined to build my life on my own terms with Zero Assets in hand....!! I got married in August 1999 and I have 20 Year Old son, studying 3rd Year B.Tech in Bangalore ( 2020-24) and My Daughter studying in 10+1 Std. Though, Myself and my wife fight sometimes on trivial issues and sometimes on serious matters, ultimately, she ensures peace at home so that, I can pursue my career and family objectives. I have worked in Companies like Kone Elevators ( Fortune 500 Company ) , Anabond Ltd, and became National Sales Head at Pidilite Industries Ltd ( of Fevicol Fame ), and then as a Sr. Marketing Manager in Reliance Petrochemicals , Another Fortune 500 Company and Reliance has rated my performance as “ Excellent” ( only meant for 5-7 % of total work force of 85,000 in Reliance Industries ) for FY 2007-08 for Outstanding Contributions among some of my IIM Colleagues and it has instilled a lot of confidence in me .
Thorough in Strategic Planning and Execution, Creating New Markets / Blue Oceans with Revenue Accountability . Widely traveled across the World and visited close to 20 Countries including Germany, Italy, Switzerland , Belgium, Netherlands , France, Spain, UAE, Iran, Oman , Egypt , Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia , China and USA etc. and also visited Saudi Arabia, Behrain, Kuwait and Singapore as Transit Countries etc Motor India has carried out two Interviews of mine and published in July’ 2005 and July’ 2006 Issues on Engineering Adhesives.
I have written several articles in early part of my career in leading Industrial Magazines like Industrial Product Finder ( IPF ) , Search and Industrial Herald including one on “BRIC Nations: Emerging Global Forces ” Highlighting the emergence of India on the landscape of Economic and Political Affairs of the World in 2006. My views on the Adhesive Industry have been telecasted nationwide by CNBC Aawaz Channel in May 2005. Over a Period of time , I became a Growth Strategist and Turnaround Specialist with nearly 26 years of vast experience in Strategy, Operations , Sales and Marketing in B2B Space . I handled the most complex and challenging Assignments in the Corporate world, trying to be Agile and Able in any given circumstances and sometimes shooting in the dark by taking risks and achieved a Business Turnover of Rs.325 Cr ( Approx. USD $ 45 Million ) for FY 2019-20 and currently working as a Business Head in a Business Conglomerate based in Mumbai , India.
As an Individual, I am avid reader of books and always maintains a personal Library of my own . I am always trying to be a Alpha Male , a Spartan and I am a Minimalist in general.
As a part of my Continuous Scholastic learning pursuits , I have successfully completed a 9 month Executive Development Program at IIM Lucknow on “ Advanced Program in Strategy for Leaders ” in 2013 and received several appreciations from colleagues and faculty for contributions in the class.
In Addition to that, I have also completed Three Module ADP ( Accelerated Development Program ) Program from the world famous Wharton Business School including One at Wharton Campus in Philadelphia, USA in 2017. In the last day of the program, I have experienced Pinnacle moment in life when I summarised the program and paid Vote of Thanks to Faculty and Administrative Staff at Wharton. I will always echo the Words of Russell Crowe of Gladiator at Oscar Awards Ceremony speech , " If anyone who grow up in suburbs of Sydney or Auckland or New Castle, suburbs of anywhere, I dream like this , seems kind of Ludicrous and kind of completely unattainable, this moment directly connects to that child could imagine , if any body downside of advantage, relying purely on courage, Its Possible .." Earlier, I worked as a CEO in Hyderabad based Minerals Group and currently Working as a Business Head in Multi Minerals Company , with Head Quarters at Mumbai, India.
Pic : Corporate Office
I have several Heros in my Corporate Landscape to emulate , One of them being Tom Watson , who milked cows and worked as an attendant at restaurant tables to educate himself and went on to Build WalMart, and the other being
Cornelius Vanderbilt, A rural boat boy from Staten Island near New York , and became One of the the Wealthiest Men in US History before Rockfellers and Andrew Carnegies. Conclusion : This is a life Journey , On Going and The unfinished story of The Village Boy with several ups , downs , insults , struggles , betrayals and challenges and trying to travel a Road Less Travelled facing good , bad and ugly on the way, might have been covered only around 15-20% of anticipated life Journey and moving ahead every day with renewed Vigor and Valour.
Village Boy always determined to walk the hardway of " Values " as much as possible inspite of several hardships in Day to Day Life....!!
Sometimes, He think like this, As Human Beings, Why do we come here ?, and What is the purpose ?, As the legendary Denzel Washington said in University of Pennsylvania’s Convocation address , “ You will never see a u-haul behind a hearse ( You will never carry anything, when you leave this world ) .... "
So, Each and Everyone must realise the Essence of Beingness. Recent Corona Virus is a good eye opener , Revisit the pattern of current day life. Lets prioritise rest of our Lives on that basic fundamental principle of life and bring happiness in other's lives.....make it More Meaningful and .... be an inspiration to others and leave a trail to others to follow......!!
MM Rao