Ashneer Grover–The Elizabeth Holmes Of India

Shark Tank India season 1, was both Fascinating and Dramatic, the Magnus opus which had Love, Compassion, drama, Sympathy, patriotism etc, it wasn’t just a reality show that deals with entrepreneurs presenting there business ideas to a diverse set of investors, but a spiced up family drama where the wannabe brides were trying to impress the grooms family members, with a tadka of IIM.

Anupam Mittal reminded me more than once of the elderly Tauji, who would be silenced by the other aggressive family members, his tag line “Yaar koi mujhe bhi to bolne do”.

Namita Thaper, the vivacious diva, the Badi Bhabhi of the family, would always ensure to encourage the contestants, but mostly beg herself out of the deals.

Aman Verma : The Chota Devar, the daredevil, who would show his flamboyance more than once in every episode, his tag line “Brand to bana denge hum”.

Ashneer Grover: The evil uncle or chacha, he would abuse at will, would love to demean the bride and her family, he was like the Gulshan Grover of 80s and 90s, his tag line “Sab Dogla Pan hai” and “Band Ker de tera business”.

Vineeta Singh : The chooti bahu (younger daughter in law), too talkative, always smiling and empathetic while bowing out of a deal, she had no particular tag line.

The spiced up reality show caught the imagination of the entire country, business ideas became dinner discussions in the average Indian households, we saw young men and women from marginalised sections of the society, taking  lead in identifying the problems and putting forth the solution, we saw inventors showcasing painless or no needle blood sugar diagnostic machine, we also saw portable ecg machine which has the potential of saving many lives, and we also saw the humble son of a farmer, hailing from the region which has thousands of agrarians committing suicide every year, coming up with a jugad to make the excruciating work of the farmers easy.

The judges became the instant gods among the average youngsters, there success stories, there struggle and there perseverance made them god like for the average Indian youth, Aman Gupta, the candid and rusty Millionaire, Ashneer Grover the biggest shark in the tank, was brutally honest and calculative, Namita Thaper, very charming but had impressive business acumen, Anupam Mittal had tons of experience and he is probably one of the oldest angle investor in the country. The show topped the TRP charts in no time.

And then came the infamous Ashneer Grover call with the hapless Kotak Bank employee, it shocked me like many loyal Sharktank viewers, it exposed the GOD syndrome pathogen Grover was carrying in his head, in fact it was so dominant that it had simply annihilated the persona of the young billionaire, when I heard Ashneer abusing, I felt disgusted and wondered how a shallow man like him came at the helms of one of India’s leading fintech companies!

The infamous but viral phone call then opened the can of worms, exposed the rotting underbelly of one of the leading Fintech companies of the country, what I understood was that Ashneer and his wife were robbing investors of there money to finance there extravagant lifestyle, there luxury cars and abroad vacations, even the makeup stuff of Madhuri Jain was billed to the company.

Ashneer had stark resemblance with Elizabeth Holmes, slightly miniaturised or probably was in the making of it, a person with compromised morality knows no dearth and can sink the entire ecosystem of budding entrepreneurs for his personal gains, luckily he was caught before he could inflict fatal blow on the fragile ecosystem, or even worse getting away with it, creating a narrative of a system where the fraud and embezzlement becomes a norm and acceptable evil.

Once the rot was out in the open, Ashneer was sent on a forced leave, his wife was sacked, It was meteoric fall of the demigod of the startup world of India, it broke many hearts but it raise some very important questions:

• How can, in todays world, RBI and GOI can leave the fintech companies unchecked and unsupervised?
• With the tons of customer data, including personal data of the millions of users, is there a mechanism to check the likes of Ashneer from profiting from it? Or should they have an unchecked control over it?
• How to save the the image of the Ernest entrepreneurs from taking a hit because of the deeds of a bad unicorns like Ashneer grover?

These are some very important questions which need to be answered before the budding and booming atmosphere of Indian Startup world takes a permanent Hit…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advertisement

Self Care

Once upon a time, there was a cobbler who was famous for the elegant shoes that he used to make. He was also generous and kind hearted, helping anyone in need. He lived in a small village and he was the only talented cobbler in that village. He was responsible for repairing the shoes and making new shoes for everybody in that village. After some days, he noticed that his own shoes were torn but he was busy tending to the needs of the villagers and making exquisite shoes for some of the rich, getting a lot of praise in the process. He completely ignored the worn out shoes that he was wearing. Initially, there was no problem, but slowly there was a big hole in the sole of his shoes and it started becoming frail and torn. However he neglected the state of the torn shoes and kept on making footwear for others, feeling happy with the appreciation. He felt satisfied when you made free shoes for the people who did not have the means to afford it.
In due course of time, his tattered and worn out shoes started giving him painful blisters and he began walking with a limp, some of his customers started to worry about it, but he reassured them that it will get cured in a while. They continued to shower him with blessings and wishes for a selfless service and hard work. He was lauded for doing a fantastic job in spite of the boils, blisters and the limp.

 

 

After a few months, the blisters became extremely painful and the infection started spreading to the extent that he could no longer work. He could neither repair his shoes nor make or repair anyone else’s. He started regretting the gross neglect of his part as he lay on his bed tending to his wounds.
Does this story seem familiar to what many of us have done with our lives or what we have faced? This is a simple story which would have struck a chord with many of you to address an important issue this significant aspect of our life which we tend to ignore often is self-care and self- love.
In this self absorbed world, we tend to ignore the fact that our cup is not only half empty, it is almost empty. We spend years neglecting the poor state of our own half filled cup while tending to the needs of the people around us. Taking care of others gives us a sense of satisfaction and contentment. We often ignore ourselves and our own needs were trying to appease others.

If you do not look after yourself, after a while, the hollowness within you will make you incompetent to tend to the needs of others. Even with the best of your intentions, you won’t be able to radiate or share any happiness, or take care of the needs of anyone if youareempty from within. If one does not have time to care for themselves, then no one will.
This principle is applicable in the current global scenario where in we are under tremendous stress and pressure due to the ongoing pandemic. This is particularly in the case of frontline workers and all those who are impacted by the invisible monster, who have barely any time for self care and self grooming.

 

Blessings and Disguise

A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it , and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master’s house, the cracked pot arrived only halffull.

For a full two year this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master’s house. Of course, the perfect was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do

After two year of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the steam. “I am ashamed of my self, and I want to apologise to you. “why?” ‘I have been able , for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master’s house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don’t get full value from your efforts,”the pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot , and in his compassion he said , As we return to the master’s house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path. “Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of up the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this charred it somewhat. But at the end of the trail.it still felt bad beacuse it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologised to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot,”Did you notice that there were flower only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot’s side? That’s because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you’ve watered them For two year I have been able to pick these beautiful flower to decorate my master’s table. Without you being just the way you are , he would not have this beauty to grace his house.”

Moral: Each of us has our own unique flaws. We’re all cracked pots. In this world, nothing goes to waste. You may think like the cracked pot that you are inefficient or useless in certain areas of your life, but somehow these flaws can turn out to be blessing in disguise.”

Be The Change

Last few months were very hard on all of us, but for some it was particularly hard as not only there health but there livelihood, there survival was at stake, some survived but some couldn’t, life was always hard but it was particularly hard on those who lost the battle without fighting it, COVID was a calamity for the small business owners, more then the disease it was the loss of business that made there survival difficult, one such business was the restaurant and catering business, many restaurants closed, they shut there shops never to open again, but there were few who diversified and adopted to the new reality, they curtailed there expenses, streamlined the business and changed there model to delivery based or parcel only, tide up with delivery apps and came up with aggressive pricing, they were determined to survive and waited till the tide turned, and then when the pandemic was over, they came out as victors and emerged as the dominant players.

This was a case for restaurant business but the same Rules applies every where in life, those who give up without giving a fight loose every thing including there dreams, those who try from the bottom of there hearts succeed, every situation is temporary, only the change is permanent, accept it, don’t be scared of it, fight for the survival, do not hope, but be assured that you will win.

Destiny challenges the brave, but the brave must live up to the occasion and fight to claim it.

Always remember, “Don’t be afraid of the change, be the change”

 

How to Motivate YourSelf In life

In our darkest hours, even our shadow leaves us, all the doors are shut on our face, we feel anxious, confused and in denial of the present state, often we come in this situation by our own mistakes, if we see the root cause of our situation could be our greed, our miscalculation or may be our foolhardiness, when we desperately seek to bring our life back on track its very important although difficult to calm your mind but we must realise that this is the only way to move forward.

“As your self what would I do if I wasn’t scared?” if asked properly, the answer to this question will give all the answers to you current and future problems, ever seen how a cat reacts when she is surrounded and has no escape route, she launches the most extraordinary and fierce attack, which most of the time overwhelm’s her adversaries.

 What would I do if I wasn’t scared? leave your fears aside for couple of moments and find the answer to this question, and I assure you that you will get the most simple and realistic answers to your problems, simple but most effective and most importantly realistic in the situation you are in.

Always believe that there is no adversity you can’t defeat, your weapons in this fight are fearlessness and calmness, force a smile on your face even under tremendous pressure.

One very important point, in such times no matter what you must remain truthful, bring a better plan on the table and have faith in your self and your abilities, you will emerge victorious.

There are problems which we may not have any control on and they are not our creation, demise of a loved one, loss of livelihood due to an act of god like flood or earthquake or an outbreak of a disease, like the one currently our world is grappling with, there is not much you can do in these situations, but do realise that you are not the only one suffering in these situations.

Life is ephemeral, its structure is very fragile, you must realise that you have to be very alert in making your choices, the modern civilisation is created by the brave and the foolhardy, but one out of a million succeed in expeditions which change the course of the world.

Always analyse what is at stake and what could be lost if you don’t win the roulette, most importantly the life style of your loved once must not diminish.

 

 

Your Choice

There was a man named Thomas, every evening he would come drunk, stinking and bleeding from the wounds he got from the bouts he started,  he was unemployable, had no friends, unfortunately he had a wife Jenny (Unfortunate for her) and 4 kids, his wife would work as domestic help in the city, she would earn meagre wages that could barely feed her and her kids, she would hide the money from her husband.

Every evening her nightmare begins as Thomas walks in and started beating his kids and then his wife, he would succeed in snatching the money from his wife, he would often leave them crying and go to a wine shop and would drink till he is completely out of his senses.

One day when Thomas was lying unconscious under a tree, a sage who was passing by, saw him, the sage had supernatural powers, he placed his palm on the forehead of the man and closed his eyes, the sage could see his entire life under his closed eyelids.

The sage pressed his palm on Thomas’s forehead, but with force this time, a shock went through Thomas’s body, as if some one lifted him high in the air and then smashed him back on the ground, he was awake, probably after many years, and saw the sage standing in front of him, he got up abruptly he was shocked to see his body still lying under the tree, “Am I dead” he asked “no, but you will, very soon, let me show you what you did in your life, and where you will go from here” the sage waved his hand and Thomas saw his life started unfolding in front of him like a movie, he saw his parents, they were so happy when he was born, his first day at school, the first time he tested alcohol with his friends, how he was thrown out of his school, his father tried so hard to make him quit drinking, but he chose to run away instead, only to came back few days later, his marriage, death of his father and mother few years later, he saw his first child being born, he was so happy, that day he decided to quit drinking, but he could only control the urge for couple of days, he saw his kids crying, his wife working so hard and taking care of the house and the kids, tears started flowing from his eyes, but it was all past, and then the story came to the present time.

He saw himself getting up, he faltered his way back to his house, he saw how his family is scared to see him, his wife was in tears and begged him not to ask for money as there youngest child was not well, and has to be shown to a doctor, but he didn’t budged, he started yelling and shouting again, he pushed his wife and snatched her purse, opened it and took all the money inside it, he then left the house walking towards the wine shop, he could barely walk but he was walking anyway, as he reached the crossroad, he heard a screeching sound, he turned around and saw an uncontrolled truck rushing towards him, he was scared and heavily intoxicated, he couldn’t move an inch and the truck smashed his frail body, seconds later he was dead.

His neighbours rushed to inform her wife about the accident, instead of sorrow, he saw a sense of relief on her face, his kids were silent they were too young to react, but he could sense that they were not going to miss him either, a moment later the wife regained her composure and said “Sir my child is not well, I can’t leave him, can you please inform the municipal corporation officials to arrange for his cremation, as I don’t have money to cremate him, her neighbour knew what kind of a person her husband was, they nodded and left the family alone.

His family was relieved as there tormentor was no more, “this will be your future if you follow the current course of action, “Choice is Yours”, said the sage, Thomas was awestruck, he looked at his right, in the direction of the voice, but there was no one, the sage had disappeared.

He woke up, still intoxicated, he sat under the tree, his whole body was aching in pain, he waited for hours under the tree, he cried for hours and then mustered courage to get up on his feet and started walking towards his home, as he reached his home he knocked the doors softly, Jenny opened the door and surprised to see Thomas, as he would usually bang the doors while abusing her, she was surprised to see a calm Thomas, still stinking and dirty but calm, his eyes lowered as if burdened by guilt, after silence of a few moments, he looked at Jenny and asked “how is Samantha” there youngest daughter, Jenny couldn’t believe her eyes, for the first time in many years, Thomas as asked for his kids, Jenny started sobbing and said “she is burning in fever” I am taking her to a doctor”, she said in a very heavy voice, Thomas was controlling his tears as he know now that what he saw wasn’t a dream, “give me a moment, I am coming with you” he said and rushed to the bathroom, he cleaned himself, changed his clothes and was at the door in 10 minutes.

Jenny couldn’t believe what she was seeing, they went to a doctor and brought medicines for Samantha, to their relief she was suffering from seasonal throat infection and she will be fine in couple of days. As they came back, Jenny and kids were still in a state of awe to see Thomas’s transformation, they had a quiet dinner and all of them except Thomas slept peacefully.

Next morning, when Jenny woke up, she saw Thomas sitting besides her with a cup of coffee and cookies, she wanted to ask Thomas the reason for his transformation, but she didn’t had the courage, it was like a dream come true for her, as she sipped coffee, Thomas said “Jenny what I did to you and to our kids, is beyond repentance, I will stay at house and won’t go out for next 30 days, I think I will be able to quit drinking if I control my self for a month, and then I will work while you will stay at home and look after the kids. Jenny couldn’t believe what she was hearing, her eyes filled with tears of Joy, she nodded.

This time Thomas did what he committed Jenny, it was very painful for him especially the first 7 days, he would read Bible for hours, and after a month he was a transformed man, he knew tailoring, so he joined a tailor shop as assistant, he worked very hard and earned respect from his employer who offered him a pay raise, Jenny and the kids were never happier, in the evening Thomas would take his kids and Jenny to the park and he would cook on Sundays, few years lated Thomas bought a shop and started his own tailoring business, he also bought a bigger house for him self and his family.

One day when he was working in his shop all alone, on a new catalogue of designs, he sensed a presence, he was surprised to see the sage standing in front of him, he got up from his chair and ran towards the sage and hugged him, tears flowing from his eyes, uttering only one word “thank you” he then bend on his knees, but the sage lifted him, and looked at him smiling at him, “I still don’t understand what really happened that day, please tell what really happened” he bagged the sage “Thomas all I can tell you is that a I showed you the possible outcome of your current course of journey, it was you who opted a different course, you chose this future” said the sage smiling “always remember Thomas Choice is yours to make” the sage left.

Near death experience can alter the course of life, but is it really essential to have a near death experience to check the course of life and correct it? while all we have to do is sit back and contemplate on our life, basic things like who are we treating our family and our own body.

We have the ability to choose the correct course of action, all we have to do is to muster our inner strength and opt for it, remember “Choice is Ours to make”.

Remember always! That ‘imbalance’ Says, I’m balance!

Sometimes when things are falling apart, they may actually be falling into place” – J. Lynn

It is important to find strength in redefining moments and come out stronger than before. When your life is out of balance.

In your quest for balance in life,

Juggling between the multiple tasks

At times torn apart by strife,

The you in you is often lost.

Reflect and introspect. Take a few steady steps,

Let not the you within you, wilt or wither at any cost,

The equilibrium you strive for Can’t be achieved when you are at war, With yourself.

Choose your battles, wisely, Let the you in you win calmly.

The pursuit for balance is perpetual,

Let the ‘you within you’ become a ritual.

Remember always! That ‘imbalance’ Says, I’m balance!

True Meaning of Education

What Does it Mean to Be Educated

Just like a passport is a pre-requisite to travel the world, similarly, a good education is a pre-requisite to lead a meaningful life confidently. Whom, then, do I call educated? The following is the definition of education given by Socrates approximately two thousand years ago.

First, those who manage well the circumstances which they encounter day by day; and those who can judge situations appropriately as they arise and rarely miss the suitable course of action.

Next, those who are honorable in their dealings with all men, bearing easily what is unpleasant or offensive in others and being as reasonable with their associates as is humanly possible.

Furthermore, those who hold their pleasures always under control and are not unduly overcome by their misfortunes, bearing up under them bravely and in a manner worthy of our common nature.

Most important of all, those who are not spoiled by their successes, who do not desert their true selves, but hold their ground steadfastly as wise and sober-minded men, rejoicing no more in the good things that have come to them through chance than in those which through their own nature and intelligence are theirs since birth.

Those who have a character which is in accord, not with one of these things, but with all of them, these are educated— possessed of all the virtues. – Socrates (470-399 B.C)

 

Acres Of Diamond

Hafiz was a farmer in Africa who was happy and content. He was happy because he was content. He was content because he was happy. One day a wise man came and told him about the glory of diamonds and the power that goes along with them. The wise man said, “If you had a diamond the size of your thumb, you could buy your own city. If you had a diamond the size of your fist, you could probably buy your own country.” And then the wise man left.

That night, Hafiz couldn’t sleep. He was unhappy and he was discontented. He was unhappy because he was discontented and discontented because he was unhappy. The next morning Hafiz made arrangements to sell his farm, took care of his family and went off in search of diamonds. He looked all over Africa and couldn’t find any. He looked all through Europe and couldn’t find any. By the time he got to Spain, he was emotionally, physically and financially broke. He was so disheartened that he threw himself into the Barcelona river and committed suicide.

Back home, the person who had bought his farm was watering the camels at the stream that ran through the farm. Across the stream, the rays of the morning sun hit a stone and made it sparkle like a rainbow. He thought the stone would look good in his living room. He picked up the stone and put it on his mantle piece. That afternoon, the wise man came and saw the stone sparkling. He asked, “Is Hafiz back?” The new owner said, “No, why do you ask?” The wise man said, “Because that is a diamond. I recognise one when I see one.” The man said, “No, that’s just a stone I picked up from the stream. Come I’ll show you. There are many more.” They went and picked some samples and sent them for analysis. Sure enough, the stones were diamonds. They found that the farm was indeed covered with acres and acres of diamonds.

What is the moral of this story? There are many morals:

1. When our attitude is right, we realise that we are all walking on acres of diamonds. Opportunities are always under our feet. We don’t have to go anywhere.

2. When we don’t know how to recognize opportunity, it could slap us on our face and we would still not be able to recognize it. All we need to do is to learn to recognize opportunities.

3. People, who don’t know how to recognise opportunities, complain of noise when they knock.

4. Lost opportunities are easier recognised when they are leaving rather than when they are coming.

5. An opportunity only knocks once. The next one may be better or worse, but never the same one. That is why it is so crucial to make the right decision at the right time. A right decision at the wrong time becomes a wrong decision.

6. The grass on the other side always looks greener. There are two dimensions to the greener grass: a. It may be possible that the other farmer is taking better care of his grass and it is actually greener. b. Most of the time, however, it is only an illusion. Many times in life, while chasing an illusion, we lose out the opportunity right under our own feet.

7. While we are eyeing the grass on the other side, there are others who are eyeing the grass on our side. They would be happy to trade places with us.

Choose Your Friends wisely!

It is said that the people you spend maximum time with; your friends, colleagues, relatives etc, your personality, your ideology and even your life is a summation of the average qualities of all these people. Our friend circle which we build later influence our life to such an extent that it transforms us, it makes us like them (the friend circle)

At times I think what should be the basic qualities of my friend? how to choose friends, and who should I trust a person as a friend? the person whom I like and I would share the most precious thing in my life, “my time”.

The most important quality a friend should have, is likemindedness, you may have different aspirations or goals in life but your values should be same, please don’t get me wrong, you and your friends can and should have difference of opinion but your moral values should be same, that will be the foundation of your friendship.

Second important criterion is the trust, in one life time a person would be called very lucky if he or she has more than two real good friends, in real sense a person with whom you can trust your life with, is truly your friend.

Your friend can be someone who compliments you, or rather he may have qualities which you lack, for example you are an introvert wherein your friend can be a person who is quite outspoken.

Friendship has to pass the test of time, you may find people who would swear to be your friends but would chicken out on the first hint of you being in trouble, so as I said, time will tell who your real friend is.

The person with above qualities will be your true friend, he or she would be the one you can trust your secrets with, needless to say you must reciprocate, rest of the people are mob nothing more, you shouldn’t be paying any attention to them, but keep your true friend very close to you and stand by him/her as he/she would in the hour of need.