Education – Not for rebels!

For a middle class person in India, society has an important role in probably every decision we make through our life. Education being one of them!

I always toed the line which my parents wanted to. Went to the best Colleges and Universities and exposed myself to a world I had not dreamt of. And once you get something which you believe that was impossible for you, you don’t want to let it go.

I hung on to this desire feeding frenzy for almost a decade before even realizing what this Education had done to me. It had killed the rebel within me. It had doused the fire that burnt within my belly in the Secondary School. It killed my ability to dream big and aim for it. Education had made me a slave to the spiral of desires.

I was able to break out of it finally in 2014 but failed to sustain. The reason, my education again. 

I always believed that I deserve better for I am well educated. Why the heck should it be? Why am I not able to kill this awkward societal reasoning?

Its been because of the people around me! They are not letting me fail! 

They want me to play safe and want me to have cushions all around me. But it would not be right to blame them completely. I am equally responsible for the decisions I have taken under this societal pressure.

But today, am again at a critical juncture where the pressure is telling me to play safe because I have kids who need education, I have parents who need care and I will have a future if I plan well!

But what I have over and above all is a wife who keeps telling me…….Bloddy Hell with everything! Let us fail again! Let us try again! Let us keep trying! We will figure out everything soon!

And I tell her back…….Preeto, we just need to be successful once, so let us try once again!

I am what I am not because of Education, but ‘inspite of it’.

It's not every day you get a change to impact a Million Lives

Professionally, I have always enjoyed greenfield projects which eventually enticed me to take a plunge to start on my own. This new role I have been playing with LPU has been equally exciting.

LPU administration is unique for being a combination of being a large enterprise which is extremely unprofessional. But then I do remember that the same thing happened at the time I left Infosys. And what an experience it was!

My small tenure with LPU has helped me get a detailed insight into the improvement areas which LPU needs to work on priority to remain relevant in the future - 

1. The CEO coach - Culture of an organization is dependent upon the people who head the organization. Their attitude, behavior as well as approach defines how the whole organization behaves. I found myself copying my boss's sitting and walking postures in my previous assignments. LPU is driven by a single man and the whole credit of creating such a wonderful institution goes to him. Mr.Ashok Mittal, who is also the Chancellor of the University. he has many firsts to his name and in a way is an inspiration to many including me. But as with any human, he too has a few shortcomings which he seems to be completely unaware of. He is a man with an amazing vision but being continuously pulled down by his own weight. While it would be so convenient for me to blurt out what I feel is wrong, I would avoid it. Rather my suggestion is that Mr. Mittal is in an urgent need of a CEO coach. A good coach would not only help him iron out his future business objectives but would also help him understand ways of improving the University culture.
2. Missing Brains: The solution to every problem I faced in the University seems to rest with a single "Higher Authority". While in a factory environment, one would want this to be an ideal scenario where everyone is following the process without applying their mind.  A similar environment in an intellectual environment of a University seems to be quite strange and completely out of place. So the question I started asking myself was -  "Are people here not good enough?" And the little experience,  I have,  I was quick to make out that it's not the case. The real issue was that the roles have been created to have a lot of responsibility but all without Authority. Leading to such a severe determination that now a large number of Senior Management team is made of "Yes Men". No one wants to take logical decisions or apply their minds to a problem and are happy to announce that the solution can only be provided by "Higher Authorities" which to me seems like invoking God. 
3. 
   
   Penny wise pound foolish: A 250 crore organization, I worked with,  followed the process of budgeting diligently to the minutest detail. Every department created an annual budget while setting the target almost 3 to 5 months in advance of the next financial year. The whole organization would then gear up to that objective. Into the year, discussions were oriented towards the target achievements and analysis of the misses for course correction. Every penny spent was for a pre-defined through a well debated objective. Every recruitment was with a final goal written down in the plan. But this some odd 1000 crore company/University does not have a budgeting process. The budget here is on the discretion of the "Higher Authorities". Someone advised them to try budgeting and they hired their own audit department to do it. The method followed was astounding, Whatever one department has spent in the last year, needs to spend 10-20 percent less. A great process in which budgeting is no where linked to the business objective of the department and is not verified by the business team. When there is no logic to the process, a logical person stops fighting and just gives in by either accepting that there is no use arguing and just take in this absurdness or they just move out. There are just innumerable cases which I came across where this illogical process has made the University loose millions in opportunity cost.
4. 
   
   The Balancing Act: It is a challenge for any business to survive in the short run while fixing its eye on the long term. The LPU management has a clear mandate run a profitable business, the way they have run other businesses like sweet shop and automobile dealership. While this University has an excellent short term determination to be profitable every year, it clearly seems to lack vision. This lack of vision is clearly manifested in the working of individual department. If one asks the head of any department as to what is the long term objective they have set for their department, the answers were all over the place. When one has the ability to build a business employing 8000 people directly or indirectly, it is extremely baffling as to how can this be the case? 
5. In detail lies God: I am given to understand that Lovely Sweets mastered the process of making ladoos and were able to sell high quality ladoos at a very low cost through which the Lovely Empire came into being. Process is a very interesting thing. In a process wherever human interaction is involved, there is bound to be an error. So LPU management came with a novel way of removing the human interaction, "just automate everything". Because everything will be computer driven now, a false impression of process has been created. It is completely forgotten that the person entering data or initiating the process is a person and the people involved in the process are interacting with each other. The University/Company seems to clearly misunderstand the difference between a Mechanical Machine and a process. This has led to such a severe problem that even if one needs a stapler to be purchased for their department, there would be atleast 10-11 people involved int he whole process with approval being done by "Higher Authorities" for the consumption of a Rs 50 thing. This problem emanates from the incompetency of the people making the processes. Because Lovely Sweets could do it does not mean that every person in the world can make a user friendly process. If that had been the case, every company would have been equally efficient and there would have been no need of TQM, Kaizen and other such philosophies. The University/Company is in dire need of a process consultant to relieve it from the stress the processes have built within it.

This article is being written almost a year after I have moved on from the University. There had been no heart burn during the stint I had but I was not able to make the Impact I could have made. This made me analyze what stopped me in doing so and I listed down the top 5 reasons.

Even today, I am of a firm belief that resolving these 5 key issues can unleash the full potential of the University and the people working within. It is not everyday that one gets an opportunity to impact more than a million lives which Mr. Ashok Mittal is blessed to have. I just wish he does not squander it away.

Blissful Love

While Kanav is our Pride, Jay is the heart of this Family.

He is developing into an extremely loving and empathetic individual. His zeal to learn small but practical things is what puts him apart from Kanav who concentrates on mentally difficult and challenging scenarios.

Now over 6 and a half years, his anger is much under his control and tantrums are reducing and so is the noise in the house. When I made Preeti realize yesterday in the morning that there is no noise as the kids are bathing in different bathrooms, Preeti was on the verge of crying.

I am no more able to lift Kanav in my arms and soon Jay would also be out of reach. They are growing extremely fast and now we are enjoying their fights, their tantrums and their hugs and kisses more than ever before.

We just wish for this beautiful and blissful love of our kids to last our lifetime.

Moral Compass

From obvious questions like "Who is God and where is he?",  Kanav has moved on to questions like "Why do we blink eyes?" and "Why do some God have multiple hands?" 

His questions today have started to become more effortless and inquisitiveness is even more sharper. Kanav today is gradually reaching a level of questioning where he has started making me feel proud. 

While the last 2 years were extremely troubling for him emotionally when he was trying to figure out the meaning of God,  I don't think I made it easier for him. Everyday he had to face a peer group who would single him out and call him an Atheist.  He was dumbfounded everyday as to why his friends could not see simple logic which he could. 

His search for the answer to his God question is still on and would remain so for his environment is exposing him not only to "understanding atheists"  like me but "realistic believers"  like his mother and of course doctrinated believers like his friends. 

But my effort for helping both the kids in having a good moral compass recently took me to Devdutt Patnaik's "The Boys who Fought",  a version of Mahabharta for the kids. A story which I always believed to be lush with moral conundrums even for mature adults is a real treat for kids. Devdutt's efforts in explaining complicated concepts like Dharma in a single line to kids is simply amazing. Empathy,  respect and care have been folded and presented to him in the format of a story which to him is utmost interesting.

While these stories are helping Kanav raise his moral standards,  I am sure they will confuse him further on his quest to understand God. Hopefully,  I might be able to solve a few riddles for him. 

Interestingly, both the kids were not able to relate to the story of Harry Potter even a little bit. The names in the story were confusing for them and after the first 40 pages,  the book is just gathering dust. The Harry Potter books could be great in terms of imagination but they surely lack the depth and unfortunately paint a black and white picture of the world, Good and Bad. On the other hand Mahabharta's depth is so astounding that every version which even I read teaches me something new.  And yes,  imagination is incidental in this story. 

I wish,  I could find more such stories and authors for Jay and Kanav. 

Tipping Point

Kanav just turned 9 years old and over the past few weeks has stopped playing with the kids in the neighbourhood for they seem like kids to him now. He has also started spending a lot of time on youtube learning to make various craft projects.

On Tuesday night, 26^th November 2017, Kanav was playing in the Jumping Bouncer whom they call as Mickey Mouse in a marriage at Swaran Farms. I got Kanav out of it when I realized that he along with a few other kids was hurting the younger ones unintentionally. But when later, after dinner, Kanav wanted to , Kanav wanted to spend just 2 minutes on it but he was not being let on it by the caretaker. He started crying and asked me to talk to the caretaker to let him spend a few minutes before he goes back home.

I simply denied to do that and I asked him to convince the caretaker by himself. His reaction surprised me for he was clearly hesitant, afraid and becoming drawn back and had lost almost all confidence in himself. I then started motivating him and trying to teach him ways to do it without any result.

Finally, I placed a bet of Rs 100 if he convinces the caretaker and the smile on his face was worth millions more than that. He simply took off and in a single stroke convinced the caretaker, went on to the ride and signaled me that he has won Rs 100.

After spending 5 minutes on it, and after a week now, he doesn’t even remember those Rs 100. But that one incident was a tipping point for me.

Kanav had been complaining of the strictness of his teacher for some time now. I even talked to the Principal once but for a class of 40 students who are reaching an adolescent age, it is really difficult to manage the class.

But I was thinking something else now? What exactly a school is teaching and what it would be teaching Kanav in the next 5 years. I realized - some Maths and Science in an uninteresting way, details about some unknown countries and boring things about India and some unconnected history. Little to understand civics and then some unimportant computer skills. Oh yes, I forgot about the boring Grammar.

So what about his personality, oh yes…some contests like elocution, quiz, debate etc might be there. Seriously, do I really want my kid to do that? And this question I had been asking for over 2 years now. But I have finally got the answer – No School can teach Kanav what he really wants to learn and what he should actually learn.

So, before it gets too late, We would say goodbye to schooling for Kanav. The solution which I have started to explore seriously now is Homeschooling for Kanav. But before we start that journey, I have a lot of apprehensions.

1.       Would Kanav spend enough time on his studies when at home? Would he act responsible?

2.       How would we manage our Jobs and Kanav’s studies together?

3.       Would we be able to get enough time to spend with Kanav?

4.       Would we be able to create a right environment at home?

5.       How would Jay reach and behave?

6.       Above all, how am I gonna convince my dad and mom who already think of me as a rebel?

But then…..

The woods are lovely dark, and deep.

And I have promises to keep , and

miles to go before I sleep

Crossroads again

In the Journey of life, when one looks back, he remembers all those days or moments which were life changing. In the past 10 years since I started blogging, it never crossed my mind to keep a digital note of such moments until right now.

We are standing at a crossroad today from where the journey in any direction is treacherous. The choice we make in the next few weeks is not only going to affect me but also my kids and thats' why this is going to be a hard decision to make. Interestingly I have to gain a lot and even loose a lot in this game of choice.

Am not young anymore and am now even afraid of slides in the water park. So my appetite for risk is going to be put on test for a decision I made 3 years back. I just wish, I am sensible enough to choose the right path.

Manish Saini

Roses and Thorns

It’s been 650 days that we landed back in Hoshiarpur with a mission. Mission we call it because the predictability of success is extremely bleak with all odds stacked against us.

Every-time, me and Preeti discuss solutions to the challenges we are facing, we inadverantly veer towards discussing the decision of leaving the Mumbai lifestyle. And every time both of us agree to the fact that the decision was absolutely right. A similar discussion today, pushed me to review the gains and losses we have made in the past 650 days.

 Roses I have collected in past 650 days -

1.     Kanav - The greatest benefit of our shift has gone to my eldest son Kanav. He was an average child in school when we were in Mumbai. Our move to Hoshiarpur exposed him to a different set of academics and teaching methods. It made us realize that Mumbai had failed us; and Kanav was left behind on his academic development. But our 6 months of perseverance with Kanav guided by experienced teachers in school have changed Kanav completely. He is now more confident and aggressive than ever before. Thanks to Hoshiarpur, his aptitude level has sky rocketed since we have landed here. 

Am not sure for the long term benefits of Hoshiarpur to Kanav on academics but in short term, our decision has been a boon to Kanav.

2.     Preeti - Hoshiarpur seems to have worked magic on my girl. She suddenly seems to have found her calling. The work on the project is definitely not her first choice but she has completely engrossed herself into our project and is now the backbone of it. She has developed into a full fledged entrepreneur and is no more the whimpering housewife. Her confidence and trust on herself is like never before and I am simply in love with her all over again.

3.     Stamina - Preeti’s physical recovery after two beautiful kids is something which both of us worked upon for a long time. But these 650 days here seemed to have increased her stamina by many folds. Whether it’s the environment of Punjab or her adrenalin rush as an entrepreneur, I am not sure but she surely fitter than what she was 2 years back.

4.     Parents - Nothing can replace the joy which mom and dad get while playing with their grand kids. Every night 30 minutes before sleeping are just unlimited fun for all of us with dadu papa turning into a Jester. Furthermore, with old age catching up with them, it was inevitable that all of us moved in together. Knowing dad, he would have not agreed easily and my mother’s love for their house would have definitely not let them move with us. Though our decision was not easily accepted, but our moving in together was the greatest positive which my parents have gained.

Counting Thorns that are troubling me -

1.     Money - If someone tells you that money is not important, they are lying straight through their nose. Money is an extremely important invention without which nothing practically moves in this world. Until we have a stomach attached to our body, money would always be an important factor governing our actions. But what is interesting is that the amount of money needed/desired may vary from person to person and from time to time.

While I had an opportunity to earn probably crores of rupee from the job I was doing in Mumbai, I still chose to not do it. Logically it is a very absurd decision as our project is surely not going to earn us single penny for the next few years. But yes, I did calculate that the money I already had would be enough to see me through the initial 3 years when our pilot for the project would be tested. This money is now being spent miserly and intelligently (hopefully). But what hurts is that I am not able to fulfill some very simple desires of my kids or wife at times because of this miserliness.

Money is probably the mother of all losses which I am enduring because of my decision. I am also not sure whether I would be able to earn the same amount of money ever in my life as I would have earned at job and so it does hurt every time when I check my bank balance.

2.     Luxury - I have traveled far and wide across India before marriage. The only two modes of transport which I had majorly used was the sleeper coach of the trains and the non-AC buses. So, I am not a stickler to luxury. So in a way Luxury is not a big loss for me individually. But when my family has to travel in the small car (i10, which I have) or even by bus (and abandon air travel completely), I really feel bad. It feels that I have taken something away from them.

As a family man, I would have preferred to buy a SUV in next 3 years. I could have brought smiles to Jay and Kanav’s faces when I would have bought expensive gifts for them. I could have spoilt Preeti more. But I won’t be able to do any of these probably for the next few years and am often saddened by this thought.

3.     Vacations - Both, my parents and Preeti had a long standing desire to visit European and South-East Asian countries for holidays and long vacations. And with relatives and friends spending holidays in exotic locations pinches them hard. It is a thorn which I would have to bear for some time. But yes, what I am going to regret when we get old is that I was not able to take Preeti to any of the wonderful countries in the peak of her youth.

4.     Sense of Security - At Staples, I had a group insurance cover of over 2 crores and that was all company paid. The society where we lived had security cameras all across and had security guards ensuring that the kids are safe.

Now, I neither have any health insurance for myself or family nor am I able to afford any new insurance for my kids. We don’t live in a very safe society anymore either. A theft at our house recently resulted in complete loss of money which we had earned over a year on this project. The kids have no playground to play in the society and have to play on the road which due to heavy construction activities is very busy. Jay also was a target of a foiled kidnap attempt.

In short, there is no current or future sense of security within the family at this instance. And the only thing I hope for daily is that none of our family members have to undergo any serious health treatment in the next few years for it might stretch me badly.

5.     Respect – Commanding a workforce of a very reputed company and that too at the senior management level brought me not only money but also respect from my family, colleagues, friends and relatives. It seems like that this respect has suddenly vanished for a lot of people have started equating me for an idiot.

While, I don’t deny the fact that what we are doing is nothing less than an idiosyncrasy, I also have a lot of belief in myself and Preeti. Though, respect has not mattered too much for me, but it still hurts when you are equated as a “good for nothing” person even after achieving what less than 1% people in India are able to achieve.

When I count my thorns, I am reminded that our decision to pursue the project has resulted in losses which are completely tangible and can be equated majorly in terms of money, but my gains are absolutely intangible. It is an impossible task to compare one with another. 

But these gains or losses are also a matter of perspective. For one person sense of security could be more important and for someone their kid’s education. But even these importance attached to various parameters would change with time. As I grow older, these parameters might not change much but my weightages attached to them would. 

I believe that my gains currently are substantially higher than the thorns I have to endure yet. But it would be interesting to revisit these parameters again in future and document as to what has changed.

A realist - Jay

Kanav still likes to believe that Jay is his toy and so every morning he will wake up Jay to play with him. Jay, whose personality has been molded mostly by Kanav somehow lacks the outgoing nature of Kanav. Jay is a shy boy and does not mix up easily. As a 4 year old, he is extremely energetic and tires himself off.

But unlike Kanav, he is extremely particular about when he wants to eat food, what clothes he wants to wear and when he wants to sleep.  He has an ability to sleep even when there is a lot of noise around him. Even at this age, he is able to find matching clothes and if you offer him something to wear that he finds unsuitable, he can bring the house down. And when he wants food, he is extremely particular about what he wants to eat. Most of the times it is chapattis that he wants; even if everyone else is having rice.

Jay’s ability to resist temptations is so strong that you cannot change his decisions easily, even at this age. On Kanav’s birthday, Kanav wore a party dress to the school and a pair of party shoes. Jay has a similar pair of shoes (Black). He decided that if bhaiya goes to school like this, so would he. Preeti did her best to explain it to him that its Kanav’s birthday but couldn’t. So I took over and by fluke got him convinced to wear the school uniform but could not convince him to wear his school shoes. I could see his unspoken logic that, his party shoes were also black in color like his school shoes. But I wanted to test his persistence and he did not fail. He ultimately wore those party shoes even after everyone telling him that his teacher would punish him (which of-course she didn’t).

He is so particular about what he wants that I sometimes feel that he might grow up into an extremely selfish boy (but in positive sense). I see in him as someone who can prioritize things and has a natural aesthetic sense. Both of these attributes can lead him a long way. But what I am afraid of is his introvert nature. Even though I am like him, but my fear comes from him slowly slipping into an attitude where he does not show his feelings to others.

Almost a year back, I had slapped him for some severe mischief. While crying he asked me, ”Abb paari bhi kalo”.  But now if I say something which he does not like, he would simply sit quietly. And if I fail to recognize that he is angry with me, he would slowly start hitting you with his legs or arms. If I still don’t acknowledge, his intensity of hitting me increases until I pick him up and pat him with lots of love which ultimately cools him down.

Being angry with him or hitting him back does not yield any result for he is truly looking for being patted. I am afraid, that if he goes on a path where he suppresses his feeling and stops communicating, he is going to not only give himself but lot of other people close to him a hard time in future.

Jay is not as inquisitive as Kanav but follows everything that Kanav does. I believe that if we can keep guiding Kanav correctly, Jay would automatically inculcate some of the qualities of Kanav which he is currently not able to display.

While with a lot of belief, I can say that Kanav is getting groomed to be a dreamer, I can surely point out that Jay is intrinsically a very practical boy and would grow into a realist. Personalities that are poles apart, nature has brought them together.

Both brothers have so much love in them that I cherish every moment spent with them and miss them every single minute I am away from them. 

Cracking the Da Vinci Code - Kanav

It was a Saturday evening in early 2014 when I bought Kanav the game of snakes and ladders. But tired because of a hectic day, I was able to play only one round and I told him that we would play it in the morning.

Later, on the bed, Kanav kept on talking about the game and snakes while I was asking him to go to sleep. But, I fell asleep earlier than Kanav. Twice through the night, Kanav woke me and asked if its morning now. But when at 3am I woke up to go to toilet, he followed me there thinking its morning now. Laughing, I picked him up and we went to the other room where we played snakes and ladders till almost 4:30am. Ecstatic now that his wish was fulfilled, I was able to convince him to go to sleep.

This was the first time when I seriously acknowledged of restlessness in Kanav. His urgency to do things and passion has just increased multifold since that day. Many times in the morning, he would wake up before his Grandparents rise at 4:30am. It’s normally something which has been promised to him by one of us or his friends which does not let him sleep. Even if his friends are to meet at 8am, he would hardly sleep through the night.

I and Preeti try not to promise anything to Kanav for the Mornings. For if we do, neither would he sleep nor would let anyone else sleep. But we do make sure that his passion is continuously fueled and given direction.

He was mighty impressed by a few science experiments we made at home for the kids in our after school classes. Last week he opened his science book and said, “Papa, I want to do experiments.” There were two activities in his science book which both of us and Jay did together. I did my best to help him understand the phenomenon but I am not sure if he has. But I am sure, he would again surprise me by explaining some other experiment with a similar concept someday.

Tejaaswani’s creativity has a rubbing effect on him and so does his favorite cartoon channels that run Mister Maker, MAD, Art Attack type serials. He keeps on borrowing printing papers from me and keeps creating drawings which he has to explain me later. But one day, he created a boy and marked all the body parts on it. He recently created a figure of Earth ass is visible from space in Paint Brush. And it was remarkable for me to watch him get excited when he showed me his drawing of Saturn in paint Brush.

I am not sure, what Kanav is going to do in his life but his Passion reminds me of my younger self. His dedication to the task at hand and his persistence for executing a new idea are extremely unique to his personality. I and Preeti have pledged to give him all the guidance and as much resources as we can to develop himself into an individual with a lot of passion as well as patience.

Driven by a great fire within, Kanav today wants to become an Artist, Scientist, Soldier and an Astronaut. So, one day I introduced him to Leonardo Da Vinci and told him that he has all right to dream to be all of them. 

Innocence

Kanav studying Science - "Papa.....Leafs make food and Flowers make Fruit. But Fruit is also food. I am confused." Interestingly, no book solves his innocent question. Had to show him a video of how fruit is made from flowers.

Jay inside a Buddhist Monastery in Mclodeganj sees everyone praying and suddenly starts shouting on his way - Jai Mata Di, Jai Mata Di!

Swimming against the current

We were in our 2nd year of engineering when we heard of a senior of ours scoring 2200 marks out of 2400 in an exam called GRE.

The year was early 1999 and suddenly over the next few months we were either hearing or spreading facts/rumours about people cracking GRE.

A year earlier, I had already gone through an awe of finding out a senior of ours cracking CAT. Enlightened by my close friends, of the relative ease of GRE as compared to CAT and seeing a lot of lesser mortals ( :P ) cracking it, I did half heartedly started preparation which I eneded up soon.

In our final year, when everone was cracking GRE, a boy from our batch in leather technology who was nowhere on the academic charts scored almost perfect marks in an exam called TOFFEL. But a little enquiry revealed that the exam was relatively easier than GRE and almost everyone discarded it as a one off outlier.

By the time we passed out in 2001, a good majority of the people, I knew had moved out of India through the GRE route (mind it that these were the times of the great tech bubble and then burst). I had survived not only the mania but the bursting of the tech bubble too with strong lessons entrenched in me.

But little did I knew about the short term memory of the mob. Over the next decade the GRE fad was slowly and steadily taken over by the TOFFEL and ILETS fad, the one which we had ignored not understanding that it has the ingredient of attracting the masses rather than the elite.

14 years hence, the Punjab of today is plastered with adverisements claiming to send the youth to various foreign countries either with or without these aforementioned tests.

Knowing the level of difficulty of these tests, I clearly realize why every kid today is opting for it which in turn has created a business opportunity for a little smarter guys. 

The ILETS shops are encashing into this mass craze till it lasts.
For me this mania has reached to the levels of extreme irritation due to two main reasons -
1. Leaving your own country as a first citizen and settle in a foreign country as a 3rd grade citizen doing menial jobs just beats me. My anger knows no bound when I see kids of well to do families taking this route.
2.  Paying up 30K for a course which is literally taught in elementary classes talks clearly about our education system.

I have been advised by many to provide training on these courses i.e to become a part of this economy system. But interestingly, what we are currently doing at Locus is attacking the root cause - create strong foundations which will help create a stronger elementary base and thus these exams will become as easy for the majority as they were for us.

Thus contrary to everyone's advice we are not working to be part of the system but are rather working to finish off the current eco system in the long run.

What happens in future is a long shot right now but when you are swimming against the current, the challenges are less obvious to the observer. Probability of success is far bleaker than failure. But what drives us today is the mere thought of creating millions of Manish in future for which we have started sowing the seeds.

From Challenges to Crossroads

Since May 18 when we started our Journey of Locus, we have been encountering one challenge after another and surmounting them successfully. But had been extremely unsuccessful in generating a side income even after trying a lot of weird options.

From launching "firstround.in" to trying out with MBA colleges like "Rayat Bahara" (still can't believe it) for visiting faculty positions, have tried out at least one new thing every month. But now, 2015 has brought with it some interesting solutions to this long untackled problem.

I have been offered partnership in an existing school to help it scale to the next level and simultaneously have been also offered to join the team of a leading coaching institute. While the latter is a risk free offer, the former is more challenging as its a greenfield project in an area which I thoroughly love.

Whatever I choose, I really need to work hard which in turn might compromise our project Locus. So, interestingly, the choice is not between a risk free and a high risk offer, its between an offer which can help project Locus grow and which cannot.

While the school project seems to be a more lucrative choice among the two, the choices get balanced again when I am reminded of the unbaked offer made by the coaching institute head of investing in Project Locus.

This Republic Day, I am standing on a crossroad trying to figure out what lies ahead. For the next 1 month at-least I am going to pursue both the options carefully to make a choice which will increase the probability of success of the Project Locus.

And as my Punjabi Inner Self would say unconsciously - Baaki Rabb Raakha!!!

Picking up Pace

With the launch of the Pre-school classes on 8th December 2014, the Project is now fully on the ground and is picking up pace.

Till yesterday i.e. till 11th December 2014, we had 8 confirmed admissions in Pre-school and 4 in progress. In the after-school classes we have a strength of 22 children right now.

The first center is thus gaining momentum and getting strong response. One reason is that we are personally teaching the kids over here which we initially did not want to do.

The next challenge now is to transfer the responsibility slowly to a teach (whom we still need to identify) and the move on to open the next center. We had kept a target of January 2015 for this but still there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

Kishmish

In one of his Hindi classes, Kanav was taking dictation and was given to write "Kishmish", a word he had practiced several times earlier and was a simple one for him.

But when his teacher checked the dictation, she could not control herself and went to the nearby class, where Kanav's former teacher "Kimmi Maam" (who used to teach Kanav in the same class till a week back but was shifted to class 1 recently) was teaching and showed her Kanav's copy.

She immediately came to Kanav's class and showered her love and blessings on Kanav as Kanav, who was in his own deep thoughts had written Kimmi Maam instead of Kishmish.

Chiklets

A few days back when we went shopping to a supermarket (VISHAL), Kanav went straight into the toys section making his selection. When he had selected one, he came to his mom and asked to take the toy home.
His Mom while explaining him about the game, told him that all children should be above 5 years age and Jay was just 3 years yet.
Kanav immediately responded - "Then why don't you get another baby! I would be able to play chiklets then as it needs 3 people to play."

(Chicklets is a game of catch the slowest runner.)

Me and Preeti had a hearty laugh on Kanav's innocent logic.

This has always been like this......

"This has always been like this and will remain like this. 40 years back we also used to talk like the way you do. Then everyone went their way to do the most important thing, earn money. You know my friends who are professors. They were also like you are but now see them. Are they any different from the money making machines?"

This is an excerpt of one of the many breakfast/dinner talks I have with my father. Interesting thing is that I know he is right, I know he wants me to be doing something safer, something which makes money for us. I have not even once rebelled against him now. Seems like I am getting mature. :)

My father subtly is telling me again and again that what you are doing is bound to fail. Possibly! He may be right. But I just have to do what I believe is right, right now and give this project a try. I cannot live in the past and fear for the future. I believe that I am at a juncture in my life where I not only have time on my side, but I also have the right skill set to give this project the best possible shot.

Success and failure is in mathematical terms is a game of probability and from my point of view the probability of our success is a wee bit higher than the failure. Though for my father the probability of failure is "1", i just love him for the way he is still supporting me on every step and I respect his criticism even more than that as it makes me more and more careful.

Activity Day

With response of students being encouraging, have started taking some bold steps. We Conducted a small activity day today(19th Oct 2014). I would count it as bold because, "tution" center conducting these activities is unheard of. This is the relam of schools and we have started breaching it.

The decision was spontaneous without much thought on the execution details. But with 12 hours at hand we prepared well; though a lot of improvisations were made during execution.

I had never thought that a competition can really be fun without anyone really winning it. No prizes no give aways but the fun was double and the real reason was that kids were enjoying and having fun without the anxiousness of winning. 

What this day has done is opened up a completely new avenue for us for Personality development of the child. More thought still needs to be given but just Can't believe it still and can't wait for another activity day.

And yes.....by the way....word has started traveling. :)

Manish Saini

Plans Change and they change fast.....

With the initial response being weak, it has started picking up. From 5 students before the 2nd term test, I have now 10 of them upto class 8th. So word of mouth is spreading and its spreading fast. My theory has started working on ground.

One challenge which we did not envisage was a very strange perception of people -
People (even those who know us well) are not willing to believe that someone as well educated as us can leave there job to set up a camp in a village; and that too to do what? - Teach kids? Things don't work this way. People do everything for money. These people can't be true. There is a hidden agenda. Let us wait and see. It would come out with time.

But what is working in favor is that people have started believing that we really teach well and let they want to use us while we are there.

What this perception has done is made me abandon plans to expand fast in multiple places at once. For if we divert attention and leave major responsibility on someone else, the reputation deterioration would be quick and extremely damaging for the project.

While, I am rendered slow, it will help me focus well and create a really strong working model. A few more ideas have started taking some shape out of this one center -
1. A kids Library.
2. An indoor playing club and training center.
Am still thinking of more............
Manish Saini

Project Bajwara

The eyes are still not in their place and am not able to see clearly even while writing this note. But have to make up for the lost 1 month now very quickly.

The project is now entering an important phase of execution. The most difficult part of creating the curriculum is over. We are now in a relatively easier part of finding a location.

Relatively easy because I know at least something about it. But in reality, finding a location in a completely unknown village is a real big task. There are no "Magicbriks.com" and no "Property agents" in a village.

It is merely going to be good luck to find the right person quickly who can guide us through this phase.

Manish Saini

The Challenge....today

When Nelson Mandela wrote his biography to give a sketch of how he attained freedom, there was a reason he titled it LONG ROAD to freedom. There are no shortcuts, there are no easy ways out and most importantly, the hurdles are insurmountable.

I have just begun this journey but the opening chapter has been enough for me to bring the theory of the books to my real life. 90% of my assumptions have already been trashed. The working model which I thought of has started taking shape but with substantial changes.

The challenge is immense for a newcomer into the industry. But one thing I don’t regret now is the choice of my location of work. Hoshiarpur as a location is working out for me as I have been quickly able to connect to  quiet a few like minded people which promises that even if the journey is not going to be easy, it is also not going to be difficult now.

Lessons learnt from the entrepreneurs I worked with are really helpful. Long back Phani Raj taught me the importance of keeping fit as an entrepreneur. While I continuously work towards it, the recent episode of me and Preeti contracting Toxic conjunctivitis has put us back by almost a month.

The challenge to start 2 centers in October are really in our face now as Nangal Shaidan hose still needs to be vacated and for Bajwara, we have not been able to find a location yet. Only 44 more days to go, we have now folded up our sleeves even though the recovery from the illness is not full yet.