The Curse of the Flying Dutchman

A portent of doom hangs over the dark raging seas. The year is 1641 and the Dutch ship 'The flying Dutchman' is navigating the waters of the Cape of Good Hope on its return journey home to Amsterdam from the Dutch East Indies. The ship is filled with riches and its crew is looking forward to returning home and reuniting with their families after a long voyage. 

Her Skipper, Captain Hendrick Van Der Decken is a man in a hurry to go home.

Mr. Borse is the youngest in the crew and has ended up in the fated ship as a stowaway. Like the rest of the world, the happy go lucky Moroccan has the usual dreams of seeing the world, making money and marrying the girl of his dreams. He is on course to his dreams and is assisting the captain on the bridge, when the 17th Century vessel gets hit by fierce gales and killer waves. 

The fearful crew implores with the captain to head for the safety of the shore and ride out the storm. The captain will have none of it. He takes a swig of rum and contemptuously shakes a fist at the skies and yells "No storm has ever stopped me before and by Jove, it's not going to stop me now".

Howling winds bends the masts and rips the sails, monster waves sends the ship heaving and lurching. The crew finally cracks and there is a mutiny on board. As Mr. Borse looks on in terror, the captain, furious and vengeful, kills the leader of the rebellion and throws the body aboard. That's the end of Mr. Joglekar.

At that point, lightning floods the skies and a shadowy caped specter appears on the ship's deck hovering a few inches over the ground "You are a very stubborn man, Captain".

The Captain replies "I never asked for a peaceful passage, I never asked for anything. So clear off before I shoot you too". The captain draws his pistol and fires.  

The apparition cannot be harmed by a mere bullet and says “for this you are accursed, because of your actions you are condemned to sail the oceans for eternity, with a ghostly crew of dead men.  You will bring death to all who spot your spectral ship and you will never be allowed to make port or know a moment’s peace.”

Defiant to the end the captain replies, “Amen to that.”

Amid the cries of hopelessness and terror of her crew, the Flying Dutchman sinks to a watery grave. The sea has claimed yet another one.

Next day, in the wintery morning, the waters have calmed down and the sun is out in the soft breeze. From the still waters, a ghost ship surfaces from its watery grave. The Flying Dutchman has just started an eternal voyage across the world which will never end. Its life as usual as the gloomy crew of skeletons goes back mournfully to their daily chores of running the ship. They are well aware they are going to break all maritime records.

Mr. Borse puts on his favorite hat sadly and looks on despairingly at his grinning skull in the mirror. He raises his voice to the skies - "I didn't sign up for this. I want to go home!! ". The Dead captain places a fatherly (and a very bony) hand on Mr. Borse's shoulder blades and what is recorded as the understatement of the year 1641 says "Don't worry, all will be well". 

Over the centuries, the ghost ship has traversed the world round and round. The sighting of the Flying Dutchman has been a harbinger of disaster for Mariners. Ships have been led astray into hidden reefs by the ghost ship and sunk. Mariners cross their hearts and nail a horse shoe on their ships mast to ward off the omen of the Flying Dutchman.

So in the near future, if you are out in the ocean look out for a 17th century ship with full masts and a red glow. Look hard and if you see the captain waving a skeletal hand, you know what to do.

Utter a prayer and escape while you can!!!!!

Footnote: It takes whole of 300 years before Mr. Borse is finally (and the only one) released from the ghost ship. He gets reincarnated as a SAP CRM consultant and is now settled in Florida. He has seen the world, made money and married the girl of his dreams - not in that order though. However, from childhood Mr. Borse dreams of phantom ships and cannot understand the lure of the sea which seems to tug at him constantly. But he is afraid...deathly afraid to venture out even to the beach.

And he knows not why :)

The Legend of Eklavya

Destiny stirs uneasily. Eklavya is about to make his first move which will seal his fate forever. The tall wiry young man with his long locks and intense eyes proudly goes up to Drona with folded hands and makes his pitch. "I am Eklavya, the son of Hiranyadhanusha, chief of the Nishada tribe. I want to be the greatest archer in the world. Will you accept me as your pupil?" The master teaches only royalty and contemptuously refuses. Eyes downcast, Eklavya bows his head at this slight but has nothing but devotion to the teacher he will never have.

Refusing to give up on his dreams, Eklavya builds a clay statue of his adopted teacher. With a natural skill in archery combined with a deadly focus towards his art, he starts training. In his heart and soul, Drona is always around, guiding him all the way. As time passes, Eklavya’ s archery skills are that of the gods. And like they say, Practice makes awesome. 

Years pass. The kuru Princes are out on a hunt led by a pack of hounds. One dog picks up the scent of Eklavya practicing close by and goes in for the chase, barking furiously. His concentration disturbed, Eklavya lets loose a lightning volley of arrows and gags the dog's mouth. At that moment the kuru princes bursts into the scene. 

The sight is extraordinary - 7 arrows criss-crossed between the stunned animal's jaws without as much a scratch. Arjuna, the Pandava prince who would go on to be the greatest warrior of the era instantly knows he is in front of a warrior far more skilled than him. Incredulous, he asks Eklavya "From where did you learn to shoot like that?" Eklavya proudly replies - 'Dronacharya'. 

Blinded by jealousy, Arjuna confronts his teacher - 'How could you betray me? You promised to make me the greatest archer in the world'. A perplexed Drona is led to Eklavya. He silently looks at in wonder at his clay statue and Eklavya hitting his targets with deadly precision one after another. One look and he knows Arjuna has met his match. Drona is torn between affection for a student he has never taught and a commitment to make Arjuna the greatest.  Drona embraces Eklavya who is overwhelmed to be acknowledged by his master. 

Drona tells him "You consider me your teacher. As per tradition you have to pay me my due".  Eklavya bows "Whatever you wish, Acharya". Drona looks at Arjuna and says to Eklavya "I want your right thumb as my payment". Eklavya does not miss the look of complicity pass between Drona and Arjuna and knows exactly what is being asked of him. Without the right thumb, you can barely put an arrow to the bow, let alone be a marksman of the sublime level. Without a word,  Eklavya takes a knife and cuts off his thumb at the base and offers it to Drona - the ultimate gurudakshina ever.

That night, long after everyone has gone back to their lives, Eklavya weeps silent tears clutching his mutilated hand in excruciating pain - despairing at the troubled thoughts of what might have been. It was a day of irrevocable losses. Eklavya lost his thumb and with it his dreams. Drona lost a part of his soul. The skies opened up in anguish. That night 3 gods cried. The god of justice, the god of Fair play…. and the god of fate. 

The story does not end here.

The world has forgotten about him but Eklavya rises like the proverbial phoenix. Unwilling to be beaten by life, he again picks up his bow with a steely resolve and re-learns to shoot . Eklavya adapts to his missing digit and goes on to become one of the most feared archers of the time. A warrior will always be a warrior. And where the heart has hope, dreams will always be chased.

Time passes. It is time of conflict between the Kauravas and Pandavas and ancient India is preparing for war. With the drums of war starting to echo across the dusty plains of kurukshetra, it's time to take sides. On eve of the battle, Eklavya offers his services to the Kauravas. Drona is fighting for them. He has sworn to protect his teacher with his life. Besides, Eklavya has never forgiven Arjuna for what he did to him.

Lord Krishna knows thumb or no thumb; Eklavya poses a dangerous threat to Arjuna. He goes to the forest and tries to dissuade him from fighting the war. "This is not your fight. You belong to the forest”. Eklavya refuses to be swayed. Krishna knows he has to act know. He plunges a dagger in the back of the unsuspecting Eklavya. The dying Eklavya falls and gasps for breath - his tortured face searches Krishna for answers to this betrayal. At this point, the lord reveals his dazzling divine form to the unfortunate soul. Not many mortals get this chance. Eklavya's face changes from agony to ecstasy and he says "Lord, I am truly blessed to have the honor of dying at your hands. I just have one wish. My mother should not know any grief on my account". 

With his heart filled with grief, Krishna blesses the fallen warrior "You are a truly noble soul. Future generations will draw inspiration, courage and fortitude from your story. You will be synonymous with these qualities".  Eklavya finally departs from the world, his soul at peace - his spirit unbroken to the end. To keep his promise to Eklavya, Krishna claims the life of his mother as well, to spare her the sorrow of losing a son.

The circle of  destiny is complete.

5000 years later I relive the story of Eklavya with disquiet. In the maze of the epic story of Mahabharata, Eklavya’s story is a blink and miss episode - a collateral damage in a war which claimed countless lives. But he remains one of its most inspiring heroes. I am swept with a sense of crushing heartache at the deja vu of betrayals which Eklavya endured and the unfairness of the world. The questions are troubling. In the fight between darkness and light why did the lord Krishna did as he did. Where did the nobility of Arjuna disappear in face of being faced with real competition for the first time in his life? Most troubling is the role of Drona in the whole story. The lines of good and evil gets blurred here....One can't help but wonder at the vagaries of fate.

Note: There are many versions of how Eklavya died. The one in the above narrative has been taken from Anuja Chandramouli’s  "Saga of Pandava Warrior-Prince Arjuna".

  

The Ganguly Chronicles

Sourav Ganguly -  Picture Wikipedia

In his playing days, Sourav Ganguly rarely sported a smile. Not so now. The greatest ever Indian cricket captain makes his entrance in a dark suit minus the tie with a semblance of a smile at SAPs TechEd 2013 as the Guest Keynote speaker. It's a corporate coup by SAP. Who other than Sourav Ganguly is better qualified to talk about leadership? The man has seen the whole circle of life. The crowd of 7000 plus at Bangalore goes wild. It's apparent that the prince of Kolkata still holds a special place in our hearts. After all, this was the man who single handedly bought in the blade of aggression into the Indian team and took on the world unapologetically. It was all about guts and glory in equal measures.

Sourav is exceptionally articulate and completely at ease with such a big crowd. It's a walk in the park for someone used to hitting those towering sixes in packed stadiums. The clarity of thought is crystal clear. He sticks to the basics. Something we all need reminding at every stage of our lives. "The day you start wearing the white clothes till the day you stop wearing it, the pressure will always be there. And that is the pressure of performance. Those who say they haven't felt the heat at various stages of their lives is either lying or they are in a job that doesn’t demand anything. You wouldn't want to be in a job that doesn’t demand anything".

The prodigiously gifted batsman took up the cricket bat for the first time at a relatively late age of 14 and set school cricket on fire immediately. Five years later, Ganguly made his debut in the Indian One day squad in 1992. He didn't get much of a chance then and finally got his big break on the tour of England in 1996 where he announced his arrival among the big boys with back to back classy test hundreds. In a sport marked by media glare, criticism and continuous scrutiny the biggest challenge was to maintain focus and deliver. "When your start you career, you want to establish yourself. The best way is to create a zone for ourselves. A zone where we block out everything irrelevant. And find our best way to perform. A zone where you become better at what you deliver".  It’s all about self-belief.

In 2000, Sourav Ganguly was named Captain of the Indian Cricket team. "I still remember my first day as captain in the Cochin One-Day International against south Africa. It was a very special day in my life. And I still remember, when I walked into the dressing room there was Azharuddin, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Ajay Jadeja, Javagal Srinath. I still remember my throat trembling as I made my first speech as captain.  Asking those 11 people in the dressing room that I needed this performance from you tomorrow was the toughest day of my life... I had to tell Azharuddin you will bat at no. 4, tell Sachin Tendulkar you will open with me and that’s the way I want you to play." An hour later he was back in his hotel room feeling very unsettled and flipping the TV channels, his mind blank. “My wife asked me what the problem was. I said for the first time in my life I realized that I am a leader of men and I had to make them do things the way I wanted. That team meeting changed him completely. "When I walked out of the room after an hour, I was a completely different player, a completely different person. I realized that tomorrow I will have to walk in front and 15 men will walk behind me”.

To Sourav Ganguly, leadership is about uncompromising honesty and clear communication. "It's a very likeable word that I am the leader, I am the captain of the side. But what goes with it, I wouldn’t say tough but something very complicated. It's very important to make sure you know what you are doing. For me, the biggest and only word to be a successful leader is trust. People around you, your colleagues, and people working under you should have trust. Not everyone will deliver, not everyone will succeed. But at the end of the day they would know whatever I have done, whatever feedback I have got from person who is my boss is a honest one and I can go home knowing exactly where I stand”. He emphasizes that you can only make your team walk behind you consistently over a period of time only if you get their trust. That they believe that this man is honest, and this man does exactly what he says.

Ganguly knew that as a captain, selection was the all-important thing in a player’s career. "When I went to a player and said - I can't pick you or I'll pick you for next 10 games, his world would either crash or his world would lighten up. When you become a leader of a team, it’s very important to make sure you communicate the right thing. If you think he's not part of your team, it's important that you make him believe that. Sometimes this honest true word can make a difference in his life. Because he can go out of the team environment with a realization it’s a sport which is competitive, it’s a sport or world where you have to be better than others. At least he knows I have got an honest opinion from my captain... It’s not that I tell him he is good enough and then go into selection meeting and say he's not good enough and I don’t need him in the team. You make or break or as leader when you do such a thing".

He acknowledges it's not easy. "It’s a tough thing to keep everyone happy, you cannot keep everyone happy. But at same time if you keep yourself truthful, you keep yourself honest, I think you'll make a massive difference to everyone's life. For me that is the biggest thing I learnt when I became the captain of Indian Cricket team".

As a captain, Sourav Ganguly molded a tightly knit fighting unit which took on the opposition with all guns blazing. The mighty Australians, riding on a winning streak of 16 test matches were beaten 2-1 in the historic test series of 2001 where Dravid and Laxman scripted the greatest fight back in cricketing history. In 2003, India reached the world cup finals for the first time since 1983 eventually losing to the Australians. Between 2000-2005, Ganguly went on to captain India in 49 test matches with 21 wins and 13 losses. In this period, he led India in 146 one day internationals with 76 wins and 65 losses.

“Good teams are the key to success. In a team environment, no one man can do the job and win the deal”. Sourav has a word for the corporates - “All people who are in a position to select, position to give jobs in a company must understand that they are not doing anyone a favor. They are doing themselves a favor by picking the right person for the job”.  He adds a word of caution of the dangers of power going to the head. “It’s a very small thing we forget. You get to a position of power, when everyone looks at you and calls you Sir. You reach a point where it’s easy to forget the essence that it is the people around you who keep you powerful ".

The gods of cricket are fickle. What goes up eventually comes down - and hard. And who knows the vagaries of life better than international cricketers. In late 2005, Sourav Ganguly lost his place in the Indian cricket team after a string of poor form and a very public row with a certain Mr. Greg Chappell (whose excellent coaching methods would have probably worked better for the Indian football team). Rahul Dravid was given the reins of the Indian cricket and Sourav Ganguly was left in the cold.  It was 10 months before he found his way back in the Indian team as a batsman on the tour to South Africa. One can only imagine how difficult it is at the age of 34 having to fight for your place in the same team which you have led to glory for 5 years. The learning curve must have been harsh and the adjustment - a nightmare.

His comeback in 2006 was the stuff dreams are made up of and a testament to his skill and character. On how he felt about coming face to face with Greg Chappell again in the make or break series - "What made it easier, I knew exactly where I stood with the coach and that was a good thing. I knew it was all on me. I performed, I stayed – I didn’t perform, I perished. It’s sometimes good in everyone’s life to have the cushion around you removed. I was out of my comfort zone. It actually worked for me because I realized I couldn’t afford to make a mistake".  And perform he did. Though India lost the South Africa series, Sourav accumulated the highest runs on the tour.  Ganguly soon got back his place in the one day squad and regained his Midas touch with the bat. In 2007, the run machine scored 1106 test runs with 3 centuries and 4 fifties. He also scored 1240 runs in the ODIs.

In 2008, at the age of 36, Sourav Ganguly announced his retirement ahead of the test series in Australia. In the 4 test series captained by Dhoni, Ganguly sailed out into the cricketing sunset in a blaze of glory, scoring 324 runs including one final century in Mohali with the Indian team winning the series 2-0.  It was a befitting end to a glittering career of 113 test matches and 311 ODIs  which put him firmly in the hall of cricketing greats and a million hearts.

Ganguly stresses how important it is to deal with the other side of the hill. "Another phase of our life which we all go through when you finish at the top and get back to reality. You start; get to top and after a period of time you get back again down. That doesn’t change for anyone. For all of us, that’s a massive adjustment we have to make. It's even a bigger adjustment than when you became the leader of a group. The biggest realization is when you know that you are no longer the captain. That's where the real test of character starts. To accept the situation - and react to it. The cleverest thing to do is to let the other person take over. Whoever is your boss, create an environment he takes over, so that he feels unchallenged. If he feels challenged, you won’t be around for long time. You have to realize that - this is where I stand, this is what I need to do, this is my job and I have to deliver. That’s another huge part of professionalism and huge part of finding a solution. It's a tough thing, but then all of us have to do it. I have seen everyone doing it and in the future everyone will keep doing it."

The impact that Dada has left with his words is overwhelming. It is amongst the truly inspiring speeches I have ever been privileged to attend. Sadly, that is so rare in a world where most managers/bosses are anything but inspiring and have little clue of leading from the front.

A Date with the Grand Canyon

  

A lone tree stands tall in the Mojave Desert

The summer of 2009 was among my most memorable ever. A trip to the US, night outs of bone jarring raw hard work and a spectacular adventure called the Grand Canyon. Stationed out of Santa Ana, California, after 6 weeks of continuous work and doggone weary and sleep deprived, I finally get a weekend off. Given a choice between Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon, I easily opt for the latter. There is something about the wilds that gives peace to the soul. From Santa Ana to the Grand Canyon's south rim in Arizona is somewhere near about 400 miles and almost 9 hours of drive. Most of the ride is through the Mojave Desert. The roads are smooth and the desert ride is delightful. Nowhere in the world can one feel the taste of freedom as you do in the USA. You can just take off in a rented car and traverse for hundreds of miles, living in lonely motels in middle of nowhere and stuff yourself on a healthy diet of French fries, burgers and coke. You also get to spend quality time with yourself...To me, that is living a dream. 

The Mystique of the Canyon

I read up on the Grand Canyon. The canyon has been carved by the Colorado River a lot many years back. Maybe a million. And boy what a carving. 10 miles wide and a couple of miles deep in the ground and a few hundred miles in length. Its late afternoon by the time we check in at a hotel a few miles away from the Canyon. There is an awesome I-MAX theater that plays a 30 minute clip on the history of the Grand Canyon. It's a story of the early pioneers who dared to explore the canyon. The movie is wistful and very lifelike on the gigantic I-Max screens.

The trip to the rim of the canyon is filled with woods. We park the car and take off in a bus to various points overlooking the canyon. The view across the Grand Canyon is staggering. The sheer vastness and scale is unlike anything I've ever seen before. Miles and miles of jagged mountain peaks and valleys. The sun hits the Canyon Mountains and sends showers of dazzling rays of red, brown and gold. I am mesmerized. We go from one point to another soaking in the sight. Late in the evening, we watch the sun setting in the canyon. As the sun sinks beyond the peaks, the skies are washed with gold and smoke. I close my eyes and utter a prayer. This is the closest I've come to seeing god. I sit alone with my thoughts for a long time.

The Hiking Trail in the Canyon

Next day, we set off for a 5 km trek into the Grand Canyon. The trail is well laid out and the walk down the canyon is a song. If the view from the top was spectacular, hiking inside the canyon is something else. The air is still, it's warm and the views close up of the ridges and valleys in the canyon is awesome. It's spread miles and miles. A lone eagle glides in low and silently from the sky. It's evident we are in middle of a once in a lifetime experience. Immersed in the magic, we walk on at least a mile and a half beyond the original plan. Soon, there is not a soul in sight. We are in the wilds. No phone signals. No shade. No emergency services. No Nothing. One can glimpse the Colorado River far below. We decide not to push our luck further and turn back. Within 5 minutes, I realize we are in trouble. Walking down is one thing. Climbing back is entirely something else. The air is thin and one runs out of breath in less than 5 minutes. The climb back is an endurance test and full of pit stops. We have run out of water long back. Finally 5 hours after we started, we are back up where we started. As I double over gasping for air, a sign stares at me - Do not underestimate the Grand Canyon!!  Sigh, I’ve never learned to read signs in time.

The trip back to Santa Ana is nice and uneventful. I am tired, happy and completely tanned brick red from the Arizona sun. With the fresh memory that brings a smile on the face and a song on the lips, I am ready for yet another day...

A Glimpse of the Colorado River

A hike to Cedar Ridge

Mules !!!

Quite a distance from South Rim

The Magic of the sunset at the Canyon

My tryst with my first batch of CRM SETs

2005. The year unfurled with 3 new babies making a cautious entry into the SAP world (There were 4 actually, but we shall stick to 3). It was the time when we formally started the SAP CRM practice with induction of these SETS (software Engineer trainees). Being a new technology at the time and no experience within the organization, the goal was to build the technology competency. There we were,

three complete rookies in their first job and me closeted in classroom mode trying to figure out SAP CRM for the next 6 months.

My first CRM SETs was a curious study of contrasting personalities. The oldest of the lot, Sarabjeet Gulati (Sabby) from Punjab, stern, hardworking and focussed was whole of 25 at the time, Julius Pereira, a stylish dude from Goa with a great sense of fun and gloom was 24. The baby of the batch was Sharif Inamdar, from Nagpur and a born charmer was all of 23. The first few days saw sabby quietly dozing off after lunch (till a firing on valentine's day saw him go wide awake for the rest of the days).

The next few months turned out to be amongst the most eventful and delightful time one can ever hope for. Spending 8 hours a day in the classroom, we would touch on every topic under the sun (apart from SAP, that is) - so the discussions went on touching life, marriage, friendships and the like. Between the fun, songs, stories, philosophy, scores of photoshoots, dinners, movies, birthday celebrations (and lots of scoldings) we also learnt SAP CRM at a breakneck speed. The defining moment came on July 26th 2005, the day mumbai went under torrential rains. While the whole company was trapped in the deluge and panicking , the CRM team was busy training at 8 pm till the lights went out :)

All good things eventually come to an end, and from training my SETs moved on to projects steadily honing their skills with time. In the next couple of years, all my three SETS became experts and one by one said goodbye to pursue their destinies in life. Today, Sabby and Julius are in the USA and Sharif left and has since joined back my team. As the years went by, the teams changed and grew, flourished and changed in profile.  But, through time and distance my first SETs will always be my favorites and remembered with a lot of love and warmth for just being themselves and for creating that magic in 2005.



Sarabjeet Singh

Sharif Inamdar and Julius Pereira