Wednesday, October 12, 2011

AND THE THREE MEN I ADMIRE MOST

"And the three men I admire most,
The father, son and the holy ghost" - American Pie Song Lyrics

Well there is no father or son or holy ghost but this blog is exclusively about three men I met last October 6th and whom I admire the most for that they have given me and what I learnt from them.

Last October 6th, I landed in Mexico and was called upon to office and been there, on that very day, I met these three men and forever these will be etched in my memory and my mexico stint as an onsite coordinator is the best professional thing that ever happened to me. I was there from October 6th 2010 till May 6th 2011 and I relished every bit of it professionally.

These 3 men, vary very much in personality and in their execution and even professional beliefs but still they have taught me one thing "Believe in yourself and just do it" and this is what I exactly did all through the while.

1. His name is Srinivas Lakshman (I better make it Shrinivas as he stresses on SH), the HTS Sub director, who was my client before I knew him and now I would say he is a Godfather kind of person to me and yes I can simply call him a POWERHOUSE, who has given me the best professional advice I ever received that was to stay focus on work, "bas kaam karo baaki sab hojaayega" was what he used to tell me and it meant a lot to me and even now it means a lot.

I was so happy in his company and he backed me up for everything, be it for solving issues or going after the non performing teams, I still remember what we used to talk in the project Bravo when few other teams did not do what they were supposed to and he used to just go laughing about it. Also, I can still hear the wobbling of his voice when in one bravo status call he just put it like "this is our one chance, if we have to it should be this october end, else it will be tough, guys I am just telling you this, one final chance we have" I least expected such a modulation from a man who is know for his strength and that call made me adore him more for his passion for work more than anything else.

Yes, he was a powerhouse and he still is and I shall rever him for that, only if had not been there for Bravo and for the other projects, they woud have not met the deadlines they were supposed to. I have never met a client who is as passionate and devoted for his work as he is. Also, the way he used to get things done is just stupendous, he can push you to any extent to just get it done. Man for many he was a tough guy and for me I took it like it was my responsibility to do it and if I am being pushed then let me challenge myself if I can deliver and I must say that if not for anyone, I used to work only to deliver it to him, what this man had done to me is what no one else could do or even do it. He backed me in the toughest of situations and I in gratitude had to do the simplest of the things, that is to do my job and that is what I learnt, when you do your job all else will fall in place.

Of all that, there was only one aberration that I myself caused by dropping him a mail when he is requested for discipline I still think it was a grave mistake for doing a thing that was completely uncalled for. Srini sir, I completely and sincerely apologize for that all thru my life.

Even I liked the way he used to call me "Kaminey" over the phone, it was like a dearest friend calling you and indeed he is one of the greatest friends I have, though we talk less we still substantiate our friendship and I respect it very much. He says after advising me, "I am just telling you, but you may not like this" and in reality I liked his every advice and to very great extent followed it coz those were the most viable professional advices I ever got.

No gratitude, how much ever I show shall fall short of what Srini has done for me and I shall ever be grateful for. Sir, please apologize me if ever I had hurt you. I shall always be indebted for your trust and faith in me and hope that again I will be given a chance to stand for that. It was my utmost pleasure working with you and given a chance will work for you again.

2. Prashant Tayal, my Capgemini manager whom I met on the first day in mexico, just to convey my wish of quitting the organization and he was the first manger whom I met approved it and said, boss yes please do it. Now, neither did I quit nor did I come back soon but the way he conveyed and backed the team and all the onsite coordinators is something I never looked in any of the managers all my career. Most mangers work on the line "work according to what client says, he dictates, we follow" and Prashant "Senor" as I fondly called him said "Client is the boss, but no need to push ourselves, lets push back the clients" now this should an intent that I had not seen prior to this. It was clear, that we have to work for a certain number of hours and not more, and the whole intention was to protect the work-life balance for every associate under him. Man, he honestly tried it in every sense and achieved it in his own way to an extent.

I have never seen a manager who said "Escalation is a tool to get things done" or "Do what you think is right even if its against few people and never think of consequences" or "Never worry what you hear or think of what you see, be worried and think of what you do". He indeed was a people's manager and that's what is an unlikely characteristic, he may not be like by the core management guys, be he will surely be liked by those who are under him and I have my utmost respect and admiration for him.

Also, I had not seen any other indian speaking Spanish so authentically as he did. It was very great working with you and Muchas Gracias Senor for being there helping me out deal with things.

3. Sumeet Biyani, now he was in fact the first of the guys whom I met and who took me to HSBC Torre office, the war room where I met Srini Sir and the bravo team. He was a man behind me for many things, firstly to understand how mexico work environment is, and how exactly you have to get things done. I learnt one thing and in fact the most important thing "If you know how to do it, then do it if you do not know then you must know who will do it". He helped me a lot technically to setup the major connectivities in Bravo project and providing me right contacts and time to time making me realize what my responsibility and thus, finally all this enabled me to achieve the common goal which was successful execution of project. Without him, I would not got in touch with Akash Tayade, (a great man, whom did not have the pleasure to meet yet but will look forward to the same) who was th man behind the unix automation (and yes there was another guy Rajesh Madaye who was very instrumental too). Also, he provided direction for me to establish connectivities between mainframes to facilitate the data flow.

After bravo project, he was made my functional line manager by Srini Sir, and it was the right thing to do so coz I respected him for his knowledge of the system and his way of doing things, though very strict and tough to follow was very result oriented and a successful one. Before him being the manager, there was a lot of noise between me and my offshore management but once he took over, I was happy to be silent coz he handled it and I just had to abide by what he said.

He was in fact on the right side and always used to tell me "forgive and forget, leave all that to me" he took care of every heat that was pointed to me and always defended me for which I am very grateful. He at times differed from me too and what he did was right thing, coz I was way too fickle and unfocussed at that time and thats where his wisdom worked. He was the most wise dealer of people, who used to tell something straight but in the politest of the manner "agar kisi ko maarna hai, toh makkhan lagaake maaro" he told me once and what that actually meant, I learnt it later on.

Sumeet Anna, it was of tremendous help working with you and shall always relish the time we have been together. Yes, he also was the guy who took me to first Mexican Pub and used to call me up whenever he was going.

So this was about the three men I cherished most working and shall be in my memory forever.

There are many great friends whom I met as a part of my endeavor in mexico like Muthu, Prasobh, Sunita, Swaroop, Swapnil,  and many others but these three are the ones I worked with the most and respect the most. I deeply thank everyone who was acquainted to me and made my trip to mexico, the most memorable one.

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