Giving back to the culture and civilisation we come from while giving forward to communities to build a better world is not an act of greatness or kindness but an offering of gratitude! — None of us are ever self-made! We all stand on the shoulders of people and ideas before us…our parents, business leaders (who’ve been-there-done-that), friends, mentors and coaches. Standing on their shoulders we are given an opportunity to see farther than what they saw. …

An attempt to dispel negative narratives around M&As — “बिक गयी <company>” (‘<company> has been sold’), i heard one of my co-workers state rather condescendingly about an M&A of a mid-sized Indian company that was being discussed. In developed economies like the US or UK, mergers and acquisitions are commonplace. …

Instead of inducting Chhatrasal Bundela as a Commander in his Army, Shivaji encouraged him - an 18 year old boy - to free his motherland from the Turks which led to a 40-year relentless asymmetric war against Aurangzeb — Chhatrasal Bundela’s father died fighting the most bigoted among the Turkic-Mongol (Mughal) rulers of India — Aurangzeb. He was 16–17 years old then. Bundelkhand came under Mughal rule and with it so did Chhatrasal.

A manager’s job is *not* to ensure the task is done, the task is done on time, the task is done with quality! Then what the heck is a manager’s job? — In June 2020 i signed up for an 8-month business excellence course led by one of India’s top-rated business coach — Rahul Jain. He coaches large groups of 200+ business leaders in each of such programs. Bizarre, right? The purpose of this post, however, is not to discuss how he…

Until 2019, Indian businesses had to pay 20.7% tax if they announced dividends to benefit shareholders. The post-covid ‘reform’ has actually decreased the efficiency of dividends by increasing taxation to 43% in hands of entrepreneurs. — As an entrepreneur, i run a clean business. We show our costs cleanly, follow all the rules, including state laws — which are sometimes very hard to navigate, pay our taxes. …

Lazy thinking fights reality. Lazy thinking tries to create utopian societies. Lazy thinking tries to expect behaviours from people they may not be capable of — Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had once acknowledged that for every rupee that the Govt of India spends, only Rs. 0.14 (or 14 Paise) reaches the intended beneficiary. The rest is eaten up mid-way in both corruption and in inefficiencies.

Most of us look for inspiration for us to act. The answer to achieving greatness in life & work may however lie in ‘doing’. — Most of us do not have grand ideas about the purpose of our life. Most of us do not have a grand vision for our businesses or our careers. Most of us don’t know what to make of our lives or what outcomes are we working towards. And so we…

Srijan wins the prestigious Acquia Engage Award 2020 under the category “Open Source Giants” — One of my colleagues wrote this to me on Slack: From a small startup struggling to pay the rent to “Open Source Giant”! You must be really happy RD Congratulations Way to go! This was a really touching note which came in earlier today. Sometimes in the day-to-day focus you…

How Srijan has managed to retain a “Great Places To Work” certification for four years in a row? — For the 4th year in a row, Srijan has been certified as a Great Places To Work company from India. This time we conducted the survey bang in the middle of the COVID year with pay-cuts and uncertainties abound in the business.