Author: S Ramesh Shankar

Born in Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India, I have been brought up in different parts of India. Graduate in chemistry and post graduate in personnel management and industrial relations. Have been a HR practitioner for 38 years in the industry and have experience in working in steel , automobiles, FMCG and engineering industry. Was head of HR for Siemens in South Asia based out of Mumbai till March 2019. Currently founded hrishti - joy forever, a social enterprise to give back to society and work as Chief Joy Officer.

Ideas for a “Sustainable future”

Dear friend,

At the outset, let me wish you and your near and dear ones a happy, healthy and prosperous new year. 

I have always wondered what could be my new year resolution every year. This year I thought I could think of 12 practical ideas to live sustainably every day. I am trying my best to practise them in my life. These are not difficult ones to follow but does require discipline and intent

1. Have a bath with one bucket of water: I was used to having my bath in a shower everyday and enjoyed doing it. I did not realise that I was wasting four to five buckets of water everyday for a bath till a friend told me so. I then decided to forget the shower and use a bucket of water to have my bath every day. This way I am not only able to conserve water for the future generations but feel less guilty since there are millions around the world who do not get enough water even to drink and cook. I do use the shower occasionally when I am travelling but it is worth trying.

2. Dont honk while driving your car or scooter: I was quite used to blowing the horn liberally in my car and scooter since the time I started driving almost four decades back. However about ten years back I attended a programme on defensive driving at Panchgani and learnt that driving without honking is possible and it further makes you drive more safely. I have since been practising the same except in emergencies. It is a feasible idea and worth trying.

3. Switch off all lights and fans, which are unnecessary: We are lucky to have 24 x 7 power supply in our homes today. However there are millions around the world who are not as privileged as we are. Further, if we conserve power it is power saved and may be useful for those who do not get it from the grid especially in rural areas. It is a simple idea to switch off lights, fans and all appliances when not needed. This way we can conserve energy for others.

4. Take the public transport atleast once in a way: We all  aspire to drive our own car or bike to work or at leisure and it is fun to do so.  However, apart from consuming precious fossil fuel, we also pollute the environment and increase our carbon footprint. It may be a good idea to take a bus or metro or train once in a while. This way we can contribute to promoting a cleaner environment for our kids.

5. Walk instead of driving to the shop nearby: We have the habit of taking our scooter or car even to places near our home or work for small errands. It may be helpful to walk instead of taking our bike or car. This way we not only make the environment greener but also improve our fitness. Our lifestyle today does not give us enough time or motivation to exercise every day. This can even be supplemented by taking the stairs instead of the lift at work and at home.

6. Use solar power to generate the power you need: Our electrical energy needs are increasing by the day. We are increasingly using multiple appliances for our lives. So, it may be worthwhile to generate enough power for our daily consumption. Roof top power through solar is an easy option to install and maintain. This way you can produce enough power through solar energy for your daily needs and save fossil fuels for the future generations.

7. Recycle organic waste and make compost: It is possible to collect and recycle organic waste in our homes through a simple and sustainable process of composting. It is possible today not only in independent homes but also in flats and apartments with simple to use bins and thereby save the environment of avoidable garbage all around us.

8. Do not waste food while you eat even at home: We are lucky to get a full meal three times a day. We have our breakfast, lunch and dinner without fail. However, we sometimes tend to waste a lot of food at home and more so when we eat outside. If we remember that there are millions of people especially children going hungry around the world every single day, we may avoid wasting food. All the food we waste can feed many hungry people around the world. It may be worthwhile to promise to oneself not to waste food from today and share it with others if it is surplus for you and your family needs.

9. Plant one sapling around you and take care of it: Many of us are not privileged to live in our own home even today. Even those who live in our own homes do not live in independent homes and have a garden to plant a tree. But it may still be worthwhile to plant a tree at home , work or in a public place or park and take care of it. Every tree we plant helps us clean the air and protect the environment for our future.

10. Donate one old set of clothes for every new one you buy: All of us love to go shopping. I have been no exception. However, over the last few years I learnt an idea of donating at least one set of clothes for every new one I buy for myself or my spouse. In the beginning, it was tough as all of us are very possessive of all that we have but as I grew up I realised that it may be a good idea to share my possessions with others, who are not as privileged as I am.

11. Never throw garbage around: We are in a consumption world today. We consume a lot of packaged food and most of the stuff we buy are in packaged form. We generally tend to use the things or consume the food and throw away the garbage in form of plastic or other materials. It may be a worthwhile to minimise throwing garbage around and recycle whatever is possible. If we are able to help segregate garbage in a scientific way, it may help us save the planet.

12. Carry a cloth bag for shopping : Shopping is not only a habit but a contagious one for many of us. We tend go around shopping even when there is no specific need to do so. Further, we dispose all the plastic carry bags all around us and pollute the environment. It may be nice if we carry a cloth bag whenever we go out for shopping. This way we can avoid plastic bags and save the environment too.

Let our lives bloom like this colourful flower( as in the photo above) in the new year.

I would recommend that each one of us can try practising one new idea every month. We may sometimes fail but that is ok as long as our intent is to learn from our own failures. Let us together create a sustainable future for our kids.

S Ramesh Shankar

3rd Dec 2022

Forgetfulness…

I have always wondered as to why people are forgetful. Some are forgetful from childhood and others like me have become forgetful as I grew older. Some creative people are considered forgetful. I am not sure as to what makes people forgetful.

My spouse has been forgetful for quite some years now. So, this defies the logic that forgetfulness is linked to one growing older. I have seen my college professor being very forgetful. He was a genius but not very creative. So the link between creativity and forgetfulness is also not always established.

My grandson who is ten years old is very creative but not at all forgetful. So all our theories on “forgetfulness” has to be forgotten. We need to believe that anyone and everyone can be forgetful and nothing wrong being so.

I wonder why we are forgetful. Some of us genuinely forget while some others fake forgetfulness. Either way forgetfulness embarrasses us more than anything else. We forget to brush our teeth before our morning coffee. We may forget our bath before going to work or forget our breakfast before leaving home.

We may forget to drop our kids to school and put our family in distress. We may forget to keep our timelines at work or commitments to other stakeholders. Every way we learn from these incidents every day. However, some of us learn and change while others continue to forget the same way.

Many of us may remember that we forgot to do our home work in school. Most of us would have faked this excuse to our teachers and would have gotten away a few times. But life does teach us that that the more we fake to others the more we betray ourselves.

We can expect from others what we deliver. If we forget on our commitments to family, friends, suppliers or customers, we may realise sooner than later that they may do the same to us in return. Every thing which goes around, comes around in life.

All of us may have used the “forgetfulness” card at home, school or the work place some time or the other. It is fine to try those pranks and learn from it. However, if we make this prank a habit, we tend to lose more than others in our lives.

I personally feel that there is nothing wrong in being forgetful as long as we don’t fake it. It is human to forget things and there are many ways to remind us as to why we forget things in life.

The earlier we realise this basic tenet of life, the easier life becomes for us. If we don’t we can continue to be knowingly forgetful and be ready for others in our lives to be as forgetful as us or even more.

Let us remember not to deliberately forget from today and if we do, we lose in life more than others. If we forget unknowingly, it is human and anyone will forgive us for that.

Let us forget to forget, knowingly from today.

S Ramesh Shankar

Management lessons from our cricket victory in Australia

I am a fan of cricket but do not claim much knowledge about the game . I have been in the corporate world for almost four decades and believe that we have lessons to learn from any sport for us. I was fortunate to witness on TV this historic victory in Brisbane, where India defeated Australia after more than three decades on this ground.

I have tried to summarise the lessons organisations and individuals can learn from this fabulous victory. This can enable ordinary individuals like us and organisations to turnaround from any crisis situation.

1. Failure can teach you more than success: After India lost to Australia in Adelaide and were bundled out for 36, many critics had written the team off. This happens to us in real life too. A big failure can lead many of our well wishers to lose faith in our abilities. It may also lead to demoralisation. This incident reinforces that failure can teach you more lessons than success. The lowest score by any Indian team in an innings was enough to wake them up and resolve to look forward and excel in the next three tests.

2. Leaders lead from the front: After our captain returned to India due to personal reasons, we were led by a young unassuming leader. He not only led from the front by hitting a century in the next test but also gave space and encouragement to his team members to give in their best to the team.

3. Every crisis can bring out the best in you: This humiliating defeat in Adelaide was a great wake up call for all the team members. They literally rose from the ashes and conquered. The resolve to win and give their best was seen in every movement of the players. Every individual was not only giving his best but also was enabling each other to excel.

4. Team work produces greater results then individual brilliance: While every team has individual players who are excellent, it is established through this win that team work provides better results than individual brilliance. A leader needs to work like a conductor in a symphony orchestra so that he is able to get the best out of every team member.

5. Focus and commitment enables you to get over adversaries: We had some players being abused racially. This is not only deplorable but unacceptable. However, these players not only gave their best but responded to the abuses by speaking through their ball and the bat rather than abusing back to the irresponsible spectators.

6. Nobody is indispensable in any organisation: There were only two or three players who played all the four test matches. This happened more by default due to injuries rather than by design. This however re-established the fact the nobody is indispensable in any organisation leave alone a cricket team.

7. Merit alone leads you to success: While many people still believe that success eludes those who do not have resources or necessary connections in life. At least four players in this team, who hail from humble backgrounds have proved that merit alone determines your success in life. Hard work can take you wherever you want to reach in life.

8. Resources are only means to an end and not an end in itself: The limited resources of the some of the players in the team before they played for the country did not deter them from excelling. This means that resources are only a means to an end and not an end in itself. We can succeed even with limited resources if we are determined to do so.

9. Critics can demoralise you but cannot prevent you from winning: While almost the whole cricketing world including the so called pundits had written the team off after the Adelaide loss, they proved that critics can only make you more determined to win. This is equally true in organisations if we take the criticism into our stride and learn from the mistakes of the past and move to on we can give our best in the future.

10. Humility gains more respect : A leader who leads from the front and is calm and humble gets you great results. This victory has proved that humility is still a great virtue for a leader to possess especially to tide over a crisis and lead the team to victory literally from the ashes.

I learnt a lot from this episode as an individual and I hope organisations, teams and individuals do the same as we reflect and rejoice on the Indian team’s historic victory down under.

As in the photo above, one can learn from every sport in the world even sitting outside the fence.

Failures can lead you to greater success if we convert a crisis into an opportunity.

S Ramesh Shankar

22nd Jan 2021