Leadership

It is utterly disgraceful to see our Prime Minister hogging on the time and celebrations of ISRO sidelining the ISRO chief Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, who patiently waited on the side looking on. I really appreciate our PM being there at ISRO on the historical day to share the joy and pride of every India. And as for ISRO, it is a great compliment to share their success with the most important man of the nation.  His presence at ISRO cut all the wagging tongues across the world, who thought, space missions are not India’s priority owing to the nation’s poverty levels.  

Coming back to our Prime Minister’s speech at ISRO, I still think a true leader should let go of the accolades and focus on sharing and not on hogging. A lot of my friends beg to differ with me when it comes to our beloved Prime Minister. I thought I owe them an explanation, so I am sharing something that is linked with ISRO’s history. I am sure my learned friends know this, but I assure them that this will be a refreshing perspective.

I am a big fan of former Indian President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, who shared his own experience of encountering a true leader, in one of his interviews. He narrated an incident of his days in ISRO during the launch of SLV-3 where he was the Project Director of the mission. During the 2^nd phase of the launch, there was a problem and with the team of experts’ advice, he bypassed the computer and launched the second phase, which turned out to be a disastrous decision and the mission failed. As a project director he was about to meet the media persons to share the news of the failure.  That was the time, he recalled, how Prof. Satish Dhawan, Chairman of ISRO then, took the responsibility of sharing the disastrous news with the world media and owning the fault, as a leader of ISRO.

Subsequently in the next year ISRO's mission was successful and when everyone was expecting the Chairman of ISRO to share the news to the media, Prof. Dhawan asked Dr. Kalam to address the media and share the good news. Dr. Kalam recites this incident in his interview, on how a leader should treat success and failure. Prof. Dhawan owned the responsibility of failure and let his team share the success in the said mission. A sign of a true leader without doubt.

(The link to the video by Dr. Kalam is given here  http://youtu.be/laGZaS4sdeU?t=8m45s)

I believe, I do not have to go into details and content of the 23 minutes extended speech of our beloved Prime Minister, who left little room for ISRO scientists to share their success with the world.  It is not my intention to criticize an elected national leader on everything he does or not. I do admit he did get a few things right, but his silence on the Godhra riots, repeatedly defending his position, claiming innocence citing the clearance given by the Special Investigative Team appointed by the Supreme Court of India and his stoic silence when he encountered the questions from some segments of media about the moral responsibility, all sums up to the absence of the real leader within him. And now the lengthy speech at ISRO, I see this as a disturbing sign in a leader who is responsible for taking decisions on behalf of the entire nation. Not a comforting thought.

ISRO churned out some great leaders like Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, Prof Dhawan, Dr. Kalam, who stood taller than politicians in terms of leadership. Least we could do is acknowledge their scientific brilliance in a respectful manner, rather than beating our chests by claiming their hardwork and perseverance as our own. I recall my father, who served as a scientist in Department of Space at NRSA, saying that ‘we launch satellites on shoe-string budgets’. I did not understand the weight of the statement as a kid, but now I could see the pain he felt as a scientist when the rest of the world thought that space research was not India’s domain.

ISRO’s scientific community busted all the myths and doubts that plagued our minds about attaining success through minimum resources. I salute each and every person at ISRO who made us look up and swell in pride for being Indian.  As to our Prime Minister and all his ardent fans, all I have to say, please do not make ‘Leadership in Politics’ an oxymoron.  

Neeti Chandrika

I remember mom telling me stories from Neeti Chandrika when I was little and shared her own experience, by applying the line from the very same book for an essay writing contest at her school. The line goes like this… ఎవ్వాడు జీవింప ననేకులు జీవింతురో, వాని మనుగడయే మనుగడ.... It means ‘one’s life is not significant, unless he is useful to humanity’. A very profound statement which explains the gist of living. Needless to say she won the first prize as started her essay on Mahatma Gandhi with this line. When I asked her how she related the line from a small story in Neeti Chandrika to Mahatma Gandhi, she said her father gave her the clue. I was amazed at the connection how wisdom is passed across generations and eventually to us, through simple stories that we Indians often take for granted.

I wouldn’t take full credit of acquiring such wisdom as I seldom paid heed to Mom. Now I living far away from her and the only connection I have is the daily telephone conversation, she did not stop passing on the wisdom she inherited from her elders. Each time I hang up the phone, I am super charged with energy to do something. How far I am able to translate that into something useful is another thing, but the motivation is clearly felt.

Today is one such day that I started off after talking to Mom.  I found an email from Chitra, a very enterprising girl I know from Hyderabad who is always keen to learn and teach. Chitra and Anjali are friends from Hyderabad who tagged along with me to visit the girls housed at MV Foundation hostel. During my days in Hyderabad, Chitra and Anjali were quite helpful in teaching the kids, team building games, telling stories with morals and organising medical camps at the MV Foundation hostel for rescued child workers. Both girls believe in holistic education. So when they visit the girls, they ensure that the stories they tell these kids have a moral at the end of it. We all heard these stories from our grandparents and parents when we were little. But for the girls at MVF, our young ladies Chitra and Anjali fill the void.

Now they carry on the tradition without me and keep passing on the positive changes that they are able to make and bring me the stories from homeland which works as a magic potion for me across the miles to derive inspiration. Thank you Chitra.

The content of Chitr’s email was a video link to a success story of a girl, Malliswari, who realised her dream to be a camera woman. She worked in the agricultural fields as a child worker to support her family, discovered by MV Foundation volunteers who enrolled her in the girls’ hostel to pursue education. The video is a narration of her journey as a child labourer to being the first Camera Woman in Andhra Pradesh state. She now is a positive role model to the rest of the girls at the hostel who look up to her. Please find the link to the video here.

Chitra, Anjali, Malliswari all three girls in my life bring a lot of hope and encouragement by sharing their stories. I am glad they found me and vice versa. Mom tells me that every person in our lives have a reason for being there. Some we spend only a few moments, yet leaving their lasting impression. I am compelled to share these positive stories after a friend who follows my blogs, enquired what I am up to these days. He encouraged me to write in the first place and is my constructive critic. I realised I haven’t shared anything positive since I came to Calgary dwelling in self and complaining about how much I miss my friends and India. I am glad I am bestowed with such good friends who motivate me and many others. So, here is to you my friends, across the miles, for rescuing me… ఎవ్వాడు జీవింప ననేకులు జీవింతురో, వాని మనుగడయే మనుగడ.... ధన్యోస్మి.

Note: There are 11.9 million children in India in the age group of 5-13 years who are denied the right to education as per official statistics. The number is appallingly high if one looks at the unaccounted figures. MV Foundation is an organisation rehabilitating these children and puts them in school. On an average MV Foundation spends Rs. 2,500 (US$ 40) on each child per month to restore their childhood, ensure proper education and instil values of life. I request you to help the organisation in anyway you can and by spreading the word. Thank you. For more information please visit http://mvfindia.in/

Note 2: For those who can read Telugu- here is a link to Neeti Chandrika. http://www.andhrabharati.com/strI_bAla/index.html