A Happy New Year and a Happy New You..

CitizenSBI Blog Wishes You 

A Very Happy, Joyous 

and Fulfilling New Year! 

Touching human lives with laughter

By Jagat Singh Bisht

 Jagat and Radhika Bisht

During the last hundred days, we (Radhika, my wife, and me) have laughed with more than a thousand people. It has really been a life changing experience! We are now proud to have a life skill with us with which we can connect to any group of people anywhere, anytime and make them laugh unconditionally. We feel cheerful throughout the day. The life is full of joy. We have converted our bodies into factories that utilize oxygen from the atmosphere, rejuvenate each and every cell of our system and manufacture feel good endorphins. We are as healthy and energetic as one can be, touch wood, and have not taken any medication since we turned Laughter Yogis. We feel deeply fulfilled as we are instruments of happiness and health for others and are able to touch their lives with a new joyous way of life. Our lives now have a meaning and a mission – to make others happy and healthy!

I had my tryst with Laughter Yoga one fine morning in Mumbai, more than a decade ago. Dr Madan Kataria and Madhuri Kataria, the founders of laughter yoga, were leading a laughter session in Lokhandwala park. The experience was simply out of the world! I had to wait for more than a decade after that. In the month of October this year, Radhika and myself, along with more than 20 laughter professors from all over the globe, were baptised by Dr Kataria himself at Bengaluru.We have never looked back after that..

We run two laughter clubs – the Suniket Laughter Club and Laughter Club of State Bank Learning Centre, Indore - regularly. Here are some experiences shared by the members..

Let us begin with ourselves. The pain in my knee joints is a thing of the past. I get up early in the morning every day and work till late in the night without any feeling of fatigue. Radhika doesn’t need her blood pressure pills any more and her frequents bouts of sinusitis have simply disappeared.

Many among a group of newly promoted bank officers felt nervous to face the audience in their public speaking sessions. They were asked to join laughter yoga sessions, after which they shed all their inhibitions, and gathered the courage to speak freely.

Another group was required to appear for a tough test for promotion to the next cadre. They felt tired at the day end and had no energy left to study. Those who attended laughter exercises in the morning not only improved their attention span in classes but could also study for a couple of hours more in the evenings.

An elderly businessman felt severe pain in his neck which travelled across his shoulders and back. The pain was acute and disabling. After he joined our laughter club, the pain is gone. He has developed a regular habit of getting up and going for morning walk. His wife tells us that he seldom laughed earlier and never mixed socially with people. She is pleasantly surprised at the transformation.

An income tax officer, who has retired recently, has shared that his lungs are fully cleared after the laughter session and the feeling of freshness lingers throughout the day. We get feedback of feelings of well being, energy and health on a continual basis from our member friends.

We were also invited to conduct a laughter therapy session for about 80 persons in a camp organized recently by the National Institute of Naturopathy, Pune at the Naturopathy and Yoga Research Centre, Indore. The response was overwhelming. They found such great value in this alternate therapy that they decided to honour us on the spot after going through our session. The standing ovation, with chants of Very Good Very Good Yay, lasted for more than ten minutes..

We look forward to touch many lives with joy and bliss.

Wish you a very happy and joyous new year!

Jagat Singh Bisht

Laughter Professor

coolbisht@hotmail.com

Big birds of the storm

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

When there is a severe storm, birds with small wings are caught up in it, but large birds with strong wings fly upwards and save themselves from becoming victims of the storm. 

On the basis of this phenomenon, there is a saying in the English language: " Big birds of the storm." This applies to people of high thinking, to those who can save themselves from the environmental storm. That is, they can live on their own without becoming affected by the external world. 

Who are the 'big birds' of the storm? They are the 'big bird thinkers', who can live independently, drawing on their own mental resources. Big bird thinkers are those who do not become angry even when provoked. They are those who maintain their positivity even in negative situations, who can control their thoughts in such a way that they can see all men and women as human beings, whether friends or foes, and who can keep the peace even if others turn violent. 

'Big bird thinkers' are those who are so mature that nothing can distract them from their objectives, who give well-considered responses when in adverse situations, rather than simply indulging in an emotional backlash. 

There is a saying in Hindi "Kutte bhonkte rehte hain aur hathi chalta rehta hai " - the elephant walks on without being disturbed by barking dogs. This is the best illustration of one who has the capacity for 'big bird thinking'. Life is full of storms, full of barking, full of untoward situations - these things are due to the laws of nature and no one is in a position to abolish the laws of nature. So, you have only two options: either to waste your time and energy by constantly stooping to reactionary behaviour or to ignore all undesirable situations and try to live like the elephant in the adage. Elephant-style living is the only successful way to live in this world. 

'Big bird thinking' is only another name for spiritual thinking. Spirituality is not something mysterious: it is positive thinking. All spiritual people are positive thinkers and all positive thinkers are spiritual in nature. Spirituality and positive thinking are almost synonymous with each other. 

There is a beautiful story in Hindu mythology: Once a man became furious and he kicked Ram in the chest. Ram's response was quite unique. He said: "Mere lokhan seene se tumhare komal paunwen ko chot to nahi lagi?" - I hope your soft leg was not hurt by my iron chest. 

Spiritual behaviour is friendly behaviour towards every human being -- to both friends and foes alike. Spiritual behaviour is like the behaviour of flowers that can live with all their fragrance in the neighbourhood of thorns. 

An Urdu poet has beautifully expressed this: "Gulshan parast houn mughe gul hi nahi azeez, katoon se bhi nibha kiye ja raha houn mein." - I am a lover of nature, i don't only love flowers, but i can live normally with thorns as well. 

Spirituality is good for the all-round development of the individual's personality, for it makes you free of tension and friendly towards all. Spirituality is the way to all kind of success. 

Positive thinking makes you a 'big bird thinker' and 'big bird thinking' imbues the human character with spirituality. Although this is an inner quality, it is this inner quality that has the power to better all your external affairs.

www.cpsglobal.org

Sachin’s 50th ton raises hopes for cancer kids

Malathy Iyer TNN 

Mumbai: Housemaid Suman Wadtele’s world came crashing down when her 10-year-old son, Durgesh, was diagnosed with blood cancer six months ago in Pune’s KEM Hospital. The medical bill was one of the many worries that the widowed mother was grappling with when a cheque for Rs 15,000 towards Durgesh’s chemotherapy arrived from an unexpected quarter: a fund started by none other than willow wizard Sachin Tendulkar aka Batman Forever. 
    “When I applied to various charity organizations for financial support, I didn’t know that one of them had a Sachin Tendulkar connection. My happiness at the thought that my son would get treatment after all was doubled due to the cricket connection,’’ says Wadtele. 
    Durgesh is one of the 20 cancer-affected children whose treatment is in part being financed by a fund set up from the sale of Tendulkar memorabilia in May.

   When the master blaster scored his record 50th century, it was an extra-special occasion for these 20 families spread across Maharashtra and its neighbouring states. “Like most Indians, I too was ecstatic to hear about Sachin’s 50th century. It was my misfortune that I couldn’t catch it on TV,’’ said Mr M Ghazni, father of a Hyderabad-based patient. 
    With the record, the fund’s goals too have moved. “To commemorate Sachin’s 50th century, we want to help 50 children undergo complete treatment for cancer. We want to spend at least Rs 1 lakh for each child before June 2011,’’ said Dr P Jagannath, cancer surgeon whose NGO, indiacancer.org, organized a fundraiser to combat cancer. 
    Following a tweet by the cricketer in the last week of May, his fans within a couple of days helped generate Rs 1.3 crore. Many bought souvenirs signed by the master blaster while a handful chose a sit-down dinner to help children across the country. The sum is being managed to sponsor children as and when required. Every time the child undergoes a therapy session or a surgical procedure, a cheque from the Tendulkar fund is sent to the hospital concerned. “Usually, families travel all the way to Mumbai to get cancer treatment. But we want to ensure that they get treatment close to their home,’’ said Jagannath, adding that the fund was specifically looking for children from across the country. 
    Anushka Patil, a two-year-old from Nashik district, had to undergo a 10-hour liver surgery to get rid of her cancer. At Tendulkar’s fund-raising dinner in May, her mother recalled how the operation would not have been possible without donations made by the cricketer. In fact, Tendulkar later said that he had been deeply moved to hear that, post surgery, Anushka’s mother had not eaten for 48 hours as she carried her child in her arms. “Thanks to the availability of funds from Tendulkar’s fund, Anushka could be operated in Nashik close to her home,’’ said Jagannath. Both Anushka and Durgesh are today better than they were in May, say their doctors.

Courtesy: Times of India

What all this IIMA grad learnt after his degree

The last thing you know Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad for, is its love stories. But there was this love story that made news in 2004-2005, about Siddharth Choudhary, from IIMA (then an undergrad) and Nidhi from a college near-by. Then, people said their love story was sweet and that it would weather all storms.

Months later, the couple did weather a huge storm when Nidhi was diagnosed with cancer. The duo came out strong and unscathed from it and this journey is now encompassed in a book titled 'Eagle Spotted, Message Decoded.' The book is written by Siddharth and has just about hit the stands.

Siddharth says much of his learning in life happened after his graduation from IIMA. "There are lots of things you don't learn at a management school. Life tests you and you have to learn quickly without any prior training. But yes, my MBA degree gave me the confidence to bounce back in life," he says.

Girl meets boy

Siddharth first spotted Nidhi at a small time tea stall just along side the IIM-A campus boundary wall. Ram-bhai's ketli, (Gujarati name for a tea-stall) has always been a lifeline for students of the institute anytime of the day or night. Nidhi was visiting the ketli with some of here college friends. There started the little college romance between the two, Nidhi being a localite and studying in a city college.

After graduation in 2005, Siddharth and Nidhi got married and started living in Mumbai. As part of final placements, Siddharth got placed with Monsanto India Limited in Mumbai in a marketing role. Later he moved to Johnson and Johnson, Mumbai, also in the marketing line.

Life takes a u-turn

Life seemed perfect. An IIMA degree to boast about - a plush job, a home and a loving wife. But about a year or so after marriage, Nidhi was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour called Medulloblastoma.

"We were also told it was an aggressive tumour for which there was no cure in allopathy," said Siddharth.

Nidhi's case got further complicated because the tumour had spread to rhe spine, making her case even more rare. This was the beginning of a rather tumultuous journey for the couple, where they realised that no degree prepares you for these situations.

Nidhi went through agonising pain and constant black-outs. She was finally operated on in Mumbai. Post the operation, however, Nidhi was moved to Ahmedabad for chemotherapy and post-operative treatment as her parents were there.

"I travelled every weekend to see her and made it for every doctor's appointment. But I realised, she needed me more than just these visits. The doctors were giving up on her and I decided to take that one big step," recalls Siddharth.

Goodbye job

The IIMA grad just chucked away his well-paying job and went to Ahmedabad to be with his wife. "Everyone told me I was doing the wrong thing. My parents, colleagues and all our friends. But I was adamant. My wife needed me more. When and if things turn out well, my degree will get me another job, I justified to myself," Siddharth told Pagalguy.

In Ahmedabad, Siddharth spent many sleepless nights with Nidhi since the chemotherapy sessions were painful. That was when Siddharth told her stories about IIMA days and the days before IIMA when he was a marine engineer. "After a few such sessions Nidhi told me to pen down my little stories in a book. Since I used to wait for Nidhi to sleep first and then sleep myself, I used that time to jot down my stories in my diary. I thought then that my stories were too simple and only meant for Nidhi to cheer-up," said Siddharth.

The coming days turned out to be worse. "One after another, the doctors began giving up on Nidhi and at that time I wanted to throw the diary out," recalls Siddharth.

Hope returned

But hope came again. A doctor in Kolkata took up Nidhi's case and slowly and surely life came back into her body. Regular doctor visits, a strict control on diet and proper medicine intake made Nidhi come back on track. Today after many months, Nidhi is off medicines too. "Somewhere during Nidhi's recovery, I came back to Mumbai and almost immediately got a job again. I guess I owe that to my management degree. Today Nidhi is also in Mumbai and our life has started again," said Siddharth.

MBA degree

"There were many lessons from IIM-A that might have helped me during my crisis. It teaches you to deal and live in pressure, race against time and win most times. But one thing that comes to my mind when I look back at my years at IIM-A, I feel my course would have been complete if I was also taught life skills. How to deal with people and their inflated egos, how to lead and make people see the bigger picture as you see it. Education needs to go beyond careers, placements and packages".

(Siddharth's book, 'Eagle Spotted, Message Decoded', is the story of a marine engineer who on his first job on the ship lacks confidence to face life at sea. The book is on how he learns to gather his strengths and overpower his fears - exactly what he did when he learnt of his wife's cancer. Siddharth himself is a trained marine engineer who sailed for over three years before joining IIM-A. The book is dedicated to his wife.)

Source:www.pagalguy.com - India's biggest and most trusted portal and community for cracking MBA entrance exams.

TOUCHING LIVES

Prithviraj Kapoor hosting a guest who never left, Dharmendra encouraging sleepovers for fans and Sachin Tendulkar helping out a friend in need... Celebs show us how small gestures towards commoners help them connect with the larger meaning of life, says Seema Sinha.
DECADES ago Prithviraj Kapoor had a guest from Peshawar who was supposed to stay with the actor for about two weeks in his modest apartment in Matunga, Mumbai. But the guest never went back and stayed with the cinematic patriarch forever! “Perhaps the latest Bollywood flick Athithi Tum Kab Jaaoge was inspired from that incident,” says the actor’s grandson Rajeev Kapoor in lighter vein. “We Kapoors were always taught to reach out to the masses. We are people’s persons; we never behaved like celebrities and opened our arms to embrace people from all walks of life. We had an o p e n h o u s e, t h e r e were fest iva l s , parties… p e o p l e, families coming in for various o c c a - s i o n s , ” adds Rajeev.
Veteran actor D h a r m e n d ra would often have his fans come down from Punjab and the actor would let some of them stay in his bungalow. “I never felt like a star and I always wanted to reach out to the masses. I yearned for their love and admiration all the time, and I feel this relationship of love between my fans and me is thicker than b l o o d . . b a h u t anokha hai yeh rishta,” says Dharmendra.
One has heard of master blaster Sachin Tendulkar involved in various charities, including anti-cancer, children’s education, improving children’s health and hygiene, but one doesn’t know about the cricketer giving away Rs 17 lakh to a former Indian cricketer, whose mother was ill. According to sources, Mahendra Singh Dhoni recently bought three ambulances for a local hospital in Ranchi and his wife Sakshi was once seen rushing to Uttaranchal to distribute 1,000 blankets to the poor and needy.
Time and again, celebrities have reached out to people either through donations, charities, foundation or simple little gestures. Socially-driven Neerja Birla, vice chairperson, education project and wife of Kumaramangalam Birla, reaches out to several organisations like Muktangan, Akanksha and Make-a-Wish Foundation, with the former two supporting the education of under-privileged children and the latter fulfilling the wishes of terminally-ill children.
An active supporter of the charity organisation set up by her mother for female infanticide called Relief Projects India, Katrina Kaif has given many of her personal belongings for auction in Chennai to help set up a pre-natal centre. “I support my mother’s charity, which primarily cares for the abandoned girl child. Beyond this, when I do something, it is not really with any preset notion that I will get something in return except for a little joy that somehow, somewhere I am getting a chance to give something back to people who give me so much all the time,” says Katrina.
“When I feel low, I look at the beautiful cards these children have sent me, it brings a smile on my face. I feel I haven’t let my life go wa s t e, ” says act r e s s Rave e n a Ta n d o n , w h o helped rehabilitate about 30 girls, who had no roof on their head, about three years ago. Before they were shifted to a proper home in Vasai, these destitute kids found shelter in Raveena’s home for two years until the actress could collect funds and make arrangements for their permanent stay.
And today, she has only wish — “That I could enter these children’s minds and make them understand that they must use the golden opportunities that come their way.” Recently, she tried helping out a destitute 11-year-old boy, who had followed her home for alms. “I heard him out and told him to stay with me and wanted to enrol him in a school nearby, but he refused and continues to stay at Bandra station,” laments Raveena.
Always at the forefront of charitable causes, Salman Khan once rolled down his car window and started having a conversation with a beggar child when he was stuck in a traffic jam. Salman realised the child was unaware of his star status. Touched by his innocence, Salman got him inside his car, gave him a few packets of chocolates and some money before leaving.
Back home, actress Priyanka Chopra, who is the national brand ambassador of UNICEF, is involved majorly in educating the girl child, creating awareness and has also taken up the cause of female infanticide for many years through her charity foundation.
Small gestures go a big way. Actor Hrithik Roshan recently gifted a school bus worth Rs 10 lakh to the Dilkhush Special School set up for mentally challenged children in Mumbai. The school had just two buses with one needing repairs. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and her own charity the Aishwarya Rai Foundation have pledged to aid the Smile Train, a worldwide movement that helps children with cleft lips. Last year, Vivek Oberoi, back after a holiday in Europe decided to celebrate his birthday with children at an orphanage. And actress Sameera Reddy represents an NGO that provides homes for homeless children in Mumbai.
What can be more humbling than giving back to the society?


Courtesy TOI dated 19.12.2010

Let us salute these Citizens who are leading by example to show us the path in giving back to soceity!

Kiran Bedi: A police chief with a difference | Video on TED.com

Kiran Bedi: A police chief with a difference | Video on TED.com

Laughter Yoga for Citizens SBI

Rooftop Laughter at State Bank Learning Centre, Indore

37 Branch Managers of Regional Business Office, Ratlam are presently attending Contribution Lab at State Bank Learning Centre, Indore. They begin their day early in the morning with Laughter Yoga at the roof top of the learning centre. This gives them a lot of oxygen and a great feeling of wellness which lasts through out the day during the CitizenSBI programme.

Laughter Yoga has taken them to their 'being' level instantly and they feel more attentive in their classroom sessions after breathing and laughter exercises in the morning. They feel relaxed and stress free. Laughter Yoga is seen as a great tool for team building by them.

The laughter sessions are being regularly conducted by Radhika Bisht and Jagat Singh Bisht, AGM(Training) at the Centre.

Some photographs of the laughter session this morning:

Please visit "Laughter Club Of State Bank Learning Centre, Indore" page on Facebook for more photographs.

CoolBisht / Indore

Jason Fried: Why work doesn't happen at work

Jason Fried has a radical theory of working: that the office isn't a good place to do it. At TEDxMidwest, he lays out the main problems (call them the M&Ms) and offers three suggestions to make work work.

Jason Fried is the co-founder and president of 37signals , a Chicago-based company that builds web-based productivity tools that, in their words, "do less than the competition -- intentionally." 37signals' simple but powerful collaboration tools include Basecamp, Highrise, Backpack, Campfire, Ta-da List, and Writeboard. 37signals also developed and open-sourced the Ruby on Rails programming framework.

Fried is the co-author, with David Heinemeier Hansson, of the book Rework, about new ways to conceptualize working and creating. Salon's Scott Rosenberg called it "a minimalist manifesto that's profoundly practical. In a world where we all keep getting asked to do more with less, the authors show us how to do less and create more."

Agent Salt

By CHITRA NARAYANAN


A pinch of salt is Venkatesh Mannar's chosen weapon to end anaemia and nutritional deficiency..

Venkatesh Mannar, President of the Ottawa headquartered Micronutrient Initiative

It was a proud moment for Indians when last month, at the 10th Annual gala black-tie Tech awards in Santa Clara, US, watched by Silicon Valley industry giants, “salt man” Venkatesh Mannar walked away with the $50,000 Nokia Health Award.

The erstwhile salt producer from Tamil Nadu, who today is the President of the Ottawa-headquartered Micronutrient Initiative, got the award for creating double fortified salt (DFS), which packs both iron and iodine. It's a seemingly simple idea, but a chemically challenging one as the two elements just don't get along. With DFS, at one stroke, you can protect people against anaemia as well as iodine deficiency disorders.

It's amazing how much power this powdery white substance has in the hands of innovative men. Just as Gandhiji effectively used the “condiment of the poor” to launch a movement against the colonial powers, Mannar's life has revolved around finding interesting uses for the sodium compound. First as a producer, then as a researcher, and later as an activist for whom salt emerged as a powerful weapon to protect the world from hidden hunger.

Mannar's idea of double fortifying salt has already moved from lab to fields and on to markets. In Tamil Nadu, Micronutrient Initiative's DFS produced by the Tamil Nadu Salt Corporation and sprinkled into the State's school meal programme protects three million schoolchildren from anaemia as well as iodine deficiency disorders. Now his vision is to spread the protection wider by getting salt producing companies to adopt the technology and governments to follow the Tamil Nadu model.

Although attempts have been made to fortify wheat, rice and other staples, Mannar feels salt is the best suited medium to piggyback on to provide basic nutrients. “Salt is quite simply the best vehicle for fortification — world over practically everyone, rich or poor, uses it,” he says. “Also, there is a very narrow band of consumption — not more than 10 to 15 gm per day, so there is little danger of overconsumption,” he says.

Spreading the good work

The slightly built Mannar has been a key man in the universal salt iodisation programme, tirelessly travelling across the world, directly assisting nearly 40 countries in designing, developing and implementing their programmes. “Indirectly, I think I would have been involved in 60 to 70 countries,” he says.

One of his most satisfying moments came in China, where he was part of the team that convinced Zhu Rhongji (then vice premier and later premier of China) to adopt the universal salt iodisation programme. “When we made our presentation, Mr Rhongji looked very impassive, but when I told him about the effect iodine deficiency has on mental development, you could see the instant change in him — I think that point convinced him,” he recalls.

Today, China, which implemented USI only in 1993, has already achieved 97 per cent salt iodisation, and is one of the biggest success stories of the programme. By contrast India, an early adopter, is lagging at 70 per cent rates. “In India there are just too many detractors — medical doctors, lobbies and so on,” says Mannar. But he says the opposition is slowly petering away. “As long as you don't make it a big issue, it inevitably has to die down as it's not backed by scientific logic,” he says.

Adding iron to salt

But it's not his activism in the field that has fetched him this latest honour — it's the chemical experiments in the labs and the strategising thereafter to create a viable model that could be replicated. The Tech Awards recognise “technical solutions that benefit humanity and address the most critical issues facing our planet and its people”. Together with Prof Levente Diosady, a Food Engineer at the University of Toronto, Mannar, who has a chemical engineering background, brainstormed on developing a way in which iron could be added to iodised salt without the two elements interfering with each other. “Although the idea was simple, the work was difficult,” he says. The challenge was to not let the two react with each other as well as prevent the red of the iron compound from staining the salt into an unacceptable brown shade.

The Eureka moment came when they borrowed a technique from the food industry called microencapsulation. Basically, the iron particles were coated with a vegetable fat and white glaze, forming a barrier.

The salt march

For Mannar, his use of salt as a vehicle is hardly surprising considering that it literally flows in his veins. “I come from a family of salt producers. For five generations, my family were producing salt in Tuticorin. From my grandfather's uncle, the business got passed on to my father,” he describes.

After his chemical engineering from IIT Madras, followed by a Masters in the US, he worked with a couple of salt companies in Salt Lake, San Francisco. On his return, together with his father, he started the Marthi Crystal Salt Company, of which he was managing director from 1973-90.

“As we were producing salt we were also interested in salt technology. In the 1970s, in our salt works on the road to Mahabalipuram, we did some early work in fortified salt,” he says.

Noticing his work, UNICEF approached him for consultancy in helping set up salt iodisation plants for small salt farmers. “In the early 1980s, my father passed away and I got the responsibility of running the salt field. But even as I continued to run the business, I did short duration assignments for UNICEF,” he says.

This was a time of intense travel around the world — Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia, countries in Africa and so on — on the salt iodisation mission.

But the turning point for Mannar came in 1990, when he and his wife decided to emigrate to Canada. He sold his share in the salt company and moved shores, picking up a consultancy job from UNICEF. The move could not have been timelier.

At that time, the Canadian government was just setting up the Micronutrient Initiative, and asked him to join as executive director. Since joining, the organisation has grown from being a small division of the International Development and Research Council with four employees, into a global leader in nutrition development programmes with more than 100 full-time staff, 120 full-time consultants, two regional offices, 11 country offices and a budget of $38 million per year.

The DFS story: Worth its salt

JOURNEY DOWN TO MELAKIDARAM, a backward village in drought-prone Ramnad district in coastal Tamil Nadu, and you can see the impact of double fortified salt.

Here, at the Government Higher Secondary School, you will find surprisingly high attendance. The school has a creditable pass percentage of 84 per cent in 10th standard. More important, very few students drop out and most continue up to Class 12.
Since 2005, the school's children have been getting double fortified salt in their school-meal menu of sambhar, rice and boiled eggs.
Micronutrient Initiative likes to think DFS has made a difference in attentiveness levels. To prove that mass fortification using DFS to reach out to the bottom of the pyramid beneficiary was a viable strategy, the organisation partnered with the Tamil Nadu Salt Corporation, which was anyway supplying iodised salt to the midday meal programme in the State. Within four years, 3.6 million children in the State were getting DFS.
Today, others have developed their own double fortified salt - the National Institute of Nutrition too, for instance, has come up with a technology to combine iron and iodine in salt.
Some salt companies have launched DFS commercially as well. Mannar can be happy that he has played a catalysing role.
Courtesy: L i f e / The Hindu Business Line

Premji pledges $2 billion for education

Bangalore: In the largest act of philanthropy by an Indian, Wipro chairman Azim Premji will give about Rs 8,846 crore ($2 billion) to improve school education in India. Other donations to charitable institutions by any person or corporation in India pale in comparison to this massive endowment which also effectively silences critics who say Indian billionaires are measly donors.
    Premji, India’s third richest man with a net worth of $18 billion, will transfer 213 million equity shares of Wipro Ltd, held by a few entities controlled by him, to the Azim Premji Trust. It will fund educational activities of the Azim Premji Foundation (APF), which works mainly with schools in rural India. He had previously transferred over Rs 700 crore to the APF.
    Premji said more may come in future. “I’m completely committed to supporting the larger ambition of creating the required social change.” 
    The money will be transferred to the trust by next Tuesday and Wipro’s former strategy chief K R Lakshminarayana will be its chief endowment officer. A $2-billion endowment even at a conservative return of 8%- 12% should generate annually returns of $160-250 million (Rs 750-1,150 crore), which will be used to run APF initiatives, including the Bangalore-based Azim Premji University.
    “We believe that good education is crucial to building a just, equitable, humane and sustainable society. We want to contribute significantly towards improvement of education in India, and through that towards building a better society,” he said. 
Courtesy: TNN

Contribution Project: SSI Finance Branch, Suklia Indore

CITIZEN SBI INTERVENTION-2

CONTRIBUTION LAB 
22ND TO 27TH NOVEMBER 2010

CONTRIBUTION PROJECT

Name of participant and present branch / office:           

DINESH AYACHIT, RM, RBO, Khandwa

Name of the branch where project was undertaken:              

SSI Finance Branch Suklia Indore    

Brief description of the project:

To turnover the state of affairs of the branch.

Why the need for the project arose:

i)                    Business of the branch was declining year to year and came down to almost 50% within 4 years.

ii)                   Poor customer service resulted bad image of the branch/bank.

iii)                  Staff was adequate but under-utilized / undisciplined / no work culture.

iv)                No focus on SSI/SME customers / borrowers inspite of having huge potential as branch is situated in industrial area.

How it was implemented and results:

1.       Did it involve many people from the unit? What kind of teaming/team work took place?

          Reasons / causes for dismal performance were analysed and staff meeting was conducted.        Customer feed back from various segments including representatives of an big corporate   account having good deposits with the branch was taken.  Equitable distribution among    the staff was ensured.  Each member was given importance to cater different tasks.

  2.     How did it energize the people in the unit?

          Entire staff was taken into confidence.  Members started involving into the work and      responds to the customer needs.  Cash Department took initiatives to take receipts etc.   lots loans also.  F.O. marketed some SME proposals initially.

3.       What kind of fulfillment did it result in for the collective involved (team members and customers)?

          When the things started improving, every member experienced self satisfaction and      encouraged when improving the image of the branch with better improved customer          service.  Resulted collective results.

4.       How did it enhance the interaction with the customer community?

          Since each member of the staff was assigned to focus on different segment customers, daily interaction resulted customer satisfaction and reinforced relationship.

5.       What were the sustainable results of this Contribution Project in the unit?

          Team work and improved customer service at the branch and outside of the branch        resulted achievement of all the budgeted parameters of the branch within 6 months.       Every member of the staff was elevated and good growth in SME segment was registered. 

CONGRATULATIONS!

Citizen SBI Blog, its readers 
and contributors congratulate 

its founder Shri Jagat Singh Bisht 

on his much deserved elevation 

as Assistant General Manager in the Bank!!!

Contribution Lab at SBLC, Indore

(22-27 November 2010)

Mr Dinesh Ayachit, Regional Manager, RBO Khandwa and his team of Branch Managers, along with Mr Jagat Singh Bisht, Nodal Officer; Mrs Nirupa Joshi, Master Facilitator and Mr Arun Kalway, Citizen Facilitator

A meal for the soul

Top chef Narayanan Krishnan who quit his cushy job to serve the needy, is the only Indian to be nominated for a major award

By Jayanthi Madhukar

On a blistering afternoon in Madurai in 2002, Narayanan Krishnan had his life-defining moment. As he was taking a stroll,  he saw an old man eating his own faeces. Shaken, Krishnan quickly went and bought idlis for the feeble man. In return, he just looked back with teary eyes. There was none of the expected ‘thank you’ or nandri.

At that time, Krishnan was a top award-winning chef, drawing at least Rs 1.5 lakh a month. Another drooling offer was on its way from Switzerland. But life was no longer the same for the 22-year-old.

TURNING POINT

Had he thanked me for my gesture, Krishnan says, I would have been still in the catering industry.

“I could not concentrate at work after that. I thought how people waste so much money on buffets and on one side, there are destitutes without any food. I got the clarity on what I should be doing and I quit my job,” said Krishnan, who took his hotel management degree from Madurai Kamaraj University.

Ever since, he has been silently feeding the impoverished on Madurai’s streets. Now, television channel CNN has nominated Krishnan for the Top 10 CNN Heroes from across the world.

Effusive in praise, the channel said, “Narayanan Krishnan brings hot meals and dignity to India’s homeless and destitute – 365 days per year – through his non-profit Akshaya Trust. Since 2002, he has served more than 1.2 million meals.”

Krishnan, now 29, is proud to represent  India and hopeful that with his nomination “others will get hope and confidence. I do not know who nominated me. I just want to give a humane touch through Akshaya.”

A DIFFICULT TASK  

Laurels and such modesty aside, it is no easy task. Krishnan’s day begins at 4 am when he starts cooking breakfast. 

Assisting him is a team of six — three staff and three volunteers.  

By 8 am, the breakfast is over. Then he purchases vegetables and other ingredients and by 9.30 am, it is time to cook lunch. By 12 pm, he goes for the lunch distribution round that gets over only by 3 pm. By 5.30 pm, it is time to get back to the stove for dinner. The dinner distribution finishes by 9.30 pm and only then he eats with his team. After that, Krishnan takes care of admin work, using the time to answer any pending mails or letters as well. And yes, he sleeps in the kitchen to be closer to his place of work.

Krishnan’s distribution rounds vary according to the whereabouts of the needy. “Beggars are not entertained as we do not promote laziness. The feeding is for those abandoned or left uncared-for, especially the mentally ill,” said Krishnan, who has also picked up haircutting skills.  “I am a Brahmin but I learnt to cut hair, as a barber would frighten and disturb the mentally-ill.”

SUPPORT FROM PARENTS

For Krishnan’s family it was a tough decision to comprehend. “They were thinking of taking me to a psychiatrist,” he joked. Krishnan’s request to them was simple, he asked his parents to “come to Madurai and see what I am doing. If you both still don’t want it, then I will leave.” His parents came and Krishnan took them along for the distribution round.

“Whomever I introduced them to, told them I am getting to eat only because of your son. When we got back, my mother told me ‘Till I am alive I will support you.’ Their support meant a lot to me,” said Krishnan.

Akshaya Trust is in need of donations. Says Krishnan, “We have survived because of our donors and credit that our suppliers give us. I am now building a rehabilitation centre. Five out of the eight blocks are underway. Lack of funds has  stalled the work. This is why I hope my countrymen will vote for me.”

When CNN took note of Krishnan, a blogger commented, “If we (Indians) haven’t yet heard of Krishnan then it is a collective failure.” As Indians, we may have failed Krishnan, but he has not failed the destitutes. 

BangaloreMirror.com

MINING LESSONS IN LEADERSHIP

Able leadership and team spirit kept the 33 trapped miners focussed on the goal of escaping from their underground prison…..

On August 5, 2010, a portion of the San Jose copper mine in Chile collapsed leaving 33 miners trapped at a depth of half a mile from the surface. With no communication links with the external world, the miners' whereabouts could not be ascertained, leading to doubts about whether they were alive. It was a traumatic wait for the helpless families of the miners even as the world watched anxiously.

The first sign of hope emerged on the 17th day when a communication link showed that all the 33 miners were alive. Thereafter, a meticulous rescue plan was initiated with international help, culminating in the rescue of the entire team, ending a 69-day underground ordeal.

How the 33-member team fared during the 69 days is of immense interest to the world. Information on the miners' story may trickle in, in bits and pieces over a period of time, or till a consolidated version comes out as a book or a movie.

Surviving the first 17 days

Social science research indicates that in any crisis situation threatening survival, animal instincts such as individual survival, dominate empathy and collective spirit leading to inter-personal conflict and intra-group dynamics, especially in sharing resources for survival.

A five-member sub-group employed by a different contractor was initially on its own exploring escape routes, but ended the division on advice from the sub-contractor boss. There were also unconfirmed reports of a few incidents of fist-fights.

Planning and preparation for rescue

Shift leader Luis Urzua seems to have played a critical role during the 69 days. He built the team, nurtured it, optimised all the available resources, and engaged all the members fruitfully towards the common goal of survival and escape.

He helped maintain their morale against all odds, acting in a single voice with the rescue team and in reassuring the anxious families.

Leading by taking charge and by involving all members

If every member had wanted to be in control of the situation instead of listening to one leader, the miners would never have survived. As Jena McGregor explains in her column in the Washington Post: “Everything was voted on ... We were 33 men, so 16 plus one was a majority, said Leader Urzua.”

Leadership by credibility

According to a former employee, Robinson Marquez, Urzua had credibility as a protective and caring leader for his team. The miners, at Urzua's urging, reportedly ate one teaspoon of tuna and a half-glass of milk each 48 hours, proving that followers would make any sacrifice if their leader had credibility.

Leadership by sharing leadership

Urzua organised work assignments for the crew, assisting with the plan to get out of the mine and ensuring that no one ate a meal until everyone received their share. The oldest miner, Mario Gomez (63 years), attended to the spiritual and mental health of the men in constant consultation with psychologists on the surface. Yonny Barrios, based on the nursing training he had received 15 years ago, administered tests and health screenings for his friends on behalf of the doctors monitoring the situation above the ground.

Leadership through a common mission

Urzua constantly emphasised that all of them had a common goal — that of getting out together and surviving till then. He made everyone eat their paltry rations at the same spot at the same time.

By the end, none of them cheated and the miners had bonded so well that they asked their rescuers if they could all remain on the site until the last man was brought to the surface.

Leadership by belief in self and in his team

Urzua had a strong belief in self and in his team's ability to attain the goal. In addition to rationing food, he had the men use the heavy equipment in the mine for fresh water. This equipment was used sparingly because it could foul their air. He also had men map their tunnel and build a toilet.

Leadership through hope

‘Let us be patient and wait with hope and trust in God.' — That seemed to be the mantra. The miners' strong faith-based values guided them through the ordeal. Urzua, who never used to pray earlier, started praying. “There are actually 34 of us (and not 33), because God has never left us down here,” as Jimmy Sánchez, a miner, said.

When a shaft to provide them relief materials was completed, the men asked for religious items, including Bibles, crucifixes, rosaries, statues of the Virgin Mary and other saints. Pope Benedict XVI sent each man a rosary.

Leadership by sharing credit

After their rescue, rather than hogging the limelight, Urzua made another miner narrate the experience. While miners in and out of the shaft talked about Urzua's leadership, Urzua himself spoke about the skills and welfare of his men.

Leadership by honest communication

The miners were told that their rescue would need time and the miners accepted it. Honest communication regarding the progress of the rescue effort and the possible dates helped in boosting and nurturing the morale of the miners.

Leadership by example

Urzua led by example at every stage, culminating with being the last miner to be rescued, after his entire team was moved from its underground prison.

Global leadership

The Chilean rescue was truly a multinational and multidisciplinary affair with contributions from a variety of companies and institutions around the world. The rescue capsule was designed by an Austrian firm. The cranes used in the rescue were from China and experts from NASA and other American agencies helped sustain the 33 miners while they were underground and an American company from Pennsylvania supplied the drills that bored through half-a-mile of rock. Geologists, psychologists and other experts from several different countries offered advice.

The rescue phase

Urzua came up out of the mine last, not only because he insisted on it but also as the miners decided on a system where the strong and more experienced would go first to help pave the way for the others and tackle any unforeseen problems. The weakest would go next so that they could be helped and rescued by those behind them and those ahead. This was to ensure that there would be a human safety net for those who were the weakest. Unity helped the miners survive for 69 days underground, including more than two weeks when no one knew whether they were alive.

Post-rescue phase

The media interest and attention the miners have received so far is likely to die down with time. The spectre of unemployment may gradually stare them in the face due to the closure of the mines.

P V R Murthy

(Courtesy Anup Sen)