Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson

I just finished reading the book and have mixed feelings on the subject (Musk) and the author. Of course the book was a good read, given it gives some insights into things that we have only mostly seen on the news media or Twitter (X) and also a close up view of the kind of leadership that Musk has taken to in achieving his vision/goals. Of course, his grand vision of colonizing Mars is yet to be fulfilled, but we can see how the man is single mindedly pursuing the goal. 

I cannot write a review of the book or comment on the kind of person that Musk is or even attempt to pass comments on how he has handled the many situations in his companies/life so far. They are all beyond my means 🙂 Instead I found myself thinking during all the crisis situations Musk was facing, how he handled them and tried to form some opinions on dos and donts of leadership. 

1. Leading from the front . 

Throughout the book (and his life, of course !) there are numerous instances of Musk walking the talk and leading from the front. Taken in conjunction with the recent comment from Mr. Narayana Murthy about youngsters in India putting in 70 hrs per week, in Musk’s case he was demanding much more than that, but he would put in equal or more efforts on the same tasks that he is asking his team to deliver. Of course, there are also many instances where he creates these ‘crisis’ situations for him to get energized, but I got the feeling from the book that many of these situations were actually beneficial and they would end up achieving much more in crisis mode than in regular mode. People do perform better when under pressure. Again, sustaining this for a long term is never a good idea and we can see how many of the great engineers left Musk because they couldn’t handle the pressure. Musk seems to relish sleeping on the floor/under the desk/rooftop of factories/ couches in Twitter HQ and working through the weekends, Thanksgiving and Christmas to get to what he wants. I can see how the ‘startup’ culture can be simulated in a large corporation with this behaviour. 

2. Questioning the requirements

This was probably the single biggest eye opener for me, in questioning everything to the detail of the person who raised the requirement and finding out from them the validity of it. Even with my software engineering back ground, I can see how this will play a crucial role in product engineering. I will admit that I have been guilty of accepting the requirements as such and trying to meet the specifications, while if I had the audacity to question the requirement and the value it will add to the end product, many of them would have been ‘deleted’ , to use the phrase that Musk loves so much. In the coming days and weeks, I hope we can incorporate some parts of this learning into our business processes. 

3. Audacious Goal Setting

Though it is not a new thing in management parlance, the word itself gets a new dimension when it comes to Musk. Be it starting the Boring Company on the go or deciding to build own rockets rather than buying, (it does help that he had the money to do all that, but still) Musk sets an example for audacious goal setting without worrying about failures. Like mentioned in one part of the book, Musk and team are sitting in a conference room talking about how life would be in the colony of Mars , as if they are talking about developing a new subdivision in Austin 🙂 . He uses the reality bending techniques (similar to Jobs) in getting the folks around him to believe in these audacious goals and his success rate so far has been great ! 

4 People matter

Now Isaacson’s view is that because of the Asperger’s Musk is not able to pick up social cues and does not have empathy, On many occasions, he seems to forget his earlier run-ins with his team mates, whom he had put under fire and even humiliated in front of others. I guess folks around him get used to that behaviour and dont expect more from him, It is ok to be demanding and expecting great things from the team or even subjecting the team to extreme pressure to get things done, but where I cannot see a justification is that there is no effort made to amend the bad behaviour from the past. This is probably his single biggest drawback when it comes to leadership and how he treats the people on his team. While going through the many situations in the book, I couldn’t help thinking how things would have turned out if he had managed to keep the great folks at SpaceX, Tesla and even at Twitter, instead of ruining the relationships and letting them move away. Again, some lessons to be learnt on empathy and how you treat your people. 

On the way the book is presented, I thought it was an amazing read. Definitely not an easy task to put two years of interviews and shadowing into a format that makes sense and at the same time takes the reader through the thought process of Musk. Chronology does shift back and forth in the chapters, and sometimes you have to pause and see which year we are on in the book and then it will make sense. The author also does not make Musk look like a hero or villain, is what I thought. He simply presents the facts for what it is and the reader can make their choice. 

My favorite line in the book is perhaps in the last page or so. Quoting Isaacson , ” As Shakespeare teaches us, all heroes have flaws, some tragic, some conquered and those we cast as villains can be complex”. 

Highs and Super Highs of 2022

Greetings of the season to you ! I hope you are doing well and finding some time to relax and wind down the year with friends and family ! Keeping up with my tradition of the year end note, here are some of the highs and super highs I had in the year past. 

As I look back on the super highs, I see two peaks that I was able to conquer in 2022. First was the completion of the Stanford Seed program as the leader of the Team Cabot Solutions, and Second , a personal favorite, was completing the New York Marathon ! 

The Stanford Seed program is an year long transformation program for companies who are looking for some guidance to help them scale. Indeed a demanding program, but well worth the efforts and the learnings just keep on coming even after the formal program is complete. I would say that the biggest outcome of the program was the close connection I formed with my fellow cohort members which is invaluable and we interact almost every day on matters related to work as well as life :-). A fantastic bunch of Cxos who are passionate about life ! Cabot was able to find its purpose and a sharp mission for its journey ahead and a blue print of a roadmap to success! I am hoping to write more about that success in my email next year same time !

Cabot Seed Team with Shamim Rafeek ( Corporate Trainer, Extreme Left), Lucky Laxadish (UX Manager), Anilesh Pillai (Manager Sales), Asha Kumar (Senior Project Manager), Venkatesh (CEO), Pradeep (VP Operations) and Shibu Basheer (CTO)

The NY marathon was to me a pinnacle of my running so far, not in terms of my performance in the run itself , as it was my slowest marathon till date due to injuries, but in terms of sheer grit and determination. Every indicator was pointing to me quitting the run even before it started, my month long travel in the US just before the marathon meant not many practice runs. A sprained back two months ago almost put me in the DNS list :-). I am glad that my doctor, Appu Benny Thomas , fully backed me up for the run and kept pushing me to train ! In short, the lesson learned was that if you really want something, just focus on that and go out and get that no matter what! The experience of the NY run will remain with me for this lifetime ! And that is worth every effort I made towards it !

Showing off my NYC marathon medal at dinner 😀

Evidently, both the Seed and NY marathon, took a lot of effort, but at the end, I wouldnt have had it any other way ! Thanks to all the people who supported me in achieving both the above goals ! Prime examples of individual achievements that needed a lot of team support ! Really it felt like the Universe was conspiring for me to achieve these goals ! 

For Cabot, 2022 was a milestone year. We nearly doubled our revenues, established our Canada office with a team, renewed our partnership with Microsoft, started a new partnership with Point Click Care, launched two marquee products for our clients – all with the same team as last year ! I couldn’t be more proud of my team that has achieved so much in one year overcoming many challenges! And we are making more inroads in Healthcare product development as I write this and gearing up for another blockbuster year in 2023 !

Team Cabot

As for the family is concerned, everyone had their plates full in 2022. Veda is still finding her way around in the University, making new friends and also exploring new avenues, latest one being working with the Rohingtya refugees in Chennai and bringing their plight to the forefront. She is in her second year of her BSc Psychology program.  Sruthi, the 11th grader, is in a flux state as she tries to figure out how to balance the newly found friendships and her focus on studies 😂. Part of her wants to just indulge in the fun part of school and other part wants her to study for her pre meds. As the battle unfolds this year and next, we all wait to see the results ! 

Vani is of course the foundation on which we all stand. She is finding it a bit challenging to pursue some of her goals as we keep throwing curve balls at her and she is at the receiving end most of the time 😬. We are all working diligently to make some room for Vani to explore her interests and 2023 may see some interesting outcomes! Watch out !

Family picture from August 2022

On the social front, both Vani and I continue to support the causes we are concerned about – housing, children’s education and welfare are the top two. Working alongside Rotary, we would complete two houses this year and support as many 100 kids in their different initiatives. We are ably supported by all our friends in our efforts 🙏.

During a recent visit to Aardratha Boys Home

On a personal note, one of the highlights for me in 2022 was visiting Halifax and seeing some of our friends from back when we lived there. Some precious moments that I will save with me for a long time !

With my friends in Halifax

2022 was also my most ‘read’ year in recent history, as I managed to finish half a dozen books, including the mammoth Tamil classic Ponniyin Selvan . I also read my first Murakami and very much in love with his style. Hope to finish one more book before the end of the year ! 

2023 holds a lot of promise, personally and professionally. As always, I plan to go all out in all my areas of interest, take Cabot to new heights, learn a lot and play a lot as well 😀. I wish you and family a great year ahead and continued success in 2023. As I write this note, there is news coming in about another Covid variant. I hope it is not as bad as the media houses make it look like and the world will overcome the pandemic in 2023 ! 

Thank you for being part of my life in 2022 and I look forward for more interactions in 2023 and beyond ! 

Have a great year in 2023. Wishing you good health, peace and success !

Thalaivar’s Mantras

Thalaivar is special – very special and always special. Rajinikanth, his life journey is an open book for everyone and of course, he is one of the …

Thalaivar’s Mantras

Can we focus a bit, please?

Last night I was attending a live music concert, after a very long time. Since the lead singer was someone from a bygone era, most of the audience were above the age of 40 or even 50 I would say. It was a very soothing experience, with melodious songs from the 80s and 90s and very relaxing too. But then, there is also this mobile phone that we need to deal with. 

I think as a species, we have lost the ability to focus or enjoy one thing at a moment. We suddenly have this urge to record the concert and share it with friends and more than half the audience yesterday watched the concert only through their mobile screens, what a pity ! In one of the scenes in the movie The secret life of walter mitty, the ace photographer who waits for capturing a photo of the rare snow leopard, doesnt take the shot and instead says he just enjoyed the moment. Why can’t we ordinary people have just that, enjoy the moment ? I was also reading about how we can’t even watch an entire movie on television without checking our phones in between for messages -) 

I did enjoy the concert last night because it felt like that was when I was actually paying attention to the words of the songs, Very touchy and moving were some of those words. And I made a promise to myself that for the next concert, I am leaving my phone at home ! 

Welcome 2020 and a look back on 2019

Dear Friend,

Wow, time does fly past quickly when you are busy and having fun 🙂 2019 was one such year for me, personally and professionally. And so much happened over the course of the year, I am wondering how can I do justice to this end of the year update where I try to touch upon the highlights of the past year ! Still, here is an attempt to give a glimpse of what stands out to me at this moment 🙂

Cabot builds partnerships

2019 was sort of a turning point for Cabot in terms of the way we think, approach and work with our clients, We shifted our thinking from a vendor perspective and moved on to forge strong partnerships with clients new and old. As a result, we don’t do ‘projects; but our teams integrate with our partner’s teams and together we deliver success. It is not an in and out scene, but we are IN it for the long run and we fail or succeed together.Our long standing partners Actigraph, GrayMatter Analytics and iVedix have been outstanding in their support extended to Cabot and by growing their teams within Cabot, they have placed more responsibility on our shoulders. I also welcome our new partners this year AAOMS, MXO Tech, Cytek, Miletrack GPS, Project Strong and my fam trip. Our foray into the European market this year has been fantastic, thanks to our partner there, Husqvarna Group. Last but not the least, I am also super excited to join hands with Hitachi Vantara corporation in helping them with a digital transformation project for their sales team. I would like to thank all our partners for their continued trust and belief in our talent and I greatly look forward to forging a very long lasting relationship with all of you.

In terms of technology , we added significant skill sets in the areas of MS .NET, Javascript technologies (Angular, React and Node ) and invested on ML training and POC as well. I believe we are well poised to handle the shift to full stack development that we see coming in 2020. A big thank you also to Jennifer Kumar of Authentic Journeys for providing excellent support in our communication training efforts to our teams. The workshops and training really helped us create high quality self managed remote teams which made huge difference to our partners.

A cultural explosion !

Highlight of 2019 in the household was definitely the arrival of Luise Kraemer from Rostock , Germany as an exchange student living with us for one year ! Lulu, as we fondly call her , is a highly energetic, cheerful youth full of life and a chatter box as well 🙂 Starting from day one,she has surprised us in how well and quickly she can adapt to the indian living style and food habits . Right after landing in Kochi, she neatly finished a breakfast of idlis and dosa , by dunking them in a bowl of sambar using her fingers 🙂 And everyday ,we are learning something new. Though managing three girls can be a bit too much at times , Vani has been doing a great job in keeping things in a balance. Lulu is here as part of the Rotary International Youth Exchange Program.

37 to 900 in six months

Any note from me is incomplete without the mention of running or cycling 🙂 If 2018 was a disaster year in terms of my running (did a total of 37 kms in 2018) , 2019 was a turn around in that as well. I started running again in May 2019 and in the last seven months, I have been able to cover 900 kms , including two half marathons, the flying pig run in Cincinnati and the Spice Coast Marathon in Kochi. My knee injury that stopped my running in 2018 is a thing of the past or so it looks like until now and I really enjoy my current runs and the rush of endomorphins 🙂 I am looking forward to a wonderful start in 2020 with the Mumbai marathon on Jan 19.

The whole exercise of running, tracking the runs, the heart rate, the pace, the elevation, the timings and also the support from friends and peers , helped me a lot in running Cabot this year. Many of the new dashboards we developed internally for the sales and delivery team were based on the Strava analytics that I so much love to see, The comparison graphs were a great way to keep ourselves motivated and on track. The #beatyesterday mentality is a must to have in Sales team to keep us moving ahead. And this year, the thinking zone shifted from showers to the roads where most of the thinking seem to have happened 🙂 I am not getting started on benefits of running in this email because I will run out of pages, even in an email:-)

Friends with benefits 🙂

Dont get ideas, the title is just to catch your attention 🙂 As with all ‘looking back’ emails, this one too looks at all positive things that happened in the year past.But in reality , this year too had its own fair share of hurdles and tough moments. But I am very thankful to a wonderful set of friends who chipped in with all kinds of support whenever I needed it , provided advice , patiently listened to my complaints , even did sales calls on my behalf so on and so forth. If I start naming them it would be a long list, but I am sure you know who you are , so thank you from the bottom of my heart for being there throughout the year, you guys have been awesome and I can’t thank you enough !

The glue

I spent nearly 5 months in the US in 2019 and even while in India, spent a lot of time travelling and in meetings and still felt like I didnt miss much of the valuable family time, because of only one reason, the person who held it all together, Vani. She supported me at work, pushed me to do more things socially , held it together when I was away and did it all with a calm demeanor 2020 will also be a challenge as I take on more leadership roles in the Rotary and Vani will have to work even harder for me to meet my goals 🙂 She is definitely the unsung hero behind our family’s success this year and every year !

Welcome 2020

I have been saving the best for the last, like a kid that savours an ice cream. The best news from 2019 is actually about what we are going to do in 2020. We are coming to Canada ! My co-founder and fellow director , Shibu Basheer is moving to Windsor , ON and will be heading Cabot Canada , starting from January 2, 2020. We have mighty big plans for our near shore development center in Canada and with our continued efforts in the Healthcare sector which is growing in US and Canada , I am looking forward to a record year for us in 2020 🙂

Well, thank you friend for being a part of this wonderful journey in 2019. I wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas and a great new year. May you attain whatever goals you are chasing in the new year. The goals may seem to slip away and far away, but remember one thing, always keep running to your goal, eventually you will get there !

Happy New year 2020 !

Happy Womens Day !

Tomorrow, March 8 is International Womens day. As a father of two girls I am curious to see what the world holds for them in future. Very recently, there has been a lot of activity where I live, Kerala, for women’s rights and the empowerment of women. As a witness to all these activities in the recent past and as someone who is trying to build an organisation in a state that still has more women than men and as someone who has been constantly interacting with and motivated by a lot of women, I am just sharing a few observations and thoughts on what I think is the need of the hour.

They say that there are two types of households , Madurai and Chidambaram. Madurai (famous for its Meenakshi temple) denotes a household where the wife is on the steering wheel and Chidambaram (where Lord Shiva is the diety) denotes households with men on the driving seat. As a young boy, I grew up in a Madurai household, where my mother was the key decision maker and also the financial controller for our family. My dad was happy to play the second fiddle and a supporting role which he played to perfection. I dont recall many confrontations between them , at least nothing major. My respect for strong women starts from there. Both of them worked very hard to ensure a good education and childhood for my sister and I. They shared the load of the family, but I still feel my mom did way more than my dad in her role as the head of the family. Her ability to manage multiple daily tasks was amazing. her financial calculations were on the dot and her investment strategies worked out perfect , gold was her only option, but she stuck to it well. I sometimes wish I had half of her will power when it comes to saving and investing 🙂 And she did all that in a calm demeanor, Keep working and stay Calm that would be her T shirt slogan if she were to wear one 🙂 She knew her powers and control over all the family members and was dominant till her passing a few years ago. She didnt have to fight for her rights, nor attend any rallies to be heard. She did everything she did by still remaining within the middle class tambram culture. Thats my Hero No 1.

When I started my IT career in Canada back in the 90s. I had the good fortune of having a lady boss. Fresh off a short stint at Ashok Leyland in a mechanical world of engines and axles and a highly male dominant environment, working for a woman manager was like a whiff of fresh air for me. From that stint onwards I have had the luck to work with many other bosses and still in touch with many of them and they all have influenced and shaped my career in unique ways. A lot of my current leadership and management traits are a direct influence of many of my bosses, a majority being women of substance. Working with some great women has made me confident and also discover the feminine side of me ! During the latter part of my career, this has helped me have great working relationships with female colleagues and counterparts. At Cabot, we have always had a great team of women who have contributed towards the current success of the team and I am ever thankful to this great team who have helped me grow the company to its current level. They bring a lot of value to the table, including management skills and coaching skills vital to our growth.

And making it more personal, I have always had the greatest support from Vani in all my endeavors. She has been a very successful professional and when we moved back to India , she took on the role of a home maker to help us with the transition. She has found her passion in volunteering and community service projects and enjoys her space to do so. Together, we are bringing up our daughters to be independent thinkers and service oriented adults. They both are part of all of our social circles and activities, we discuss most of our family affairs as a four member team and they get to input their ideas into any decision making.

To me, men and women are two sides of the same coin. We both have our places and roles to play. I want my daughters to grow up to be successful human beings with a strong sense of commitment towards humanity and the earth. I want them to enjoy their freedom to express their feelings, freedom to choose their living, freedom to work towards causes they believe in and freedom to choose their friends and partners. I do not want them to get opportunities because they are women, I want them to be deserving of any and all opportunities they get and to have fought for it like any other person will have to.

A lot of initiatives that are meant to be supportiive of women are actually doing more harm to them than good. Policies that are not well thought out and implemented half heartedly are more dangerous than beneficial. Like what we say in building flat organizations, lets build a flat world , where the opportunities are equal. By nature, women can do more than men 🙂 So lets not pull them down and make them equal , lets do more, together !

Happy womens day to all the wonderful women out there ! Keep rocking !

2018 – Year of the Challenge

I am glad 2018 is behind me and I am also glad 2018 happened to me ! By far, this was a tough year to me personally and professionally and when you are an entrepreneur, the line is very thin, often disappearing. The year left me with more learnings than any other year in the past dozen or so years 🙂 It also made me a stronger person than any other year in the past. So what made 2018 a special year ? Lets take a quick look.

As the year started, one of our major clients ran into some normal business issues and had to slow down drastically in a quick time frame. The impact was huge for a small firm like Cabot, but thanks to the amazing team we have here , we were able to pull things off reasonably well as the year progressed. It was a wake up call for me as I was getting somewhat complacent from the growth we have been enjoying in the past years. After a lot of filtering and fine tuning, Cabot now focuses on the vertical of Healthcare solutions and the horizontal of Cloud Engineering. The restructuring was much needed to bring long term clarity in vision and now with a clear road map for the next year, I am comfortable to be in charge of a motivated team all set to march towards its goals. I have always told positive stories from the team and from my life, but I learnt this year that there is nothing wrong in sharing a challenging story or a challenging time. It was painful to say goodbye to some Cabotians this year as they chose to fight a different battle than us, but I am sure our paths shall cross again, and that too not too far from now. And to those who chose to stay back and join the fight with us, thanks a lot for your dedication and belief in Cabot and I promise not to let your hopes down !

We also chose a new home for us in the US, Chicago ! The decision was easy once we chose Healthcare to be our domain of choice, we already had close to 10 customers in the domain and most in and around Chicago. With access to other regions in the US and to India, Chicago serves our purpose well. I also spent 12 weeks this year in Chicago, meeting a lot of fellow entrepreneurs and strategizing for the future. Going ahead, I will be splitting my time equally between Chicago and Kochi to further develop both operations. Thats a big change coming up in 2019 and I look forward for that.

And we have another winner from Cabot, EventOrg. For years we have toyed with the idea of developing a product on the side while we focus on our Services line of business. We aptly used the slowing down of the services sector for us to create a strong team behind our event management product, EventOrg. We have had great reviews from our test launch of the product in the Indian market and 2019 looks to be a promising year as we gear up to launch the product in US.

Personally too it was a bit of a challenging year, as this was the first time I spent a considerable time away from family at a single stretch. Thanks to the strong support of friends and family, both me and Vani managed to pull this off amazingly well. The spiritual grace was still on me as I ended up in an Airbnb in Chicago owned by Abhiney who is a follower of Sri Lahiri Mahasaya and Swami Paramahamsa Yogananda. The ensuing peace in the next three months was definitely not by chance. I also used my time in US to catch up with many of ex colleagues and friends and it was a great year of catchup ! After coming back to Kochi, I do sense that my little ones were not that forgiving towards my three month US stunt 🙂 . We also had a fair share of health challenges in the family and by God’s grace and again with support from friends and family, survived the curve balls there as well. Not many marathons to boast this year, but I am planning a few in 2019 !

On top of all this, Kerala was hit with the worst floods in a century this year. The massive destruction and loss of lives called for great efforts in rebuilding the state. I was fortunate enough to be of some help to people during the floods and also after the fact to help some with much needed support. This was made possible through the Rotary network of which I am part of. A positive outcome of the floods were the team building that happened with several Rotary leaders during the one week of flood relief operations in Kochi. My daughter Veda also became a full time volunteer during those days and learnt first hand how to work in a team during a distress situation.

2019 holds a lot of hope for Cabot and for me. Dreams waiting to become reality, Promises waiting to be fulfilled and Plans waiting to be executed and it is in those Plans that I have my faith

Thank you for being part of our journey in 2018 and I look forward to seeing you in our trip next year too !

Wishing you all a great holiday season in 2018 and a very happy new year in 2019 !

Goodbyes

As I stood there and watched the train move away, I could feel a part of me moving with it. The dark glass window of the AC compartment denied me another look at the person sitting inside, but in my mind I could see them also looking out the window and maybe they could see me, so I waved my hands at the black window, aimed at nothing. And within minutes, the entire train had passed in front of me and I was staring at the big X cross mark of the last compartment of the train. The platform  – which about a minute ago was full of people running around with bags big and small, looking for their respective coaches and rushing to get to their seats, tea vendors trying to make a quick sale, porters helping people with their bags , ticket examiners dealing with the last minute travellers looking for seats – was now nearly empty. To me, it felt like everyone was in my mind space and they all just left me alone, standing in the platform, now staring at a very distant train as it sped away from me. All I could feel was the emptiness and my mind raced back to many such good byes in the past, some turning out to be final goodbyes.

Though the train station good byes are far more harder just because of the fact that in about a minute or so, the crowd vanishes and you are left standing there alone, they are usually a temporary separation only to be seeing each other again in a few months time. The kind of international airport goodbyes of families or children migrating to other countries have more far reaching impact.

During one such trip back from India to Canada is when I saw my dad alive for the last time. I walked into the airport after the hugs and kisses and he was standing right there at the entrance waving his hands and as I passed through the security gate, I looked back for one last time and there he was , in his white shirt and dhoti , waving at me for the last time. About nine months later I came flying down , almost two days after he took his last breath.

Another train goodbye had me standing in the station and my youngest uncle seated inside on a short train trip to Trivandrum. We were supposed to meet again in couple of weeks time and it was rather unique that I actually went to the station to see him off. He is a very frequent traveller and always makes his own arrangements. That particular evening, he wanted a drop at the train station and I was home and drove him there and since we were engrossed in some conversation, went inside the station to see him off. Little did I know that I will never see him again !

Goodbyes are always a hard thing, no matter where it happens. By now, I realise that we can make all the plans we want, but reality is a different story. In our family, we have made even the daily routine good byes to school, office etc stand out and be special 🙂 Even when rushing out to catch the bus or train, we make sure every person in the family has been seen and shown a ‘tata’ the indian way 🙂 .

The two sweet and poignant memories of goodbyes I have are from Denver and Halifax. After a four year stint in Denver, Vani and I packed our stuff in the car and started our drive towards Halifax, as our brethren waved us goodbye on the parking lot of MacDonalds on Hampden Ave. And then years later, the scene repeated in Halifax International Airport , as we bid adieu to our friends at the Tim Hortons and walked into the security gates to board our flights to India. Of course, we have been meeting all these friends more or less every year and hanging out whenever we get a chance, but the tinge of sorrow felt on that day while waving the goodbye still stays in a corner of my heart.

Kabhi alvidha na kahna..

The Art of doing brevets (unsupported long distance endurance cycling)

From time immemorial, humans have always had this urge to push their limits and achieve something extraordinary. Though many would think of these acts as means to impress fellow humans, it is actually to convince oneself of their abilities and to test oneself against standards set by self and not others. Brevets are long distance cycling events, ranging from 200 to 1200 or even more kms. I got introduced to the brevet some two or three years ago by the folks at the Cochin bikers club who were organizing the rides. I clearly remember trying to dissuade my friend Shibu when he is said he is going on a 200 km brevet ride, I thought it was the craziest thing to do and did everything I could to stop him. But good for him (and later for me ! ) he didnt listen and went on the ride to Athirapally anyways and had a ton of fun doing it. It is still touted as the most fun, most challenging 200 BRM organized by Cochin.

I have participated in 5 brevets so far, with successful completion in 3 and a DNF in the other two. Each brevet was a different riding experience and a teaching experience. Brevets are never easy, even the 200 kms ones on a more or less flat terrain. They test your endurance, patience, time management, team skills, grit, determination, pain tolerance, creativity etc etc The list is long and I could keep going 🙂 The point is it is not just about physical fitness to ride 200 kms on a cycle.

Preparation for the brevet starts with studying the terrain where you will be riding. Some people who live in the neighbourhood can train in the same brevet route, but for others that wont be possible Riding the same route adds familiarity and makes it easy on the day of brevet but it also takes away the element of surprise , whats the fun in that ! So, understanding the terrain prepares the mind for the ride. Local weather conditions play a very big part in the ride. It helps to know the weather to dress accordingly for the ride.

A general read up on brevets is also a good preparation. So that you wont be like my friend Jay who rode the recent 200 K brevet, but had no idea he had to reach the control points on time. So in the end, he did ride 200 kms, but missed almost all of the control points and finished some 18 hours after the start !

Training for the actual riding part of the brevet should start months before the actual ride and it is based on the distance you want to ride. For a 200 KM brevet, you should have atleast rode a 100 or 130 kms prior to the actual brevet ride. And most riders do not do any long distance biking the week before the brevet, finishing all their training some seven days in advance and letting the body recover with some light exercises for the week.

Hydration is the key part of this endurance biking event. It is a good idea to start hydrating the body two to three days before the actual event and also load some sodium and carbs. This will prevent muscle cramps during the ride. While riding also it is important to remember to keep sipping on that water bottle every 15 minutes or so, even if you dont feel thirsty. Don’t wait for the thirst to strike you for drinking. Same goes for hunger. Though heavy meals are not recommended on a brevet ride, snacking throughout the ride on dry fruits, nuts, choco bars etc will fuel your ride continuously and make you energized throughout.

Cycling in general is a solo sport and brevets are definitely meant to be a solo event, the man and the machine on the road unsupported ! But many of us like to do these kind of fun rides as a group.If you have a team to ride with, it is always more fun (thats what I think). You can motivate each other, support each other if needed (changing a flat tire in the middle of nowhere is a prime example) and just be there for the other person. Brevet is not a race and there are no podium finishes, so it does not matter if you finish first or last, all it matters is that you finish it !

Last but never the least is time management part of brevet. A brevet is all about timings. Before you start the ride, read the control point timings, you need to be at each control point before it closes. The timing is set at an average speed of 15 km.per hour, so it is definitely a doable task, but when you throw in couple of snack breaks and stretch breaks, suddenly your average speed needs to be 18 or 19 km/hr to meet the timings. So plan well and mentally note down the timings you would like to achieve for each CP and keep that in mind as you ride along. In a team, usually there is one person who is in charge of the time and he or she makes sure others stick to it.

On longer brevets, you need to plan to catch some sleep in between to avoid exhaustion. This means your average should be well above the stipulated 15 so that you can shave off some precious hours for a nap. When practising for the brevet, try to push your limits by riding faster.

These are just some notes based on my experience of riding. I finished a 200 KM brevet last night and it felt wonderful to reach the final control point.

Of course there are some aching joints, blisters etc, but those are the rewards of this great sport of brevet ! Enjoy riding !

Do Sweat the Small Stuff

Recently, I was invited to speak at a local event where high scoring students from Grades 10 and 12 were honoured with awards. It was heartening to see a crowd of 52 students showing excellence in their studies and this was from a small sector of the society.

While I am in no doubt about their academic callibre and the bright future that awaits them in the corporate world, I did tell them to sweat the small stuff and not just focus on their studies too hard.

And this ‘small stuff’ includes things such as letter writing, spelling , grammar, team work, respect, humility and the list goes on and on. A few of these are my pet peeves.

I invariably get to see about 10 to 15 emails from young graduates seeking job opportunities in our organization (We do get around 100 emails a day, unsolicited, but most of them go to a job specific email id which I dont get to see only the HR does, these others come to some of our other email ids to which I subscribe to) and it is very sad to say that hardly one of them is written properly. And yes, I do open and read all of them.

Most of the emails dont have any addressing to begin with and then, if they address also, it is not proper. Formatting is non-existent, no punctuations whatsoever and grammar and spelling are absolutely alien to these folks. You get the picture, right? An absolute disaster of an email from folks who have secured 70% or more in their engineering studies ! Appalling !  And to think that letter writing is taught in our schools in grade 4 !

So, my request to all young grads out there would be to focus a bit on the small stuff as well and do take an effort to learn a bit of email etiquette. And of course, learning a bit of grammar and spelling wont kill you at all