TIE Entrepreneurship Summit Dec 21-23 2009, Mumbai

My feelings on the morning of the first day of the summit were a pot- pourri : of pride in what my country is evolving to be, excitement about being a part of this revolution called India’s unstymied economic progress, awe at encountering face-to-face the stalwarts who with their extra ordinary feats of grit, imagination and courage, have been making ours a proud nation,  camaraderie of belonging to the ranks that dream of grander and more magnificent visions of India, and passion to be part of this majestic entrepreneurial movement.

As soon as I stepped into the conference venue, Vijay Mallya was already weaving his charm with his ubiquitous troupes of sultry kingfisher air-hostesses in their comely gear registering participants. Now, that is a display of Indian entrepreneurial creativity. High visibility and PR secured for a pittance – a few hours worth of your elegant staff time, albeit those that strictly warrant a second or third look.  Mallya with his good taste, is a true ambassador of “the good times” that his brand promises..

As I settled into my seat to see Ratan Tata (the legendary CEO of Tata Group) and N.R. Narayana Murthy (Founder and ex-CEO of Infosys) in their apparently first ever tete-a-tete moderated by Shekhar Gupta, I was already feeling revved up.

Narayana Murthy quizzed Ratan on his feelings the first few hours and days he had taken over the Tata mantle from JRD the legend and how it felt to step into such big shoes. Ratan in his typical candidness talked about his amusing story of how JRD would often forgot that he was no longer at the driving wheel, and infact swap chairs with Ratan in the same office like a musical merry go-around leaving Ratan utterly confused about what his new role and duties meant. And then he promptly complimented Narayana Murthy on creating his own shoes and therefore cleverly avoiding the problem of fitting into someone else’s  shoes. Shekhar Gupta asked the veterans if they ever had encounters of the clandenstine kind with the politicians and corruption, and how they dealt with it. Both leaders had never bowed down to pressure and are famous for always having conducted their business with utmost transparency, highest ethical values and integrity. No wonder they feature right at the top in the recent survey of the most trusted Indians right after the likes of ex President Abdul Kalam and Manmohan Singh. Aren’t we incredibly lucky to be living in such times with inspiring leadership all around us?

Nandan Nilekani then shared the opportunities and challenges on his new initiative UID, a technology project to grant a unique identification number to each of the over 1 billion Indians, which he was handpicked to lead.

Then came the Gurukul session with my hero Kanwal Rekhi, the founder of TIE. Opportunity comes to the prepared mind! I was chatting with Rekhi on my venture Genius Incubator and how to mitigate the risk perceived by foreign investors of investing in India before his session. As he readied to go upto the dais to take questions from the hungry entrepreneurs, the organisers came looking to see if there was a moderator and I readily volunteered. I was only too pleased to officially moderate a session with the man I have admired and read about a lot – thanks to my fascination with the Silicon Valley phenomenon and my passion to replicate the ecosystem in India. Of course I could not pour forth my admiration during what was to be only a Q&A session with the audience, but I could contain it no longer when it came time to thank him for his time with us. My mind and oratory skills have always stood by me and served me faithfully when I have summoned them spontaneously and I dazzled the audience with an impromptu ode to the grand father of Venture investing in Silicon Valley. Of course the impact of the man’s grandness and the appropriateness of my speech only dawned on me when the audience gave a standing ovation. That was the moment tears welled up in my eyes for the great country India has been, is, and always will be. That was the moment I felt the privilege of being born Indian.

We are a nation that shares courage and inspiration through the very air we breathe, without needing words to express. We are a nation of over one billion entrepreneurs, not a mere thousand or a million. We are a nation bound more by humanity and love, than by economic parameters of GDP. We are a nation that has provided spiritual wisdom and the fountain of all things sublime to the world.  We are a nation that stands in unison to hail the superhuman achievements of a Sachin Tendulkar, or the saintly leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. We are a nation that have nurtured first generation entrepreneurs like Dhirubhai Ambani who have left us exemplary tales of vision and ambition. We are a nation destined to create!

Enterprising India – The land of a billion entrepreneurs, changing the world – Part II

‘When I play for myself, I am OK, when I play for you there is some magic that comes out!”

There finally, someone I respond to, on stage – Leander Paes!

For my international readers, Leander is an Olympic medal winner in Tennis from India.

I had the pleasure once of cheering Leander and Mahesh on from a private viewing chamber at the courts as a dashing 20 something in Kolkata in 1998/99. The then girl-friend of Leander was sitting next to me. Leander on strike! The poor opponent was an Asian, no less ferocious. But, the aggression and the indefatigable spirit of Leander was unmistakable. I remember asking myself where did that hunger come from? An extra ordinarily talented family? An inexhaustible reservoir of testosterone? His eyes exuded that steely drive to conquer everything that stood in its way, which could intimidate a lesser opponent. Anyway, despite the WINNER written all over Leander’s frame and limb, I had found myself favoring Mahesh! Was it his height or his single status, I can’t say!

Cut to circa Dec 2009 – Leander gracing the dais of Enterprising India, TIE entrepreneurship Summit, this time without Mahesh, facing a 2500 strong audience passionate about entrepreneurship,  his mirth giving away the pleasure of all the attention, looking around to catch a glimpse of admiration, a glimpse of infatuation, flashing a trillion watt infectious smile at cameras that were going flash flash, and stopping just a moment to hold the gaze. And eye contact! No other business leader had commanded such attention on the same stage at previous sessions. Such is the power of celebrity! Not to mention the raw youthfulness and the quantum of energy this celeb was! Hold your breath, this man who seemed to have lived all his life for the mere thrill of winning, had a bombshell to explode – his hitherto non-existent or well-masked humility, perhaps drawn out his art-of-living wife Rhea? Here is his fascinating tale of charting his own destiny.

“Drive, patriotism and passion to succeed for your country” are his ingredients for success. He believes  India needs to support young athletes with word class training facilities, dedicated coaching camps and a sports eco- system so “athletes can focus on their next 10 push-ups, sit-ups, millions of forehands, backhands, without having to worry about where the money is coming from to pay the coach”.

Watch the video here:

Leander championing The Olympic Gold Quest at Enterprising India 2009

China invested 3 crores on each Olympic athlete that went on to participate in the Olympics, he observed, politely asking the question what was India investing in its Olympic hopefuls.

Instead of paying mere lip service to inadequate infrastructure, in the empowered spirit and confident stride of young India,  Leander chose to act instead, by joining the Board of Directors of The Olympic Gold Quest, a brainchild of cue sports great Geet Sethi and Prakash Padukone, badminton legend and father of the young bollywood heartthrob  Deepika Padukone. The Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ) supports Indian athletes with a proven track record and potential to win a  gold by picking the best individuals and  providing them dedicated top-class training and coaching.

“I am by no means saying that I am going to give up my tennis, I am here to win you a few more medals”. Balance this chutzpah with the humility of this ensuing disclosure. Paes had chosen this moment of his glory to pay tribute to an unknown family, that had supported his sports career. In a tearful tribute to their generosity and in a gracefully emotional expression of his gratitude, Leander asked each of his benefactors from the Durlabhji family to stand up and then acknowledged how much their financial support had meant to this young hungry promising athlete from Kolkata in his formative years. That moment, Leander had won my heart and made me proud! To have ever aspired to be an athlete.  I am sure he won countless legions of admirers that day.  A little kindness goes a long way, even to a world class Olympian athlete. What if your kindness could influence another Leander Paes?

OGQ supports athletes like Sania Nehwal, MC Mary Kom, and select runners from P.T Usha School of athletics. The COO of OGQ then presented a humbling vision plan, which so touched the hearts of the audience that it inspired a modest entrepreneur to walk upto Leander on stage  spontaneously and present him a cheque for an undisclosed sum followed by my hero Kanwal Rekhi, the visionary Founder of TIE and now a VC, with a Rs17.5 lakh cheque, the estimated cost of sponsoring one Olympic hopeful for an year.

Read more about  Olympic Gold Quest here and support if you are lucky enough to be able to support this cause.

Arifa Khan is the Founder and Managing Director of Genius Incubator Limited and a proud fan of able sports persons who do their countries proud, such as  Leander Paes.

To be continued… Stay tuned for bytes on Dipak Chopra, K.V. Kamath and all the exciting new generation of entrepreneurs I met at the Enterprising India Summit, 2009