Category: Life Notes

Another story from the skies. I was on my way back on Air India’s non-stop from San Francisco to Mumbai. Unable to sleep, I had opened my notebook and was making some notes about the trip and what we needed to do next. I had asked for some tea. One of the crew members came with a cup and happened to see the words “vision” and “mission” written in big on my notebook page. And she said, “That’s what I need! How can people like me, who work long hours and are separated from families for days at a time, give ourselves a purpose in life? I see a spark in you, and absolute concentration and intensity. How can I achieve that?” A short conversation followed mostly with me asking the questions. I told her I will share some thoughts when she has some time during the flight. (They were just about to start the meal service.)

An hour or so later, she came up to me again and said, “I spoke to a few of my colleagues, and we would all like to listen to you.” And so it was that I found myself giving an impromptu talk to four of the Air India crew! I made some notes prior to the talk that I shared with them.

As I thought about the conversation later, I realised it took immense courage for the first crew member to have the conversation with me. She was curious, and wanted to do more and better. And that in itself is a good step forward – a growth mindset rather than a fixed mindset. I wish her and her colleagues well! For me, I will remember this talk as the first one I have done in an airplane!

I reached Bangalore airport at 9:15 pm for my 10:45 pm Indigo flight to Mumbai. On the way, I had got a message that the flight was delayed 50 minutes to 11:35 pm. I decided to check at the Indigo ticketing counter if there was a seat available in an earlier. (That is one advantage of choosing Indigo – the frequency of flights from the major cities is very good.) The 9:45 pm flight had been delayed by 30 minutes to 10:15 pm. So, perhaps I could get a seat on that flight.

The agent looked at me and said that it will cost Rs 1800 for the change. I hesitated in answering – wondering if the hour extra was worth that much. Perhaps sensing my dilemma, the agent said, “Mr. Jain, I will do a one-off gesture for you. I will waive the additional charge.” And then, without me asking, she assigned me 1C, which would have cost extra. I was delighted.

As I made my way to the gate, I thought to my self about how a frontline customer service executive was empowered to make the decision without making any phone call or checking with her manager. Indigo does not have a loyalty program so she had no clue whether I was a loyal traveller. (That the airline has a 60-70% market share does mean that for business travellers, it would be a preferred choice.) This was a story I needed to tell my Netcore colleagues: how can our customer success teams work on customer delight moments and be empowered to make “in-the-moment” decisions if it was so needed.

My positive experience did not end there. As I reached the boarding gate, I found someone waiting for me. He introduced himself, “I am the airport manager. X [the ticketing agent] works for me. She informed me about you, and I came to make sure everything’s fine.” Quite a surprise! I thanked him, and told him, “I run a company of over a thousand people. It is so good to see that the agent could make the call on her own. Thank you.” And as I walked away, I realised I could do a small gesture of my own. I had a signed copy of my book, which I gave to the airport manager. I said, “This is for both of you. The second last chapter has some very good life lessons, which I hope you will find useful.”

I was indeed happy to reach home an hour earlier. Thank you, Indigo!

A few months ago, I decided to teach a course in Netcore. It was for upcoming managers, a class of 25. It was on Zoom since the attendees were from all over the world. It was the first time I was teaching a multi-class course. I had given talks earlier, but this one was going to be different. I had to plan a dozen or so classes of 1.5 hours each. I called the course, L.I.F.E – leadership, innovation, foresight (strategy), and execution. The group came to be called “Ascenders” – managers who could climb the ladder in the organisation.

Teaching a course is something I had always aspired to do. Teaching is a great way to learn – and part of the RLTW flywheel I talk about. Read-Learn-Think/Teach-Write. Teachers have a unique responsibility – to shape minds and mould futures. I have been fortunate to experience great teachers in my life from school through college, IIT, and then Columbia. It was time to give back in a safe environment. Who better than my fellow Netcorians?!

As I prepared for the classes, I realised I had to learn a lot also. While some of the entrepreneurial talks could be based on my book, other classes were also new to me. And so, I began the process of reading and educating myself. As always, the best way for me to learn has been to read and then write. And so it was that I wrote out multiple essays: Storytelling, Strategy, Decisions, Managing Others, Managing Self, Execution. As I presented the ideas aggregated from others, I combined them with stories from my life. [Other classes were on: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Netcore Future Story, and some miscellaneous topics based on requests from the team.]

Each class was on Thursdays at 7:30 am India time. We began on time and ended on time at 9 am sharp. (Punctuality was one of the tenets I wanted everyone to absorb.) I began every class with about 30-40 minutes of presentation. Where possible, I brought in stories from my past – decisions I had to make, experiences I had lived through. I would then open it up for discussion – with a question or two to trigger conversation. In some of the classes, I invited Bhavana to join in – she had more experience in managing people and getting things done than me! Overall, it was a very good experience for me – and hopefully the attendees.

As part of the course, we also had the group work in small teams on projects where they could apply the learnings. I called these “NX” – Netcore neXt. While the final presentations were a bit uneven, there are some excellent ideas to build on for different teams.

For me, I liked it a lot. Teaching is not easy – and my respect for all educators has increased! I started a second class in February. If this goes well, perhaps I could someday even teach at a university!

On a recent Vistara flight, I was served the Jain meal I requested. As I opened the foil for the main course, I smiled at what I saw. Spinach-corn, rice, and kofta. And my mind flashed back to the meals I used to eat on Jet Airways a decade ago.

For an entrepreneur or anyone in business, regular flights are a way of life. Airports, gates, stores – all become so familiar. There was a time when Indian Airlines was the only option in the skies. Regulations changed, and many new airlines came up. The one I fell in love with was Jet Airways. They had a way to make you feel special in the skies. After a long day of meetings as I took the flight back to Mumbai from whichever city I was visiting, I looked forward to the Jain meal. They always had something special.

And then, just like that, Jet went bankrupt. It became the era of low-cost airlines and Indigo ruled (and still does). The ‘free’ meals disappeared. There were very few Jain options in the meal catalog – and they were not the ones I liked. Post-pandemic, my local travel also reduced – with more flights internationally than within India. With congestion delays, it also became harder to do morning-evening flights. A Mumbai-Delhi flight used to be under two hours, it now takes close to two-and-a-half. A Mumbai-Bangalore flight was 90 minutes; it is 120 minutes now. With Mumbai’s single runway, the long taxiing time at most of the new airports, and the rapid increase in the number of flights, an extra hour gets added to travel time in the skies. Add to that the traffic to get to the airport.

I always preferred Indigo through the years because the other domestic options were quite bad. Indigo offered efficiency and punctuality. And then into the skies came Vistara. I stuck with Indigo for some more time because of the frequency of their departures. Friends started talking about the “Vistara experience” – like the good old days of Jet. I decided to give them a try. After a couple episodes of “Sir, we have a full flight. We will need to take your bag and check it in.”, I upgraded to Premium Economy. At least now, no one pushes me to hand over my bag! And then there is the extra legroom.

The meals are nice, too. A throwback to the brief period in Indian aviation history where Jet and Kingfisher brought romance to air travel. Vistara promises the same now. As I ate my green-white-saffron meal, I was struck by the fact that the taste was also the same. Two meals, a decade or two apart, a common chord.

A couple years ago, I came across a book, “Before the Coffee Gets Cold”. It was by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, and had been translated into English. The reviews were good, and so I decided to read them. It had four short stories set in a café with an interesting premise, “If you could go back, who would you want to meet?” I read the stories in the first book and loved them. I have since then eagerly waited for more: there have been three more books, each with four stories. Of course, there are some rules to be followed for the time travel. The visitor must return before the coffee gets cold, and nothing that happens will change anything in the present.

At its core, the series delves deep into the complexities of human emotions and relationships. Each story in the café involves characters grappling with regret, love, forgiveness, and the desire to reconnect or reconcile with their past. It prompts us to ponder what we would do if given the chance to revisit the past, and at what cost. It is a captivating series that skilfully combines a unique and imaginative premise with deep emotional storytelling, philosophical depth, and beautiful writing. It offers both an escape into a magical world and a mirror reflecting our own lives, making it a compelling read.

After reading the books, I’ve often pondered, “If I could go back, whom would  I want to meet?” A myriad of faces come to mind: the school teacher who imparted wisdom beyond textbooks; a childhood friend, our paths diverged by life’s unpredictable twists; the elderly couple I met on a cross-country train journey in the US, sharing stories for hours as the landscape blurred past; my grandmother who raised me in my early years, and whose sacrifices I never fully acknowledged; a classmate at IIT, a companion in academic endeavours, now just a flicker in my memory; my managers at the only job I ever did from whom I learnt how to nurture talent. Each of these relationships harbours an untold epilogue, a yearning for closure that lingers.

At the same time, I think, “Should I do it?” Life is not always about perfect and happy endings. There are some partings which leave behind happy memories and sometimes, a pang of regret. That is the nature of life. The emotions add an extra dimension to our life, they make us human. Maybe there’s wisdom in letting the river of life flow uninterrupted, in cherishing the past as is. Life, in its essence, isn’t a tapestry of flawless and joyous finales. It’s a mosaic of departures, some leaving a trail of fond recollections, others a subtle ache of regret. Perhaps, some narratives are meant to remain as they are – unaltered, original, incomplete.

As I wrote a few years ago: “I have to think of the life that’s to come and not the life that has gone by. We are not living in a multiverse where we can take a different path in the past. A decision made is a decision done. Of course, if it is not going right, one must find ways to mitigate its damage. Life has to be lived forward – look ahead to what’s coming. Each big wrong decision is an education in itself – one needs to understand why it went wrong. But that is a different exercise from playing the “If only” game.”

The stories of our past don’t need alteration; they require acknowledgment and a place in our heart’s gallery. By recognising this, we allow ourselves to be whole, carrying the richness of each experience as a quiet strength. In the end, maybe it’s not about changing our stories, but about understanding their impact and moving forward with a heart full of gratitude for the journey.

I had reached the new Terminal 2 at Bangalore airport after a long day of meetings with a couple hours to spare for the Mumbai flight. The terminal is dazzling in its beauty, a far cry from the structures I grew up with. DigiYatra ensured I breezed through. Since there was time for the flight and I was hungry, I made my way to the lounge.

It had been a busy day and I had not eaten lunch. While I knew I would get a full meal on the Vistara flight, that was still a few hours away. I checked the food offerings in the lounge and not finding anything Jain, I decided to check with one of the lounge staff if they had any Jain options. The reply, “No, Sir. Only the curd rice over there.” Then he asked me, “Where are you seated?” I pointed to a spot. He didn’t say anything and walked away.

I picked up some juice and sat down. About ten minutes later, the same person whom I had spoken to came with a plate of kulcha and chole. He said, “Sir, I had the kitchen prepare this specially for you. They are both Jain.” And before I could thank him, he had walked away – and returned with a glass of water. I was overwhelmed.

This was service beyond the line of duty. I was just another individual in the crowd. He had not seen me earlier and would probably not see me again for a long time. He, along with the kitchen staff, had to go out of their way to prepare a fresh meal for a “segment of one” (to borrow a phrase from marketing). I spoke about customer service and delight to my team, and here it was – a living embodiment of the same.

I thanked him. He replied, “If you can, do send an email to us.” (Which I did a couple days later.)

As I walked to the boarding gate after a full meal, I thought to myself: How can we in Netcore create an environment where frontline, customer-facing staff can take actions which positively impact our customers? Somewhere in the training of the lounge staff, someone had inculcated a deep motivation for customer delight. And the person who served me took a call at that moment to use that freedom to get me a personalised meal. For him, I was special – like everyone else. For me, it was an experience that will live long in my memory.

From childhood to adulthood, each experience, whether joyful or sorrowful, becomes a thread in the tapestry of our lives. I talk about some of these stories in meetings. I thought recently: why not share some of them on the blog? I anyway needed something different from the marketing essays I have been writing! So, I decided to call this series “Life Notes” to complement “Life System”. The former will chronicle vignettes, the latter has advice.

When I was growing up, my favourite magazine was “Reader’s Digest.” I loved their short takes on life (Life’s Like That, Humor in Uniform, All in a Day’s Work) and also the sections on “Drama in Real Life” and “The Most Unforgettable Character I Ever Met”. In my series, “Life Notes,” I aim to tap into this power of storytelling. Each post will be a brief glimpse into a moment, memory, or experience that has left an indelible mark.

As I wrote in my Storytelling essay: “Storytelling has been at the heart of human culture since time immemorial. It’s an intrinsic part of our history and evolution, bridging the gap between generations, cultures, and geographies. The power of a story lies in its ability to leave a lasting imprint; it is through our tales that the essence of our lives and businesses come alive. They resonate with emotions, inspire action, and create memories. And yet, we don’t do enough of it… Stories are what we grow up with. When we as babies cannot read, we listen to stories told to us by our parents. They help us understand and interpret the world. Like the lost art of asking beautiful questions, somewhere down the line as we grow up, we forget about how important stories are to every form of communication and interaction. It is time for each of us to learn and practice storytelling – in our personal and business lives.”

Stories have a profound impact on us, and there are several reasons why they resonate so deeply. They are the primary way we make sense of our world. They give context to our experiences, helping us understand who we are and where we belong. A well-told story can bridge gaps in time and space, connecting us with others’ experiences and emotions. It’s why a child’s laughter, a friend’s sorrow, or even a stranger’s tale can feel so personal and impactful.

Why do these stories leave such a lasting impact? It’s because they often reflect universal truths and shared human experiences. They are mirrors in which we see our own lives reflected, and windows into lives we might never live. A story about overcoming adversity, for instance, might resonate with us during our challenging times, offering hope or a new perspective. Humorous anecdotes might remind us not to take life too seriously and to find joy in everyday moments.

I hope “Life Notes” is more than just a collection of stories, memories, reflections, and observations; it’s a celebration of life in all its forms. Each post, a 500-word slice of life, aims to capture the essence of experiences that shape us. Some stories might make you smile, others might provoke thought, but all are intended to leave a small imprint on your day, offering a space where we can all reflect, learn, and grow together.