Today, I completed a year of superannuation; superannuation from active service in an enchanting Organization Indian Oil Corp Limited .
As I take a stock of what people normally call as Second Innings, I am filled with emotions.
The year saw me taking some calls, which probably I couldn’t have taken earlier.
I decided to shift my base to Bhubaneswar. Rightfully, many friends and well-wishers questioned. Who leaves the connections and network, you developed in the NCR?, was the usual primary ‘raised eyebrows’!! Next on line, of course, was who goes away from the children, who are based at Gurugram. But, prime driver for me, was to be with my parents, particularly father, who is 90 years old and currently going through acute dementia. (I feel extremely proud and happy that I took that decision) Of course, I was also not expecting to sit idle. So doing the things; Hriday Se (From Heart) has taken the priority. With the help of Technology, I have managed to do, probably a bit more than I had envisaged!!
The year saw me joining a young team of OfBusiness.com (OFB Tech Pvt Ltd) as an Independent Director. I really owe it to the persuasion of Asish Mohapatra , the co-founder, that I joined this team of professionals, barely in their thirties, flushed with passion and energy to do something new and something different. This role provided me to learn as well as unlearn quite a few things. As OFB marches towards its IPO, the experiences have been truly phenomenal. Thanks to young energetic leaders in the team like Ruchi Kalra, Bhuvan Gupta , Vikram Singh , Nitin Jain and many others and of course, my co-travelers Ved Goel , Shirish Sankhe , Mr. M C Agarwal, I certainly feel that I have been able to bridge some of my learning gaps.
Nawgati , being a young BITSian start-up, for quite some time, had been a part of my mentoring. But post superannuation, saw me actively engaging with them and be an integral part of their focused and sustained efforts. Vaibhav Kaushik has been an enigmatic CEO of this start-up, which I am sure will be going places soon.
I also took a conscious call to guide a few start-ups and help them in charting their way in the business world. Happy to note that quite a few of them are making creditable progress, notably Trulot under the stewardship of Nilesh Jain .
Ved Mani Tiwari jee has truly turned around National Skill Development Corporation and if today, NSDC is becoming all pervading, credit goes to him and the fabulous team he has nurtured. So, I had no way to escape his persuasive request to advise them in their quest for excellence. This was despite the fact that I would remain based out of Bhubaneswar. More time I am now spending with NSDC, more I am realizing how practical and how visionary has been the dream of our Hon PM Narendra Modi Jee.
Coming to creative fronts, this year saw me finally completing my Ph. D. from Amity University, Noida in Management. I owe it to the guidance and support of my guide Prof. (Dr.) Sanjeev Bansal , which finally culminated in adding the little Dr. as a a prefix. It was quite an arduous, yet enjoyable journey.
On last Independence Day, I started with the weekly podcast called Reflections with Ranjan. It was Sanjeev Chopra , who in his own inimitable way, persuaded me to go for it and I have got hooked to it. This week, we hit a quarter century, releasing the 25th podcast. It has been an exciting journey.
Like many others, I always had this dream of publishing a book and that also got realized in early 2025 with my maiden book; “Plain Speak Management – Insights from Life’s Lessons”. Though the effort started quite sometime back, encouraged by one of the young colleagues, Anantika Nandy . the way it has shaped as a book, courtesy support and guidance received from mentors like Vinayshil Gautam Jee & Gurudev Sri Anish Jee and many others, gives me utmost pleasure and satisfaction.
This January, I also took the small plunge into my passion for teaching taking a Credit Course on Human Capital Management in Indian Institute of Management, Shillong . Interacting with young students, mostly Gen Z has been quite an experience till now.
The year has been interesting, hectic some time, but enjoyable most of the time. Learning has been phenomenal, understanding relationships, understanding people, has seen a new perspective. But overall, the year has passed too soon, giving me lots of happiness and satisfaction.
While profusely expressing my gratitude to Almighty, my parents, my family, my friends and all near and dear ones, I pray before Him to load me with opportunities to learn and learn ad give back, to the extent possible.
#Gratitude #Management #Learning #LearnerforLife
