Business to the Buddha

Tag: MBA

  • “When you get to the end of your rope…

    “When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on”. This was one of my MBA batchmate Rachita’s status message. I am talking about 2010-11. I asked her, what is the meaning? Why have you put it?

    She explained it to me, the context was our tiring coursework and demanding content. I kept it in my blog drafts and I loved the concept, finally returned and writing this after 14 years!

    During MBA, at times it was difficult to even comprehend and we needed extra-classes. Later in the course, we used to discuss that MBA is all about commonsense. We laughed at ourselves and for few things we discussed how easy was the concept and we were confused!

    Many times, when we do not comprehend things in life, we find ourselves completely lost, but when the aha! moment happens the concept becomes so easy.

    Let me explain it with a story of A Potter.

    The Potter from Banaras

    Long ago, in the ancient city of Kasi, lived a humble potter. He wasn’t learned, rich, or respected – just a quiet man who made clay pots by the Ganga. Business was erratic. Sometimes, the rains ruined his clay. Sometimes, he couldn’t afford to buy food after a day’s work.

    One monsoon season, his kiln collapsed in a storm. His year’s savings – gone. His cart broken. For a while, he tried everything: borrowing money, seeking help from traders, selling small items door-to-door. Nothing worked.

    One evening, standing alone by the riverbank, he muttered:

    “Why is this happening to me? I did nothing wrong.”

    There was no answer. Just rain, river, silence.

    He returned home. And the next morning, he did the only thing he could: he sat with his broken pots, gathered bits of salvageable clay, and began again. Slowly. Quietly. He built his business once again brick, by brick, by brick.

    He stopped chasing fast fixes. He rose each morning, meditated by the river, shaped one pot at a time – sometimes selling none, sometimes one. He became known not for his success, but for his stillness.

    Years passed. He never became famous. Why care for his becoming famous or rich, what he gained is the inner peace. But many came just to sit with him. He listened more than he spoke. His calm presence became a space of peace.

    A young boy once asked him, “Why didn’t you give up when your kiln broke?”

    The potter smiled and said, “Because sitting with the mud was all I had. And somehow, it was enough.”

    Business and Spiritual Parallels

    Economically, he faced collapse: no income, no capital, no safety net.

    Managerially, he shifted from problem-solving to process-living – focused on what he could still control: rhythm, presence, patience.

    Spiritually, he became what the Gita calls a Sthitapragna – a still-minded person, unmoved by success or failure.

    So always remember – “When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on”.

    Picture source: Freepik.com AI generated image

  • MBA is not about Money, Blazer, Arrogance







    Recently one of my friends – Krishna Kranthi has written a novel – “MBA is not about Money, Blazer, Arrogance“. Generally I don’t read fiction but the title of the novel made me read it. It is an interesting read and good authorship for a first time novelist. I liked it so much that I almost completed it in single reading. Many MBA students feel the same as the protagonist in “MBA is not… “. Only a few not only think but also write about it. Yet only a few not only write but also live the lessons learnt through this soul search, Krishna is one. Take an example – whatever small profit earned through the sell of the novel would go to an NGO. A very noble cause – who and how many think and act like that?

    In the novel, the protagonist asks pertinent questions. The protagonist – somewhat confused and a lot more explorer – is trying to search for the real purpose of the MBA. If I take the freedom to extend the realm – searching for the real purpose of life! The book is very good read for all students (not just MBAs) – it may help them find the objective for doing what they are doing?

    When I am writing this, I am reading “Globalization and its discontents” by Prof Joseph Stiglitz. I see through these books and connect the two things. I realized that there are more things beyond the ivory towers of AC rooms and excel sheets of calculations (as we MBAs are generally absorbed in). That something is – the drought stricken Marathwada Maharashtra (read Mumbai mirror Sunday 17th feb 13) etc. There is hope, there is opportunity for all of us to think beyond our own small goals. The opportunity to do something good for the society as a whole.

    —-
    There are two kinds of people. The Preservative and the Transformer. The Preservatives are trying to protect the status-quo, while the Transformers are trying to do something new update / innovate / improve and do something worth for self and society.

    I see a transformer in Krishna a different fellow who is different from the preservators. Who has asked few core questions for education (MBA). I think readers can find their own selves in the protagonist of novel and do some soul searching while reading the novel.

  • Swasthay – dwelling in oneself







    “You have to move on from the posts, you dont hang around it – I was a post you have to move on now.” When Prof Lopez told me this in our last meeting at Dubai, I felt bad. He further added – “Once you pass standard 1st you move on to the 2nd and so on, right Pravin?” I had to complete my MBA and move on to a job an so on and so forth.  Slowly I moved on. Yet, recently I was going through the content of my MBA and came across some photos, class works etc and fallen back in time to relish my moment of that time. One of my friends commented on Facebbok – Movee oooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnn! Instead of moving on, I remembered the last sentence Prof Lopez told me – “Pravin, you have to move on.” I had created this blog title – Move on… on Dec 1st 2010 and came back in the drafts to complete it now.

    The other reason to complete this blog was my recent meeting with Mr Ramana Rajgopaul my blogger friend and uncleji, he blogs at www.rummuser.com. He is reading a book – How Much Is Enough?: Money and the Good Life and we discussed economics and greediness  etc. Really the question is right. How much is enough? We think of buying a small apartment, when we own one, we think of bigger one and then a bungalow, villa, a farm house do we stop there? No! then we need something more a big car or something else. Where is the end? Take an example of corruption in India, what these politicians do not have? They have all they might need, but no! They want more.

    This “move on” is literally turning into running, running behind something, at time running away from the real problem. We have so many gadgets and even though we are connected with so many unknown people through social media, we dont know the neighbor. I personally felt that I spend more time on internet compared to talking with people. In bus I am on the net, in train I am on the net, at home I am on the net! So, are we facing our problems (personal or social) or we are just avoiding and moving on, running from one thing to the other just to save ourselves from facing those problems?

    When Angulimala met the Buddha. Angulimala screamed at the Buddha to stop because he wanted to cut fingers of the Buddha. The Buddha turned and told Angulimala that he, the Buddha, had already stopped. He had stopped killing and harming and now it was time for him, Angulimala, to stop.

    Now is the turn for us to stop. When I say we should stop it means a strange stop – our mind should stop running, time and space would move, our mind should be at peace, quiet. That is the definition of Swasthay (swa + sthith) – dwelling in one’s own self.

    Related blogs

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    When will we stop? (on the movie Salam Bombay)

    Dichotomy on happiness…