CDOQ

My grandmother (Baji), Laj Tuteja, passed away on April 24th, 2014. It is sad to have the last grandparent leave the earth. It feels like a link to myself and to the world is broken. Baji helped raise me and hence heavily influenced early years of my life. Her strength of character was exemplary. My grandfather died at a young age and Baji became a widow with five children. People who were supposed to help her in time of need betrayed her and she became very poor from being very rich shortly after she became a widow. Despite seeing the dark side of human nature, Baji was always loving and kind to everyone. Raising five children as a single mother without money was a daunting task in India in the mid twentieth century. However, no obstacle could waver her from her goals and she never compromised on her principles, All the five children are well-settled today. Whenever, I need the strength to get through something tough, I think of Baji.  May Baji rest in peace. 

My dear friend, Jim Faulstich , passed away on September 22, 2013. Jim had a profound impact on my life. He taught me about the importance of civic duty, the depth of opera, and the joy of life. I even learned more about India from Jim. Everyone who spent any time with Jim, loved him. His enthusiasm for life was contagious. Jim's contributions to the business community and government organizations are still positively impacting the lives of millions of people.  Jim was not only a great friend. He was my hero. May he rest in peace. My condolences to Jim's family. 

My dear friend, Jens-Uffe Andersen, passed away on May 26th, 2011. Jens-Uffe was a great man and I admired him. He spent his life being a productive member of the society and made significant contributions to the success of SIEMENS in Denmark. Jens-Uffe taught me valuable lessons in business, specifically: In a big centralized corporation, when managing a big account, one has to spend more time within the organization aligning various entities than with the customer.    Internal alliances are necessary to get anything done in a big organization.  People like to do business with with people they like even if it costs a bit more.  I am sure that I am not doing justice to wisdom of the man by just listing three things I learned from him because the list is very long. May Jens-Uffe rest in peace. My condolences to his family.

People spend their life in "the grind" or "rat race" and wake up one day and think where did the last 40 years go. One of the most fundamental principles of logistics is that you can not improve what you can not measure. I think this applies to life as well. So, I try to measure my progress every day by answering the following questions in my journal: 1. What did I do today to bring to closer to achieving my yearly objectives? 2. What did I do well today? 3. What could I have done better today? 4. What did I do for others today? 5. What was diamond of the day i.e. what did I enjoy the most today? 6. What did I learn today? 7. What couldn't I answer today? It is amazing what ten minutes a day of reflection does to your outlook on everything. Try it! People who taught me the value of measurement and reflection are Dieter Klein (former boss), Walter Zinn (former professor), and Tom Carter (former customer).