I wish I would: E. Sreedharan

[Dear Friends, It's difficult to answer when someone asks me, who is your ideal as it defines my thinking process, my character, my lifestyle, my likes and dislikes. Yet we're lucky to have chain of great sages & saints, thinkers, patriots, freedom-fighters, researchers, enterpreneurs, politicians(yes, I feel we've not lost Chanakya in mud of current list of politiicains) -- who or part of his work can contribute to our own ideal. In this series, I wish I would, --- few of them whom I feel observed closely and want to become like them in some or other sense. Hope you'll enjoy these characters, if not agree to like them as I. It would be good if people share their ideals too in this forum. The first of the series is - E. Sreedharan, the man behind Delhi Metro Railway Corporation. ]
Well, this is for those who feel that invoking Spirituality in Corporate Culture would be quite an impractical idea to think about or "Spirituality" and "Corporate Culture" are two opposite ends of a normal human life or group i.e. one cannot possess both.In this I would talk about a person, who invoked "Spirituality" in his corporate and achieved an unbelievable success through that.I am in a stage to talk about him, I personally met him in one of his talk at IISc, bangalore titled "Social Responsibility for Civil Engineers", in which I saw his magnanimous way of thinking.Well,you might of guessed who the person is?If not, let me give you some more clues.He is a 74 years young person, young because he still has energy to work for the corporate, a civil engineer by profession working for a government company.His current sallary is 39000-40000 per month (quite a low when think about corporate packages and his 40 years of experience in the same company), but his sallary cannot be an indication of his great personalityand his work, as he refused a job offer of 60 times of his current salary i.e. 24 lakhs per month from a private sector and still no complain about current low sallary........"But don't you think if the government paid its good people more ... I know that you have a more detached outlook to this, and you are a builder ...It is difficult for the government to pay such high salaries because it is a huge organisation ... You know, such a large number of people. And you retain such quality men. But temptation on your good people to go away must be great.Very much. Because people have children, they have families ...Very much. But one thing again is the job satisfaction they get here, the exposure to technologies, and the work ethics. These they are valuing very much. The other thing is that, you know, while wages may be less, I believe what you've done is, in a way, immunise them from other problems people working in the government have. Like corruption, inefficiency, politics, crossed-wires. Would you say that? Or would you just say that God's been kind?No, there have been attempts to interfere in our method of working and all that. But we have stood firm. We have not allowed any of these considerations to affect our work style or the progress of the work."Well, if it's still not clear or if it makes someone think that I am talking about a crazy person, let me talk about his work and his achievements....He is the person because we are talking about comfort of less trafffic in delhi and journey in a delhi metro.When the project of delhi Metro was proposed by Indian government, the entire world has laughed upon this idea because they thought it's is impossible to make a metro in such a crowdy area.And, he was the person who completed this project in 7 years ( 3 years ahead of target date and within budget, while it took more than 2 decades to build kolkata metro.He always has the habit to do impossible looking things, for example "Konkan Railway"............"The project was unique in many respects. It was the first major project in India to be undertaken on a BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) basis; the organisation structure was different from that of a typical Indian Railway set-up; the project had 93 tunnels along a length of 82 km and involved tunneling through soft soil. The total project covered 760 km and had over 150 bridges. That a public sector project could be completed without significant cost and time overruns was considered an achievement by many."In the current situtation,when we start of complaining of political troubles as soon as we start of good work, how did he managed it???"But do you do some of that by absorbing a few of the tensions yourself or do you just use the strength of your personality to keep the trouble-makers at bay?It is basically at my own level. But I had one advantage. When I came to this project, I had come with a reputation. And that reputation helped me. They knew that here's a man who means business, who's not interested in anything else except completion of the work. I suppose politicians now know, that at the end of the day, they can get somebody who will give them a showpiece project. They at least may be able to go to the elections with that, instead of trying to milk it to get their own people appointed or trying to give their own people contracts. Do you see a change in Indian politics?Very much, very much. In fact I have seen that in the initial stages I had this sort of problem, but today they appreciate it. They respect my style of working, the way I conduct business. And they find that results are showing, which is to their benefit. It gives them the credit."Well, due to his extra-ordinary works, government of France has awarded him the citizen award- Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour) in 2005.(for refreshment, I would like to add the point that this is the same award for which Amitabh Bachchan was in hype in newspapers early this year(jan 2007) for getting it).He has also been awarded with one of the Asia's heroes by TIME in 2003, Padmashri by GOI in 2001, Man of the year by TOI in 2002, one of India's 50 most powerful people by India Today magazine and several others.Well, I feel I have talked a lot, quite a big mail ofcourse, now its time to announce his name with respect, He is none other than E. Sreedharan, the metro man.But how did he managed it-"Sreedharan took up the challenge and advanced the deadline by a month, making the task tougher. He made the bridge functional in 46 days. He achieved this by the application of some 'commonplace values'-discipline, punctuality and honesty-and the introduction of a new work culture. These traits continue. After the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) was set up, one of the first things Sreedharan did as managing director was to instil a "sense of corporate culture". And, what is the force which constantly inspires him to take herculeon tasks and go ahead till completion-
"He thanks God for giving him success। "I am a religious person but religion does not mean going to temples. To me it means leading a virtuous life," he says. Success and virtue. A rare combination in today's world. But they run side by side in Sreedharan's life. Like rail tracks."

References-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Sreedharan http://www.muraleedharan.com/legends_sreedharan.html http://in.rediff.com/money/2006/mar/13binter.htm http://in.rediff.com/money/2006/mar/10minter.htm http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/full_story.php?content_id=35536
Talk at IISc, bangalore on "Social Responsiblity for Civil Engineers"