Two experiences led to this blog. In neither exprience I was directly involved. One I saw and another I saw and heard about – though from the perspective of seeing and hearing, my mind was certainly involved.

The first one was an interview with Dr. V. Narayanan, Chairman ISRO. This interview happened after the splashdown of SpaceX, that carried the astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore. What came across (for me) was a humility, a sense of pride at the kind of work that was being done by the Indian Space Centres.

Some of the statements made by him lent a learning and reinforcement of how one needs to look at the work they are doing.

– Staying awake the night to watch the splashdown of SpaceX as ISRO will  be in a similar position when we launch Gaganyaan 3.

–  ISRO works in collaboration with DRDO, HAL, NAL for the various launches.

–  ISRO is not a competitor to NASA but an organisation doing similar work in the field of Space Science.

Every one of these statements were powerful and food for thought.. Some take aways from these statements were:

  • While we carry on with our work, there are other people who work on similar lines and it is always good to learn from them – The process they follow, what works, what doesn’t etc.,
  • When we don’t look at someone as a competitor but as someone who is working in the same space as we are, we feel more comfortable reaching out to them for gaining some knowledge and for understanding the best practices
  • Giving others the credit where it is due.. that’s when interdependence. happens, leading to growth.

I was still chewing the take aways the next morning and when I stepped on to the road, I saw a food cart near the apartment we live in. This food cart has come into being a few months back but I never had the opportunity to look at how they go about their business. When I got the opportunity to observe, I loved what I saw.

– For people who ate near the food cart, they could stand close to it and order. For those who wanted to take away, they need to stand in a queue. When it is their turn, they give the order and pay. Food is packed and given to them and it is then the next person’s turn.

– The people who have set up the food cart have also taken a space behind where stools are placed for people to sit and eat. There is no crowding around the cart.

– Garbage bins are kept in the space and near the food cart for people to drop their plates so that there is no littering on the road.

– Both women and men working shoulder to shoulder efficiently and effectively. It is a lovely hustle and bustle to watch.

As I watced, I thought:

  • Where there is a will, there is a way. If we need to stand in a queue to get what we want, we will do it, be it in America or JP Nagar.
  • We can keep our surroundings clean, if we want to and feel the need to.
  • We can ensure that people who visit us also ensure a similar cleanliness. In this case, the people who ran the food business using their cart, ensured that the space around them on the road was kept clean by the customers who ate there. No casting away plates or throwing the plates outside of the garbage bin.
  • The place was kept so clean that when the cart was taken away after the morning or night’s business, there was not a piece of garbage around. Spic and span the place was, perhaps much cleaner than what it was before they started their business.
  • Hygiene and cleanliness of our city is as much our responsibility as that of the government that runs it. Every drop counts!!!

When there is dignity in labour, we take pride in what we do and how we do what we do!!!

Be it the ISRO Chairman or the Food cart Owner, they rise high in respect – each one in their own space!!