Tuesday, 5 September 2017

Importance of a Teacher/Mentor in the Life of an Entrepreneur


गुरु ब्रम्हा गुरु विष्णू
गुरुः देवो महेश्वरा
गुरु शाक्षात परब्रम्हा
तस्मै श्री गुरुवे नमः

              The famous hindi guru mantra holds great importance in the Indian mythological system. A teacher is given importance equivalent to good and is always adored and praised. After our parents the one who tells us the difference between the right and the wrong and motivates us to achieve things in our life is the teacher.
A teacher is not only our guide but a person who leads us to the right part with complete determination and dedication helping us to excel in various goals of our lives. For an entrepreneur clear and straight guidance is very important which is provided by the mentor or the teacher.
               To learn from the failures and to take every failure as a new step towards success is what the teacher guides and helps its students.
So, this Teacher’s Day bring delight to your mentor and excel in your field bringing smile on the face of every guide and mentor who helped you to arrive where you are. So, celebrate the knowledge and qualities you possess with your teachers and make this day memorable in your entrepreneurial career.


E-cell wishes a very happy teachers day to all such mentors who always guided us and motivated to develop this entrepreneurial ecosystem.


(courtesy: http://www.kalmstrom.com/images/Blog/Teachers-Day-Image.jpg )


(courtesy: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/multimedia/dynamic/01494/BL22CLASS4_1494281f.jpg )

Friday, 25 August 2017

Growing the Entrepreneur in Yourself this Ganeshotsav


 Growing the Entrepreneur in Yourself this Ganeshotsav!!!


Ganapati Bappa!! The lord of the lords, always preached before a new start holds a great position in Indian mythology and beliefs. And so we celebrate the ten days festival each year with a lot of blessings and good vibes.

But it is not only about Modak, Gatherings, lights, flowers and blessings. There is a lot more in the power of Ganesha which can bring out the hidden innovation in you and will lead you to the path of a successful entrepreneur.

Let us now see how the ideal figure of lord Ganesha motivates every individual to emerge out the hidden entrepreneur and touch the glorious path of victory and excellence.

The big head of lord Ganesha has a lot of great thoughts and ideas which encourages all to think big and explore big thing. An entrepreneur should always think of something out of the box which solves the problems in the easiest and simplest manner.


Next comes, the big and keen ears which have a great listening capability of understanding others. The brightest minds in the world have said “great brains speak less and listen more”, and so do the ears to lord Ganesha motivate us to do.

Although with the big head and ears lord Ganesha has small eyes which symbolize concentration. For an entrepreneur a motive and an objective is main thing to be focused leaving behind all the unnecessary surroundings. The more concentrated and devoted you are the more closer you get towards your goal.

With axe in one hand and rope in the other, lord Ganesha asks every individual to cut off all the bonds of failure and attachment and tightly rope the heights of success to reach at the desired goals. To reach at a certain place it is important to leave a certain place, and so the axe is to cut off all the bonds and the rope will help to reach at the desired goal with ease.

As said earlier, wise minds speak less and so the small mouth of lord Ganesha symbolizes to do the same. To talk less and only important without wasting the words of wisdom is an important quality which every entrepreneur must possess.

With one hand open lord Ganesha showers all blessings on us, motivating to share and work for the welfare. And for all these good deeds and welfare which comes out from the innovative minds of entrepreneurs lord Ganesha give rewards in the form of modaka in his other hand, signifying that for all good an individual do, there is always something that he/she might have to pay or sacrifice but there is a lot more that he/she will get in return.

The unique and big trunk of lord Ganesha symbolizes efficiency and adaptability, to find the most efficient solutions and the one with the greatest adaptability. The more efficient and adaptable the startups are, the faster they turn into big successful enterprises setting good standards and examples for others.


To live in the world peacefully, there are a lot of things which one will have to digest so that no one is harmed. This does not mean hiding the wrong but not doing the wrong for others and peacefully digesting and handling the wrong others do to you. This is what is signified by the big stomach of lord Ganesha encouraging to peacefully digesting the good and bad in life.

The desires should be always under control so that you ride on your desires not allowing them to ride on you. In the entrepreneurial world often one will be tempted to fall for desires and earning in the bad way. But is should be under control as lord Ganesha controls his ride over the mouse.

And yes the Prasad in his feet which everyone wants to eat, depicting that with your innovations and ideas you should lead the world so that everyone might wish for you.

With all these qualities and symbols you can take your ideas and innovations to the best level and work for the betterment of your entrepreneurship career and also benefiting the society. So, this Ganesh Chaturthi not only bring lord Ganesha home but also bring out the hidden entrepreneur in yourself and keep it alive forever. Good Luck!!

Lord Ganapati and Entrepreneurship

Ganapati Karkhana
"The only thing I missed during my 3 years in Delhi was the Ganesh Festival of Mumbai. It’s magical here during Ganesh Chaturthi! I really can’t explain the vibrant and exciting atmosphere here right now. It’s brighter than Diwali , more colorful than Holi , streets don a glamorous look with decorated pandals in every neighborhood.
The Ganpati Aagman has already begun and it would continue all day long. 
I just came back from my old friend Siddharth’s eco-friendly Ganesh idol workshop after the last bappa idol found its way to a devotee’s home.

Siddharth is an incredible artist! I and Sid did schooling and junior college together. He makes various clay idols and sculptures which look so surreal as if they are filled with life. He focuses on a great amount of detail while making them. He would complete his Graduation in Sculptures this year and has a diploma in Fine Arts. 
Sid would have been an engineer today, probably writing Java/ Python codes or fixing some green chips and not making these awesome sculptures , paintings, and designs if he didn’t had followed his passion.
After completing 12th, his family wanted him to pursue chemical engineering and made him appear JEE , AIEEE and what not, even he gave up at a certain point and believed his parents that engineering was a more “respectful” job than being an artist was. We use to meet after 12th boards and discussed what would be the ideal career path, I always told him, “leave what everyone else says, dude, it’s your life! Just believe in yourself and listen to your instinct.”



I always encouraged him to follow his passion and gave fuel to his inner voice amidst an ocean of people around him from family , relatives, friends of family , neighbors , neighbors’s dog , relatives of relatives and also Sharma uncle reminding about his financial conditions at home and how engineering is the only key to success.
While I told him I can see his paintings selling in millions and him running a company and teaching kids at some university about ancient Indian art but not an engineer. ( I have always been this sleazy )
We then researched what is the scope in Fine Arts to gather some statistics to boost about during cold-debates with his family everytime i was at his place after entrance exams.
“Rahul , explain to mom what we read that day on the internet”
“yeah , yeah, aunty…fine arts has ….”
“He is doing engineering! We would select the branch once the results are declared”
:/ :/ 
And the D-Day arrived. the results were out. Well, ranks and numbers do not really matter in this case but unfortunately or I’d say rather fortunately his “caste certificate” wasn’t issued on time by the court and he couldn’t secure his admission.
But he was genuinely talented and I was genuinely a salesman. Four years ago I sold him the idea of starting up a “ganpati-karkhana” to use his talents in making eco-friendly clay idols to start earning. He too wanted to start and just needed some motivation, I was in Delhi when he called me and in an excited voice told me how he sold his first idol and started the karkhana from his house’s front yard. He said he missed my presence and that helping hand.

Cut to 2016, Siddharth is a skilled sculptor who has worked with some of the biggest sarvajanik Ganesh mandals of Mumbai. He was pre-booked for 2 whole months for his craftsmanship and has a small workshop where he sells custom made eco-friendly idols.
Today I was at his workshop where I helped him in giving final touches to some unfinished idols. There are close to 1 million household that bring Ganesh idols home in Mumbai & MMR and there is a 150% rise in demand for eco-friendly ganesh idols. We were just thinking, how about starting up an ecommerce store of eco-friendly Ganesh idols and ship globally! Who knows what Bappa wants from us as we synergize."

Ganpati Bappa Morya!!!!
Courtesy: Medium.com