At the NASSCOM Summit for Small & Medium Enterprises (SME)
The last few weeks, after the sunrise at Pondicherry, have been very hectic. I was continuously on the move - starting with an inaugural address at the NASSCOM summit for SMEs in Delhi, then a trip to Sagar near Jog Falls in Karnataka to be with the folks at NINASAM - an outstanding organization that I must tell you about someday - another talk at NASSCOM’s Quality summit (I am done with NASSCOM for the year… 
) in Bangalore, a trip to Bhubaneswar and finally, the last weekend with 150 doctors at the Narayana Hrudayalaya - talking to them about the idea of Vision. It has been busy and fulfilling!
The SME Summit had an air of uncertainty - the timing is such that it is natural for people to question if at all it is a good time to be a start-up or are these times particularly bad for being an SME?
At the Shangri La Hotel in Delhi, the venue for the summit, MindTree co-founder Krishna Kumar and I were sharing a room the night before. The morning conversation was pretty much pre-ordained by the news of collapse, gloom and doom in the capital markets as we waited for breakfast before heading down to the summit venue. We were discussing the issue of bad times and good times and what they do to business. Then a young waiter came in, bringing with him our idli and tea. As he set down the food, we shifted our attention to him. He was about twenty four, very pleasant and clearly knew and liked his work. KK and I started a small conversation with him. Where was he from? What had he studied? Who was his family?
You will be surprised how everything changes with these three unhurried questions.
He said that he was from the hills of Himachal Pradesh - when he spoke those words, I could see the mountain streams and apple blossoms in his eyes.
Then, blushingly, he told us that next month he was getting married!
KK and I were delighted - we congratulated him.
The young waiter thanked us, collected the tray and, with a glow at the thought of the young-bride-in-the-waiting, walked out on an invisible carpet of clouds.
He had heard about the bailout packages in the US, the shroud of rumor about the ICICI Bank, the layoffs in the airline companies and the impending slow down.
But he is getting married next month.
What can be a bigger act of confidence in the future than raising a family? Bringing a coy bride all the way from the land of the gurgling streams and apple blossoms into the harried capital city where our man would return to work - serving idli to people who become friends between a loaded tray and an empty one-people whom he may never meet again.
KK and I watched his receding steps to realize a simple truth: slowdown or not, people will marry; they will visit friends with the new bride wearing a pair of jeans but with her hands covered in those white and pink bangles that notify the whole Universe about her change of status; they will celebrate; they will mourn; one day they will get up in the morning and wake the kids up who must now go to school; they will go to work; start a new business; they will cook a meal and eat; they will fight with their loved ones, kiss and make up and then sleep. So, we told ourselves, the world does not really come to an end after all.
