Goli No 7...“Britannia bites into………… Vada Pav story…….”

As I was exchanging ideas at the summit outside our Goli Vada Pav kiosk….. Somebody tapped my shoulders….. And Pradeep Kar pointed out to a lady in sari…. Short hair….. Spectacled…… very fair…..


She was silently scanning the environment around her….. I thought…… south Mumbai …. Jehangir art gallery types…. I offered her a Vada Pav….. With a nudging question in my mind….. “I have seen this face somewhere?”….. As she bit into the Vada Pav she said “TIKKI…. Dilli Jaisa”…. I said “Mumbai Tikki….. Vada Pav……

She asked a few questions with a pause….. I started giving my Goli Gyan….. The food industry…. Processed food….. Supply chain….. Contract farming…… Wastages……. Economics of bulk buying…… And she was smiling…..


She said I am Vinita Bali….. It didn’t strike me yet….

And somebody behind me prompted….. Vinita Bali….. Managing Director of Britannia Industries….. I was totally embarrassed…… for giving my gyan about food industry to Managing Director of Britannia….. I murmured & appologised under my breath….. Didn’t utter a single word….. Promised to myself…. I will never open my mouth……

After a few moments I saw Vinita Bali…… with vada pav in her hand…. Surrounded by Kanwal Rekhi …. Inventus…. Sanjeev bhikchandani.. Naukri…… Pradeep Kar…. R shriram of crosswords….. I presumed they were discussing Vada Pav......

I summarized….. Apologetically ……..

“Britannia bites into………… Vada Pav story…….”

Goli No 6..."Simple Infosys…… Eats Humble Vada Pav”

I met Rohini Nilekani at the Summit after her Panel debate session….. as I mentioned Goli Vada Pav… she said she was hungry… “Do you have Goli Vada Pav’s here?”…. as I nodded… she said “let’s go… “

Before I knew she was walking with me…. Asking a lot of questions….. On Vada Pav’s… how it is made…. Where it is made…. How it is fried….. Health…. calories… etc….

But as she digged into the vada pav……. She said “Venky, when is Goli vada pav coming to Bangalore?” …. During those 10 minutes of Vada Pav murmurings…. Rohini Nilekani never gave me the feeling that I was talking to the wife of Nandan Nilekani founder member, M.D CEO of Infosys….. India’s biggest IT name…..

Infact her simplicity…..Curiosity……… Humility…… enthusiasm……. Made me feel as if I was talking to any teenager from Mumbai eating vada pav on the pavements of Mumbai…..


A few minutes later…. I saw Nandan Nilekani amongst a huge crowd…. Surrounded by people….. Press….… A simple briefcase in one hand….. And Goli Vada Pav in the other hand….. A scene straight out side any Mumbai railway station…. Where you try to dodge the crowd with a briefcase in one hand …. And somehow manage to lay your hands on a vada pav…..

And as I saw Nandan biting into the vada pav…. I Summarised……

“Simple Infosys…… Eats Humble Vada Pav”

Goli No 5..."You can leave Mumbai and Vada Pav

…. But Vada Pav can never leave you….”

Pradeep Kar was a name synonymous with entrepreneurship for Mumbaiites even in Mumbai local trains…. When I used to take a local train from Dombivili to V.T halting at Ghatkopar in the early 90’s….

Ghatkopar had two successful role models those days… one was Atul Nishar … Apple… and then was Pradeep Kar… computer point…. Microland….

The initial days of LAN and WAN… much before the internet days… most of the boys from Ghatkopar would dream of becoming Pradeep Kar…. The post internet era I lost track of him … I heard he shifted to Bangalore…. Then suddenly I bumped into Pradeep Kar at Tie Summit 2009….

He still looked the same…. as he looked in the early 90’s… His face and personality reminded me of Shekhar Kapur…. Handsome debonair…

He was gung ho about Goli Vada Pav from day1 at the summit… I saw him munching vada pav’s… introducing Goli Vada Pav to every one he knew in the summit… With a lot of enthusiasm and passion ….. Mostly corporate head honchos… IT czars ….

In fact, in Pradeep Kar’s introductory address…. he said… “We had such a wonderful two days at Tie summit…. And the highlights of the summit he said were Ratan Tata… Narayan Murthy… K.V Kamath… Nandan Nilekeni… Chanda Kochar… and lots of Vada Pav’s….

In the green room on the third day… as I had gone to meet somebody.. Pradeep suddenly looked at me and then casually said…” Kishoreji meet Venky … Goli Vada Pav…. Have you heard about Goli?”…. I was stumped for a moment…. As I offered Goli Vada Pav to Mr. Kishore Biyani….

In all this I could see in him a passionate person… trying to help a budding entrepreneur… And on the last day as I left the summit… I saw Pradeep with his trade mark beard standing at our Kiosk…. Munching Goli Vada Pav’s passionately… I summarized………

“You can leave Mumbai and Vada Pav…. But Vada Pav can never leave you….”

Goli No 4...Ten headed Ravana.... Manak Singh

Impressions….

Manak Singh…. Executive Director Tie Mumbai..

My interaction with him started when we reached his office 10 days before the summit… He was multi tasking.......… A sandwich in his hand…....... attending innumerable phone calls….. Co-coordinating with his team…......sternly instructing caterers….... inviting speakers like me with a smile…...seriously warning lethargic persons.........humbly requesting sponsors........... angrily questioning deadlines...........diplomaticly turning down security requests .................silently listening to a colleague............loudly laughing with a journalist........when I looked at him…. I could see different faces ....... stern..... smiling....... serious........ humble......... angry......... silent....... laughing ......... looked like a ten headed Ravana ......modern day C.E.O ........thinking 100 different things....executing 10 different things. ...... simultaneously…

Later on when I met him at the summit on the day 1… he was cool as a cucumber…. As if somebody else had co-ordinated this great event and he was a guest…. When I spoke to Harsh… his colleague at Tie… he said Manak hasn’t slept since the last 3 days… working 24 x 7….

And I thought.... 'God what a temperament'….. what a commitment.......Indian “Steve Waugh”….

Manak was moving around… coordinating…. Meeting speakers…. Solving problems…. And what not….. all this without an air of drama!!!!...

Goli No 3...sridhar iyengar.....illai......rockstar iyengar............

Impressions…..

The afternoon continued my interaction with the crowd gathered outside Goli Vada Pav Kiosk at Tie summit …… Some of them CEO’s, investment bankers, big successfull entrepreneurs, new struggling entrepreneurs,fresh m.b.a. students....... Tie organizers… few of them left a strong impression on my mind….

Sridar Iyengar.. President Tie Mumbai

Totally positive…. High energy….. Great enthusiasm….. is the words came to my mind as i saw him moving in the summit .......... or while he addressed theaudience from the podium.........Loving …. Caring….. Smiling… is what came to my mind as i bumped into him at the summit upteen nos of times ........... every time he would say ....... ayyo vadapav.........and then smile........

..... As he conducted his interaction with Chanda Kochar on the dais…. I remembered pranoy roy.......ndtv.......very smoooth.....and classy.... He was interacting with the same ease............. with any new entrepreneur or face in the summit…. Making everybody comfortable with out an air of ego…

I especially remember his comment….. “VENKY PO.........Murthy is hungry; offer him some vada pav’s"…...........i was reluctant .......he pushed me..........in fact for my session desi jugaad .... innovation or survival ........ he said i will coordinate your session .......... with a twinkle in his eyes .......... he stood there with his trade mark smile........

I asked him his age…. He smiled…… I asked him what drives him at this age ….. He replied WORK ...... helping new entrepreneurs ............ the last day when i wished him good bye i saw him in a sexy short kurti......... la shahrukh khan.......he had the charisma of a rock star when he was on stage.............. he electrified the stage whenever he came up on the dias.................. i summarised sridhar iyengar .......... illAI....rockstar aiyengar

Goli No 2...."Narayana Murthy succumbs to the temptation of VADA PAV”….

Enterprising India…. Day One

We heard Narayana Murthy’s interaction with Manoj Kumar of Nandi foundation… Meera Shenoy of EGMM…. Ashish Rajpal of I discovery… in “Education – The great leveler…. Their Struggle… their dedication…. their hardwork… especially as Manoj Kumar spoke… “I CHOKED”…. And my friend Shivadas Menon whispered into my ears…
“Bhai, ISKO KAAM BOLTA HAI”……..

After Narayana Murthy’s session I went near our Goli Kiosk and saw a huge crowd surrounding our vada pav kiosk… Munching
“Goli’s to Glory”…..

Suddenly I heard Sridar Iyengar (President TiE Mumbai) “Venky PO… Murthy is hungry; offer him some vada pav’s"…. As I entered the meeting room, I saw Narayana Murthy surrounded by a huge crowd of teenagers, with mobile camera’s clicking away continuously…….. And ‘AILA’…….. I saw on his table GOLI VADA PAV neatly packed in a red & white packet invitingly starring at Narayana Murthy…….

and as I left the room, I thought………


"Narayana Murthy succumbs to the temptation of VADA PAV”….

Goli No 1.....Vada Pav meets ... Tatas.....

Enterprising India…. Day One

Reluctant initially as any other summit or seminar, when Manak Singh of TiE invited me as a speaker…. I thought TiE summit also must be …… Thinking what could Goli Vada Pav do in a TiE Summit??

On Saturday i.e 19th of December at around 4.30pm… two days prior to the event, when I visited MMRDA grounds to organize Goli Vada Pav’s set up….. I saw barren ground, tents being erected,…. Looked as if the summit would miss its deadline….

I came to the summit wearing a Jeans, T-shirt & chappals with the thought of operationalsing Goli Vada Pav kiosk, attend the inaugural session & leave for Nanded….. Where 3 Goli Vada Pav stores where being simultaneously launched on the same day….

But what I saw there…. I froze… it was amazing… it had the quality of a international summit, the ground had transformed into a beautiful boulevard capturing the essence of Mumbai…. flanked by haji ali on one side & CST Station on the other with the Goli Vada Pav Kiosk’s at both ends….

Guys manning Goli kiosks wearing Gandhi caps….. It was an amazing sight.. The humble Vada Pav had got a platform amongst the head honcho’s of the corporate world…. As I saw CEO’s, CFO’s & Investment bankers in suits curiously gathered around Goli Kiosk….

I was given a speakers tag & was guided to the front row by volunteers…. As I entered the amphitheatre & saw the collosium kind of atmosphere, it was breathtaking…. Corporates, CEO’s, CFO’s, Investment bankers, New entrepreneurs & Tie Delegates from all over the world had gathered there…. And I could actually smell ‘Enterprising India’ – Changing the Nation leading the world……

Sitting in the front row reserved for speakers; Ms. Chanda Kochar came & sat two seats next to me…. I was thrilled to be seated next to her & I wished her ‘Good Morning”….

Suddenly somebody from the organizing committee saw me in jeans & t-shirt & didn’t see my speakers tag… requested me to take the next row…. And as I was struggling to get a seat in the next row ,the org commitee member saw my speakers tag , appologised & made me sit on the front row first seat……… Along with all the other speakers…

In no time Ratan Tata took the seat next to me & next to him sat Narayana Murthy…. Now the seat had become really hot!!!! I didn’t know what was happening to me?? I introduced myself to Ratan Tata & Narayana Murthy & exchanged cards with them….

They saw Goli Vada Pav & smiled….. I was thrilled with the thought…….

''vada pav meets tatas'' …….
possible only in india .........democracy at its peak ..........

I said to myself… “Manak Singh tussi great ho” … for giving the humble vada pav this opportunity…..

I also remembered the big sardarji sitting in Delhi, our respected Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh…. For his ‘desi jugaad’ – called economic liberalization….

If it was not for these two sardar’s “Vada Pav could not have met Ratan Tata…

As the session progressed, Shekhar Gupta from the dias wanted audience interaction… As the mike came to me… I introduced my self… “ I am Venky CEO of Goli Vada Pav… talked about our American technology, supply chain tie up till farm level…. Fully automatic HACCP certified plant… Vada’s prepared with hands free technology…. Every vada going through metal detector & x-ray machines…. Quality of the highest level…… our tie-up with milk booths for branding & retail space on a trial basis…. 350 to 500 Goli Vada Pav kiosks put up on the footpaths of Mumbai…. And my god, what a glorious story it could have been….. But, for p…. situations we had to pull out of Mumbai and expand in interior Maharashtra…..

I asked Mr. Ratan Tata after briefing my story: “And sir what has been your emotional experience as you withdraw from singur?” I could see the pain, anguish & disappointment in his eyes as he answered my question…..

He said, he wanted to do something good for west Bengal but…..