Posted on by vikasshirodkar

Serendipity

Serendipity is defined as, ” the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way” The word originated in 1754: coined by Horace Walpole, suggested by The Three Princes of Serendip, the title of a fairy tale, in which the heroes were always making discoveries, by accidents & sagacity, of things they were not in quest of. There are many many examples of serendipity aiding & abetting our lives. To exemplify, look at the discovery of penicillin. One of the first & still one of the most widely used antibiotic agents, derived from the Penicillium mold. In 1928 Alexander Fleming first observed that colonies of the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus failed to grow in those areas of a culture that had been accidentally contaminated by the green mold Penicillium notatum. He isolated the mold, grew it in a fluid medium, & found that it produced a substance capable of killing many of the common bacteria that infect humans. Even today infection control is largely dependent on the serendipitous discovery of penicillin.

In my 67 long years, indeed a la Ulysses, ” much have I seen and known” …”Myself not least, but honour’d of them all” But today I sit in confession. Maybe I did not deserve the credit…it was serendipity at play; & I thought I should share some notable occurrences.

अब अपनी रूह के छालों का कुछ हिसाब करूँ,
मैं चाहता था चराग़ों को आफ़्ताब करूँ| ( Now let me take account of the wounds on my soul; My desire is to make the lamps as beautiful as the Sun)

When I look back on the events of my life there are a great many examples I can quote where events developed by chance in a beneficial way ( the classic definition of serendipity) But if I look on my life as Chapters, the whole Chapter associated with my 6 years in Atul is replete with serendipity. Let me explain how & why.

I was a Factory Personnel Manager in the Kalwa factory of Siemens, on Thane Belapur Road. Doing well career wise, as well as financially, after 10 years of service. Important job where I was making a difference. Unfortunately I made myself indispensable in Kalwa & so opportunities to grow in Siemens were passing me by. The last straw on the camel’s back was the promised deputation/training in HQ at Germany was given not once but thrice to people I felt were less deserving than me. Siemens then was golden cage & no one thought I would leave.

मुझे अब देख कर हँसती है दुनिया,
मैं सबके सामने रोने लगा था| ( Today the world looks at me & laughs; But I had started crying before all)

Along comes Serendipity & a consultant talked to me about an opportunity in Atul Products at Valsad. I interviewed, got selected as Asst. General Manager HRD. We went & saw the location and fell in love with the greenery & quality of living at the campus. I resigned & went to Atul, to the disgust of all my Bombaiyya friends. The day I went to join, Serendipity struck again. The GM HR & Admin had resigned just a week ago. So before joining, I was promoted!!! The MD told me I would take over as General Manager & head the Department!! I tried to tell I am ready to join as Asst. General Manager; see my work & then promote me. But Serendipity had struck!! I was given a higher title, higher grade, more compensation, bigger bungalow, bigger car all on my joining day!!!

Atul township gave us the best 6 years of our lives. Huge bungalow to live in & 3 mins commute from factory to house. All my free time I could spend with Rashmi, who was 6 months then. We had become parents 10 years after our marriage. So what one had hankered after, was served on a platter. Till Rashmi become 6 years of age, every day 515 pm to 730 pm, I was with her in the children’ park. Would Bombay & Siemens give me this luxury? Serendipity helped.

HMB the secretary allotted to me, was another signal from heaven that someone up there loved me. The bond he developed with my family was blessing personified!! Every day he would get fresh Mola Ganthiya for Rashmi to chew as she was teething. Giving her scooter rides when she grew up became part of his daily routine. Doctor visits for inoculation & minor sickness, we were always accompanied by him. HMB was so critical to our lives that Vinita used to say, you can travel when you want but then HMB must be in town. I got not a colleague but a brother & that relation continues even 25 years after I have left Atul. There are far too many such contacts to recollect individually. The Finance Head, the Company Doctor, the Legal Advisor all became family. As did the union leaders who are still in touch!!! The limit was our neighbors JMT & family, who would come on their own if they heard Rashmi crying, pick her up & take her to their house. They would feed her & then we were expected to go to their bungalow & have our dinner there, while the son and daughter regaled Rashmi. A confirmed Rum drinker like me had more Scotch in Atul than I have ever consumed before & after Atul. Happy & beneficial occurrences indeed, serendipity guiding our lives.

वो अब आईने धोता फिर रहा है,
उसे चेहरे पे शक होने लगा था| ( he is now washing the mirror; he was doubting his very face)

My team members especially MAB & MRC de facto took over the entire IR workload. Brilliant professionals in their own right, they had a hunger in their belly to prove themselves. I just had to let go & they picked up the ball and ran, made goals, made the department win. Frankly my contribution was just managing the periphery. The MD & other Directors had to be convinced by me. We had common union agreements for all companies on campus. So those MDs & Boards were my responsibility. Representing Atul with the Senior Union Leaders who were National & State level politicians and aligning our agenda with their demands was my role. But MAB and MRC made me a de facto “absentee landlord”. I had to just give directions & get out of their way. They delivered on the grunge work. And I basked in the glory. Serendipity? 101%

Still remember when we were recruiting a HR senior professional from StanChart the consultant told me ” Vikas it will be like riding a tiger. Are you sure you want to hire a threat for yourself?” I told him I am happiest when someone else does my job, then I can find something else to do. After 6 fabulous years at Atul, my Siemens HR Director came & invited me to re-join Siemens. I took that chance to come back to Mumbai, the mecca of professionals. Again a happy development that chance put in my lap, literally.

There are many other events & occurrences where I felt I lived a charmed existence in Atul. The friends I made in Atul are in my life even now & they play a most important role in my well-being even now. When I look back & think I did not want to join a family owned organization which had no brand value compared to Siemens way back in 1991, I see the strong hand of Serendipity at play. कालIय तस्मै नमः There was a time I used to feel proud of myself, as a great HR professional. Humility has taught me to thank Serendipity!!!

चुराता हूँ अब आँखें आइनों से,
ख़ुदा का सामना होने लगा था| विकास ( I now steal my eyes from the mirror; Coming face to Face with God: vikas)

PS all quotes are from Rahat Indori, first appearing my friend Shri Krishna Sharma’s blog आसमान धुनिए के छप्पर सा.English translations are my own. E&OE

PS2 My youngest sister says she likes only those of my blogs where I share stories. This one is full of them. Hope serendipity propels her to like this one.

47 Replies to “Serendipity”

  1. Thanks VS for the ‘pontification’!
    When I wrote that famous quote, I was aware that I.am going.out.of ” my territory” and hence placed a hurried ? mark.

    U r so good in the way of pointing out a mistake that one feels ‘ elevated’ by the expression. I am.going.to use it for some important communications!

    Thanks again

    Like

  2. Vikas,The blog wrote from the depth of heart, subtle and simple to understand. Serendipity is not only God gift but it’s your hard, sincere work & credentials craftsmanship of your brain.Love you once again. Always sweet dreams.

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  3. Reading your blog, understanding your career progression a conclusion can be drawn that one’s life’s design is engineered by *serendipity*. Serendipity can lead to personal growth, open doors to new possibilities, and bring joy and meaning to a person’s life. By embracing serendipity, a person can let go of their plans and expectations and allow life to unfold in unexpected and exciting ways. This is what was your experience during your tenure with Atul. We recognize the mysterious power of karma or fate in moments of serendipity or calamity. But It is not something selectively applied, it is a thread that runs alongside all our so-called deliberate decisions and actions. It is what makes life adventurous, even possible. If everything went as per our plan, there would be nothing left to wonder! And there would be too many conflicting scripts playing around!

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    1. Gopi
      wise comments indeed. Many thanks for the detailed views.
      I agree one must be open to new experiences and keep your self ready to see where Life wants to take you. Krama, Positive vibrations, good deeds : call it what you will. But such themes do run across our lives.
      Most of my philosophy is shaped by the Hindi cinema and I remember Rajesh Khanna telling AB, ” ‘बाबू मोशाय, हम सब तो रंगमंच की कठपुतलियां हैं जिसकी डोर ऊपर वाले के हाथ में है, कौन कब कहां उठेगा, कोई नहीं जानता।” Forget leaving the world, while you are in it it is foolish to think you are in control. Be Open. Enjoy. And await the next turn and Twist is what I have always tried to teach myself. Your comments reassure me I am on the right path.
      Love vikas

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      1. Thanks VS for the ‘pontification’!
        When I wrote that famous quote, I was aware that I.am going.out.of ” my territory” and hence placed a hurried ? mark.

        U r so good in the way of pointing out a mistake that one feels ‘ elevated’ by the expression. I am.going.to use it for some important communications!

        Thanks again

        Liked by 1 person

  5. Hi VS:

    It is famously said “ Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder!” (Plato???)

    For someone like you, who always looks at the positive sides of the happenings, there will be N number of events which will fall in the category of serendipity.

    It may be happening for many, including for those who see ‘the glass half empty’!

    You need an approach which appreciates and values the favourable situations that life offers at various junctures.

    This article and several others of yours show that you possess that approach ..in plenty!

    From the BK perspective, nothing in life happens by chance.

    As per the KARMA philosophy, the Newton’s 3rd law of action/reaction holds good even at metaphysical levels…in subtle ways.

    If you get success in some endeavour, sometime in the past you have done something which makes you worthy of the same.It may be in this life …or even in the past one!

    So pat your back ! you have done several good things to many people!

    The other part of this principle is indeed very empowering: it means that whatever we do NOW, will come back to us in the future…good or bad!

    Can there be any stronger motivation to continue to perform good actions?

    This understanding will propel one to be kind , to be helpful to the needy, to bring happiness to people one comes across……

    At another level ,the blog is full of your references to the life in Atul.

    That is one more reason why it resonates even more to the people in our Atul group.

    I am aware of your 5 :15 to 7 :30 pm routines.

    There were some exceptions to this , when we had a meeting with Rasikbhai at Atul Vidyalalya!

    Those were great meetings wherein we could participate together in the build-up of the school in its initial days.

    Thanks for bringing back memories of ATUL in your unique style!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. JL
      Thanks for your detailed comment on the Serendipity blog

      They used to say of Hind Lever that you can take a person out of Hind Lever but you can never take Lever out of that person

      Atul is something similiar
      those of us who have spent years there will never be able to forget the sylvan surroundings, The peace and comfort was ethereal. Job demands were reasonable. Indeed it was Heaven on Earth for a number of us.

      Of course there were frustrations. The continuous roller coaster in decision making. The micro management. The gossipy environment. All challenging, but still at the end of the day we loved Atul and Atulites loved us right back. I consider the 6 years I spent in Atul as unequivocally the Golden Era of my life. And it was not only because of Rashmi. Overall much to be grateful for.

      Atul Vidyalaya, Atul Club were indeed great projects and one learnt a lot from all the professionals around. I still remember, the initial flirtation with BramhaKumaris also began with Swati ben , you and I visiting Hyd and travelling to Nagarjuna Fertilizers to see what they had done there. Then the engagement of Brian Bacon & the culture Change Training programs we initiated. Heady and interesting. (Sotto Voce: at that time I never realised that we would lose 2 IIT engineers like you and BMT totally to BKs. ) But of course we all learnt & gained in Atul. Much to be grateful for.

      Call it Karma, Newton’s law or Serendipity, I agree that one must prime the pump to let positive things enter your life. And Atul environment provided s many an opportunity to do just that. The beauty was that when we did things in Atul, it was totally without an expectation in future. We did what we enjoyed and that certainly came back to us in heaps. Even today afternoon I got a call from a Nareshbhai from Muli village asking how Rashmi, Vinita & I are doing. It takes you up, up and away that you are fondly remembered 25 years after leaving the place.

      Finally thanks for your compliments on my writing style. I think it appeals as I promised in my first blog 5 years ago, I follow Sir Philip Sidney’s advise, “Fool, look in thy heart & write”
      vikas

      PS : Beauty Lies in the Eyes of the Beholder was a phrase coined much after the Greek philosophers. According to Plato, the sense of beauty is itself transient in nature. So, a thing beautiful for one might not be beautiful for the other.
      Philosophers continued to grapple with the question whether beauty was objective or subjective for centuries. The Bard in Love’s Labor Lost said,
      “Beauty is bought by judgement of the eye”
      The modern-day version of the expression is believed to have first appeared in the 19th century. Margaret Wolfe Hungerford (née Hamilton) is credited with coining the saying in its current form. In the 1878 novel Molly Bawn, comes the line “It is an old axiom, and well said, that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”.
      Sorry for the pontification; but I cannot bear to see JLS make a mistake.
      Just teasing sir.

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  6. Reading this took me back to my Atul days, which happened to be one of the best serendipity in my life as well. As they say, where we are is where we were meant to be. Beautiful, vivid and crisp writing… Brilliant writing as usual sir!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Abhijit
      yes Atul was indeed fortuitous and amazing for a number of us
      as HR I always admired SSL uncanny ability to get the most brilliant professionals together in Atul
      that is how we flowered with the support of other amazing professionals
      we all will carry fond memories of Atul in our hearts

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  8. Dear Vikas, Loved the blog. I have experienced that serendipity comes to people who allow themselves to find it and are by nature serendipitous. You are one of them. Here’s wishing that you always find serendipity in all that you explore.

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    1. VJ
      many many thanks dear friend for your kind words
      Yes I have always been open to new experiences and found that they never turn out negative
      many more thanks for your good wishes for the future

      Like

  9. Vikas, thanks for sharing another piece of your experience in life. All of us have these events happening though they may not make so profound impact on career and life as in your case. One gets a job break if you happen to be a right person with right experience at right time and at right place. Sometimes, this is called destiny. Our degrees, experience and interview performance are important, but not all. You do need luck and something more.

    In my case, due to heavy rain and water logging on 21st July in Mumbai, I went for my 1st job interview at 2.30 pm instead of 11 am. But I was one of the two selected. And after 1st year, my colleague, a US returned scientist was asked to go while I got confirmed with higher increment. That was for performance but selection was going to happen what ever time I reached for an interview.

    As you said, sometimes its the reward of efforts you have made in past coming back to you. I had undergone the summer training 10 years ago in that company and was team head of 17 IIMS and IIT graduates during the 2 month training period. My superiors were very happy with trainee like me and gave important jobs to me. Thanks again. Dr. Kelkar

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    1. Dr Kelkar
      thanks for sharing 2 examples of destiny or serendipity from your own professional career
      Indeed a larger force is overlooking all our lives and sometimes we do not understand but whatever happens always brings great results in the long run. Karma and Good actions never just dissolve in thin air but come back to you in mysterious ways. As long as you are positive and open to new experiences one will always have many things to be grateful for.
      Thanks once again for your detailed comments
      and sorry for the late reply

      Like

  10. Hello Sir , As always in the most humble way you express most beautiful your journey ( a part of it , as would love to read a biography on the same )
    All your blogs are so well rechearched and compliation of the end product is to die for reading.

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  11. Sir, As usual a great piece from your pen. What you called serendipity can also be called synchronicity. These events narrated by you probably happens to all of us but very few have the courage and humility to accept the role played by these seemingly random events in their overall success etc . What resonated the most with me in this article is your take on hiring a very talented person. I always felt that I should be doing what no one else can do or else I should find something else to do.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. HCP
      Many great leRnings in Atul
      Truly the Golden Era of my life
      Sad that after 6 years there was boredom n I had to seek newer experiences
      But Atul remains in my heart

      Like

    1. So true
      It left an indelible mark on all who worked for Atul
      The Lalbhais were truly exception, albeit frustrating sometimes
      Very diff from VVF and Rustom Joshi which left all people scarred
      I have not yet forgiven Sanjay Muthal for putting me in that Black Hole of Sion

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  13. Vikas, it was serendipity that after leaving Air Force, you interviewed me and gave me my first job in Mumbai. I remember whenever I used to visit Atul, I had the honour of being welcomed in your big bungalow and enjoy your’s and Vinita’s hospitality. We moved on and still kept in touch with each other through out. Your blog has kindled lots of memories of Atul days.
    Thanks.

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    1. Sahib
      You were a true blooded gentlemen as only the Air Force can produce
      You developed a great rapport with my father and our entire extended family who used Bonbay Office n you as an extension counter of Atul
      Always courteous n well mannered you endeared yourself to all
      It has been great to remain in touch with you n Archana ji
      Best regards, always

      Like

  14. I have a personal touch with you and enjoyed your leadership during Atul. You have helped me which I never forget. Lastly we meet at Saibaba Temple and we talked for half an hour and you have shared me about your past journey after leaving Atul. Thereafter we remain in touch. Thanks again.
    Jayeshbhai N Desai
    Pali hill 3
    Tithal Road
    Valsad
    9998328204

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    1. Jayesh bhai
      You have always been in my zehen
      I remember the Sai baba mandir meeting
      Let us revive our contact soon
      Do let me know whenever you are in Mumbai
      You are always welcome to our home in Thane

      Like

  15. Serendipity
    Firstly nice to read your amazing life journey with doses of Serendipity
    You continue to help us know new concepts of life. I also experienced this in VVF when you joined us as our mentor.

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    1. Pravin always impressed with your positivity n never say die attitude
      Tongue in cheek…when we survived VVF we can survive anything
      Being fundamentally a good human being you have gone from strength to strength
      I wish you the best always

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      1. Great Article by you Vikas sir!

        This word Serendipity sounds to me just like the ” Mother of value called Gratitude”of seeing that whatever naturally comes across see them as good , where we havent sought for it.
        You real life stories as a examples is something that each one of us can resonate with.
        How beautiful life would be if we could view calmly from our inner lens , even a crisis, lay off or break up as Serendipity, the Prasad from Lord supreme!
        Thanks for this wonderful wisdom sir!

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Karthikeyan
        fundamentally you are such a positive person that you always see positive things around you
        Gratitude is a fundamental value and we truly have so much to be grateful for
        the more we look around the more reasons we find to be grateful
        and being grateful and happy and postive attracts more positivity into our lives
        Indeed a virtuous circle

        Like

  16. Beautiful
    Great
    Yes my son shantanu has a habit of saying Papa aaj ke yeh hasin pas kal pyaari yaaden hongi.
    Exactly same feeling while we reading your above super duper article. Kp it up.
    Luv n regards
    mukeshchandra

    Like

  17. Good morning Sir. The story of your life, simply told with a dash of Serendipiyty. They say that if you wish well for others it comes back tto you. Surely, you must be wishing well for others every moment of your life. Thank you for sharing these wonderful stories of your life from your heart. You are simply amazing 👏 ❤️

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    1. Col a very good morning to you. Thanks a ton for your kind words They mean a lot to me.
      I have a theory of Vibrations: what we do what we think, creates vibrations around us. If they are positive, good things will happen. So thanks for that dose of positivity early in the morning

      Like

  18. Extremely enjoyable and yes life is full of serendipity from the moment of birth to death. Liberation is realising that and yet knowing that you are responsible and free.

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    1. Good one. All in the family have fond memories of Atul. I think Atul brought it’s share of serendipity in everyone’s lives😃😊❣️

      Like

    2. Liberation to me has meant rising above, Not letting pettiness or the joy (both) around you affect you, a la the eagle or the lotus
      Freedom to me is a roller coaster
      but वो किस्सा फिर कभी

      Like

  19. Extremely enjoyable and yes life is serendipity from the moment of birth to death. Liberation is realising that and yet knowing that you are responsible and free.

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  20. Vikas

    The circumstances in which we met is serendipity.

    Remain grateful for this happy happenstance.

    Nikhil

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    1. Nikhil bhai
      that is what lesser mortals call destiny
      yes remaining eternally grateful will take you to progressively greater heights
      there is so much we have both learnt in this relationship
      C’est la vie!!!

      Like

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