Tag: subhasis chatterjee

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Become

“Mount Everest cannot be conquered…”

Says Zamling Tenzing Norgay, the legendary Tenzing Norgay’s son, who found his calling in business – and parallels with mountaineering.
by Subhasis Chatterjee

Tenzing Norgay is the world famous Nepalese Sherpa who was the first to climb Mount Everest along with Edmund Hillary of New Zealand in 1953. But his son, the famous mountaineer Zamling Tenzing Norgay is a highly sought-after personality in the business world. Taking a path away from mountaineering, he is a highly rated motivational speaker today.

Zamling was a famous mountaineer in his own right, and also managed to step out of his famous father’s shadow. He is part of a legacy of mountaineers who have successfully scaled Mount Everest – as many as 11 of his relatives have also achieved this feat! Today, he is a popular guide in demand for various expeditions groups and has led several novices as well as experts through the rugged Himalayas. He also has multiple philanthropic contributions to his name and has conducted various social service projects in the remote rural areas of the Himalayas.

Zamling’s philanthropic contributions include him being an active member of the Sherpa Trust, which was first founded by his late father, Tenzing Norgay and which works for the welfare and betterment of the local Sherpas residing in Darjeeling.

In a recent interview with The Metrognome, Zamling shed light on his view of the mountains and how he finds unique similarities between business and mountaineering. Excerpts from the interview:

Subhasis Chatterjee: You are a successful author, film star and an entrepreneur. Do you consider yourself a wealthy person?

Zamling Tenzing Norgay: Just because someone’s famous does not necessarily mean that he or she is rich. Take the example of my father. Although he was famous, he was not rich. The IMAX movie they made on his life did not make him rich. He was offered $25,000, but that was not important for him as he considered the movie to be merely the first step for the world to learn about the Sherpas. The film allowed more people to get a glimpse of this community and their people and livelihoods.

SC: Is there any similarity between conquering Mount Everest and successfully running a corporate firm?

ZTN: Just like climbing a mountain, starting and running a business is also a journey. Similar to mountaineering expeditions, businesses have targets and goals to be achieved and a team to help execute these goals. These are also the similar steps that mountaineers take when they climb Mount Everest or any other mountain in that case. It involves similar steps of planning, strategising and forming a suitable team for executing that plan. Climbing Mount Everest requires individual skills, in-depth knowledge and teamwork to successfully reach the summit of the tallest peak in the world.

I believe that the most important factor integral in whatever walk of life you are involved in is to be passionate about whatever you do. If you are passionate, you will enjoy it more and when getting involved in it, it doesn’t seem like a burden to you and you strive to make it better.

SC: The Sherpa view of mountain climbing is very different from the Western view…

ZTN: According to Sherpas, the mountains are the abode of the God, especially Everest. So prior to beginning the mountaineering expedition, we perform religious ceremonies and rites in order to seek God’s permission to allow us to climb and to ensure a safe journey ahead. Climbing mountains alone does not interest the Sherpas. They mostly climb because it is necessary for them to earn money through this profession. But Westerners possess a very different belief. They look at the majestic peaks of the Himalayas and say, ‘Wow, this is the highest mountain. Let’s go conquer it.” I am of the view that Mount Everest cannot be conquered but instead you climb it like climbing into your mother’s lap.

SC: You have a degree in Business Administration from an American University. Can anyone really learn things like teamwork, management and leadership by studying in a management school?

ZTN: My experiences from a business school education led to me to understand that a B-school simply teaches you the rules of the game. It is a guiding factor, but more than just a degree, experience is required which comes with the passage of time. You cannot become a CEO the moment you get out of business school. You need to work your way up, from being a manager, to a senior manager and then probably a CEO. This is exactly similar to climbing a mountain, one requires training. You become an expert after gathering experience for numerous years.

SC: Did your father ever encourage you to climb Everest?

ZTN: No, never. I even asked him once to pull some strings so that I could join an Indian expedition team for climbing Everest. But he refused. He climbed it because he had to, he himself did not have any education which was why he felt the need to give us a proper one. But surprisingly, after my first climb atop Mount Everest, my uncles revealed to me that my father had always told them that I would one day climb it too! Although he knew it within himself all along, he never encouraged me to climb.

SC: How should one tackle slow learners in a team of mountain climbers? Are there any lessons that can also be used in terms of businesses?

ZTN: During a mountain climb, everyone has to pull each other’s weight. Even though you might be a slow learner, you may have a good understanding of the terrain which can also be a significant contribution to the team. And on similar lines, even if you are the fastest learner, you might have no understanding of how to fix lines or logistics. For a successful climb to the mountain summit, a good team is required and not just one fast learner. This is also similar in case of business. You often have weak or slow learners in your team, but you need to support each other. One should always try and get a back-up for them, when climbing a mountain everybody is watching each other’s back and supporting each other.

SC: Did your father talk much about his 1953 climb with Edmund Hillary?

ZTN: Most of his stories happened on treks. My father would take clients from Western countries into the Everest Base Camp and then tell his stories during dinner time. Many people paid him extra to listen to his stories. I was very young at that time, may be around only 10. So I did not pay much heed to his stories. But now I wish I had paid more attention!

SC: What is your observation as a motivational expert interacting with people?

ZTN: Currently, there isn’t much sense of adventure amongst the people and they do not take time off for going out on an adventure. A few hundred kilometers away from Delhi there is a range of beautiful mountains. But children nowadays are handed with a TV remote or a play station for playing games on the couch. We need to change this way of thinking.

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Hum log

Yossi Ghinsberg: 1, Amazon rainforest: 0

The fantastic story of how an Israeli traveler struggled against all odds alone in the Amazon and came back alive.
by Subhasis Chatterjee

There exists a man in the world, who gamely stuck on in the Amazon even after losing three companions, alone, hungry, without the means to light a fire and with no way to get in touch with the rest of the world.

That man is Israeli traveler Yossi Ghinsberg.

I met Yossi in a tech conclave at Kolkata recently, where he was invited as a motivational speaker. He described in graphic detail his doomed Amazon expedition of 1981, a story so unique and fantastic; it forces you to suspend disbelief. He spent three long weeks in extreme pain and starvation, survived venomous snakes and a near-drowning and even an encounter with a puma. His unbelievable story has now been made into a documentary, popular in near about 160 countries.

He says it was his continuous struggle to find a retreat that led to his eventual rescue. Today, he has gone back to the place that made a man out of the naïve 22-year-old youth, back to Madidi National Park – the largest biodiversity conserve for the Amazons. His thoughts on using unconventional thinking and living through unexpected circumstances have been documented in his new book, Laws of the Jungle – Jaguars Don’t Need Self Help Books.

But let’s hear his story.

Looking for romance in the jungle

YossiAs a young 22-year old man just out of the military service in the Israeli Navy, Yossi was idealistic and naïve. “I wanted to be like the heroes of the books I read. That’s why I wanted to go to the jungle. I wasn’t interested in the adrenaline rush of danger, I was more interested in the romance,” he explains.

His ventures took him to Bolivia, where he met a Swiss explorer called Markus Stamm. “It happened almost like a novel,” Yossi says, explaining that he met Marcus on an outing at a lake. “There was also Karl Ruprechter, an overwhelming Austrian who was overwhelming. He was knowledgeable about jungle adventures and told me about this incredible journey he was going to undertake through the rainforest to discover a hidden clan. I was hooked,” he says.

As they started for the Amazon, there were four of them- Yossi, an American named Kevin Gale, Karl and Marcus. The group pledged to stay united despite their distinct personalities, but a clash was inevitable. The situation took a turn for the worse after the group travelled through the jungle for a couple of weeks. Yossi recalls, “The environment was harsh. There were tensions, the food was basic – we shot and ate monkeys, among other things. I was cursing myself for my stupidity and wanted to go back, but I stuck on.”

The group ultimately broke due to disagreements. Earlier, they have built a raft to travel down the Amazon river, but Karl thought they should continue on foot as it was too dangerous to sail. “But then Kevin proposed that he and I could carry on in the raft on our own. I was shocked, but I agreed. But later, we failed to control the raft as it rushed towards a giant waterfall. Kevin somehow managed to scramble towards the shore, but I fell into the waterfall.”

He adds, “There were moments of great despair, but falling down the waterfall wasn’t one of them. That was just like a roller coaster ride that lasted for about 20 minutes. I just kept my head above the water. And though I was initially excited to be alive when I reached the shore, the feeling of despair soon gripped me again.”

Yossi felt he would reunite with Kevin after a few hours, but there was no sign of him. “That was the toughest moment – the realisation that I was totally alone,” he remembers.

Hair-raising adventures

Yossi survived a late-night encounter with a puma by setting alight a bug repellent. Then he kept himself alive by eating leaves and eggs scrounged from the chicken homes in the jungle. “I strolled on for several days, thinking I was near San Jose,” he says. “I discovered my own power and then I didn’t even want to be rescued anymore. It was intoxicating.”

But fate was not done with him yet. He nearly drowned in a horrible flood and sank in a bog twice. By the end of the third week, he was completely exhausted and could walk no more on his bad foot. There was no food left. And then a miracle happened –Kevin arrived with a rescue team!

It turned out that Kevin had looked for him everywhere; but there was no news of Karl and Marcus – they probably perished in the jungle. But Yossi was found and he soon returned to the outside world, a changed man – born an American Catholic, he married an Israeli girl and became a Jew.

His ordeal in the jungle changed his life forever in many ways, and made him a humble person. “I now consider the smallest things in the world to be very special. I don’t ascribe much significance to the things I have now. That feeling of touching death has never left me,” he says.

(Pictures courtesy Yossi Ghinsberg)

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Hum log

How the mobile phone ring tone was born

Ralph Simon, creator of the mobile phone ring tone, talks about how he discovered the idea of a tune for every call.
by Subhasis Chatterjee

Ralph Simon joined the party at 9 pm on a winter evening in Kolkata and started tapping his feet to a live tune of ‘Dhum Pichak Dhum’, the hot number by Palash Sen’s band, Euphoria. Then he smiled and whispered in my ears, “Not a bad ring tone!’

Ralph SimonRalph, now 65, is known as the ‘father of the mobile phone ring tone’. The man himself is witty, intelligent and very humble. I met him as part of a recent tech enclave, where, fortunately, none of his speeches were interrupted by a ringing phone! To make his speeches interesting, the Englishman frequently used Bengali words. Naturally, the crowd was totally under his spell.

Discovering the ring tone

Ralph’s first professional association with music began in the 1970s, when he co-founded the Zomba Group of music companies (now a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment) with Clive Calder. “In the mid-90s, I became Executive Vice President of Blue Note Records and Capitol Records. After this, I started EMI Music’s global New Media division in Hollywood,” he remembers. He unveiled his first ring tone company Yourmobile (later renamed Moviso) simultaneously in Europe, America, Africa and Australia in 1997.

In 1998, Ralph had predicted that mobile phones would become the most indispensable social and voice networking and music companions for consumers. But it was a year before that he made an interesting discovery of his own.

“I was attending an important meeting at Nokia meeting and I was waiting for a car to take me to the venue. Just then, a Finnish youth passed by and there was an interesting melody coming from his phone. It wasn’t a standard Nokia tune. When I asked him what it was, he said that his phone’s alarm was very shrill, so he was trying to make the sound less shrill,” the CEO of London-based Mobilium Global says.

“That was during the late 90s,” he added. “Finland was then the world leader in mobile phone technology and I had been invited to make a presentation on digital audio postcards, an IT invention that allowed an attachment containing music, scrolling text and the jerky video of those days to be tagged together to an email. Back in those days, it was a big thing.”

But for the Englishman, that chance conversation with the Finnish youth gave him the best idea he’d ever had. “It was a turning point in mobile entertainment. Since we already had our technology, why couldn’t we take it further by having music ring when one’s phone rang? We could even enable our favourite songs as our ringtones,” he said. Ralph took the first available flight back to the US the very next day and started working on the idea.

Copyrights and legal tangles

But copyright issues were a problem. Music companies, for whom the sale of ringtone rights is a lucrative source of revenue today, would not give in.

The same week, Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning of Napster (a peer-to-peer file sharing service used mostly for sharing audio files) were on the cover of Time. “Music companies suspected that they were pirates and weren’t interested in giving us licenses either. Only Michael Jackson’s company, which owned rights to Bryan Adams, Norah Jones and the Beatles, agreed,” Ralph remembers.

The first two tunes he used on getting a license were the Pink Panther theme and the Bond theme from Dr No. While Mobilium Global had to wade through lawsuits and financial settlements to get the music rights, the flip side of the struggle was that its traffic grew from 15,000 to 200,000 a day within a week.

Before shifting to Silicon Valley, Ralph ran a music company that had signed metal band Iron Maiden just when they were starting out. Then there was Will Smith. “He may be a famous actor today but when we gave him a break he was a hip-hop rapper called The Fresh Prince. It was that identity which earned him his first acting assignment on the TV show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”

Mobile Entertainment magazine named Ralph as one of the world’s Top 50 executives in mobile entertainment in 2005, 2006, and 2008. In 2007, he received its special award for Outstanding Contribution to the Global Mobile Entertainment Industry. Ralph is also the founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Mobile Entertainment Forum- Americas and he still has his ear to the ground to try and catch the tune of the next digital revolution. “I’ll keep my eyes and ears open…I have got to see what’s coming next!” he exclaims.

(Pictures courtesy Ralph Simon)

Categories
Places

‘Blind copying is not exemplary or inspirational’

Veteran architect Dulal Mukherjee talks about his exciting new project – it is the country’s biggest convention centre in Kolkata.
by Subhasis Chatterjee

All good artistes have a strong inspiration, and Kolkata-based Dulal Mukherjee is no different. The famous architect confesses to designing from the heart and being inspired by the vastness and the majesty of nature. His designs, he says, have always tried to be “embellishments in the wide canvas of the Earth’s natural beauty.”

The Metrognome caught up with Dulal on the sidelines of his firm’s current project – the State Convention Centre in Kolkata, the country’s biggest such centre thus far. Over a freewheeling chat, Dulal talks of his work ethic, his wonderful journey since the upheavals of the 70, why nature matters in his work and what future architects need to watch out for.

Excerpts from the interview:

Tell us about your firm and its journey.

An award won for the interior work of the International Terminal of Kolkata Airport at the National Design Competition served as a catalyst in setting up the firm Dulal Mukherjee & Associates (DMA) in 1968.

Those were the times of great political turmoil in Bengal, which affected the architectural fraternity also as there was hardly any scope for any significant work. The firm survived its initial years by Bharat Sevashram Hospital, Jokaundertaking various interior designing projects. The situation, however, started changing for the better from 1972 as building activity in the city slowly started regaining its footing. DMA, which had so far been a fledgling firm, started branching out, although mostly in ownership apartment designing.

After the 70s, we did a lot of Government and institutional projects, and the building boom of the late 80s and early 90s gave us an opportunity to grow and further spread our wings. We have done prestigious projects like the State Legislative Assembly Complex in Dispur, Assam, and the State Convention Centre in New Town, Kolkata.

While running your firm since 1968, you must have seen and experienced a lot of change in the Indian architectural scenario. How would you explain these changes?

During my formative days as a student of architecture and as a young practicing architect, the Indian architectural scenario was ruled by the ilk of Charles Correa, BV Doshi and Achyut Kanvinde. Though influenced by international stalwarts like Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn, Correa, Doshi and Kanvinde brought in an Indian flavour that left an indelible stamp of creativity and spawned a new modern Indian architecture.

State Legislative Assembly Building, Guwahati, AssamUse of concrete in its bold, majestic form and softened by use of Indian elements like jalis, hanging balconies and punched out courtyards were there to stay for decades to come and was carried forward on the able shoulders of Raj Rewal, Uttam Jain and Ajoy Chowdhury. These were examples of inspirational architecture in the late 60s and 70s. Side by side, a mundane match box like architecture with use of hackneyed screens was mushrooming out in a desperate bid for urbanization in India.

From 1990s, a new style gradually emerged, that were more contemporary and international though with an individualistic stamp in the works of Sumit Ghosh, Sanjay Puri and Sanjay Mohe. The styles of Shirish Beri, Dean DeCruz and Gerard Da Cunha had infused a sense of local flavour typical of a region that was wholly individualistic.

The new age of ‘camouflaged architecture’ was brought in from the new millennium with extensive use of curtain walls, glass screens and aluminium cladding. Broken and sculptural forms found importance but the entire trend is very international that transcends all geographic barriers and culture. Use of cutting edge technology both in the constructional system as well as in the designing of the engineering services has found more predominance.

You are a firm believer in celebrating Earth’s natural beauty and that is always reflected in your work. Considering today’s demands, how far can you stick to your architectural philosophy?  

I grew up amidst lush green rural settings of the Dooars in North Bengal which infused in me a deep sense of reverence and inspiration from nature. Even in the present day, with the need for maximum utilisation in the face of plummeting land cost, I try to create my buildings in harmony with nature. The site constraints with regard to existing trees and natural contours are respected in my solutions, and I try to create my designed spaces around the existing flora. Natural contours are respected to preserve the quality of the top soil and in the absence of existing flora; greenery is created both through ground level and terrace level landscaping.

Which one of your projects is closest to your heart? What kinds of projects you are handling these days?

I am really excited about the current projects we are handling. A project, close to my heart, is the Assam State Legislative Assembly complex in Dispur, which I’ve won in a competition. It is a State icon and we’re taking pains to research the local architectural style, the materials and culture such that they are reflected in the design.

Another inspirational project is the proposed State Convention Centre in New Town, Kolkata. The design boasts of the largest convention hall in the country with a sizeable hospitality facility.

I do not have any particular preference while choosing a project as I find all solution process a great stimulus.

Can you share details of the state convention centre project in New Town?

With a built-up area of 64,360 square metre, the State Convention Centre for HIDCO at New Town campus comprises the main Convention Hall of 3,000 seating capacity, two smaller capacity Proposed Drawing of State Convention Centreauditoriums, four large exhibition halls including a State banquet, spacious pre-function areas, extensive food and beverage facilities and a garden food court (in pic on right).

The business hotel will comprise a business centre, 100 twin-bedded rooms, a business club and a spa with a roof top pool. The convention centre will have a multilevel parking block.

The Rs 250 crore project is being developed as a ‘green’ building project with all modern amenities and services like HVAC, illumination with LED fixtures and auto control, dual plumbing, audio visual systems, fire detection and suppression system, CCTV, security and surveillance and IBMS.

While executing a project, what are you keen to concentrate on?

I am very sensitive towards an environmentally-conscious architecture and feel it’s a predominant factor during scheme development. My designs strive to establish a relation between the interior and exterior such that there is complete harmony between the built and unbuilt. Respecting the local climatic and environmental constraints helps in the seamless co-existence of man’s creation with nature.

Have you ever noticed differences working in Kolkata, compared to other parts of the country or abroad?

My experience is restricted within this country though I’ve executed projects in Nepal. The experience in Kolkata is very similar to those in other parts of the country where construction technology is limited and restricted to a very limited number of agencies working at a national level. Sluggish work culture is prevalent everywhere, though it has definitely improved in recent years. We are definitely lagging behind our counterparts in the West with respect to technology adaptation and discipline.

How are you inspired at this age to design and create landmark structures one after another?

I am never content or satisfied with what I do at present. My intrinsic dissatisfaction nudges me towards something better in future. I am of the strongest opinion that whatever I have created in the past can be always improved upon and this conviction drives me for greater perfection in the future.

Any message for young architects?

There are quite a few talented architects making their mark in the profession to whom I could only say that there is no end to learning and no shortcut to success. The remarkable creation of our forefathers may be adopted with individual interpretations and local flavours, but blind copying is neither exemplary nor inspirational for the future generation.

 (All pictures courtesy Dulal Mukherjee Associates)  

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