Launch of "Macroeconomics"

I'm writing this as I drive back from the launch of Errol D'sousa's book on Macroeconomics, and it was wildly successful!

Congratulations to everyone who organised it, and to Amar and Jonaki for making the author such a staunch ambassador of Pearson's capabilities.

Dr. Rangarajan, the former Governor of the Reserve Bank was the chief guest, and he gave a glowing recommendation of the book. We'll try to get the video clip of his speech, and post it here, if technology permits.

Have a great weekend.

Vivek
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Two small steps

Yesterday we managed two small steps to improve life at Pearson India.

First, we found a sort of solution for the ladies who felt unsafe walking through the estate to a bus stop. We will have a list of the company cars with drivers at security, and all employees can use any available car to get dropped off at the bus stop. If you use mine, its a no smoking car!

Second, we agreed that we would put in additional coffee machines in the office. There was a debate about whether to have fewer machines, but of better quality, or machines on each floor, but where the quality was not as good. The clear voting was for better coffee, even if you have to climb a flight of stairs to get it. It might take a month or so to install, but we're on our way.

Vicki's post seems to have inspired a few more people to write for this site, and that's fantastic. When I was on my own, not only was it lonely, the quality of writing was pretty average. Now I need to find what nala food is.

Vivek
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Entry for Pearson India blog

Why publishing?

My first day at school, I cried for five whole minutes. Five minutes, while my teacher, Chitra Miss, tried to distract me--by admiring my skirt, the handkerchief pinned on my blouse, my water bottle. When that didn't work, she sat down with me on her lap and started reading from a book. A bright, colorful book that caught my interest, made me concentrate, and learn.

Years have passed by but that first lesson has remained. That good teachers and good books can make a world of difference. That a book that opens up your mind, that sharpens your focus, that teaches you something new makes you somehow more alive.

Perhaps it is because my parents were teachers, who believed that the best friend someone can have is a good book. Or because every time we moved, the first things that got packed and unpacked, very carefully, were the books. Whatever the reason may be, there remains a feeling of mystery and joy every time I open a book.

And that is why I am in publishing. Because there are still books to be read. And who knows what journeys still to be undertaken and what things still to be learnt.

Jonaki Ray
Senior Development Editor

Untitled

I guess it was only Vicki’s post that inspired me to trace my steps back to the time I have left behind. It has been more than a year, here in Delhi. To be precise, it has been one year and one month. But I still remember the day I received a mail from Jasmeet. It was the last day of my end-semester exams. I manage to complete a 2-hour test on the politics and poetics of rock, come out of the class room and find a couple of my friends clustered round a corner, discussing something grave. I gather from the conversation snippets that mails from Pearson Education have been circulated to the people selected for the internship programme. I rush back home, check my mail, and I find an offer letter. Within a month’s time, I pack my bags, leave the city I grew up in and arrive at another. Here, I learn to “unlearn”. Maybe a bulleted list would be an appropriate thing to put in here:

 

ü      I learnt that we do not put commas where we pause for breath. There are much more relevant places where commas have their justified existence.

ü      It is criminal for an editor to worship Beckett. (“There is nothing to express, nothing with which to express, nothing from which to express, no power to express, no desire to express, together with the obligation to express.”—Samuel Beckett)

ü      We always use the definite article “the” before any countable noun. For eg., it should always be “I will reach the office by 9.30 every morning” and never “I will be late to office every morning.”

ü      One can lead a completely healthy life by spending Rs 10 a day (courtesy: the nala food).

ü      One should not trust this certain Dr Anupama who masquerades as a thick-moustached quack who has his/her chamber frightfully close to Patparganj Industrial Area and who diagnoses any problem related to cough as Tuberculosis.

ü      I learnt to pronounce “deteriorate” and “prestidigitation” (courtesy: Angshuman Chakraborty), but I am thankful that I don’t have to pronounce these as I write.

 

 

I must resist myself from lengthening the list. Maybe, in my next post, I will make a longer list of things I am yet to learn, and would put the following point in BIG, BOLD letters:

 

NEVER FORGET TO ATTACH FILES TO THE MAIL (IN WHICH YOU HAVE PROMISED CERTAIN ATTACHMENTS) AND CHECK THE E-MAIL ID(S) YOU SEND YOUR MAIL TO, BEFORE YOU HIT “ENTER”.  

 

 

 

Sukanya Chakrabarti

 

 

 

 

 

 

RE: With America in my mind...

Oh, and the post below was written by Anindo Dey! J

Anindo Dey

Pearson India

With America in my mind...

Vicki, you are most welcome in this office of course and looks like you are having a great time in India. That’s fantastic!! We were near neighbors in the US when I was based in Indianapolis out of the PTG offices there till about 8 months ago. America always made me feel very welcome and so I hope India does the same for you.

I left India nearly 5 years ago to work in Indianapolis with Pearson, carrying 3 suitcases, my older pup Sheeba and wife (we-ll I did not carry her…could not!). I came back to India last October with a container full of furniture, electronics that do not work here, a wife (yes, the same), a daughter and two dogs! I nearly carried my cars back, but thought that would make me look stupid. So, hurray for Carmax, I sold those off at no loss! Memories of my life there can be seen all over my house, more so because my daughter, Ananya, and my younger pup, a Husky who goes by the name of Sirus (it was a battle to prevent my wife from naming him Sirius Black!!!) are always there to greet me when I come back home! Both were born in Indiana.

In Indianapolis, Sheeba would sit by the upstairs window overlooking the drive every evening at 6:00 PM, and as I looked up from my car turning into my drive, the expression on her face always asked me “when will you come back home?”!

Now, back in Delhi, when I get back home every day, Sheeba, true to her Indian values, casually wags her tail with her hiney facing me and head under the stool, seemingly telling me casually “so, you are back home, but you had to come back, didn’t ya?”. Yeah, I had to come back home to India, didn’t I?

I am home, but a part of America will always live with me. My daughter and my pup will always make sure America never goes too far away…..

First experiences in India - Vicki Krajewski

It all started this May when Marjorie Scardino came to Iowa to speak to the Assessment and Information group. In a meeting room at the new Hilton Hotel down by the Iowa River, HR passed out cookies, Marketing set up and filmed the proceedings, and Ms. Scardino flew through slides detailing recent financial results and all the vital work that Pearson does for the educational community and beyond.

 

Then she wondered if we’d heard of newdirections. It’s a program run out of the headquarters in London wherein employees take short-term, international job assignments of up to six months with the purpose of sharing best practices and strengthening the connections between the many businesses that constitute Pearson. “The aim of newdirections is to make Pearson a more international Company,” the website says, “rather than just one that operates in many different countries.”

 

I couldn’t get back to my desk fast enough. I had to apply. I thought there was little, if any, chance I’d be accepted to such a program, but I figured it never hurt to try. I was only more excited to find a posting for the position of Development Editor in India. Though my job in Iowa is largely a writing position, which I love, as an ex-teacher, I’ve always wanted to move closer to the classroom. In Iowa, I create training materials for Assessment and Information employees. The position in India meant I’d be working directly on producing educational materials for publication, something of a lifelong dream of mine. Exceedingly nerdy, I know, but true.

 

I submitted an application through the website and heard back from Ranjani Sridhar the next day. She wanted information about why I was interested in the position and what I felt I could bring to it.

 

A few weeks later, I heard back from Ranjani. “Srinivas thinks you could do some development work for us based in Delhi…” I couldn’t believe my eyes. I rubbed them and read the email again. It still said the same thing.

 

From that moment until the moment I stepped onto the international flight that carried me from Chicago to Delhi, I kept excepting someone to stop me, to say, “Wait, no. We changed our mind. You can’t go after all.” I even checked under the seat on the plane. I was sure I’d find someone from Finance under there, shaking their head, pointing me toward the exit. But there was no one under the seat. Everyone said “go.” And to everyone who said “go” in both America and India, I owe a huge debt of gratitude.

 

So what can I say about my first few weeks in this country? First off, a giant thank you to my hosts for the opportunity of a lifetime. I am not overstating when I say I have never done anything so challenging and so exciting in my life. From figuring out the hot water switch in my guest house bathroom to touring medieval ruins to producing a layout prototype for a textbook on supply chain management, everything I’ve done here has been a learning experience I will never forget.

 

Before I left, people kept telling me that India would change me. How could I anticipate the ways in which this would be true? Already, in my first few weeks here, I have been struck by the beauty of the people and the depths and varieties of personal faith that are on display everywhere I look in Delhi. I have felt a deep, abiding peace on my visits to the Lotus Temple. I have learned to be a little more assertive than I usually am in the crowded markets and with the stubborn auto wallahs, but I could certainly use more practice there. It’s a good thing I’m here for three months.

 

I have also been impressed with the achievements of the group I’m working with, the Higher Ed publishing division. It is humbling to join a group that is doing such important work with such impressive results. I eagerly await the Macroeconomics and history book launches coming up so soon and hope that the books get the kind of results that will propel more of this caliber of work to be done.

 

I hope that I can give back one-tenth of all I’ve already gotten from this experience. I hope that my time here is as productive for you, my hosts, as it already has been for me.

 

And if you haven’t come to meet me yet, please stop by, or catch me in the hallway sometime. I sit right downstairs behind Angshuman. I’d love to hear about the work you do here.

 

Humbly yours,

 

Vicki Krajewski

 

My second post

Across my career, I have attended a number of conferences and seminars, where I have had the opportunity to listen to many inspirational speakers. Most of them make me want to do great things for a few minutes, and unfortunately after that I lapse back into being just me.

Two speakers have made a difference to me, and unfortunately, I have forgotten both their names. I will try to do some online research and get their names to you.

The first changed my personal life. He made me realise that people can age gracefully, and my life goal is now to live to be 110, and to do it well. In the last two years, I have given up smoking and started eating a slightly more healthy diet. I still do no exercise, and have put on 15 kg in that time, but I will start, and I hope to see you in 2070, if you're still alive, and I hope you will buy me a beer.

The other speaker was a former hotelier, and a very senior executive in the Disney corporation. He was describing his job, and he described it as being an "environmentalist". For him, the role of every leader is to create an environment in which good people can flourish. In fact, whether we are leaders or not, we are all environmentalists, in that we create environments wherever we go.

In my home I am far from the leader (below the dog, but above most of the domestic help). But every time I walk into the house in the evening, I can choose the kind of environment I create. I can be grouchy and snap at everyone, and we can have a wrteched evening in which only the dog will give me any attention. Or, I can be warm and happy, and people are happy to see me. You would have noticed how when people are gathering for a meeting in the office, the mood of the meeting lightens or darkens as certain people enter. I know this sounds cheesy, but when you think of the fact that you have the power to create the environment in which you work, I think you realise how powerful you are, and what a duty you have to the people around you to make a positive environment.

If you want to be a miserable grouch, then perhaps do some yogic breathing, or go to the terrace and scream out loud, but then get back to trying to be happy.

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Your Blog/Our Blog

This sounds great and a novel idea, indeed. It’s good because our people will be able to share much much more out here, than they do at the office and at times do not know how to share.

 

I sure hope to see lot of posts and lot of comments, in coming days. A good step .

 

Prashant