FW: Obituary

 

The sad demise of Gopal dev on 26 November 2008 at the young  age of 26  in a tragic accident is a great loss to his family and to all of us at The Pearson Education , particularly so because our young colleague was on his way to his sales assignment on the fateful day.

Gopal was a hard working and diligent co worker and friendly soul.  During his short stay in our organization, he worked as dedicated and sincere employee. His tragic loss has left a long-lasting void in our hearts and entire Pearson team. Lets us all pray to almighty god to grant eternal peace to the departed soul and strength to his old parents and young siblings to bear this great loss.

 

 

Pearson Education

482 F.I.E. Patparganj

Delhi 110092

[:123:] Gopal and Mumbai and Cyclones

Dear everyone,

 

It’s been a hard few days. As most of you already know, our colleague Gopal Deb passed away late on Wednesday night, after a horrific accident. Gopal had been a member of the school sales team for the last two years or so, and was a popular member of the team. His parents flew in from Siliguri last evening, and the cremation took place late last night by the banks of the Yamuna. Let us pray for him, and for the strength that his parents and family will need to cope with this loss.

Condolence messages for Gopal have been received from senior management across the Pearson world, including Tim Bozik, Rona Fairhead and David Bell.

 

Mumbai has been under siege for the last two days. Fortunately all our colleagues are safe. However many of you will have friends or associates who were killed or injured or traumatised by the events, and many of our associates are still trapped inside the buildings. Again, I think the most we can do at this stage is pray for them, and that this crisis passes swiftly.

 

And in the meantime, a cyclone has been pounding Chennai for the last two days, and our staff there have been braving flood waters to come to the office. Today the office has been declared shut. However, our first major sales training initiative is taking place in Chennai, starting tomorrow. Despite everything else that happens, life must go on. Ranjani, Srini, Naval, JS and I will be in Chennai tomorrow, to kick off this major initiative.

 

Regards,

 

Vivek

Update from Vivek

The last few weeks have been focused on getting our Operating Plan together, for a discussion with senior management. As we have grown in size, one of the prices we have to pay, is a higher standard of reporting and planning. (I welcome all of you with editorial ambitions to suggest how that last sentence could have been better structured). Anyway, Sudipta and Hitesh and all of the finance team slaved away to put the document in order. Thank god for mobile communication. I have had reviews in the office, late evening at my residence, from Bangalore airport and from my hotel room in Frankfurt.

Anyway, it all paid off, as our plans were broadly approved, and that means significant investments in a number of areas that will make us bigger and more profitable, as well as a better company to work for. On a public site I am not going to reveal details, but I hope to hold a series of meetings where I can brief you about our plans, and your role in them.

We have also lost some good people in the last few weeks. Sudipta has elected to leave the company to set up his own practice. Aman and Rajan both left our Production team to head production for other companies. I wish them good luck with their future careers.

I was able to hold an open house in Chennai, and I hope it was of some use to those who attended it. I continue to be surprised at the aspirations that Pearson has to be a great company, and while we may not be there as yet in India, we are working on it, and we will get there in the near future. I find these forums useful to understand how people are feeling, and what we need to do as a company. Unfortunately in Chennai I spoke too much, and there were fewer questions. However, it did become clear that we need to be more responsive as a corporate office, so that people in remote locations are given the support they need. We have made some headway in developing a service mind set to external customers; we need to bring that mindset to internal customers as well.

I am still hoping that more of you will write on this blog site. Again, the method is, if you send a mail to manav.y2j.pearsonindia@blogger.com it will come straight up on the site. Put your name somewhere in your mail, so that everyone knows who's writing.

I'm writing this in Bombay, grabbing a quick pav bhaji before a meeting, and it has just been placed in front of me, so I'm going to focus on eating...

Vivek
Sent from my BlackBerry

Our new Pearson India website

Dear everyone,

I am delighted to inform you that our new look Pearson India website(http://www.pearsoned.co.in/) is now ready.

Over the last three months, a team led by Anindo and Vibhor have worked with HCL to develop a world class website, and have made it ready within a week of their original schedule. This was a true cross functional team, with people from marketing, sales, editorial and IT across our School and Higher Ed divisions contributing to this project.

The new website has the look and feel of a Pearson site, while giving it a distinctively Indian touch. It allows us to feature our newest and most important books, and to make heroes of our authors. We have also incorporated a few features that are now standard on the web, such as allowing readers to rate our books, or contact our authors.

As with all new websites, there are bound to be a few bugs, and if you come across any, please point them out to Anindo, Vibhor or myself so that they can be fixed. A few features are still under development and should be up on the site in about 3 weeks.

Please let your customers and associates – authors, professors, school administrators, distributors, printers – know about the site.

And congratulations to everyone who worked on this project, from Pearson and HCL for a job well done.

Thanks

Vivek

I can’t believe three months has passed since I first set foot on Indian soil. It seems like yesterday when my head was spinning from the honking horns, and the crowded, dusty markets, and the million colorful saris on the streets and the new languages floating past my ears. Still, so much has happened since July 7^th. I’ve learned all about the process of development editing as the Higher Ed division practices it. I got stuck on a bus for 24 hours when we were diverted by landslide after landslide on my trip to Himachal Pradesh. I’ve served bread at 5:30 in the morning at the Bangla Sahib Gurdwara. I’ve seen temples and tombs and beggars and sadhus. I even had a glass of tea at a drain party and lived to tell of it. I have triumphed over the Delhi belly.

Last night, Srini asked me what I found different in India. I told him everything except the pigeons. Day is night here and night is day. Even the light switches are the opposite: on is off and off is on. But then I had to think again. There are more commonalities than that. The people I’ve met at Pearson have reminded me of my colleagues at home. They are passionate about the work they’re doing because they know it makes a positive impact on the world. They are fiercely intelligent and talented, witty and wise. They made my stay here a positive delight, and I have caught myself tearing up on more than one occasion thinking about how to say goodbye. I have met kindred spirits here with whom I share so much in common: a love of books and language and art and history and humor and natural beauty. I will take those friendships with me back to the United States where I am positive they will endure.

Thank you to all of you for sharing your office with me these past months, for welcoming me into your culture, your business and your lives. I will return to the States a much richer person than the one I left behind at the gates of O’Hare airport.

Vicki Krajewski

vicki.krajewski@pearson.com

vmk_us@yahoo.com

Its been a long time since I posted anything on this site, and I guess the reality is that the last few weeks have been an absolute whirl, and I have really not been in control of my life. I hope that my schedule will soon come under control, and I will have more time in the office, and to travel domestically to meet our sales staff and customers.

Being so overwhelmed with work things, I missed out on the book sale, and by all accounts, that is a real loss.

I know the coffee machines are an old story by now, but I hope you are enjoying them. I certainly love the smell of coffee that pervades the office. I overdosed on
Caffeine when they first came in, but am now trying to be a little more healthy.

I got my confirmation letter on having completed six months, so I guess I'm here to stay for a while.

This is a festive time, with eid just passed and Dussehra on its way. I hope its a happy time for you and your families.

Vivek
Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel

Book Sale for Staff

 

The fresh recruits to Pearson have been asking their experienced colleagues about the upcoming book sale. Some want to know if there will be books in good numbers and for all topics – fiction to philosophy; some ask ‘will there be a separate kids’ section’. To this, Jonaki quipped meaningfully – ‘Yes, and they will be arranged in alphabetical order.’ How convenient! However, since I find our book sales really interesting and do not want my new colleagues to miss it, I would like to tell them a little more about the book sale.

 

The seasoned book lovers begin to queue up at the warehouse gates well half-an-hour before the scheduled time. The moment the gates open, people crash in and within the first hour, all DK encyclopedias and children’s books are gone. So be there on time if that’s where your interest is. For the first timers, it is really not easy. The first problem is to figure out which direction to head towards, and then where exactly to look for the books you want. If you are lucky, you might notice the books you have always wanted in other people’s cartons. That can give you a direction. Ask them which area/room they picked those books from.

 

As for the ‘alphabetically arranged stacks’, the truth is you will find them piled up in huge heaps. It is quite a sight (and I love it). Some, however, are systematically arranged on the floor from one end of the room to another. Then there are book hunters wearing lost and hassled expressions, carrying their cartons from one pile of books to another (while having their already filled cartons lined up near the billing counter), still looking for more, perhaps something better. It is not a surprise that the sight of seas and hills of books makes people forget whatever mental list they may have prepared earlier. You will also get to see some people sitting on the top of the mounds of books, which can be as high as 6 feet (or even more) from the ground. They ensconce themselves around some depression, caused by the zealous climbers, and keep digging into the stack (making it adventurously unsafe for other climbers) till they find something that can hold their interest. Occasionally they generously raise a copy high up and shout out things like – ‘Anyone for William Darlymple?’, ‘Want Amartya Sen?’ and more of such, followed by ‘yes’s and ‘no’s’ from all corners, also accompanied by some fresh requests at times.

 

It is undoubtedly an interesting sight. Our book sale is definitely worth a visit, not just for the books (the priceless treasure that you get to build) but also for the amusement it offers. Do go there. Do not miss it.

 

Preeta Priyamvada

Upinder Singh's Book Launch - Video Coverage (5th Aug)

Dear All,

We’ve uploaded an edited version of the video coverage of Upinder Singh's book launch. The video is in two parts which has a few clippings of Vivek's speech followed by Upinder’s.
A special thanks to Manav for his efforts and support for uploading and editing the video!
Enjoy!









Thanks,
Babita

Thank god we're all safe

I'm writing this as I drive to office after being away for three whole weeks, my mind still filled with the terrible images in the morning papers. Thank god everyone in the Pearson family seems to be unharmed by the blasts in Delhi. Let's say a prayer for those who did suffer through this senseless act.

My focus of the last 3 weeks has been my own family - I have been settling my older son into his new life in Vancouver Film School. For any of you who find yourselves in Vancouver on holiday, I'm sure Dhruv will be happy to show you around what must be one of the prettiest cities on earth.

And now its back to the office, and believe it or not, I am actually looking forward to diving back into it, and whatever surprises this crazy business is going to throw at me!

Vivek Govil

Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel

Upinder's book launch in Kolkata

Dear All,

A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India by Upinder Singh was successfully launched at Rabindranath Tagore centre ICCR Kolkata on 26 August 08.

The event had Dr B D Chattopadhyaya, Professor Bharati Ray, and Professor Hari Vasudevan as speakers. Reba Som, director of the Rabindranath Tagore Centre, welcomed the panelists and the guests. The book was released by the governor of West Bengal—Mr Gopal Krishna Gandhi. The governor lavishly praised Upinder’s efforts, her use of archaeological evidence and how they contribute to the seriousness of a book that is otherwise attractively designed.

Professor Hari Vasudevan, chaired a panel discussion. He spoke on the challenges of history teaching and his experience as a teacher. Bharati Ray praised Upinder’s patience and labour. She also spoke of the role of women in ancient India and how Upinder had focused on that.

Professor B D Chattopadhyaya dealt with the book in detail and raised critical questions on issues it had dealt with, especially on issues of nomenclature and terminology.

Upinder thanked the panel and recounted her experience of writing the book, its genesis and how it took its final shape. She emphasized that even as scholarship was an issue, she wanted to ‘get on with the story’—telling the whole story of ancient India was more important than engaging in debates on historiography. Her responsibility towards her students, a passionately felt responsibility, propelled her narrative of ancient Indian history.

Journalists like Rudrangshu Mukherjee, actor—Barun Chanda, academicians like Tapati Guha Thakurata, Sugata Bose, Vice-Chancellor of Vishwa Bharati University Shanti Niketan University—Rajat Kanto Ray, historian Suparna Gooptu, teachers of history and archaeology from the University of Calcutta and Jadavpur University, curators and librarians from the Indian Museum and the Asiatic Society attended the programme. Representatives from the trade were also there. Mr Dipak Dasgupta, of IBD, Aurobindo Dasgupta from Dasgupta and Sons, Sanjeeb Bose from Bharti Bhawan, and Ms Maina Bhagat from the Oxford Bookstore, Kolkata were there.

The event was covered by Kolkata TV (they telecast Upinder’s hour long interview live and repeated it twice), Star Ananda, Tara TV, 24 Ghanta and ETV Bangla. Anandabazaar Patrika interviewed Upinder and also published a preview of the event in its edit page on 25 August. The Telegraph, The Statesman and The Hindustan Times covered the event. Upinder was also interviewed by The Telegraph and The Hindustan Times.

Attached are the photographs of book launch.

Best,

Babita Chauhan