Boston Days - Part 3

The Universe Has a Sense of Timing

(I am writing “Boston Days” as a series of articles for quick reference for myself and other retail pilgrims. This article covers the “Power of positive manifestations”)

300 minutes. That is precisely how long the day’s sessions had run — case studies, leadership frameworks, management metrics, and the kind of deep deliberations that leave you simultaneously drained and quietly electric.

As the glass doors of the Chao Centre swung behind me, I made a deliberate choice. Not the room. Not the power nap. The campus. The Boston evening. The open sky.

My first stop was the Tata Hall — a building that carries unusual emotional weight for every Indian who walks this campus. 

Donated by the late Mr. Ratan Tata, it stands as a quiet monument to Indian generosity meeting global ambition, housed in elegant red brick and understated dignity.

Spangler came next — the social heart of HBS. Closed for the day by 5 pm, it stood still in the evening light. A banner near its entrance read: “Hard work. With humility. For humanity.” I stood there long enough to let those words do their work.

Then came Baker Library. As participants of the Executive Management Program, access is granted until 7 pm — a privilege I was not about to surrender to fatigue. I stepped inside and simply stopped moving. 

Over 700,000 volumes. Reportedly the world’s largest business library. The ceiling, the amber light, the cathedral silence — it felt less like a library and more like a place of pilgrimage.

Earlier that day, I had written to a few luminaries associated with HBS, quietly hoping for a response. 

As I walked past the Dean’s quarters in the early evening, my thoughts turned — almost involuntarily — to Prof. Nitin Nohria.

The 10th Dean of Harvard Business School. Its first Indian-American leader. And by most accounts, one of its finest.

His decade at the helm, from 2010 to 2021, was nothing short of transformational. He introduced the FIELD curriculum — a bold pedagogical shift that brought real-world, experiential learning into the HBS classroom. 

He championed the MBA Oath, calling on graduates to pledge ethical and responsible leadership — a quiet but powerful act of institutional conscience. 

He launched HBX, now HBS Online, democratising business education beyond the walls of this storied campus. He made HBS more global, more inclusive, and more honest about what the world actually needs from business leaders.

I was still thinking about him as I rounded a corner near the library.

A gentleman in a white shirt. Round glasses. Walking at an unhurried pace.

I looked. Hesitated. Walked closer.

“Prof. Nohria?”

“Yes,” he said.

I stood still for a few seconds. What had just happened?

What followed were ten of the most quietly extraordinary minutes of my professional life. He asked about me — genuinely, not perfunctorily. I told him about 25 years in Indian retail — the airport retail ecosystem I helped build at BIAL when it first opened in 2008, the hundreds of cafes I scaled across India at Cafe Coffee Day, the dealer network I doubled for Royal Enfield. 

He listened with the full attention of a man who does not perform interest; he simply has it.

We spoke about the present and the future of Indian retail. His optimism was not the polished variety one dispenses at conferences. 

It was thoughtful, specific, and warm — the perspective of a scholar who has watched markets evolve and still believes in what is coming.

I walked back to my room a different person.

The universe, it would seem, rewards those who choose the campus walk over the power nap.

(I am writing “Boston Days” as a series of articles for quick reference for myself and other retail pilgrims.)

Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8 and Part 9 here.

Reflections: I didn’t sign up for this

It was a cold Saturday morning during end-January 2010. I was reading the Harvard Business Review (HBR) magazine outside the office of the Chairman of Café Coffee Day (CCD). 

It was a ritual at CCD that every 10 days, Late Mr. VG Siddhartha would meet the All India Business Development Team which I was heading, along with our CEO, COO and the Operations team.

We would display the potential real estate opportunities on a PPT, with my colleagues joining virtually from all across India. By the end of the meeting, we would collectively take a decision whether to lease or not the space, based on various metrics.

I was just into the role, and it was my 4th meeting or so with this elite group. 

When the Chairman came out of the Conference Room from the previous meeting, he saw me waiting outside with a puzzled look. This kept repeating over the next 2 times. The 10th floor was access-restricted, which means only a select few could access it.

A couple days later during a one-on one, my CEO told me to come only after he sends me a BBM (remember!) & not earlier. I gave a blank look to which he enquired what was the reason.

I said, I come to the 10th floor a tad earlier, just to read the HBR magazine as I couldn’t it afford otherwise to buy. Now, he gave me a puzzled look too.

When I met the cafe team at Dharmshala, 2010

Ahead of the next meeting, my CEO told me to come early and read the HBR, as advised by the Chairman. The news had gone to him, after all. 

I was a bit surprised and embarrassed at the same time; but then it was ok to chew my ego & read the HBR magazine when possible. And that’s what mattered finally.

16 years later, I was taking the evening cab from Hotel Taj Lands End after the completion of the first Module of the Senior Leadership Program (SELP) offered by Harvard Business School (HBS). 

I kept staring at the Mumbai skyline 360*. When I was crossing Kurla, I wondered how the baby born at Sion Hospital 5 decades ago, was now a big boy and was a student at the prestigious Harvard University (Mumbai camp). 

And he would soon become a Graduate (fingers crossed) at the Boston campus of HBS by the end of 2026!

All through the 35-min drive (which felt almost eternal), I was gathering all that happened during these past 15 days.

I was slowly absorbing what I have learned from four top Professors who had descended to India from Boston, exclusive to teach and to share their knowledge with us.

The 46 incredible people in our batch represent various industries, vocations and businesses, from all across India, the Middle East & the Philippines.

It would take me a lifetime, perhaps, to understand the kind of impact that this year-long course would create on a professional like me.

I had embraced the Retail Industry at a young age of 19 almost by chance, as a waiter scooping ice-cream at Baskin Robbins in Chennai in the year 1997.

Ever since, I have never looked back away from the Indian Retail Industry. Not that the other industries (or countries) are any less attractive or financially rewarding, but my roots were and are in the Indian Retail Industry and I shall remain here forever.

The Leadership lessons from over 30+ case studies that we have discussed, disagreed, debated and left them open-ended – for, that’s how cases are done - with my Professors and batch mates were an eye opener on Leadership.

After all, one of the key roles of a Leader, according to me, is to be a good listener first.

Before we meet again in less than 12 weeks, we have a lot of reflections (and perhaps some executions at workplace as well) to be done on what has already been taught, as well as take up other online assignments as part of the Course.

When Prof. Stefan Thomke asked me a few days back about the course and my leaning towards it, I simply said, “I didn’t sign up for this Prof; I thought it was a going to be a 3-feet swimming pool where I could play and have fun and lo behold, this is an ocean. And by the way, I do not know swimming either”. 

But then, I do not have a choice but to uphold the values of being a student (and later on, an alumni) of the world’s most prestigious “Harvard” badge. I assured him, I will do my best. 

As Amitabh Bachchan would quip in a different context in the film K3G (2001), “Prampara hai beta, Paramapara hai…”

Loving this avatar as an eternal student of Retail. And I have Miles To Go, after all.