Live India, Love Football

It’s been a cliché for the past 50 years. An Indian moves from a small town to the United States or United Kingdom, starts at the bottom of the corporate or business ladder and, after a certain point in time, makes it rich through hard work and self-belief.   So many Indians have taken this route, including my Father and Mother, as it is clearly a viable way to jump into a different socioeconomic stratosphere, probably much faster than if they would have stayed in India and put in the same amount of effort. The story is now reversing. It’s commonly known that over the past 5 years, some foreigners have chosen to move to India for opportunities in the areas of Information Technology, e-commerce and a whole host of entrepreneurial ventures.   Some have made lots of money, much more than they would have back in their own countries and others have left frustrated with the country’s many bureaucratic, infrastructure and human resource challenges.   Now there is a sto...

In May 2011, just a month after I had joined Libero Sports, our Managing Director, Sukhvinder Singh, organized a retreat for the entire staff to take part in a day of strategic discussions and resort-style fun at the Westin in Sohna, Haryana. At that point, Libero Sports had only recently moved beyond concept phase and I remember sitting at the dining table in the President’s suite with my colleagues discussing, debating and strategizing on how this young group (average age of 26) was going to pioneer and shape the Indian football industry. After hours of discussion, we joined our guests and spent the rest of the evening swimming, drinking, eating and dancing.   It was an unforgettable day which established a football family and laid the foundation for our organization to move forward. Now fast forward 4.5 years and here are at the Westin again.   The itinerary is set, afternoon of discussion and then evening of debauchery.   There are similar faces, a similar missi...

I’ve found that in life there are times when existence puts you back into a similar situation or physical environment to remind of you of the purpose of your journey.   Many of us require this cosmic kick in the butt because, in this world of immediate results and progress, it is just too easy to stop believing in yourself or get distracted by what others are doing in their lives.   While I do fall victim to this every once in awhile, I’m fortunate to have the awareness and luck to recognize when a sign is being held up right in front of my face. The other week I experienced one of these signs.   My colleague and I travelled to Ahmedabad, Gujarat to meet with the Director of Nirma University Institute of Management. The objective of our meeting was to discuss a football project we want to launch with their next batch of MBA students in order to give them an on ground opportunity to build their sports management experience and skills.   While I always enjoy ...