Dear L&Tite,

Today, we are already past the half-way mark into our Work-FromHome regime, I thought it opportune to speak to the youngsters of our Larsen & Toubro family.

Really appreciate the way you have handled these challenging circumstances by sticking to your regular work commitments. If there is one sentiment that emerges from your various tweets, posts & messages more than any other, it’s that we are all in this together.

Each of us have had to make several adjustments and changes to our life to adapt to this new mode of working. We need to Work For Home in addition to Work From Home. I am sure that being passionate L&T-ites, all of you would have also evolved similar efficient methods of functioning during this period.

If utilized effectively, one can avail off this opportunity to discover new hobbies like learning a new language, exercising, reading, watching intellectual TV series, etc. Personally, I’ve managed to catch up on a lot of reading and watching some interesting TV shows which I had kept on the back burner for a long time. I also manage to find time to tune into some classics of my all-time favorite musicians.

Our HR team has been proactively providing online training courses on ATL and other learning platforms and am sure, you would have found both the time and inclination to hone your skills that will come ever so handy when normalcy returns and hold you all in excellent stead to help the organization bounce back strongly.

You can even refresh your old acquaintances like your school / college mates with whom you may have lost touch to relive some of your old, childhood memories. Reconnecting with them would also be beneficial as some would have by now established themselves in various practices in their respective industries and it would be a good idea to compare notes and self-educate.

In the midst of all these recreational activities, it is imperative to ensure that you maintain discipline to keep up with all our business commitments during these extraordinary times.

I hope and pray that each one of you and your loved ones take care and safeguard your health. Am sure at the end of all this we will emerge safer, stronger and more successful.

Best Regards,

SNS

Dear L&Tite

We are now a third of the way through the 21-day lockdown, and are entering a critical phase. With the initial disruptions having been sorted, and adjustments made, we are gradually settling into a new routine of Working From Home. This is the time when we need to run a check on ourselves. Are we as fit as we ought to be?

At the workplace, our routine automatically meant frequent movement – commuting, climbing stairs, attending meetings, etc. Many of us would also go out in the evenings to shop or socialize. All of this has now stopped. I also suspect many of us now are now having more leisurely meals at home compared to the hurried lunches we would grab at the canteen. The outcome of this new behavior pattern can impact our health – and the most visible result will be seen on our waistlines.

I recommend that each of us integrate light physical exercise as part of our daily routine. Let us energize our days by doing brisk exercises either in the morning or evening. If you don’t know what to do, just go on to YouTube for possible regimens. Else, there are the tried and tested – spot-walking, skipping, deep breathing.

There are many who swear by Yoga. The great thing about this ancient Indian discipline is that you can determine your own pace, and there is no age bar. If anyone in your family has done a bit of Yoga, you may want to begin under his or her supervision. This brings me to another point – exercising along with your family can do wonders for family bonding!

Another option is meditation. As they say, if you can’t go out, go in – deep into yourself. Meditation asks for little more than patience and perseverance. In return it offers profound mental and physical benefits including many say, a perceptible improvement in your ability to concentrate. So, problems that took you hours to crack, can be solved in minutes!

A word of caution – whatever form of exercise you choose to do, be careful not to injure yourself. If you have an existing health condition, I suggest you consult a doctor before you embark on any fitness regimen.

Staying fit involves some collateral activities too. We need to eat nutritious food (on time), drink adequate water to hydrate ourselves, maintain hygiene and ensure that we get adequate sleep. While social media is certainly an interesting way of keeping in touch, we can’t allow it to eat up all our spare time. Reading, on-line quizzes and taking on-line courses are other ways of making the after 5 pm period enriching.

Whatever you decide to do, turn it into action asap. Procrastination will rob us of whatever time we have, and before we know it, we will be back at the office.

Stay healthy! Stay safe!

SNS

Sports is about people and teams who are filled with passion and a desire to get things done. It also brings out the value systems and character as you can be a great achiever but if you don’t have character you can never stay there as a great sportsperson. As a person who is interested in sports and who has been following events across various sports, I would like to share with you some sporting moments that I thought you would enjoy during your spare time.

From the world of cricket, one can never forget Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson against the West Indies during the test series in 1975 which altered West Indian captain Clive Lloyd’s mind, that the way to win is through aggression. He brought in the famous five bowlers (Andy Roberts, Joel Garner, Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding and Colin Croft) who battered Australia back during the 1981 series and this was fast bowling at its best.

India’s World Cup win in 1983 under the leadership of Kapil Dev is probably the most significant cricket event ever for India. During this tournament, Kapil Dev scored 175 against Zimbabwe and that match wasn’t telecasted due to an ongoing strike by official broadcasters, BBC. Without Kapil Dev’s 175, India would not have gone on to reach the finals. The gritty show of the Indian team against the mighty West Indians of those years and the superb catch that Kapil Dev took running back to dismiss Viv Richards was the turning point of India winning the finals of that World Cup.

Sunil Gavaskar’s memorable fighting knock and his classy batting against the Pakistani spinners in his farewell test match at Bengaluru in 1987 is also worth seeing. Also worth watching is Anil Kumble’s record 10-wicket haul in the 2nd Test in New Delhi in 1999 against Pakistan. One of the best batting displays were that of the stylish VVS Laxman and the ever-solid Rahul Dravid who put on a record breaking partnership against the mighty Australians to win the second test in Kolkata in 2001 after being asked to follow on.

India vs Pakistan matches are always encounters to watch out for and one of the special moments was when Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag battered the likes of Shoaib Akthar and Wasim Akram in a nerve-wrecking World Cup match at the Centurion in 2003. A match to also remember is the nail-biting finish at the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 when one of Pakistan’s best batsmen, Misbah Ul Haq, gave a catch to Sreesanth who took it at short fine leg.

Another match which is worth seeing again is when India under Dhoni’s leadership won the World Cup against Sri Lanka in 2011 at the Wankhede Stadium, a project which L&T completed in record time. It was significant as finally Sachin Tendulkar, India’s iconic bastman, would lift the world cup in his hand. And who could ever forget Yuvraj’s exemplary all-round performance during the tournament.

The football World Cups have always thrown up several wonderful moments including Diego Maradona’s famous ‘Hand of God’ goal against England in the quarterfinal of the 1986 edition and Mario Gotze’s last-minute winner that led Germany to lift their 4th World Cup trophy against Argentina in 2014.

The Olympics are a hot bed of great sporting moments. Mark Spitz’s record 7 golds in swimming during the 1972 Olympics (Berlin) is definitely worth a watch. His record which was broken by Michael Phelps with 8 golds , also in swimming, in 2008 (Beijing) was also a sporting masterclass. Also worth watching are Jackie Joyner-Kersee’s Heptathlon gold medal performances in 1988 (Seoul) and 1992 (Barcelona) and Nadia Comaneci’s perfect 10 feat in gymnastics, at the age of 14, in the 1976 (Montreal) Olympics. Sergei Bubka’s dream run in pole vaulting as he kept bettering his own ‘bests’ including a gold medal in the 1988 Olympics and Carl Lewis’s record of 9 track and field golds across various Olympics are also moments that defined the true spirit of competition.

Tennis is yet another sport that has offered some very interesting rivalries and intense matches. The epic 1980 Wimbledon finals between John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg and the 1992 Wimbledon quarterfinals between Andre Agassi and Boris Becker were classic contests from the pre-2000 era. Roger Federer’s encounter with Rafael Nadal in the 2008 Wimbledon final and the longest Grand Slam final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal during the 2012 Australian Open are also a treat to all tennis fans. I’m sure many of us have savored the Steffi Graf – Martina Navratilova rivalry in matches such as the US open finals in 1986 and 1991, and Steffi Graf’s matches with Monica Seles, especially their not-to-be-missed Wimbledon finals of 1992.

7-time F1 champion, Michael Schumacher’s lap of honor to thank his fans after his last race in the 2012 Sao Paulo Grand Prix was a great way to call curtains on an illustrious career that saw him rise to become one of the greatest drivers the sport has ever seen.

The world of sports has also had its share of some eminently interesting incidents. Some of them include Greg Chappell asking his brother Trevor Chappell to bowl underarm to prevent New Zealand a win in a 1981 ODI and Dennis Amiss’s English side pulverized by Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson’s bowling spells that were peppered with several nasty bouncers during the 1974 Ashes series. Sanath Jayasuriya hammering the Indian bowlers all over the park during the 1996 world cup match in Delhi is yet another interesting innings to watch out for.

Even as a spectator, watching sports teaches us life-lessons such as the importance of concerted efforts, working as a team, goal setting, integrity, and above all, the passion to succeed. To be successful in sports, one needs to learn several techniques, skills and also go through regular practice sessions. One of the things we learn from champions is the growth mindset and ways to keep on learning and improving oneself to be near perfect. After every practice or game, a great sportsman always knows that he has walked away from it giving it his all. And knowing that one has given everything one had to succeed, he has done his best and he’ll always be a winner. We have a break now, in the sense that physically we are less active as we are working from home. You can’t think that one can come back and be normal. One has to be mentally and physically prepared for coming back and doing the work one normally used to do to get back to where one was. Only if you have a sports mindset would you be able to do that.

I hope reliving some of these sporting moments in your spare time will give you a lot of food for thought both from personal and professional standpoints.

Best Regards,

SNS