Small Steps, Big Impact: Reflections of the day, 13th March, 2025
This morning was special. After more than four months—since I left Surat on 2nd November 2024—I finally had tea at Ghanshyam Jee's house. Not just tea, but with bhakhri too. Simple pleasures, deep satisfaction. Some things are beyond words, beyond price.
Morning Reflections: The Essence of Prayer
The morning prayer was good, led by a young team member whose voice carried sincerity and devotion. As always, I recorded the video.
And then came a moment of unexpected humor. Our translator looked confused and admitted, "I couldn't understand the prayer."
I smiled and said, "I got it."
"He was thanking God. Saying—you are great. We trust in you. That’s it. Language doesn’t matter when someone is praying. The feeling is what counts."
A simple truth, often overlooked.
A Promise for Safety
The Safety Officer spoke next, highlighting a dangerous habit—people talking on their mobile phones while riding motorcycles.
"It's really bad. Dangerous."
I turned to the team and asked, "How many of you come to the plant on a motorcycle?"
Many hands went up.
Right then, I made them promise:
- No using mobile phones while riding.
- No overspeeding.
- No indiscriminate parking.
- And more importantly, they would teach others to follow the same.
To drive the message home, I narrated an age-old story—one I mistakenly credited to Buddha, though it was actually about Jesus.
A woman once approached Buddha with her child, asking him to help the child quit sugar. Buddha told her to return after three days. When she came back, Buddha simply told the child to stop eating sugar, and the child agreed. The mother was confused—why wait three days?
"Because three days ago, I was eating sugar myself. He wouldn't have believed me then."
The lesson was simple: Lead by example.
An Offer, A Decision
Later in the day, I received a call from a senior management person at an Africa-based company. It was an offer—an interesting one.
I listened. I thought. And I politely declined.
"It’s not the right time. And more importantly, it’s not my way of working."
Opportunities will always come, but not every road is the right one to walk.
The Power of 1 TPH
During the Daily Production Meeting (DPM), after the usual discussions, I made a simple yet powerful point:
"Every HOD must contribute just 1 TPH extra Kiln-feed."
Just 1 TPH extra.
But when 10 HODs do it, it adds up. Over days, weeks, months—it becomes a massive amount of extra clinker at the end of the year.
Small changes. Big results. We can do this.
Checklists: The Key to Stability
The plant is stabilizing after the restart, but there’s still a long way to go. And the answer lies in something simple—checklists.
- Checklist when stopping the plant.
- Checklist for maintenance.
- Checklist before the kiln light-up.
- Heating schedule.
- Checklist before taking feed.
- Checklist after taking feed.
Checklists bring clarity, discipline, and consistency. They ensure we don’t miss what matters.
The Hottest Day, The Loudest Thunder
The day was brutally hot and humid—one of the hottest of the year. By evening, the sky darkened. Thunder rumbled, loud and deep.
But no rain.
Maybe tomorrow.
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