Shiv and I go back 35+ years.
He joined College of Engineering, Trivandrum in 1988, when I was in my third year, senior to him. No, ragging was not how our relationship started! 😂
He joined our team of well-meaning, albeit naive, right-thinking students wanting to contribute to the student community. Known for very strident political views and campaigns, student unions in colleges of Kerala are highly politicised. And we were a bunch wanting to keep politics, both state and national, out of campus. Hence our “Independent Student Organization (ISO)”. Our goal was to keep campuses free from too many hartals, which were notorious for “course lag” - where our 4-year course could take 5 years to get over!
Shiv and I became friends, worked together on many initiatives on campus, including organising art festivals, and even off campus.
And today, 35 years later, we are so fortunate to have him join Bio Basics as an Executive Director, leading several areas of our venture.
Shiv has had a remarkable career in sales and marketing spanning 30+ years in marquee companies. He is an unconventional professional, though; someone who has taken efforts to break the mould in his career. At 45, when most people look to pursue less demanding hobbies, Shiv chose to start training for running marathons. He not only ran for personal glory, but also helped raise money to build schools for the underprivileged in small towns of India.
Not content with being an armchair strategist, He is known for rolling up his sleeves on the ground resolving problems for customers. He also rolls up his sleeves to donate platelets for cancer patients at the Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai.
And I have now seen him roll up his sleeves at Bio Basics as well. Very hands on, highly involved and well-aligned to our culture and philosophy.
He has made it his mission to speak to as many customers as possible to understand their pain points, understand why they continue to buy from Bio Basics for years, and above all, to build a personal rapport. And as he shared with us the other day, every single customer he spoke to was pleased with Bio Basics. There are areas of improvement for sure, which we are all working on, but none that is critical to our proposition.
We at Bio Basics have been incredibly fortunate to have talented professionals with remarkable careers behind them, join as Executive Directors and contribute to the cause of safe food and good health, one that has inspired them. Each of them have promoted this for years.
All pro bono. All holding meaningful stakes in Bio Basics. Shaping Bio Basics to What it is Today.
A Big shout out to Lakshman, Vishnu and Jayaprakash.
Now, these good folks have chosen to set aside time and energy and to leverage their expertise for Bio Basics. Not because they had nothing better to do, but there is this urge within us all to do something meaningful for the larger community. After a hectic career for 20+ years, as we climb Maslow's hierarchy and overcome the Physical and Intellectual needs, we naturally rise to satisfy our Social needs. Traditionally known as the stages of Ashrama Dharma (Brahmacharya, Gruhastha, Vanaprastha and Sanyasa). Our consciousness expands from oneself, to our immediate family, and then to the society around us, slowly merging with Universal Consciousness, thereby realizing the Universal Self that we truly are. This is but natural for all of us. Worked for me, for sure. And it will work for all of us, if only we let it.
To all those among us who feel the urge to grow, to grow one’s family beyond the obvious, I say, take the plunge. The deeper you go, the more joyful you will be!
Welcome Aboard, Shiv!
