VijayEswaran.com: Vijay Eswaran blogs on Success.

Ten years of QI by Vijay Eswaran

2008-10-04T02:17:59.8230000+08:00

QI has been always more than a group of companies to me personally. To me and many others within the corporate and customer framework, it has always represented a concept. This concept predates the formation and the subsequent development of the group, which is now entering its tenth year, thereby completing a decade as a business entity. The concept is based in great part upon the message of the icon/mentor of the group Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, otherwise simply known as the Mahatma. A message which has been loosely translated into the acronym RYTHM which is Raise Yourself to Help Mankind. The unique paradox of this message, which is so altruistic in nature, is that it does not in any way conflict with the primary motive of all businesses which is to maximise profit. In fact, it has become the basis of profit making while focussed on a global vision of the unity of man. The QI Group founded in 1998 in its essence is an e-commerce based conglomerate which encompasses all aspects of business, using the internet as its modality. Hence we bring products and services from all points of the globe to the customer wherever he or she may be. Boundaries-- geographical, political or otherwise are merely part and parcel of the terrain we work with. The global village is actually the main dimension of our working environment in practice. In this final year of our first decade, our growth which has been exponential for 9 years has now matured into a more focussed development along the lines of each individual industry. We have basically discovered our niche. In essence, more than providing products & services and business opportunities worldwide to our 3.5 million customers, we have now evolved into a worldwide community that stretches across national boundaries, colour, cast or creed. We have become more than just a company. The QI name is now synonymous with a concept…The Unity of Man. If this is the legacy of our first decade, then I feel fully honoured to have been able to play a part in ensuring that this legacy is handed over to the next generation.

In memory of the Great Mahatma - Vijay Eswaran

2008-10-02T21:20:38.7040000+08:00

In memory of the Great Mahatma, the man whose simplicity and humility and passion for humanity changed us all his life. Whose legacy is still enshrined in so many lives today, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. I may live without air and water, but not without HIM. You may pluck out my eyes, but that will not kill me. You may chop off my noce, but tat will not kill me. But blast my belied in God and i am dead - Gandhi India! You gave us Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and we returned him to you as Mahatma - Nelson Mandela

Vijay Eswaran breaks his silence on India - 2

2008-09-15T14:44:33.1500000+08:00

I am sure there are many people out there who are opposing us right now who seem to think they are doing it for the right reasons. But I wish they would be better informed. For ignorance has been our greatest defeat as Indians. Time and time again. We have lost many great souls, Three Gandhis – Mahatma, Indra and Rajiv, the people who were convinced that they were doing it for the greater good. Sadly India has lost even more over the years. There is no greater enemy than ignorance. If there are people who are going to combat us on logic on morality, ethics or the law, we welcome them. But please, can I say this, so very humbly, please come well informed. Know who we are. For we certainly will know who you are.

Vijay Eswaran breaks his silence on India

2008-09-09T16:21:22.0210000+08:00

To my brothers and sisters in India

They say silence is golden but silence is also where truth speaks loudest. I would appeal to all of you to step away from the clamour and the sounds that surround you right now and revert to your inner silence that each of you within you possess. In that core of silence that I call the sphere.

Sit back and listen. Let me state to you from my heart to yours, the feelings that I have held within me and refrained from communicating with you about. Let me begin by saying why the silence has been there. In essence, any response from me would have been taken as being inflammatory and even possibly legally binding. As you well know, my people are the most important assets I have. The media and such like have made a big furore about the fact that we have large investments holdings throughout India in land, banks and various other investment portfolios. Ironically the same media have tried to portray us to be some kind of scam operation.

It has been amazing to me that the reporters who have the intelligence to recognise these assets have not had the intelligence to put together the fact that no scam company would have invested as we have. Furthermore, scam companies do not persevere for ten years or more. Even if a scam company had begun in such a manner, any company that survives ten years definitely cannot be called a scam of any kind.

We have actually lasted longer today as we head towards our tenth year celebration that has lasted longer than some countries in Eastern Europe . Have any of these media even checked that we have affiliations with international organisations of repute, any of which can be researched on the internet. They have been unable to understand that we have been in over a 100 countries around the world in the last 10 years.

Without doing any research whatsoever, we have been put to trial by the media and essentially we’ve been convicted and hung. So why the silence? Because each time we have tried to voice our side, there has been a cost to be paid. Do we decide to let the courts do the speaking for us, in particular the Supreme Court?

But this is not what I am here to talk to you about today. I’m here to tell you that India needs to change. And that we are part of this change. And that you are part of this change. And historically, change is something that has been bitterly resisted by those who are entrenched within the system. This is a battle that is basically being fought where we are bringing forward an India that has been virtually unchanged for 50 years. We need a world that is 50 years ahead.

This industry began 100 years ago and has been in this current form as MLM for 50 years. India has fought change at a tremendous cost and unfortunately, is still continuing to do so. But for us this is not just about business. It is our mission. I am as convinced as I have ever been about the mission, the vision and the purpose for which we started this company all those years ago. Our motto which is Gandhin in its inception as true to today as it has ever been. I say to each and every one of you, we have to raise ourselves because it is only when we raise ourselves can we raise others. But in order to raise ourselves we have to fall. Why are we so afraid of falling?

We can climb to any pinnacle of success in any field of endeavour there will always be the danger of falling. And there is no clamour anywhere in this world of any note who can say he has never fallen. Can we fall? Will we fall again? Yes. Yes and Yes. But to not climb at all will be the greatest mistake anyone can make. For we can climb and we can fall or we can choose not to climb and never fall for there is nothing to fall from. Or we can climb and reach the top and learn to fly.

My heart goes out to all of you who are now going to trials and tribulations but all I can say to you is between you and I, let us not give up, let us not derail for India needs to change. For India needs you, for India needs us. For India needs the world. And the world needs India . Don’t falter and if we fall. Let’s climb again.

The First Decade – Celebrating 10 years of Leadership by Vijay Eswaran

2008-09-07T12:59:46.9432500+08:00

Companies are like human beings. Just like humans are born, grow and perish a natural death, so do companies. The percentage of companies which have survived the last 100 years is very close to the percentage of centenarians in the human race. Therefore, uniquely, companies like IBM which has been around for half a century, Tupperware which has done a century, GE, and Encyclopaedia Britannica, have been through their own ups and downs. Some of them have come to the brink of extinction and turned back while others climbed the scales of success and dropped to their current state…just like human life.

Our first decade is leading into the second. For those of us who have lived it this past decade with the company, it feels like almost a lifetime. It has taken us from the depths of chaos and controversy to the heights of spinning almost unimaginable success, and both-- the heights and the depths —have left us wiser.

The question is not so much what we have done so far, but where do we go from here. Despite the various changes that we have undergone over the years--changes like those which are undergone by mountain streams becoming small rivers. In reality, the river is not the same as it was a few minutes ago and yet, it is changeless. From the outside looking in, we as a company, as an entity and as a network, may look the same, but we have grown and continued to grow and we continue to change. Not at the same rapid pace of the mountain stream which we were in our early years, but at a slower, steady pace of a river that is coming into its own.

We are now a river with many tributaries—all flowing into this mainstream which we hope and aspire will one day become the mighty Amazon of companies on Earth. Why? Not because we are more efficiently run or that we are more effectively managed or even because our marketing skills are unparalleled. Not because of any of these! It is simply because our heart is in the right place and therefore our vision too, which makes us all share a common spirit —from our most junior employee to the Board of Directors, from the networker who signed in yesterday, from a V Partner, to even our suppliers, who have come to accept who we are; and many of you, who share this powerful dream.

Just like the late Dr. Martin Luther King had said, I have a dream.

I have a dream that one day we will change the future of the human race. These words may sound grandiose and have been echoed many times in the past by many great people. Yet, they hold true till today.

If it is dreams that will define who we can become, then let us dream far and wide; let us dream to the dizzying heights of raising mankind to the ultimate purpose of living in harmony, in peace and in love—as envisioned by almost every philosophy and religion since beginning of time.

So how do we do this? Let us begin with little steps. The beginning is not by creating more efficient systems but rather by more effective caring, by better concern to delivering customer service to every networker; and equally by appreciation and support for the very long serving, very first people who remain steadfast till today. It begins with better dialogue and more effective communication, not just between the company and the network but also between every leader and his network. For, it is in greater communication that we have greater understanding. Instead of anger, we should have appreciation for everyone’s efforts, and the understanding required towards each other’s mistakes. For, ultimately we are but only one family. Whether it be with the V family or the QI family or the family of nations—because in the end, we are all the family of Mankind.

Let truth shine, let love bind, and let us arise and awake into this new dawn, this new decade, this new phase—the next decade.

20082008

2008-08-20T23:22:33.6320000+08:00

Today is 20082008 and this date comes only once. Here is wishing us all a wonderful year. Today let us wish for all our aspirations to bear fruit. Today life turns and we begin anew. Never forget that happiness is a state within us, it cannot be given or taken. Only to be realised.

Seek within, for it awaits you.

Essence of life...by Vijay Eswaran

2008-07-09T16:07:52.7150000+08:00

The Essence of Goodness
What has happened is Good. Whatever is happening is also Good. Whatever is about to happen will also be Good.

The Essence of Greed
What is it that you are despairing for? What is it that you think you have lost? What did you bring into this world to have lost? What do you think is yours to take with you when you leave?

The Essence of Detachment
What do you think you have created that is yours to take with you? What have you taken thus far is only taken from this world. Hence, it was not yours to take or even to give, as it will remain here long after the taker and giver leave

The Essence of True Wealth
Any possession of yours today will belong to another tomorrow. Who in turn will have to leave it to another the next day. Wealth in Practice is what you do with what you temporarily have, before it is inevitably taken away from you.

The Essence of Life
That all things will change. That Change is the ultimate law of he Universe and the objective of Creation. Leaving Him as the only Constant in all this Chaos...and the Chaos in all that appears Constant

Opening quote of my next book...

2008-06-26T17:26:27.5430000+08:00

Opening quote of my new book, Sleep Only Gets in the Way:

“Heaven, when it is about to place a great responsibility on a man, always first tests his resolution, wears out his sinews and bones with toil. Exposes his body to starvation, subjects him to extreme poverty, frustrates his efforts so as to stimulate his mind, toughen his nature and make good his deficiencies. Men for the most part can mend their ways only after they made mistakes. Only when they are frustrated in mind and in their deliberations can they stand up anew. Only when their intentions become visible on their countenances and audible in their voices can they be understood by others. As a rule, a state without law abiding families and trustworthy Gentlemen on the one hand, and on the other, without the threat of external aggression, will perish. Only then do we realize that anxiety and distress lead to life and that ease and comfort end in death.”

—Mencius, Book VI Kao-Tzu
Part II, 15

I have a dream...Vijay Eswaran

2008-06-11T20:35:13.3640000+08:00

The words - I have a dream… is something that each and everyone of have used many times through out our lifetime. But those words when spoken from the young vibrant mind of Martin Luther King that hot dusty summer day still makes the small hairs at the back of my neck stand up. And he said only these words …I have a dream.

It became a landmark in American history and forever changed the nation so that it finally joined the brotherhood of man. And all he said was – I have a dream. So was it the words or was it the silence in between the words. From whence it grew in strength, from whence it came. So my dear readers, I am humbled by your appreciation of this blog and if can I leave one single thought with you, it is that within you lies the fount of knowledge, a treasure house of capacity and an immense stronghold of strength that one can draw upon. If one were to choose to walk in the path of silence.

I too have a dream.