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By:

Rashmi Kulkarni

23 March 2025 at 2:58:52 pm

Making a New Normal Feel Obvious

Normal is not what’s written. Normal is what repeats. The temple bell rings at the same time every day. Not everyone prays. Not everyone even walks in. Some people don’t care at all. And yet when that bell rings, the whole neighborhood syncs. Shops open, chores move, calls pause. The bell doesn’t convince anyone. It simply creates rhythm. That’s how “normal” is built inside a legacy MSME too. Not by speeches. By repetition. Quick recap: Week 1: You inherited an equilibrium. Week 2: People...

Making a New Normal Feel Obvious

Normal is not what’s written. Normal is what repeats. The temple bell rings at the same time every day. Not everyone prays. Not everyone even walks in. Some people don’t care at all. And yet when that bell rings, the whole neighborhood syncs. Shops open, chores move, calls pause. The bell doesn’t convince anyone. It simply creates rhythm. That’s how “normal” is built inside a legacy MSME too. Not by speeches. By repetition. Quick recap: Week 1: You inherited an equilibrium. Week 2: People resist loss, not improvement. Week 3: Status quo wins when your new way is harder. Week 4 is the next problem: even when your idea is good and even when it is easy, it can still fail because people don’t move together. One team starts. Another team waits. One person follows. Another person quietly returns to the old way. So, the old normal comes back … not because your idea was wrong, but because your new normal never became normal. Which Seat? • Inherited : people expect direction, but they only shift when they see what you consistently protect. • Hired : people wait for proof “Is this just a corporate habit you’ll drop in a month?” • Promoted : people watch whether you stay consistent under pressure. Now here’s the useful idea from Thomas Schelling: a “focal point”. Don’t worry about the term. In simple words, it means: you don’t need everyone convinced. You need one clear anchor that everyone can align around. In a legacy MSME, that anchor is rarely a policy document. It’s not a rollout email. It’s a ritual. Why Rituals? These firms run on informal rules, relationships, memory, and quick calls. That flexibility keeps work moving, but it also makes change socially risky. Even supportive people hesitate because they’re thinking: “If I follow this and others don’t, I’ll look foolish.” “If I share real numbers, will I become the target?” “If I push this new flow, will I upset a senior person?” “If I do it properly, will it slow me down?” When people feel that risk, they wait. And waiting is how the status quo survives. A focal ritual breaks the waiting. It sends one clean signal: “This is real. This is how we work now.” Focal Ritual It’s a short, fixed review that repeats with the same format. For example: a weekly scoreboard review (15 minutes) a daily dispatch huddle (10 minutes) a fixed purchase-approval window (cutoff + queue) The meeting isn’t the magic. The repetition is. When it repeats without drama, it becomes believable. When it becomes believable, people start syncing to it, even the ones who were unsure. Common Mistake New leaders enter with energy and pressure: “show impact”. So they try to fix reporting, planning, quality, procurement, digitization … everything. The result is predictable. People don’t know what is truly “must follow”. So everything becomes “optional”. They do a little of each, and nothing holds. If you want change to stick, pick one focal ritual and make it sacred. Not forever. Just long enough for the bell to become the bell. Field Test Step 1 : Pick one pain area that creates daily chaos: delayed dispatch, pending purchase approvals, rework, overdue collections. Step 2 : Set the ritual: Fixed time, fixed duration (15 minutes). One scoreboard (one page, one screen). Same three questions every time: – What moved since last time? – What is stuck and why? – What decision is needed today? One owner who closes the loop (decisions + due dates). Step 3 : Protect it for 8 weeks. Don’t cancel because you’re busy. Don’t skip because a VIP came. Don’t “postpone once” because someone complained. I’ve seen a simple weekly dispatch scoreboard die this exact way. Week one was sharp. By week three, it got pushed “just this once” because someone had a client visit. Week four, it moved again for “urgent work”. After that, nobody took it seriously. The old follow-ups returned, and the leader was back to chasing people daily. The first casual cancellation tells the system: “This was a phase”. And the old normal returns fast. One Warning Don’t turn the ritual into policing. If it becomes humiliation, people will hide information. If it becomes shouting, people will stop speaking. If it becomes a lecture, people will mentally leave. Keep it calm. Keep it consistent. Keep it useful. A bell doesn’t shout. It just rings. (The author is Co-founder at PPS Consulting and a business operations advisor. She helps businesses across sectors and geographies improve execution through global best practices. She could be reached at rashmi@ppsconsulting.biz)

All Is Well: When Faith Met the Fury of Nature

Life can change in a moment, and survival itself is a blessing. With courage, calm thinking, faith, and togetherness, even the impossible becomes possible.

In this article, we continue our journey to the Valley of Flowers. The last two articles captured some unforgettable, life-altering moments of our tour. Realising how narrowly we had escaped the tragedy at Malpa left us humbled and deeply emotional; fate had truly spared us. With no immediate road access and no means to contact our families, we had to stay in Badrinath for a few days until conditions improved. Those days were spent in silence, prayer, and reflection, absorbing the fragility of life and the miracle of survival.


That journey taught me that life can change in a moment, and survival itself is a blessing. Courage, calm thinking, faith, and togetherness can turn the impossible into possible.


That journey taught me something profound—life can change in a moment, and survival itself is a blessing. Courage, calm thinking, faith, and togetherness can make the impossible possible. Looking back, the trek was not just a physical journey through mountains but a profound lesson in resilience, gratitude, and the fragile beauty of life.


We remained in Badrinath for eight days, unable to leave until the roads were declared safe. Though technically stranded, those days became a blessing in disguise. Once the BSF and local authorities cleared travel, we prepared to return but first made the most of our time by exploring every accessible corner around Badrinath and the surrounding region.


I spent countless peaceful hours with my mother and father at Badrinath Temple. Sitting there quietly, observing the rituals, the devotees, and the powerful stillness of the place, I felt a deep sense of protection. In my heart, a strong belief took root—that there truly is a higher power watching over us, guiding and protecting us in unseen ways. From that moment on, my faith in God grew stronger and more grounded.


One of the most fascinating places we explored during that time was Mana village, the last village near the Indo-Tibetan border. From Mana, we walked carefully along a narrow path to witness the origin of the Saraswati River. The journey was slow and cautious, but every step felt worthwhile.


When we reached the point where the river burst from the rocks, I was overwhelmed. The force was immense, and the roar so thunderous that we couldn’t hear one another speak. Watching the Saraswati emerge so powerfully from solid rock felt unreal, as if nature were revealing one of its deepest secrets.


Mana Village in Uttarakhand is India's "first village" near the Indo-Tibetan border, just 3 km from Badrinath, known for its stunning Himalayan scenery and mythological sites like Bhim Pul and Vyasa Gufa. Vasundhara Falls was also worth visiting!


That experience—witnessing the birth of a hidden river, surrounded by mountains, silence, and faith—left a lasting impression on me. It was yet another reminder of how nature and spirituality intertwine, offering lessons that stay with us long after the journey ends.


The return journey from Badrinath was emotionally heavy. As we passed through Malpa village, it was heartbreaking to witness the complete devastation left behind by the landslide. Just a short while earlier, this place had been alive—a village where people were engaged in their daily routines, where travellers and tourists had paused to rest. Within minutes, everything had been wiped out.


Among those lost was the great Odissi dancer Protima Bedi, along with members of her group. The thought that such a remarkable artist, full of life and creativity, was taken away so suddenly in a natural calamity was deeply disturbing. Seeing the ruined landscape made the tragedy painfully real. Silence hung in the air, heavy with loss and disbelief.


That journey—to the Valley of Flowers, Badrinath Temple, and across the rugged terrain of Uttarakhand—was truly life-changing. It taught us humility, resilience, faith, and gratitude. Even today, I thank God for giving us the strength to face such extreme situations and for protecting us through moments of uncertainty.


I firmly believe that the shared faith of our group, especially my parents’ unwavering faith, played a vital role in bringing us safely back to our hometown, Jalgaon. We trusted God, and we trusted ourselves and one another.


Nature is immensely powerful, and everything ultimately lies in its hands. Yet, when we hold on to faith—both in the divine and within ourselves—we find the strength to endure even the hardest moments. That is why, no matter what life brings, I truly believe in this simple, powerful mantra:


All is well!


(The writer is a tourism professional and runs a company, Global Voyages. She could be contacted at goglobalvoyages@gmail.com. Views personal.)

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