Spinning Values

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Sep 2025

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At Beekaylon, we understand the impact of sustainable manufacturing processes. We are excited to bring you Spinning Values - A series of conversations, every month, with our partners and clients, exploring sustainability and innovations in the textile sector. Listen to the best minds in the yarn business talk about the latest innovations in the industry. New episodes out every month. Subscribe and don't miss out on the latest episode! <a href="https://www.beekaylon.com/spinning-values" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">https://www.beekaylon.com/spinning-values</a>

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13 recent

September 11, 2025Episode 1326 min

Resilient Paths and Self-Belief: Lessons from Rushin Vadhani

In this episode of the Spinning Values podcast by Beekaylon Synthetics, hosted by Kartik, marketing expert, educator, and author Rushin Vadhani discusses crucial life lessons of resilience and self-belief that have shaped his career. The conversation explores his journey in the corporate sector, especially in marketing with companies like Aditya Birla Group and Reliance. Rushin also covers branding in the textile industry and the evolution of his career towards academia. His book 'Awesome I' emphasizes personal growth and overcoming challenges, offering valuable advice for young professionals. The podcast underscores themes of continuous learning, adapting to change, and connecting emotionally with one's audience.

September 23, 2024Episode 1227 min

Inside the World of Yarn Agencies - Michiel Swagemaker’s Journey

In this episode of 'Spinning Values' by Beekaylon, hosted by Kartik Chaudhry, Michiel Swagemakers, founder of Swatech, shares his journey in the textile industry. Michiel discusses Swatech's operations, including their customer-centric approach and the importance of confidentiality in client relationships. The conversation covers the evolution of technology in yarn production, the scope of the European carpet market, and partnerships like the one with Beekaylon in BCF and FDY yarns. Micheil also touches on the significance of sustainability in textiles and Swatech's future vision in high-end yarns and agricultural textiles.

June 9, 2024Episode 1140 min

Enhancing Communication Skills in The Textile Industry - Ami Ved, Communications Specialist

<h1>Ami Ved - Ep. 11</h1> [00:00:00] Ami Ved: There is a lot of empathy which is needed. There is a lot of customer, service enhancing on the reputation of the company, a trust which can be built. all these are a part of when you say executive presence to speaking with a client, all of these are important elements. So definitely it helps you. [00:00:21] Ami Ved: Storytelling skills are extremely important. In any industry that you work with, you highlight on sustainable practices and impacts by storytelling. There is a lot of, trust built in creating your brand image. the brand, you, whatever you are, the company that you represent, you are a brand for your company. [00:00:42] hello, and welcome to episode 11 of spinning values podcast. An original podcast produced by Inscape media for Beekaylon Synthetics. In this episode, we have Ami Ved a communications and soft skills specialist. [00:00:58] To talk about how we [00:01:00] can use communication skills in the textile industry. So without further ado, let's get into the conversation. [00:01:07] Kartik Chaudhry: So hi, Amy. Welcome to spinning values. This is a podcast that we had started some time ago for Beekaylon. Beekaylon is a pretty old company, a few decades old company, and it's good that they are trying out new things. This podcast is one of the initiatives that they have taken and, it is really working well. [00:01:28] Kartik Chaudhry: So the idea is to get, people from all across different facets of life, who are experts in their own capacity. and we thought that it'll be, it could be a great conversation talking to you as you bring in a lot of years of experience in what you do. let's start with introducing yourself. [00:01:47] Kartik Chaudhry: Why don't you tell us, tell the audience about yourself a little bit, about your background and what you do. [00:01:52] Ami Ved: Hi, Karthik. Thank you so much for inviting me here. And, yeah, talking about myself. My name is [00:02:00] Ami Ved. I am a soft skills expert and communication coach for 19 years now. It's been 19 years I'm doing this. I run a company called Speak with Ami. I do a lot of corporate training programs and one on one training programs, spend a decade in China, again, teaching English as a foreign language. [00:02:19] Ami Ved: So I hold a lot of rich experience of training into the area of communication, spoken English, and, all kinds of soft skills in India and around Asia, mainly in China. So that's about me. That's [00:02:37] Kartik Chaudhry: Okay. Okay. So when I was reading your profile, I, I read an interesting thing that you, like you were a customer service rep at one point of time, and then how did that whole, transformation happen? How did you end up becoming a communication trainer? How was that? What inspired that transformation? [00:02:57] Ami Ved: as far as my education is concerned, I'm a commerce [00:03:00] graduate. And by the time, we graduated in the year 2001, two, three, four, these years call center industry was in boom. Okay. And it was, a very, popular industry and everybody was getting into it, it was easy money if you had a pickup and a drop. [00:03:16] Ami Ved: So that's when I was into sales and marketing at the same time. And I decided, moving in from banking or sales customer care into call center, where I did a lot of sales and customer service. Now, when I started as a customer service representative, and especially in the BPO industry, you have all of these, a lot of, trainers who are, a lot of foreign trainers coming into the picture who train you. [00:03:45] Ami Ved: So I always wanted to be on the other side of the stage and my school, and college or all these, my background, I have always been a last venture and I wanted to move out as a front mentor. [00:04:00] So why customer service? Because I've been a people's person, always like talking to people on the phone, helping them with queries and things like that. [00:04:11] Ami Ved: So somehow this area motivated me. Why not to teach this and why not to get on the other side of the stage? And when I was, when I saw a lot of trainers, especially foreign trainers in my companies, coming and training us on our accent, the way we speak, empathy, telephone etiquettes, manners. So it, it was very inspiring. [00:04:34] Ami Ved: I, I, liked that and I chose that as a career at a later stage. [00:04:39] Kartik Chaudhry: Okay. Okay. that's interesting. before I move on to the next questions, why, don't you tell her, tell our audience about some of your clients that you deal with? So they know the, at what level are you working at? [00:04:52] Ami Ved: Okay. [00:04:53] Kartik Chaudhry: are some of your key clients that you work with? [00:04:55] Ami Ved: Okay. I'm not supposed to open all the names, [00:04:58] Kartik Chaudhry: if you [00:05:00] can, [00:05:00] Ami Ved: companies. I worked with BFSI sector. I, as a trainer right now, I worked with companies like Brother International. I worked with, a lot of banks. I worked with , JM Financial, Saint Gobain. BNP Paribas. [00:05:19] Ami Ved: And these are some of the companies I've been working with currently. [00:05:22] Kartik Chaudhry: so they are who's who of the corporate world in our country and internationally. And anyone who wants to find out, can Google your name and probably see exactly what, all clients do you work with. So tell us, I also read that you worked at Accenture at one point of time. time. And, tell us how that some key insights and some experiences or some experiences about working there and being the only graduate among MBA trainers, that's something I read and delivery, delivering soft skills, training, how, there's some key insights if you can about. [00:05:57] Kartik Chaudhry: How that experience was. [00:05:58] Ami Ved: So I've trained [00:06:00] more than 000 engineers in Accenture. And I worked as a consultant for Accenture. So this happened way back again, after moving from BPO industry to customer service to getting into, HR and training. I had this opportunity where, which was open by Accenture, where we had to train a lot of campus to corporate and all kinds of soft skills modules, to, the engineers, pan India. [00:06:29] Ami Ved: And, when I, when I was chosen and, to do their Bangalore office, and we went into the training room where a lot of trainers were with me, I realized that it was a whole team of MBAs, except me. that was like, a aha moment because I was very young at that point of time and we had a lot of experienced trainers, rich trainers with rich training experience or studying management graduates and MBAs. [00:06:58] Ami Ved: So that was, [00:07:00] it, I was the only graduate in that whole room. And, we had to clear the certification, train the trainer, where, I, don't know how I did that, but I was very motivated somehow, I, always wanted to train. I always being a graduate training an MBA to, I've even trained IITians. [00:07:22] Ami Ved: So it just motivated me somewhere. It was, not so easy to clear the, round where we had to do a lot of, certification, but somehow I prepared myself, we had these two days of intensive train the trainer. And then I would sit all night working on my presentation skills, talking in front of the mirror. [00:07:48] Ami Ved: That time we did not have cameras and webcams and, these phones, smartphones, but I would just practice. And I think that's, I, I loved stage [00:08:00] at some point of time. I still love stage. So that's what, motivated me to get into that part of the training, [00:08:06] Kartik Chaudhry: Okay. And I heard it. I also read it in your profile. You were in China and you moved to China and you were teaching English as a second language there. If I'm not wrong, that seems like a significant shift. Beekaylon does a lot of work with China. there is all sorts of misconceptions in the media about China. [00:08:22] Kartik Chaudhry: I want you to tell us how was that experience? How was it working? In China. And how was the experience teaching the Chinese students, English? [00:08:33] Ami Ved: So I moved to China because of my husband and, I was at the peak of my career when I was training for Accenture in the year 2000, 2000, I would just, if I have to take you through the hierarchy or the way I worked, I started as a customer service rep. In fact, prior to that, I started as a sales executive doing door to door marketing in all the companies. [00:08:55] Ami Ved: across Balad Estate to Nariman Point, and then moved as a [00:09:00] CSR, customer service rep, and then got into, call center industry, which opened, a big, training world to me. I was also a voice and accent trainer once upon a time. So I had studied American geography and stuff very well. Now in the year 2007, when I was at the peak of my career, I got married and, my husband was working in China. [00:09:24] Ami Ved: He was doing a lot of trading, for, a city called Shaoxing, which is one of the world's, I think Asia's biggest textile city, like in India we have Surat and stuff. So we have, Shaoxing in China, Shaoxing, And when I moved there, I was, I had to start from scratch because I was like, corporate training, living in Mumbai, moving in a small town of China. [00:09:51] Ami Ved: I was like, now what, next? I saw a heavy demand of, ESL teachers there. [00:10:00] English as a second language teachers. Again, China being communist, they were open to foreign teachers. Okay. When it comes to teaching in the private institutes and these private institutes are very, expensive institutes with a lot of traders and people from textile suppliers, they spend a lot of money to study English or learn English. [00:10:24] Ami Ved: So I, first, I started working in a university. Again, it was not easy to get in there because they consider Indians as non native speakers. Of course we are, but Because they are non native, they can't speak English well. And when it comes to know, it triggers me a lot because I think Indians speak excellent English. [00:10:46] Ami Ved: It's not about being native or not native. However, my BPO experience helped me a lot because I'd learned American accent and I'd learned American geography. And my mother lived in England for a long [00:11:00] time. And, coming from a Gujarati family, we have a lot of relatives in US and UK, and we know a lot of cultures. [00:11:07] Ami Ved: So firstly, when I would apply for jobs, there was a big, no, there was rejection saying that we don't hire Indians looking at my passport or whatever documents I had. However, I started walking into every teaching and a training institute there, every, company. And when I started walking in, I think I made my place because I was strong with accent, with, with, native accent or if I had to welcome myself as hi, my name is Amy and I'm coming from India, but my mother's lived in England and my father's been in India, but we speak great English. [00:11:47] Ami Ved: I've been a corporate trainer. It was easy for me to make place for myself. I think I was the only Indian at that point of time in my city, Indian woman working, for Chinese companies. [00:12:00] And then the door was opened to a lot of Indians after that. In English speaking, English is a foreign language, communication skills, and, when textile companies go for exhibitions, these trade fairs like Canton Fair and all these Shanghai fairs, English is very important because they have to communicate with people, it's a whole supply chain. [00:12:27] Ami Ved: They have to communicate with everybody there. I tried to create a course content on Textile English or how to speak in fairs and exhibitions and how to speak to people in different situations. Again, it had to do a lot with customer service, with the soft skills which I mastered. it did help me there. [00:12:49] Ami Ved: And, after getting nose to working in the companies, there was a time when I became director to the foreign teaching team. So I would [00:13:00] manage the entire, a group of foreign trainers, British trainers there. [00:13:07] Kartik Chaudhry: Okay. Okay. [00:13:09] Ami Ved: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. [00:13:11] Kartik Chaudhry: And you did mention, absolutely. Yeah. thought of it. Even though we do a lot of work with textile companies, for their fairs and we do design a lot and, but we've never thought that it could be another skill that, somebody should probably invest in within their company to ensure that people who are there at the fair, at the stalls. [00:13:35] Kartik Chaudhry: They know how to deal with people. They know how to speak. And especially when you're going international and there are so many textile fairs that happen in China, Germany, there's Domotex Hanover, which is like the biggest textile fair. there's, so much effort. These companies put in, putting up their stalls and putting up those designs and stuff like that. [00:13:54] Kartik Chaudhry: But, it's pretty interesting to learn that they should probably also invest in [00:14:00] training the people who are going there. Yeah. Then how to deal with those people. so so that, this gives a nice seat to my next question, which is, given your expertise in communication training, see these textile companies like Beekaylon ultimately they are, even though they are, their revenue probably would be in hundreds of CR. They manage, they export to all over the world. They are doing very important. They are playing very important role in nation building, but we will still consider them as a medium sized business. [00:14:31] Kartik Chaudhry: With the heavy focus on manufacturing. So most of their staff probably will be working in the factories. Smaller part, but percentage of their staff is in the head office back in Bombay, who are talking to these customers. How do you think, the, skill that you get to these, to the table. [00:14:51] Kartik Chaudhry: Which is effective communication. Say, if we have to analyze it through taking an example of textile industry or any medium sized businesses, because we are [00:15:00] in a textile podcast, so we'll stick to textile. How do you think it can help in fostering collaboration across different stages of production? and the supply chain management, are you getting my point? [00:15:12] Kartik Chaudhry: there is a sales team there are these guys in the factory. Who are experts in what they do communication might not be their strong skill, but they are technically very good some of them, even the factory workers So there is definitely a communication chain that's going on between say higher officials at the factory Who understands the technical aspect and who can also communicate with at least the factory staff. Then there is a, then there is a sales team, which probably sits in, in, in Bombay, who are the guys talking to various potential customers and customers? How do you think, given your expertise in communication training, how would you see this? And how would you see, like you, if we, if, they had to hire [00:16:00] somebody like you, how do you come in and simplify this communication, across different stages of production in a manufacturing setup? [00:16:09] Ami Ved: okay. So thank you for that question. So mainly when it comes to, role of effective communication, if you have to take it with a textile company or a company like this, There are a lot of elements, mainly if, a trainer has to go there, we go with, the problem area. We go with, we do a lot of need analysis where we ask companies on what is the problem when it comes to communication or speaking or, any kind of soft skills, what is the problem and mainly what companies come up with or what it helps them as an overall collaboration, from supplier to manufacturer to retailer, everybody's aligned. [00:16:54] Ami Ved: communication helps in minimizing error delays. It helps in building [00:17:00] relationship, building rapport. There's a lot of trust. So teamwork is very important here. soft skills plays a very important role when you have to do teamwork, which is enhancing collaboration across global supply chain. it helps in problem solving. [00:17:18] Ami Ved: Communication would definitely help in solving problem, conflict resolving, adaptability and a lot of customer service, which helps in, dealing with the clients. So if you put these pictures, if you put these, you develop a framework on these areas or specifically one particular area, which is a weaker area or a problem area, we work on that for with an intensive training program, which can help them to build their skills on those aspects. [00:17:51] Kartik Chaudhry: Okay. So you see, given the challenges that are faced by the medium sized businesses, I think something like, [00:18:00] and also tell me if you agree with me, something like investing on teaching communication to their staff probably is very low on their budget. I'm talking about medium sized businesses. [00:18:10] Kartik Chaudhry: Of course, when, there are banks and there are bigger companies whose focus is do like for them, it's absolute necessity to have, a trained staff, a trained group of people who can speak well, who can communicate well. But then these medium sized businesses, they are, all their energies are consumed in just getting their output delivered. [00:18:32] Kartik Chaudhry: They're getting more business. How do you, like, how do we convince them that, like that there will be a significant improvement if they also take this communication skill development seriously. And, how do you think, if you have to. Talk to them. And if you have to tell them that, this is something very important, even for you, we know that you, this might be, lower in your priority, but how, do you think this [00:19:00] can help grow their business and how, it can positively impact their growth? [00:19:05] Ami Ved: See, communication is a very big umbrella. Okay. And I think nothing works without communication. You call verbal, nonverbal. You talk about body language. You talk about meeting clients, email writing to everything happens with communication. It's the first thing. And, you can see interpersonal skills. So even if you are a midsize company or not a very big company or in any area, communication is something which definitely helps. [00:19:37] Ami Ved: It doesn't have to do every time with speaking in English. It can be any language you communicate with, but, there is a need of presenting. There is a need of, executive presence, there is a need of collaboration. And it, I think communication is one big area [00:20:00] here, which, is a must for every company. [00:20:03] Ami Ved: I think even, from the time the good is made to the final, going to a retail market everywhere you need communication. It is a, very big area. [00:20:17] Kartik Chaudhry: Okay. So as we are talking about it, why don't for the, for your, for our audience, you tell us what all this communication training entails, is it, as you said, it's not just about the language. Language is a part of it. It could be, but I, when we are talking about soft skills of communication, are you talking about body language, like you mentioned, executive presence, what it is. [00:20:43] Kartik Chaudhry: So if you can touch upon and tell us a little bit about these things and what these things are, I think that'll be really helpful. for the listeners. [00:20:51] Ami Ved: So what happens is, especially you've seen in these fairs, when people get into, the, when they are, there are these global [00:21:00] fairs, like Canton fairs and textile fairs, or, anywhere where you have to present to an international client. And even if you are. meeting him on virtual platform, which is a virtual etiquette to meeting in person. [00:21:14] Ami Ved: There is a way, your body language matters 70 percent at least. So the way the way you act, the way you dress, the way you speak from the time you open your call, you open your, speaking skills till the time there is a closure. there is a lot of, lot, which can be communicated. [00:21:36] Ami Ved: There is a lot of empathy which is needed. There is a lot of customer, service enhancing on the reputation of the company, a trust which can be built. all these are a part of when you say executive presence to speaking with a client, all of these are important elements. So definitely it helps you. [00:21:57] Ami Ved: Storytelling skills are extremely [00:22:00] important. In any industry that you work with, you highlight on sustainable practices and impacts by storytelling. There is a lot of, trust built in creating your brand image. the brand, you, whatever you are, the company that you represent, you are a brand for your company. [00:22:19] Ami Ved: And when it comes to brand, one very important factor is verbal or nonverbal communication. The way you present yourself, the way you look, the way you are the face of the company. So it starts from there, the elements that we cover, talking about you as a brand of the particular company that you are with, till your verbal, non verbal skills or your written skills, your email writing, and everything is developed. [00:22:46] Ami Ved: So it's all interconnected, but they all help you. [00:22:49] Kartik Chaudhry: Okay. So this actually, I am curious to know this. See, I'm sure there are certain things that can be taught, but how much do you [00:23:00] think is, something like a good, like a person is a good communicator versus a person is not that good communicator, but it can, he can be improved. How much do you like, because you meet a lot of people, you deal with a lot of people and you train, a lot of people. [00:23:14] Kartik Chaudhry: Do you think some people have a natural advantage? And they are just by the virtue of, the way they have grown up, the kind of environment they have at their house, the kind of hobbies they have, do they have certain kind of advantage and they are naturally good at it versus some, people are like, no matter how much you train them, there is no way they can be put out. [00:23:39] Kartik Chaudhry: do you see these differences? And, yeah. Is it, true that anyone can be taught everything or is it like some people have an advantage over the other? [00:23:47] Ami Ved: good question asked. See, yeah, definitely the environment matters. When it comes to communication, environment matters. The way you're brought up, the school, the environment, wherever you come from, [00:24:00] it definitely matters. But again, communication is a skill. skill is what, if I say Lata Mangeshkar is a great singer, is it a talent or is it a skill? [00:24:11] Ami Ved: It's a talent. But if I say, You sing as good as Lata Mangeshkar. It's a skill develop. The same way is communication. Communication is a skill which can be developed in to, anyone actually. but of course, there's a lot of effort. There's a lot of, hard work. There's a lot of practice, which is needed, but it's a skill and skill development is possible. [00:24:36] Ami Ved: I have seen if Chinese can speak great English, I think anybody in the world can. And not only about, China, but people all over the world. We see people in Bollywood communicating so well when they come from the backgrounds when they, where they've never spoken English, to the way they work on and develop. [00:24:55] Ami Ved: So communication is a skill which can be developed. Definitely background plays a [00:25:00] very important role, but even if you don't have a good background, You can work on your communication. [00:25:07] Kartik Chaudhry: Okay. And then that brings me to another informal question. How much do you think accent matters? does it matter? Or is it just about the confidence with which because I come, from Delhi and then I moved to Bombay and I've, seen that a lot of people are like, I might pronounce a word wrong and they'll be like, no, it's not pronounced like this, it's pronounced like that. [00:25:30] Kartik Chaudhry: does it matter in larger scheme of things? or is it just a snooty behavior of say South Bombay or South Delhi people, especially being in India? [00:25:40] Ami Ved: It's a very, tricky question here. [00:25:43] Kartik Chaudhry: What is your personal view? What is your personal view on this? [00:25:47] Ami Ved: see, because I have studied and it has helped me. I think if you can polish on your accent, it will, it does matter. It does matter because, it helped me see, [00:26:00] Hindi. I don't know if it's okay to speak a bit [00:26:03] Kartik Chaudhry: Yeah, [00:26:04] Ami Ved: Like again, I'll take an example of Lata Mangeshkar where they say, your voice is my identity. [00:26:09] Ami Ved: Okay. So for me, my voice worked everywhere. My accent worked everywhere. At the same time, of course you can't really, you see a lot of people really faking their accent, which is not needed, but neutralize neutralizing an accent is extremely important. Okay. Now, Delhi people speak different Mumbai in India is a country is a rich country with 90 languages. [00:26:32] Ami Ved: So we have so many dialects. Now, again, when I lived in China, again, Chinese also have different dialects and not all native speakers, not all Britishers or Americans speak great English, frankly speaking. But what is important is neutralizing your accent, Hmm. So the more you neutralize. You can speak globally. [00:26:56] Ami Ved: So I wouldn't say you need to have a strong, [00:27:00] when you say accent matters, you don't need to have a strong American accent or a British accent or a, very strong Indian accent for that reason. But you need to have neutral accents so that you can speak to everybody all across the place. And it's easy. [00:27:16] Ami Ved: It's, a skill to be, to learn. It takes time, but we, I work a lot on jaw exercise and jaw moments, or, the way, your, the is spoken. So there, there is a batch I do for it professionals, but should be, people from South of India. Telangana or Karnataka, which is very, different. [00:27:39] Ami Ved: Now, again, if they are all IT professionals and they have to work with companies in North America or Brazil or anywhere, it's just, it's, very hard for people to understand them. So accent matters in a global market, accent matters. Even in India, if you speak neutrally. it helps you to grow somewhere.[00:28:00] [00:28:00] Ami Ved: I wouldn't say it is everything, but somewhere, especially where you have to speak. And in today's world, where we have everything on social media, where we are presenting us ourselves or anything we are doing, it helps you. It's, an add on. If you speak, [00:28:18] Kartik Chaudhry: Okay. Okay. we are approaching the words, the, end of the podcast, probably I'm going to ask you three more questions. again, before we get onto the planned questions that we had one more question, I've heard this, they say Indian accent or Indian English when properly spoken is the most neutral accent. [00:28:43] Kartik Chaudhry: is there any. Truth or is, does it mean anything or is it just again, one of those things to just say that whatever we do is the best. What is your, again, personal view on that? [00:28:54] Ami Ved: see, I believe, we know English and in India, we learned English because British has ruled India. And [00:29:00] we spoke a lot of British English. if you've seen our books and textbooks and all, if you compare some American words to British words, we've been using that. but just come back to your question once again. [00:29:12] Ami Ved: like [00:29:13] Kartik Chaudhry: say, I've heard, they say that Indian accent when spoken properly, probably the way we are speaking is the most neutral. English that exists is, there any truth in it or is it just again, we think that there is. [00:29:29] Ami Ved: know, I, don't know. Okay. This is the first time I'm hearing, but yeah, we do speak neutral English. We do speak neutral English. I don't know if it is, you can't see it's completely correct because we have a lot of dialects, we have mother tongue in everything, you come from north, you come from Gujarat, you come from south. [00:29:49] Ami Ved: And I realized this when I was going for call center interviews, in, in the year when I was 21 year old and there was one particular year in my life where I was [00:30:00] rejected hundred times. Okay. One year, one year. And I realized, and I mastered it that, what is it that is not working? So definitely accent, I won't say, and I see Indians, and then I became an HR once upon a time where I had to interview people on the basis of their accent. [00:30:21] Ami Ved: So neutral accent is extremely important. Not all Indians speak neutral accent, but, yeah, neutral is what really matters. And, I think. If you see overall in the world, no one has a perfect accent for that reason. But no, there is no new, but it can be developed. And in India now, the way our economy is working, the way we have CEOs and CFOs all over the world, the way we are, dealing, I think, we do speak a lot of neutral accent. [00:30:59] Ami Ved: [00:31:00] Now we do. but it is, developed over time. It's not that it's come from the roots, [00:31:06] Kartik Chaudhry: sure. So basically, yeah, there is no right or wrong way to speak. There are different ways. It depends on where you are, which time you are in, what context you are in. that sort of, yeah, clears my doubt. So now coming back to the, to the, to your, core skill, conveying, brand values is important for any company. [00:31:30] Kartik Chaudhry: Again, if you can share some insights on how communication training can help Medium sized businesses, to effectively convey their brand values to consumers and to all the stakeholders. How does that, communication training comes into the picture there? [00:31:47] Ami Ved: communication again, from the time you take executive presence to you take, project management, task delegation. You talk about leadership skills, networking, growth. [00:32:00] In every aspect, there is communication involved here. And, if you are a face of your company, especially if you're into sales, marketing, and customer service, that's the main time when your brand value is there. [00:32:18] Ami Ved: You are there in the picture, you are there in the market, or you're speaking, you're the face of your company and your verbal, your nonverbal, your email skills, or, your written communication is extremely important because how do you, if you have to say that first hello to your client? [00:32:38] Ami Ved: Or you have to present your company or you have to give your elevator pitch of you as a brand, representing your company. If that itself doesn't come out well, how do you further build the relationship? So here, brand value plays a very important role. [00:33:00] important role. [00:33:02] Kartik Chaudhry: So again, basically also that the larger point there is the brand is just not your logo or, or the values that your people are, your brand, how they dress up with the brand, how they behave with not only to consumers within the organization is also a part of the brand. So the brand is a way larger concept than just a logo or something like that. Okay. now there is. there is one question about diversity and inclusion here. So I think we'll take that. again, with your focus on empowering individuals and organizations, how do you envision communication, training, supporting initiatives for diversity and inclusion? within again, larger organization or smaller or textile industry or whichever, what is your larger point here? [00:33:51] Ami Ved: Okay. When you say diversity and inclusion, I will say four. areas here. First one, training. Training [00:34:00] focuses on cultural competence, active listening and empathy. Okay. When it comes to specially communication or even interpersonal skills, you can take. Second, when it comes to inclusion, it creates respect, respectful and open, it opens work, open workplace for everyone. [00:34:20] Ami Ved: It helps you in innovation. Thirdly, it encourages diverse perspectives and ideas and, an open forum to speak. And there is a lot of satisfaction, which enhances employee satisfaction and retention. So if you see, take these four areas where training, inclusion, innovation, satisfaction, you have to put it together. [00:34:42] Ami Ved: It definitely helps and supports initiatives for diversity and inclusion within textile industry. And for that reason, [00:34:50] Kartik Chaudhry: Okay. Okay. Okay. my last question to you is, is about you. So you started your own company Speak with Ami, right? that's a [00:35:00] big leap, right? A lot of people want to start their own business, but somewhere there are doubts that they have. So what motivated you? Take this step, considering, they're in like every industry right now is competitive, but I'm sure your industry is also, pretty competitive. [00:35:15] Kartik Chaudhry: And, also I heard that, when you were starting the business, that was the time when you had just taken on the role of a new mother also. So how was that time and how that, that, that leap happens if we can, if you can tell us that. Then I think we can leave the end, end the podcast on an inspiring note. [00:35:33] Ami Ved: sure, definitely. So what happened is, from customer service to call centers, to sales, to, Training, corporate training was my market. I was at the peak of corporate training and I moved to China. I moved to China. I was at the peak of my career in China. I developed myself as a director to the foreign teaching team. [00:35:54] Ami Ved: And, my husband decided to move back to India and we had to move for work and a couple of [00:36:00] reasons when I moved here, with a one year old baby and I was in a sabbatical and I had to start again. Now, when I see India, I saw the entire saturated market, especially training and coaching. I think every second person wants to get into training, coaching, become a speaker, influencer. [00:36:21] Ami Ved: this is a very saturated market right now, especially my industry. And I was like, what do I do next? How is it going to help me? And people told me to eat Chinese because I speak basic Mandarin. And then they told me you teach public speaking to kids because you like it and a couple of things. [00:36:38] Ami Ved: So I was on a sabbatical. I was, I live in Mumbai and, part of Mumbai, a very good part of Mumbai called Pavise. And I had a club here called as Toast Master. Now, this was a public speaking club. So one day I just enrolled in this club and just became a member where you just go and you tell your stories [00:37:00] and you just talk about it. [00:37:01] Ami Ved: And I was on a break and I wanted to get back to back into training, but I did not know how do I start here? So I had to give some kind of a speech there. And I spoke about being toddler's mom, okay, which has nothing to do with corporates. And they had a kind of competition, which was a club level competition. [00:37:21] Ami Ved: And then you get into area and regional level. I won that contest. I went to area level and then I think I even went to the other, the third level. And when I, won, I was like, okay, people are here to listen to me. somehow people like me and I think I should get back. into training and when 2020 happened, okay, so I was building on into, I was keeping some options open. [00:37:50] Ami Ved: Do I train kids? Because right now I'm a mother. Do I get back into, do I train Chinese people? Like I was training English in China and do I train your Indians to get into [00:38:00] learn Chinese? And then COVID happened and COVID was like people had different things, perceptions on China and what to do. And. I got some batches to train for TIS and a couple of organizations and universities as well. [00:38:15] Ami Ved: IBS, TIS, a couple of companies where I thought this is my niche, this is my area and this is where I want to be. So definitely a public speaking platform helped me and a lot of hard work. I formed my company again in 2019 and I started, getting leads through LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a big market, big, market. [00:38:39] Ami Ved: It's a gold mine. I am a LinkedIn talk voice 2024 this year, they've declared. and, I got, I think I started adding small articles and my life experiences related to communication, everything on LinkedIn. And that's where [00:39:00] I started my journey again. I took some hundred days challenge on posting regularly, being consistent over LinkedIn. [00:39:09] Ami Ved: And that's where I, I got back my, area and I got back into corporate and all these corporate clients that I spoke about. a big thanks to LinkedIn here. So a big thanks to LinkedIn and a big thanks to the consistency that helped me to grow. So yeah. Yeah. That's how I build on my work. [00:39:35] Ami Ved: I speak with Ami. I build on my company and, rest is just there. It's there. And I'm still building. [00:39:42] Kartik Chaudhry: Okay. And, do you want to, before we, say goodbye, do you want to tell the people where they can look you up, on LinkedIn? Do you have a website if they have to get in touch? [00:39:53] Ami Ved: sure. Sure. you can get in touch with me. on LinkedIn. [00:39:59] Kartik Chaudhry: [00:40:00] So you can find me as Ami Ved on LinkedIn. [00:40:04] Ami Ved: At the same time, I have a YouTube channel called speak with Ami, And mainly you will find me on LinkedIn, Instagram. Also, I am there as speak with me, but, my main work comes from LinkedIn. So you can reach out to me for a discovery call on one to one conversation, working on any kind of communication challenges that you have. [00:40:26] Ami Ved: All right. that was, this was a great conversation. I personally learned a lot and I hope you know, anyone who's also learns a lot. goodbye. thank you so much for [00:40:35] Kartik Chaudhry: being part of spinning values. [00:40:36] Ami Ved: Thank you. Thank you, Karthik. [00:40:38] Thanks army for coming on the spinning values podcast. It was great to chat with you. If you want to listen to the rest of the episodes. Head on over to beekaylon.com/spinning values. Thanks for listening. And we look forward to meeting you on the next episode.

April 2, 2024Episode 1054 min

From Yarn Innovations to Fashion Statement - Amrish Shahi, Designer & Founder, Smplyfe

<h1>Amrish Shahi - Ep. 10</h1> [00:00:00] Amrish Shahi: when we start to look at the brand we're leading in this space, they really see that I want to see the yarns first, what can be done the yarn and then they will say, Oh, interesting yarn. If this is very interesting yarn, I might not require to do anything, apart from taking this yarn and just knit it. [00:00:17] Amrish Shahi: Or weave it to make an interesting fabric. So, and the designers who are looking at that fabric, they said, wow, this yarn and this fabric is amazing. I don't require to do any design value. So can you imagine that if the either fabric, the yarn level, if the innovation is coming, then the next gen is not required to do anything. [00:00:35] Rajeev: Hello, and welcome to episode 10 of the spinning values podcast. An initiative by Beekaylon synthetics. This is a show where we talk to thought leaders innovators and change-makers in the world of textiles and business. [00:00:48] Rajeev: This episode of the little special, because for the first time in this podcast, we have a designer in our midst - Amrish Shahi. He is a Goa-based designer with a [00:01:00] difference.He strives to make a difference from the Yarn to the end product. He's the founder of the simple life startup. And we are in conversation with Amrish Shahi. [00:01:11] Rajeev: Thanks, Amrish. Thanks for coming on the Spinning Values podcast, which is a initiative by Beekaylon. It's a pleasure having you on this show. And incidentally, you're the first designer of the show. This is episode number 10. So it's pretty significant. And looking at your, your profile, what interests me is that you look at fashion and the design process. [00:01:36] Rajeev: From the yarn level which is what we want to explore in this podcast because there is not some That's something bit unusual, right? So let's start with, your career and how you got, started in this design industry. [00:01:54] Amrish Shahi: First of all, thanks a lot for inviting me because like, we've been doing work, but, really we get a [00:02:00] chance to speak about how we work differently. So idea here is that when we speak to you, we would like to analyze some of the people who are working end to end from like a, that's a design is very complex process, but lots, some of the peoples are, some of the designers are only working end to end. [00:02:16] Amrish Shahi: So. it will be celebrating those designers who are actually putting a lot of effort to work end to end, not just a part of it. So thanks a lot for initiating this. my design journey started, approximately 22 years back when, we, it was a little unheard of at that point of time of getting into NIFT. [00:02:34] Amrish Shahi: So I got into NIFT. And usually at the 20, 22 years back, when, when you used to talk to parents, they used to say, yeah, engineering and,do you want to become a tailor? So I said, no, I don't want to be Taylor, but it's a very different thing. So can you imagine 20, 22 years back, people are still want to join a design course. [00:02:51] Amrish Shahi: It was pretty revolutionary for my, batches by my seniors also because they cut the clutter and instead of going to medicine or engineering or [00:03:00] MBA, it was hot topic MBA at that point of time. So we got into design. So yeah, we become tailors. Yeah. So, so basically the idea was that my main, so I slowly worked in industry, but I tried to find out my niche, working, differently from others, starting to work on the trend forecasting a lot. [00:03:18] Amrish Shahi: And it was required for India because most of the trend forecasting doesn't happen in India at all. We use. international trend forecasting. So yeah, so I started to work, especially working with the design, design space for 15 design leader, mostly heading the designer design brands. I try to, cut the clutter and try to work differently at Fangert, Faggart of it. [00:03:40] Rajeev: right. And you have worked with, domestic brands, foreign brands, international brands. How is it working across those, International brands and domestic brands. What's the difference? [00:03:51] Rajeev: How is that gap? [00:03:53] Amrish Shahi: we are still, we are far away to be honest, like still, I see the global brands are obviously everyone, [00:04:00] everybody wants a ROI, but they are very clear. The international brands are really clear that they want return on investment, pretty sharp, pretty clear. So they, were in my experiences where I work with international and domestic brands, So they, international brands are not penny wise pound foolish. [00:04:16] Amrish Shahi: They are not, they know that where the buck is and they will invest there. And the way it is pretty sharp in, getting out of places where they don't want to be very clear. in India, we pay a lot of emotional content. Still the five, if I go to a lot of brands in India or the mills in India, this, they have a lot of values, different values for that matter. [00:04:34] Amrish Shahi: They, the emotional, the people are, they want to retain people. a part of, efficiency is efficiency. They don't consider that the valuation is quite different. So sometimes they lose, sometimes they win, but they put energies differently in India, international brands. They're very, cutthroat performances are very good. [00:04:51] Amrish Shahi: similarly, the raises and perks are very different. So, yeah. So there are different structures, different ways people, people are there in both of these segments in India, but yeah, [00:05:00] these are the major differences is where. We come across, I work with international brand, very to the precise, very professional, but they're very ruthless also Indian emotional. [00:05:09] Amrish Shahi: So that's how it's kind of divided. A lot of Indian brands are shipping up, but still that emotional content never go away from India. it's our roots. So yeah. So that's, let's celebrate that also. [00:05:18] Rajeev: So how did your interest in yarn start? Like, normally designers are known for their, the end product. But how did you sort of deep dive into the textile industry and go right down to the yarn? [00:05:37] Amrish Shahi: So, to be honest, like, it's,I'm a science graduate. Actually, my base was science graduation. And then it was not simply a fashion design course I've done before that. I've done a little bit of science. So. when I was trying to find out my niche at the college level itself, it was most of scientific stuff, which I, which was really intriguing, even though I know I work with performance where I work with Denims as a core two subjects, both [00:06:00] of these, categories doesn't survive without any chemistry or chemicals. [00:06:04] Amrish Shahi: both of these industry, even though if you utilize a pure indigo also in some of the denims, they still require a kind of chemistry. It's a very intriguing, very interesting way you can work with denims and indigos. Also similarly functional wear, where it's kind of penetrating into mainstream fashion. [00:06:18] Amrish Shahi: the basic block is a functionality. So to be honest, when the brands demanded, I knew you knew a unique product out of me as a design head. Surface wise, we scratch a lot. All of the designers are doing all the same thing just to be different and my basic education in the science helped me just to go deep, little deep dive and get into a level where nobody else can scratch. [00:06:42] Amrish Shahi: So I get into and I realize very quickly that my, my two field of operation can't be studios. It has to be either mills and the yarn spinners or the mills. And also it has to be at the laundries, either of the ways. So, being a designer, if I spend a lot of time on studios and designing, I have to [00:07:00] obviously I would have a comfort level of keep on designing the sketches and, keep on doing the surface. [00:07:05] Amrish Shahi: But when you really want an interesting and, different stuff, you need to be the karma bhoomi, what do you call it in Hindi is that you need to be at the place where it's actually happening. The spinners or the fabric places. Or at the laundries where it's actually dying or getting, you need to get your hand dirty. [00:07:21] Amrish Shahi: So, yeah, so being different, being getting a different product from my brand actually pushed me or initially pushed me, then it becomes very interesting. To be with the spinners or the fabric people rather than in the studios only. [00:07:36] Rajeev: How does this approach impact your design process, or can you take us through how you actually, do this whole process from the yarn to the end product? [00:07:48] Amrish Shahi: So the normal course where the designers start to work is they would look at forecasting. They would look at what are the new stuff I say, because in most of the design brands and design teams are scrunched for the time. They need to produce end to end [00:08:00] results in five to six months. They are, that's the only time what they have. [00:08:03] Amrish Shahi: So they have very less space for them to research, to be honest. Whatever the mills throw at them, they utilize it. They'll just say that they dyed, dye this color or, weave this color in these colors. And these are seasonal colors. That's it. Beyond that, or the seasonal prints. And then the later on, they start to work on the silhouettes and the cards and the fits, and then they try to put the looks together. [00:08:22] Amrish Shahi: So this is the whole design process, normal design process. But in this process, let's say the forecasting agency is pretty common. Like they are five to 10 big forecasting agencies. They're very similar results. Let's say there are 5, 000 brands and looking at those five or 10 forecasting agencies, you will start to find a very similar stuff and people struggle to sell at last. [00:08:44] Amrish Shahi: If there is no differentiation and the forecasting agency is the starting point, this is bound to happen. So when the quest for being different and being true to your brand comes, You need to start differently. So my major process is working [00:09:00] with the brand. Let's say I would like to have a very good, what do you call it? [00:09:04] Amrish Shahi: A brand pyramid or the structure of the brand pyramid where we want how much value added products at the top of the pyramid. Or how much we want at the normal selling commercial product, how much percentage of it. Let's say, for example, a brand is pretty positioned as a normal brand, which works on a pyramid structure. [00:09:23] Amrish Shahi: They would like to have 20 to 30 percent as a top of the pyramid. And the base is somewhere around 50%, 50 percent where they just want regular product with just a seasonal coating, like a print color, or maybe a seasonal fit. And the base, Of 30, 40%, 30 to 40 percent remaining is kind of as a very stable classic products. [00:09:43] Amrish Shahi: So that's how the most mostly structure for any typical brand anywhere. it's like that. The difference makes the top of the pyramid where they want 20 to 30%. If that difference is bigger, the brand is very edgy, very different. They call it fashion forward brands where obviously they require [00:10:00] newer stuff. So in that quest, when I work with the brands who really want a top of the pyramid is quite a big range there, you're required to have innovation that pushed me where the man, my brand wanted me to work mostly on the innovative stuff, performance based or look based. We need to go down to a building block of the yarns. [00:10:22] Amrish Shahi: It can't be just a scratching the surface. So it has to be going to the yarn suppliers, fabric makers, and spinners. Sometimes spinners. Because spinning is an amazing game where they require tons and tons of the base material just to, start looking at spinning. If you're not very clear, if you're not very sure, you are wasting a lot of fiber, obviously, spinning requires. [00:10:44] Amrish Shahi: So, we got a privilege to work with, I got a privilege to work with spinners who are pretty experimental. I got to work with people who are good in experimentation on the fabric, mixing different kind of [00:11:00] yarns, trying to dye different kind of things. So. I got, so I start a little bit earlier than the usual process. [00:11:07] Amrish Shahi: If I have this thing in my mind that we need to do something different, I would like to start three months more in advance, start to go to the spinners or weavers, just not wait for their collection to stop. I start to look at what are new yarns, new blends they have, what weave innovation they can do it for me. [00:11:28] Amrish Shahi: for that three months period, I actually become,I own a very different hat, like a yarn designer on a, or a fabric designer. So I major, my major work revolves around fabric, sorry, garment designer or a fashion designer. But for those three months, when I start little early, I kind of change myself into a yarn or a fabric designer for three months. [00:11:47] Amrish Shahi: So I just do the same process as any fabric designer would do. Okay. I create my own fabrics, I try to create my own yarns and that percentage depends on the brand's appetite for a newer stuff. So that's how I start, but regular [00:12:00] process will be the six months process where the fabric is ready. We try to dye it in a different seasonal colors, print it, make the cuts, silhouettes, newer styles. [00:12:10] Amrish Shahi: And obviously the seasonal roadshows. [00:12:13] Rajeev: What are the kind of innovations that you're, seeing that way? BK alone has some. unique products, sustainable products and products which have antimicrobial elements and protection from UV ray, that sort of a lot of these kind of unique products, attributes are kind of synced into the yarn itself. [00:12:40] Rajeev: So, How does that work in terms of the end product and that innovation? Like what are the things that you're seeing that's coming out of this process? [00:12:50] Amrish Shahi: So basically let's say,today at that point of time, even the yarn suppliers are pretty clear about that. They can't be able to sell the, usual regular yarns anymore. so, [00:13:00] because the consumers is a pull effect, consumer is also looking at very innovative, interesting product. So we see a big trend coming in where, the fashion is, fashion products require functionality as well. [00:13:10] Amrish Shahi: if you really want to, go to office and. our lifestyles and everything is changing so fast, so differently that we want our products or our garments to. Hard work. It's not that I just come back home and change and get into another suit and go back. It's not a norm anymore. Major of the consumers are pretty easy right now. [00:13:29] Amrish Shahi: And a garment industry would need a yarn industry to respond to it. Let's say that you can do these kinds of treatment ever fresh, or these kinds of treatments very easily on the garment, but those washes, those retentions are, Quite small lasting. they don't last for long kind of thing. When these innovations are done at the yarn level, they are pretty robust. [00:13:52] Amrish Shahi: so, even the fashion industry look at the fiber fabric supplier, the yarn supplier to get these innovation embedded into, because the [00:14:00] lifestyle of people are changing the way we see sportswear becoming more fashionable or sportswear, there is very less boundary in between sportswear. So called sportswear and the streetwear and streetwear into, Active day where so the boundaries are quickly vanished since last couple of years, we have seen the impact of pandemic. [00:14:16] Amrish Shahi: And after that, everything is kind of intermingled. We want our, they were close to perform and our performance close to look as stylish or straight where as much as anybody. So, so these things are so much intermingled. So demand is actually pushing, innovators to think differently right now. [00:14:34] Amrish Shahi: We want lighter, we want comfortable yarns. We, fabric. So fabrics can't be comfortable by themselves. You need to become, you need to make yarns, which are more, Making your life comfort. Obviously, yarn is a building block for your fabric, right? So if the yarn is harsh, your garment or a fabric can't be comfortable at all. [00:14:52] Amrish Shahi: The pressure or the thing has to come down to a basic DNA level where, these trends are pushing all the [00:15:00] innovators, all the yarn suppliers. They can't be normal anymore. They need to do innovations and present a good, interesting collection, which is more comfortable performance. Lighter, better. [00:15:10] Amrish Shahi: So, yeah, so I think this is the future it is going to be. [00:15:15] Rajeev: So can you share some examples which is sort of, reiterates what you're saying right now. [00:15:21] Amrish Shahi: Yeah. So let's say that we, we wanted to,we are working on a project right now where, one of these performance where, brand is looking at the women's gym wear leggings. So where, we wanted to, because the pricing is very sharp and everybody wants to wear it's an entry level jegging. [00:15:35] Amrish Shahi: They don't want to change the fabric. or a content of the fabric to a level where the pricing becomes higher. So there's little, very little scope, because they are using a lot of polyester because the obviously functionality is very high in polyester, but another feeling which consumers are coming back right now, earlier it was acceptable right now, because people got used to this comfort very well right now. [00:15:56] Amrish Shahi: And they have a lot of competition. This brand come up to us and said that, [00:16:00] can you design a legging, which is more softer. We kind of reiterated a lot of ways that. Can we use other fabric or a nylon instead of polyester, the pricing was going high. So then we went actually into a yarn level. There was no option just to get into yarn level and say that can we blend some of the very softer fiber into it. [00:16:20] Amrish Shahi: Let us say, can you blend some of 10 percent of viscose or modal within at the spinning level itself or the yarn changing in the yarn itself. So we experimented a lot. And when we got a yarn, when we knitted the yarn with the same tight construction with along with the last thing, we start to see, we kind of done some variation. [00:16:40] Amrish Shahi: We start to see some of the hand feels start to coming very nice. And we'll start to come in these. Fiber, in the yarns and the, obviously the yarn is making internet. So we see this little bit of impacts are to come on to the, and the lagging itself. So we see that, without, changing much in the costing, [00:17:00] without changing much in the look and feel of it, you can actually get a good, product. [00:17:05] Amrish Shahi: A suitable product, which can start selling again. If you know how to do the yarns, how you can alter a basic DNA of the yarn. It doesn't take much. [00:17:16] Rajeev: So the next question is kind of arises in the sense that, how does, there's this, you're the yarn manufacturers at the one end, and then, the other end, you have the, designers and then you have the fabric makers in the middle. Like, how is this, these intermingling happening? [00:17:33] Rajeev: Like, previously there was, there was a standard workflow, you, the usual stuff used to happen, but now all of these ideas are, percolating through, how is this, sort of, is it changing the industry? [00:17:48] Amrish Shahi: So interesting, actually, to be honest, as I said, there, there are usual designers who really wait for fabric manufacturers to give them whatever they can offer and the season, they have very tight timelines. [00:18:00] There are fabric designers who will wait for the yarn suppliers to get the good yarns coming in. [00:18:05] Amrish Shahi: So all the fairs and industries divided like that. But when we start to look at the brand we're leading in this space, they really see that I want to see the yarns first, what can be done the yarn and then they will say, Oh, interesting yarn. If this is very interesting yarn, I might not require to do anything, apart from taking this yarn and just knit it. [00:18:25] Amrish Shahi: Or weave it to make an interesting fabric. So, and the designers who are looking at that fabric, they said, wow, this yarn and this fabric is amazing. I don't require to do any design value. So can you imagine that if the either fabric, the yarn level, if the innovation is coming, then the next gen is not required to do anything. [00:18:42] Amrish Shahi: But obviously you can't have 500 different kind of yarns every season. So, we need to devise a plan where, the good of the brands. I'm saying the top of the brands are working on this way, then they divide the line very clearly. Obviously, or obviously, yarn making is not an easy thing, it's very [00:19:00] complex and very time consuming. [00:19:01] Amrish Shahi: It's very, difficult. What do you call money oriented process? you require a lot of amount, a lot of tonnage to even start to think of a yarn thing. So obviously, when we think we need to think of the volumes, we need to think of how consumers would be reacting to this new kind of proposition you're trying to put on the yarn, because if you have a hundred tons of the yarn, what are you going to do with the consumer not accepting it? [00:19:24] Amrish Shahi: So, so idea here is that when we start to work on anything on the yarn level, let's say we have a base yarn, 35, 35, 65 configuration, we have standard yarns. People are really set about it, but somebody has designed those yarn years back, right? So, who are those innovators? Where, from where it comes? [00:19:42] Amrish Shahi: So if you're sitting in isolation right now and designing your yarns, and then later on, you can say that five years down the line, I'll see the experimentation that time is over. We need to quick to the market. A lot of innovators who are sitting in the brand actually thinking about yarns now. [00:20:00] So that's a whole industry, at least a percentage of their business is coming out being different. [00:20:05] Amrish Shahi: So being different, another problem which you're facing in industry right now is that in the fashion industry is right now that There are so many of the brands who have come up in last two, three years. they got so called performance where so many people who are looking at athleisure as the core of this thing that brought down athleisure, which was very high fashion kind of a thing to a level where it becomes like a mass market right now. [00:20:30] Amrish Shahi: So, until as you are doing your clutter, you're doing your work homework very nicely as a brand, you will be fighting at a very low cost brand right now. The clutter is so big, so high. Until as you innovate, until as you get on to the level where you think of, DNA of the, your styles, which is, I keep on coming back. [00:20:49] Amrish Shahi: It's a yarn is the DNA of your styles. The mixing of the DNA. If you don't work on the DNA of the styles, you can't be different. You will be looking at same stuff, which everybody's looking at and you're designing [00:21:00] and it was just fighting with the brand. So the idea, the brand who quick to understand this thing, the strategy. [00:21:06] Amrish Shahi: Are working very clearly. let's build a strategy where we can work a little bit ahead of all other people and start to work on the yarn, start to experiment a little bit on it. in this case, the fashion brands are looking at yarn suppliers and spinners as their partner, not the fabric, not the laundries. [00:21:24] Amrish Shahi: They're looking at the yarn suppliers are the key partners and they are impacting directly. So the whole supply chain here is brand to yarn is seamlessly connected. They are not dependent on first step to the yarn to the fabric maker to the fabric supplier and fabric supplier on the mill. And they wait for six months. nobody's doing that. A big brand. I'm saying conventional brand. We're fighting for the space and the money. They're still doing the conventional way, but the leaders are changing their strategy, [00:21:51] Rajeev: So they're going straight to the yarn itself. [00:21:54] Amrish Shahi: certain percentage of it, [00:21:56] Rajeev: Okay. how does that impact the quality of the end product in [00:22:00] terms of, if you don't get that part right, how does it affect the end product? [00:22:04] Amrish Shahi: Yeah, it might impact. idea is that let's say,If you start a little early, so that's about part of the strategy. The quality comes very down or when we do a very harsh, we don't do consumer trials. We don't test it properly. So obviously it's a win situation for the yarn makers also. And the union decision for the fashion brands also where they get innovation. [00:22:22] Amrish Shahi: As I said, it has to be a little part of the strategy. every season, most of these brands require a newer product for their campaign or to maintain their leadership position. So when they use these interesting products, which are based as a DNA of the, when the functionality or the look and feel is a DNA led, not just a scratch of the surface or the print. [00:22:42] Amrish Shahi: when they talk about like, I got a very interesting technology, which is yarn based, which is robust, which is, which will stay in your fabric or a garment for a longer period of time. When they talk about this, the credibility of the brand becomes very big. And season after season, when they deliver a big, big story, let's say for summer, they [00:23:00] deliver a very, entry microbial, those kinds of story and the winter, they say, I will keep protect and those kinds of things next season, they will again do a, UV protection story, everything, if it is robust and yarn based, they would enjoy a leadership position season after season. [00:23:14] Amrish Shahi: All of these things which I'm talking about is very much possible doing the yarn, but obviously you need to start a little early. When you start a little early, maybe a couple of seas, a couple of months back, usual time is six, six months. Let's say if you start a little early, like nine months, Three months is just to start innovation. [00:23:32] Amrish Shahi: One big story, getting out, do a consumer trial where a trial with the core base of the people get it vetted for the, all the quality parameters, hand feels everything. So three months is usual period.So when leaders are working on the yarns, working on the these technologies, along with the spinners and the fabric suppliers and they're pretty sure that at least they get a good one launch pad, a launch story for season. [00:23:56] Amrish Shahi: They're okay with that. That's how they kind of work. The quality [00:24:00] is maintained if you have a parameters, if you have a structure, if you have a design you're kind of way we're working on the quality testing and the consumer trends. [00:24:11] Rajeev: And yeah, you, I think interesting that you keep stressing the word DNA throughout, which is really interesting because I guess if you don't look at the yarn level, then the entire, it's like a dominoes, it's just, everything sort of falls down the staircase. So how do you, and you also mentioned that, you need to sort of figure out what's, how the demand is going to be and then produce the right kind of yarn to meet that demand, right? [00:24:43] Rajeev: How does that work? Like in terms of, trend forecasting, how do you forecast like which kind of yarn is going to be in demand six months from now or one year from now? Like how does that happen? [00:24:57] Amrish Shahi: It's very interesting question, to be honest. So, this [00:25:00] most of us struggle and, in industry, that's the, that's a major question. Even though we have 20 of the leading forecasting agency, they are giving you trends. They give you, like interesting trends and they say, Oh, these are the trends. [00:25:13] Amrish Shahi: But still brands, kind of struggle. It's a very, very interesting process in which, you take a trend from these either buy from this forecasting agency or the higher it for a very specific need of yours. But still they throw at, what's happening around, they just throw a very raw data to you. [00:25:30] Amrish Shahi: Until unless you're very clear about your brand or your consumers, you'd not have an in depth knowledge of where this is going to impact. It's no use, to be honest. So what we do, what I do as a, I've been working in the industry for 15 years as a leader and, 22 years as a total thing. [00:25:47] Amrish Shahi: What I learned in industry that, the major difference is connecting the three dots, brand, your brand, DNA, what differently you want, understanding your consumer, what exactly the brand [00:26:00] DNA connects to, obviously consumers and what exactly consumers are going to do in next one year. How to predict we need to scratch ourselves only to be honest. [00:26:10] Amrish Shahi: We need to get down to our emotional level first. Also study a global trend. apart from this WGS and forecasting and trends, I, my whole team and me, we do a very different approach, where we not only study every season. We study, it's a seasonal thing. When we study global and Indian. Trends, which is climate change, or what's happening in the water scarcity of India. [00:26:36] Amrish Shahi: How it's going to impact the consumer behavior, consumer movements, even the crop pattern. If cotton is going to go down or cotton is going to go up, how people are reacting to a walk from home, why people are resigning from stuff, political, geopolitical situations, how it's going to impact. Maybe in long sense, they are less money. [00:26:56] Amrish Shahi: They won't. More from their product. And so we need to, even we [00:27:00] need to make more premium product, maybe, or maybe you need to make cheaper product. So they can be no mediocre products anyway. even the music scenario, how youth are reacting to the current situation. what kind of music people are listening to? [00:27:14] Amrish Shahi: so all these things, are very common stuff, which anybody can study, but we studied in a very systematic manner just to analyze these, that how they're going to impact my brand. And if my brand is coming in the domain of that, let's say there's a significant change in the current generation. Let's say the buying generation of Gen Z and they are kind of getting impacted because of the lockdowns and everything. [00:27:37] Amrish Shahi: The couple of seasons we saw a couple of years we saw before that. But that impacted my consumers, clients who are Gen Z. And that was the base subject for me also to study the Gen Z and give my client very clear idea that they are not going to buy from you now, if you don't give them a very different or a robust product. [00:27:57] Amrish Shahi: So even, so reduce your depth, [00:28:00] sorry, reduce your depth and become, give them the width. So these kinds of strategic inputs, we need to give it to the brand. When we study the holistic point of view of the human immersion, how they're evolving. link to the brand's DNA as well as brand's consumer base. [00:28:16] Amrish Shahi: So it's a very complex process. forecasting agencies just throw a data or a larger stories at you, but as a design lead or a design head, it's your responsibility to chew the data, link it to brand DNA and understand a little bit of consumer's emotion. They're all around you can't escape. You are one of them. [00:28:36] Amrish Shahi: So if you don't study your inner self, then you will not be able to do justice to you, your work and your, so brand. So that's how we do differently things. We get down to a different level. [00:28:46] Rajeev: And people talk about fast fashion as a big segment. Is there something anything called slow fashion? Just out of curiosity, I'm asking you. [00:28:55] Amrish Shahi: no, sure. this should be a flow. So we see a big moment in a slow fashion. [00:29:00] Obviously you will not hear about it. You will hear about it because fast fashion is typically designed for a commercial, role. And, obviously this typical, these, the bigger brands of fast fashion brands would have up to a 10 percent of their total revenue pushed into a marketing strategies. [00:29:16] Amrish Shahi: Even though sometimes I wash, sometimes this, do it. The fast fashion is saying we are sustainable. So sometimes it looks like gimmick. they do a certain percentage of their products, which are made from recycled stuff or some kind of storytelling for them is just a campaign to be. the silent warriors are the people who are, they would hand money. [00:29:38] Amrish Shahi: they don't have advertising money. They don't have anything on them, but they're slowly working. They're slowly shifting. They're first, they start with themselves because this is, they say the profit may come later. But if you equate lately, we see a big commercial equivalent of the pollution, which [00:30:00] is, or a commercial equivalent of the. [00:30:03] Amrish Shahi: Unsustainable practices is start to emerge now. And earlier we thought the water is free. It's abundant air. Pure air is given by God is abundant. We can play with it. But now the major agency, the forecasting agencies are putting a price to it and the price is huge. You can't even imagine because the things were free. [00:30:25] Amrish Shahi: Can be so scarce that you can't even survive and you can pay any money for it. So I think the slow, slow fashion warriors are not known. They don't have a budget. There is no still a voice for them. But yeah, they understand that, the, they understand most of these brands and slow brands, they understand that this is their job and their duty to keep on working irrespective of they get a marketing budget or not. [00:30:51] Amrish Shahi: There would be some point when they will be heard a hundred percent sure. But I think they understand it, That without this, there is no future of anybody. [00:31:00] So bigger brands are still working on the sustainability as a gimmick or, fast fashion because it's profitable. In the short term right now, it's not the long term, but in the long term, they will realize, [00:31:14] Rajeev: Yeah, but there are some brands like the first brand that comes to my mind is Patagonia. and there are brands which are Doing some, like for example, I saw a shoe completely made of, recycled material. So Well, I mean, and many of us, we have tons of clothes, which we some of it, which we just use it once or twice and then it goes back. [00:31:42] Rajeev: So I think from a consumer point of view, also behavior needs to change, right? [00:31:49] Amrish Shahi: you're actually said, consumer behavior need to change, but our quest for looking different is not stopping us from doing that. So the human side, especially over certain segment of [00:32:00] the human side, where they, the more of us would be competing for less of the pain. Less of the jobs, less of the attraction, for each other, so these things, I go on to that level when, we see law of attraction amongst the, different generations, how they attract each other and why they need to be stylishly, decked up or stylishly, dressed up for occasion every day, they need to change everything so that they pick up a good partner. [00:32:28] Amrish Shahi: This is also human psyche, right? In certain countries. the demand for, fast fashion is huge because they require everyday new clothes so that they be seen as a more fashionable and the chances of picking up, the partners are no better. So this level of, when you get into this level of human emotion, you can't stop. So you will say that whether the priority for me is selection of partner or being sustainable, say no sustainability. I want my partner first. You're getting a point [00:33:00] and this just the generation me and you study these right now, but people who are in the situation right now where they are struggling to get a right partner, they'll say our first priority is let me get dressed up today. [00:33:12] Amrish Shahi: I don't want, I don't want to get into the sustainability. Thing, which looks boring to me. I need to be attractive. So most of our generation who is young, they would look at this as they will never think about sustainability. They will say,give me cheaper. So Patagonia kind of brand are evolving in a different way. [00:33:30] Amrish Shahi: They, even though at point of time, they closed the stores across us three days before Christmas season. And at that point of time, everybody was what to sell. So they're very few. They said our store staff require the same holidays as you guys are. So they, we are stopping three days before, let them go home. [00:33:47] Amrish Shahi: As you guys are enjoying, they will also decide. So do your shopping three or four days before. So, there are different brands and they become, they distribute the share. So very rare, very people, but yeah, we have examples.we have examples in [00:34:00] nudie jeans and jeans companies where they say that, please don't buy a jeans. [00:34:03] Amrish Shahi: This, these kinds of things are not gimmick. Please don't buy a jeans. You have, a broken or sorry, you had a jeans, which is, torn, please bring to us. We will repair it for free. Please don't buy. So when, it's also worked as reverse marketing also where they say, don't buy, but people buy. Okay. [00:34:19] Amrish Shahi: Bye. So a lot of people are using it as a reverse marketing tool also, but yeah, some people are actually trying. I see a big innovation coming up in the natural dyeing done very commercially. so that was a taboo, taboo. I will call it a taboo because nobody was trying to do, but now a water scarcity and a lot of regulations, government regulations are putting, not to pollute water bodies and soil. [00:34:44] Amrish Shahi: So, a lot of commercial dyeing in the natural pigments, natural dyeing are coming in, natural indigo incidentally, only 2 percent of the indigo is natural in the whole cycle of supply chain. Everything is a chemical indigo. So that actually pollute, [00:35:00] the rivers and water bodies a lot. So, but yeah, there are a lot of stuff are being done on that direction in last couple of years only because there was a push from the government regulations. [00:35:10] Rajeev: And do you think, sustainability as a story is, will hold good, in terms of, in the future, in terms of fashion or textile or the yarn side? [00:35:21] Amrish Shahi: Yeah. So I'm a hundred percent sure that, because. whatever we say that even it's looking like that nobody will, respect sustainability, but they will forced because forced in the sense that if we see in a real time, the climate change happening in front of us only, and then some there, somebody will has to link it to the way we consume, the way we consume stuff, we will realize that. [00:35:46] Amrish Shahi: The our own intention is our own behavior is responsible for we don't have water right now in India. Also, we struggle struggling in a major part where the water is not there. Can we link it to the way we consume stuff? [00:36:00] Yes. There is a, there's a fair linkage to how we are consuming, even including our fashion and the habits of eating and, consuming anything which is exorbitant or not required. [00:36:15] Amrish Shahi: It's directly linked to the way we, see the future coming until as you do a linkage and, the common do or the policies are made in a way that certain places we see policies are directly impacting. what is being offered to us and the way we consume it. So, government need to realize policy makers need to realize that if the consumers are not reacting to it nicely, the policies can't go wrong at the long term. [00:36:42] Amrish Shahi: If you don't have water, we do a nice air. if you have, polyester particles going everywhere, we need to, we need to be very careful about, There is nothing wrong in a fabric or fiber on a material. There is nothing wrong. I think so. The way we consume it, the way we don't recycle it, the way we just leave it [00:37:00] for the nature to, say, Hey, this is I've done and you just do whatever you feel like with this nature will not respond. [00:37:06] Amrish Shahi: It'll throw back at you. I stay in Goa actually. So I go to a local beach, on some of the days, just the sea, just throw everything back on the beach. It's just, it's yours. Take it. And the beaches are so dirty at that point of time, we need to clean it. If we keep on throwing stuff at the beaches and in the sea, it will throw it back to us. [00:37:29] Amrish Shahi: Nature is, nature doesn't take sides. So we need to understand this part, either the policy makers or the consumer will understand because we need to, bear it in coming years. Now, it's not that 20 years now, it's two years, it's two years. Maybe two months. [00:37:43] Rajeev: So what's the role of, somebody like a man, a yarn manufacturer like Bikilon, how do you think, they can be involved in this aspect? [00:37:54] Amrish Shahi: Yeah. So idea here is that, if we require all kinds of materials for all kinds of things, let's [00:38:00] say we require man made fiber for a couple of things, like functionality. If I wear a cotton natural stuff on Everest, not possible. I require a interesting or technically high product for a sub zero temperature. [00:38:16] Amrish Shahi: So idea here is that when we, consume stuff for its own and give its own respect and sanity, it will work for sure.also is that how, we would incorporate that stuff, which is forever there, let's, the man made stuff, which is forever there, how we retrieve it back, how we recycle it, how we kind of make it. [00:38:39] Amrish Shahi: long lasting, we utilize these materials in styles, which are more robust, more classic, more. So it's a responsibility of not the yarn suppliers, but it's possible designers also that how, products which are made for long last, the product should be made long lasting, right? So if I'm making a long lasting yarn, I'm [00:39:00] taking a long lasting yarn and I'm making a product which is just for two months or one wearing, this doesn't make sense, right? [00:39:07] Amrish Shahi: So idea here is that can we, designers need to think. Along with the material manufacturers and material suppliers, they work together on this thing that A is the yarn is robust, yarn is, this thing, can we do respect to it? Second, if, if you want to get it back again into the system. instead of getting into dump yards or dumping it somewhere, can we get it back some way? [00:39:32] Amrish Shahi: it plays a major role for both of the ends. Not only one party is responsible. [00:39:38] Rajeev: And how do see the future of, textile in general and yarn specifically going forward in the next five, 10, [00:39:46] Amrish Shahi: Yeah. A lot of interesting things are coming. Consumers really want not only a sustainable close. They want hardworking close. They don't want a mediocre product. They want a premium product. They can spend money on either. They want very cheap [00:40:00] product so they can just throw. So, so the world is really divided into the two extremes where they want either a premium robust product where they can keep lasting. [00:40:08] Amrish Shahi: So the product design is very different for these kinds of things. And another set spectrum where we want very, because we don't have money, we want, we are scarce a little bit, the world, the way world is going towards, and of abundance, they call it like, everything is going to be, people are increasing and the earth is, has to do that much only. [00:40:28] Amrish Shahi: So we need to share our resources. So obviously the habit of our consuming would impact it. But yeah, so idea here is that future of the product design and the material design would depend on how sustainable or natural integrated product would be coming. How we can, if it is a certain products are designed for long lasting or man made product, that need to be keep on recycling. [00:40:54] Amrish Shahi: We just have these materials only. We don't have abundance anymore, whatever you say. so we need to [00:41:00] get them back for recycling and reuse for next generation. so that's how, and how the human are evolving. The consumer is evolving in this pretty much direction only. We need to soon realize that this is what we have and either we need to consume it for long or otherwise, if you don't want to consume it for long, we need to recycle it. [00:41:19] Amrish Shahi: the interesting technologies which are coming in this space are need to enable our consumer to live same lifestyle as they are living still now, like they want to roam around, they want to be free, they want to have comfort level. Graphene is interesting technology, which is, coming in the every space of life, people would like to have more comfort clothing. [00:41:39] Amrish Shahi: People would like to travel a lot in there. They are realizing that this, the lifespan of whatever they have is quite short, anything can happen. Any lockdown can happen anytime now. So. They want to see as much as world, they want to experience as much as world, and they still want to work. So, if you see the,the country's opening for work from home or [00:42:00] work from anywhere, kind of visas, giving it to them, it's also pointing out how humans are, how the,generation is want to live and spend their time along with their loved ones. [00:42:10] Amrish Shahi: Also idea here is that the way consumers are changing, the way their habits are changing. Companies are in the technology to respond to that. we, the companies and the yarn suppliers and middle suppliers need to give them more innovative, more better looking, more robust, more technically advanced products. [00:42:28] Amrish Shahi: So yeah, for them to, freely live, freely work, they need to be presentable. Everything needs to be put in one garment only. So these are the multitasking or high, what do you call, they call it hard, hardworking clothes. And for that, the DNA has to be the yarns. [00:42:45] Rajeev: Interesting. Very interesting. So if you are starting your career right now, what would you tell your younger self? I mean, basically I'm asking because a lot of young designers will be listening to this conversation. What would you like to tell them? [00:42:59] Amrish Shahi: [00:43:00] Yeah, I'm still young. So, [00:43:01] Rajeev: Okay. [00:43:03] Amrish Shahi: I can start again a career. So actually I started my career again, a couple of years back. I worked in industry for 22 years and then I start to work a little bit, that whatever I learned in my career, especially my unique stuff, I would like to, share it with the brands. [00:43:19] Amrish Shahi: So we saw in our journey that. Yeah. The organized sector had a very good design structure. They are like 20 designers sometimes. And sometimes the return on investment on a design team is very huge when they're not profitable, to be honest, the companies and brands are not profitable. The return doesn't come. [00:43:35] Amrish Shahi: so the smaller brands don't afford that quality of design. And that's impacting actually a value chain to be honest, because majority of these low brands are 80 percent of the Indian population. Brands, to be honest. So with this thought, with this unique stuff, I ventured out on my own. So what I, what I uniquely offer to them is the same quality of designs, same quality of thought process as any organized brand can [00:44:00] offer at a very, nominal cause they don't require to have their own big design team, ROI for them. [00:44:06] Amrish Shahi: So I give them that service. Why I was, why I'm still clicking after, working so much of, years in industry and doing things differently is basically is that, I found my uniqueness. So I don't try to tick all the boxes everywhere. So that I see in my current, when I recruit for the brands and industry, I see a designer when they apply, they say, I can do this. [00:44:30] Amrish Shahi: I can do that. I can do menswear, womenswear, everything. I can do everything at two years of experience, right? So it's very tough. So I would suggest, the people who really want to get into a fashion industry, just find your unique and wait, keep on doing a smallest level wherever you want until as you have a, what do you call it? [00:44:48] Amrish Shahi: Internship kind of a level or intern kind of a level. Don't become a designer or head designer in two years. very tough. If you get into that level where you can't get and you're dirty, a lot of startups are offering like [00:45:00] after two years, they say you are the head designer and then they stop growing to be honest. [00:45:04] Amrish Shahi: So, so idea here is that get your unique self first, get your hand dirty. There is an industry, obviously there's alternate field which are coming, which is metaverse and designing for metaverse. It should be there. A lot of sizable people will be working in that. They don't require, they just require studios to work with. [00:45:20] Amrish Shahi: Cool. I agree with that. But a lot of us still want to wear tangible clothes, right? So we are not, none of us are in metaverse, maybe a small self of ours can metaverse. So if you're designing for metaverse, yeah, that's a cool thing, but a small sizable thing can happen. So most of us would require a tangible close. [00:45:40] Amrish Shahi: So A, find your uniqueness, B, work quite a deep dive in whatever you are good at it. Maybe a couple of years you're required just to find yourself. Maybe you're good in graphics, fabrics, tiles, whatever. But until you find your uniqueness, you will not. B [00:46:00] is people who are now at a good place and they really want to start something like I've started something like my own. [00:46:07] Amrish Shahi: so two things for the youngsters, I would suggest is which I've start missing is the patience and finding uniqueness. Both are interlinked.we were very impatient. The young generation is quite impatient. Let's not be impatient. You everybody. We'll have their own fair share, but need to wait.we all struggled to be honest. [00:46:29] Amrish Shahi: if you ask the, this generation, we, you, we all struggled initially, but now we are okay. We are, we're not, there is good space for everybody to be honest. So, the more unique you are, the more better chances of you doing better in your life. If you're everywhere, then five years down the line, 10 years down the line, you'll be just, just taking all the boxes. [00:46:49] Amrish Shahi: You will not be best in anything. So, and wait for your chance to come and keep on working on that. Don't try to work hard, but work focus. This is [00:47:00] what my youngsters for people who are starting after like a second chance, like me would be very clear that, Again, until you find your uniqueness and you want to now should be giving it to the world. [00:47:12] Amrish Shahi: Now you should take risk at this point of time. If you don't want to take risk, then you are doing the same stuff. After 15 years, 20 years, you'd be doing the same stuff. To be honest, you'd be just listening to management. You will not be utilizing your key points, which you have learned in this tree. So idea here is that when you're ready, when you think you can take risk, please do take. So, there is nothing wrong in taking risk. if you're a little bit of a sorted, if you're five, five, five months, six months, timelines are sorted, do whatever you learned, give it back to the industry. If you find a gap, please fill it best to fill it. If you are a little bit have experienced 15 years experience, please fill it, take a risk and please fill it. [00:47:55] Amrish Shahi: the best after 15 years experience in industry. So, just [00:48:00] look into your heart and say, this is what I found missing in industry. Just go ahead and fill it. Just don't worry about it. Take the risk. [00:48:07] Rajeev: Great. Great. Awesome. Advice. really appreciate what you've just said. so closing this conversation, is there anything else that you would like to share? Like, can you share something about the, the startup that you have right now? And is there anything else about that, that, you would like to share with the audience? [00:48:25] Amrish Shahi: yeah. So, basically see,fashion industry is very vast. So it's very huge. it touches from one end to another. And, idea is that, so, your knowledge will make your difference in here. Like, if you have a habit of reading, if you have a going to the places, I think everything, everything adds to your, your, professional career as well as to be honest. [00:48:46] Amrish Shahi: So being a designer, if you say that I've learned everything and I've achieved everything,that's a death of being a designer. Until as you are a sponge, you keep on soaking atmosphere. Yeah, designer should, understand [00:49:00] if the climate is changing what I should really inferences that what is going to impact the consumer base. [00:49:05] Amrish Shahi: So your feelings are more important, what I'm trying to arrive at. So if you're being a designer is, analytical side is one way to keep track of costings and, timelines, and those are the, you can divide them into certain parametrics. But if you're losing your emotional side, if you're losing your field side of it, then you're losing a lot. [00:49:29] Amrish Shahi: So idea here is that balance of the analytics as well as right and left side of the brain is more important when become seniors and the way we grow it. So obviously you need to take care of numbers, but keep your child, keep your innocence There, being emotional would result in a lot of benefits for the brand you're working. [00:49:50] Amrish Shahi: It's not that you always present your numbers. It's always you. When you present your emotions to the brand and touch you, touch them there, they get benefit a lot. They [00:50:00] do get benefit because they will be doing useless stuff. You just keep on throwing that past seasons numbers and emotions are changing very fast. [00:50:07] Amrish Shahi: So being emotional is not a problem at all. But I suggest to all of us that please be emotional. And that's what we try to do in our startup. We link a lot of emotions to the money, because until this, you are, feel right and emotionally, You will not give money. We are struggling. A lot of brands are struggling, to sell throughs. [00:50:28] Amrish Shahi: Why they're struggling because somehow the brands are not connected to human emotion. they keep on throwing them products and, the brand who suffer are the mediocre brands where they, where they want that they want to sell themselves as a premium product, but the products are not telling any story. [00:50:44] Amrish Shahi: so we help them connect to a very human emotion, talking to the, the right consumers that this consumer will never come to your store if you give them product, get them connected with the emotions. so I add a lot of value [00:51:00] when, I touch emotional side of a consumer to a tangible product and that might result or will result in the more sellability and sell throughs. [00:51:09] Amrish Shahi: So the first part is this soft,Conversion. Nobody can marketing maybe have matrix of saying that a conversion to a click level or those levels are coming, but this brand and this human connect level is not measured very nicely. But it impacts a lot. So we do this matrix very nicely in the simple life studio. [00:51:30] Amrish Shahi: So my name, my, my startup name is called simple life. Also as S C S M P L Y F E F Y F simple life. So even I cut down all the simple life in a very simple life. So idea here is that when brand comes to us, we just talk more of emotions. Numbers will come. I am 100 percent sure about it with staying in industry for so long. [00:51:51] Amrish Shahi: Numbers will come. [00:51:53] Rajeev: And where can they go,connect with you? Do you have like a website that you can share? [00:51:58] Amrish Shahi: Yeah. So I don't have a website [00:52:00] right now. It's still in work in progress because I'm a three people team only. we take very small projects. we actually are work for degrowth. We are not working for growth. So we work reverse. So we work for degrowth, that, we will work with you a couple of brands only at point of time. [00:52:17] Amrish Shahi: Okay. so we are not working that we want 20, 20 people. So we said four is very big number. Three is good number two is very nice. So you work on the growth level. So at a point of time, if you have a couple of projects, I work very nicely. So, because of, doing sanctity, I don't have a website. [00:52:33] Amrish Shahi: I just do have a Instagram page. It's called SMP, L Y F E studio. If you just Google SMP, L Y F E simple life, you will get it. It has Instagram page also, and it has a LinkedIn page. Even if you search Amrish Shahi, you will get it. [00:52:55] Rajeev: Yes, of course, I mean, I did that before the conversation when I was googling you. [00:53:00] So yeah, I got that Simplife concept. So it's very interesting. Degrowth, I think that's a word more people should use. [00:53:09] Amrish Shahi: So we, we actually practice it. We don't have much design team, even though we have a larger design team is three to four people. But, I work on all the projects because I need to train people to be emotional first and then talk about numbers. [00:53:26] Rajeev: Thank you. Thanks a lot, Amrish for sharing your wisdom. And yeah, it is amazing conversation and thanks and all the best for your venture, new venture in Goa. [00:53:38] Amrish Shahi: Yes. Thank you. Thanks a lot for being here. let me be here, and, let me share my thoughts and my mind. [00:53:45] Rajeev: Thank you so much. much. [00:53:46] Amrish Shahi: Pleasure is all mine. [00:53:47] Rajeev: . Thanks. Amrish for coming on the spinning values podcast. It was great to chat with you. If you want to listen up to the rest of the episodes. Then head on over to beekaylon.com/spinning values. [00:53:59] Rajeev: Thanks for [00:54:00] listening. And we look forward to meeting you on the next episode. This is Rajeev signing off.

February 21, 2024Episode 941 min

Dr. Neha Mehra on Bridging the Gap from Classroom to Industry in Textile Engineering

Ep. 9 - Dr. Neha Mehra [00:00:00] Dr. Neha Mehra: We go to, plants or we go to companies, for a week, for two weeks, or if they have a specialized training program, which they can do for us so that when we are teaching a subject, unless we know what is the latest technology development, we won't be able to deliver the best. There's a subject on Industry 4.0 specifically, what are the gaps in the industry or what are the changes that are happening in the industry so that our students are prepared and they don't go like, oh, this was never taught to us, so how do I adapt to this change? [00:00:31] Hello, and welcome to episode nine of spinning values. A podcast by Beekaylon synthetics. This is a show where we talk to innovators and thought leaders in the textiles and manufacturing space. [00:00:43] In this episode, we catch up with Dr. Neha Mehra from VJTI. Mumbai, one of India's leading educational institutions in textiles and technology. This episode is hosted by Kartik Chaudhri creative director of Inscape media. [00:00:59] Kartik Chaudhary: [00:01:00] So, welcome all the listeners. Welcome to spinning Values, a podcast by Beekaylon. We've been getting some encouraging response. So here we are with a very new episode. Today we have a very special guest. Today's guest is Dr. Neha Mehra. Who's the HOD in Department of Textile Engineering at VGTI, which is one of the most reputed college universities in Bombay. [00:01:25] Kartik Chaudhary: And my first exposure to VGTI was actually when I learned about some intern people who are just carried off an internship at Beekaylon synthetics, and we got a chance to speak to them and do a video with them. And I sort of, that time I had realized, okay, like, there's a lot of enthusiasm regarding the industry and these students really, added value to Beekaylon. [00:01:48] Kartik Chaudhary: And similarly, I think Beekaylon added the value to these students lives. And while talking to them, I realized why always, because even when we started doing communication, I [00:02:00] also did my. Graduation is in mass communication. And then when, then I went to a film school, and when you actually go on the job it's so much difference. [00:02:09] Kartik Chaudhary: And, you learn so much on the job. So I'm always curious to know how a curriculum for something as practical and as real as a manufacturing is designed and how the gaps that students probably, face when they move from a college, from a classroom to an actual say a business or a company. So it'll be a great conversation. So stick till the end. So, welcome Dr. Neha. Let's start with just tell us if you can tell our listeners a little bit about you and about this Department of Textile engineering. [00:02:43] Dr. Neha Mehra: a very small part of it. let me be very, I have done my B Tech in Textile Textile chemistry from, ICT, which is Institute of Chemical Technology. I have later worked with, as well as PhD from ICT. I have then worked with Lady Irwin College, Delhi [00:03:00] University, and now in VJTI. VJTI is a 136-year-old institute. Rather when it started with two components. One was JJ School of Mechanical Engineering, and the other was Ripon School of Textile. So when VJTI started, it started with the textile branch. At that time, we had only diploma in textile. Slowly, as the industry grew and we started doing, B Tech. [00:03:27] Dr. Neha Mehra: Now, VJTI also offers M Tech as well as PhD. So there are about nine branches in which VJTI has B Tech and many students are aware because, this is the institute which basically is the most preferred institute by Maharashtra students once they miss out IIT or NIT So that's the first choice somewhere, the legacy that it has and serving the industry since, you know, over a century. [00:03:52] Dr. Neha Mehra: So, that's the basic about VJTI was, started by, of course, the Britishers later on, once, so the name was Victoria [00:04:00] Jubilee Technical Institute. Now it has been converted to Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute, and when the IITs were set up, so VJTI professors were the one who planned the whole, IITs the initial IITs and were made the first directors of the IIT So that's the basic legacy that we have. So we are located in Matunga [00:04:23] Kartik Chaudhary:  tell us a little bit more about, give an insight into how this textile engineering department looks like, what all it has. [00:04:30] Dr. Neha Mehra: Firstly. the structure is a hundred year old. We are in this campus since a, since a century. We are celebrating the centenary year rather. And we have housed the machines, which are of made of eighteen eighty nine, nineteen hundred and fourteen, which were imported at that time from, from the UK at that point of time, and which are the latest machines today. [00:04:53] Dr. Neha Mehra: Also, those machines are majorly functional. And are used to teach students. So as much as we [00:05:00] have old machines, we do have new machines, latest machines also. But if you see the latest machines that are used in the industry, what happens is the latest machines are all compact, are all, tied up, and you are not able to see the mechanism happening inside. So why we need, why we actually, preserve these old machines is we can open up the machines, show up the gearing system, teach the students in the main. For, main way, and the principal kind of remains the same in the old machine of the new machine. Few modifications, we obviously enhance the teaching, but these old machines really help us in teaching the students. [00:05:37] Dr. Neha Mehra: So, a mechanical engineer or textile engineer who works on machines, it's a real good exposure for them. But I also, because if you see the industrial revolution happened with textile machines, you know, the first industrial revolution happened. So if you want to see the whole re revolution steps, a visit to our department will actually, you [00:06:00] know, for, show that, you know. Very good. [00:06:02] Kartik Chaudhary: It completely makes sense that you still maintain the old machines, and I think, I'm sure that sort of, makes these students foundations in understanding of the entire principles. Very strong. So, very interesting. So, okay, so we got a glimpse into the institute. [00:06:16] Kartik Chaudhary: We got a glimpse into the the textile engineering department. But again, as I was mentioning in the introduction, what do you think are like what is the purpose of. Education and research in textile engineering field. how do you see those gaps being filled between students being in the classroom and when they go to the when they go and work actually in a manufacturing plant? How do you see the education and research sort of is shaping the future of this industry? [00:06:45] Dr. Neha Mehra: so when I say, education, so as you said, like what you learned in the institute cannot actually match as per what exactly happened in the industry. I completely agree with that. To some extent, we need to make sure that we are able to give the [00:07:00] maximum. But, and we try to do this, that is we try to clear the concepts. [00:07:05] Dr. Neha Mehra: We try to give the theory of each machinery that they would be using or of say, the chemicals that you, they would be using in the whole process sequence, whether it's yarn, manufacturing, or dying of yarn. So all of those concepts need to be clear. We try to, also give them examples like in, if I'm teaching them yarn dyeing they don't need to only understand what is a yarn Dyeing but where is the example it'll go to and why a yarn dyed product becomes more costly than a piece type product or something. [00:07:36] Dr. Neha Mehra: So we try to correlate what we have learned in the industry, and so that comes as a practical, you know, bridging the gap. Apart from that, there is something which is called as our industry institute interaction. We have a dedicated slot in our timetable every week, two hours wherein we try to callpersonnel from the industries, from various industries [00:08:00] to come and have a talk with them, have a, deliver a lecture sometimes with the latest developments or what their industry is doing, or sometimes have a open conversation with them so that you know. [00:08:11] Dr. Neha Mehra: It, this really helps them to keep them updated, of what is happening in the industry. Secondly, this also really supports in students trying to stick around to the textile industry. You know why? Because, initially when people join today, as you see, the world is all of AI and industry 4.0 and all of that. [00:08:32] Dr. Neha Mehra: So the first preference of 90% students is computers or electronics, EXTC. The textile branch is not a first choice, or rather, it's more of, many times it is more of that. Yeah. I want to get into VJTI the tag, brand tag and then let's see whatever we do. So that's the thing. But now once they're here and our industry is so huge that we are, you know, we have so many jobs and we have a [00:09:00] dearth of engineers. [00:09:01] Dr. Neha Mehra: to Serve the industry. It is our effort to make them stick to the textile field so that to when they enter, it's okay, whatever attitude they come in from. But in the final year, they should feel confident, no, this is the industry that I want to stick to. So this, industry institute interaction really helps, you know, motivate them, build their confidence. [00:09:24] Dr. Neha Mehra: Seeing their own alumni. So sometimes we take care that there are three, four year, senior alumni or very senior alumni of VJTI comes and they interact with them so that they say, okay, yeah, they started also like how we were and you know, when they share. Yeah, this was the classroom I used to sit in. I was one of those back benchers. [00:09:43] Dr. Neha Mehra: But see, today I have reached this height. So when those casual conversations happen, it really motivates the students that yeah, we can also do very well in the industry. So that is one thing. Secondly, we as faculty also take care that we stay updated to deliver [00:10:00] the best for the students. So many times we undergo trainings. [00:10:04] Dr. Neha Mehra: We go to, plants or we go to companies, for a week, for two weeks, or if they have a specialized training program, which they can do for us so that when we are teaching a subject, unless we know what is the latest technology development, we won't be able to deliver the best. So that's how we make a effort from for the students as well as from our side to bridge the gap. [00:10:27] Kartik Chaudhary: And I can say it's extremely important to bridge these gaps because, that was, that has been one struggle that. India had been facing, but now I think as the time is passing people are getting more and more aware and it's good to see that, institutes are putting in so much effort to make sure that these guys are ready for the industry and for the real world. [00:10:46] Kartik Chaudhary: And it's just not a mere passing an examination. So that's really good to know. So, continuing on this conversation only. Tell us I mean, how do you ensure that the curriculum that you have [00:11:00] aligns with the the actual advancement in the technology? Because it's not easy. [00:11:03] Kartik Chaudhary: I mean, these things are pretty complicated to do. once you set up the curriculum it, it happens that, it, you have already put in so much effort to make it. You want to keep it for a certain amount of years. You want to stick to it. But as we are seeing right now, world changes so fast, new technologies come in, the entire processes change. So how do you ensure that kind of a flexibility and resilience that your curriculum isaligning with the current demands and advancements? [00:11:30] Dr. Neha Mehra: VJTI is an autonomous institute, so we have academic autonomy our, syllabus changes every four years. So every fourth year we revise the syllabus first. Okay. Secondly, we always have industry people in our advisory board to give us the inputs on the curriculum that we have designed. [00:11:49] Dr. Neha Mehra: So every four years when we create our new curriculum, we have board of study meetings where the requirements are two to three [00:12:00] people who are at a top position of the industry. Two people who are recent alumni. So that once they have just left and they have entered the industry, they kind of know that no, this was more important in highlighting while teaching. [00:12:14] Dr. Neha Mehra: So the recent alumni as well as, some people from the other academic institutes like an IIT or an NIT and our own team. So all of us sit together, brainstorm on each importance of each and every subject, how many hours each subject needs to be given, whether it should be more of practical, whether it should be more of theory. [00:12:35] Dr. Neha Mehra: And, detailed parts. So the whole input from the industry is taken here and we try to incorporate as much as we can from the industry from, as the input from the industry. However, having said that, you know, there are changes which are taking place in the curriculum in the sense that recently, like six years back, we had a curriculum revision wherein the [00:13:00] changes had come from the central level where you had to reduce the number of credits That is because they want some students to have lesser stress and they need to have free time to learn and, you know, develop more things that they're interested in, whatever the reason. So we had to drastically reduce the number of subjects in the, that we take in the four years by about eight subjects. Now imagine if you have to remove eight subjects. You will have to compress the syllabus, something and you know, make them join together or combine two subjects, make it into one, or reduce the emphasis on some of the other subjects. So, which is where sometimes the industry comes and tells us, sorry, you need to teach this more. [00:13:46] Dr. Neha Mehra: Or tells the students some Yeah. Unit. But that's a restriction from, for us. That we have to cover up everything. Our student needs to have an exposure of yarn manufacturing [00:14:00] from the oldest to the latest machines of weaving, from dobby to Jacquard to everything as well as he needs to have a briefing of dyeing printing, finishing so that what finish can be applied on something, on a cotton and cannot be applied on a polyester or is not required on a polyester. [00:14:18] Dr. Neha Mehra: Those things he would need to know as well as testing. So when I try to untake everything as well as technical textiles now new, so it becomes really difficult to constrain, our syllabus and cover up everything so that our students are given exposure to most of the things. But, you know, cannot, we are not able to take in things in depth here somewhere. we do have electives. So in electives we give that choice that, you know, you take up, something in detail, something more like technical textiles, basically they would study, but there is a subject which is home textiles, which they can take as an [00:15:00] elective. So that more in detail of furnishing industry if they're intend to work on. So those kind of electives, we do float, but you know, it's, there is a constraint on the number of courses, on the number of subjects that you can have. But yeah, even keeping that in mind, we try to take inputs from the industry so that, you know, we are able to deliver the best. [00:15:24] Kartik Chaudhary: And can you te te tell us about some interesting projects that students do, [00:15:28] Kartik Chaudhary: there are a few projects which they students do whereinthere's a project where a. Student has, so this is a PhD work thing, but where students have worked on wound healing using natural products. So, there have been extracts that he has taken from turmeric and converted it into a form which can be directly applied onto textile. [00:15:51] Dr. Neha Mehra: So like a bandaid, how you apply this fabric. If you apply on the fabric, it will help you in wound healing. Certain projects were done [00:16:00] wherein we are trying to produce mosquito repellent fabrics so that specifically if you talk of young babies or infants, you can't apply a mosquito repellent on them. So if you produce a bed cover, which is naturally mosquito repellent, but from natural resources, no chemicals involved at all. So from natural oils. So once the bed cover is on the kid, it's not even direct skin contact to the child as well as it is repelling. So certain, such applications or else. We also, there was a group of students who worked on recycling. [00:16:33] Dr. Neha Mehra: So when I say recycling, they said that milk pouches, everyone throws n number of milk pouches every day. They go into thegarbage and into the landfill and there is no end to it. So they're trying to use. Milk pouches to increase the strength in a composite. So it's a way of recycling, and you can very well recycle them or get them. So various, such projects do happen.  recently a project is [00:17:00] happening where our students  are trying toincorporate a machine wherein inventory management or. From the storage facility, they [00:17:08] Dr. Neha Mehra: would be able to track down, this is the thing that is required, that vessel would be able to take care, would have sensors. It can track down the path where it is available. It'll be able to get it down, take it ahead. So they're trying to create that kind of a vehicle. So, multidisciplinary research also happens in cement, concrete composites. Also, people work as well as core textiles also. [00:17:33] Kartik Chaudhary: I mean, that's really good to know that such innovative projects are being carried out in the institute. And I mean, I hope a couple of these projects actually see the. Light of the day and it becomes like an industry norm because these projects really sound interesting. So, we also heard about this new education policy that has come in and, how do you think that has helped or that has enhanced the the curriculum and the lives of the students? [00:17:58] Dr. Neha Mehra: The new education policy has [00:18:00] recently been taken up. VJTI is one of the first institutes which have implemented it. Our students who have joined in the new education policy are still in the first year. Now, the benefits of the new education policy are that it gives you flexibility. If you are required to leave the course for some reason, say you are medically unfit, or something, some big loss happened in the family. So what used to happen earlier was the student left the course and there was no coming back. So that freedom is given that if you have passed, say even the first year, you would get a certificate in textile if you have passed, if you leave the course for whatever reasons, in the second year, you will get a diploma in textile you leave after the third year you get a B.Sc.. And if you pass after the final year, then you get, sorry, you get a B Tech vocationally. So what, so, it gives firstly an opportunity for students even if, for say financial reasons or for medical reasons, if they had to leave the course, [00:19:00] they have some value attached to the number of hours or the number of years that they gave. And with that certificate or the diploma, they can search out for a job with the expertise that they have gained till then. That is one thing. Second thing, flexibility of coming back. So suppose someone had a financial loss, they had to leave the education, go start working, and within two years now, he has made enough money that he could come back and at least continue complete his education. So in a span of three years, he has the freedom to come back. Rejoin the program from where he left and continue the program. So that flexibility will really be very good and helpful for the students. Also the thing is that so new education policy supports a lot of multidisciplinary work. So like you see today, nothing is, no development is only one sided or in one stream. There is a multidisciplinary research. [00:20:00] So, the freedom is that yes, everyone gets a B.Tech. In the specialized in the branch that you have chosen. So suppose you are a BTech textile student, you will get your BTech in textile. But earlier what would happen, even the topper had the BTech and even the lower ranked person had a BTech. Now you complete the basic number of courses. You get a BTech, you choose an additional course. It say my interest is in artificial intelligence. So I choose a basket of courses, which is for artificial intelligence. I do these five or six subjects over a period of three years, additional one, one course extra per semester. So my degree will say, B. Tech in textile technology with minors in artificial intelligence. Or it could be with minors in civil engineering, it could be minors in electric. So any of these options are open for the student so that someone who wants to do multidisciplinary research can do that. And if [00:21:00] someone wants to have more knowledge in their own field. So he says that I don't want other branches. I want to specialize more in textile only. So he will choose those extra set of courses of textile. So he will get a B Tech with honors in textile. So it says that he has gained more knowledge than a normal B. Tech Textile person in the same domain. So this would really helpmultidisciplinary research as well as in, develop more interest of students in our field as well as some, collaborate with other departments. So it's very recent. It's, we are in the still first year of incorporating NEP, but we are very hopeful that this will, open up. Also the focus with NEP is that holistic development is a focus. So not justhaving focus on technical training, but they need to have good amount of personality development. [00:21:56] Dr. Neha Mehra: They could have, they have co-curricular courses. They have design [00:22:00] thinking and creativity as a subject. So they, how to think out of the box, immaterial of the topic, how to think something different. Is a part of their course. So that creativity component, which I think today you or me, never had in our schooling and our training times is being a, being made a part of the curriculum. [00:22:20] Dr. Neha Mehra: So this really helps them. [00:22:21] Kartik Chaudhary: So good to know that policy makers are putting in so much thought and so much discussion into making sure that, the new generation that comes out of these academic institutions are like an overall personality, and rather than just. Being like in a horse barn focused on one thing. [00:22:37] Kartik Chaudhary: So that's really good to know. And at all the points that you enhanced were that you pointed out were really interesting. So I hope that sort of, pushes us ahead in, in our quest to becoming a first world country that we are all looking at. So, I and I it really sounds great. [00:22:54] Kartik Chaudhary: you did tell us about the projects that are being going on in your institutions. We did hear about the [00:23:00] gaps that you're trying to bridge between a classroom learning and a practical learning inside an actual manufacturing plant. From there the offshoot from that question is that I have interacted with some interns from VGTI. [00:23:14] Kartik Chaudhary: How crucial do you think are these internship programs for students in textile engineering? And what do you think? The, all the students that are looking to do internships, what do you think are the kind of experiences should they be seeking to gain during these practical placements? So one aspect is the technical aspect, that's for sure. [00:23:33] Kartik Chaudhary: Okay. Maybe you get to work on a machine that you didn't have in the college, or the machine is being used in a different way. One is that example, the other is obviously. A more soft skill driven situation. because when you are in a classroom or when you are living a college life, your behavior, your personality are slightly different than what you experience in a professional environment. [00:23:56] Kartik Chaudhary: So how crucial do you think these internship programs and [00:24:00] what specifically do you suggest to all the students hearing this, what should they seek or gain during this internship? processes. [00:24:08] Dr. Neha Mehra: So, internships basically turn out very crucial. Why? Because till now, whatever they have seen at a very small scale. So even if I have a pilot machine of the same machine that the industry is using, the kind of production, so they're seeing something is happening, some yarn is coming out, some spinning is happening, which is at a very small scale, but when they go to the industry, even if they see the same machine, the difference will be where that small parameter change actually leads to a lot ofloss or profit in the kind of yarn being produced or in the kind of fabric being produced. And that will incur so much of loss to the industry or so much of productivity to the industry. That whole gap, that whole bridging the gap, where okay we will do an experiment that, yes, this was this is how you do spinning. This is how the machine [00:25:00] works. the fiber is fed from here. [00:25:01] Dr. Neha Mehra: The yarn will come out from here. Those basic things we would be able to teach. But every setting change in the machine leads to what difference in the product. We can't do that because firstly, we don't have so much of raw material to work with. And running the machine at a length does not turn out so feasible or doing so much of parameter studies is not so feasible with our students and the limited number of hours. So that small things that, they are, once they stand in front of the machinery and they see a technician doing parameter changes. Machine setting changes or doing the maintenance of the machine. So we tell our students that whenever the maintenance is happening, you need to be standing there because that is where you will actually get to see the whole setup of the machine. So that really makes a difference in their understanding. Secondlysomewhere the what are the requirements of the market? So many times students work with. Finding out what is new in the market as [00:26:00] a part of the internship, the they are given certain projects. And what would you do find a possible solution as a project. So when these live projects are given to them, it really motivates them to do good amount of research till now, we give them research we give them projects or we give them presentations or tutorial topics. They're only doing basic surveys, refer a textbook, get that basic information and come back. Now when they work on live projects, it really makes a difference in their understanding and in the depth that they need to get into. And it boosts their confidence when they go into the industry and the industry. People, fortunately being VJTI students treat them well with the legacy that VJTI students have. So they get, it boosts their confidence and they come back very happy that, this is how, they were, we were called upon, the technicians would call us. Come.. Main tumhe samjhata hoon, main tumhe sikhata hoon. So that respect given to them [00:27:00] really boost their confidence up. [00:27:01] Kartik Chaudhary: There is a limitation when you are in college, like you're only interacting to your own age group people or your teachers. But when you are in an in a working environment, you know you have people from different economic backgrounds, from different aspects of life. So how do these things impact?. [00:27:17] Dr. Neha Mehra: That exposure somewhere also reallysupport them. And at times it makes them humble also that okay, you sometimes have a confidence that I'm a VJTI person, but when you go into the industry, there's so much to learn. a senior who is, has a 20 year experience is coming and teaching you. [00:27:34] Dr. Neha Mehra: They, when they say that people after teaching heights also are so humble, it makes them a little down to earth. It somewhere develops discipline also, because today, if you see these students are a little casual, somewhere, even if I don't come for that lecture or if I'm 10 minutes late, but when you go to the industry and you say, see that? Things like that don't work. You have to be on time. You have to be present, completely present for a [00:28:00] meeting or for a discussion. So those things also do impact on the students and the way they, look at it. Sometimes the students come back and they tell us, ma'am, why were you not so strict? Now when you actually go and start working and that nine to nine 15 doesn't work it goes as an impact. So then they're like, okay, now we realize why was that? [00:28:19] Kartik Chaudhary: So maybe they should first take up an internship session and then they should, get into the classroom rather than other way around, because I think that's totally very important for them to realize the importance of it. so that's interesting. Dr. Neha, AI is the buzzword right now. [00:28:35] Kartik Chaudhary: Automation is a buzzword right now. You mentioned Industry 4.0. So what is it like, how is the textile industry overall evolving? I'm sure you spend a lot of time in studying the newer innovations that are going on. How do you think automation and technology are playing the role in, transforming the yarn manufacturing process? [00:28:54] Dr. Neha Mehra: So, automation and technology have a really large role today. [00:29:00] So, today, I mean, the number of workers that are required are much less. The number of managers that are required are much less thanks to automation and technolgy. But that doesn't mean that the requirement of textile engineer completely goes down because what is going to be the setting that is going to be required with the automation to be done so that we get a perfect product out will be done by the textile engineer. [00:29:22] Dr. Neha Mehra: The requirements will be set by the textile engineer. The settings might be done by the in the automation sector these are queries which really impacted the textile industry. When we started talking about Industry 4.0 where there were conferences and people were really worried about what would happen to the people working for us. Yes, slowly it is being adapted. I would still not say that the whole adapt adaptation by the industry has happened yet. But yes, things have become much smoother than the amount of defects or the amount of loss that a company incurs due to [00:30:00] manual error will definitely be reduced. And the use of sensors, all of these in the machinery makes a real impact. And obviously it'll impact the kind of manpower that we will require, but it only impacts the kind of manpower. So we tell our students that yes, you are a textile engineer, you need to understand the machinery. Unless you understand the machinery, you can't even tell what parameters will actually improve your end product. But yes, you might need some special training to alsocater to the industry, which is being so. When we talk of automation, there are certain courses also which we have incorporated in our own curriculum. So there's electronic devices a subject on that where we take care of teaching those sensors and various PCM parts and everything. There's a subject on Industry 4.0 specifically, so that what all are the bridge what are the gaps in the industry or what are the changes that are taking. What are happening in the industry so that our students are prepared and they [00:31:00] don't go like, oh, this was never taught to us, so how do I adapt to this change? So we are trying to incorporate those changes in the curriculum itself. But as so the, we are looking at the pace of this adaption happening in the industry. We, get there so. [00:31:17] Kartik Chaudhary: So I mean that, that makes sense. because a lot of people are nervous that it's going to come and it's going to take up jobs, but it's very important that you mentioned the kind of jobs. Because it's going to make the entire process way more efficient. [00:31:30] Kartik Chaudhary: The quality will improve. So, maybe the manual jobs, the, the menial jobs, the jobs which human mind should not be doing. human mind should be doing more creative stuff and, more efficient work. [00:31:42] Kartik Chaudhary: So, one and another, I mean, buzzword that we do here, especially in the manufacturing industries, is sustainability. I mean, we run an agency and we work with a lot of manufacturers and a lot of times we see that, whenever we are exploring the European markets and, north American [00:32:00] markets. [00:32:00] Kartik Chaudhary: The, those customers are looking for companies that focus more on sustainability and, who focus more on giving back to the environment and, who are recycling. There are certain government mandates also that sort of pushes the companies to go into the sustainable practices. Lots of factories around Gujarat, Silvassa, they'll be generating a part of their power from solar solar from renewables. [00:32:25] Kartik Chaudhary: they would be recycling the water that is sort of being used in the factory. it is a growing concern in various industries. How is textile engineering, contributing to the implementation and development of sustainable practices within yarn manufacturing? [00:32:41] Kartik Chaudhary: Even, the one thing I do like to point out that Beekaylon synthetics is pretty good. They are, making sure that a lot of power in their plant is being manufactured from solar power. They also have a big, ETP, if you ever get a chance to go to their factory, you should. And also they have been manufacturing these [00:33:00] recycle yarns with Ciclo and otherwise, and, they are really doing a great job in making sure that sustainability remains a big part of their manufacturing process. What are your [00:33:10] Kartik Chaudhary: views on it? [00:33:11] Dr. Neha Mehra: The sustainability has become a part of our industry. Very much so wherein we are now focusing so much on recycling of material. As you said, Beekaylon is very much known for it. They're taking so much of efforts and it is great, which is where we also would like our students to go have a exposure of that In the curriculum perspective, we do have a course also on sustainability so that in the whole cycle, so where, whether it's yarn manufacturing or in the fabric or in the dyeing. What are the banned chemicals or what are the processes that you could do so that you make the, small steps also, which can make our process sustainable. And thengiving them exposure to various organizations such as the DHCRSL, everything, so that they are aware of, okay, [00:34:00] if they actually go and work in a team wherein they're going to work on improving the sustainability aspect of the industry or. Taking steps toward making it more sustainable. They have that exposure. So basically that as well as we do encourage our students to work on this aspect. So when I said that the milk pouch project, which happened, so where the students have a realization that a lot of waste is being incorporated into the landfills, and then they want to find out solutions. Even our students, when they go to their internship, many times the company themselves gives them the project that this is our waste, or this is a big problem for our industry. Find out a solution for it. So that aspect. Now, slowly people have started realizing and people have started taking steps. Industry is very much so taking steps. Butsometimes there is also a gap, like, wherein. People know that yeah, they want to do something, but what do they want to do? They're not aware of. So, I [00:35:00] think it's a great growth in the sustainability sector, specifically in yarn manufacturing because polyester recycling has become a very good component. [00:35:10] Dr. Neha Mehra: And as you mentioned, solar energy usage or affluent treatment, complete recycling of water, 99% recycling of water are the major steps that the textile industry takes. [00:35:21] Kartik Chaudhary: Okay, so a because anyway, textile industry, India's textile industry is one of the biggest contributor in the economic growth. So, it is a responsibility that they have to sort of make sure that, sustainability. It becomes a growing concern. And it's good that it is it should be a buzzword, the customers should be more careful of to choosing companies that they buy from and they should be looking into the sustainable practices that they follow. [00:35:46] Kartik Chaudhary: So that's great to know. So, Dr. Neha as we now wrap up the conversation tell usthere are a lot of students that hear this podcast from all over India. From the outside, obviously textile industry [00:36:00] would be one of the biggest employment generators in the country because the demand is such, the product is such that, no matterwhere you live, what kind lifestyle you have, textile is all around us. [00:36:11] Kartik Chaudhary: So, tell us for students and young professionals are interested in pursuing a career in textile engineering. What is your advice to them? What skills of areas of expertise you think they should focus on, and where will you recommend people to join this industry? how does it look like in, in, maybe in the next 10, 20, 50 years? [00:36:32] Kartik Chaudhary: What is your advice for the students and aspiring professionals? [00:36:35] Dr. Neha Mehra: so,  firstly, I expect the students that if you plan to leave the field and go ahead, I mean, your choice is the first, obviously you need to enjoy your job, but this is something that it is going to give you a big growth if you only see the starting package of some other. Department getting, being more, be rest assured and, a starting package, even if it is slightly less, might [00:37:00] be today. We are very close to at par with other branches. But even if you feel so, the growth that the textile industry gives you is much more. Why? Because you have to do less of competition. An IT industry has too much of competition. You just see the number of colleges which are, which have an IT course. Certain institutes running two shifts of IT courses, computer courses, because there is so much of demand. But in the end, you to grow in the industry, you have that amount of competition. You are in an textile industry. [00:37:31] Dr. Neha Mehra: You you develop your competence and it leads you to grow many folds. So within few years, in two years, three years, people have started becoming assistant manager positions. They start getting promoted. They grow drastically. So that is one thing which is very important that you realize that you see the whole graph Speaking of what they should learn, what they should focus on is they should really focus on starting, getting [00:38:00] information from various books sitting together. And clearing the concepts so you could, many times what happens is when you are studying from one book you, or you have studied certain amount of one subject, you're not able to cover up the other subject. [00:38:17] Dr. Neha Mehra: So make the study circle, everyone take out topics, So it also improves your confidence. It gives you more clarity, plus your friends will question you while you are teaching them. It motivates you to study further. And today what is happening is practical difficulty as a teacher, I would say, is that things have become too simple for students, as in you give them an assignment, you give them a project. The easiest thing is use chat, GPT type the title, and you have an answer. That works temporarily. You might get that marks for that assignment, but in the long run when an interviewer will ask you the same question, you [00:39:00] will not be able to answer and which is why we emphasize in the class again and again that you are not studying for the exam. Till the 12th standrd,. You were studying for the exam, you were getting marks. Now you are only studying for your interview. That is the only basic you know, thing that you have to pass. Marks are going to be irrelevant even if you are a 90% nine pointer, but you're not able to answer in the interview. It doesn't matter. So we should avoid those shortcuts. They can be our support, but we need to take care that we actually learn the concept when we take it ahead. So that is really something that, I would like to focus. [00:39:37] Kartik Chaudhary: what do you see like in, in the next 10, 20, 30, 50 years? What are the like the prospects for the students and, is it an exciting industry for newer generation to look [00:39:47] Kartik Chaudhary: at [00:39:48] Dr. Neha Mehra: so a lot of the new products that are coming in are with textiles and polymers. So it is somewhere that, it's not that because AI is growing or because some other field is growing, we are going to [00:40:00] stay back. Rather, our amalgamation and more multidisciplinary work is going to be the way ahead. So it is a place where. Work and growth will happen. And yes, while you are, while you study this course, you have to parallel learn to incorporate other branches and do more multidisciplinary work, which is going to be the. [00:40:25] Kartik Chaudhary: Correct, and I mean, textile industry is the, like you had also mentioned in the earlier part of the podcast that industrial Revolution was around textile industry. And textile industry is usually the growth driver of any economy, of any ecosystem. So I think it will continue togrow. So, thank you Dr. [00:40:42] Kartik Chaudhary: Neha. Thank you for being part of spinning values and giving us your valuable time. And we look forward to having few more of [00:40:49] Dr. Neha Mehra: Thank you so much. It was my pleasure. [00:40:51] Kartik Chaudhary: thank you so much. [00:40:52] Thank you for listening to this episode of spinning values. This is an original podcast by biggie alone, synthetics. [00:41:00] This show is produced by Inscape media.com. If you liked this episode, please do share it with others who might like it. [00:41:08] Thank you for listening and see you in the next episode. Take care.

December 13, 2023Episode 831 min

Heartfulness Meditation: Achieving Personal Excellence in the Corporate World - Tushar Pradhan

<h1>Ep. 8 - In conversation with Tushar Pradhan - On Heartfulness Meditation</h1> Tushar Pradhan: [00:00:00] When we talk about heartfulness, we are talking about our ability toaccess the soul of the spirit, which is in some way, and it is described in many ways, that it the, that the heart is the seat of the soul. And when we try to do meditation on the heart chara, it's essentially the starting point of our journey. Rajeev: Hello, and welcome back to a brand new episode of Spinning Values. A podcast initiative by Beekaylon Synthetics. We all live busy lives filled with deadlines, milestones, and whatnot. Our productivity and careers all comes down to how we handle the pressures and stressors of life. Rajeev: In this episode, Kartik Chaudhry sits down with Tushar Pradhan, a practitioner of Heartfulness Meditation. Rajeev: Tushar shares his personal journey and explains the differences between [00:01:00] Heartfulness Meditation and Mindfulness. The conversation also explores the relevance of Heartfulness Meditation in the corporate setting and how it can help individuals achieve personal excellence and reduce stress. Kartik Chaudhry: Hi Tushar, welcome, Spinning Values. this is a podcast that Beekaylon started a couple of years back and we have received some great response. Initially, we had only focused on textile industry as a whole. But as we were into it, we realized that, we shouldn't limit ourselves and we need to also look into, the corporate structures, the business, the general, happiness of the employees, and you know how to keep the workplace happier Kartik Chaudhry: despite it being a textile thing, we don't wanna be, industry specific. We wanna sort of open it up, slightly more so in that kind of transition and in that, optimism, we welcome you. We've spoken [00:02:00] earlier and, I understand what you do a little bit, but for listeners, why don't you introduce yourselves and tell us what you do. Tushar Pradhan: Yeah, thanks. Thanks a lot, Kartik and wonderful to be here on this podcast. really nice to hear what you guys are doing. trying to spread values. without being industry specific, I think it all is a human element, I guess. So that's great. just a little bit about myself. I was, the chief investment officer at HSBC mutual fund for the last 14 years ending in April this year. Tushar Pradhan: and now I've begun, a little bit of an office of myselfuh, trying to get into the investment market, as an individual. But, prior to that, I've always been associated with the investing field, right from the time that I did my MBA in the US, and then joined a couple of,companies in the US, before coming back to India. And I joined HDFC, as soon as I came back in 95, way back. And, they had a investing advisory business, which was [00:03:00] not really like a formal thing, but, at that time, investing was not really, institutional investing was not that formal. In fact, there were no mutual funds at that time either. so they had an advisory to a foreign investor, which was incorporated under the Ministry of Finance rules. So it was a very, very early stage. public investing kind of role. And thankfully, I, kind of, parachuted into that role as soon as I came back. And, since then, I was with HDFC when they launched the mutual fund. Tushar Pradhan: I became a fund manager for them, then in between I joined a company called AIG, which also launched a mutual fund. So essentially to a very, large extent, I've been associated with the investment field, largely stock markets, bond markets, that kind of thing. And, the real part which I feel was important in my journey was that, I adopted a spiritual practice along the way and it coincided with actually my coming back to India. Tushar Pradhan: And I feel that, I owe that a lot to my ability to, stay steady [00:04:00] during this very mad field of investing throughout this year. So that's a little bit about myself and,really happy to share whatever I can. Tushar Pradhan: Okay, so as I. Correct me if I'm wrong. You are also, apart from being an asset manager, that has been your career and your full-time job, you have now become an expert in heartful meditation and mindfulness, if I can say so. So you touched upon this a little bit, that you came from there and you felt that there is a need of spiritual, element to the process. Kartik Chaudhry: So what inspired this change in your professional journey? Tushar Pradhan: No, thanks again for that question, but let me clarify, mindfulness is a very well known It's a very well known practice. method of, I won't say meditation, but contemplation, which has a lot of scientific data and published papers, et cetera, and it's accepted across the world, especially large corporates actually [00:05:00] use mindfulness, there are mindfulness apps, et cetera. Tushar Pradhan: What I'm talking about is, something called as heartfulness, which is a technique of meditation, which is different from mindfulness. And it was again, going back to where, this institution began, to 1944, where it was developed as a method of, meditating, in today's world. Because usually what happens is meditation, you associate with longer beards and Himalayas and some sort of very strict practices. Tushar Pradhan: Which initially,people are put off by because, we are leading normal lives and we don't seem to think that there is a link at all to say that why should we meditate, et cetera. So heartfulness is a method which teaches people to meditate as they are, wherever they are in whichever profession, whatever creed, caste, gender they are, absolutely regardless of any background or any training. And that is what heartfulness very briefly [00:06:00] is. And, to share with you what really inspired me to, meditate in the first place is, a little bit of a, I would say early success in life. So many times people either encounter a very dramatic, personal tragedy or a situation which, helps them to reflect and say that, look, is life all about this? Tushar Pradhan: because generally we are all in a materialistic world and typically a person who's educated tries to get better at wherever he is, gets a job or tries to make more money or whatever. I mean, success is always defined by, some ideal that such people take for themselves. For me, success was, as a very young boy, having been influenced by Hollywood, I had seen a movie called Wall Street and I was very impressed by, What was going on there? Tushar Pradhan: And I said, look, that's my goal. I want to be on Wall Street. I want to manage money. Though I was from a very middle class background and I had no way or hope to see that, how could I really be there? But as circumstances took me being [00:07:00] an average, person, etc. There was a way out. Tushar Pradhan: I did my GMAT and I got acceptances from some universities in the U. S. And surprise, surprise, my father,took a big loan to, help me get there and I began my MBA journey. I did my MBA in the US and it was a difficult time in the markets there. I graduated in 92, which was the start of the Iraq war and the recession of the US. Tushar Pradhan: So jobs were very scarce, but I managed. And in 1994, when I was about 25, 26 years old, I was on Wall Street. I had a card which said Tushar Pradhan blah, blah, blah, 95 Wall Street. And then I stopped in my tracks . I did not know what to do. because that was my aim, that was my goal, that was everything that I wanted to be. Tushar Pradhan: And here I was. And I then started to reflect that look, life cannot only be this. there has to be something more to this. And I don't mean this only like a profession, but I mean it as in a holistic way [00:08:00] of living. I said there is family, there is emotions, there is career, there is everything. But there is something else beyond all of this, which somehow, we may have missed out. Tushar Pradhan: And I started my search from there. Of course, my search led to some books. I started reading about spirituality, about, the essence that we carry, et cetera. But they were all very academic, very bookish. They did not give me much satisfaction. If at all, actually they whetted my appetite to see whether, there's anything more to this than just, other people's experiences and what about my experience. Tushar Pradhan: So. When I came back to India for some other reason, as in family circumstances, et cetera, brought me back here. I said, well, this is the mother of, meditation, right? This is the country where it all began. So maybe I might find some experience here. So I, I started searching. Things were again, not to my liking because again, for the same reasons I explained to you earlier, most of these methods are very archaic or they are very arcane or they are [00:09:00] very, religious or they are. Tushar Pradhan: something very, foreboding, for somebody who's like a modern person to say, okay, let me start meditating. These things are not easy. And then I stumbled upon this, method, I really stumbled upon it. And I found it extremely useful,very, very, very practical , but at the same time, very spiritual. Tushar Pradhan: So, so just a very simple example of what spiritualism or religion is. Now, spirit, as we call it, it's something which drives the machine, right? So we call it the ghost in the machine or whatever it is. So if I were to say that as a human being and like me alive, and then there is a dead body next to me. Tushar Pradhan: And if I were to ask you, what is the difference between the two of us? There is hardly any difference because that dead body will have all the organs that I have. It will have eyes. It will have a brain. It will have everything. There is something missing in that dead body, and that's why we don't even refer to that person as a person, it's a dead body. So what is that? That is something what we call as the spirit, which enters the human [00:10:00] body as soon as the birth of a baby is, and in fact when the birth of the baby is done, which is a physical, entity, but everyone is waiting for that baby to do something before they can celebrate, and that is they wait for it to cry. Tushar Pradhan: So if the baby does not cry, that means it's just a physical body and it's a stillborn and everybody cries. So which means something enters the body and we don't really know when it enters, but gives us a signal that look, I'm here. And when the person passes away and the dead body that I'm talking about, they're also that person or that entity passes away from the body. Tushar Pradhan: So which means someone is journeying through this, lifetime. And this body grows old, et cetera, and then that entity again leaves the body. So that is something which is spirituality. Which is to get to know our essence of what we are made of because that decides everything that we can do. That tells my intellect, that trains my mind, everything.[00:11:00] Tushar Pradhan: But most of the time, most human beings, about 99 percent of the time, are unaware of that entity because we identify ourselves with either our intellect, with our bodies, with our minds or whatever. But we don't identify ourselves with that entity because it remains mysterious. So that was the spirituality I was interested in But typically when you type the word spirituality in Google or whatever, you just get thrown off in millions of directions. And that is something which I was not very comfortable with. So, so that is how it led me to exploring this on my own. And this method allowed me to really do all of that without being associated, without being. Tushar Pradhan: bracketed or labeled in any other way. So again, a long answer to your short question, but that's really what inspired me to go forward on this. Kartik Chaudhry: Got it. Couple of points. First of all, just to be clear, the movie was Wall Street and not Wolf of Wall Street Tushar Pradhan: Thankfully that movie came much [00:12:00] later. Kartik Chaudhry: yeah. then, obviously, I mean, right now the,the way Google search engine and the SEO works anything, try and search for, it might not be the right answer to your question It's whoever has done good SEO will pop in on your home page. Thirdly, yes. So what you're, I think what you're talking about is, the age old question of consciousness. Like, we have in human physics research, scientific research, we've been able to mostly figure out what everything is, what atoms are, what life is. But one thing remains a grey area is what exactly is consciousness? And like all the philosophies, whether its ancient vedic philosophies whether it's Tibetan Buddhism, whether it's Indian Buddhism or even Western, philosophers, they've all always try and, figure out what exactly is that consciousness and what exactly is that point when something becomes aware or alive. So. That is,an age old question [00:13:00] that everyone's trying to kind of find, find the answer to. Kartik Chaudhry: So interesting. So what I, now, I specifically wanna come to heartful meditation. So how is it different from, say, a mindful techniques? Tushar Pradhan: That's, again, I must give a little bit of a background before we jump into this. So mindfulness as the word describes. This is being mindful of every action. So this is basically based on the Vipassana method that Gautam Buddha actually discovered or shared with the world about what his discovery was. Tushar Pradhan: That we have to do everything with a conscious mind. That is, like for example, if I just pick this phone up without thinkiing, That's a subconscious act. Every time that, I just pick up the phone, I don't think that I want to pick up the phone. It's just a habit Tushar Pradhan: That is something called a subconscious. And remarkably, about 95 percent of what we do in the day, this is coming from some research report, but it is, I would believe that, [00:14:00] is all done subconsciously. Tushar Pradhan: Including the driving that we do, including, The eating that we do, we're just not applying our mind. So the Buddha decided and discovered that when you put our mind to any action that we do, it's a different experience. whether you are being in the present or, all of those things that are associated with the now, those are the things associated with mindfulness. Tushar Pradhan: It is about just being aware of our consciousness, of how it is changing all the time. And that is mindfulness, the way I understand it, the way. it's described tough to do, because, you slip into subconsciousness very easily. Heartfulness on the other way is something very different. Tushar Pradhan: So I don't know how much you are aware of the eightfold path that Patanjali discovered, the Ashtang Yoga, which is in one way, a way to understanding yourself, right? So it starts from Yama, Niyama, then it goes to Asana, [00:15:00] then it goes to Pranayama, then it goes to Pratyahara and, then to Pratyahara and then to Dharana and to Dhyana and Samadhi. So these are the eight steps along the way. And, if you read the book in its original sense, it's in Sanskrit, it's very difficult to understand what, why all of these steps to get to the point where Samadhi appears, which is the last stage. Tushar Pradhan: Then slowly you understand, and there are various books which actually demystify them. Tushar Pradhan: One which I would recommend is one written by one Mr. Deshpande. It's called the Authentic Yoga . And in that book, of course, even Vivekananda has... Done a very short description of what the eight four path is in this, or a way it starts with your ability to sit still. Tushar Pradhan: Now, the whole problem about being not able to understand what's happening inside is that our mind is very outward looking and it is very distracted most of the time. So how do I first of all, bring the mind to some regulation before I can go inward, [00:16:00] right? That's the big deal. And. In the eightfold path, it starts from Yama. Tushar Pradhan: Yama means getting rid of, right? that can be, something like not doing certain bad things, right? So why is it so necessary? And, one wonders why are there so many steps before you can reach the Dhyana? And then the ultimate state, which is of, Samadhi and then we realize it is all to do with a preparation. So the Yama means to not do certain things, and the nyama means to do certain things. Tushar Pradhan: Which are good. And then Asana is what we are associated with, and we know about yoga, asana and sitting, in, in certain, poses, et cetera. Then there is the pranayama, which is the regulation of the breath. and then it goes on to, ra, which is, an inward looking attitude, et cetera. Tushar Pradhan: Now you wonder why there are those steps, because still you purify your physical acts. till you purify your breath, till you purify your body, you are unable to see the inside. That is [00:17:00] the concept. And many times this purification can take a year, or maybe a lifetime, uh, simply the fact that, you will do certain things which are good, which is, you'll speak the truth or you will, I will say follow Sacha, which is cleanliness. Tushar Pradhan: But all of these things are necessary to be able tokind of have that purity. Tushar Pradhan: Inside of us to be able to experience what is within. So this is the reason why we have all of these steps before we actually come, to the point where we can meditate. And heartfulness is a way where we begin from the seventh, of the eightfold path and we start with Dhyana. Now you can imagine which means that all of the requirements which were prescribed from the Vedic times. Tushar Pradhan: You are actually jumping across to meditation right away because of a wonderful concept called transmission, which allows a newcomer for not having done any of the [00:18:00] practices before, or no preparation required with the help of a trainer. heartfulness seeker, someone who wants to try it, can meditate from the first day onwards, which is, which is, almost like a miraculous thing. Tushar Pradhan: And unless someone actually does that and experiences it, it is just me talking about it, so, so this is the great thing about Heartfulness and how I would distinguish it from mindfulness, which I described what that was and what heartfulness is to be able to meditate in this modern world without having to do all of the practices which were there before. Kartik Chaudhry: So I have this question. Just a personal question. mind has a certain function in the body, heart has a certain function in the body. Kartik Chaudhry: I mean I've heard some theories that there are some neurons in the heart as well, and it has the ability to, depending on your emotion and it has the ability to circulate. So is it somewhere connected to that when you say Heartfullness like, are we using that capability of the heart in this meditation? Tushar Pradhan: It's a wonderful question, Kartik, [00:19:00] so here, when we mean the heart, it is actually the spiritual heart, or I would say the core of my being, While the heart had, its, has its own uses. And, it's also quite linked to the fact that if the heart stops, then the whole body stops. Tushar Pradhan: there are people who are brain dead, but they're alive. So the heart is the most vital organ from a physical perspective as well. But here, when we talk about the heart as heartfulness, it is, it's about the heart chakra. so a little bit about the spiritual anatomy that we have. There are various chakras, so animals have also the muladhar, the swadisthan and all of those chakras going up to the heart chakra. Tushar Pradhan: But the human being is the only one who has the heart chakra. and then the chakras above that is what the human being is capable of reaching. So that's why, heartfulness begins from the heart chakra, which means we are assuming that, our lower, more animalistic tendencies are already behind us. Tushar Pradhan: But just a simple answer to your question here. When we talk about heartfulness, we are talking about our ability [00:20:00] toaccess the soul of the spirit, which is in some way, and it is described in many ways, that it the, that the heart is the seat of the soul. Tushar Pradhan: And when we try to do meditation on the heart chara, it's essentially the starting point of our journey, Kartik Chaudhry: Okay, so that clears my question. I mean, what I understand, is that you work with a lot of corporate clients and you work with employees who have nine to five also is unfair. Nine to seven, nine to nine kind of jobs. So how do you see this practice some of these individuals in a corporate or professional setting. Tushar Pradhan: No, I think that's a wonderful question because ultimately we can talk about philosophy, we can talk about self-discovery, et cetera, but I think for most people , who have no inkling interest or anything like that, I think what is most important to understand is that what are we trying to do in our material life? Tushar Pradhan: We want to excel. We want to be better at what we are. And[00:21:00] there are various ways of attempting to become better at what we are. So either we can, become intellectually more advanced, take on more hard courses in terms of skills. we can, you know, try to train ourselves to think better, you could take a degree or you can take, youyou know, something to better yourself. But at the root of it all is the emotion. Right, so, so I can be a PhD, but somehow I get depressed and all of that knowledge of no use right? On the other hand, if I'm driven, if my heart tells me, and this is where the heart also comes as a means of guidance, is that my heart is telling me to do something and I'm inspired, my intuition starts to tell me that this is what I need to do. Tushar Pradhan: that person, whether he has any educational background or any institutional support, he manages to make himself a success and feel, pretty happy about what he's done. And he's an asset to society. So the whole crux of the whole thing [00:22:00] about trying to be a better person to excel at what we are doing really resides in the heart. Tushar Pradhan: And it's not the brain. it is not anything to do with,how, know, educated we are, or how better we are at expressing ourselves. It's something to do with the heart, and I think that is something very critical for everyone. So what we do in these corporate engagements is to make people aware that whatever HR programs, whatever self development programs you will do. Tushar Pradhan: Essentially, it'll boil down to your own self and how motivated you feel and how happy and contended you feel inside before you can try to do something outside. And the way to do that is to have a spiritual practice where you focus and you contemplate and you sit with yourself for some time, If you're able to achieve that sense of calm, peace and that connection with your inner self, you'll do wonders. That's the whole key about trying to, you know, get corporate people involved in the spiritual practice [00:23:00] because . That's a means of personal excellence. And of course it can apply to anybody why only corporates. Tushar Pradhan: It can apply to really practically any human being on earth. But in corporates, we are structured in a way that you can collect people of, like mind of a similar goal, et cetera. And then they're motivated to practice it for that reason. So that's how, we offer heartfulness to Kartik Chaudhry: Okay, so also, I mean, it's said especially in a country like India, which is a growing economy and you know. We are often advised to not look at the Western, work-life balance kind of conversations that are happening and just keep our heads down and keep working. So, the corporate world,is often associated with stress and high demands. Kartik Chaudhry: So what do you like, are there any specific challenges you think that corporate clients and employees often face before they, they think that can be addressed through meditation. Tushar Pradhan: Yeah, I think that's also a wonderful question because each of the corporates [00:24:00] have a different style, right? So there are these very top down oriented companies. There are companies which are collaborative in nature. There are, you know, these days CEOs reinvent their companies to run them the way they want. Tushar Pradhan: And of course, companies also are very objective specific. So whether you're a finance company, whether you're a manufacturing company. it's very a diverse kind of,environment and what helps to understand is that is the company driving the person to excellence, which is rarely the case. you hardly come across, even if they're the best companies to work for so many layers between what the CEO wants to achieve, what the company wants to achieve, and eventually how the Tushar Pradhan: Employee gets motivated at his role about what he has to do in the whole project, right? So there's a lot of loss and especially the larger the company, the bigger is the objective loss in terms of what am I supposed to do at my role, which will help my company do better, and even if [00:25:00] the company does better, how does that benefit me some way, et cetera, et cetera. Tushar Pradhan: So there's a, it's a lot of noise out there. I think heartfulness practices help people to understand that regardless of where the company's going. It is essential to understand personal excellence. It is important to understand this issue that no matter where you are in the hierarchy and whether you where you wish to be, your personal attitude really matters. Tushar Pradhan: Whether the company achieves a certain goal or not, that's not so essential, but your contribution is more important. And essentially these practices go then beyond, any corporate style because the person realizes that . It's me who drives the whole engine, and it's about me. It's not about the company. Tushar Pradhan: And when I start to do well, naturally the company has to start to feel that impact. So I think that is something that we try to emphasize. So Heartfulness actually then works very individually. It's actually a person to person [00:26:00] training, but companies can adopt that to help them achieve a certain goal or bring, high performance teams together or Tushar Pradhan: introduce heartfulness to the very senior team, et cetera, whatever they feel like. So it's an application and so far we have not really worked out, an exact terms how to offer it to which part of the organization. but we offer that as a, absolutely free service to,to humanity in that sense. Tushar Pradhan: And whoever, in whichever manager figures this out, they can apply it to, to work. So how we started is that people like me, right? I work in an organization and I know the impact of it. So I say, look, my team, why don't we meditate together? And that's how it began. someone higher up in the hierarchy, they can decide, oh, I now want to introduce it to my plant workers you know, if they're more motivated, more calmer, they understand what they really have to do. Tushar Pradhan: From a personal responsibility perspective, that'll be good for me. So then they introduce them, to large,audiences and large groups like most. So, so it really depends, [00:27:00] and that's why I say that it's not suited for any one company or one style or anything. It is about individual excellence and it's about how people become aware of their contribution to the overall organization's goals. Kartik Chaudhry: so I think now we're sort of approaching the end part of the conversation and we'll start wrapping up, but, my question to you is suppose I am a, a Kartik Chaudhry: Manager, at a say, software company or a textile company, let's say textile company, maybe I'm an HR manager. if I have to have this conversation with you and if I'm still looking for something for my plant workers, uh, how do you think you have structured your,this heartful meditation course? Tushar Pradhan: So, as I said, it's a, it's something which applies to every, level of the organization. So when I approach HR, it's a little bit of a challenge because HR by itself has, their own views in terms of, how they intervene and how their own metrics are, used to measure their effectiveness, et [00:28:00] cetera. Tushar Pradhan: So, I don't think we have an answer to that. What we do have is that we have, three levels of programs that we offer. One is the program at the very senior level, which, we have a institute actually inside of our headquarters in Hyderabad. And the offering is called And the Kaushalam part is where, very senior executives are trained by some very good management trainers, globally. Tushar Pradhan: Also, they also happen to be heartfulness practitioners, so they offer their services absolutely free of charge to the institute. Of course, the institute charges something for that level program. It's a residential program. And then you can take, that level program as an HR manager, he can decide that. Tushar Pradhan: If he wants, more of a larger participation or he wants some, part of the organization to be a more effective for whatever problem that he may have thought, he can just introduce the basic method, which is the method of heartfulness, meditation, which is a practice which is given to people. Tushar Pradhan: And that could be a [00:29:00] starting point for an HR Manager as well. . So it really depends up to, what he wants to do. Like for example, we are going to do a program, beginning next week with, one, public sector organization. and they wanted us to have speakers, say talk about stress management or eating mindfully some subjects like that, which is of, popular Tushar Pradhan: Kind of interest. And then that we segue into saying that, look, all of these things are very critical and we explain to people about how stress works, et cetera. And then we say that the effective way of actually overcoming stress is understanding oneself about what are the stressors for me specifically. Tushar Pradhan: And then, we introduce them, the practice. So it's actually a range. So I gave you those three options. One is that we approach the very senior level and then we have a . stated program, our residential program, we can have, small groups of people introduce that, the method to them simply anywhere. Tushar Pradhan: Or we can have a structured, session of, five or six or 11, subjects, [00:30:00] which are of public interest. And then we take them through that, and then we allow them to experience a practice over these, six or 11 sessions as long as the company would want it. So that's the offering that we have right now. Kartik Chaudhry: Thank you Tushar so much again for giving your valuable time and sharing these things and insights with us. I'm sure after listening to it, a lot of people will be curious to know about this technique and they would want to let their employees and themselves experience this. Just before we say bye, like if you can tell us where people can find you is there a website, are you on Linkedin, if yes, then what can people look for all of that stuff. Tushar Pradhan: Yeah, absolutely. I think, the first thing I can share with is our main website, which is, heartfulness.org, where the basic practices and everything related to what I spoke about is available. we also have, uh, our presence on Facebook, on, on LinkedIn, our global guide, his name is Kamlesh Patel. Tushar Pradhan: He also goes by the name of Daaji. So Daaji is [00:31:00] also available on . LinkedIn, Facebook, et cetera. His, public profile is available. People can check out, whatever he's saying. So he's got these videos. There are YouTube videos. If you type heartfulness, you'll get a large base of, knowledge available to you, and you can just check what you want. Tushar Pradhan: But I think the principle website is, heartfulness org, where it, offers, . Information about the basic practice, et cetera. I think that should be a good starting point. Kartik Chaudhry: thank so much for being Spinning Values. Tushar Pradhan: My pleasure. Thank you. Rajeev: Thank you to Tushar, for being on Spinning Values. So that's a wrap play episode eight. We hope you liked this episode. Do like, share and follow this podcast on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen to your podcast. This is an initiative by Beekaylon Synthetics. Produced by Inscape Media. Hosted by Kartik Chaudhry. And produced by Rajeev Nedumaran. Take care of, and we will see you on the next episode.

August 21, 2023Episode 742 min

The Yarn Bazaar Journey - In Conversation with Pratik Gadia, CEO and Founder, The Yarn Bazaar

Episode 7: Pratik Gadia - The Yarn Bazaar Journey Welcome back to another captivating episode of the "Spinning Values Podcast" by Beekaylon Synthetics. In today's episode, we have the privilege of diving into the inspiring journey of Pratik Gadia, the visionary founder of "The Yarn Bazaar", a revolutionary platform transforming the textile industry. At the age of 15, Pratik Gadia embarked on an extraordinary journey in the fabric business, joining his family's fabric manufacturing unit. Over the years, he not only gained intimate knowledge of the industry but also led the family business for a remarkable 7 years. This early exposure equipped Pratik with a deep understanding of the industry's intricacies and challenges, laying the foundation for his future endeavors. In our conversation with Pratik, we uncover how his experiences in the family fabric manufacturing unit led him to identify significant gaps and pain points within the industry. This realization became the driving force behind the creation of The Yarn Bazaar, a game-changing marketplace for yarns. The Yarn Bazaar stands as a testament to Pratik's vision of modernizing the yarn industry. It has seamlessly evolved into an efficient and transparent platform where yarn buyers and sellers can engage in transactions with unparalleled ease. Pratik's determination to effect change is evident in his aspiration to make The Yarn Bazaar a globally recognized and trusted name in the yarn industry. One of the most compelling aspects of The Yarn Bazaar is its unwavering focus on empowering small-scale yarn buyers and suppliers. Pratik recognizes that the true path to industry transformation lies in supporting those who form its backbone. Through proprietary processes and flexible unsecured financing options, **The Yarn Bazaar** empowers yarn sellers to expand their reach and boost sales, all while enjoying improved margins. Simultaneously, buyers benefit from reduced raw material and procurement costs, ushering the yarn industry into a new era of technology-driven efficiency. Pratik's dedication to overcoming the challenges that have long plagued the yarn industry is unwavering. Together with his passionate team, he is committed to facilitating the growth of fabric manufacturers and yarn suppliers. Their tireless efforts ensure that these businesses can operate with unparalleled ease, transparency, and fairness, ultimately setting a new standard for the industry. Join us in this insightful episode as we explore the inspiring journey of Pratik Gadia and the transformative impact of The Yarn Bazaar on the yarn industry. Gain a deeper understanding of how innovation, vision, and dedication can come together to create lasting change in even the most traditional sectors. Thank you for tuning in to another episode of the Spinning Values Podcast. Don't forget to subscribe and share this episode with those who seek inspiration through innovation. Stay tuned for more captivating conversations on values, vision, and the power of transformative ideas.

February 21, 2022Episode 629 min

Exploring Customer Centricity in the Textile Space - In conversation with Pratul Kumar, Progility Consulting

After a bit of a break, we are back with episode number five. Our guest today is Pratul Kumar from Progility Consulting, a management consulting firm providing profitability and productivity improvement services, for clients in the B2B area. I had a chat with him discussing customer centricity and why it is important to the textile sector. This episode is packed with insights. As always, thanks for listening. You can find the transcript for this episode here: <a href="https://brands.beekaylon.com/the-sustainability-blog" rel="noopener">https://brands.beekaylon.com/the-sustainability-blog</a> Driving Change and Customer Centricity in the Textile Industry The discussion centered on the importance of bridging the gap between strategy and execution for companies, with a particular focus on the textile sector. Pratul emphasized the need for customer centricity and highlighted how leading textile company, Beekaylon Synthetics, has maintained high levels of product quality and ethical business conduct. Within a competitive industry, Progility Consulting helped Beekaylon achieve more effective customer servicing by segmenting the customer base according to their unique needs. Furthermore, the podcast details the company's journey towards continuous improvements tied to sustainability and productivity. The effectiveness of change was also discussed, highlighting the importance of involving and training every level of an organization. Pratul concluded with the future industry vision that would necessitate businesses to prioritize customer centricity and innovation for differentiation. 00:00 Introduction to the Gap Between Strategy and Execution 00:34 About the Podcast and the Host 00:50 Introducing the Guest: Pratul Kumar 01:29 Discussion on the Impact of the Pandemic on the Manufacturing Sector 02:32 Understanding Progility Consulting and its Role in the Industry 04:45 Translating Strategy into Action 04:48 The Gap Between Strategy and Execution 07:17 Understanding the Challenges in the Textile Sector 07:33 The Journey of Beekaylon Synthetics 09:09 The Importance of Customer Centricity in the Textile Sector 18:28 The Impact of Change Management on Productivity 20:07 The Process of Implementing Change 27:21 The Future of Customer Centricity in the Textile Sector 29:01 Conclusion and Closing Remarks

September 5, 2021Episode 516 min

Giving back - In conversation with Siddharth Ladsariya, Young Volunteers Organisation

YVO: The Youth Volunteer Platform for Social Impact The transcript features a podcast episode with Rajeev interviewing Siddharth Ladsariya, one of the founding members of Y V O (Young Volunteers Organization). Siddharth shares YVO's mission to connect donors and young volunteers with impactful social causes, their growth from 15 to 60+ volunteers, and the various initiatives they've taken to help society. He also discusses YVO's response to COVID-19, aiding in the rehabilitation of migrant laborers, providing PPE kits and food to frontline workers, and helping families who lost their breadwinners. Siddharth ends the discussion by inviting listeners to join YVO and contribute to the betterment of society. 00:00 Introduction to YVO and its Mission 01:53 The Journey of Siddarth Ladsariya 02:30 Inspiration Behind YVO 03:22 Addressing Challenges and Building a Platform 06:00 Impactful Initiatives and Success Stories 07:29 Transparency and Trust in YVO 10:15 YVO's Response to the Pandemic 11:56 Corporate Social Responsibility and YVO 13:39 Getting Involved with YVO 15:08 Closing Remarks and Contact Information 15:49 Final Thoughts and Inspirational Quotes

July 27, 2021Episode 426 min

Solution Dyeing - In conversation with Dr. VG Kulkarni of Americhem (Part 2)

Solution Dyeing and Sustainability in the Textile Industry: A chat with Dr. VG Kulkarni of Americhem In this episode of Spinning Values, hosted by Rajeev, Dr. VG Kulkarni, a well-known figure in the world of synthetic yarn technology and the head of technology and business development at Americhem, discusses the concepts of solution dyeing and its impact on the sustainability aspects of the textile industry. The conversation touches upon the importance of sustainable coloring and use of recycled content in textiles with a particular focus on polyester usage. Dr. VG also outlines the role of masterbatch in synthetic fibers and explains how it contributes to a more environmentally friendly and sustainable textile industry. Lastly, the discussion delves into the future projections for the industry considering the current environmental concerns. 00:00 Introduction to Sustainable Solution Dyeing 00:26 Spinning Values Podcast: An Overview 00:50 Guest Introduction: Dr. VG Kulkarni 01:10 Deep Dive into Masterbatch Design 01:30 Dr. VG's Background and Experience 02:11 Discussion on Textile Solution Dyeing 02:32 Overview of Textiles and Solution Dyeing 07:00 Sustainability in the Textile Industry 14:35 Role of Masterbatch in Sustainable Textile Manufacturing 23:00 Future of Sustainable Textile Industry 25:35 Conclusion and Wrap Up There is a wealth of information of sustainable products and solutions. Do share this podcast with someone, you know, who's interested in sustainable solutions for the textile industry.