Most successful
people in life have yearnings of pursuing their passions that are
completely unconnected to their successful careers. Silently they nurture the
hope and wish, that one day they can retire and indulge
in what they wish to do in time which becomes their own. However the mad
rush for being one up in life, pressures of modern day business and family
needs takes one to a point of time where either the health gives in or one is
too old with no energy to indulge. Rarely do you find a person
achieve the fulfilment of pursuing his or her heart’s desires. “Life is
too short”, time just moves on and before we know, it is too late in life
do what one wished to do. I am reminded of a dear friend Mohan Kini, who
was like a father to me. He had an illustrious career as a
professional working for large business houses. Being extremely fond of
vocal Indian classical music, he would turn on his music
system each evening and listen to maestros of their times. He, at
times would hum along and somewhere deep within him, he carried
a strong desire to learn the raga’s (Indian Classical music) and
sing. Then came the day when he retired. Within weeks of his retirement he
started to take lessons and enjoy doing what he had wanted to do
for long years, “sing by self and not hum long”. I was
amazed to see how quickly he picked up and was singing extremely well. I was
sure he will soon start giving performances. However God has his ways, tragedy
struck and my friend suffered a massive heart attack and could not even reach
the hospital.
Steamed chicken bowl with Garlic sauteed spinach |
Cut and ready to serve! |
There are nights when I get up in the middle of the night and start thinking what I have to write or what new dish to create. This is the reason that my family says, I can make a different egg dish 365 days a year. The following day starting with the morning is always the nearest time to try out a new dish imagined in the preceding night. In my time spent in the label industry I have come across some amazing personalities who even in retirement continue to excel and deliver value to the society and also draw pleasure. They are inspirational and watching them makes you to realise that life does not end at retirement but starts all over in a more pleasurable direction if you pursue your passions.
Helmut Schreiner and I |
This January he
sent to me a beautiful new
year’s greeting card along with an amazing book titled, “Reflections,
Recognition Rhyme” a compilation of his poetry that is deliverance of his
passionate expression! He continues with his social works towards community
service and draw pleasure in finding a wonder outlet for his emotions through
poetry.
Sandeep Lal while he was heading Metro Label |
A tree House at Lucero homes! |
So what does one
do after retiring from 43 years of hard work in a very successful label
business? Enjoy life a little more, have more time for family, grand
children and maybe even travel. Sometimes all of those! However
Sandeep accepted the challenge of managing and growing Lucero Homes and Lucero Golf and Country Club (www.Lucero.com.pa
) in the country of Panama. He commutes between Toronto where he lives and
Boquete, Panama. His work included completing the last 9 holes of the
Golf Course, revising the development Master plan to add more density
and planting almost 400,000 coffee plants on their land to become
the third largest Coffee grower in Panama. Lucero Golf and Country Club
was recently ranked the Best Golf Course in Panama. He is contemplating
building a luxury hotel and Spa which will be supported by fruits and vegetable
from their land. He talks about how different life is. He is running
a development which includes “Seasons” a 110 cover restaurant,
hotel rooms, home and condominium apartment construction, coffee plants and
fruits trees a large nursery to grow vegetable and flowering plants
for the development, along with the golf course and tennis
courts. Sandeep said that he was surprised to discover that many
skills which he acquired in running Metro Label are coming
in handy. He said that the business is still about managing
people, implementing financial controls and reporting protocols, creating and
implementing policies and procedure. Having clear goals and expectations and
communicating them to the team and ensuring they are motivated to
perform. He is using all
these skills which he acquired in his career at Metro
Label to run Lucero and hoping very soon to have a lot more
leisure time with family and friends.
Kurt Walker and I |
“After 25 years
as the CEO of tesa-Bandfix in Switzerland I retired in 2012. My expectations of
retirement were quite different from the reality. I and my wife have become
extensive travellers and spend somewhat like 50% of our time away from home.
During the cold winter period we usually stay in the south of Africa, which has
virtually become our second home. I am still involved in FINAT as president
emeritus in the executive board and the organizing committee for the annual
European Label Forum. This keeps me in the label family, from which I benefited
so much in my life. In my free time I play tennis and golf with friends and
visit art exhibitions and music events. Keeping in touch with all the friends
in the whole world will be one of my challenges for the future and I hope to
maintain all these wonderful contacts.”
Honey Vazirani |
While I've been
exploring these possibilities, I've had fun helping a friend's Analytics and
Reporting business on strategy, worked on social causes like Education and
Health, caught up on books, poetry, music, yoga and picking up a backpack and
setting off on a trip. What this break has taught me is that it is great
to work hard, create great products but amidst all this, it is equally
important to step back every once in a while and do things that warm your heart
and nourish your soul!”
Suzzane Zaccone |
In her response
to me on her retirement she says, “Retirement, for me has been quite busy. Some
time is spent volunteering at Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, sitting on three
boards, reading as much as possible, relaxing at our lake house which is next
door to Bob's lake house and catching up with friends and family. I also was
visited by breast cancer, twice, a combined total of five years, and the first
bout resulted in a book; A Random Interruption Surviving Breast Cancer with
Laughter, Vodka, Smoothies and an Attitude. One hundred percent of all sales
benefit The University of Chicago Cancer Research Foundation where we sponsor a
fellow for one year of schooling in that facility. After the book was published
I found myself speaking to women and their families as they navigate through
the process back to health. It has been extremely rewarding and in some cases
terribly sad. Last year our family foundation opened up a cancer centre in the
name of my surgeon and a holistic centre in the name of our family. The
universe presents all of us with complete surprises and awesome possibilities
and the wheel is always turning even if we wish it to remain still. Each day for
me is different - much like when we ran our business. So I get out of bed and
work very hard to engage with that day’s plot line. I make an effort to eat
healthy, balance my emotions through meditation or maybe for me it is better
called daydreaming, I quit smoking cigarettes, continue to attend endless
meetings at hospital boards, a nap sometimes finds its way into a day here and
there and 5:00 cocktails! I make sure to add a few goals that add meaning to my
life and activities that provide pleasure. In this way, I affirm life and pray
that my body gets the message. I want to surprise myself by not only surviving,
but discovering new ways to enjoy the fact that I did survive. I've yet to find
the joy of exercise but I am working on that. I continue to bite off more than
I can chew, and I still chew it! And finally, I miss all of you in label land.” An interesting line in her signature in her
emails reads “I spent the first 50 years of my life seeking success and I will
now spend the next 50 years seeking significance. - Suzanne Zaccone”
Three of the
persons covered by me in this article are recipients of the R Stanton Life Time
Achievement Award. It is interesting that instead of becoming recluse in
retirement all of those covered by me are vibrant and active. They continue to
give back to the society while still making life more significant for them
self. They draw satisfaction in their work in retirement and set example for
others to enjoy life in pursuing their passions!
Written by Harveer Sahni, Managing Director, Weldon Celloplast Limited, New Delhi India January 2017
Publications and magazines are free to reproduce this article by giving credit to author.
An edited version of this article was published on line by Printweek India
http://www.printweek.in/features/retired-labels-pursue-passions-24076
http://www.printweek.in/features/retired-labels-pursue-passions-24076
For advertising on this blog email harveersahni@gmail.com
Heart Touching !
ReplyDeleteThank you for the honor of being in your article!
ReplyDeleteSuzanne Zaccone
suzez@aol.com
My dearest Harveer
ReplyDeleteGlad you joined the "Club" and that your health "warning" was a gentle reminder of "other important things in life" - congratulations and wishing you happiness, good health and a lot of fun.
My stepping back from business end of last year seems light years away by enjoying all things around i.e. family, animals and just being out-doors in the garden and fields, having time for friends.....and still enjoying the industry a bit with my newly formed BM Grob Consulting.
Keen to hear about your writings and cookings and you are always welcome at my home whenever you plan to be in UK.
May be we will celebrate our birthdays together one year as we are only a few days apart.
yours
Bernhard
Thanks, Great Blog!
ReplyDeleteKurt Walker