Every kid is a banker

Dipen is in Class V now; just migrated this July. He belongs to the single-kid category like many of his generation. While he has the advantage of being the singly pampered kid of his doting housewife mother and a slightly well-off banker father, he has the distinct pressure of being on top of each activity he indulges in. Besides, he is also expected to be smart and street smart depending on the scenario in which he is or his parents are with him. He has to be something extra for being a point of discussion in every discussion which his parents have amongst their acquaintances.

Though still young and having touched double digits in age, Dipen has been delivering to his best (we can compare him with our employees). He delves in guitar, swimming and tennis besides pursuing his academics at schools and perusing tuition classes at home. (Can we not compare this to our cross-sell activities and core area(s) of working).

The entire schedule of activities changes when he has to take 15 days leave from to attend his thread ceremony (something close to facing an unwarranted problem or a technical glitch in our work lives). While he had just joined the new class, nothing much had started (striking close to the April phenomenon of reduced work and lower achievements); but while he went on leave, many-a-lessons were covered and huge assignments handed over (Murphy’s law acting overtime as is the case with most of us). The resultant of the same is that he is not able to cope up with all the homework and has reduced playtime. He has already spoken a couple of lies to his mother with regards to the progress (something similar to excuses made by us for bad performances).

However there is a silver lining to the entire episode. While Dipen being a genuinely hard-working and not a dishonest kid genuinely feels that he was wrong in lying to his mother, he has started confessing many things to his father. His father, who was not the best guide or talking partner till now, has suddenly turned his best pal (similar to our organisation where seniors guide and counsel the performing employees who due to some reason miss out on performance temporarily).

How close modern day kids are to a banker…



Abridged from a true story; name has been changed from the actual one.

Brand Building

Brand buiding has been treated as a very sophisticated exercise (read campaign / activity lest I derogate many a brand mangers). As they say, the same has to be nurtured as on nurtures one’s own baby, it has got a lifetime, an identity of its own (which has to be created), its siblings come with time, nannies may change but it goes on to be treated as a human being. Its possible to see certain brands take birth and then die in one life time. There remains however certain iconic brands which have seen the tests of the time; surviving tall and strong even after decades and some for centuries. The best names in the later categories are global ones viz, Tatas in India and Citi abroad.


My novice knowledge on marketing, the science (or the art) may be excused but I have a somewhat simple version of the entire game (game plan). I treat it as an enviable identity built over time (often years) by sheer hard work of few people who take their responsibility as their only reason of existence on earth; money may be the motivation at the beginning but surely not over time. The creation of brands was earlier aided by publicity of non-business indulgence, books and university lectures and now it is primarily rounded up by media, academic cases and social-networking (not marketing). I showcase simple cases of brand building this simple way.

St. Pauls School, Rourkela: Started in 1964, it has carved out a niche for its own across decades. All who have passed on or prior to 2000, their respective guardians and the teachers who have been through the corridors today will all agree that the institution too much to a person called Joseph Mannamparambil popular as Fr. Joe to one and all; students, ex-students, govt. officials, guardians, teachers, fellow principals and priests of his order. Discipline and dedication can be expected from people who come in contact with you only when the self practices that also. This was probably the only mantra because of which the school has borne a name for itself not only in the tiny industrial town or the state but on a national level too. Imagine being associated with one and only one institution for 36 years; laying the bricks, arranging them to perfection, binding them with the education & infusion of values and creating a rock solid wall for all others to see with envy.

Lingaraj Lassi, Bhubaneswar: This shop has been selling just one eatable item i.e. lassi for the past 16 years. It started up like many roadside stall sans one thing i.e. the owner of the shop toyed with everything in the beginning to try out a taste which generated the maximum good-response. The formula arrived, he set on maintaining that exact formulae for the next decade. Now the shop continues to be a road-side shop but it has grown dramatically in size. Telecom companies pay and vie for the best possible front vision of the shop. The same formulae continues and the crowd it pulls can make any sophisticated retailer manager of any of the many branded retail management companies turn shy in shame. Its sheer hard work day in and out which has put sheen to the initial idea. The result is the creation of an enviable brand not only in the city of Bhubaneswar; it is famous atleast in the state of Odisha also.

Plugging fiscal loopholes

We have all been hearing of the glaring fiscal deficit in many business channels / newspapers since some time. Think tanks and economists are indulging themselves into the crisis trying to weave a way out. I am no economist or planner but with the limited knowledge of mundane affairs and courtesy the substantial media coverage, I can presume that increase in govt. revenues / receivables can lead to improvement of this national parameter. I put forth few layman suggestions. I do not know whether the planners will view the suggestive notes but if they do, they would accept that deficit can surely be plugged to some extent.

Change in archaic laws: We are still hearing of fines and penalties in hundreds and thousands. I am referring to the judicial fines. We now have all biggies in the law-net; some or the other scam is emanating each passing day. All the people involved in the same are sufficiently monied. If the law makers could pull up the fines in crores particularly in financial scams, the coffers of the state would simply be full at the earliest. May I suggest an extreme step of doing one-time settlements with each of the financial defaulters and settle their pending unlawfulness.

Assignment of reasonable targets to all: We have many corporations, undertakings and departments of Govt. of India. Most of them have sales approach. You take the example of BSNL; if all the seniors (grade wise) take a personal target of reasonable number of postpaid connections using their contacts and clout. The same thing can be done for senior officials of Income Tax (new accesses can be brought into the tax bracket) department. For all those entities where sales is not possible can be given targets of cost-cutting in their respective area of operations.

Open Voluntary Disclosure Scheme: The last two VDIS options brought more than INR 7800 Cr. into the system through 350000 disclosures. Yes, it had its own setoff criticism but a diligent follow up of the cases who disclose will not only enhance the coffers immediately but also be a steady contributor to the kitty in future years to come. This suggestion becomes more relevant particularly now when there is major hue and cry regarding bringing black money into the white channel.

Land money: There cannot be more concerning an area in revenue loss than stamp / registration duty of land deals. The price is undervalued and thus the duty is also reduced and the actual bulk of the transaction happens in cash; the transaction parties gain only at the loss of the revenue department. Government (read respective state governments) can fix a minimum price to each patch of land (atleast area can be defined) and thus ensure huge leakage of rightful revenue of government.

European Crisis: Simplified

We have all been hearing of European crisis; news channels across the globe and all print media of the word have been covering the developments continuously on a quotidian basis. Economists and the who-s-who of the world have been making their reservations and suggesting methodologies to tide over the scene. Thinkers who had paeans been written when the formation of European bloc took place are no hiding for cover. Amongst all the chaos that is going on, none (read close to few) have bothered to provide a layman’s dissection of the problem and list out the learnings’ for future of mankind based on the events that have unfolded. This editorial we attach the crisis in a not-so-sophisticated manner.

Cut your coat according to your cloth: The glaring ratio which was most followed was the disgustingly high debt / GDP ratio. For Greece it was as high as 144% in 2010 (it has been more than 100% plus since 2005). Imagine surviving on debt only for many years with little growth in income.  Managing debt is an important area which needs soul searching whether it for oneself or for the company we work for or the nation we live in.

Do not place all your eggs in the same basket: Greece as a country has no set of industries other than tourism. Being an island nation, they could have developed an expertise in manufacturing ships or they could have built a robust agricultural model as has been done by Israel (a country with the problem of limited land as Greece) or something else. Concentration on only one area (read no diversification) is also another area of concern. The same thing applies to all readers with regards to their individual investments and future planning’s.

Sar utha ke jiyo: Besides the global ratios and figures, one thing which missed the sidelines is the rampant evasion of taxes and fudging of figures. Some behemoth consultants of the country had been paid millions to keep figures under wrap. What is the fun in hiding figures when all would be re-discovered after some time?  

History repeats itself, therefore lets’ learn from history: We stopped learning from many such similar episodes which had happened in the past. The most glaring and recent one was that which happened in Argentina in 1990; increased external borrowing, flight of dollars from the country and swelling public debt. Probably that was the exact scenario in which Greece caught itself!

Lets practically do some bit of soul searching and if we do everything the Indian way as has been practiced by our previous generation, the country would be long devoid of such crisises and problems.

Vintage discussion…. Overheard

Recently I had been to my native village for taking part in the death ceremony of the senior most person of our catchment; he was a relative of mine who left to a different world at a young age of 101. His siblings and junior brothers were there who have well crossed seventy. Sitting beside my father I had the privilege of hearing few of their statements and the discussion so enamored me that I decided to skip my early-evening siesta (which I am seldom entitled to) courtesy the heavy and nutritious meal of fresh farm vegetables and country-grown cereals. My father and the senior uncles (indeed they would be uncles despite that age) started discussing of the old times when they were staying in joint family. The italic-sied term should be read as five brothers, their wives, a score kids and few grandchildren. Some of the facts simply amazed me; what a life was then led and what are we leading now

Four pairs of bullocks: Two houses in the village then had 4 pairs of bullocks. I simply cannot fathom the amount of labour it would undertake to maintain them; here I am not getting into the physical tilling of the land as was the practice then. Each of the houses housed the richest families of those times in the catchment. During those days all the houses were almost the same, the people wore almost the same cloth, cosmetics was unknown; each had access to almost the same number of coconut and mango trees, cash was not required; the only differentiating factor was the number pieces of land, the number of cows and the pair of bullocks. These two families each had a veteran whose first task in the morning was to give wet rice to the most-errant bullock in his clan so that it confronted the most-errant bullock in the other’s clan. What a way of showing supremacy! I still managed to continue listening without fainting.

11 pieces of land: My own grandfather (as was told by one of the uncles) had 11 pieces of land (prior to consolidation) spread across almost 2 miles from his house. He was OK with the arrangement of dragging the bullock pair during cultivation days from one piece to the other. So much so, he was so addicted to the pieces that even when the land was barren, he would visit these places everyday barefoot. My father tells me that he never remembered his father even falling ill; leave aside bedridden.

Joint family: Let me not repeat the length and breadth of the joint family. Imagine each one of them eating the same food; which was typically rice (dry or wet depending upon the times) and with just some lentils and one item of vegetables. If an errant kid had some specific taste, then he or she had to arrange for that by himself / herself. While the adults almost never ate together, the kids were typically huddled up together because they were more systematic with respect to time. They were uniformly discharged at the same time from school, if there was a visit to the fields, it would be together, if it was mango time then all would be at the orchards at the same time, if fish was being caught some day then all would be inside the pond at the same time; et al. Imagine the camaraderie that these kids would have generated! In small pecked family size of even 4 today, we seldom have our food together and if at all we have the tastes and choices would be varied for each.

Rotation of bonded labour: This joint family also housed few pairs of bullock and cows. The family had 2 people exclusively to cater to their requirement. The cleaning of their living area, tending to their grazing in the green meadows, taking care of medication and parenthood, milking them were their primary jobs. The best part was when any of these people absented; the job was given to the kids. A cousin of my father quips in mentioning that he loved those days as he would have access to some extra milk. Till date, I always mention that my father and some of my uncles can write better English than me even though they heeded to these acts and never made it to English medium schools. What’s more, this clan that I mentioned has produced teachers, bankers, engineers and many post-graduates absorbed in different institutions.

There were some more discussions on cash, duels and barter which may become a separate article altogether. Some people of our generation who have been in villages or have come out of them may imagine the times I am talking but the ones junior to us, the so called never-been-to-a-village type can never fathom these scenes. Very recently my father mentioned me that a chap who had just passed out from NIT Rourkela was surprised to learn that rice never grew on trees; he always thought rice (not paddy) grew on some trees in rural India ready to be plucked. It’s time that all urbanites give their kids a taste of rural India at times. What’s more they are most welcome to my village which I cherish going. Thankfully my kid, who actually is a kid, is fascinated by the paddy fields, the sunflowers, cow milk, fishing, ponds and the orchards.

Well all these took place in the family get-together before the beginning of the tenth day rites. How the gentleman in question crossed 100, what were his secrets of longevity and why I mentioned young at 101 is a different story altogether.

The Lankan sojourn

Yes, it indeed wasa fantastic trip to the island nation. Few things notably came out namely

a. There was a distinct Indian presence: tyres, commercial vehicles, mobile phone companies, hotels, fast food joints, energy drinks etal. As I joked the other day, even the ocean is Indian.

b. The city of Colombo has recently come out of unrest. hey seem to have done so well in building the city economically and infrastructure-wise; clearly indicates teh sense of pride which each citizen must have taken in building the city. I am sure if this continues, this city would be on the global map much before a decade from now.

c. The cleanliness of not only the city lanes and sublanes but that of the country sie also attracts one.

d. Another thing Indians ought to learn is the sense of security that pervades in the city; we checked huge showrooms of Samsung, Nokia open just with a lock on a glass door at 1 AM. I cant imagine the same in India even 20 years from now.

I am planning to post a thanks letter to the Presient & Ambassador.

New innings for Sambhav

Its been a week since Sambhav debuted at school. Am still surprised; have I actually become a father of a school going kid.

Another thanks!

Amidst the regular chores of the day, we tend to take many things for granted. It is not that we do not know the importance of these things / happenings but the pace that we live with seldom leaves us moments to pause and ponder about these things

1. One would have heard many a spiritual and wellness gurus speaking of feeling and controlling the breath. This is THE most important miracle with the touch of the almighty. It goes on to prove that every instant the common mortal is connected with the un-explainable. It proves every milli secon that one is alive and is complicating the already existing chaos on earth

2. All our further senses like sight, smell, taste et al; we all seem normal. We follow after the mundane objects (read material things) and have the habit of passing gory comments on things which do not like or detest. Just imagine the plight of a blind / deaf / dumb / handicapped who is also alive like us but is unable to feel the same like us

We cannot give others beyond a particular point. All that we can do is to thank God for our present state of affairs and for creating all the wonderful moments, beings and things around us.

Alls Sambhav

The kid is back with a bang. He is in a vocabulary digesting spree. He picks up every word that is new and catches up with eager evertime as if that would be the last word. I will have to fend out ways to keep up to his eagerness. Unfortunately due to the constraints of my job, I am unable to be with him for a descent time. I hope he will excuse me for this.

Thanks Indian Railways

I do not remember getting up the wee hours of the morning in recent past. It was courtsey Indian Railways that I had to. Just imagine getting up at 4 only to realise that the train is running 1.5 hrs late. Anyways I am happy that it I up early.

Sita, Dhuba grass and Vishnu

Durbha or Dhuba grass has an important place in Hindu worship. The grass finds the highest position on a deity’s body i.e. the head. This grass belongs to the Poaceae family and botanically known as cynodon dactylon. It is the most sacred plant after Tulsi in India.
Since it has most of the body part like a creeper grass on the ground, it symbolizes humility; all living beings tend to walk on the same. This is one of the first reasons why it is placed on a deity’s head during worship. Humility as a virtue is an integral part of Hinduism.
A story also does the round that while Sita was asked to go through agni-pareeksha for the second time, she asked Mother Earth to engulf her. She being her daughter, an earthquake took place where she was standing. She stood with hands folded till the earth engulfed her. Lord Ram in grief hurried to the spot in vain. All he could muster to get hold was some of her hair. The Lord in deep anguish threw them on the side earth and was in despair. The hair fell on the earth and became Dhuba grass and spread its roots to a larger place. The grass thus stands as a memoir of the many talked about characteristic aspects of Sita i.e. humility, virtue, dedication, patience and love.
In another story we have the great king Ambarish waiting to complete his fast by taking a meal. At that instant, Durvasa saint came in mentioning that he would have food with the king after performing his bath. To this the king obliged and waited. However since the auspicious time of breaking the fast was passing over, he symbolically broke it by taking few drops of water. The sage got angry with him for the same. He was about to give a curse when the king, a devout Vaishnavite prayed to Vishnu to save him from the curse that was going to come. The lord sent his Sudarshan Chakra to slit the sage. The sage pleaded with Lord Vishnu but the lord said that it was not under his control as once the chakra was left free, it would complete its job of slitting the destined person. Durvasa pleaded mercy owing to the grounds not being that serious. Upon this, the Lord said that considering the meagerness of the crime, the slit body of the saint would become grass; however it would find place in the hair / head of the lord.
At some places it is mentioned that this grass represents the entire Universe. The universe as per Hindus is governed by the trio of Brahma, Vishnu & Shiva. Brahma is told to reside in the root, Vishnu in the middle and Shiva at the top. Thus worshipping the grass symbolizes worshipping the eternity. Besides worship on festive occasion, this grass also finds it unique position in the funeral rites of Hindus too.
Today this grass has found its way into the medicinal world as a cure to dispigmented skin, burning (being haemostatic), and wounds externally and as a cure for bleeding control in cases of piles, menorrhagia etc. and being an anti-toxin internally. Not surprisingly this grass finds mention in the writings of Sushruta and Charaka.
Next time we come across this grass, let’s pause and dwell about its importance.

Its paper time

Yesterevening I had 2 of my papers published. This has some way given vent to my writing spirit. These are not the typically reasearched ones with data analysis and number crunching. But nevertheless I beleive that research is a research with or without numbers. Any qualitative topic cannot have a figure attached to it and I beleive there is a necessity for such papers.
I have a sense of contentment now and a growing hunger now. I am somehow become an addict. I hope to maintain the same. Any collaborators are welcome!

The tale of two epics : Devdutt Pattanaik

The tale of two epics : Devdutt Pattanaik

East vs. West

http://www.ted.com/talks/devdutt_pattanaik.html

Mother for 3 generations....

It is but obvious to have a mother for one generation. The meaning of the word “mother” as we are all made to believe is one who cares for the growth of her close one(s). I have been lucky to have a mother who has done the same for 3 generations.
The working lady that she was (now she has taken voluntary retirement) was instrumental in lending a helping hand to my father in elevating the financial levels of my father’s family. She has touched upon their lives as if they were all her kids and related through her birth. Now that I am working, I am really surprised how one can be so saintly with regards to money. Despite earning, she used to ask my father for the slightest of the expenditure as if she was not self-reliant. God only knows how my father’s family would have been if it had not been for an earning daughter-in-law in the family.
And as they say I happened. Then it was only me and my sister for this lady. She became a mother and that is the most that I know about her. She became the most doting lady around and gave the best of the tips sometimes normally and sometimes sternly. Whatever I am today has been due to the hard work that she has undergone behind the scenes. While my father was the external chiseller, there was this lady for both of us supporting both of us in our respective endeavors.
We all yearn for a government job but here is a person who quits the same to be with her grand-child with the sole interest of inculcating our family values in him. I am told by my father that she has started routing her pension payments to the savings account of my kid. Aware of her husband’s habit of spending money in social service, it is her instruction to my father not to touch any of her earnings lest she find it difficult to route money to my son’s a`ccount. It is not just about money as we grown learning one thing that money and material things are all transitory and hence should not be given more importance than growth of the soul (read mind). The pains that she takes physically now as if my son were her another kid. I am not sure whether it is because of me or the kid but I see her maintaining the motherly continuity; now that my kid is her entire universe (thats what she has made me understand).
Indebted that myself and my father are to this lady, I hope that all ladies of our generation also stand up to our projected women of idle ladies. I do not know of others but yes I am lucky to be the kid of a mother for three generations.

The river of life

This was an impressive article for Speaking Tree; thought of permanently etching it on my blogspace...

Two young girls, Laukika and Samatha, set off on an adventure. Both of them had completed their formal education and before venturing into their respective samsaric enterprises, they thought of taking a break to contemplate life. And thus was born this hedonistic idea of journeying down the river.

Laukika was so overwhelmed with the river’s speed, energy and her own enthusiasm that she said to her friend: “I’m going to jump into the river, Samantha and be carried along with its great energies. Meet you later.” So saying, she took the plunge, without waiting for her friend to respond.

Laukika enjoyed the initial adventure. At times the river frightened her, its strong current sweeping her along. But she dismissed her fears as she was taken up by the full flow of the river. The current carried her afar, and she could now no longer see the shore. Laukika was euphoric and wanted more of the adventure. Forever engrossed in steadying herself from the speed of her journey, she managed mere fleeting glimpses of the beauty around her.

Now, the waves got bigger, the waters deeper, the river widened, the gushing became so forceful that she was thrown about, knocked about on the rocks all over, water and sand filled her nostrils and mouth, she was being bruised... by the gravel and creatures in the river. The girl panicked. She had had enough; she wanted to come ashore. “Help me to the shore, someone”, she cried, but no one heard her. Those who did hear her couldn’t do much, as they were not in a position to help her.

Meanwhile, Samatha had set out on foot. “I choose to walk down the river bank instead. I might be able to enjoy the vistas better this way”, she had thought to herself before embarking on her journey.

Many years passed. The two friends met again. They hugged each other, happy to meet once again. They shared their experiences.

Laukika admitted she did have her share of fun, but the journey had tired her out. Moreover, she felt vacant inside. There was so much she wanted to do, she said, but the sheer speed of her journey didn’t permit her to take those liberties.

Samatha spoke: “I too thought for long after you left me, Laukika. I was tempted to follow you. The river looked enticing. But then, there was no hurry, either. I chose to walk down instead. I got to experience and enjoy the scenic offerings around the river. I marvelled at the sunrise and sunsets that were so different each day. The open blue sky was so re-assuring, as were the stars at night. I played with the countless birds and butterflies that filled the forest. I stopped to smell the forest and waited with bated breath for the kingfisher to dive into the waters for a quick meal, and the seagulls that flew over my head. I was tempted many times to plunge myself into the racing river – but would spend only a little time in the waters before drying myself on the warm rocks on the banks, read a book and resume my journey.

The local people who collected firewood and fruits from the forest would invite me to their humble homes. I would play with their children and share with them simple tips on improving their health before bidding them goodbye. It has been an amazing journey.”

The friends sat in silence, mulling over the choices they’d made and the experiences they’d been through.

wah TAJ!

I had my first experience with TAJ Group of Hotels recently. It was courtsey our first bi-annual branchhead's meeting at Kolkata. The stay was for 2 days only. But given a chance I would always make it to the same hotel again and again. Few points to ponder

a) How can the staff be so perfect? One would hear a fresh tone during the wake-up alarm even in the wee hours of the morning. The coffee would smell of the freshest brew as if they also are expert beverage makers.

b) It is very difficult to maintain a good thing. But these people have been able to manage the great image for the past few decades I am told.

c) Hospitality simply emnates from each word that the staff speaks. The smile, the measured humility and the eagerness to check out the comfort of the customer simply makes them different. Sadly I belong to an industry which also requires being hospitable but atleast I have never found an equal quantum of smile, leave aside the other mentioned parameters in any of the branches that I have visited

d) At the end of the day one can but have only fond memoirs of the hotel

Awaiting to be part of the group some day...

few random food4thoughts and questions....

Some thoughts just penned down randomly...

a) Either be a leaf or a pebble if you cannot be a tree or a hill; only the later two can make rain and no one else

b) Cant we have people just thanking Him atleast once everyday

c) When was the last time you learned a new thing ?

d) Has any action today helped anyother living creature; human being or otherwise

e) If every single earning individual were to donate a single rupee at a time, no wonder a huge coffer would be generated in India

f) Cant we all simply stop comparing; ourselves with others and others between themselves

Can we have a countdown ?

Temeperatures have been soaring across the country. In my own state of Orissa, the change has been pathetic. We had few countable places like Titlagarh, Jharsuguda, Talcher, Angul, Belpahar, Sambalpur et al which have a historic record having high temperatures in the summers. But this time the story has been bad throughout. There has been media coverage on the same but no one is suggesting any action (leave alone doing something)
I sincerely beleive that we are all to blame. We grumble of narrow roads, we love travelling by the biggest four wheeler possible, we are lazy enough even for maintaining a lawn (leave aside a kitchen garden or a papaya tree)....where would these all culminate ? Simple in higher temperature. Mark my words; I have carefully not mentioned anything about industrialisation because in that case tree felling is natural.
I am told in Bhubaneswar alone 2250 trees have been felled in the past 3 years. The capital being just one of the many cities of the state, can I suggest a target of 50000 trees for the entire state in the whole year. The effect of these would come after 4-5 years but it is bound to come. In our rspective families, we would be having atleast a dozen of anniversaries; can we resolve to plant a tree (and maintaining it for atleast 2 more years) besides the normal cake-cutting ceremonies.
I urge all my readers one and all to go ahead, search the nearest vacant space in and around their dwelling and plant a sappling. As the ad of Patek Ohillip goes, "You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely look after it for the next generation". lets do it for some cooler years ahead and more important for our next generation. I am going ahead with the countdown from tomorrow, anyone interested may please let me know.

Hiatus....

My kid is back from his maternal uncle's place. The moment he saw me after a couple of months, he sprang up to me. I was all along besides him throughout the journey from the station. I was just recollecting the achievements of Watson & Crick. There really exists a DNA with a particular structure and this only is the connect between generations. Owing to this only this kid of not even a year old was able to recognise me. We adults have tendency of forgetting people/faces even when most of us have public dealing as part of their jobs.
Thank God for being there and thanking him once again for creating DNA