Spinning Values

Inscape Media
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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! https://www.beekaylon.com/spinning-values

  1. 09/11/2025

    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.

    26 min

  2. 09/23/2024

    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.

    27 min

  3. 06/09/2024

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

    Ami Ved - Ep. 11 [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

    41 min

  4. 04/02/2024

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

    Amrish Shahi - Ep. 10 [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 foreca

    54 min

  5. 02/21/2024

    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

    41 min

  6. 12/13/2023

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

    Ep. 8 - In conversation with Tushar Pradhan - On Heartfulness Meditation 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

    32 min

  7. 08/21/2023

    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.

    42 min

  8. 02/21/2022

    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: https://brands.beekaylon.com/the-sustainability-blog 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

    29 min
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About

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! https://www.beekaylon.com/spinning-values

Information

  • Creator
    Inscape Media
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2025
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright Inscape Media
  • Show Website
    Spinning Values