Here is a true story, by a leader about another leader. And four #LifeLessons that leader shares for the new year.

The leader who is sharing the story is none other than –

Priyaranjan Jha, Vice President, Global Delivery Hubs at PepsiCo GBS,

An IIM Lucknow alumnus of class of 2000, Who is now based at Hyderabad, Telangana, India

You can know more about him on his linkedin profile. I have taken this story from Priyaranjan’s linked-in narrations, with his permission to post here.

“39 years ago, a 9 year boy wrote a letter to his hero. This hero had had a glorious year and was being hailed as probably the greater all-rounder ever. He had got back-to-back “man of the series” awards and was about to become the captain of the Indian Cricket Team. The boy asked his hero for a colour picture and an autograph. Today, in an era of instant messages and cloud-based images, this isn’t a big deal but those days this was quite audacious. Everyone in his boarding school laughed at the boy, and as days and weeks passed by, the sniggers became louder. But the boy had faith – he trusted that his hero will respond. Then one day, almost when he had given up, he got this letter.

That boy was me, and the hero was Kapil Dev.

Life Lesson #1. ALWAYS DREAM BIG, TRY AUDACIOUS THINGS, AND NEVER GIVE UP

If you read the letter, you will see the humility of the man, and his empathy with the little boy. There is so much to learning from kapil, including

Life Lesson #2. ALWAYS STAY HUMBLE, AND BE NICE TO THOSE WHO LOVE YOU, EVEN STRANGERS

I was so inspired by this letter that I have kept it with me for nearly 4 decades and do read it every so often to remind me of

Life Lesson #3. YOU HAVE IMMENSE POWER TO INSPIRE. YOU DON’T KNOW WHO IS WATCHING YOU AND LEARNING FROM YOU.

We watched the first-day-first show of ‘83’! What a thirilling, inspiring movie. And now my 11 year old son is a huge fan of Kapil, proving that success is temporary, true class is permanent.

The movie is a story celebrating underdogs, and gives us

Life Lesson #4: GREAT SUCCESS IS ACHIEVED NOT BY GREAT INDIVIDUALS BUT BY GREAT TEAMWORK.

Let 2022 by the Year of Inspiration. Thank you, Kapil!

(p.s. I shared a version of this story with my colleagues at #pepsicohyderabad and #pepsicogbs and their response prompted me to share more widely)”

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When I went through on my timeline on Linkedin, I immediately felt the compelling urge to make it part of my memory and my blog, to share with a few thousands who visit to inspire themselves for their life and career.

This post speaks not only about Kapil Dev, but also the young boy of 9, who is now a global leader who went on to graduate from IIM Lucknow and in the last 20 years has given leadership in various organizations like TATA MOTORS, IBM, Genpact and now PepsiCo.

It tells me about how Priy cherishes every small thing that he has done in the past and how each act and its response continues to inspire him. I am sure Priy is great inspiration for everyone who works with him and everyone who Priy has touched in his lives…

Back then, 1982, when I was into teens, I had only a small transistor of my grand-father that I used to use when he is not using to listen to the commentary that came on the Radio-waves! 1983 world cup was all on radio! Those were the days!

This letter of Priy precedes the greatest story of Indian Cricket. Imagine Priy definitely had the premonition that Kapil Dev is going to make the greatest impact on Indian Cricket for years and centuries.

Many of you reading this article, would only live with Kapil through the movie, ’83!!

Thanks Priy for such an inspiring sharing!