Mukul Agarwal, Founder & CEO at BootUp
May 06, 2017
The nature of my work has given me the opportunity to meet incredibly inspiring individuals who have left a strong impression on me such that it has become a part of my DNA. One such meeting was with the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, India, CBN “Chandrababu Naidu”
In 2015, I was leading a three member delegation to India from Menlo Park, “The Venture Capital of the world”. It consisted of the Mayor of Menlo Park Catherine Carlton, Council Member Ray Mueler and myself, representing Bootup Ventures. The purpose was to ink a sister city agreement between Menlo Park, California and Kochi in Kerala, the first ever agreement of such kind for any city in India with Menlo Park.
On our way to visit the Startup Ecosystem in Visakhapatnam, we stopped to meet CBN at his house in Hyderabad for 30 minutes. Our brief conversation with CBN was very stimulating and he wanted to continue the dialogue. Since our schedules were very tight, he offered to bring us back from Visakhapatnam in his private aircraft so that we could continue our conversation during the flight. As we were whisked into his private plane at 8 pm, I came to know that he had started his day at 4 am and that this was his normal schedule. Even though he was already 16 hrs into the day, he was super alert and sharp. He was an amazing storyteller, enthusiastically giving his grand vision for building “Amaravati” the new Capital of Andhra Pradesh. We were mesmerized as he made us all a part of this amazing journey he was going to embark on. During the conversation I was impressed by the simplicity of his dinner which comprised of plain yogurt and rice.
While I am skeptical and stay away from politics and politicians, I saw myself getting enchanted by his simple, down to earth demeanor, positive attitude, passion for his mission, and the clarity of his thoughts. I couldn’t help but think, if only we had more such leaders around the world, it would become a much better place.
As we touched down, it was past 11 pm. His security cars arrived immediately to take him but he refused to leave before us, as we were his guests. He told his staff to bring our car to the airplane. He stayed with us for the next 30 min until our car arrived and left only after we had left. I was amazed by his humility and magnanimity. I had just learnt a vital lesson in values and leadership.
CBN you are a true leader. I am honored to have had the opportunity to spend some time with you. I strongly feel that with leaders like you, it is just a matter of time when India becomes a dominant force on the World Map. I wish you the very best in your endeavors. Once again congratulations on being selected for the United States-India Business Council’s “Transformative Chief Minister Award”.
