Dr. E. Sreedharan (June 12, 1932-), well known as Metro man is highly respected among his colleagues and staff members for his excellence in construction projects of Indian Railways like Pamban Bridge Project (that was completed in 46 days despite deadline of 3 months), Konkan Railway Project – the gigantic challenge involving construction of 1880 bridges and 91 tunnels on Western Ghauts that reduced the distance of 1800 kilometres through innovative funding and involvement of different Governments of different political parties, and Delhi Metros to give clean mass transportation system to Delhi and nearby areas. Dr. E. Sreedharan transformed the functioning of Konkan Railways and Delhi Metros by making it paperless based upon trust and mutual respect among different staff members, timely payment to contractors, and value based decision making. E Sreedharan is not only known for his engineering excellence, professionalism, diligence and knowledge, but also for his commitment for values : punctuality, integrity, professional competence and a sense of social responsibility.
These values are deeply influenced by Dr. E Sreedharan’s spirituality based on Bhagvad Gita as he advises:
- What so ever you do, do with best of your ability.
- Do your work as offering to God
- Do not expect return. Do not get attached to results.
Dr. E .Sreedharan has disciplined and focused lifestyle as he gets up every day at 4.00 a.m., does some Pranayam and Yoga for 45 minutes and reaches office 5 minutes earlier. He prefers to complete the work within office and devote his evening to his family members or evening walk. For working hard without feeling of stress, he advises top executives to study Bhagvad Gita as spiritual text to find solution for ordinary problems. He had a metal plaque inscribed with the following words of Yog Vashishat and hung in his offices:
Whatever is to be done I do (Karam Karomi)
But in reality (N Cha Kinchit)
I do not do anything (Aham Karomi)
Author: Varinder Kumar
Varinderkumar2005@yahoo.com