Q&M's Piyush Pandey (second from right in 1979: From cricket to ads

Management trainee," says the voice at the other end of the line. "Indian executives are so boring,'' grumbles my editor when I transmit this. "What was your first job?" I muster up enough courage to ask. "Management Trainee." Oops!

Still, there is that clutch of mavericks that has done things differently. Like Piyush Pandey: the family was keen he ''take up the national hobby-writing the civil services examination'', but after a ma in History from St Stephens, Delhi, Pandey followed his cricketing mate, former India cricketer Arun Lal, to Kolkata, and to the tea trade. He lived with three of his colleagues in a Kolkata chummery and became members of the Calcutta Cricket & Football Club (CC&FC). The strangeness of it all-not too many people would have done such a thing in the conservative seventies-must have helped. After three happy (cricketing) years in the tea industry, Pandey left to join O&M. His salary dropped from Rs 3,500 to Rs 2,000, but "it (the tea job) was getting boring''. ''I think it is the best decision I ever made,'' grins Pandey.

Infinite's Navin Chandra, circa, 1958: Navy man to code-jock steward

If Pandey's was a move from one off-beat career (if you can call cricket, which he claims was all he did, that) to another, IndiaBulls ceo Sameer Gehlaut's makes an interesting contrast as a move from the unconventionally conventional to the conventionally unconventional. His first salary was a whopping Rs 1,80,000 a month (plus an annual bonus), and his boss was now US Vice President Dick Cheney. Gehlaut, was one of the three IIT engineers recruited by oil exploration major Halliburton. ''The client wants to see oil, and you can't stop till you find it,'' says Gehlaut, who spent only six months in the company, but travelled to six countries, met people from various backgrounds, ''realised the value of doing things on the ground'', and lived to tell the tale-on his third day on the job, a small dinghy he was in collapsed and the crew had to be rescued by a chopper. Gehlaut, whose dotcom-turned-offline-online-hybrid has lived through the highs and lows of the www-boom, claims his stint at Halliburton ''provided a competitive edge, made me independent, and taught me to think of returns''.

What's it about first jobs that makes them unforgettable? Maybe it's the thrill of finally seeing one's career on its way. Or maybe it's the feeling of independence that comes from earning one's keep. Or maybe, just maybe, it's the healthy dose of Reality 101 at the school of hard knocks that makes the first job memorable. When B.S. Nagesh, now 40, and CEO of Shoppers' Stop was a callow management graduate from Benaras Hindu University, he joined Blow Plast, as a sales officer selling VIP suitcases. On Day 1, he was handed a briefcase and dispatched to the warehouse to learn-by-rote, the 100 models of suitcases in the company's portfolio. By noon the same day he was out with a senior colleague selling suitcases. On Day 2, he returned from a long day on the road at 8.00 pm and found his assistant manager waiting. ''Have you collected all outstanding payments?'' he was asked. He hadn't, and was sent back to do so.

Cisco's Manoj Chugh in 1982: A novel beginning in Bihar

Today, 20 years later, that may seem inconsequential, but it has stayed with Nagesh, just as Intel's country head Avtar Saini remembers the kindness of his first boss, the person incharge of the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Minnesota where Saini was completing a masters programme (Saini was working for the lab for a $6 a hour, 10-hours-a-day job), that helped him land a teaching assistant's job. And then, there's the sheer novelty of it all. Cisco country head Manoj Chugh started off in a related field, selling HCL computers, 20 years ago. His task: to sell HCL computers in North Bihar (we can quite understand your disbelief-computers, in Bihar, in 1982!), and he landed one of his first orders by selling the computer's ability to create horoscopes to a Marwari trader who had been unimpressed by all else-this demonstration of the machine's intelligence convinced him.

And in some cases, it isn't the first job that is strange, but the next. Navin Chandra spent 31 years in the navy retiring from service a Commodore. Today, the now out-of-shape navy-man heads the Indian operations of Infinite Computer Solutions, India-from swabbing the decks to manning an army of code-jocks, that's quite a jump.

TREADMILL

Running Wisely Anil Ambani is 43 and the last time he ran a marathon, he clocked three hours 32 minutes. In the world of runners, that makes him an 'elite' runner. Ambani clocks 100 kilometres a week, running early in the mornings, usually setting off before daybreak. But although he's an elite runner, Ambani is in awe of another corporate chieftain-Niall FitzGerald, Unilever's global Chairman. Why? Because FitzGerald, who's 13 years older than Ambani, can do the marathon in three hours and 35 minutes. What is it about running that it becomes such a passion? Not being a runner myself I don't really know. But it's such an addiction! Our new President, for instance, is an avid runner and, increasingly, I find people of all ages, getting their running shoes on and taking off. One of my colleagues, who recently became the proud owner of new Labrador, has taken to running with his dog thrice a week. And another colleague, a one-time college athlete, has resumed his runs, sometimes clocking 10 kilometres a day. Of course, running is healthy. But haven't we been told that once you hit the 30s, it may be bad for your knees? Well, it's partly true. While running on hard surfaces can do major damage to knees, seasoned runners say they vary the surface they run on. Ambani, for instance, runs only once a week on hard surfaces. On other days, he's running on grass or on sand or on the treadmill at his home gym. But now there's good news for runners. Two new supplements, both based on substances found naturally in the human body, can help prevent running injuries. The first, glucosamine, functions as a precursor for the growth of cartilage, provides lubrication for joints and helps reduce pain and inflammation. Glucosamine's primary role in halting or reversing joint degeneration is directly related to its ability to stimulate the production of substances that are used to build cartilage. It may be fair to believe that by supplementing your diet with glucosamine, your body will build more cartilage to replace or repair any that is damaged. The second is chondroitin. It boosts the synthesis of cartilage, contributes to joint lubrication and blocks the enzymes that break down cartilage. Chondroitin helps create a watery, shock-absorbing space within the cartilage tissue that helps provide cushioning between the bones as we run. Like glucosamine, a chondroitin supplement can help strengthen your cartilage and protect it from the wear and tear of activities like running. One word of advice, though, before you rush out to buy these: Check with your doctor first. -MUSCLES MANI