A Small Step for Man: Zero to Infinity with Six Sigma

A hilarious and heartfelt true story about love, resilience, and why you should never leave home without your Indian snacks. One luxury cruise. Ten lifelong friends. And a medical emergency that wasn't on the itinerary. Meena Deshpande thought the biggest challenge of her Baltic Sea vacation would be picking the right wine at dinner. But when her husband Pradeep's health takes a dangerous turn, she finds herself traded from a luxury ship to a medieval-looking hospital in Rostock, Germany. Stuck in the middle of a record-breaking heatwave, Meena must navigate a world of "sliding" nurses, a midnight lunar eclipse with a mysterious cab driver, and the terrifying prospect of her husband strolling through JFK Airport with a catheter bag as his primary accessory. Armed with a bag of Hema Shah's thepla, a malfunctioning translation app, and a healthy dose of sarcasm, Meena discovers that while the "lemonade" of life can be sour, it's a lot easier to swallow when you're surrounded by Nobel-prize-winning air and the unwavering support of friends. Meena Deshpande has lived in Louisville, Kentucky, for five decades with her husband, Pradeep, who is still recovering from her version of events.

Pradeep B. Deshpande is Professor Emeritus in and a former Chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Louisville, a Visiting Professor of Management, Gatton College of Business & Economics, University of Kentucky and founder President and Chief Executive Officer of Louisville-based Six Sigma and Advanced Controls, Inc. (SAC). Pradeep has carried out extensive investigations of the theory of rise and decline of cultures for over four decades. In the early nineties, he was among the first to predict the imminent rise of China and India in that order. This book reflects four thousand years of Indian wisdom and four decades of contemplation on the part of the author. Dr. Deshpande was among the first to introduce six sigma training in corporate India and in engineering and MBA programs here, in Greece, and in India. He is an author or coauthor of six textbooks and over 100 refereed technical papers and presentations. During his thirty years on the faculty at the University of Louisville, Pradeep supervised twenty Ph. D. graduates and over forty Master s graduates. He is a fellow of ISA and a recipient of numerous awards for research and teaching. Dr. Deshpande is listed in the Who s Who in the World, and has taught at the Indian Institutes of Technology in Kanpur and Madras, University of Bombay Department of Chemical Technology, and has spent a year on sabbatical at India s National Chemical Laboratory in Pune.