Volume3 issue 3 corporate citizen by Corporate Citizen

CRADLE OF LEADERSHIP Wilfred Noronha, Principal, St Peterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s School, Panchgani Volume 3, Issue No. 03 / Pages 68 / www.corporatecitizen.in

Interview

Sunil Deshmukh, USA based philanthropist and former corporate leader of Wall Street

Australia unplugged

Rommel Sharma, Solutions Development Manager, Adobe, on Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x201C; where he worked

Loved & Married Too

Kavya Pant, who is running a pre-school called The Little Cocoon and S Shridhar, Dealers & Development Manager, Tata Motors

Dynamic Duo: 50 Dr Priyanka and Pranav Mokshmar, Innovators and Manufacturers of Vaayu, the innovative, cost effective air cooling machine

Love is in the Air

April 16-30, 2017 / `50

Survey

Access to Nutrition Index, 2016 report

2 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30, 2017

April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 67

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Guest Talk / Baba Kalyani Editor-In-Chief’s Choice

Dr (Col)A Balasubramanian

“with digitisation, things will change and become more transparent to everyone’s benefit automatically. I just hope our government under our dynamic PM with his vision of 2020-India at 75-will make it happen”

Digitisation is good, But how to apply it?

course, digitisation is a good thing. The question is how do you apply it in a country as massive and diverse as India? Sure, the Swedish are driving the digitisation wave, by taking it into homes, universities, companies and so on. But please do note we are talking of a population of 1.3 billion as opposed to nine million in Sweden.

So which are the areas where it works best?

It works extremely well as far as financial services are concerned. A prime instance of that would be the demonetisa-

tion and cashless payment move that happened on Nov 8, 2016 and all that ensued; study the period up to March end 2017 and you will realise what I mean! Consider how swiftly large sections of the populace have adopted digital financial transactions as opposed to currency and think, just how much easier, it is going to make the world of finance, in the days to come! The second area where we are talking better services and better value for everyone around would be government. There is one problem though. Governments and systems are built on regulations in this country. And regulations, April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 3

Guest Editorial

“now we are talking Smart Robotics-a combination of data management, data systems, data analytics and artificial intelligence, which is why robots can do things on their own in the shop floor”

unfortunately, have translated into fundamental meaning: how do you deny someone their right. But with digitisation, things will change and become more transparent to everyone’s benefit-automatically. I just hope our government under our dynamic PM with his vision of 2020-India at 75-will make it happen, so that we don’t have to go and stand in line for simple things like water connections, school admissions, paying bills or filing complaints. All of this will go away-but regulations have to be re-thought. For instance, a lot of digital technology works on radar. But how many Indians have access to radar? That’s why rules have to change. The third area, where it is working extremely well, in what is no less than a silent revolution is logistics. Companies like ours that use a lot of logistics-both inbound and outbound-as we get our raw material from all over the country-we can track everything we are shipping out on our phone. We have a simple tag on our box and you can track it on real time which would take a whole day of mails and calls earlier. So, logistics is a whole new industry. Imagine a pizza being delivered to your living room via a drone; that’s logistics for you. I know Germany and a couple of Scandinavian countries are delivering medicines to remote areas-and it’s a fantastic and humanitarian use of technology. The next part, already happening in India, is telemedicine. As our broadband connectivity spreads to increasingly envelop rural India, this is one prime example of how you bring inclusiveness into our society. Programs like the Swachh Bharat program are more than just drives to build clean toilets and sweep streets-they are aimed at fundamentally changing how our society lives and thinks. All of these social welfare drives, to my mind, can benefit from Digitisation. As far as medicine is concerned-I will give you my own example; not that I need digitisation-there are plenty of hospitals in Pune-but I’ve had a very severe problem in

4 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30, 2017

my right leg for the last two months and just couldn’t sort it out. To that end, a doctor from Mumbai came in to see me. He had a little gadget with which he connected on Facetime with a specialist in Canada despite the massive time gap; he had a system by which he could put in my diagnosis. The specialist would read it and tell him just what to do. In about 20 minutes of this treatment, using the collaborative knowledge of two doctors in different parts of the world, my pain was gone! This is just one instance of how digitisation is going to work in the field of medicine. Sure, you can’t have the best medical experts in every town and city, but you can certainly have them on phone--either writing prescriptions or transporting medicines.

Digitisation and Industry

Now let’s come to the Industry, which is where I belong. How does the digitisation process work here? Three or four things are happening majorly-and they need to be considered for both present and future potential. First is, of course, The whole IoT concept-or the Internet of Things, which is creating higher levels of automation, and revving up the ability to get people to communicate with machines, machine to machine, and machine to people, thereby eliminating the whole communication gap. This makes things way more efficient and competitive, and allows us to get the best value out of our assets. This increased simplicity is the best thing to have happened. The second area would be Robotics. Of course, they’ve been around for 25 years now. But now we are talking Smart Robotics-a combination of data management, data systems, data analytics and artificial intelligence, which is why robots can do things on their own in the shop floor. Of course, this is a few years away as far as India is concerned, but it will happen. The third area would be 3D Manufacturing-which is the process of manufacturing components using 3D printing. And the input for 3D Manufacturing is a digitally generated model. The good thing about this is that

as opposed to yesteryears where you needed CAD-CAM and a whole engineering back office, these days, an app on your phone is good enough to achieve your needs. You just take a picture of what you need digitally generated-and in about 15 minutes you will get that image to feed into your printer! So yes, it has become that sophisticated-and is going to get even more so. I don’t know how many people are aware that in Pune, most of your dental implants are created through 3D printers?! Tomorrow, other medical implants will follow. Most significantly, digital technology is going to create a huge revolution in manufacturing, in allowing you to let your imagination soar. No longer will you be limited by the machines and processes that you have. You can 3D print metals, plastics and even magnets to lock the door, in place of a latch! I think India is blessed with a large number of young people and innovators. We are good at Mathematics-that’s a great foundation for anything to do with digital processes. Yes, we have a lot of catching up to do in various fields as far as digitisation

world have survived three industrial revolutions; this is the fourth one and they are still going strong, thank you! So yes, curriculums, processes and syllabi will evolve and become more elaborate and sophisticated; maybe some of the teaching and instruction will be outsourced to the computer, but no, I do not see academic institutions as we understand them today, vanishing into thin air. The new generation will find a balance.

‘Cheap labour in India-who told you that?’

This supposition that Indian businesses are competitive because of cheap labour is completely wrong. Maybe it worked in the past, where regulations facing industry were extremely stringent; interest rates were as high as 21% and you could not import any machinery sans tons of permits and paperwork. In that scenario, we had no option but to use manual labour. But time and history have rendered that model both wrong and obsolete, for the simple reason that it did not take India anywhere. Today’s industrial world is hi-tech, hi-skill and hi-capital. Sure, interest rates have still high, but they are considerably lower than what they used to be. Therefore, this supposition that cheap labour makes a business work is an inaccurate hypothesis.

Digitisation and Agriculture

“In an agrarian economy like India, digitisation is going to be a boon to agriculture and farmers. Already it is being used to boost productivity, something that will only increase in the days to come. Today, drones are flying over farms to find out if there is soil contamination and disease in the air, and how that can be worked out. Vertical farming is a reality, something no one thought was possible earlier.

“digital technology is going to create a huge revolution in manufacturing, in allowing you to let your imagination soar. No longer will you be limited by the machines and processes that you have”

Digitisation and small scale industry

goes, but just as we made the easy transition from analogue/telephone to cellular technology -in a manner that made it possible even for an uneducated person to do intelligent things on his phone-we will catch up in the digital world too!

Digitisation and skilling

In a world which is increasingly turning to online educational choices; where universities are offering lots of online programs, obliterating geographical boundaries - I think it becomes hugely imperative for premier educational institutions to have digital libraries for every single department--and not just one. This will allow students to experience the finest in the world of education and broaden their horizons at the click of a button. The buzzword today is skilled labour.

Digitisation and educational institutions

Given the backdrop of online classrooms, people are wondering as to whether the system of coming to college, sitting in a class and taking down notes will disappear altogether? To that, my answer is simple: the oldest universities in the

It’s a myth that only big industries can profit from digitisation. I don’t know how many of us are aware that most of the Gods in our home are made by villagers in China using a simple process of 3D printing. With 3D printing it becomes extremely easy to duplicate things in gold, silver and metal. All this is happening not just in China, but also Vietnam and Indonesia and pretty soon India will catch up too, providing new employment opportunities to several entrepreneurs.

Internet and rural India

When will the government take internet and computer capabilities to villages? I don’t think it has so much to do with the government as it does with larger industries. There has been much talk about how larger companies are controlling and consolidating digital interface to control digital businesses. Since these guys stand to profit the most, they will provide it-not the government. (Baba Kalyani is Chairman & Managing Director of Bharat Forge. He recently spoke on the sidelines of a Dialogue on The Opportunities And Challenges Companies, Academia And Society Face In a Newly Digitized World, organized by the Consulate General of Sweden at Pune’s Fergusson College) April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 5

Contents 24

Cover story

Dynamic Duo 52

Ageless love Corporate Citizen brings the inspirational story of social crusader and former Sheriff of Mumbai, Nana Chudasama and fashion designer Munira who were ahead of their times in terms of their inter-religious marriage and continue to inspire through their philanthropic work and family values

09 COLLYWOOD

Chatpata Chatter from the Corporate World 13 MANAGE MONEY

Dr Anil Lamba shows the brighter side of taxation and why Indian taxpayers have no reasons to complain 14 WAX ELOQUENT Who said what and why... 6 / Corporate Citizen / May 16-31, 2017

Volume 3 Issue No. 05 May 16-31, 2017 www.corporatecitizen.in

16 THE TAX MAN COMETH S K Jha, former Chief Commissioner of Income Tax on what can be done to make education a potent tool for change 18 Military to Management Former Wing Commander Madhavan Narayanan, now Director, HR & Admin of Toonz Animation, India on human resource management in the Air Force and the corporate sector

30 NHRDN Career Fest 2017 Santanu Banerjee, Head HR, Aditya Birla Health Insurance and Hirak Bhattacharjee, Head - Sales HR and Legal, Birla Sun Life Insurance on Careers in HR 36 Cradle of Leadership Matthew Raggett,Headmaster of The Doon School, Dehradun on what it means to be the head of India’s renowned boarding school, which keeps up with the changing times

36 30

44 CAMPUS PLACEMENT Mahima Chawla on how a positive, attitude helped her turn setbacks into stepping stones to success 46 LOVED AND MARRIED TOO Entrepreneur Vinita Raj and her husband Dr A Rajkumar on how their distance marriage has made the heart grow fonder

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49 Corporate Trends Work smart using time and efforts in the right way to get results 50 SURVEY ‘World in 2050’ Survey of PricewaterhouseCoopers on what would be the economic landscape of the world in 2050

46 May 16-31, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 7

contents

54 Editor-In-Chief Dr (Col.) A. Balasubramanian Consulting Editor Vinita Deshmukh Assistant Editor Prasannakumar Keskar Senior Business Writer Rajesh Rao Senior Sub-Editor Neeraj Varty Sub-Editor Vineet Kapshikar

54 health Jashoda Madhavji, Founder Dream N Hustle Media (DNH Media) feels Fitness is a passion and a confidence builder

Writers Delhi Bureau Pradeep Mathur / Sharmila Chand Bengaluru Bureau Sangeeta Ghosh Dastidar

56 PEARLS OF WISDOM Sadhguru on how to make marriage work

58 BOLLYWOOD BIZ Corporate Citizen brings you the best ghost films you must watch 60 mobile apps Best Apps for free ebooks 66 LAST WORD Digital India is not just a toy for the rich and the information savvy but will be truly transformational only if every Indian uses digital power and sees the benefits - by Dr Ganesh Natarajan

Pune Bureau Joe Williams / Suchismita Pai / Kalyani Sardesai / Namrata Gulati Sapra Manager Circulation Mansha Viradia +91 9765387072 North : Hemant Gupta +91 9582210930 South : Asaithambi G +91 9941555389 Circulation Officer Jaywant Patil +91 9923202560 Creative Direction Kiyan Gupta, www.thepurplestroke.com

Be A Corporate Citizen

How do you like this issue of Corporate Citizen - The Cool Side of Business? Send in your views, news, suggestions and contributions to corporatecitizenwriters@gmail.com. We would love to hear from you! 8 / Corporate Citizen / May 16-31, 2017

Graphic Designer Shantanu Relekar On Cover Page Munira and Nana Chudasama Photographer Yusuf Khan Website / Online Subscription www.corporatecitizen.in For Advertising, Marketing & Subscription queries Email: circulations@corporatecitizen.in (Corporate Citizen does not accept responsibility for returning unsolicited manuscripts and photographs. All unsolicited material should be accompanied by self-addressed envelopes and sufficient postage) Tel. (020) 69000677 / 69000672

collywood

People in the news

Saina, Akshay show patriotism, donate money

Saina Nehwal joined Akshay Kumar, as the duo came out to exhibit their patriotism and devotion towards the country in general and CRPF in particular. London Olympics bronze medallist Saina donated `6 lakh`50,000 each-to the families of the 12 Central Reserve Police Force jawans killed in an attack in Chhattisgarh last week, while Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar donated `9 lakh to each of the families of the CRPF jawans. Saina, who turned 27 on March 17, said she is pained by what happened last week and this is a small contribution to the families who have suffered irreparable loss. The 219 Battalion’s CRPF soldiers were ambushed by Naxalites in Bhejji when the troops were guarding a road being built between the village and Injeram on National Highway 30. Akshay Kumar and Saina Nehwal came out with something many billionaires have not thought about, calling the attention of the bigwigs of the Indian corporate to applaud the work done by people losing their lives to keep our country intact. Akshay, who has always been portrayed as a common citizen on the big screen, donated `1.08 crores, which speaks about his regard for the army men. Akshay is known to be very actively supporting them. Earlier, the actor had donated `9 lakhs to the family of a martyred BSF jawan. Akshay had once said that medals are important for the army men but they also need money.

Jason Kothari, new CEO of FreeCharge Jason Kothari takes charge as the new CEO of the India’s third leading e-commerce player, FreeCharge, the digital payments platform owned by parent company Jasper Infotech. He will take over from Govind Rajan, who had quit from his role early this year. Snapdeal also announced their plan to invest an additional $20 million in FreeCharge. Kothari, who also serves as the Chief Strategy and Investment Officer at Snapdeal will continue with his earlier roles, along with being added to the board of directors of FreeCharge. In the past, Kothari served as the CEO of Housing.com, prior to which he was the CEO and VC of Valiant Entertainment, a character entertainment company.

Oppo strikes `1079 crore deal with BCCI Star India emblem will not be seen on the Indian cricket team jerseys, as Oppo, the mobile manufacturing brand struck a whopping `1079 crore deal as Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named them as the new sponsors for five years. Vivo, another mobile company bid for `768 crores, in the two-company race for the deal. Oppo emerged as the highest bidder scaling an alltime high figure. Oppo will pay `4.61 crores per bilateral match and `1.56 crores for an ICC event match. Sahara was the previous highest bidder for Team India sponsorship with `3.34 crores per match. Star India paid `1.92 crores per bilateral match and `61 lakhs for an ICC match. And it will be Oppo who will adorn the Team India jerseys of the senior, junior and women’s teams and the training gears of the teams. The current India team sponsorship deal with Star India ended on March 31, 2017. According to sources, there were nine companies who bought the tender document, but only two companies put in their bids, and BCCI hit the bulls eye as the deal was a five-time increase from the previous rights holder. The bidding process took place under the Supreme Courtappointed Committee of Administrators (COA).

April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 9

collywood Amazon’s Agarwal elevated

Billionaire Agarwal buys Anglo American stake

For Amazon it is not just the lower cadre who get a boost in promotion, even the top guns get their dueas their India head Amit Agarwal did, as global senior vice-president, which puts him among the $107-billion company’s second tier of executive leaders. His fast climb up the hierarchy is an acknowledgement of Amazon’s success in India. Agarwal, who was vice-president till now, will continue to remain in the country and head the India operations, which Amazon sees emerging as its second biggest market in a few years after its home market, the US. He was earlier an executive assistant and technical adviser to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. He has been climbing quickly up the executive hierarchy at Amazon. A senior vice-president is the third highest rank in Amazon, after CEO and president. Bezos serves as chairman, president and CEO. So Agarwal now is among the company’s second tier executive leadership team.

After failing to strike the deal last year, Anil Agarwal, an Indian mining billionaire, shelled out 2 billion pounds ($2.4 billion) for Anglo American Plc shares in the market. The full stake would equate to about 13 percent of Anglo’s stock, making Agarwal the second-largest shareholder after South Africa’s Public Investment Corp. It will give him a strong voice in the company’s strategy as the blue-chip British mining firm cements its recovery from a slump in commodity prices. While Agarwal said the purchase was a family investment and he won’t make a takeover bid, the brash Indian tycoon offered to merge part of his mining empire with Anglo American last year, only to be rebuffed. The London-based mining group, which is currently looking for a new chairman, is seen as a candidate for a potential break-up through splitting its South African assets from the global mining business. The purchase will be funded via a mandatory exchangeable bond issued by his holding company, Volcan Investments Ltd., and secured by Anglo’s shares. A representative for Anglo American declined to comment. Anglo American, a company founded by the storied Oppenheimer dynasty in South Africa more than a century ago, is one of the world’s top five mining groups, alongside BHP Billiton Plc, Rio Tinto Plc, Vale SA and Glencore Plc. Its key assets include giant copper mines in Chile, iron ore operations in Brazil and South Africa and De Beers, the iconic diamond producer.

Mahesh Madhavan to be Bacardi’s next CEO From Mazagon Dock to Bermuda, is the story of Mahesh Madhavan, as this 54-year-old who started from being part of a team building offshore oil rigs at Mazagon Dock, to selling Santoor soap in smaller towns of Maharashtra, now is the Global Chief Executive of a global spirits giant and iconic Cuban spirits brand Bacardi in Bermuda. Madhavan will succeed Michael Dolan as CEO from April 2018, according to the world’s largest family-run spirits company, Bacardi. This would make him

10 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30, 2017

the second Indian to steer a global liquor powerhouse after Diageo appointed Ivan Menezes as the helmsman in 2013. In his 20-year

stint with Bacardi, Madhavan has steered the eponymous rum giant across emerging markets like Philippines, Thailand, India, Africa and the Middle East. Madhavan’s family hails from Kannur in Kerala, but he grew up in Mumbai. He started his career with Mazagon Dock followed by Tata Electric. He went to SP Jain Institute of Management, before switching careers to the consumer goods sector, which also included a stint with FCB Ulka. He left Diageo to join Bacardi in 2007.

Will Salman be Sultan of smartphones? The Bollywood superstar Salman Khan well known for his clothing brand Being Human has made his next move, betting on a smaller screen-the smartphone. After his eventful run in mega hits with the likes of Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Karan Arjun and Dabangg, Khan is dialling a raft of investors for his smartphone venture, in which he may take a majority shareholding directly or through his family. But, can he also make the same success with the smartphone, many wonder. But he’s currently building an operational management team with people from Samsung and Micromax, targeting an entry-to-middle market segment of the Android, Being Smart. It will cost below `20,000, and initially be sold online, and later through strategic partnerships with a few large cellphone and electronic retail chains. They may also be sold in Being Human stores. A small group of executives, along with members of the Khan family, are working out the details. The Being Human brand is licensed to Mandhana Retail Ventures, which operates dozens of outlets in various cities selling fashion accessories and apparel.

Shirdi trust gets its first IAS CEO

Jalgaon Collector Rubal Agarwal is the new Executive Officer of the Saibaba Temple Trust in Shirdi. A 2008 batch IAS officer, Agarwal was appointed by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. She is the first bureaucrat to lead the trust headed by BJP leader Suresh Haware. An officer of the deputy collector cadre used to hold the office, but the Supreme Court directed the government to appoint an IAS officer as CEO. A former district collector of Ahmednagar, Agarwal will take charge from Bajirao Shinde.

Alia Bhatt to endorse Parle product Glamour and the corporate world have been synonymous, as evident with Parle, which added fizz to Frooti, signing up Alia Bhatt as the ambassador of the new drink. Bollywood actor Alia Bhatt, who endorsed Coca Cola until a few weeks ago, has signed a deal with Parle which launched a fruit-based brand Frooti Fizz. Parle Agro are of the opinion that the new product will be part of a wider strategy to double its revenue to `5,000 crores by 2018, especially from its flagship brand Frooti that is the second largest mango drink after Coca-Cola’s Maaza and Appy, which is now a `500-crore brand. Bollywood has always been associated with these corporates, and the names of the celebrities have been changing very frequently. Last year, Coca Cola dropped actor Salman Khan as Thums

Up brand ambassador citing conflict of interest after TV reality show Bigg Boss roped in Parle Agro’s beverage brand Appy Fizz as a major sponsor for its Season 10 episodes. India is considered key to the cola giants’ growth at a time when they are contending with shifting tastes in its traditional markets, such as the US and Europe. In India too, the demand for healthier drinks is increasing faster in urban centres, with consumers switching to fruit-based beverages. With a large segment of Indian consumers shifting to non-cola carbonates from regular cola drinks, companies plan to grab a share of the changing market fuelled by consumer habits. According to a Euromonitor report, companies realised that the only way to gain share was by introducing new products.

April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 11

collywood Kumar Mangalam chairman of IdeaVodafone

Kumar Mangalam Birla will act as the Chairman of two firms. The Aditya Birla Group Chairman takes charge of the newly merged entity created by the merger of Idea Cellular and Vodafone India’s operations, also as the chairperson, as this two mobile firm combination will create the largest telecom provider in the country in the next year (2018). The merger of these two, both Vodafone and Idea Cellular will see over 400 million customers and hold 35% of market share. However, while the merger proposal has received a nod from Idea Cellular’s board, it is subject to several other approvals including from the Reserve Bank of India, markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India, Foreign Investment Promotion Board, and the stock exchanges, including from other countries. While Idea and Vodafone will both jointly control the merged entity, Vodafone will own 45.1% while the Aditya Birla Group will own 26%. The rest will be held by the shareholders, and this will give Aditya Birla Group the sole right to appoint the chairman of the merged entity, within its rights of appointing three directors for the company. On the other hand, Vodafone will hold the sole right to appoint the Chief Financial Officer while the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officers will be picked up by Vodafone and Idea, together.

SEBI’s Ajay Tyagi has his task cut out With senior Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) officials saying that the regulator has jumped into far too many cases, and have been challenged at the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT), this has left the new Chairman Ajay Tyagi a tough task on hand, of streamlining SEBI, which deserves credit for what it has achieved in the past 28 years. Marked as one of the best regulators in the country, this is no time for him to rest on its laurels, but to get down to work. SEBI is now in the so-called mature phase of the lifecycle of a regulator. It has nothing much original left to do, and is left mainly with the painful and thankless job of enforcing regulation. And with SAT’s challenge, it has become clear that it 12 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30, 2017

has bitten off more than it can chew. This is reflected in some cases where SEBI investigations have been shoddy and have been overruled by SAT. One leaf Tyagi can take out of his predecessor UK Sinha’s diaries is in resisting pressure from Parliamentarians on clamping down on certain market reforms. For instance, thanks to the efforts of a whistleblower, concerns about algorithmic trading have been raised in Parliament on a number of occasions. Many are of the opinion that Tyagi has his task cut out. SEBI’s responsibilities have risen in recent years, and it is responsible for new segments such as commodity derivatives. To be effective, Tyagi must ensure the regulator picks battles that are necessary and important.

Mishra appointed to Snapdeal board by Softbank In a bid to boost the company, the Japanese conglomerate Softbank has appointed its most experienced e-commerce veteran Kabir Mishra to the Board of e-commerce firm Snapdeal. This decision was taken in line with the hope that Snapdeal will hit profitability in the next two years as it undertakes a number of steps, including layoffs and moving away from non-core activities. The company had laid off 500-600 employees across verticals even as co-founder Kunal Bahl admitted to making the mistake of growing much before it could figure out the right economic model. Kabir has for many years been closely involved in managing Softbank’s investment in Alibaba in China, the source said. He has also been the anchorman in managing Softbank’s investment in Indonesian e-commerce major Tokopedia and had extensive involvement in South Korean firm Coupang, where Softbank invested USD 1 billion in June 2015. Compiled by Joe Williams joe78662@gmail.com

manage money Dr Anil Lamba

Should we pay Income Tax?

We must pay Income Tax. If for no other reason then, as a token of thanksgiving to a nation where we occupy the top 2-3 per cent slot, the least we can do is to pay our taxes...

n the previous issue, we were discussing why we should pay the Income Tax. I had pointed out that the logic of collecting the Income Tax (and other taxes) was, since everyone uses the services and amenities provided by the government, hence everybody should also contribute. But the problem was that everyone uses the facilities, but everyone cannot contribute, because a sizeable portion of India’s population lives below the poverty line.

What does it mean when we say that so and so is living BPL (below the poverty line)?

I often ask this question in my talks. How much does a BPL person earn less than? And the answer very often is that a person living below the poverty line does not earn enough to be able to provide the basic needs of life. And what are the basic needs? The answer to this question, many a times is−food, clothing and shelter. The truth is that a person living below the poverty line does not earn enough to have three meals a day. Some estimate is made by someone sitting up there in the planning commission or some such government department, that what should be the calorie intake per day of a normally healthy individual in order to continue to remain normally healthy. This figure differs based on whether one is living in urban or rural areas−some 2100 and 2400 calories per day respectively−the latter having to do more physical work. The next calculation is to work out what does it cost to acquire enough food to get that many calories. This number was a ridiculous `10 and `15 per day for rural and urban areas respectively (`328 and `454 per month) in the year 2000. The Tendulkar committee revised this number to `27 and `33 (in 2009) and the C Ranjan committee raised it to `32 and `47 respectively in 2014. Any person earning less than this is considered to be living below the poverty line. And if there is a family of four, then multiply this figure by 4, and if the family income is below that number, it is said to be a BPL family. Even conservative government estimates put the percentage of our population that lives below the poverty line at around 30. Privately one even hears of a percentage as high as 50. I said earlier that the logic of collecting tax is−all of us enjoy the facilities, therefore all of us must pay. Can this 50 per cent afford to pay? Are they even bothered whether the roads have potholes and whether the

streetlights are functioning effectively or not. They are struggling merely to survive. (Often, some people move above the line not because they start earning more but because the line moves lower, having been redefined. Or it also happens that incomes increase marginally, but due to inflation prices move up by a bigger percentage. Even though, effectively speaking, one may be poorer than before, but a look at the income figures in isolation may make it appear that one is better off than earlier) That leaves us with the remaining 50 per cent, the ones that are above the line. Now, so far as Income Tax is concerned, the government's stand is that we don’t want you to pay Income Tax unless you lead a relatively decent life. And the figure that will enable you to lead a fairly comfortable life in India is at present pegged by the government at `250,000 per annum. `250,000 per annum per earning member of a family. So if a family has 10 members, each earning 250,000 annually, the family income would be `25 lakh and the Income Tax collected by the government would be ZERO. Out of the 50 per cent that are APL (above the poverty line), perhaps 40 per cent earn less than the minimum required to pay income tax. Now we are left with about 10 per cent of the population that is not only APL but has a surplus above 250,000 out of which they can pay income tax. And of this 10 per cent, about 70 per cent are tax evaders. Do you see how grave the situation is. This article is titled ‘Should we pay taxes?’ My answer is, of course we should. If for no other reason then as a token of thanksgiving to a nation where we occupy the top 2-3 per cent slot, the least we can do is to pay our taxes honestly. And I’m not sermonising. I think it is the most practical thing to do. In my opinion any attempt at evading, or even saving, taxes is probably more expensive than the payment of tax itself. How that is so is a discussion we will leave for the next edition. (to be continued) Dr Anil Lamba is a practising chartered accountant, financial literacy activist and an international corporate trainer. He is the author of the bestselling book ‘Romancing the Balance Sheet’. He can be contacted at anil@lamconschool.com April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 13

wax eloquent

India has the Ability

Take a look at what our corporate leaders have to say about recent trends and their experiences in the business world

Exponential growth

“Today mobile commerce, as a percentage of e-commerce is the highest in India. We are at 42% in India today and the global average is 34% and this is predicted to go up to 88% by 2020. The market is moving fast, the consumer is evolving, mobile is causing that disruption, e-commerce will rise, rate of mobile shoppers will increase and it will drive exponential growth.”

It is about firing imagination

“It is about firing imagination. We are in an amazing situation with enormous macroeconomic stability and now, enormous political stability. The mix is perfect. We just need the government to give clear signals.”

Umang Bedi, MD, India & South Asia, Facebook, Courtesy: http://www.livemint.com

Uday Kotak, founder and

chairman, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Courtesy: Mint

What’s working for India? “How many $2 trillion markets do we know that are growing at the rate that India is? There is political stability and a strong reform agenda, which do not necessarily exist in many parts of the world today. If the US, which is a $15-trillion economy, grows at a faster rate than it has in the past, I would argue that India will undoubtedly have the opportunity to benefit.” Pramit Jhaveri, CEO, Citigroup India,

Quality redefined

“I define ‘true’ quality as the combination of people power and process power. Quality must be practised by the people every day at home or workplace or within the community. Once people have the caring mindset, they can develop good processes or fix broken processes.” Subir Chowdhury, USbased management guru

Courtesy: http://www.businesstoday.in

14 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30, 2017

Courtesy: Times of India

Encouraging women in corporate India

Quirky marketing

“For women, it is often tempting sometimes, almost an imperative to give up work once you have other responsibilities coming in and then to not come back. I think it is very-very important that you stay the course. You can make little adjustments that are needed, little and large adjustments that are needed, but you should not completely opt out.”

“We have always done differentiated and quirky marketing and we intend to continue with that. We don’t do conventional or traditional marketing. New age media is the medium we use most. Experiential marketing is also key to us. It’s all about mixing these in order to communicate to our consumer.”

Abanti Sankaranarayanan, chief strategy and corporate affairs

officer, United Spirit

Courtesy:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

Learning from people you work with “When you work with virtually everyone in the industry, you end up working with rivals as well, but it only shows how far you have come as professionals. I have learnt a lot from the people I have worked with.” Rohini Iyer, Bollywood publicist and founder of Raindrop Media Courtesy: https://thereel.scroll.in

Abhishek Ganguly, MD, Puma India

Courtesy: https://www.sportskeeda.com

Being experimental and being profitable

“Being experimental brings an edge to your creative endeavour but profitability is what will allow you to experiment. It’s a balance that one needs to keep ones business going for a long term and evolve at the same time. Evolution necessitates experimentation without alienation, keeping your relevance and hence your profitability intact.” Narendra Kumar Ahmed, fashion designer

Courtesy: http://www.hindustantimes.com

Making national sports federations professional

Free flow of data across borders

“It is really important for data to move across borders, it is very important for the US economy, it is very important for the Indian economy. And it is not an area where we have international rules, there is a hole in the global trading system. We would advocate that the government of India and all governments around the world promote policies to make it as frictionless as possible to data to move back and forth.”

“The goal should be towards selfsustainability. Nobody will give a single rupee if you cannot match value in a professional way. For that, you need paid professionals. We need to have people with a vision.” Abhinav Bindra, Olympian

shooter and chairman, Athletes Commission of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF)

Courtesy: http://www.thehindu.com

Victoria A Espinel, president and CEO, Business Software Alliance Courtesy: http://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com

Paradigm shift in the political economy “The mandate of the recent state elections is an endorsement by the electorate in India and that is really important for foreign investors because what they want is stability and like what they see in terms of what the BJP government is doing. What I am hoping is that as a result we will see tackled some of the more difficult problems that India faces.”

People are our biggest opportunity and challenge

“The only way we can reach our goals is if you have really good people. People are the fulcrum of what will give your business acceleration and lift. HR is very strategic and you need a very long-term view because unless you really understand the business issues, you can’t solve the people problems.” Nandini Piramal, executive director, Piramal Enterprises and HR head, Piramal Group

Courtesy: www.thehindubusinessline.com

Stuart Milne, CEO, HSBC India,

Courtesy: Mint

India has the ability to digitally transform

Concept of stardom “The concept of stardom will never fail in any industry. A star is not just an actor; he or she is somebody with charisma. It is the charisma that makes people come back and watch that star again and again. We all are actors and people come to see our work, but for stars, it is about coming to watch the film irrespective of their work.” Rahul Bose, actor

Courtesy: http://www.catchnews.com

Big trigger to enter India “In India it’s been very frustrating with the infrastructure. But if you look at it, you will get more 4G data from Reliance…you’re going to get more fibre optic. Eventually, it will be like electricity. Just like you will probably get electricity to every village, you will get fibre optic to every village as well.” Reed Hastings, cofounder and CEO, Netflix Courtesy: http://www.outlookbusiness.com

“Continuing to digitally transform the country will be a huge competitive advantage. India has the ability to leapfrog a lot of countries that have already invested in older technology/capabilities and digitise the economy in a way that can be transformational.” John B Veihmeyer,

chairman, KPMG International Courtesy: http://www.forbesindia.com

Compiled by Rajesh Rao rajeshrao.rao@gmail.com

April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 15

The Tax Man Cometh-25

Can we make India a super power? by S K Jha

(IRS (retd) and former Chief Commissioner of Income Tax)

Why have we lagged behind? Despite our potential, why are we not a super power? Because we are plagued by self-inflicted problemsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;of corruption, greed, self interest, lawlessness......but above all is it because we do not love our country enough?

Unlike the regular tax desk which is manned by a tax officer whose job is to levy tax on you, this desk is manned by a non-serving tax officer who wishes to share his experience of 35 years in the tax department, while, discussing tax provisions. It is advantageous to know how the tax department thinks and acts when, as said by Benjamin Franklin, â&#x20AC;&#x153;In this world nothing is certain except death and taxesâ&#x20AC;?

have been writing with a point of view as a former taxman. Today, I wish to shift gears, as an exception, and come before you as just a normal citizen. Things are happening around us, which are disturbing. These are painful, and may be similarly painful to many a citizen like me. No doubt, our country is growing, but we would have grown at a much faster pace. We have the inherent potential to become a super power, but so far, we are still struggling to find our place in the developing world. China and India became independent almost together, with both the countries inheriting poverty and both the countries with a largest population in the world to feed them. Today, the economy of China is five times our economy. China has enough money to buy friends and also enough military power to coerce the world. Our neighbouring countries are being bought with mammoth investment by China so as to create a necklace of permanent pain for us, while at the same time it is bulldozing in the South China Sea by its military power. I feel bad to see this and you may say that I am getting jealous, but the fact of the matter is, many have identical views like me. Why did we not grow like China? There can be many answers with various points of view. One thing good which we have which China never had is democracy and freedom of speech. Since democracy is for the people, by the people and of the people, there is every reason to believe that we should have developed much faster than China, but then why have we lagged behind? We all have to introspect and for that I pose some questions. First, do we really love our country? Let us

16 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30, 2017

look inside us and find the truthful answer. We can reach the honest reply if we compare the self-interest with the interest of the country. For many of us, the fulfilment of our selfish interest is paramount. We may say that we love our country, but while ranking our love it may be the last. We love ourselves, our families, our caste, our religion, our language and our region of domicile before India. We exercise our democratic right of voting based on our selfish interest as which party can be good for us personally based on the identity of caste and religion. We vote to elect a government for our country but while voting we forget the needs of our country. Our love for our caste is apparent throughout the country when we see massive movements for caste based reservation over and above the stipulated norms fixed by the Supreme Court that reservations should not exceed 50%. There is competition among economically and politically developed castes, in the last few years, seeking more reservation in government jobs and seats in educational institutions. The buck does not stop here as there is also clamour for reservation in the private sector and also in promotions. If all the demands are met, then almost entire jobs will be reserved for dominant and vocal caste groups and there will be no place for merit. The call for reservation is met by strikes, blockade of roads and rails and at times it is followed by damage to public properties. We do not see any mass movement and meetings of minds of our people to make our country richer and more powerful in sharp contrast. Love for caste is there but love for the country is not visible. Second, do we do constitutional duties as citizens while fighting for our constitutional rights? The honest answer is big NO. In recent years, our loudest cry is our freedom of speech. Yes, it is our fundamental right, as guaranteed by the Constitution to have freedom of speech. Nobody, including the government, can snatch it from us. The Supreme Court has held that this right is the basic feature of the Constitution and the same cannot be abridged by amendments passed by the Parliament.

But, there is a rider to this right, that freedom of speech should not cross the Lakshman rekha of integrity and sovereignty of our country. It is our constitutional duty to speak in unison for the unity and integrity of our country. For the last one year, we are getting really disturbing news from the campuses of our elite educational institutions. Under the right to freedom of speech, some of our bright students have been seen speaking against the unity and integrity of the country. The very meaning of India has been undermined. Overnight, these students have been treated as heroes by some sections of our society including some sections of our media. The campus, which is supposed to be temples for learning has become political battleground. It is true that for the majority of students the colleges still remain the place of learning and career building, but a small section shouting against the country creates a bad taste. There is no harm in speaking against political parties and even against the government as this will come under the right to freedom of speech, but speaking against the country to destabilise it is against constitutional duties. We love our rights which the country, through its Constitution has given to us, but we fail to do our duties which the same Constitution listed for us to follow. Third, are we honest? For public consumption, we all say we are honest, but our inner self knows the Truth! We are corrupt in our dealings. We take bribes and we do not mind giving bribes to get our work done. India figures amongst the most corrupt countries as per the scale of Transparency International. We like our children getting admitted in the best of schools and colleges by paying bribes in the form of capitation fees. Jobs are secured by paying bribes. We pay bribes in the form of donation to get entry into party politics. Sometimes we are constrained to pay bribe to escape undue harassment. Sometimes we pay bribes for speedy clearance of our files. Against major purchases, there is a concept of kickbacks. The quality of goods purchased is compromised to earn commission. Major scams are related to kickbacks and commissions. How can we think

of making our country a powerful country when the procurement of goods and services is of sub-standard quality? Our poor remains poor as almost 80% of the funds released by the government for welfare measures is lost on the way, to corrupt officials and middlemen. Fraudulent bills and vouchers are created to eat away the share of our poor. This is one of the main reasons that even after 70 years of independence; nearly 30% of our people are still below the poverty line. We have the maximum number of malnourished children. Corruption is the most dreadful disease faced by us, as it keeps our country poor. Recently an upsetting news has come that some Army personnel have been found involved in the questions leaks of Army recruitment test for a big lump sum money. Consider the situation when our sol-

tax returns last year. Many people who chose not to pay taxes or file income tax returns and pay taxes were having sizeable taxable income. The psychology of our people is to save money for personal greed at the cost of nation building. They know that the government cannot conduct income tax raids against a large number of people, because of inherent limitations. Let us also have a look at the large number of crimes against women, or Maoist activity in 55 districts of our country, considered a red corridor, and happenings in Kashmir Valley. Delhi was once held the rape capital. Thousands of our soldiers and civilians die every year in Kashmir and in Naxal infected areas due to the wrong ideology of some misguided people. Our judicial system is over burdened due to avoidable litigations emanating from breaking of laws by our people. The result is that justice is unduly delayed in deserving cases. Fifth, do we work to our true potential? There is no doubt that Indians are intelligent and hardworking, but the sad part is that they seldom use these attributes. See our people working really hard and applying their intelligence when they go out of the country for a job, vocation or profession. Our people have reached the top of many blue chip companies. The Silicon Valley of US and even NASA are manned by many Indians. But it is just the opposite when they are in India, with some exceptions. Go to our leading colleges and elite universities and we find that there is hardly any real research work and innovation. Students join college to get a degree or diploma with limited hard work and without any application of their intelligence for out of the box thinking. The majority of such students are not employable and they just go on adding to the number of unemployed youth. Please visit any government office and you will find that out of the stipulated eight hours of duty, productive work is limited to a maximum of two to three hours. Time is wasted by the officers and staff talking, having tea and coffee, and also having irrelevant meetings. Less work done

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Today, the economy of China is five times our economy. China has enough money to buy friends and also enough military power to coerce the world. Our neighbouring countries are being bought with mammoth investment by China so as to create a necklace of permanent pain for us, while at the same time it is bulldozing in the South China Sea by its military powerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

diers defending our country are illegally employed. Fourth, are we law abiding citizens? It is for us to judge ourselves. A law abiding citizen respects the rule of the law and in the process go to make a strong nation. It is apparent from the problems faced by our country that the majority of us believe in breaking the law for personal gain or sometimes to follow a wrong ideology. Just consider the big problem of black money faced by us which is almost like a parallel economy. Why has black money come in the first place? It is because we have not paid income tax on our income as per the provisions of the Income Tax Act. Further, we have chosen to indulge in illegal trade like smuggling, drug trafficking and other criminal activities. In our businesses we have decided to suppress our actual transactions and paid less customs duty, excise duty and sales tax. In our country of 130 crore people, only about three crore people filed income

April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 17

The Tax Man Cometh-30

in government offices together with red tapism add to the problems of the country and that affects our economy. Our research institutions work so slowly that by the time they come out with something, it is already outdated. In the absence of proper research and innovation, we spend our precious foreign exchange on avoidable imports. We have the dubious distinction of being the biggest importers of defence equipment and ammunition. While going through the process of introspection in steps as suggested above, we must have realised that we the people are not good enough to make a strong and powerful country. Our country was the richest and most powerful country in ancient times and even today, India has the potential to become a superpower. The problem lies with her citizens, we the people. As good food is possible out of good ingredients, similarly a good country is possible out of good citizens. The first and foremost step is the passion of our people to make India a superpower. We should have real love for our country. The second and equally important step is to help ourselves to emerge as better human beings with love and compassion for our fellow countrymen. Divided society and divided people cannot constitute a strong and united country. Thirdly, if we can be hardworking and 18 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30, 2017

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Against major purchases, there is a concept of kickbacks. The quality of goods purchased is compromised to earn commission. Major scams are related to kickbacks and commissions. How can we think of making our country a powerful country when the procurement of goods and services is of sub-standard quality?â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

intelligent while working outside India then we should be doing the same while in India. We should go for more scientific research and innovation. We should all contribute to building our nation wherever we are. A teacher can become a better teacher, an engineer can become a better engineer, a doctor can become a better doctor and so on, to transform India into a better India. We should try to live in a corruption free and crime free India. If we are creating wealth, then we should have the feeling that we are creating wealth for our country. Our children, our brothers and sisters will prosper if our country prospers. There should be no reason for hoarding our money and evading tax. If our country is economically in good health, then more jobs will be created and there will be more expenditure on social welfare measures like education and health. We as good citizens should ensure that our limited resources are not wasted. Today, states of our country are fighting on water. We should ensure that not a drop of water is

wasted so that all that water is available for all. In short, we have to become great and ideal citizens to make our country a great country. The role of the government is also very important. The commander has to be honest and skilful to lead the army to win battles and in the same way the government has to be like the commander of 130 crore Indians. Our policy makers should be in love for the country and not only in love with the chair of power. They should lead from the front by setting examples of honesty, devotion to duty under a clear blueprint of plans. The government should not waste our resources on populist measures just to win elections. Our country has some problems due to our geography. We have some real bad neighbours who give us constant pain. May be this challenge will give us an opportunity to make our country even militarily powerful. We have the potential. We the people of India have to work together with the government to make our country a super power. Jai Hind!

Corporate Recall

My First Boss

A stepping stone up or down your career? They say, ‘The Boss is Always Right!’ The true virtue of a boss is that of a mentor and more often than not, many career successes have been dedicated to their very first bosses. A dipstick survey by Corporate Citizen across startups and companies reveals how career growth and good bosses go hand in hand By Sangeeta Ghosh Dastidar

Diptii Das, South Asia - Head HR, Aramex International

Dr Gayatri Saberwal,

Faculty Scientist and Dean, Academic Affairs, the Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology (IBAB) My first boss, although male, was a feminist. He strongly felt that women should do as well as men. It was not something explicitly discussed, but was implicit in his expectations. He was also a very self-confident and secure individual, and therefore did not feel threatened by an underling's success. Further, he was a most imaginative person, who had worked abroad and had a 'world view'. All this made me very comfortable working with him. The only point of discomfort was 'Have I performed well enough?' One felt guilty for sleeping 7-8 hours per night. He was famous for sleeping less (this was evidenced by his emails at very odd hours). Many people feel that only things that are traditionally Indian are good for India. He never felt that way. Rather, his actions reflected Tagore's thoughts, which were something along the lines of, “I would let the winds of the world blow through the doors and windows of my house but I will not be blown away.” Again, I think it was the mark of his self-confidence.

For Diptii Das, her second boss defined the word ‘True Leader’. She recalls this incident: I was a trainee with the Taj Group of Hotels in 1995-96, when I really understood the meaning of the terms ‘Manager’ and ‘Team Lead’. Having worked for a reputed MNC earlier, I had already understood everything else. But when it came to defining the ‘Manager’ or what I would like myself to be like, this gentleman fitted into that frame. He is Samir Bharadwaj, General Manager, The Imperial Club by Taj, Indian Hotels Company Ltd. He moulded me into a manager. An incident triggered my gratitude for him. Hospitality and customer service was always given importance by the Tata Group of companies and they value an employee to the same level. During a crisis, I was dealing with a customer. Being new to the process, I was unable to deal with the irate customer. I was a little baffled as to how to handle the situation, ease out of it and continue the process of what I am supposed to deliver. Bharadwaj came forth. Without telling me that I was wrong or I should not be handling the situation in a particular manner or belittling me, he helped me with the process. He told the customer, “She is new and a trainee. Give us a moment and she will resolve it.” Not stopping there, rather than doing the process himself, he made me do it. And then he told me I was perfect. He did not take over, but let me keep the dignity of my job and guided and assisted me in the whole process. It was a winwin situation, wherein I did not feel devalued. I felt I had contributed, while he taught me how to handle the situation. I shall remember this episode for lifetime. If not for Bharadwaj, another senior could have taken charge and I could have been told off for being wrong. Instead, I was able to contribute to ease the crisis with his help.” April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 19

Beyond Money

From Wall Street

to the World of Giving Sunil Deshmukh, USA based philanthropist and former corporate leader of Wall Street speaks at length to Corporate Citizen on his admirable journey from a student in the USA pursuing Masters in Chemical Engineering to his passion of social crusade through the Maharashtra Foundation Social Service Awards that he established two decades back, to recognise social reformers in India By Vinita Deshmukh Pics: ali asgar

Could you tell a little bit about your background?

My background is anything but glamorous-I come from a very lower middle class family from Sangli, a town in West Central Maharashtra. My father’s salary was a mere `500 per month. I stood fourth in the State Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exam and yearned to be a lawyer. But my father told me, “Look, we have no money to eat, so you have to earn your own bread. Lawyers kill flies, so you should become a doctor or an engineer”. I was afraid of seeing human blood, so the only alternative left for me was to do engineering. Now, which 20 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30, 2017

branch of engineering to pursue? There were rumours that chemical engineers earned `50 per month more than mechanical engineers, so I went for chemical engineering. So, this is the story of how I planned [!] my career.

Where did you pursue your graduate and post graduate studies?

I did my Chemical Engineering from Mumbai’s Institute of Chemical Technology (UDCT). During those days, all graduates of IITs and UDCT, like a train going through the tunnel, came out at the other end in the USA. That’s how I did my Masters in Chemical Engineer-

ing from Cleveland State University followed by a MBA from Indiana University. Again, nothing spectacular there.

How did you start your career?

I started working for Exxon Oil Refinery as a Chemical Engineer. Here, I did two things that are unusual in life compared to the rest of them. First, I quit Exxon and went to a law school in the USA. In 1977, not too many Indians went to law school. In fact, it was unheard of-partly due to lack of fluent English, and partly because of the accent. Although the American democracy is known to be “of the people, by the people,

“I started working for Exxon Oil Refinery as a chemical engineer. Here, I did two things that are unusual in life compared to the rest of them. First, I quit Exxon and went to a law school in the USA. In 1977, not too many Indians went to law school. In fact, it was unheard of—partly due to lack of fluent English, and partly because of the accent. Although the American democracy is known to be “of the people, by the people, for the people”, it is actually “of the lawyers, by the lawyers, and for the lawyers”. Lawyers control every aspect of life here “

for the people”, it is actually “of the lawyers, by the lawyers, and for the lawyers”. Lawyers control every aspect of life here. I wanted to join the winning team and also fulfil my childhood dream of becoming a lawyer. I did law and with this unique engineering, business and law combination, I joined British Petroleum (BP) in their US headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio. I did a phenomenal job for them because 95% of lawyers in US have either English or Philosophy as their basic degree, but very few have technical background. Any legal matter in an oil company has the underlying subject matter that is technical, which I knew very well. As a result,

they put me on a Fast Track Internal Program where they train and rotate you through various assignments, as you are considered among the future leaders of the company. As a part of that, they made me an oil trader which means I was trading crude oil for BP. Until then, I did not even know that something like oil trading existed. I did this for a couple of years. This is another unusual thing I dabbled into and I really liked it. My counter parties in oil trading were Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and the likes on the Wall Street. Somehow, Goldman people liked me and called me for an interview. Robert Rubin, the Managing Director of Gold-

man (who later became the Treasury Secretary of US), interviewed me. He sat for one hour and at the end of it, made me an “offer I could not refuse” so to speak. I was really naïve and at that time Wall Street was a highly secretive club. They gave me a huge salary jump. Even then, I was not sure, because I had a phenomenal career path guaranteed in BP where I would have ended up being at least a VP or Senior VP in due course. Should I then go for Wall Street and risk this assured path by joining a risky career like commodity trading? By the way, I didn’t even know such a thing called “bonus” and Wall Street bonuses are really massive–you get a base salary, but the bonuses can be 200-2000% of the salary. Wall Street is a different world. It is a win-lose game; there is no win-win. You win, they give you a big bonus; you lose, and in six months you will be immediately sacked. So I took that risk. That is commodity Futures and Forwards trading what they call here as ‘leedho deedho dhanda’. I took one risk deviating to go to law in American context and the second risk was to opt for Wall Street where, it’s a high riskhigh reward game. Even then, I joined Goldman and later Dreyfus which approached me a couple of years later. By then, I had figured out what bonus was. They paid me well. Louis Dreyfus Energy is one of the biggest commodity traders of the world. It is a French Jewish company, about 140 years old. I spent eight years there and was the head of oil trading. We made huge amount of money in 1992 Gulf War in oil trading and they paid me good April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 21

Beyond Money bonus. At that time, I indeed thought about retiring to do social work. But, I had friends in Citibank who persuaded me to come and start commodity trading for them. I did that for two years. I was the Global Head of Commodity Trading for Citibank. Now, the question is why at the age of 45 and the peak of my career would I quit?

That was in which year? In 1994.

You quit that time?

Yes, completely. Right from my student age, I was always socially conscious and I wanted to do something for the society. There is more to life than chasing money and I wanted to do a good turn, both for the society over here in India and also in America, as it is my karma bhoomi; my kids are born there. Hence the conscious decision to quit. I have been doing charitable work pretty much fulltime for the past 22 years except for couple of consulting assignments. If you work for five years on Wall Street, you are all set for life. You are not rich but you are well set for couple of generations. Wall Street gives you that freedom and I am grateful for it.

What is your life philosophy?

You have one life to live and you have to live it well-I don’t believe in re-birth. Life is a matter of balance. You should do good for the society and also have fun. My definition of fun is not that unique. I love very rare single malts, gourmet food and travel. At the same time, I am also enjoying doing good for the society. I am working on environmental causes in the US and for secularism–separation of Church and State. I strongly believe in social justice and am a global citizen. I am an atheist and know that religion and God are the concepts created by the ruling classes to subjugate women and weaker sections of society.

Any hobbies?

Intellectual and artistic pursuits. I love Ghazals and am a keen student of cosmology. I think cosmology is the cutting edge science that answers the most fundamental questions of creation and the future.

Where do you reside?

Miami Beach, Florida. With blue ocean and warm weather, good food and fun loving people, it’s close to paradise.

Is your wife also working?

No. My wife Pratibha is originally from Vile Parle, Mumbai. My father-in-law Dr Keshav Tilak is settled in Toronto, Canada.

How many children do you have? Three children.

How old are they?

Girish is 40. He is a financial advisor with Strategic Wealth Partners in Cleveland, Ohio. He is married and we have two most beautiful granddaughters, aged five and seven. My middle daughter Nisha, is a lawyer. She went to Wharton School of Business and later did law. She is the Director of Marketing for a hedge fund in New York City. And our youngest son Sushil is a doctor. He is doing a Fellowship in Nephrology at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

“I donated two crore rupees for establishing the awards. In 1992, I could have bought a good flat in Malabar Hill for that amount and it would have been worth several crores of rupees today. You need a like-minded partner to make the conscious decision to part with that kind of money and much more that I have donated for various progressive (Purogaami) causes” 22 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30, 2017

How did your family help you to just quit?

The credit goes to Pratibha, as she is not money minded at all. She is not into jewellery and other fancy stuff. In 1992, I launched the Maharashtra Foundation Awards for Progressive Literature and Social Service. I donated two crore rupees for establishing the awards. In 1992, I could have bought a good flat in Malabar Hill for that amount and it would have been worth several crores of rupees today. You need a like-minded partner to make the conscious decision to part with that kind of money and much more that I have donated for various progressive (Purogaami) causes.

This contentment is so rare…

The credit also goes to my socially oriented nature which I inherited from my mother and my uncles who were very generous towards social causes. I have a progressive mind-set-we call it ‘purogaami’. There are two types of charitable work. One is of the welfare kind which is ‘kalyan kaari’ and the other is bringing in change through social reform or ‘parivartan vaadi’. Ninety nine per cent of donors do ‘kalyan kaari’ work-give food, money, clothes and so on. This makes you feel good and the receiver also feels good. It sustains society for a day but doesn’t change it. If you really want to change the society, then social reform is the answer as

“Not only the likes of Bill Gates, George Soros, Warren Buffet, Howard Schultz, Mark Zuckerberg who have given 99% of their wealth as charity, but 90% of all American businessmen give over 50% of their wealth to charity. Majority of businessmen in USA are progressive—most of them are socially liberal and global in their outlook. Charity and social good is thus in the DNA of US businessmen” businessmen rank very low. A good example that I can cite is when Bill Gates came to India to sign up rich businessmen for his “Giving Pledge”, he had very few takers! Some of them claim to give away black money “secretly” or build temples as charity. That makes them look ridiculous. Are the Indian businessmen really happy? I often see vicious family feuds over money and constant scurrying around to curry favours with the new powers. That is no way to lead a meaningful or purposeful life.

What is your message to the youth? you have to do something deeper like fighting against corruption, dowry, superstition, caste system, and evil social customs and so on. Women’s empowerment is one of the most powerful ways of social reform because the old and conservative societies like to supress and subjugate women. Until women get education and are empowered, their self-esteem will continue to be low. Even religion and god are used as instruments of control by the fundamentalists in India to deny justice to the lower classes and women. Anything that raises their self-esteem and empowers women is great; so I started these awards to recognise social workers, particularly working on women’s empowerment. Social reform work is always an uphill battle. For example, If I go to my village and start giving dollars and Polo T-Shirts, they will think that is crazy, but I will be welcomed. But if I stand in the same place and say “don’t drink, don’t beatup your wife, let your daughter go to school and don’t break people’s heads over caste and religion”, they will beat me up. So, changing entrenched mind-sets in a conservative society is very hard. That is the type of social work I promote.

Every year you have these awards right from 1994?

Yes, this is 23rd year. We have the corpus and awards are given out of the interest that we get on it. We give away nine awards per year. Life-

time achievement awardees received `2 lakh and `1 lakh is given for social work in various fields. The award ceremony is held in Pune and awards are finalised by a recommendation committee comprising very knowledgeable people here. Then, we have the final selection committee in the USA. The process is very thorough and very transparent.

What do you think of Indian businessmen as philanthropists?

Businessmen in USA are unique. There is fair competition but creativity, merit and honest work are always rewarded. They work hard and give back generously. Not only the likes of Bill Gates, George Soros, Warren Buffet, Howard Schultz, Mark Zuckerberg who have given 99% of their wealth as charity, but 90% of all American businessmen give over 50% of their wealth to charity. Majority of businessmen in USA are progressive-most of them are socially liberal and global in their outlook. Charity and social good is thus in the DNA of US businessmen. In sharp contrast, majority of Indian businessmen, with notable exceptions like Azim Premji, Narayana Murthy and a few others are taking from the society but not giving back. I have a very low opinion of their ethos. I measure greatness and success not in terms of how much one makes or has, but in terms of how much one gives. On that count, Indian

Everything that has fundamentally changed our lifestyle like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Snapchat and so on has been invented, perceived and constructed by American youth under 20. Indian youngsters are toppers, gold medallists and smart people but their only fame to invention is the “missed call.’’ Why is there such a vast difference? It certainly is not the lack of intelligence, but it’s the lack of proper attitude and outlook on life. American youth are broad minded, liberal and progressive (purogaami) in their attitude. They have open minds and have global, humanist attitude. Only people with open minds and an accepting nature can be creative, productive and happy. That is why America is the world leader in creativity, productivity and charity. Wealth is merely a by-product of progressive values. Knowing that there are exceptions, Indian youth by and large are looking for short cuts, copying rather than inventing, are more conservative, mired in the caste equations, closed minded and bitter. Globalisation should be synonymous with brotherhood and liberal values. What we witness in Indian youth is conservative and backward looking attitudes. Respect for women, acceptance of diversity and liberalism are not high on their priority list. Such people can never be creative and will not be able to think big, dream big, invent, create or be really happy. The choice is yours! vinitapune @gmail.com April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 23

Cover story

Air

Dynamic Duo: 50

lov e is

in the

Dr Priyanka & Pranav Mokshmar

Dr Priyanka and Pranav Mokshmar, Founders, Vaayu Inc, are the ‘power’ couple and quite literally at that! The two are credited with the invention of what is being touted as the most efficient cooling machine that functions like an air conditioner but consumes very little electricity. An insight into their life journey that eventually led them to tie the knot and found Vaayu, both of which came with their own set of challenges... By Namrata Gulati Sapra

Gwalior: Where cupid struck!

Pranav Mokshmar, who radiates warmth and smiles generously, narrates the first part of the love story, with a few interruptions from Dr Priyanka: “It’s been quite a while! Back in 2000, I was working with Samsung while she happened to be a Management Trainee. Our meeting ground was the Gwalior Mela. She was at the Samsung stall, where I was present too, doing my job sincerely as a Marketer.” Since the two were working together, they would often interact. From this point onwards, their story only gets more interesting, “I would often get calls from home. I am extremely attached to my dogs and birds and would pamper them over the phone, just as a father would spoil his children. She assumed that I was married! Disappointed, she asked one of our colleagues, ‘Is he married already? He looks too young to be’! The colleague came up to me and asked me about my marital status while expressing surprise. I was equally surprised and clarified that I was very much single.” When Priyanka (she hadn’t completed her PhD by then) found out that Pranav was single, she left no stone unturned to win his heart. She blushes, “Once Pranav said that he prefers women wearing Indian formals. The next day, I turned up dressed in the exact attire he had described, though actually, I felt very silly that day! Nevertheless, from then on, it became

24 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30, 2017

quite obvious that I was developing a soft corner for Pranav! A few phone calls and meetings later, the proposal happened. But there is a twist in the tale-Priyanka proposed to Pranav. A young, attractive Pranav was excited that a girl as tall and pretty as Priyanka had asked him out. However, he responded to the proposal with a set of conditions. “He asked me how we were going to work out the relationship, given that I belonged to Delhi and he was from Indore. That apart, he clearly stated that he was looking for marriage and nothing short-term. His old-school views impressed me,” says Priyanka.

Tying the knot!

Soon afterwards, Priyanka packed her bags and took off to Indore as she was offered a job by Samsung. Priyanka’s father, who was serving in the Navy back then, was all for fiercely independent women. And thus, when she opened up to him about marriage, the idea was met with opposition. “My father had always brought me up in a way that supported the idea of women venturing out of home to work. There even came a time when my dad said that he was okay with me staying unmarried all my life, for he believed that I had the potential to become an IAS officer. He felt I had the intelligence required to be one.”

One of the first challenges staring Pranav in the face when he thought of setting up Vaayu was bringing together a team. That said, he had some major convincing to do before he could get his own wife into team

Pics: Vishal Bhatia

April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 25

Cover story

‘One day one of the consultants from CIPLA recommended that I patent the product. I Googled on how to get a product patented and from thereon, Priyanka took over’ − Pranav Priyanka wasn’t left with much of an option but to return to Gwalior, where she was pursuing her graduation. That was when she did all she could do explain to her dad that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Pranav. Her husband reflects on the time, “I was madly in love with her. She accepted me as I was. She came all the way to Indore just to be with me. She even went out of her way to convince her parents about our marriage.” Priyanka’s parents finally gave in and the two married each other in the city of Indore.

Life with kids

Priyanka and Pranav, who have been married for several years now, refuse to reveal the number of years that they have been married. Says Pranav, smiling, “I tell Priyanka never to count years. It takes away from the joy! The idea is to go with the flow and enjoy the journey!” Priyanka, who has always been a career driven woman and outdoorsy says, “I learnt cooking post marriage.” Being the doting parents that they are, they bring in their two daughters into the conversation. Pranav begins by saying, “Our younger daughter, Paavani, is Priyanka’s advocate. She follows her mother rather blindly!” Of his older daughter, Jahnavi, he says, “She is extremely innocent.” The proud mother sheds light rather passionately on her elder daughter’s passions: “She wants to become an artist. She is very good at Kathak and wants to become an actor. She even wrote a script for a reality show for kids all by herself!” How has life changed after becoming a father, we ask Pranav and pat comes the reply, “I am more like a friend to them. I just love playing with my daughters. Their innocence always makes my day. I am working only for them!” For Priyanka, however, it has been a roller coaster ride with a chunk of prejudices thrown at her. “Every time I would travel out of town, fingers were pointed at me for being a mother too ambitious to take care of her kids. The world thought my kids were a neglected lot. But every time I was accused of being a mother who is not good enough, or the word ‘poor’ was prefixed to my kids, I fought back. I told them not to take pity on my girls for they are very smart and independent for their age. After a point, I shut my ears. For now, I am investing a lot of money and energy into raising my girls. I have tutors who teach my girls at the office itself. That way, I can keep a close watch on them and look after their needs. Modern-day parenting is such that it has given us parents enough resources to supply ample attention to our kids even as we work in faraway lands.” She says she could not have made it thus far without Pranav. “There are times when I feel guilty because I feel that I am not doing enough as a mother. But Pranav always steps in and commends me for doing a great job and handling both professional and family life with élan.” This husband-wife duo have their own ways of meeting the demands of work while having a healthy family life. “We usually schedule our site visits or meets on Sundays so we can take the kids along with us and get some

26 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30, 2017

▴ Musician A R Rehman, who expressed an interest in installing Vaayu at his office in Chennai, with Dr Priyanka and Pranav Mokshmar ◀Dr Priyanka and Pranav with Paavani and Jahnavi

family time while also taking care of work.” The four-Priyanka, Pranav, Paavani and Janvi-make up a happy and balanced family despite the fact that the girls have super successful and busy parents. “We enjoy road trips often and I do everything I can to spend as much time as I can with my daughters. I make sure that they both follow their dreams. Pranav is the one who spoils them, more because I am the stricter parent.” Pranav, as usual, doesn’t spare any opportunity to shower praises on his wife: “She is the dependable. I can count on her for anything!”

Vaayu is born

No prizes for guessing who Pranav had shared the idea of the Vaayu Chiller, the hybrid chiller that looks like any other AC or cooler, but functions as an air conditioner, yet promises a whopping 90 per cent savings on your electricity bill. When Pranav first spoke to Priyanka about Vaayu, she had her reservations, like many others who could not wrap their head around its functioning. “Back then, Pranav was doing well professionally and this setting up of an independent office for Vaayu seemed to be very risky.” But because Priyanka has always had faith in Pranav’s vision, she capitulated. Pranav narrates the story of Vaayu India: “It was 2008 and I used to do my business from home then. There was an air conditioner at my office that was constantly in use. The average bill the first month was `2000 to `2500. What followed soon, however, was a bill for `8000. The next month, the bill touched `10,000. This compelled me to install a

Quotes To Remember! Priyanka: “Honestly, I am a lousy cook!” Pranav: “If there is anyone my pets are scared of, it is Priyanka.” Priyanka: “When I had just got married, the two pets used to hate me. They would tear my clothes out of anger. I don’t enjoy taking care of his dogs, birds and fishes in the morning. I have to feed them when he is touring too!” Priyanka: “I feel glad that my elder daughter wants to be like me when she grows up.” Priyanka: “Pranav always tells me to go with the flow and never count the number of years that we have been married to each other”.

The Road Ahead...

A couple that works together, stays together One of the first challenges staring Pranav in the face when he thought of setting up Vaayu was bringing together a team. That said, he had some major convincing to do before he could get his own wife into team Vaayu. “Having done her PhD, she had her own set of apprehensions. She said that a bright future awaited her in the world of education. She was eyeing a directorial position with top-notch colleges and already had so many scholars under her, set to be the young future of India. So, her anxieties about starting a career all over again was valid. That is when I decided that she was going to be the CMD of Vaayu India with a stake of 90 per cent in the company while I have only 10 per cent stake in it. So, the first person to have joined Vaayu was Priyanka herself.” After she joined, Pranav brought some of the best people into the team himself. It is interesting to note that with Priyanka as the CMD of Vaayu India, Pranav (Sales and R&D) reports to her. “We have conflicting views about everything on the business front. But I eventually listen to him because I know his experience and ideas can be relied upon.” Pranav pitches in, “She has a good team in place and so do I. Once in a month, she provides a good dose of motivation to the employees.” “We have divided our departments and Pranav does not intervene in my decisions until I ask him to. I am thankful to him that Vaayu being his brainchild, he has given me so much freedom and independence to work in the organisation. Because he shows tremendous respect towards me, others in the team are very respectful towards me too. Besides, I am the sole decision maker of the organisation since I am its CMD.” Pranav smiles, “Once, ad guru Prahlad Kakkar said that women are the best managers, whether at home or outside of it; they constantly have been proving themselves. Therefore, she is the manager and I have bequeathed the power of decision making upon her and I have immense trust in her decisions.” Priyanka and Pranav have very different views on issues at hand, but never shy from arriving at the most effective solution when the need arises. “Two brains are much better than one,” believes Priyanka. Together, as a team, they strike a healthy balance necessary to propel Vaayu in the right direction. One of the primary signs of a successful marriage is the will to imbibe good qualities from the other partner. And Priyanka and Pranav swear by this philosophy. “Pranav has taught me to enjoy life come what may!” says Priyanka on a different note.

compressor in the cooler. The result was phenomenal. The cooler cooled like an AC at 14 to 15 degrees Celsius at just 10 per cent consumption of electricity in comparison!” “I am presently working this hard because I want to have Pranav and Priyanka together recount the memorable moments from their humble beginnings: “I remy own private zoo. I am member the first business deal happened with CIPLA 40 right now. In another five and it was a great one! One day one of the consultants years, I want to retire and from CIPLA recommended that I patent the prodtake care of this zoo as I am uct. I googled on how to get a product patented and extremely fond of animals.” As from thereon, Priyanka took over, dropping emails in for Priyanka, the workaholic, Indore and Delhi. And this is how Vaayu came into the choice is obvious: “I want existence!” to work as long as I can, as I “I remember how hard he used to work. Somedon’t like to sit idle.” Having times, he would even have his lunch in the car. I used learnt to dream big from her to really admire him for it. I would often ask him why husband, she already has a he was investing so much time on something that plan in place. “I intend to fulfil could backfire terribly. But all the hard work paid off my dream of being associated and it is for everyone to see.” with the world of education. Interestingly, Pranav, the maker of Vaayu got his I will open my own institute inspiration from his father. “When I was in my teens, in Indore. The process is my father would put some ice into the ice chamber underway!” If that isn’t enough of the cooler, which made the machine much more already, Vaayu India has filed efficient.” for six patents, out of which Among the first breakthroughs that came for two have been approved while Vaayu India was a call from the legendary musician, the others are at the stage A R Rehman himself, who expressed an interest in of acceptance. Talk about installing Vaayu at his office in Chennai. “I am the planning in advance! privileged one who holds the key to one of his offices Once other challenges were surmounted, the major in Chennai, all because of Vaayu,” says Pranav. challenge of garnering enough funds for Vaayu India was on Pranav’s mind. “I always spoke of funding worth several crores for Ever since, there has been no looking back for Vaayu that has aroused Vaayu, but Priyanka felt intimidated by the figures I had in mind. She would curiosity all across the globe. No wonder, Priyanka and Pranav have been always urge me to replace crores with lakhs.” invited to various countries to showcase their genius product at science exhibitions, Russia being one among them. But little did Priyanka know that the numbers that Pranav had in mind

Funding ka funda

April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 27

‘Every time I would travel out of town, fingers were pointed at me for being a mother too ambitious to take care of her kids. The world thought my kids were a neglected lot’ − Priyanka

Candid Confessions...

Dr Priyanka and Pranav Mokshmar engage in a round of rapid fire session wherein a volley of questions are thrown at them… Who is more dominating at office? Pranav! (mutual agreement) Who is more romantic? Priyanka (mutual agreement) Who is more egoistic? Pranav! Who is more adventure loving? Pranav Whose creative streak is more profound? Priyanka Who is more rational? Pranav Who is lazier? Pranav: That has to be me. I hate waking up early in the morning. Priyanka is always annoyed at me because I never take the early morning flights even though they are much cheaper. Priyanka: If we are in a hotel room, he never steps a foot outside of it. Who is the friendlier one? Pranav: You take me anywhere and I will find my friends! Who takes more time to dress up? Priyanka: Pranav. Pranav: I hardly take 7-8 minutes! Priyanka : Being the lazy one, he always starts off late. Who is better turned out? Priyanka: Pranav it is. He is conscious about how he looks. He makes sure that everything is perfect and his attire matches with his shoes. His shoes must be well polished and his pen

must always be there with him. One superstition that you have? Pranav: I cannot wear a watch. The minute I do, I feel my good luck is reversed and bad luck begins. But I buy watches for my wife. Who has the habit of nagging? Priyanka: Pranav! If a movie was to be made on your love story, what would it be called? Pranav: Let it be a Shah Rukh Khan movie! I would say, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge - 2. We would love to have a movie made on us! Priyanka: Saathiya because our love story deeply resembles the movies from that era. Our story has many brave moments too! Which actors would you like to play the lead roles? Pranav: Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone Priyanka: Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone What is the secret to your successful marriage? Priyanka: Understanding, compatibility, giving space to each other and respect Secret to being successful profesionals? Priyanka: Working together as a team. The same aspects as in marriage apply here. Namely, genuineness, respect and space. Pranav: Copy, paste!

28 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30, 2017

were about to become a reality. A plan was well chalked out by the mastermind himself. “There was a summit happening in Indore called Global Investors Summit-2014 and I was determined to meet the Chief Minister to ask for a `100 crore fund at the venue. After several rounds of waiting and explaining our model of Vaayu to sources who could arrange our meeting with the CM, we finally managed to meet him.” “I was still unsure. I tried my best to convince Pranav to change the number from crores to lakhs as we waited but in vain!” Priyanka interrupts. The two entered the CM’s room nervously, yet they were not willing to give up hope. The ten minutes that had been assigned to them, they knew could make or break the deal. “By the way, I have never had to face an interview as challenging as the one I had to in order to reach the CM! For a change, I was more nervous than Priyanka. On the contrary, she was confident and that assurance kept me going. I love challenges and when something looks like a farfetched dream, I go all out to achieve it! That is the state of mind I was in at that moment too. I just knew we had to make it happen,” says Pranav. What was supposed to be a ten-minute meeting transformed into a 40 minute one. The CM was beginning to express genuine interest in the product proposed by Pranav and Priyanka. “He made us meet a lot of people. Finally, he asked us, ‘How much funding are you looking at?’ ‘One crore,’ I replied. ‘Let’s begin with one crore’. We agreed. We were told that this was the sanctioning amount which would be increased once Vaayu performed in the market.” Even before the founders of Vaayu could realise, their invention had begun to strike a chord with industry giants. One project followed another and Vaayu was making headlines. That was when Godrej approached them the second time around for a hybrid cooler in Bharuch, Gujarat. Pranav refused the offer. “I said no because I knew our product would not be able to deliver in an area so humid. So I promised to return with a cooler that would perform better in Bharuch. At that time, our cooler was already on testing. This time, it was supposed to be an even better performer.” “This product of ours is called the Convertor and I was waiting to launch it on a platform that would make it a performer. The Convertor aspires to reduce power consumption by 50%. This was our second patent.” The Convertor was launched in Indore by none other than the CM, Shivraj Chauhan. The Convertor is yet to be launched on a pan India level, but there is demand for it already! Proof enough to the fact that Vaayu India is already a name to reckon with in the world of cooling machines! Priyanka quickly makes a point, “Once you have established a name in the market, it is certainly easier for a new entrant in the market to gain acceptance.”

Hall of fame

The Mokshmars, it seems, are the newest power couple to have caught the imagination of the media. They have been covered by many major national dailies and magazines. Recently, they were lauded by a famous channel in the form of an award for their invention. The Mokshmars are basking in the glory of social media too. “It is thrilling to write a status or put up a picture and get a response at the speed of lightning!” What more, Pranav even ensures that he replies personally to each message or comment that he receives on Facebook or any other platform on the internet. namratagulati8@gmail.com

book review

It all boils down to Passion! Since the book is the result of decades of experience of Udayakumar working as a coach, mentor and consultant, it has all the tried and tested wisdom distilled over the years, encapsulated and presented in distinct doses... By Usha Somayaji What one comes away with after reading ‘What It Takes To Be A Leader With Passion’ by Management Consultant, Facilitator and Leadership Coach, Udayakumar Gopalakrishnan, is that there is so much to passion one would never have thought of. There are so many aspects to passion, so many dimensions. The second, that this is no ‘time-pass’ book, to be picked up for pleasure reading, or killing time. It is meant for the committed practitioner. Udayakumar was inspired to pursue his own passion to write this book following the success of the ‘Inspired Passion’ series of workshops he conducted between 2012 and 2014. The success achieved motivating over 400 participants at these workshops to pursue their own passions and dreams led him to pursue his own dream-to pen it all down. The author is of the belief that the book will profoundly help the reader, in whatever role he or she is, to become a more effective leader. The objective of the book is to share the knowledge and insight he has gained, disseminated hitherto in limited measure among his clients through his workshops, with a wider audience. The broader objective being, to foster a sense of passion and zeal in one’s work so as to benefit people and organisations. “Passion is a fundamental determinant that makes or breaks corporations...,” says Udayakumar, in the Prologue. He believes that passion is everywhere! It is amazing, the way Udayakumar has been able to tie down everything with passion-self-esteem, discipline, ownership, excellence, humility, creativity, humour, learning, reading, value, appreciation, mentoring, coaching, influencing, care, empathy, trust-you name it, it has something to do with passion. There is no doubt that the author is so

passionate about the subject, developed as he has, over his decades-long experience as a consultant, facilitator and coach. The book is structured around three clusters, with 33 chapters, each expounding individual themes of excellence in leadership, and how each one derives its strength from passion. Not just that, he goes one step further-he believes that with the right approach, one can create passion, imbibe it and make it part of one’s behaviour. In the 33 chapters of the book, he outlines the steps one needs to take, to get closer towards that goal, awaken passion, pursue passion and incorporate it in leadership actions. Each of the clusters has a focus. The first cluster, comprising 18 chapters explores the role of the self in passion, the second dwells on the dynamics of interpersonal dimensions, and the third, on the dynamics of leadership. Then again, each chapter is broken down into three subsections

Author

Udayakumar Gopalakrishnan Title

What It Takes To Be A Leader With Passion Publishers

Notion Press Pages

326 Price

`500

to make it easier for the reader to bite into, learn the gems of wisdom and get them anchored into practice, rather than letting the reader wade through a vast ocean of knowledge and get lost. One subsection is devoted to help boost, speed up and anchor passion, the second for reflection and contemplation, and the third throws up a set of questions to spur you into action, putting them into practical applications. Since the book is the result of decades of experience of Udayakumar working as a coach, mentor and consultant, it has all the tried and tested wisdom distilled over the years, encapsulated and presented in distinct doses. As such, a practitioner-middle management or top leadership-will benefit from the lucid and detailed extolling on the unending aspects of passion as it applies to leadership, the benefit of his partnering of over 600 corporate clients across the globe, his influencing and transforming interactions with over 27,000 corporate professionals, and his learning at over 25 training programs at prestigious institutions across the world. However, there are a few jarring notes. The exposition sometimes seems too long and tedious, and fatiguing to the lay reader. The other is the language, particularly in the initial, introductory chapters. There are niggling lapses in punctuation that obstruct the pleasure of comfortable reading. Udayakumar seems to be fond of complex words and multiple adjectives where simpler and fewer would have done. In fact, might have lent more clarity. This is particularly evident in the earlier chapters, where the author propounds the theme and purpose of the book. For example, under the heading ‘Why this Book?’ he writes, “I reckon it significant to cascade the benefits acquired to the larger corporate canvas.” In the process, there are instances of mixed metaphors and convoluted structures that leave the reader with a lot of imagery, but also confusion. It gets less so as we proceed to the later chapters, where he deals with the actual substance of his hypothesis. To reiterate, this is not a ‘time-pass’ book. Although the author believes anyone can read and benefit from it, imbibe and adopt the principles extolled, there is too much about passion for the lay reader to stomach. You need commitment to read it, and read it fully through. You have to be a die-hard student of leadership. ushasomayaji@gmail.com

April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 29

NHRDN Career Fest 2017

The future of Jobs:

Careers in Finance India is at the cusp of a major economic transformation and employability is a key factor towards making our demographic dividend a significant competitive advantage. Initiatives are required on a war footing to transform opportunities for India’s youth to move up the value chain of employment and make India’s demographic dividend a blessing. In this context, the National HRD Network (NHRDN) Mumbai Chapter, recently organised a Career Fest at Nehru Centre in Mumbai, bringing together industry and academia, to help the student community to make informed career choices. The theme for the fest was “The future of jobs: challenges and opportunities for the youth of India”. Having a rich experience in financial and corporate strategies, BR Jaju, CFO, Dainik Bhaskar Power, spoke on career opportunities in the finance sector-his session was an eye-opener for the aspiring finance students. This is the first in a series—Corporate Citizen brings to you the excerpts from the development session, where Jaju shared some of his learnings and perspectives of finance career—what you all need to do and how do you groom yourself to qualify being a finance professional By Rajesh Rao

Be a right finance professional

You are all appropriate aspirants to get into the finance career and one community that is going to control the gross domestic product (GDP) of this country in times to come. There are many opportunities in the finance field, but it is something you have to customise according to your aptitude, academics, passion, likings and commitment. It is not like one position is available to you all, there are many and you have to pick which proves best for you. In the context of current economic turbu30 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30, 2017

lence, uncertainties, challenges and high rise expectations of the new age employers, you have to groom yourself as a right finance professional. If you choose to continue with conventional mind-set-not have a focused mind-set, you are not clear about what you want to achieve and don’t have that inner passion about your performance—it is the beginning of ruining your career. I will be sharing with you the success mantras that have been imbibed, practiced and proved successful for finance professionals. Your employer’s expectations: Firstly, you

April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 31

NHRDN Career Fest 2017 aspire to pursue a finance career, be a global director of finance, head a finance company, be the best investment banker—but that is just your wish. You have to find out what are the expectations of your would-be-employer. The employer has certain expectations from you. Only if you are qualified to meet some of those expectations, you can cut that position for yourself. Today employers are very demanding and they definitely will first look for their own interest. In these difficult economic times where there are competitive pressures of running the businesses, employer will definitely ask the question - If you are to join my company, how will you help me to deliver profitable growth and decent economic return? As an employer they will see how you will be able to contribute in achieving profitable growth or how best you can churn out economic returns on the resources deployed in the business, in the form of capital, tangible assets and human resources. The fact is that running a business today has become very tough, because of pressures on margins, competitiveness, technology onslaught, and changing business models. In such case, how will a finance professional help me to see opportunities that will help business to grow and stay afloat? I as an employer should be able to survive and make gains for me and my shareholders. These are the questions that come from the employers mind. So, first of all understanding your employer’s mind-set is important, then only the marriage between employer and employee becomes successful. Being aware of changes: Secondly, over the last decade there have been many changes that have happened and probably in next five year time there will be more evolutionary and transformational changes, which you have to be aware about. You have to know what those changes are and how they are going to impact your current thought process of getting into finance career and sustaining that career position over the next five years. So, know what are those business paradigms and micro changes that have come in and you have to be aware about. Do you qualify?: Thirdly, how do you qualify for the right position—it is to do with how you train your mind, your attitude, and position your skills for career in finance. They are competencies which you need to have and they form the core aspects of the finance management or services. With these options you can choose if you have really gone through this process. It is all about customising your position with your own attitude, passion, upbringing, academics, liking and only then you will be able to excel. Self-assess yourself: Finally, you have to test yourself what you are going to do in your career—if your career is going to increase your own respect in the society and your respect among professionals. The company which you are asso32 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30, 2017

ciated with, how it will benefit from your skills, competency, involvement and leadership.

Four Viruses

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s success mantras

Chairman and MD of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani, recently shared five mantras behind his entrepreneurial success.

Demand for a job you can do

When he came to India after his studies at Stanford University, in the US, he asked his father Dhirubhai Ambani, to give him a job he can do and his father offered him a manager’s job. So, you must demand a job you can do and want to do, and not do what you are told to do.

Take failures as stepping stones towards success

Failures are inevitable and they will come your way with whatever you pursue. But, failures are the stepping stones towards success.

Handle investor’s money with care

You are going to join the organisation where money resource belongs to not your boss but somebody else like shareholders, lenders and other stakeholders. So, you have to learn to be more careful about handling that money.

Energising the employees

Spread and create a positive energy in your organisation. There is no point in creating negativity in your office, because it tends to get back to you. So, spread the fragrance of positive energy in and around your people and colleagues and see the positive results.

Integrity

It is the foremost and most critical aspect. It is about intellectual integrity also—where you mean what you say.

If you have opted for a career in finance, there are bound be challenges and roadblocks. Based on a recent analysis done by one of the management guru after studying the Fortune-500 companies, it was found that 200 companies out of these 500 companies, vanished in just 10 year time between 1973-1982. Why had they failed, vanished or underperformed? It is all because of four viruses—these are the four negative sides which employers or leaders of the organisations have resorted to. The point is, if you are taking any option in finance field with an organisation which is suffering from any of these viruses—do you think that will give you the right finance career? So, you have to make a very mindful and judicious judgement and not get carried away because they have offered you a big package—it is short-lived and may be after six months they will stop giving you salary also. This has very much happened in our country and there are many such examples of dotcom and finance companies. The four viruses are: Denial: The company management, leadership and your own prospective employer, refuses to accept that there are changes in tastes or preferences of customers. Today, most of the businesses are vanishing because they have not reset and remodelled according to the changing tastes and preferences of the customer. For example, when the shopping malls came up, the older shops near the malls slowly lost customers and had to shut down. It was so because they did not accept the fact that there is a big dinosaur coming next door—they should have changed the business model and gone into different line of activity. But, they did not accept it, which is why they underperformed. It is a similar case with the changing of technology. A good example is of carbon paper manufacturing companies, they did not accept that PCs and laptops can generate 100 copies in less than a minute. Today these companies which once were making rolling business, are obsolete. So, what is the point in pursuing a finance career in these companies? The company leadership which is in denial mode, cannot offer you sustainable, happy, satisfied, and rewarding career in their company. Sense of arrogance: All the time talking about how one was successful in the past, when the present reality is altogether different—this is nothing but a sense of arrogance. What is the point in joining such organisation that is victim of arrogance, where the leaders are always talking about how they are smarter than others and not listening to ideas from young employers. Young people come with an unbiased mind and definitely need to be encouraged to

come up with new ideas. But, leaders generally don’t listen and encourage new ideas from the younger employees. Complacency: In our country many of the organisations have survived on blessings of the government or they just happen to be monopoly business. What happened to Doordarshan and Air India—around 30-40 years back, they had a monopoly with no competition around. Today, we tend to forget their existence, even though they do exist. It was nothing but sense of complacency that we know everything and no one can mess with us. This kind of complacency brings down the organisation and the leadership. Greed: In 2008, there was a financial crisis caused by Lehman Brothers, which started from Wall Street and spread worldwide. The root cause of this crisis was greed. It was an act of greed for more returns where everybody wanted to make fast buck—how can such organisation survive. So, the greed factor can pull down organisations. These four viruses has pulled down over 200 Fortune-500 companies and caused disappearance of more than 4000 companies in our country since 1960. So, even if you take a bit cut in your package, make sure you get into the right organisation.

small organisation to become a big organisation. The one commonality in these mergers and acquisition that gets affected is the human resource. Because of merger some of the people get phased out, some have to accept demotion or exit. Rising customer’s expectation: Whatever organisation you work for, its end users or customers have levels of expectations that are continuously rising, such as, I must get my goods on time, high quality and at reasonable price. These rising customer expectations makes the finance professional’s life all the more difficult. You now also have to give your data and inputs to the management, take your position, raise the money, compliances—all these you have to do within time to be able match the expectations of your customers. Regulatory compliances: Nowadays nobody will tolerates manipulations. There are rising business risks like cyber risks, forex, credit risks,

Follow your aspiration to be successful

Assuming you have understood employer’s expectations, assuming you are not going to join those employers who are victim of the four viruses, assuming you have equipped yourself with the financial processes—there are certain attributes of your personality, which are non-compromising, that you should possess. Every one of you want to be successful in their career and then you have to follow your aspiration to be successful. Dare-to-dream: Dreaming of your success becomes the biggest motivational factor for you to perform. When you dream only then you will put that into action and when you do that it will be a far more brilliant experience, because you have already dreamt about that. Passion to perform: Are you joining a company with a passion to perform or just to exhibit

Pics: Yusuf Khan

Business dynamics that impact the continuity of your job

Even when there are right organisations, how to say that you are qualified. So, you have to carry out a self-assessment test very honestly about yourself. You are good in academics, passed with good marks and have an all India ranking—your career does not even start with that, it is just an entry into your career path. Your career journey will start only when you self-assess yourself. There are business dynamics, business levers and micro-level changes, which will impact the continuity of your job—you need to learn them and bring them into practice.

IT enabled processes and technology advancement: The young generation are far more

advanced and digitally enabled and have special knack of working with technology, but still they have to know what are the critically important IT enabled processes. You have to be equipped with these processes, without it you cannot successfully survive in the organisation. So today, profitability, competitiveness and success is measured with what extent organisation is really technology and IT matured. Mergers and acquisitions: The organisations are not just growing by just processes—they are acquiring existing businesses. This is called an inorganic process to achieve growth. So, large organisations are acquiring small organisations and small organisations are acquiring another

“You have to find out what are the expectations of your would-be-employer, who has certain expectations from you. Only if you are qualified to meet some of those expectations, you can cut that position for yourself ” third party risks and competition. Another risk which is equally affecting finance career, is the regulatory compliances. Now compliances have become more strict and you cannot undermine and say that you will not comply. Regulatory bodies will always insist you to comply, otherwise you and your organisation may face problems. So, you have to take an extra effort in knowing to what extent you are equipped these regulatory compliances and if not then you have to undergo some kind of crash course, training, on or off job exposure, so that you really qualify for a right finance option.

to others that you are employed. Are you qualified for social respect or for getting married. Without the passion to perform you will never emerge as a successful financial performer. Innovative and out-of-box thinking: You have to continuously prepare yourself for what options you have. In my career of 40 years, I have come across many financial professionals who said that some things cannot move further due to a restriction or regulation and they had to just stop there. But, there is another way to find a solution, called out-of-box, strategic thinking or going for different option. If your April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 33

NHRDN Career Fest 2017 mind is trained to think out-of-box, then you will be respected as one of the prominent and progressive finance professional in the eyes of the CEO and the board members. Communication skills: Many of your ideas remain at your level. If you are introvert, you are not able to express or you are not able to write well. The communication skills is not prerogative of the CEO only, it is very much needed by those who want to be a successful financial person, because you have to interact with shareholders, lenders, auditors, CEO and other departmental executives. Adaptability to embrace changes: In life the only constant factor is the change and if you are not able to embrace change then you will be outdated very soon. Because the practices of running the business, practices of raising the funds, compliances to taxation should be what they are today. Can think through solutions: There are two type of personalities that I have come across. Those who are always complaining about problems and are always bringing forth problems. Then there are those who think through solutions out of those problems.

Board of India (SEBI) requirements and does it give proper disclosures to your investors, shareholders, and stakeholders. Fund raising: Organisations finally need to raise funds from time to time for expansion, diversification, growth, and for incremental working capital. So, how do you raise funds for purpose of new acquisition? You have to understand the art of raising the funds, proper funds, timely funds, reasonable cost funds, and repayment terms in a way that you are able to service the debt and also in compliance to SEBI and other regulatory requirements. Fund raising is a skill by itself, where you are networking with your vendors. Taxation and tax planning: This field has

Emerging opportunities

Conventional part will always remain. Nonconventional and very niche opportunities, which are there and were everybody gets attracted-they are investment banking, asset management, private equity, venture capital, public finance, and risk management. Each of this has its own challenges and not everyone can handle them. There are two or three functions of investment function you have to understand. Organisation finally need to raise money, either through equity market, IPO, through derivatives, or through mixed hybrid kind of instruments and various type of securities. Investment banker: Investment banker helps you to design what kind of equity you

How to generate, build, enhance, and exhilarate enterprise value of the company?

Risk management: Risk management is a very important factor. It is not about elimination of the risk, but about managing the risk. Some of the risks you have to tolerate and some of the risks you can transfer to insurance companies. Some of the risks you have to treat, for example you have take some steps whereby you are able to minimise the ill-effects of the risks in the organisation. Risks can be anything like Forex risk, operation risk, legal suit, credit risk—important is knowing the process to manage such risks. You have to prove to the employer that you can contribute to any of these fields. If you are able to demonstrate with academics and with your competence, you will stand out and you will be noticed. Treasury function: You will be responsible for raising working capital limit, maintenance of the ledgers, cash management—these are very important function, but it has to come from within you even if you qualify for that. The treasury position in any corporate, large or small, MNCs, manufacturing companies, service industry, in India or overseas—the cardinal principles remain universally the same, irrespective of where you handle this function. Accounts and audit: Accounts and audit is not simply about recording of financial conditions—that you leave to your computer to do it. You have to ensure whether you are complying with the best accounting practices, complying with Securities and Exchange 34 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30, 2017

“Dreaming of your success becomes the biggest motivational factor for you to perform. When you dream only then you will put that into action and when you do that it will be a far more brilliant experience” emerged now as one of the most challenging. After the GST is rolled out, direct tax and indirect tax compliances are important and other is tax planning. Tax planning is getting more focused because planning on direct and indirect tax can save millions and billions of rupees for the companies. There are three things - tax planning, tax avoidance and tax evasion. I am not talking of tax evasion. I am talking of tax planning and legitimately you must use that tool to save the taxes for the company. Tax avoidance—I will not encourage but something like fault or error of the drafting man, you have to make sure that it should not be beyond the point of being illegal and immoral. If it is the lacuna of the legislation, you must use that.

should raise and at what price. They also help to handle your mergers and acquisitions and what prices who should offer. So, they give you all kind of help, support and advisory to achieve fund raising in India and overseas for mergers and acquisition finance and handling mergers and acquisitions in India and abroad. Apart from this they also help you to create lot of valuation and validation. In today’s time they get highly paid—if a finance professional in a company assuming he gets say 20-30 lakh rupees, investment banker gets 2-3 crore plus rupees, but his life is very short. The finance fellow in the company will retire in a company after 58 years, but investment banker’s life is not more than five years, but he gets

Strategic options for finance professionals Growth through Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A)

This is an emerging field today and for many corporate looking for growth, M&A is the best tool for them. The question is can you handle M&A? Can you handle capital raising and hybrid capital market product more appropriately? Are you familiar with them and have some experience and a passion to handle it?

Knowledge of handling cash flow

Having raised money, how can you contribute to restructuring the equity of debt so that you are able to service the interest on the debt and help company reward their shareholders on time. Cash for growth and working capital management—finally business functions are based on free cash flow. The organisations success depends on whether it has enough free cash flow. So, how do you handle working capital, inventory, your receivables—do you have the expertise or knowledge of handling it.

Measuring business performance

If you cannot measure whatever is happening in the business then you cannot control and excel in it, and if you cannot excel you cannot sustain. So, finally you must know how to measure the business performance. You must know the knowledge of various ratios, analysis, analytical abilities, your management accounting systems, thereby to capture the business performance and measurement, so that management knows they are doing better compared to competitors, doing better compared to previous year or if not what corrective actions can be taken. You must know the hidden opportunities and uncover them to build competitiveness.

Enterprise value

Enterprise value is very important dimension. You will not be joining a charitable organisation. You are going to join to increase enterprise value of that company. This will happen only when you will help the company to reduce cost or capital, to knockout certain nonperforming assets and achieve revenue, decrease cost, utilise working capital in efficient manner.

Formula called ETIC

A long-term formula called ETIC is equally important, wherein ‘E’ stands for Energise employees, T for Technology upgradation, I for Innovation and C for Customer focus. If you capture this four things then you are ensuring future value of the company and thereby assuring continuity.

much more money in that five years. If you start your career as investment banker, after five years you are out of the job. Either you pursue further as Independent directorship or reconcile yourself as a corporate advisor. So, you have to take to what suits you. You earn a very hefty remuneration, but it is a very demanding job. Private equity and venture capital: Private equity and venture capital is something like listed or not listed companies, bringing list capital. Venture capital is like a startup technology driven companies (also called vulture capitals)—bring big money in the beginning and take huge risks but they bring big returns as well. This is also another field for finance people to enter into. Forex: Forex is again a very specialised function. If you are really well-versed on Forex, Dollar-Rupee exposure, contracts, Forex strategy and have passion for it, you can take it as a specialised function. Risk management: Risk Management is a new emerging field gaining significance in the corporate world both in India and overseas. Risks are increasing in a multiple manner. Independent directorship: After the Companies Act, independent directorship role has increased significantly, where board is a catalyst between management and shareholders. So, the board sanctity and credibility rises if you have a proper composition of the board to ensure best governance. Position of independent directorship has become bit rewarding and very satisfying and they have their own say. In some of the companies independent directors can overrule promoters as well and don’t allow promoters decision to go further.

Four sides of the finance function

A broader definition of finance is finance management and finance services. The finance management is basically managing the finance within the company in a cost-efficient manner. And financial services means you are channelising money from savers to actual users who are investors–that is the capital market and investment bankers. So, it is finance in a broader way. A finance concept so far nobody has understood—when you are asked to increase your sales then achieving higher sales is a finance function also. Without profit that is called vanity, but moment you start making profits that function is called sanity. But if that profit does not come in the form of cash, then the finance role is that you generate cash into the system. That is the reality, but new age finance professional say - if you don’t take care and take into account the future risks, it can continue and can prove fatal. So, vanity, sanity, reality and faculty are the four sides of the finance function. rajeshrao.rao@gmail.com April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 35

Cradle of Leadership

Living up to life’s challenges Established in 1904, St Peter’s School, Panchgani, Maharashtra has been training young boys for life as well as academics at its boarding school for over a century. Today it adds the might of technology to arm its wards to stay winners in a global world, as Principal Wilfred Noronha explains

By Vinita Deshmukh

Tucked in the tranquil environment of the serene hill station of Panchgani in Western Maharashtra, St Peter’s School is amongst the oldest elite boys’ boarding school that nurtures young boys to face the challenges of life, besides training them for the ICSE curriculum. This Steve Job quote, “As for the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who actually do,” proudly adorns the school’s website, reflecting the opportunities given to the child to rise from mere rote learning to following a passion. Established in 1904 during the dying decades of the British Rule, St Peter’s School has successfully blended the best of both cultures to provide a nurturing and enlightening environment for young minds. Formerly known as European Boys School, it was situated in the Boys Section of Kimmins

Pics: Yusuf Khan

April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 37

Cradle of Leadership The colonial heritage buildings provide a serene environment for studies and games for students

Girls School, Panchgani, until the main school building was erected. The construction was completed in 1904, after which it came to be known as St Peter’s School. Initially constructed for Anglo-Indian students, St Peter’s has grown to accept students from diverse backgrounds, sects and nationalities. St Peter’s School, has an impressive lineup of alumni who have carved a niche for themselves in different parts of the world. Some of them include Lord Meghnad Desai, UK economist and Labour Party member; Sir J K (Ande) Chande, prominent political leader in Tanzania knighted by the British Queen and awarded a distinguished honour by India’s President Abdul Kalam; Victory Rana, Royal Nepalese Ambassador to Myanmar; Faram Irani, leading gynaecologist in Mumbai Mayur Vora, owner of Mapro; Chandrashekhar Mundlay, Vice President, Operations, PepsiCo; Hiten Zavari, prominent scientist in the USA; Dubhash Rustom, Radiation Scientist; Sultan Dharrani an Olympian Athlete, amongst many others. Late Freddie Mercury, internationally acclaimed British singer is also an alumnus. Corporate Citizen spoke to Principal Wilfred Noronha, a veteran educationist who is at the helm of St Peter’s School and has adopted newer methods in teaching and administration in order to keep up with the age of technology and the global world. 38 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30 , 2017

In a boarding school, students are under one roof, so monitoring each of their activity becomes easy

St Peter’s School started way back in 1904. What were its objectives and how has the school grown since the last century?

The foundation of the school was laid in 1904 and it started off as European Boys School after which it came to be known as St Peter’s School. The actual progress of the school began, post-independence, after O D Bason became the Principal in 1954 and was at the helm for 27 years thereafter. Under his guidance, a lot of dormitories were built and the dining hall too was constructed. Earlier, students used to have their meals in the dormitories itself. But with him coming in, a lot of de-

velopment took place and then there was no looking back - the school continued from strength to strength. The campus rests on 58 acres and has seven big playgrounds, so students have ample space to play. In the 2017 academic year, horse riding would be included, which would be a novelty.

From what backgrounds do students come to St Peter’s School?

Traditionally, we had parents not only coming from Maharashtra but from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and even from Kolkata. A lot of these people had faith in missionary schools. Many students also come from backgrounds where they don’t have good schooling in the localities they reside. Therefore, parents send them out for schooling so that they can turn into better citizens and get better career prospects. Since we have a history and good reputation of a 100 years, we also have a lot of alumni who have done well in life-so that also adds to the profile. Parents are drawn to us through word of mouth.

Panchgani Hill Station is nationally acclaimed for its residential schools

“At home, the child is well-protected and he gets what he wants. Here the child learns to be independent; he grows in confidence. He is able to interact with people, express his problems, and share them with friends and teachers’’ So we have students coming from all the states of India.

What is the vision of St Peter’s for the students?

There is a growing apprehension that with the increasing attention on improving academic achievement, schools may be falling behind in fostering the basic skills required in a collaborative 21st century environment. To create a just and fair world, the onus lies on us educators, to create societies on a miniature level that value reason, develop the young minds and their innate critical capacities, give a push to their potential, to think within alternative view points and learn to go beyond narrow confines of standardised patterns. This becomes possible more so in a residential

school than a day school. St Peter’s provides that all round education which makes students responsible citizens, character formation being top on the list.

What is the student strength?

We have 202 boarders and 83 day scholars who come from close by villages and towns.

Boarding school over day school−what would you say are the advantages?

In a boarding school, the formation is complete as they are under one roof all the time, so monitoring each of their activity becomes easy for us. They do miss out on family life and so initially, small boys tend to feel homesick. For the first few weeks they request us to allow them to talk to their parents. We encourage it

Internationally acclaimed singerLate Freddie Mercury (centre) was an alumni

until the time they are able to overcome that anxiety of being away from home. The other advantage of boarding school is that our day is scheduled in a manner where every part of the day, there is some activity happening. Wake up call is at 5.30 am-they wake up and do the morning chores. At 6 am, they jog for 20 minutes. Those who have problems, walk to get their morning freshness. By 6:30 am, they are back and get into their uniforms at 7 am and come for prep. Prep is study time, where we have two staff members on campusone is called Master on Duty and the other is called Teacher on Duty-supervising. The Master on Duty supervises the senior section and the Teacher on Duty looks after the junior section. The children go to a classroom to do their studies and finish their homework. Prep April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 39

Cradle of Leadership time is from 7am to 8am. At 8 am, they go for breakfast at the dining hall which accommodates all boys. They sit dormitory-wise. Wardens and matrons attend to them at their table. At 8:30 am, we go to the Assembly Hall. Classes are held between 8.30 am and 3pm. They get two breaks-one lunch break and one short break. At 3 pm they get some free time after having tea and snacks. At 4:15 pm, they assemble in the quadrangle outside the dining hall for their games. Games period is compulsory for all from 4:15 pm to 5:45 pm after which at 6 pm, they come back and assemble in the quadrangle-ready to go back to the dormitory. Thereafter, they get one hour to wash up and do other chores. They are taught how to fold their bed sheets and clothes. In their homes, their parents do it for them. Here they learn to do those things themselves. When they get back to their homes, parents say, ‘arre sir aapne to sikha diya inko sab’. From 7 pm to 8 pm, it is time for the evening prep when they complete their homework or study for their tests and then 8 pm to 8:30 pm is dinner time. After dinner, bigger boys have an additional prep time as additional studies are required to be done for the 8th, 9th and 10th classes. This is called night prep. Meanwhile, the other students go to the dormitory. Here, we have provided them with books and indoor games like carom, chess,

monopoly and scrabble. The older students come back to the dormitory by 9:30 pm. Lights are off at 9:30 pm. So the whole day is structured in order that their minds don’t deviate. At home, mobile, WhatsApp or TV are distractions-that does not happen here, so the child is quite focused.

Tell us why boarding schools are psychologically and mentally better for the children.

Remember, at home, the child is well-protected and he gets what he wants. Here the child learns to be independent; he grows in confidence. He is able to interact with people, express his problems, and share them with friends and teachers. It is an all-round grooming where the child becomes self-reliant rather than dependant on somebody. What happens in classrooms is just academics, but for preparing for life, you need to live independently and learn from experience.

What are the activities besides the curriculum?

We have curricular, co-curricular and extracurricular activities for the boys throughout the three terms. Some of the curricular activities are the ones conducted inside the classroom, in the laboratory, in the workshop (prescribed courses), teaching of subjects, classroom experiments, scientific observations,

“The percentage of children leaving the boarding is very minimum, because many children come from homes where education can’t be catered to as it is being provided here. Most of them come from broken homes...each one has his or her own kind of family problems at home’’ Meals provided to students are nutritious , under professional advice

40 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30 , 2017

library, SUPW. These activities help satiate the curiosity, helps them in gaining new knowledge and develops them intellectually. Co-curricular activities comprise games, mass drill, story-telling, elocution, dramatics, debates, morning assemblies, cleanliness of campus and neighbourhood. Independence Day, Republic Day, Constitution Day, Children’s Day and Teachers Day are activities that help develop leadership qualities and learn team-work, social and emotional development. Extra-curricular activities such as the various clubs, viz. robotics club, cookery club, gardening club, soft toys making club, photography club, spell bee, Olympiads and so on, help students to hone their talent.

What is the percentage of boys wanting to go back home, once they take admission here?

Out of 200 boys, only two to three boys want to go back home. Some others want to meet their parents or want to make a phone call. The percentage of children leaving the boarding is very minimum, because many children come from homes where education can’t be catered to, as it is being provided here. Most of them come from broken homes, where the father does not live with them. Each one has his or her own kind of family problems at home, so parents also prefer sending kids to boarding school.

Cleanliness is next to Godliness: a well maintained kitchen

What are the other reasons why parents send their kids to boarding school? Are children from broken homes, large in number?

No, it is not a big number. Then there are parents who are career oriented and don’t have time to attend to their kids. So they feel it is better to send them to boarding school. They know that children who come here will get a good environment for their education. We ensure that they are not sent here by their parents by force. The first question that I ask the child in front of his parents is. ‘Are you coming of your free will, or have your parents sent you here?’ If he says ‘My parents are forcing me,’ then I say, ‘I am sorry, this is not the place for you.’ Then you have another category where parents want their kids to be self-reliant. They want them to grow in confidence, which the child gets in boarding schools like ours.

Do you have rural parents coming in?

Every year, we have quite a few parents from the agricultural background, seeking admission for their wards. In particular, most parents coming from interior Maharashtra have no good schools in their regions. If you send your kids to village schools, they may not be able to complete their education and move up in life. Then there are first generation learners, who say, ‘we are not educated, but since we have sent him here, he will learn something.’ We have quite a few children coming from that kind of background.

What is the CC pattern that you practise here?

“The first question I ask the child in front of his parents is. ‘Are you coming of your free will or have your parents sent you here?’ If he says ‘My parents are forcing me,’ then I say, ‘sorry, this is not the place for you” they happen every 15-20 days and the child is stressed with the exams. Stress levels keep building up. I have changed the entire system to three terms. The first exam is in August, the second one in December and the third one in March. Then again, I have ensured no exams will be held till Std IV. So the child won’t be stressed at all. The teacher will assess him on the knowledge he has gained in reading, dictation and mathematics. But the child is not put through any pressure to score 100%. Class tests make up for 10 marks each. From Std V to Std VII, I have 50 marks for internal assessment and 50 marks for examination papers. The 50 marks for internal assessment happens by way of class tests. So after a chapter is taught, a 10 mark assessment is done. I tell teachers that the test is not of the students, it is for them. If the student has not done well in the test, it indicates that the teacher has not been able to explain well. If in a class there are many boys getting less marks, what is the reason? If a particular concept is not Extra-curricular activities help in social and emotional development of students

CC is Comprehensive Evaluation that we do on a regular basis after completion of a certain unit in class. The problem with unit tests is that

Owner’s Pride: St Peter’s School has seven vast playgrounds

understood then teachers are asked to re-assess them. That is the CC evaluation process. However, from Std VIII to Std X, we can’t change anything because we have to follow the board pattern.

Tell us about your creative clubs for students…

We have half day school on Saturdays, after which we have club activities which constitutes the extra-curricular activities. We have seven to eight clubs so every student goes for the activity of his choice. That’s where creativity comes in. There are various projects like the language project, history project, geography project, and so on. We have two computer labs – one for the junior section and another for the senior section. They do their own research, find information and ask the teacher for printouts. Sometimes you may find students in the classroom cutting paper. And another part of learning is when they inadvertently drop paper on the floor and we make them clean it. Keeping the environment clean also happens in the process. A lot of such things come into the creative arena. Recently, we had a musical and the entire school was on stage. Such a concert was held for the first time in Panchgani. I had 283 boys put up on stage for this musical. For the teachers it was the first time and a big project. We took the basic concept of the movie, Sound of Music. We invited most of our alumnus and Dharrani, our star alumni, as our guests. They studied here and they have excelled in their careers.

Technology, an integral part of academics

April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 41

Cradle of Leadership How is the child-teacher relationship here and how it is different from day school?

Principal Wilfred Noronha with students

Basically the child looks at the teacher as a parent.

Are the teachers also residential?

Most of them are residential. We have teachers’ quarters on campus. Every dormitory has 4-5 teachers’ accommodation alongside. So teachers are there with them 24x7. Anything happens or anybody is unwell, there is somebody attending to the child. So the relationship is like that of a parent and a child.

You have a sentence on your website which says, ‘Education should mean more than just a degree; we think it should provide insight, and not mere information. St Peter’s is student-driven, faculty-inspired, and community-connected.’

So yes, what we basically do is we don’t believe in academics limited to book knowledge. Book knowledge can be got, anyway. The kind of exposure we give to the kids is we prepare them for life. So no matter what the situation or crisis-you need the conviction to come up with solution in a crisis. That is the kind of training we try to give our children. There are some cases where a child falls and has an injury; in day schools parents come and take them away. We have a full-fledged hospital on campus-there are children, teachers and doctors attending to them. He learns to cope up with that kind of mechanism and understands that when something happens, somebody is there to take care. Even now when the alumni come they come in groups of 50-60. They are connected even after they have left school. This is bonding for life. This is what we want our children to grow up with. If any Peter-ite meets an ex-student who is not doing well in life, he is looked after and given that kind of training or exposure to become better. They also help them to get into better careers.

What has been your observation on the attitude of parents?

To a certain extent some parents have the mentality that they are paying fees to the school so the school should be doing everything for the kid. Certainly the school will do everything, but when the kid comes home, parents should also tell children how to move in the society. We have parents also who do not accept decisions that we take on the campus. Parents need to empower us with certain freedom. If we are correcting a child then we are not doing it out of malice for your son; if we are doing it, it is because we want him corrected. Your son will be with us for 42 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30 , 2017

“One thing you should not do in your life is get into bad company, because that will destroy you. Find the good that you can because that will be your guardian” eight to ten years. But he will be with you for life. How will you like if your son comes home uncivilised, un-socialised and un-groomed?

Should every child have the experience of going to a boarding school?

A child must spend at least five years of his school life in a boarding school. Then parents will understand the difference between day school and boarding school. Because the majority of the student’s formation will happen in boarding school. Formative years are important. If the child is lost in those formative years, later trying to educate him becomes more difficult.

How important is nutrition when serving food to the children?

We have a team called Calorie Care from Mumbai. We have a structured breakfast, lunch and dinner planned for 15 days on the

board. We ensure that repetition is minimised. The menu is planned keeping in mind the nutritional value. We have a Catering Committee, comprising the Principal, staff and students who meet occasionally and discuss the matters concerning the meals.

Do you think boarding schools are more in demand or less in demand now?

In today’s time, because of nuclear families they are more in demand. Parents are not able to find time for their kids. In our time grandparents used to take care of their grandchildren. That is not happening nowadays.

Do you think children face psychological problems at boarding schools?

One psychological problem the child encounters is feeling left out. Inadvertently though he is coming of his own free will, he sometimes may

Parading for an environmental cause

Sports Day at the picturesque setting of the campus

feel that maybe mom and dad don’t want me home. That is always at the back of the child’s mind though he may not express it. Occasionally on Sundays, you have phone calls when the child break downs and says he wants to go home. Such problems keep cropping but the counsellor handles them well.

Marching Ahead

What do you think about our country having different education systems? Do you think there should be one education system?

What do you think about teaching as a profession in India, in terms of the respect they get, the remuneration they get?

Teachers are respected but I feel teachers are not well paid. Teachers create leaders of the society and they hardly get anything. We are the builders of the nation; we should be able to sustain ourselves and not look to others for our survival. Many teachers have that kind of feeling and regret-that should not happen. The government should look into this and make sure that teachers are paid well. After that, the teachers will be able to give their best, as they are being taken care of and they would get the feeling that it is now my responsibility to look after the children who are entrusted in my care. In cities, teachers go to students’ homes to teach, which is pathetic and demeaning, actually.

What is the one thing you would like to tell the government about the governance of private schools?

Leave us in peace, because we do know what we need to give to the children; don’t force us to conduct irrelevant tests.

What do you think is the best school to study in—an ‘all boys’ school or co-ed school?’

My education was in a co-ed school so I think a co-ed school is better than an all boys’ or all-girls’ school. They get to know the other gender as well. They get to know the psychology, looking at life, in a far more balanced way. When our boys go into girls’ schools, they don’t have the courage or conviction to say hi to a girl, they don’t really interact much. However, controlling children in co-ed schools in today’s times is difficult so exclusively boys or girls school is best to manage.

campus is notified to the parents by the App we have. We have an app called School Stuff through which everything is reported to the parents, right from the day’s morning attendance of boarders and day scholars. Homework done is also posted through the App. If something is drawn on the board, a picture is clicked and sent to the parents. Technology is used in the classrooms. Teachers have what we call the Knowledge Centre, with about ten computers. During their free time they download information which will be needed for the PPT for their class. Students are not allowed to use mobile phones; teachers are encouraged to make minimum use of mobile phones. Since ours is a huge campus, mobiles are used so that communication is not hampered.

Sports is mandatory at St Peter’s School

Yes, I think there should be one education system like the Gurukul System of the past where everyone had one curriculum and everything was structured and was planned and you moved to the next. There should be a graded education system which is all-inclusive.

Does RTI apply to you?

Since we are minority institution, the RTI Act does not really apply to us. In any case, we are very transparent as far as our work is concerned. Anything and everything that happens on the

What is the philosophy of life that you live by?

Live and let live. Be good, find all the good that you can, this is what my mom used to tell me. Though we are from a Catholic background, my mother and I are influenced by the Mahabharata character Karna; my mother used to tell me that he was one person in that entire epic story who was the most loyal and talented but he got into wrong company and it destroyed him. One thing you should not do in your life is to get into bad company, because that will destroy you. Find the good in people and make good friends for life as they will be your guardians in times of need. vinitapune@gmail.com April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 43

Travel

Australia unplugged Rommel Sharma, Solutions Development Manager, Adobe, gives us the lowdown on five major cities of Australia - Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Gold Coast. He was there for a few months for work. He feels 'Down under' is fairly distant from the rest of the world—the continent-country of Australia is a study in contrast: cosmopolitan and up to date, yet gifted with some of nature's most extreme anomalies. It is, therefore, in Rommel's words "A traveller’s paradise, with something palatable for every taste." Read on to find out more… By Kalyani Sardesai

By the way, Australia also plays a mean game of cricket. Easy enough to by-pass—even if you are a cricket crazy Indian—given the many noteworthy pluses of the world's largest island and continent-country. Get this: it is the sixth largest country in the world in terms of land-mass—richly gifted with nature's bounties and a love of sport, business and investment that makes it the perfect haven for travellers and investors alike. One of the first things that stands out about Australia is the clear-cut demarcation of a Central Business District or CBD in each of its state capitals. "This makes travel easy and efficient, and is a triumph of town planning," says Bengaluru-based Rommel Sharma, Solutions Development Manager, Adobe. "In Melbourne (capital of Victoria) within the Central Business District, the public transportation is free and is a boon for tourists due to the connectivity and affordability it offers. Anything outside of the CBD you will need a MyKi contactless travel smartcard," he says. Other outstanding features? "This is a country that has not had a recession in close to 25 years. Good governance, honest use of tax-payer’s money, and a banking system that is vibrant, buoyant and responsible have a lot to 44 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30, 2017

do with it," he says. "The government also subsidises the loan on your first home, apart from cutting back on stamp duty." But that's far from all. “As someone mentioned to me, when all people pay taxes it becomes easier for a nation to offer top of the line infrastructure, free or affordable healthcare, education and where possible discounted or free public transportation at certain places," he observes. A business-friendly destination, you can go there for work, and eventually, if you stick to the law— you'll get citizenship. "They also have a scheme for significant investors wherein they invest over 75 million USD in the country—and get an extended visa and other benefits," he says. The Chinese have a significant presence in the country, given Australia's magnetism as a business paradise. Indians are relatively few—usually there to study—and less than a lakh in number in various states. But overall, Australia—like America—is multi-cultural, friendly and welcoming to visitors. "What also makes it a nice place to live is the availability of space. Like the US, they are land-rich and even middle-class people can afford big homes," says Sharma. Not unlike other western countries, work-life balance is largely adhered

3 Caption 1: Yarra River, Melbourne Caption 2: Katoomba, Three Sisters Rock Formation Caption 3: Opera House Caption 4: Rommel Sharma at Gold Coast 2 4

to with the weekends being reserved for family, pubbing, partying or outdoor sports. "Since Australia is blessed with lots of beaches and natural spaces, the Aussies love outdoor games, jogging, swimming and surfing activities. The weather is beautiful, and both trekking and walking are a pleasure," he says. As a people, they are non-interfering, friendly and easy to talk to. "There is also a deep sense of pride with regard to its aborigine (native settlers) population. Even as 'Made in Australia' ware dominates the malls, the aborigines are duly acknowledged. "For example, one of the best buys I made was a boomerang with the picture and profile of its craftsman aborigine. I thought, what a wonderful way to recognise one's history and varied culture," he says. Rommel also makes an interesting link between the sledging the Aussie cricket team regularly draws flak for-and the local culture. "When they talk to visitors, they are unfailingly polite and soft. But amongst themselves— they call each other names. However, it's not an exercise in nastiness. It is, instead, a show of affection and comes from a largely informal, relaxed, interpersonal dynamic," he smiles. "As a result, you are most amused than taken aback, despite coming from a more formal set-up back home." Here's a bird's eye view of some of the cities that Rommel visited:

1. Sydney (capital of New South Wales)

Katoomba and the Blue Mountains: “Sundays are great days to

travel by public transportation because the Sunday fare is AUD $2.50. All you need to do is buy an Opal contactless smartcard for public transport services that is available from bus/train stations and from various retailers. I took the train from Sydney to the famous Blue Mountains that offers views of some beautiful sandstone mountain formations that have taken interesting shapes due to erosion over a period-The Three Sisters formation being the most touristy in this region. I got down from the train that I took from Sydney CBD, at a quaint hill station named Katoomba and headed to the famous “Scenic World”. At Scenic World, I enjoyed a train ride that lets you experience a 52 degree incline being the steepest passenger railway in the world. The scenic railway is an engineering marvel for the time it was constructed for coal miners and locals. In addition, you can enjoy rides in Cableway or a Skyway offering you beautiful views of the mountains.

The Famous Bondi to Coogee Walk: “For an enjoyable walk

in Sydney that offers breathtaking views one must go for the walk from Bondi to the Coogee beach. I walked around five km enjoying the walk and got into the public transportation to head back to my hotel, as the weather suddenly turned a little stormy on that evening affecting several flights to Sydney.”

Opera House and the Harbour Bridge: “There are a couple of free April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 45

Travel 1

2 Caption 1: Heritage post office building Caption 2: Harbour Bridge Caption 3: At Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary Caption 4: Gold Coast

there. For cricket lovers, it is the Western Australia Cricket Association Ground, Perth. During one of my visits to Perth in January 2016 I got to see several members and players from the Indian cricket delegation that was staying in the same hotel— the Crowne Plaza Perth overlooking the beautiful Swan River.

One of the first things that stands out about Australia is the clear-cut demarcation of a Central Business District or CBD in each of its state capital walking tours that are ideal to experience the heart of Sydney that take you around the famous landmark buildings including the Opera House and the harbour bridge. At the end of the tour, you pay whatever you feel like. Great concept—and a wonderful way to find out more.”

2. Melbourne (capital of Victoria)

“The first thing I learnt about Melbourne is that it is considered to be the cultural capital of Australia and as the tour guide jokingly said, Sydney tries its best to host as many cultural events and promotions to bag that title as well! Yarra River passes through the city and Southbank is one vibrant area where I enjoyed a nice long evening walk and dining at a couple of restaurants. This area has excellent options for some good restaurants by the Yarra River in addition to some arts and culture centres. There was even a helicopter sight-seeing service from a helipad at the banks of the river. St Kilda is another area I enjoyed visiting. For families and children Luna Park is a good theme park in this area. There are streets packed with nice restaurants and shops and one can enjoy spending time here. There is also a beach nearby with a lot of stalls by the beachside on weekends.”

3. Brisbane (capital of Queensland)

This city is on the Brisbane River. If you would like to cuddle Koalas and get some cool pictures with Kangaroos, a visit to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is a must. While I enjoyed my breakfast here I was given company by an Eastern Water Dragon that too was enjoying the sun. After being alarmed initially my fellow Australian tourists assured me it was okay and safe and I could enjoy taking some pictures of the giant lizard that I did. The TransLink Go contactless smartcard makes it easy for you to commute in public transportation that includes bus, train, ferry and tram.

4. Perth (capital of Western Australia)

Perth is the capital of Western Australia, a state known for its mining, petroleum, and agricultural export industries. The Perth Zoo is an attraction 46 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30, 2017

5. Gold Coast (in Queensland)

3 4

From Brisbane I made a day trip visiting Gold Coast and spending the time at Surfer’s Paradise and in the streets around. Very vibrant place for those who want to relax and unwind by the beach side. Perfect for revellers of all types including families and kids.

Food: Being a vegetarian, I was concerned about food choices in Australia and was surprised by the availability of excellent options for vegetarians. Australians are good with food. I enjoyed varieties of the delicious smashed avocado dishes. My hosts introduced me to Vegemite that people either love or loath. I loved it. Wikipedia describes it: “It is a thick black Australian food spread made from leftover brewers’ yeast extract with various vegetable and spice additives developed by Cyril Percy Callister in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1922”. The other drink my hosts introduced me to, again something unique to Australia, was the Bundy rum (formally the Bundaberg Rum) that is also having a unique preparation. I enjoyed the drink while many don’t as the process to prepare it is a little different from that for a conventional rum. Safety and Economy: Overall, the capital and the major cities of Aus-

tralia that I visited are very safe. Crime rate is low. Consistently, transparent government policies and auditing, well planned investments and trade and several other public and private sector initiatives have ensured that the country remains stable, safe and welcoming. So the next time, the Aussie cricket team face off India—remember there’s so much more to their country than just that. kalyanisardesai@gmail.com

Claps & Slaps Corporate Citizen Claps for Pune based and India’s only all-women Bhagini Nivedita Cooperative Bank (BNCB), that has attracted Columbia University to research on its operations

Corporate Citizen Slaps the lack of compassion, legal or administrative diligence in getting mentally ill patients rehabilitated or getting families to embrace back one of their own

The bank was founded in 24th March 1974, by Vivek Dadhe, an eminent Chartered Accountant and his wife Meenakshi Dadhe to give financial prudence to women. The bank’s emblem is a Sanskrit verse ‘grahani grahamuchyatei’, meaning ‘a women uplifts the household’. Named after Swami Vivekananda’s Irish disciple Margaret Noble aka Sister (Bhagini) Nivedita, the bank takes the concept of sisterhood to a new plane. It inculcates financial discipline among housewives and strives to relieve people from lower economic strata from the clutches of money lenders by extending financial assistance on easy terms. The bank’s report quotes Jayashree Kale, Director and former Chairman saying the bank has crossed the `1,200 crore business mark, and its net worth is `150 crore. “Over the last 40 years, the bank has achieved substantial growth and for the last 18 years, we have distributed 15 per cent dividend to more than 45,000 members. The bank has consistently received ‘A’ audit class and excellent grades from the Reserve Bank of India. This model has attracted the attention of US researchers who are now advocating it in other parts,” said the report. The bank with a strength of 282 people is not registered as a mahila (women) bank. Smita Deshpande, CEO, said, “It was a conscious decision to not register the bank as women-only bank as we do not wish to take the advantages that come with it. We want to provide services to notwithstanding gender. Though run by women, it is all- inclusive.” The bank reaped gross profit of `22.18 crore for the fiscal 2014-15. The bank’s recovery team has achieved what would perhaps be the envy of large banks, public, private or cooperative—a gross NPA (Non Performing Assets) of 0.61 per cent and a net NPA of zero per cent for the past 13 years. Savita Thatte, Recovery Manager said, “We ascertain the cause of the delay before doing recovery. If the problem is known, it can be solved. Often one becomes defaulter due to loss of job or an illness. We encourage such people to repay in instalments.” The average duration of the employees’ service with the bank’ is almost 10 years. The all women solidarity at work might be a strong reason for women to continue working for the bank. On the flip side of being an all-women team, Smita Deshpande said, “As women, we are expected to juggle both family and home. If a child is ill, the mother is expected to stay back home and take care. So, women have to take more leaves. We need more staff than a regular bank to tackle work when an employee goes on maternity leave. Therefore it never affects operations.”

Plight of women with mental imbalances is more delirious as they get shunned by a large section of society in a country that refuses to give ‘equal status’ to women . A recent 104-page report by ‘Human Rights Watch’-a non-profit organisation, which publishes over 100 reports and briefings on human rights conditions in some 90 countries every year - discloses “involuntary admissions and arbitrary detentions of women in facilities, overcrowding and lack of hygiene, inadequate access to healthcare as well as physical, verbal and sexual violence.” Mental health activist Bhargavi Davar says that though India has tried to modernise laws, not much has changed on the ground. She said, “Mental health law has been penal. It deprives people of their liberty and the core of the laws is still an involuntary commitment. It is easy to get away with institutionalising someone, or labelling them mentally ill.” Saswati Chakraborti, a psychiatric social worker at the Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences, New Delhi (IHBAS) says, “When a patient comes, he or she is assessed by a multi-disciplinary team, including a psychiatrist, a psychologist and a social worker. Only if the person is unconscious or harming self or others, we admit them.” However, a study of over 11,000 patients from two hospitals in South India by Vindhya U, Kiranmayi A and Vijayalakshmi V has revealed that depression and dissociative disorders were more prevalent in women in the reproductive age, unskilled labourer women, women with less education and “principally housewives.” Moreover, most government sectors lack rehabilitation centres. The lack of skilled manpower to cater to such ‘special’ individuals is considered a greater challenge. Under such circumstances, doctors view that the inter-personnel bonding in the Indian family structure is one of the best alternative to rehabilitation centres. But, despite the Rajya Sabha passing the Mental Health Care Bill 2013, which provides for protection and promotion of rights of persons with mental illness during the delivery of healthcare in institutions and in the community, in a patriarchal society, women are easily held prisoners for a variety of reasons without understanding the symptoms of their depressive state or mental agony. While the National Mental Health Policy 2014 aims to reduce the treatment gap by providing universal access to mental healthcare through increased funding and human resources. (Compiled by Sangeeta Ghosh Dastidar) April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 47

Campus Placement

Making the

impossible possible Right from the school days, this Tawanagar girl has been used to changes, working hard and making it to the top. This is how she got herself into a Telecom company.... By Joe Williams

aking the impossible possible is the mantra Anagha Saxena believes in. Language has been no barrier for this daughter of school teachers from Tawanagar, Itarsi. Anagha did her initial schooling (up to standard V) in a Hindi medium school and was forced to do her schooling thereafter in an English medium school. Her parents, teachers at the government run Pradya Shikshan Hindi medium school in Tawanagar wanted her to switch over to English medium. She did not know English at all, not even the alphabets. She moved to Kendriya Vidyalaya in Bhopal to pursue her schooling. She did not have any friends for a few years, as she could not speak English. It was here that she made the impossible possible. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I did not have friends as I did not know to speak the language, it was tough and students laughed and mocked at me. I took it as a challenge and went on to top the IX standard exams which gave me a new lease of life,â&#x20AC;? said Anagha. She used to get up as early as four in the morning just to learn English. It was her father, Sunil Kumar Saxena who boosted her morale saying she can do it, and she made him the happiest man when she topped the IX standard. And soon her younger sister took the cue from her and did her schooling in English and now is doing her medicine in Bhopal. The world around her changed and she had more friends 48 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30, 2017

Â&#x201A; Anagha chilling out with friend

than anybody else in school. And now she is with Tecnotree, working as a trainee manager, after topping her Business Management course from one of the top colleges in Pune. She is now based in Bengaluru. Having seen the rough side of life in her early days, Anagha is now a confident person. She goes down memory lane as she speaks to Corporate Citizen:

Early days…

“I still remember the day when Papa gave me the English textbook and a pencil and asked me to underline words I was not familiar with. The first word I marked was: once”

Brought up in rural Tawanagar, Anagha was like any other village child—playful but good at studies. Switching from Hindi to English medium after class V was a tough call, but she made it happen with determination and commitment, making her parents Alka and Sunil Kumar proud. She was like a fish out of the pond. “I was an average student when my parents decided to change my school. They trained me enough so I could pass the admission test for Kendriya Vidyalaya in Itarsi, 200 kms from Bhopal. I still remember the day when Papa gave me the English textbook and a pencil and asked me to underline words I was not familiar with. The first word I marked was: once,” said Anagha who had her entire family behind her. “Dadaji taught me tenses while my father took care of my handwriting, and my mother oversaw all my subjects. She used to sit with me, burning the midnight oil,” said Anagha. She went on to finish her BE in Electronics and Telecommunications from Bhopal College of Engineering, securing 70%, for which she stayed with her relatives. The first time she moved out of her house was when she joined BITM in Pune. It was yet again a tough decision, not just for her but also for her parents as she was going to stay in a hostel. The college was a great place to study, according to Anagha, as there was no difference between seniors and juniors and everyone came together to solve all the problems.

Understanding the corporate environment

Anagha with her family

Anagha soon became well known in the college. She was selected as the CRT member and this was the turning point for her. “I got the opportunity to understand the corporate environment at close hand and got a chance to interact with many companies. Here, along with my team members, I was responsible for the placements of my batch mates,” said Anagha, who did her internship from Radio Design, Gurugram, where she had a pre placement offer. But she wanted to join a telecom company

and in her first attempt got placed at Tecnotree Convergence Private Ltd.

Placement fear…

It was the technical round which she was worried about. “I did take guidance from seniors who grilled me well, and I overcame it with much ease,” said Anagha who is now an intern at PMO (Project Management Office), Nigeria Delivery.

Parents supported a great deal..

“What I am today is because of my parents. But for their support I would have remained like any other Tawanagar village girl. They have been with me all along. I would not have gone this distance without their help and I cannot find a proper word to describe what they have done for me. The hard work has paid off. My parents are my inspiration. And of course, my friends and teachers—especially in the professional college-have guided me on the right path,” admitted Anagha.

What life means for her...

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life and the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking, you’ll find it,” observes Anagha.

Six tricks to a successful life…

• Follow what your parents say. They are your well-wishers. • Be positive towards life. • Don’t compare yourself with others, that is where you start losing your confidence. • Talk to yourself for at least 15 minutes a day. • Work with integrity. • Everyone you meet knows something you don’t, so keep meeting people and share with them what you have and they will also do the same to you. Joe78662@gmail.com

tadka

India, an R&D hub for MNCs The number of R&D centres being established by MNCs in India continues to rise and the vast majority are from the US. In 2016, around 943 MNCs were in India with 1,208 R7D centres, up from 928 MNCs with 1,165 R&D centres in 2015, according to Zinnov’s latest annual report.

April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 49

Loved & Married too

It is not often these days that a college romance fructifies into a wedlock. Corporate Citizen unlocks the story of love that has culminated into marriage, for we believe in the stability of a relationship and family unit. We bring to you real-life romances that got sealed in marriage

‘Space-

the secret of a happy married life’

It’s a North meet South, a two-state marriage-but there’s no way you’d guess that how chilled out and in sync with each other, this young couple is. Kavya Pant and S Shridhar tell us more...

his relationship started the way most campus romances do. Girl and boy meet, get thrown together a lot (in this case they were both pursuing their MBAs in Marketing and IT from BIMM), discover they like each other a lot-and one of them pops the question. A familiar, comfortable trajectory. “We had a lot of common friends, apart from being in the same dual together,” shares Kavya. “While we got along fine, we were just friends. It was the others who teased us about the other. We used to just smile and go along with that,” she says. All through the semester the status quo remained-until it was time to go home for the summer holidays. “He had left for the station by himself, much to my chagrin. I actually felt a pang that we were not to going to see each other for two months,” she says. “So I made a rush journey from Dange Chowk to the station. Luckily the train was late, and we did get to say good bye before the college shut down for the academic session.” Plenty of time to mull over what they meant to each other. But when they did start seeing each other, just about a week into their newly minted romance-Kavya began to feel 'suffocated.' Not her fault entirely, given that everyone on campus knew all about them, and the attention was overwhelming. So she asked to break up with her friend turned boyfriend. Of course Shri was upset especially when “you know you are special to the other person... to go back to being ‘just friends’ is very, very tough.” But he respected her decision-and gave her the time and space to figure out things for herself. “Within a couple of days, I regretted losing 50 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30, 2017

By Kalyani Sardesai my closest friend. I missed him much more than I thought I would,” says Kavya. They did get back together-stronger than ever before. “I was pretty clear that I wanted to settle down with Kavya once our placements were done,” he says.

Bridging the North-South Divide

Even so, there were the families to convince, given the disparity in cultural backgrounds. He’s a Telegu Brahmin from Hyderabad, she a North Indian Brahmin from Nainital, Uttarakhand. “My parents were initially very concerned about the differences. But I managed to convince them that we did know what we were doing, considering we had spent so much time together,” says Shridhar. At Kavya’s end, her mom had already met Sridhar in college where he had been introduced as a friend who ‘liked her.’ “When mom told dad, he asked him to come over and meet the family,” says Kavya. “The meeting was a success.” The duo were wed in a big fat wedding in 2010-with an interesting amalgamation of both North and South Indian rituals. Today, they are based in Raipur, Chhattisgarh with two lovely daughters-sixyear-old Nyraa and two-year-old Netra. It’s a happy and busy home, as the couple juggles work, family and a myriad other responsibilities-but they wouldn’t have it any other way. In keeping with her qualifications and long standing dream, Kavya is running a pre-school called The Little Cocoon, while Shridhar is Dealers

Nyraa and Netra in a playful mood

The Pillars of a Marriage

• Transparency and trust • Talking to each other • Having a strong network of family and friends • Taking the time to know one’s prospective partner before marriage

Kavya Pant and S Shridhar tying the knot

"Love marriage has worked beautifully for the two of us—possibly because we knew each other well before marriage-and worked on our relationship accordingly" — Sridhar and Development Manager, Tata Motors. Amidst all this, a simple questions stands out: just how tough was the adjustment postmarriage? “Honestly, it was far from difficult. I am born and brought up in Raipur (Chhattisgarh) and for all practical purposes, I am a North Indian. So food was never an issue,” he says. For her part, Kavya is appreciative of her inlaws and their support-in helping with the kids-even as she walks the tightrope between home and work. “People have made this big bogey about love versus arranged marriage. Between the two, an arranged shaad is always seen as the more viable option. But that’s not true. Love marriage has worked beautifully for the two of us-possibly because we knew each other well before marriage-and worked on our relationship accordingly,” says Sridhar. “And all meaningful relationships require you to put in time and effort.”

The building blocks of a relationship

Both are vocal about appreciating the other’s strengths. “She’s straightforward and upfront. Apart from this, she’s very caring. These are great qualities according to me,” says Sridhar. While Kavya lists out his hassle-free, down to earth attitude and friendliness as his finest features. It helps that both are similarly friendly, extroverted and happy go lucky. “Neither of us is mushy and romantic, and it works,” laughs Kavya. “Yes, being a woman, I like little surprises off and now, so maybe he should take a hint.” However, she is quick to point out that it’s the little things in the marriage that are actually the big things. “He helps out with the chores and is hands on with the girls. It helps me a lot,” she says. On a serious note, both would name transparency and trust as the fulcrum of the relation-

ship. “Also we are both particular about giving each other a fair amount of space,” says Sridhar. “Discord happens when the other person’s need for individuality is not respected,” he says. Both are also particular about not letting fights linger. “It’s ok to have different opinions and ways of looking at things,” he says. “But fights must be concluded and quickly at thatin the interest of everyone concerned.” Parenting is a crucial area of team-work, even more so when the kids are this young. “I am the strict parent, whereas daddy lets his little girls get their own way most of the time,” laughs Kavya. “But the balance works for all concerned. He is away a lot on tours, so I am the one who spends most of the time with the girls, so naturally, I have to establish the rules.” So how do they spend quality time together-given the demands on their time? “Well, movies and restaurants are family times with the kids accompanying us everywhere. So I would say the little pockets of time we get after dinner-or before breakfast-simply talking to each other, and sharing the happenings of the day, are the most special of all.” “Communication at all times is hugely important, irrespective of how busy one is. We make it a point to keep that little channel of communication going, no matter how busy our day has been,” rounds off Sridhar. “And that is the mainstay of any marriage.” kalyanisardesai@gmail.com

tadka Trichy City Corporation declared ‘Open Defecation-Free' The Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) has declared city of Trichy as ‘Open Defecation-Free’ (ODF). In a survey that makes Trichy City Corporation perhaps the only one among the 12 city corporations to be declared ODF. As ODF is a one of the major parameters in the ‘clean survey’ (Swachh Sarvekshan) to rank the cleanest city in the country, Trichy now has an upper edge over many other cities in the country.

April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 51

#Access to Nutrition Survey

The Indian Food and Beverage Industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role to make India healthier India ranks 143rd among 188 countries when it comes to the health of its citizens. For a country like India, this is a worrying score.

While the government has its share of responsibility, it is also important to access the role of Food and Beverage Manufacturers in India

in alleviating malnutrition and obesity in the country. This is exactly what the Access to Nutrition Foundation attempts to answer through their Access to Nutrition Index, 2016 report. Corporate Citizen brings you the findings By Neeraj Varty 52 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30, 2017

overweight. These trends, which are predicted to increase substantially, are already causing serious pandemic diseases in the form of diabetes, heart disease, stroke and certain cancers. Food and Beverage (F&B) manufacturers in India have the potential-and the responsibility-to be part of the solution. The serious health consequences of poor nutrition lend urgency to the need for India’s F&B manufacturers to proactively adopt impactful initiatives to improve the nutritional quality of their products, as well as other aspects of their businesses, augmented by other non-commercial practices (e.g. how they direct the mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility tax funds). It is in the companies’ financial and business interests to do so. Clear incentives are emerging: Indian urban consumers are increasingly demanding healthier foods and the Government is becoming increasingly active by, for example, by introducing tighter nutrition labelling regulations and standards for fortification. The survey tries to gauge the standing of Major Food and beverage corporations India with respect to their contributions to health in the country. Let us now see the results.

Results of the Survey

n India, the double burden of malnutrition poses a serious challenge – the need to tackle both persistent levels of undernutrition at the same time as rising levels of overweight and obesity. Severe undernutrition has been a national problem for generations and remains so today. According to the latest available data from the National Survey undertaken by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in 2013-14, the prevalence of stunting in children below five years is 39 per cent. This equates to around 48 million children-or two in every five children under the age of five-making India home to the largest number of stunted children in the world. Moreover, among the same population, more than 70 per cent suffer from iron deficiency, 65 per cent are deficient in vitamin A and 45 per cent are zinc deficient. The gravity of this situation has been greatly compounded in recent years by an alarmingly rapid rise in levels of overweight and obesity in the population. India now ranks third, after the US and China, in terms of the absolute number of obese people. Around 20 per cent of children and adolescents are

All companies are given two separate scores and ranks: one for the Corporate Profile and one for the Product Profile. The Corporate Profile sees the company’s performance as related to their response to obesity, diet-related chronic diseases as well as undernutrition. Companies with a low rank and score make little if any information about their nutrition policies and practices publicly available and had minimal or no engagement in the research process. Companies with a higher rank and score typically publish more information, engaged in the research process and have stronger nutrition commitments and practices. The Product Profile shows how nutritious the products are that each company sells in India, i.e. the nutritional quality of their product portfolio weighted by retail sales. Companies that score relatively low derive the majority of their sales from less nutritious products. Companies with a higher rank and score generate a higher proportion of their sales from more nutritious products. April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 53

#Access to Nutrition Survey

Largest Food and Beverage Companies are falling short

On the Corporate Profile, the highest-ranking companies are Nestlé India and Hindustan Unilever, scoring 7.1 and 6.7 out of 10 respectively. All of the MNCs score higher on the Corporate Profile than the participating Indian-based companies. The parent companies of the former tend to publish a range of commitments, policies and reports, many of which apply in India; the latter tend to have more limited policies and disclosure of nutrition-related activities. Two companies score particularly poorly – Amul and Parle Products – they did not participate in the research process, published little or no information and received no points in several categories. Their scores and ranking may therefore only be partly representative of any efforts they are making to tackle India’s nutrition challenges. Nestlé India scores better on the Corporate Profile of the India Index than its parent did on a global basis. The Corporate Profile scores on the India Spotlight Index of Hindustan Unilever and Coca-Cola India are broadly similar to their parent companies’ scores on the 2016 Global Index. PepsiCo India also performs better than its parent company did, but Mondelez India performs more poorly; the latter can be explained by the company’s more limited product portfolio in India and low levels of disclosure about its activities in India. On the Product Profile, Mother Dairy ranked first, Hindustan Unilever second, Amul third and Britannia Industries fourth. The lowest ranking companies are PepsiCo India in eighth place and Mondelez India in ninth place. This is because a large proportion of PepsiCo’s revenues are generated by snacks and sugar-sweetened beverages and because Mondelez sells mainly confectionary. 54 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30, 2017

Only around 12% of the beverages sold by the Index companies and 16% of the foods were estimated to be of high nutritional quality in the Product Profile analysis. This worrying picture shows that many manufacturers have much work to do to improve the nutritional quality of many of their products and/or to invest in new product development to broaden their product offering. Mother Dairy, Hindustan Unilever and Amul sell the largest proportion of healthy products among the companies assessed. Relative to the other companies included in the Index, Mother Dairy, Hindustan Unilever and Amul deliver the highest level of sales of products of high nutritional quality. Mother Dairy has a broad portfolio comprising nine categories of products, whose Health Star Ratings range from the maximum possible of five stars for its frozen fruit and vegetables to its butter, margarine and other dairy categories, which score an average of two stars or more. The company scores 5.6 on the Product Profile ranking. The average number of stars for Hindustan Unilever products within each category ranged from 0.5 out of 5 stars (the lowest score possible) for its liquid concentrates to 3.8 out of 5 stars for its soups. Its Product Profile score is 4.6. Amul’s sales-weighted portfolio has a rating of 2.2 out of 5 on average with an overall Product Profile score of 4.4.

All companies can do more to ensure that their healthy products are more affordable and accessible in India

As with the Global Index, Category C (Affordability and Accessibility) is one of the lowest scoring categories, with an average score of only 1.9 out of 9. Most companies do not seem to have considered the importance of ensuring that healthy products are affordable and accessible, particularly to low-income consumers, and do not appear to have developed any commitments or policies in this regard.

Nine of the companies have established a commitment to combatting undernutrition by fortifying their products—but more needs to be done Only five of the companies assessed disclose a commitment to addressing undernutrition by fortifying appropriate products (and/or using fortified ingredients) and only two, Britannia Industries and Nestlé India, of these five companies disclose having undertaken comprehensive market research to inform their product fortification strategy. Nestle India leads the rank when it comes to addressing micronutrient deficiencies through product fortification, followed by Britannia Industries. Only Nestlé India and Britannia Industries have a structured approach to product fortification with relevant commitments and programs. They also engage in other non-commercial initiatives designed to disseminate fortified products to those who need them.

Responsible Marketing This category captures the extent to which companies help Indian consumers make healthy choices by adopting responsible marketing practices. The category consists of two parallel groups of two criteria: ¶ D1 Responsible marketing policy ¶ D2 Auditing and compliance with policy to children ¶ D3 Responsible marketing policy ¶ D4 Auditing and compliance with policy

Hindustan Unilever is the leading company with respect to supporting healthy diets and active lifestyles overall. The company demonstrates best-practice with respect to measuring the impact of both its consumer education, staff health and wellness programs. Overall, Category E is a low-scoring category, with only three companies scoring above five out of ten-Hindustan Unilever, Nestlé India and PepsiCo India. While some companies seem to have implemented interesting initiatives, the industry as a whole will need to devote greater resources to delivering effective programs to support their employees and consumers to pursue active lifestyles and healthy diets, through independently designed and implemented programs. Hindustan Unilever is the leader in this category, scoring 6.7 out of 10, demonstrating reasonably strong policies and commitments to responsible marketing to the general population and children. Other companies that score fairly well across all marketing criteria are Nestlé India, PepsiCo India and Mondelez India ranking second, third and fourth respectively

neeraj.varty07@gmail.com April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 55

Health

Secret of

long life

By Rakesh Kalshian

quatted on a charpai just outside his one-room tenement in an obscure village called Karahal on the edges of the Chambal ravines in Madhya Pradesh, Ram Sevak Pathak exudes a Buddha-like serenity. His eyes, ears and knees might be deserting him, and his brain may now have a tenuous hold over his hand muscles, but looking at his relatively smooth skin, his upright spine, and, most remarkably, his exceptionally supple memory, no 56 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30, 2017

Today, people are living longer than ever before. In fact, every six years, the average lifespan in the US increases by a year. In India, average life expectancy, which used to be around 42 in 1960, steadily climbed to around 48 in 1980, 58.5 in 1990, and 66.4 today

one can guess that the man is 105 years old. What’s the secret of his long life when an average Indian man does not even cross 70? He betrays a childlike smile and replies with utter seriousness: “I believe the most important thing is to give your body the respect it deserves. If you don’t, there would be obvious consequences.” Pathak says that as much as he could, he has tried to follow a regular regimen of diet and exercise, besides abstaining from alcohol and tobacco. “Even now I do yoga in the morning,” he says with pride. “My only weakness,” he adds, “was spicy food, especially chilies, which I think did me much harm.”

In Pathak’s reckoning, having a purpose in life also plays a key role in keeping body and soul together for a long time. Pathak is a veteran Gandhian who, among other things, fought against the British rule; worked hard to unshackle the Saharias, an adivasi tribe that dwells in these parts, from the fetters of feudalism; walked thousands of miles as part of Vinoba Bhave’s Bhoodan movement; and was closely involved in the 1972 mass surrender by the Chambal dacoits. An impressive body of work, but Pathak says he owes his long years chiefly to the good wishes of the Saharias for whose good he has worked all his life. “If I am born again, I

want to be born as a Saharia,” he says. Anyone who has lived long swears by a few curious nostrums. Pathak is no different. His recommendation: quaff a litre of water first thing in the morning, but drink water only three-four hours after meal, eat less, and munch garlic with tea. At 117, Emma Morano of Italy is the world's oldest living person and credits her long life to eating eggs and singlehood, while Misao Okawa of Japan, who died in 2015 after her 115th birthday, said eating a good meal and relaxing were the key to long life. Pathak’s recipe for long life might seem plausible, and some credulous souls might even try to emulate it, but it is essentially idiosyncratic—another centenarian is very likely to prescribe an entirely different list of do’s and don’ts. The British war veteran Henry Allingham’s formula was “cigarettes, whisky, and wild, wild women.” Others have included happy marriage, minding one’s own business, and wine as prime suspects. Evidently, there is no universal magic potion for a long life. As Hazel Miller, an American centenarian, told The New York Times, “There’s no secret about it. You just don’t die… The best part of being 100 is that you lived to be 100. If you can enjoy it, it’s an extra good thing.” Nevertheless, while a happy-go-lucky attitude might well be one of the secrets to a long life, it still does not explain how both life expectancy and longevity have risen appreciably over the last two centuries. For the greater part of human history, life was, to quote 17th century British philosopher Thomas Hobbes, “poor, nasty, brutish and short.” As recently as in 1900, the average American did not get past her 47th birthday; now she can expect to cross 78 years. One reason average lifespans were so short is that many people died in infancy or childhood. Until the advent of modern public health care and medicine in the early 19th century, many children died before their fifth birthday. And among those who did sur-

now cannot but confront fundamental and tough questions about the nature of life, ageing and death that not so long ago were the domain of metaphysics or science fiction. For instance, why do we age and die? Is ageing and death the logical consequence of a genetic programme writ into our DNA, or is it a mere accident? Why do some animals live longer than others? Can the body be likened to a machine that can be repaired indefinitely?

vive the early attacks, very few crossed the age of 60. Today, people are living longer than ever before. In fact, every six years, the average lifespan in the US increases by a year. In India, average life expectancy, which used to be around 42 in 1960, steadily climbed to around 48 in 1980, 58.5 in 1990, and 66.4 today. Even more striking is the rise in number of people living beyond 100. According to the ‘UN World Population Ageing Report’ published in 2015, there were an estimated 3,16,600 living centenarians in the world, of which, as of now only 45 have been verified to have crossed 110, although their number is estimated at 350-400. Globally, the number of centenarians is projected to increase to 3.2 million in 2050. India is at present home to between 11,000 and 20,000 centenarians. But this number may go up to anywhere between 0.15 million and 0.6 million by the middle of this century. As recently as two decades ago, research on ageing was considered fringe, more the preserve of charlatans and mavericks than of respectable scientists. But now it’s part of mainstream, with governments, corporations and maverick billionaires investing millions of dollars into the quixotic quest to delay the inevitable. Scientist

I believe the most important thing is to give your body the respect it deserves. If you don’t, there would be obvious consequences Ram Sevak Pathak

FLATTERING TO DECEIVE

Science’s quest to prolong life has a long and checkered history. Many ideas began with a bang but eventually fizzled out (see ‘Quest for immortality’,). The modern state-of-the-art ageing research came of age in the 1990s when Cynthia Kenyon, then a molecular biologist at the University of California, San Francisco, showed that mutation in a single gene could double the lifespan of a worm called Caenorhabditis elegans (C elegans). Before long, scientists had unearthed many more such genes in the genomic haystack, and all of them seemed to extend the lifespan of model organisms, such as worms, flies and mice. These early findings seduced venture capitalists into investing in the quest for the elixir of life. They set about first unravelling the hidden circuits controlled by these genes and then eventually manipulating them so as to create drugs that might simulate their life-enhancing magic. (Courtesy: www.downtoearth.org Link for the complete article is here: http://www.downtoearth. org.in/coverage/mortal-combat-56836)

tadka

India predicted to become 3rd largest consumer economy India is set to become the third largest consumer economy by 2025, trailing the US and China, fuelled by an increase in consumption levels, changes in consumer behaviour and spending patterns, according to a report released by consulting firm The Boston Consulting Group. India is now the sixth largest consumer economy, after the US, China, Japan, the UK and Germany.

April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 57

Pearls of Wisdom

By Dada J P Vaswani

Don’t Chase

Happiness Happiness is an inner quality! Don’t look for happiness... create it. It was Abraham Lincoln who said, “Most are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” And since happiness gives meaning and purpose to life, we must know where to find it

58 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30 , 2017

that make life significant. Many of us are apt to equate happiness and success with money, material wealth and possessions. The Wise Ones remark, this is sheer ignorance. You cannot be happy just because you live in a mansion or a penthouse apartment. You cannot achieve peace and inner harmony just because you drive a Mercedes or a BMW. You cannot be considered ‘successful’ just because you are a millionaire. Happiness is an inner quality! Don’t look for happiness... Create it! It was Abraham Lincoln who said, “Most are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” And since happiness gives meaning and purpose to life, we must know where to find it. All the world’s greatest philosophers agree on this point: true happiness stems from within us, from a way of thinking about life. This is the most enduring, agreed upon truth about happiness: if the prints of contentment and satisfaction are not within, no material success, no pleasure or possession make us truly happy.

Empower Yourself

upposing you were told, ‘Today is the last day of your life. Make a list of all the things that you feel you have accomplished, all the things that have made you feel truly happy; what are the things you would put down in that list, knowing that you have only hours left to live?’ I’m certain that your car, bungalow and bank account will find no place on the list. What you are sure to put on it would be the most fundamental elements of a truly happy life—your love for God, the love and respect you have earned from your near and dear ones, the sunshine you brought into people’s lives by your warmth and affection, the compassion you have received from your friends, the love and kindness you have shown to people. Happiness is in the little things

I recall the words of that wise man, G H Loruner. He worked for several years as the editor of the ‘Saturday Evening Post’, and on one occasion, he wrote words which have clung to my memory. Loruner says, “It is good to have all the things which money can buy. But it is also good to pause for a while again and again and check whether we have not lost all the things which money cannot buy”. There are so many things which money cannot buy, and those are the things that contribute to true happiness. Money can buy for us the softest bed in the universe, but money cannot buy for us sleep. Money can buy for us medicines, but money cannot buy for us health. Money can buy for us the best cosmetics in the world, but money cannot buy for us that natural rosy tint in the cheeks. Money can buy for us the best of foods, but money cannot buy for us appetite. Money can buy for us flatterers who will follow us wherever we go, but money cannot buy for us true friendship. Money can buy for us all the books that are available in the world, but money cannot buy for us brains. Money can buy for us social prestige, but money cannot buy for us a clear conscience. William Lyon Phelps was a distinguished writer and critic, as well as a popular Professor at Yale University. He had inspired and guided hundreds of students during his long and distinguished career. When he was asked to write a message of guidance and inspiration for the American people, he asserted: “The principle of happiness is like the principle of virtue: it should not be dependent on things, but be a part of your personality.” When Professor Phelps had been a young student, he had drawn inspiration from the words of President Timothy Dwight who had visited

Happiness is an inner quality! Don’t look for happiness... Create it! It was Abraham Lincoln who said, “Most are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” And since happiness gives meaning and purpose to life, we must know where to find it his college and addressed the students. Dwight had told them emphatically: “The happiest person is the person who thinks the most interesting thoughts.” This was what he taught his students too. Real happiness cannot come from external things, he told them. The only lasting happiness that you will experience is that which springs from your inner thoughts and emotions. Therefore, he urged to cultivate minds. For an empty mind seeks mere pleasure as a substitute for happiness. The happiest people are not the ones who make money, buy property and own stocks. The happiest people are those who cultivate their minds with interesting and invigorating thoughts. CC

tadka

India 36th in internet inclusiveness India ranked 36th among 75 nations in internet inclusiveness based on factors like availability, affordability and policies for access, as per a report by FacebookEconomist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The top countries in the tally include Singapore, Sweden, the US, the UK and Japan.

April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 59

Bollywood Biz

Best movies about

Women Empowerment

Bollywood has often been criticised for its objectification of women. While that claim holds water to a large extent, it is not entirely correct. Every once in a while, Bollywood produces some amazing women oriented movies which not only have progressive portrayals of women, they are also huge hits. Unlike typical Bollywood fare, these movies have stayed in the audiencesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; hearts for years and years. This issue, Corporate Citizen presents the best women oriented movies in Bollywood history By Neeraj Varty 60 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30, 2017

English Vinglish (2012) If you thought it was a thing of the past when uneducated women were married off to educated men, just so they could take care of the household and children, think again. These situations are still relevant to today’s times, if not in a large number. In English Vinglish, we see how a loving and caring mother/ wife is mocked (albeit unintentionally) by her family for her lack of understanding a particular language. Throughout the movie, we see how she overcomes her fears, stands up for herself and learns to love who she is, apart from being a mother and wife. Watch it for Sridevi turning in the performance of a lifetime.



A 1957 Hindi epic melodrama film, directed by Mehboob Khan, Mother India is one film that comes to every mind when thinking of top women-oriented films of all time. It starred Nargis as the titular Mother India, a scrupulous leader who put her principles before anything else. India’s official nomination at the Oscar’s that year, this socially-relevant film was much ahead of its times and an epic classic. It made a powerful impact, representing India in the aftermath of her independence, reinforcing the internal strength of a woman who rises like the Phoenix from the ashes of circumstances. This portrayal essayed by Nargis with the consummate ease of a veteran, is a benchmark role. Mother India was the most expensive Hindi cinema production in 1957 and earned the highest revenue for any Hindi film at that time. Mother India deserves its place amongst the all time great films in Bollywood.



Mother India (1957)

Gulab Gang (2014)

Clad in pink sarees and armed with lathis, a group of women march with shoulders broad and heads held high against injustice. Gulaab Gang is a movie about fighting against the subjugation of women and this is achieved when the women of a small village come together as one. This movie is all about women empowerment and how politics plays a big role in Indian culture. Based on a true story, Gulab Gang is a testament to the fact that it is not just urban women, but rural women too who are equally empowered.

Chak De India (2007)

Chak De India is a film, which is hard to classify into a single genre. It explores religious bigotry, ethnic and regional prejudice and sexism in contemporary India in a fictional story about the Indian women's national field-hockey team which was inspired by the team's win at the 2002 Commonwealth Games. Despite starring superstar Shahrukh Khan, it’s the female star cast which composes the hockey team that steals the show. Every single member of the hockey team is essayed with perfection and it translates beautifully on screen. None of these women are famous names, yet they are the one’s responsible for the movie’s success. With Chak De India, women centric movies have come of age. neeraj.varty07@gmail.com April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 61

Mobile Apps

n o i s s n e o r i p s e s D e r Dep Apps to help combat

MoodKit

Depression usually makes you feel low most of the time. MoodKit is stuffed with mood improvement tools, including activities to boost your outlook immediately, a thought checker to monitor your moods, and a journal for you to help work through your emotions. The app works with your smartphone’s calendar and can be synced with your social media accounts. A nice feature is the option to track your moods quickly and refer back using weekly or monthly charts to identify patterns.

Operation Reach Out

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), over 35 crore people around the world suffer from depression. That’s roughly about seven per cent of the world’s population. It is time we treat depression as a serious issue, instead of casually shrugging it off. Everyone tends to get depressed at one time or the other, and that’s when you need help the most. This issue, Corporate Citizen brings you the best free apps to help combat depression

Depression CBT

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a very effective approach to managing depression and other mental health problems. Depression CBT is an app that helps you monitor your moods with an assessment test that tracks the severity of your depressed moods and provides several resources aimed at educating you about the flawed thought patterns that may be worsening your depression. There are also audio programs for relaxation and depression assistance.

By Neeraj Varty

When that feeling of hopelessness is at its greatest, people who have depression need help more than ever. The Operation Reach Out app can provide that help. Download the app and store emergency contact information in it. Then, when you feel at your lowest, you can easily contact help. The app also comes with preloaded numbers to suicide prevention hotlines and several helpful videos.

Positive Thinking

The things we surround ourselves with, certainly have the potential to affect our moods. Positive Thinking is an app that provides a massive collection of positive quotes to help you keep your mind on good things rather than worries and stress. You can add to the collection, store your favourites, and share the quotes.

There are two ways of liberating ourselves from negative thought patterns. The first is to find whatever therapy or therapies work for you and then work them. The second way is to liberate each negative thought on the spot neeraj.varty@corporatecitizen.com

62 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30, 2017

From My Mobile

Leave Behind

Your Legacy What is a good heritage? At the point of death, Tom Smith called his children and advised them to follow his footsteps so that they can have peace of mind in all that they do. His daughter, Sara, said, “Daddy, it’s unfortunate that you are dying without a penny in your bank. Other fathers that you label as corrupt, thieves of public funds left houses and properties for their children; even this house we live in is a rented apartment. Sorry, I can’t emulate you. Just go, let’s chart our own course.” Few moments later, the father died. Three years later, Sara went for an interview in a multinational company. At the interview, the Chairman of the committee asked, “Which Smith are you?” Sara replied, “I am Sara Smith. My dad Tom Smith is no more.” The Chairman cut in, “Oh my God! You are Tom Smith’s daughter!” He turned to the other members and said, “This Smith was the one that signed my membership form into the Institute of Administrators and his recommendation earned me where I am today. He did all these free. I didn’t even know his address, he never knew me. He just did it for me.” He turned to Sara, “I have no questions for you, consider yourself as having got this job. Come tomorrow, your letter will be waiting for you.” Sara Smith became the Corporate Affairs Manager of the company with two cars with drivers, a duplex attached to the office, and a salary of £1,00,000 per month, excluding allowances and other costs. After two years of working in the company, the MD of the company came from America to announce his intention to resign and needed a replacement. A personality with high integrity was sought after, again the company’s consultant nominated Sara Smith. In an interview, she was asked the secret of her success, with tears, she replied, “My daddy paved these ways for me. It was after he died that I knew that he was financially poor but enormously rich in integrity, discipline and honesty.” She was asked again, why she is weeping since she is no longer a kid as to miss her dad, who died long ago. She replied, “At the point of death, I insulted my dad for being an honest man, a man of integrity. I hope he will forgive me from his grave. I didn’t work for all these; he did it for me to just walk in”. She was then asked, “Will you follow your father’s footsteps as he requested?” And her simple answer was, “I now adore the man, I have a big picture of him in my living room and at the entrance of my house. He deserves whatever I have, after God.” Are you like Tom Smith? It pays to build a name; the reward doesn’t come quickly, but it will come however long it may take and it lasts longer. Integrity, discipline, self-control and fear of God makes a man wealthy, not the fat bank account.

Each Gives What He Has! Back in the days when Germany was divided, a huge wall separated East and West Berlin. One day, some people in East Berlin took a truckload of garbage and dumped it on the West Berlin side. The people of West Berlin could have done the same thing, but they didn’t. Instead, they took a truckload of canned goods, bread, milk and other provisions, and neatly stacked it on the East Berlin side. On top of this stack, they placed the sign: “EACH GIVES WHAT HE HAS” How true! You can only give what you have. What do you have inside of you? Is it hate or love? Violence or peace? Death or life? Capacity to build or capacity to destroy? What have you acquired over the years? “EACH GIVES WHAT HE HAS” Think about it!

Success mantra

financial success is due to % ofyouryourpersonality, ability to commu-

nicate, negotiate and lead. Shockingly, only 15% is due to technical knowledge.” -Carnegie Institute of Technology

Just Laugh! An innovative board sign outside CST Railway Station reads:

Have a ticket? — Good! Don’t have a ticket? — Fine! April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 63

astroturf 24, 25, 28, 29 Profession days:18, 24 Miraculously you will find that the things you worried about are resolved naturally. After a relaxing mood, we see solutions to problems that we didn’t see before.

Aries

Mar 21- April 20 Greatest days:16, 24, 25 Hectic days:17, 18, 30 Money days: 19, 20, 21, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29 Profession days: 16, 17, 18, 24 You are still getting your way in life, but be careful as wrong choices can have consequences later down on the road. You are still in your personal independence period so situations that irk you can yet be rectified.

TAURUS

April 21 - May 20 Greatest days:17, 18, 26, 27 Hectic days:19, 20, 21 Honey days:17, 18, 23, 26, 27 Money days:18, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 28, 29 Profession days:16, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25 You will possess power to create conditions, as you want them to be. Continue your spiritual interests until the 19th—you will experience miracles happening after that date. You will gain an internal strength, which shows outwardly too.

GEMINI

May 21 - June 21 Greatest days:19, 20, 21, 28, 29 Hectic days:16, 22, 23 Honey days:16, 19, 20, 21, 23, 28, 29 Money days:16, 20, 21, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30 Profession days:22, 23, 30 Try not to rectify matters as they might go worse, so be patient and calm. Your words could add to the negativity if you try to force issues of making amendments, so best is to remain on the side and focus on what is possible.

CANCER

Jun 22 - July 23 Greatest days:22, 23, 30 Hectic days:17, 18, 24, 25 Honey days:16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25

(www.dollymanghat.com)

Fortune favours the bold and the lucky

Your attitude is your altitude, says Dolly Manghat, our renowned astrological expert and believes she helps people create their own prophecies rather than live predictions Money days:16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28, 29 Profession days:18, 24, 25, 28 Career remains strong and you will experience success but demands on your energy and time will be more. The western social sector of your chart has been dominant since the beginning of the year.

LEO

July 24 - Aug 23 Greatest days:16, 24, 25, Hectic days:19, 20, 21, 26, 27 Honey days:16, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25 Money days:18, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 28, 29 Profession days:23, 26, 27 You look very successful this month. After 19th you are bound to take some bold steps due to this powerful feeling. Lot of business related travel may happen this month.

VIRGO

Aug 24 - Sept 23 Greatest days:17, 18, 26, 27 Hectic days:16, 22, 23, 28, 29 Honey days:22, 23, 30 Money days:19, 20, 21, 23, 28, 29 Profession days:18, 24, 25, 28, 29 Financial deals seem to go backwards instead of forwards. Minds change and then keep changing. People may sign contracts and not keep up to their commitments.

64 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30, 2017

LIBRA

Sept 24 - Oct 22 Greatest days:19, 20, 21, 28, 29 Hectic days:17, 18, 24, 25, 30 Honey days:18, 23, 24, 25, 28 Money days:17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28, 29 Profession days:16, 26, 27, 28, 30 Venus is also retrograde until the 15th so use this time to get clear about your personal goals. Understand how you want to show yourself to the world your projection is important.

SCORPIO

Oct 23 - Nov 22 Greatest days:22, 23, 30 Hectic days:19, 20, 21, 26, 27 Honey days:23, 26, 27 Money days:16, 19, 20, 21, 28, 29 Profession days:16, 26, 27 Mars who is still in your 7th house until the 21st, warns that you should not get into any kind of power struggles and avoid too much of criticism. Perfection is good but go about it in a gradual away.

SAGITTARIUS

Nov 23 - Dec 22 Greatest days:15, 16, 24, 25 Hectic days:22, 23, 28, 29 Honey days:18, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29 Money days:16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21,

CAPRICORN

Dec 23 - Jan 20 Greatest days:17, 18, 26, 27 Hectic days:24, 25, 30 Honey days:16, 23, 26, 27, 30 Money days:16, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 28, 29 Profession day: 23 Job seekers need to analyse offers more closely from the 9th onwards rather than just choosing blindly. Do not be tempted without giving it a prior thought.

AQUARIUS

Jan 21 - Feb19 Greatest days:19, 20, 21, 28, 29 Hectic days:26, 27 Honey days:16, 23, 26, 27 Money days:19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29 ,30 Profession days:17, 18, 26, 27 You need to feel right about things, right mood and in the right emotional harmony. You need to heal and resolve old love issues.

PISCES

Feb 20 - Mar 20 Greatest days:22, 23, 30 Hectic days:16, 28, 29 Honey days:23, 24, 25 Money days:18, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 28, 29 Profession days:16, 19, 20, 21, 28, 29 You are still in your yearly financial peak till the 19th. So prosperity is happening. All those obligations will be handled; but there can be delays after which everything will be handled. Address: 143, St Patrick’s Town, Gate# 3, Hadapsar IE, Pune-411 013. Tel.: 020-26872677 / 020-32905748 Email: connect@dollymanghat.com/ info.dollymanghat@gmail.com

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CORPORATE CULTURE

Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO, ICICI Bank on women in leadership and gender diversity

INTERVIEW

An in-depth interview with Vishal Parekh, Marketing Director India with Kingston Technology and Rajeev Bhadauria, Director, Group HR, at Jindal Steel & Power

Dynamic Duo 21 MEERA SHANKAR AND AJAY SHANKAR

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April 16-30, 2017 / Corporate Citizen / 65

the last word

Ganesh Natarajan

The way to a new India

A mood of positivism and a sense of pride in our history, culture, current progress and bright future is what every Indian needs to take our country forward in the years to come

he clarion call that is empowering many Indian youth today is a Naya Bharat or New India. This is an inspiring and engaging idea and can build a sense of patriotism and commitment across the nation. For the past many decades, some of us who have remained in the country have rued the fact that much of our best talent have built outstanding companies and capabilities in the US, UK, Middle East and South East Asia and all of us still shudder when our NRI and OCI friends show up in December and appear to be almost patronising about the challenges our cities and countries still face. A mood of positivism and a sense of pride in our history, culture, current progress and bright future is what every Indian needs to take our country forward in the years to come. What all do we have going for the new India. For one, we certainly have some strong people leading key movements today. Where I am writing this, the city of Pune on a lovely Spring morning, the optimism is high because we have an outstanding Municipal Commissioner, a vibrant newly elected set of corporators, a dynamic Chief Minister in the State and of course a very strong Government at the Centre. All this gives us the confidence that the next few years are going to provide a fertile environment for stability and growth

in the city, state and country and all it needs is highly motivated groups of citizens in each community and city to build “new India” as a reality and not just a thought or slogan! And the “new India” pride will come not only through job creation but also through a “Rediscover, Revive and Restore” approach that makes our cities and towns more liveable and new tourism and living destinations. One excellent entity that our own meta startup 5F World has been in discussions with and will soon support through funding and mentor-

Uma Natarajan in Bodh Gaya have visited the Big Ben and the Eiffel Tower and Sentosa Island in Singapore but how many have been on the eight temple Ashta Vinayak trail and seen the stunning sites in Bodh Gaya, Nalanda and Rajgir? Three years ago, after a nostalgia reunion in my alma mater Birla Institute of Technology Ranchi, my wife Uma and I rented a car and drove to all these places before finally reaching Patna to take a flight. It would easily rank among the most exciting three days of our life, not least because there was a murder in the local Gaya temple literally minutes after we left. Which raises the point that rediscovery should be minus the risks and we need to work with local and national authorities not

Rediscovery should be minus the risks and we need to work with local and national authorities not only to promote but also facilitate a voyage of discovery to different parts of our country ing is Live History India, founded by two TV veterans from CNBC and Bloomberg and one avid historian. Their dream is to give local and national history a fresh and exciting narrative, create an engaged network of historians, architects and specialists and build a powerful physical and digital platform that encourages rediscovery of a thousand plus new tourist spots in the country-by foreign national and local tourists! On the topic of rediscovery most readers of this column would

66 / Corporate Citizen / April 16-30, 2017

only to promote but also facilitate a voyage of discovery to different parts of our country. If Rediscovery can happen through building safe travel, promoting new destinations and setting people off on new voyages of discovery, revival of interest in the country will need a large initiative to find and tell good stories, explore the origins of food, art, culture and monuments across the country and get a network of well-meaning experts in every city and town of the country to par-

ticipate. And Restore is clearly a Government agendas where entities like Live History India can do a lot to influence policy and focus attention on institutions that can use the help to make themselves objects of attraction all over again. At the risk of sounding preachy, let me say that the opportunities for well-meaning and reasonably wealthy people to do good inside the country are enormous. In our own city, we have social investors like Anu Aga, Meher Pudumjee, Rati Forbes, the Bajaj and Kalyani families and outstanding patriarchs like Abhay Firodia who is building an entire museum to showcase Jain culture and history in the city. In the last three months, we ourselves have found social enterprises and people behind them as interesting and sometimes more than the digital transformation start ups we are funding. A case in point is Studio Coppre which is doing stellar work integrating the work of copper artisans, helping them with low cost automation and creating international quality designs that will enable them to sell more in discerning domestic and global markets. The joy of helping an entity which may have been set up by a few committed people with a limited business plan and enable an impact to be made which is larger than envisaged is what true entrepreneur enablement is all about and will lead the way to the India of our dreams. Let’s make it happen! Dr. Ganesh Natarajan is Chairman of 5F World, Pune City Connect & Social Venture Partners, Pune.

Printed and published by Suresh Chandra Padhy on behalf of Sri Balaji Society. Editor: Suresh Chandra Padhy. Published from : 925/5, Mujumdar Apt, F.C. Road, Pune - 411004, Maharashtra. Printed at Magna Graphics (I) Ltd., 101-C&D Govt. Industrial Estate, Hindustan Naka, Kandivali (W), Mumbai - 400067.