Volume4 issue 17 corporate citizen

INTERVIEW: Arun Singh, Head - Human Resources & Administration, Foseco India Volume 4, Issue No.17 / Pages 68 / www.corporatecitizen.in

December 1-15, 2018 / `50

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NHRDN panel discussion on how organisations must combat the waves of change

SURVEY

Deloitte-Global Human Capital Trends Survey 2018

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Dynamic Duo: 79

‘Made in the Indian Army’ Meera and Major PS Govindachari (Retd.), on how Army life proved effective in their successful entrepreneurial venture

corporate strategy

Chhatrapati Shivaji’s lessons for corporate leaders

Loved & Married Too

Major Gagandeep Kaur and Lt. Commander Manu Sharma, on their life journey together

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Insightful CII and NHRDN sessions

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Back offices facing 18% GST for services to MNCs

This is with regards to the recent ruling of back offices facing 18% GST for services to MNCs. This is a substantial ruling as there is a large number of ITeS firms including SMEs that provide services of varied nature such as shared support service centre for MNCs, IT development centre, data processing back-offices

The value derived from a law INTERVIEW S K JaIN, adVocaTE aNd degree varies widely from EmINENT lEgal ExpERT college to college, depending on various factors like academics, All IndIA quality of teaching, faculty’s Survey of lAw teaching abilities, career prospects and so on. The CollegeS-2018 Decoding law education in India recent Corporate Citizen issue Exclusive survey ranking the top law colleges, quality of law education, challenges, opportunities, dedicated to law education in and the future of law education in India India and an in depth survey report “All India Survey of Law Colleges-2018” (Issue 15, Volume 4, dated 1-15 November, 2018), was really worth an analysis to know if a rewarding career in law is still possible in India. Especially the ranking methodology covered the right topics, providing useful insights with a focus on value to students. The survey is comprehensive and provided concrete information in a vast array of areas about law education in the country. Making choice for a career in law in itself is a very intellectual decision on the student’s part and today with top class law colleges available in the country and diverse legal specialities available, the law profession has become financially rewarding.

— Sanjay Motwani, legal professional November 1-15, 2018 / `50

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A Comprehensive Law Survey

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I have been reading your magazine for almost three years. I mostly enjoy reading your coverage of business conferences sessions (CII and NHRDN), and I have read almost all of them. The CII and NHRDN sessions help me to gain an insight into the current corporate happenings such as current developments, how technologies have caused disruptions and how those disruptions may profit the customers, etc. On the other hand, the Career Fest, which was published last year, gave a significant insight to my daughter who will appear for her Std XII Board Examination.

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Top Law CoLLEgEs In InDIa

and either act as captive offices of MNCs or serve third party clients. If Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) proposes to retrospectively tax such services, it would have ramifications for all such assesses who usually have such services priced on cost plus basis (especially MNC

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captive offices). Over medium term, this may also affect the competitiveness as global MNCs may find it more attractive to explore alternate markets for fulfilling these requirements.

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December 1-15, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 3

Editor-in-Chief’s Choice / Raghuram Rajan

Dr (Col.) A. Balasubramanian

‘RBI has to be a responsible entity of the government’ Supriya Shrinate, Executive Editor ET NOW, Times Group interviewed Raghuram Rajan, former Governor of Reserve Bank of India, on RBI vs. Government showdown. Excerpts from the show that was recently telecast on ET Now Supriya: Many people believe that we are in a protectionist inward looking world and what’s happening between the US and China is eventually going to take a big toll on global recovery. What’s your take on that?

Raghuram: It is a big overhang right now and I do think that we should be worried about the dialogue coming from each country. In US, it’s ‘Make America Great’; in China, it’s ‘Make China Great’. Every country wants itself to `make’ great. But, when it comes to relationship with other countries, I think the trade conflict is one of those worries. The hope is what we will see over a period of time; a better understanding of each other’s position. I think there are some agreements to be had right now. If in fact China can convince USA

Every country wants itself to make great.

But, when it comes with relationship with other countries, I think the trade conflict is one of those worries. The hope is what we will see over a period of time, there is a better understanding of each other’s position that it will change its behaviour on the acquisition of property and on the flip side, if the US assures China that it is not going to use tariffs as a general means of blocking China’s path to growth for which there is an agreement to be had but it requires significant negotiation; it requires deep understanding of each other’s position and ultimately it requires acceptance that China is going to be one of the big powers and has to have place in global stage eventually on par with US.

Is China prepared to play the role that it needs to play to be taken at par with the US?

I think, it is a process of learning and I think you cannot expect China to do that immediately but at the same time worst way to get at China to become a responsible global player is to essentially tell them 4 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

we don’t like your rice and we are going to stand in your way. What that means is China will back off from international engagement, focus on building its bar looking both inward and regionally and eventually that will not be good for the world; because it certainly will be start of the cold war if not eventually a hot war.

So I think there needs to be much more dialogue…

While the world was celebrating United States becoming the global engine growth, all over again are the fault lines that you see, because many people believe President Trump’s policies are indeed very short-term and things may go belly up…

We had ten years of very easy money, and that has resulted in high levels of leverage both in pockets of US and across the world. Enormous amounts of money has been flown into the emerging markets and what that means is the Fed continues to raise interest rates and it will continue to do so because the US economy as you said is chugging along very nicely. The labour market is very tight; the job numbers are very healthy, also the wage growth is picking up so the Fed is worried about inflation. It is going to increase interest rates and entities that have borrowed a lot; especially in dollars, it is going to face the consequences down the line as the rates grow up and the rollover becomes more difficult so this I think is certainly a concern. Today, it is masked by the strong growth of the US economy but remember this is a stimulus which has come late cycle. It is a fiscal stimulus which will wear off into next year at which point, you will have the Fed high rates as well as the high debt but not the stimulus for growth. So my sense is at this point we should be preparing for a more volatile world going forward.

We in India have been unduly worried about how the rupee movement has been extremely volatile. What is your take on this?

We don’t know what the true level should be. I think by most estimates there has been an adjustment of the Indian Rupee towards a more comparative value. I think where you look from the Indian rupee is probably appropriately valued or overvalued or undervalued. But I think our focus should not be on rupee but doing all the

things that will allow the rupee to find its appropriate value which means focus on micro stability and ensure that India presents a very healthy picture to the world when that volatility comes.

Former Governor Y V Reddy said the problem with currency management this time is that so far it was the Central Bank that was doing it; for the first time we are seeing a dual function being performed by the government in New Delhi and the Central Bank.

How do you believe this dual function is going to augur well for the management of the currency going forward?

I don’t know what he has in mind; ultimately it is the trading desk at the Reserve Bank which trades both in futures market as well as in the spot market. So in that sense I am not sure what he means by dual role; if he means that there is more being voiced about the rupee from Delhi, well that varies from administration to administration. The historical sort of norm has been that it is the RBI which talks about the exchange rate and typically in my time we didn’t talk about it either because it was a sensitive issue; there is no way you can

speak about it in the right way, just leave it alone. And if you are moving markets with what you are saying, you should not be probably saying it.

What is this eventually going to mean for markets that import oil from the oil markets at large because the larger message from the US is that it wants Iran’s export of oil to be brought down to zero.

The US is not afraid of using its various economic powers in all directions. I think it will have effect and certainly in this administration there is a belief that if Iran is brought to its knees it will effectively agree to all that the administration wants in a new Iran treaty. I think we have got a waiver as I understand it, for six months, but I have no doubt that once the oil market is well supplied and prices are reasonable, the administration will try again to shrink the supply of the Iranian oil. That said, if the oil market is well supplied and prices are reasonable it may not be directly harmful for India and of course there are bigger geopolitical issues at stake but I think if in fact it comes when the market is tight which is possible then we could see ramp up in oil prices, which could be harmful.

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Editor-in-Chief’s Choice / Raghuram Rajan Do markets like us do risk running inwards and is that going to be fatal in the long run.

Many people believe that yes, technically we may be still WTO compliant and all of that but the message on import duty is perhaps not right even if it is being done with an aim to curb the CAD.

I think we have to have a longer-term strategy in mind.

I think historically short-term moves to address shortterm problems have proven sort of problematic. In the longer run if we want to `Make in India’, I think we have to have a far more open economy; we need to be part of global supply chains; we need to attract the business that is leaving China and going to Vietnam rather than coming to India - that typically means much lower tariffs. Of course we have lower tariffs over time but lower tariffs and a presumption the tariffs will stay low and predictable because just haphazardly raising it here and there will make it very hard to produce in the country. I think given how much of the components of products we export are imported, our aim should be to lower tariffs generally to have a more open economy. That being said, the current account deficit is heading towards 3%. I think that is certainly one worry especially if the price of oil is so volatile, it pushes it higher. The other big worry is after five years of fiscal consolidation the general govern-

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ment deficit which is state plus centre is still stuck at around 7%. In fact, over the course of this government it has been going up not because the centre hasn’t done what it is supposed to do but because the states have been increasing their deficit. I think the one time we had a big jump down was when Chidambaram came and reduced the fiscal deficit by a percentage point but since then we have been stuck at 7% at the aggregate.

That is a problem because 7% fiscal deficit doesn’t look good when you have CAD to boot as well as growth which is around 7%.

So what is the bigger worry today, fiscal deficit or CAD at 3% or oil being extremely volatile as it is?

Both are bad. I think we have had number of committees which have talked about responsible fiscal management, including the NK Singh committee. I think we should take all that. There is a tendency to believe that all the markets’ worry is the bottom line number from the centre. And clearly it is much more than that as we have seen with the pricing of government bonds. The yields have moved up, even though the centre is bringing down the fiscal deficit-the way you bring down the fiscal deficit also matters, whether you bring it down by actually matching revenues to expenditure or you get one time dividends from PSUs,

which then go out and borrow in the market and by that token they don’t actually reduce the borrowing requirement. I am not saying this is particular to the current government but overtime, we have steadily tried to improve our fiscal management and we should continue to do so. Because ultimately markets are not fooled by the numbers if they think they don’t believe in fundamental change.

Wrath of markets-was that an inappropriate comment for the Central Bank to make?

Let’s think a bit of what really the relationship between the Central Bank and the government is. Ultimately a good analogy is, it’s a seat belt for the government which is the driver. The driver can decide whether to put on the seat belt or not which is useful in terms of crash. Now think of the Central Bank as thinking about that crash and saying I want to protect financial stability because I don’t want that to be a terrible event.

And the driver is thinking of normal driving and says I want to be relatively free of constraint but when they talk to each other, they realise there is some value to putting on that seatbelt because it prevents the really unfortunate eventuality.

The historic relationship between RBI and government has been based on the fact that the government naturally and correctly thinks about pushing growth

and for that it wants freedom given to all the entities who are responsible for growth. While the RBI focuses on financial stability and says here is the amount of growth I can allow without in pinching on the financial stability and they work with each other on that basis and the government always pushes numerous letters on my table, saying relax this, relax that. And they know we would look at the letter carefully, take a view but that view would be saying how can we maximise growth, while protecting financial stability and then we say no, they would go and say okay, they have thought about it and two days later some another letter

The historic relationship between RBI and government has been based on the fact that the government naturally and correctly thinks about pushing growth and for that it wants freedom given to all the entities who are responsible for growth would come in for some another issue and they would try to keep pressing the boundary. Ultimately, the responsibility was for the RBI about financial stability and if we failed on it, we would be held to task. So given that responsibility, we had the authority to say no and let me remind you of that quote in Dr. Suba Rao’s book, where he talked about the relationship between Dr. Reddy and Chidambaram based on a phone call, where Dr. Reddy said he was hearing and Dr. Reddy said no, no, no, no and yes. When Dr. Suba Rao asked what are you saying no to, he said, he asked me to relax this, relax that and I kept on saying no, ultimately he asked, ‘can you hear me?’ I said ‘yes’. And that’s how the call ended and that anecdote is really about the relationship between the RBI and the government.

The government appoints the governor, appoints the deputies, but ultimately goes by the views, knowing these are professionals, they are not doing for political reasons or for their own self-interest, they are doing it because they have taken a view on the ultimate stability of the country.

Will they two disagree, because they have two different objectives, is it going to be allusive for us to try and bring them together?

I think it is possible to disagree but still be respectful of each other’s territory and I think, certainly in my relationships, there were many disagreements but I hope there was an understanding that this was not because of bloody-mindedness but because there was a worry and they knew when the RBI said yes, it meant we were taking responsibility for the financial stability consequences and we always try to maximise the potential for growth while keeping the financial stability concern. RBI is an agency of the government and of course it has to respect overall concerns and objectives of the government. But the government has entrusted December 1-15, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 7

Editor-in-Chief’s Choice / Raghuram Rajan it the responsibility for financial stability and therefore it has to be a good responsible entity to carryout the responsibility and sometimes, as I said, seatbelt constraints. That seatbelt constraints because you put it on, knowing that it will prevent you from accident.

Under what circumstances is invoking of Section 7 really justified?

Firstly, Section 7 has not been invoked so that is the good news and I do believe that when the relation gets so precarious that if invoked, we have to be worried. I think the dialogue between the Reserve Bank and the government is always ongoing and there are always points of view being expressed; sometimes there are disagreements but ultimately it works on respect. You have to know why the other guy is doing, what he is doing and ultimately at the end of the day, you have to part, maybe not as friends but be respectful of each other’s territory. When you encroach on each other’s territory, it becomes problematic and I would hope that respect gets re-established.

I want to talk about the substantive amount of disagreement and one of them is liquidity infusion in the markets right now. The government is insisting that this must be done to bail out the NBFCs that are facing a cash crunch; the RBI believes that liquidity is enough in the system and that is a judgement for Central Bank to make. Is this a cry for more funds or is more funds required to avert a bail out avert a superstition by the government of many more NBFCs like IL&FS. But generally in a situation, where there is financial stress, the Central Bank has to figure out whether it is ultimately a liquidity problem that is infusing liquidity into the market. Will it resolve some of those issues or is it a solvency problem that is some of these enti-

On the issue of frauds, the full arm of the course of the law should be employed to bring these frauds to book and to essentially show that Indian law enforcement structure is capable of doing that. That certainly is work in process ties have taken on really bad assets and they are really de-capitalised-the reality is it is the solvency problem.

It doesn’t mean that the government and Reserve Bank should not intervene but it really involves fiscal use of funds and therefore the government has to be directing that and putting tax payer money at risk. Now that is a big political issue because you are using tax payer money to bail out a private entity and people will ask these people made money over so many years, why is it that you are bailing them out-that was a big issue in the US when the bailouts took place. If it’s primarily solvency you can address that by infusing liquidity in the market and if the problem is if you need liquidity 8 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

directed to certain places, perhaps lend to certain entities who can make those loans. I think any kind of intervention should come after the entities that are in difficulty have taken their own steps to bolster their balance sheets. If your view is that your commercial paper is coming in six months from now and if you are worried about roll-over, shouldn’t you be raising equity now? Even if prices are depressed in order to back your balance sheet that would be a good signal.

That means you are not directly running to government and Central Bank to bail yourself out; that you are willing to take all your steps and it is when all the markets are frozen that you go and at which point the government has to decide it is a liquidity or a solvency and if it is the solvency, it may require wiping out the equity of these entities and taking them over as for example IL&FS has been done.

From a larger decision point of view do we need to have a comprehensive review of how the dividend is maintained and shared?

Well, we tried it three times when I was governor, to have a comprehensive discussion on this dividend; it always becomes the source of controversy, especially when it gets closer to budget time. And I wanted to make it a much cleaner and a mechanical process and I see we haven’t really solved the issue yet. This is an issue people need to know about; the reality is the RBI is a fully owned subsidiary of the government which means that whatever value is in the RBI is an asset of the government. There is no two questions about it; it belongs to the government. That said, is there a reason to leave some equity on the RBI balance sheet and take it out as an enormous dividend and the reason is we have a country which has a BAA rating. If the country went out to borrow in international capital markets for emergency, it would have to pay rates at that BAA rating rate. Having the RBI as a separately capitalised entity, which has an AAA rating-that was what the board in my time counselled would be what the RBI should focus on and gives you a vehicle which can actually make promises in the international market which are credible.

So for a rainy day, it helps to have one entity in the country which is well capitalised and which can hold its own in international markets. The first aspect of the dividend is will it essentially maintain high quality rating you want for the RBI. Today, I think with the recent depreciation in the rupee the value of RBI’s equity has gone up because remember RBI has $4 Billion or so as assets, when the rupee depreciates because its liabilities are in rupees, essentially, its equity goes up. Now it probably has reasonably amount of equity, so then the second question comes, you have reasonable amount of equity, you can pay, how much can you pay? You cannot pay more than profits. So we can pay profits and we can pay as much as we can make. That is what we were doing during the three years that I was governor, we paid all the profits. Then the third question comes, can you pay more than this-of course there is accounting issue,

the credit worthiness issue but beyond that there is a third issue, which is the RBI is not like an ordinary PSU -it actually prints the money. If I pay extraordinary dividend let’s say it is three lakh crore, it means that three lakh crore of more money is there in the capital markets and that is going to be inflationary.

While the RBI and the government were seemingly disagreeing a lot in public and many people thought this should have been done more in private, it almost seems to be mudding the waters further. Now the CIC has issued a show cause notice to RBI to reveal names of defaulters that you had put in a list. And the RBI has asserted that it cannot disclose that.

After giving those names, are you satisfied with the action taken in a host of cases because the RBI is also explained multipronged agencies on some of those cases?

I think, there are two separate issues which are being confounded-one is the issue of fraud and the other is of wilful defaulter. On the issue of frauds, the full arm of the course of the law should be employed to bring these frauds to book and to essentially show that Indian law enforcement structure is capable of doing that.

That certainly is work in process. Separately, there is the issue of number of business people who the banks believe are not paying when they have the ability to pay and eventually through a quasi-judicial process declare them wilful defaulters. I am not well-versed enough in the legal lease to understand why those names cannot be made public, after they have been through a judicial

process but this is something that belongs to the legal realm rather than something that I have expertise in.

Do you believe there is enough political will in India to crackdown on billionaire defaulters?

There is an intent to bring these people to book. But I do think that from a long-term perspective, if frauds go unpunished it simply encourages more fraud. If there is sense that there is no place on earth where you can hide because the long arm of the Indian law will come after you, I think it will send a sound message. If you have gotten away with money, you will not be able to enjoy the money. You cannot prevent fraud but you can create incentives such that it doesn’t pay.

What has been your experiences as a central banker, is it restricted, because the counter argument is that you got enough supervision on the private sector banks and look what is happening there.

There is room for improvement from all sides on the governance of banks, both, in the private sector as well as in the public sector as well as the role RBI plays. I think we to have recognise level of NPAs in both the public sector as well as the private sector is not by any means a level to be proud of, so we have to examine what went wrong and do what is necessary to put the banking system on a healthy turf because going forward, the amount of lending we need to get to that 9-10% growth, we must have in order to employ all the people that are coming to the labour force. We need a healthy banking sector.

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Contents Cover story

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Made in the Indian Army Meera and Major PS Govindachari (retd.), on lessons learnt in the army that proved valuable in their entrepreneurial venture and how patience and respect are key ingredients to marriage

13 COLLYWOOD Chatpata Chatter from the corporate world 18 WAX ELOQUENT Who said what and why 20 EXPERT VIEW The premier Harvard University is in the news for biased admission process for which legal intervention has been sought 10 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

Volume 4 Issue No. 17 December 1-15, 2018 www.corporatecitizen.in

30 SESSION NHRDN panel discussion on how organisations must sail through uncharted waters to combat the waves of change 34 INTERVIEW Arun Singh, Head - Human Resources & Administration, Foseco India, on the astute lessons he learnt from his two decade long career journey

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38 corporate strategy Medha Deshmukh Bhaskaran, on what lessons can corporate managers learn from Chhatrapati Shivaji’s war strategy 42 TÊTE-À-TÊTE Sahil Nayar, a Human Capital Leader and visiting faculty at IIMs specialising in HRM and Marketing Management on how HR will stay relevant in this rapidly changing times

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46 CORPORATE TREND Adopting an open office plan can be one of the best ways of achieving employee productivity, satisfaction and a sense of being 48 UNSUNG HEROES Story of super-girl, Sabbah Haji, nurturing hope for school dropouts in terror prone areas of Kashmir

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50 LOVED & MARRIED TOO Major Gagandeep Kaur and her significant half Lt. Commander Manu Sharma, on what it means to be officers of the Indian Armed Forces, and husband and wife 52 CAMPUS PLACEMENT Reva Shree Baniya, on her campus placement and how she faced the greater challenge of proving herself worthy at work

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contents

Editor-In-Chief Dr (Col.) A. Balasubramanian Consulting Editor Vinita Deshmukh vinita.corporatecitizen@gmail.com

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Assistant Editor & Senior Business Writer Rajesh Rao rajeshrao.rao@gmail.com Senior Sub-Editor Neeraj Varty neeraj.varty07@gmail.com

55 MOBILE APPS On world’s first commercially made Foldable Display Smartphones 56 Trend On how human milk banks mushrooming in urban zones could be a boon for working mothers 58 SURVEY Deloitte 2018 Global Human Capital Trends survey, to understand the changes seen in corporations around the world

Creative Direction Sumeet Gupta, www.thepurplestroke.com Graphic Designer Shantanu Relekar

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66 LAST WORD We all have it in us to become transformational leaders

66 52 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!

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Writers Delhi Bureau Archie Banerjee archiebanerjee@gmail.com/ Sharmila Chand chand.sharmila@gmail.com Kolkata Bureau Sangeeta Ghosh Dastidar sangeetagd2010@gmail.com Pune Bureau Joe Williams / Kalyani Sardesai / Namrata Gulati Sapra Advertising and Marketing Manager Delhi: Mohamed Rizwan riz.mohamed@hotmail.com Chennai: Anil Kumar Menon anil.menon@corporatecitizen.in Manager-Circulation circulations@corporatecitizen.in West : Jaywant Patil, +91 9923202560 North : Hemant Gupta, +91 9582210930 South : Asaithambi G, +91 9941555389 On Cover Page Meera and Major PS Govindachari (Retd.)

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People in the news

Narayana Murthy praises PM Modi

Oyo appoints Aditya Ghosh as CEO

OYO, India’s newest unicorn, appointed former IndiGo President Aditya Ghosh as its Chief Executive Officer for India and South Asia. In a statement the company said that the appointment comes in the wake of its focus to drive accelerated growth in its home markets, India and China. Ghosh joins OYO, the hospitality company following a stint as an advisor to Tata Trusts. In July, he had stepped down from his position as IndiGo’s President and full time Director. He will be reporting to OYO Hotels & Homes Founder & Group CEO Ritesh Agarwal. Commenting on the move, Agarwal said in a statement, “As we grow our business, we feel it is essential to continue to invest in building one of the most influential leadership teams and bringing in professionals with an entrepreneurial mindset and from diverse backgrounds, that can help lead the next wave of growth at Oyo Hotels. With Aditya taking on this mantle for one of our home markets India and the broader South Asia region, we are confident that he will be able to help Oyo Hotels set new benchmarks in the hospitality industry, and nurture a high performing workforce.”

Chawla steps down from Yes Bank Ashok Chawla has quit from his role as the Non-Executive (Independent) Chairman of Yes Bank, according to bank sources. There have been many reasons for his exit, one could be the likely conflict of interest over his multiple roles. Chawla has been serving as the Chairman of NSE, a quasi-regulator under the SEBI Act, since 2016. He was also the Chairman of Yes Bank, overseeing the leadership transition in the bank.

He is also on the board of Jet Airways. In another setback for Yes Bank, audit committee Chairman Vasant Gujarati put in his papers due to personal commitments. Uttam Prakash Agarwal has been appointed in his place as the Additional Director (Independent).

NR Narayana Murthy, co-founder of Infosys, has something good to talk about our Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He goes on to say that the continuity of the government (BJP) will see good things happening for the country. Many would say that this could be an election stunt, but Murthy has reasons to say so as the present government has less complaints of corruption at the central level.

However, regarding Rafale, he is not convinced as there is no data. Murthy did fall back and blame the bureaucracy on GST as they lacked proper execution and implementation.

He went on say that the PM cannot be held responsible for execution. According to him the problem lies with the Indian mindset. The need of the hour is a cultural transformation. Commenting on the clash between the government and institutions like the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Murthy urged institutions to remain strong.

December 1-15, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 13

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Infosys gets Sanghrajka as interim CFO Infosys appointed its executive Vice President Jayesh Sanghrajka as interim Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in place of outgoing CFO & MD, Ranganath. In a meeting held by the board of directors it was decided to appoint Sanghrajka as the interim CFO and key managerial personnel of the company. “Sanghrajka has spent 13 years in the company over two stints and performed leadership roles in the finance division and even as Deputy CFO,” according to a statement issued by the IT company. Ranganath’s term ends his 18-year career at India’s second largest software services provider.

During his stint, he held several leadership roles in key areas like consulting, finance and strategy. He also worked closely with the board and its committees in formulating and executing strategic priorities for the company.

Chowdhary to be Apple India head

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook is likely to hire Ashish Chowdhary, as the India Operations head.

The Chief Customer Operations Officer (CCOO) at Nokia Networks, Chowdhary is likely to join Apple early next year. Apple is aiming for a real long-term growth in a pricesensitive market. Chowdhary has been with Nokia for 15 years. In a statement Nokia stated that, Chowdhary will continue to lead Customer Operations and remain a member of the Nokia Group Leadership Team until the end of 2018. The key reason for the move by Apple India which is currently under Michel Coulomb who took over from Sanjay Kaul in December last year is to get a bigger slice of a market that has nearly 450 million users and is one of the fastest growing, after China and the US. Chowdhary, who has a sound global as well as local knowledge of the industry, has 25 years of international experience in the enterprise and telecom sectors. With Nokia he was responsible for Nokia Networks’ sales and operations globally. He has held various leadership positions, including Head of Asia, Middle East and Africa and prior to that, Head of Global Services Business Unit.

Ashok Leyland’s Dasari steps down Ashok Leyland, Hinduja Group’s flagship firm’s Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Vinod K Dasari bid farewell to the company citing personal reasons and the company board has accepted his resignation.

However, the board asked him to continue till the end of March 2019 to facilitate a smooth transition,

14 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

while elevating Ashok Leyland Chairman, Dheeraj Hinduja as Executive Chairman in view of the resignation of Dasari. The company’s board had reappointed Dasari as Managing Director and CEO in 2016 for a term of five years until March, 2021.

Addressing the media, Hinduja said, “This (resignation of Dasari)

Manoj Sharma appointed DirectorHR, NetApp India The HR Head for India and APAC of Redknee Solutions Manoj Sharma moves to the India operations of NetApp India, the data management company, as Director-Human Resources. In his new role, he will work with leaders in India and across the globe for designing, implementation and evaluation programmes meant to not just attract and retain talent but also motivate the best performers. He will also ensure better people practices, talent engagement and talent enablement processes in the company.

He will also be responsible for improving the capability, performance, leadership hierarchy and employee engagement so that NetApp witnesses progress, is able to retain its top talent, and further entrench its core values and dynamic culture into the business.

At Redknee Solutions, Sharma led the operations across seven coun-

was something unexpected.

The board needs time to discuss this (and find a replacement).

Vinod has done an excellent job and the team in Ashok Leyland is very strong.” Dasari had been associated with the commercial heavy vehicle maker for over a decade. “When we came to India 17-18 years ago, it was a family decision. To come to Ashok Leyland and not go

tries. With 18 years of experience behind him, Sharma has held senior posts in Broadcom, ST- Ericsson and Samsung Electronics.

Welcoming Sharma, Deepak Visweswaraiah, senior vice president and managing director, NetApp India said that the company was eagerly waiting for Sharma’s specialisation in employee retention, engagement and career advancement across geographies and markets, to help NetApp generate better and new experiences for its workforce.

Anita Nayyar Becomes CEO - Havas Media Southeast Asia Havas Group has promoted Anita Nayyar to CEO of Havas Media Southeast Asia on the back of an accelerated growth strategy in the region. This is in addition to her role as CEO of Havas Media India. Nayyar will report to Vishnu Mohan, Chairman & CEO of Havas Group, India & Southeast Asia, who quoted “I am confident that Anita’s elevation will enhance the value-proposition of our established SEA media operations.” The appointment is effective immediately. Nayyar joined Havas in 2007 as CEO of Havas Media India. Under her leadership Havas Media in India has grown exponentially and expanded its offerings as an integrated communications group encompassing traditional, digital, mobile, performance marketing and out-of-home, among others. Commenting on her promotion, Anita Nayyar said, “The ASEAN markets and the overall SEA region is a pivotal market of the future for brands across a range of verticals and the possibilities are endless. As Havas Group continues to build on its integrated model and new organisational structure, I’m excited to take on the new challenge and reinforce our commitment to creative excellence and smart media accountability to create new opportunities to boost Havas Media SEA’s growth and momentum.

back to United States was my family decision. Now my family is set by God’s grace and I’d been thinking about it for quite some time (about quitting),” commented Dasari. Talking about Dasari, Hinduja said he was a people’s person. “If he fixes a target, his team will do everything and achieve that. The last five years, he changed the culture in Ashok Leyland.”

December 1-15, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 15

collywood Airtel’s Vittal, Jio’s Oommen, on GSMA Board The MD of Bharti Airtel and CEO, Gopal Vittal and Reliance Jio President, Mathew Oommen are among 24 others who have been elected to the board of global telecom industry body GSMA for the 2019-2020 term. Vodafone Group Chief Executive for the Africa, Middle East and Asia-Pacific Region, Vivek Badrinath too has been elected to the GSMA board. Badrinath is also a non-executive Director on the board of Vodafone Idea Ltd. The GSMA Board has 26 members, including 25 operator representatives from the world’s largest operator groups as well as smaller, independent operators with global representation. All three major private Indian telecom operators are part of the GSMA

board. GSMA also announced the election of Stephane Richard, Chairman and CEO of Orange Group as Chairman, and Chua Sock Koong, Group Chief Executive Officer of Singtel Group as Deputy Chairman.

Richard replaces Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal, who is currently serving as the Chairman of the GSMA board, and his two-year tenure is coming to an end by this year-end. “Mittal, founder and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises and current GSMA Chairman, will step down from the board at the end of 2018. Mittal served as a member of the GSMA board from 2005 through 2008 and then again as Chairman from 2016 through 2018,” said GSMA in a statement.

Raina appointed Director-HR, Fiserv

Kanisha Raina joins Fiserv as Director-Human Resources after spending more than five years with IBM. At IBM, the last post she held was that of talent leader, India/South Asia. Fiserv, an American company that has made a name in the financial technology space, caters to over 12,000 clients across the globe and has a staff strength of 24,000 employees. It offers solutions for mobile and online banking, payments, risk 16 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

management, data analytics and core account processing. Extremely passionate about HR, she is the recipient of the Top HR Leaders 2014 award by People Matters. She is known to be a feminist, an eager learner and a social-media enthusiast. At the IBM, Raina has shouldered the responsibility of being talent partner-research, cloud, commerce, security, analytics and systems, from 2015 to 2016. Among other things, she helped develop the workforce strategy, as well as design and execute programmes in alignment with recruitment, learning, professional development and mobility. From 2013 to 2014, she worked as a talent partner for research labs in Africa, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan and Switzerland. For a year before that, she worked as a communication and learning specialist for the global compensation team on ways to enhance and reinvent the team’s culture, such as innovation, client focus and communication. In 2017, she became talent leader-India/South Asia, a position she held for a year and ten months.

Exodus in Myntra The wave of quitting has hit the corporate world in India, as Myntra CEO Ananth Narayanan and CFO Dipanjan Basu put in their papers. This comes 24 hours after Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal’s exit. There was a reshuffle in the organisation after Bansal’s exit, as the announcement by majority owner Walmart had Narayanan reporting to Flipkart CEO, Kalyan Krishnamurthy. It is believed within the corridors that Narayanan did not share the best of relations with Krishnamurthy.

Earlier, Narayanan used to report to Binny Bansal. With this, Krishnamurthy becomes the most powerful executive in the Flipkart group, for whom it is his second innings with the Bengaluru-based retailer. It may be recalled that Narayanan joined Myntra as CEO in July 2015, taking over from Myntra co-founder Mukesh Bansal who was on his way out from the fashion-focused e-tailer. He came to Myntra from McKinsey & Co. He joined the firm at a time when several executives from consultancy companies were joining Flipkart group companies and other top internet majors.

Narayanan at Myntra had tried to scale up the private label business with brands like Roadster and also pushed the company’s foray into offline channel with brick-andmortar stores.

Compiled by Joe Williams joe78662@gmail.com

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wax eloquent

India is about Results

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

Change that’s happening now is much faster

“Every generation is worried about the new technology, and feels like this time it’s different. Our parents worried about Elvis Presley’s influence on kids. So, I’m always asking the question, “Why would it be any different this time?” Having said that, I do realise the change that’s happening now is much faster than ever before.”

Paying tax is ‘prakriti’

“Paying tax is ‘prakriti’ (natural), not paying tax is ‘vikriti’ (deformity).

But paying tax plus doing more is ‘sanskriti’ (culture). I appreciate honest taxpayers whose numbers have increased. But the tax that is paid is part of the system. Social service is tax-plus something. We need to create that.”

Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google

Courtesy: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/08/business/ sundar-pichai-google-corner-office.html

Narendra Modi,

Prime Minister of India

Courtesy: https://www.business-standard.com

Our fundamentals are strong “What is happening to the rupee is not a crisis... it is not a situation like in 1991 when we had a grave balance of payments situation. Now we have a much better ability to intervene, the economy has high capacity, we have hi-technology...our fundamentals are strong.”

Bimal Jalan, former RBI Governor Courtesy: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com

To drive growth in manufacturing and infrastructure

“The question, to my mind, is not whether it will happen but when it will happen. It has to happen eventually.

Even if manufacturing doesn’t go to 25% of GDP, 15% is still a huge piece of the pie. So, there will be opportunities and needs that we will have to address.”

India’s first manned space mission “It’s not simply about sending a man into space. The entire country’s understanding of science and technology will rise. It will inspire youngsters to do something new and encourage them to participate in science programmes. It is not just an ISRO project, but a national one. Every Indian agency involved can showcase its skills and the nation can be proud that, in science and technology, we are equal to the developed countries.”

Dr K. Sivan, chairman, ISRO

Courtesy: https://www.indiatoday.in

India’s growth potential undisputed so far

Sunil Mathur,

“The potential for India to grow has so far been undisputed, with only the speed or timeline being the unknown factor. This will depend on, among other things, the new political formation after the elections and the interest rate trajectory in developed economies.”

Courtesy: https://www.fortuneindia.com

Courtesy: Business Standard

MD and CEO, Siemens

18 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

Dhiraj Relli, MD & CEO, HDFC Securities

Falling crude good for economy

“Crude oil prices actually permeates into every aspect of our economy and higher crude oil prices for an import-heavy nation like India, where the balance of import and export is not yet there, crude oil prices remaining at a reasonable level definitely is good news.”

Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Group Chairman, Inditrade (JRG) Group

Courtesy: https://economictimes.indiatimes. com

I am a big believer in India

SC verdict on Aadhaar a “big win” for the people of India

“This would certainly take us miles ahead in our digital journey with augmented safety.

India’s digital journey will get a boost by this landmark judgement because it is now supported by stronger data protection safeguards.

India’s digital narrative as it comes with a lot of stronger safeguards, will create confidence among people.”

Ajay Bhushan Pandey, CEO, UIDAI

Courtesy: https://www.thehindubusinessline. com

“I am a big believer in India. I am very bullish on the country and the people and our ability to do well there. There’s a huge number of people that will move into the middle class. The government has really focused on reform in a major way and made some very bold moves. I applaud them for doing that and I can’t wait for the future there.”

Tech aspirations of consumers a positive sign

“The rate at which consumers are adopting new technologies in their daily lives and looking for more is a positive sign for the industry.

The market has evolved at a rather fast pace and the main reason for this is the aspiration to own the latest available technology.”

Tim Cook, CEO, Apple Courtesy: https://www.firstpost.com

Manish Sharma,

president & CEO, Panasonic India and South Asia Courtesy: Financial Express

Compensation in corporate India has gone up manifold “The VP of a large multinational, who once received Rs 18 lakh, now gets a minimum of `2 crore. The functional head at a mid-sized firm is up to `1 crore from `30 or 40 lakh some years ago. One crore has become the lower end of a decent pay package. And this is scary because in the US, a senior executive may get $200,000 or `1.5 crore, and that would be considered good money. In India, that has become the average CXO pay.”

Arun Das Mahapatra, India chairman and partner-in-charge,

Heidrick and Struggles

Courtesy: https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com

Very good time to be in India We rank so we can climb

“We rank so we can climb. Everyone wants to be in a better place or be somebody else.

Ambition is common around the world, but nowhere as rampant and as ferociously pursued as in India. The bottom line is people are sweltering everywhere to move up.”

Arvind Bhandari, SrVP, Nestle - South Asia

Courtesy: https://brandequity.economictimes. indiatimes.com

“There are three things that are driving the whole process — one is the fintech revolution that we have seen, the second is the whole GST and demonetisation piece and the extent of transparency they have brought about, and the third thing is that the rating agencies have started to cover it more extensively. The India Stack, the way that it has been constructed, is fantastic, unparalleled anywhere.”

Ravneet Gill CEO, Deutsche Bank, India Courtesy: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com

“Tradition is important; at the same time, we also agree that we have to combine modernity with tradition to stay in business. And this is what we are aiming to do — using technology to drive transformation. It is not about imbibing technology, but in making it relevant in the space that we operate in.”

Courtesy: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com

“The Indian electorate is amazing. In India all you need to do is to be 18 and you’re a voter. It has a far better franchise than the U.S. I wish we could have that system here. The [Indian] electorate in its wisdom can throw people out at the drop of a hat, and has done so with great surprise to everybody else.”

Marshall M. Bouton,

Imbibing technology

PR Seshadri, CEO, Karur Vysya Bank (KVB)

Indian electorate is amazing

acting director and visiting scholar, University of Pennsylvania’s Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI) Courtesy: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn. edu/article/us-india-relations/

Compiled by Rajesh Rao rajeshrao.rao@gmail.com

December 1-15, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 19

Expert View

The hard truth about Harvard University

by S K Jha

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

This great institution is in the news for the wrong reasons, as the admission process has been challenged in the US court by a group of Asian-American students for being racially biased

H

arvard symbolises a place of higher education of the highest quality.

It is an Ivy League research university in the United States, one of the greatest in the world with about 6700 undergraduate and 15,250 post graduate students. It was established in 1636 in the name of its benefactor, a clergyman. This university in the United States is a dream university to be admitted to for youngsters from all over the world. This great university is in the news today for an unthinkable reason. Its admission process has been challenged in the US court by a group of Asian-American students for being racially biased.

Hearings in the court are taking place and a large number of documents and e-mails related to the admission process have been produced before the court as testimony. Things which always remained unknown are now emerging.

Even the judge presiding the Court has remarked that the admission process of Harvard is as mysterious as the secret recipe of Coca Cola. The revelations made so far about the process are intriguing and to some extent surprising. The process of admission is a cocktail of objective assessment of applications, racial reasons, affirmative actions favouring the economically deprived, bias in favour of rural applicants and above all the preference for wealthy donors or potential donors. The documents are still in the process of being filed and the revelations are limited so far. The admission process deals with roughly 40,000 applicants every year for an average 2000 spots for admission.

Little is known

The admission process is admittedly secretive.

For the last 46 years dean Fitzsimmons (Harvard Class of 1967) has been the head of the admission process. He has testified before the court that ‘race’ is one of the input ingredients considered for admission but there are many other important ingredients too. The contention of Harvard before the court is that the issue of ‘race’ in admissions only helps the students and does not hurt them. Statistics based on the last five years indicates that African-Ameri-

cans have 95% chances, Latino-Americans 85% chances, White Americans have 35% chances and Asian-Americans have 20% chances of applications being considered and found in the admission zone. The justification given by Harvard before the court is that students learn most from their classmates and hence the more diverse the class is racially, the learning is more from each other. What Harvard could not explain was the advantage of some racial groups over other racial groups like Asian-Americans.

The same approach was followed while considering applications from outside the United States. The deliberations that take place inside 86, Brattle St, a red brick building where Harvard University stands, have very much stayed inside and students from the world over never dared to look beyond the great halo of Harvard.

Many factors

Students seeking admission to Harvard do not

20 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

know anything beyond the advertised admission requirements and it is here that the gate is closed and the unknown process of admission starts. The released legal documents now show that Harvard applications rate each applicant on a score of 1 to 6 on the following categories: 1. Academic 2. Extra-curricular 3. Athletic 4.

Personal 5. Recommendation letters (2 teachers, counsellor) 6. Alumni (interview) personal and overall rating. The highest score is 1 and the lowest is 6. Each score can also have “+” or “-” like A+ or A- grades. The first four factors are really the most heavily considered while the recommendation letters and alumni ratings are used as supplementary factors. All these ratings are combined by the application reader in an overall rating from 1 to 6. This overall rating is critical for admission. The overall rating is not based on any formula and does not involve adding up of other ratings and taking average.

It is a holistic grade. Harvard instructs readers

to assign the score by ‘stepping back and taking all the factors into account and then assign the overall ratings’. Each application is given to two readers to give ratings. Finally a third, usually a more experienced reader, adjusts the rating given by the two readers and awards a final rating. It was discovered based on documents revealed that the third reader has an application ‘2+’ rating when the said application had got a rating of ‘1’ from the first reader. On an average, it was found that applicants getting a score of 2+ / 2- had 65% chance for getting admitted while applicants with 3+ score had 9% chances.

coming with money bags and donations and also poor students to whom financial aid was provided by the university.

Opaque process

What can be viewed from this admission process of Harvard? Without any doubt, one can say the process is not transparent. The process is based on suggestive considerations while awarding scores to the applicants. Academics is in the consideration zone but there is also a ‘personal’ consideration. The word ‘personal’ is very vague and it can have any interpretation to

The revelations made so far about the process are intriguing and to some extent surprising.

The process of admission is a cocktail of objective assessment of applications, racial reasons, affirmative actions favouring the economically deprived, bias in favour of rural applicants and above all the preference for wealthy donors or potential donors The scrutiny of filed documents indicated use of some jargon like ‘tips’ which meant giving ‘bumps’ to the applicants. Then there was another jargon named, ‘dean’s interest list’ which meant applicants with clout which deserved special consideration. Then there was also a sordid ‘Z list’ for back door entry for admission where applicants were bordering academically.

E-mails have been found as a part of the testimony which specifically mentions a special consideration for the off-spring of big donors.

The advertised admission process is nowhere revealed these special considerations or any other bias. Some positive things have also been revealed like Harvard shows a vision of affirmative action towards economically backward while admitting students. The net result of the admission process as revealed was that at one end there were rich and powerful applicants and at the other end there were rural, racially backward and poor applicants. There were students

make an applicant fit or unfit. So far, nothing has emerged about personal merits or demerits except for preference for affirmative action to help deserving applicants from the weaker or rural backgrounds and racial considerations.

There are lists of back door admissions and bumps to be given in certain cases of admission. Examples of applicants of clout and also from where donations have come have emerged which may fall in the category of assessment on the grounds of persona of the applicants. This category of assessment for admission in the university which is considered an epitome of all virtues is really unthinkable.

The place of higher learning should be all about education and learning and admission to such a place should have been mainly based on academic considerations. The consideration of extra-curricular activities and athletics to some extent is justifiable but the same should be to a lesser extent. Again interview by alumni and

considering letters of recommendation to a large extent give subjective inputs. Social justice by considering economically backward students is good but again it is opaque as nobody knows how the admission team has reached such a conclusion. Harvard is a private university and it can say that there is nothing wrong in taking donations in view of giving admissions but it is also an admitted fact that the university receives big funds from the federal treasury of the U.S. government and in such a situation taking donation for granting admission can never be appreciated. The biggest sin of the admission process is that it hides its process. Let the applicants know in advance that a certain percentage of seats is on racial considerations and that also donors are preferred with a fixed number of reserved seats for them.

Darkness below the lamp

There is always darkness beneath a glowing lamp. This saying squarely fits the scenario of Harvard. Harvard is one of the greatest universities in the world which helps students to go up in their lives but while selecting students for admissions, it does not follow a transparent process which to some extent does not appear to be ethical. Harvard may have a valid or even defendable reason for doing so but the same does not go well with a place of learning where the object is to teach students to be wise and more knowledgeable and then to be ideal world citizens. Taking and giving donations can never be faulted, but taking money in the name of donation for admission is not an ethical act. For an educational institution all students are equal and hence identifying applicants with clout and giving back-channel admission to such students does not behave well with a great educational institution or university as a whole.

It is said that means justifies the end and so following unfair practices in selecting students for admission will mean doing wrong doings while promoting the noble object of education.

CC

tadka

Honda rules the scooter segment Honda 2Wheelers, India has now become the only manufacturer to sell over 25 million scooters in the country.The company achieved this milestone by selling around five million units in the last year. Honda 2 Wheelers had taken 10 years to achieve its first 10 million scooter sales in India, while the second 10 came in just three years.

December 1-15, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 21

S

vindach Go a td.)

(Re ri

Majo rP

Cover story

79

– Dynamic Duo: Meera and Major P S Govindachari (Retd.)

Made in the

Indian Army 22 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

The first and foremost thing that the army teaches you is to adapt to the conditions around you, and that is exactly what I did. The army training helped me overcome the trauma of the first six months, given the huge departure in core culture, values and ethos”

There’s a saying about how you can take a man away from the army, but not the army away from the man. Major P S Govindachari (Retd.), former officer of the Corps of Engineers is a testimony to this. He may have left the army after a stint of ten and a half years in quest of a corporate career, followed by a dazzling foray into entrepreneurship, with the Rajsriya Group of Industries, along with his very able wife Meera Chari, but the lessons learnt and principles imbibed in the Army have followed him into the corporate world The Rajsriya Group of Industries (RGI) is an automobile ancillary parts manufacturing company engaged in design, manufacturing and assembly of a wide range of products used in automotive vehicles such as two-wheelers, three-wheelers, passengers cars, and light and heavy commercial vehicles.

Sensing opportunities in auto electricals, the company was founded

by Meera Chari in 1977 in a small shed in Chennai, manufacturing wire wound resistors. Later on it shifted to an industrial shed in Arumbakkam. Over the years it grew by identifying emerging potential areas and diversified its manufacturing to automobile and electronic components and sub-assemblies with two more industrial sheds in Chennai. It further diversified into two-wheeler components and sub-assemblies in the year 1994, setting up two factories in Hosur. RGI used to consist of two companies-Rajsriya Enterprises with its plant in Chennai and Rajsriya Automotive Industries in Hosur. While the former takes care of most of the requirements of Lucas TVS and WABCO in Chennai, the latter is almost a dedicated supplier to TVS Motor Co. Ltd., the third largest two wheeler manufacturer in India. The two were later merged to one entity-Rasriya Automotive Industries Pvt. Ltd. Even as they grew from strength to strength, making exhaust systems for two-wheelers, frames for a number of models of scooters, motorcycles and other sheet metal parts like scooter side panels and front mudguards and even airbrake components for MNCs, they are a fine and sterling example of not only ‘Made in India’ but more accurately, perhaps “Made in the Indian Army.” Consider the insistence on discipline, orderliness, professionalism, simplicity and the never say die fauji attitude and you’ll know what we mean. Read on…

By Vinita Deshmukh & Kalyani Sardesai Pics: Yusuf Khan

December 1-15, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 23

Cover story Corporate Citizen: Tell us about your early days in the army and your childhood days.

P S Govindachari: Going back to my school days, I was in Lucknow for the most part but did my final year of school in Madras. My pre-university was at Madras Christian College. My father in 1940 volunteered for the Army during the Second World War. In Singapore, he was taken a prisoner of war and treated very badly by the Japanese. He was a part of the infamous March of Death. We never knew anything about his fate for four years after Singapore fell. By chance, when the ship came to Madras harbour with prisoners of the war who were released, my aunt who worked as a volunteer in the harbour spotted my father and gave us the news that he was alive.

I remember this vividly even now.

Subsequently he retired as Post Master General in 1961.

But this harrowing experience did not dampen my father’s spirit for long. He always said: The army is a very noble profession and he had no hesitation if I wanted to join the Army. My brother went in first, as part of the 12th course of the NDA. He was senior to me. Being the youngest of two sisters and three brothers, his coming back on leave, smartly turned out in his NDA uniform, made a lasting impression on me. I said to myself: What the hell! I can do this too. So I took that exam, did well and got into the NDA (17th course).

Was the training very tough?

with ropes, a long and arduous task to be sure. To make things tougher, it was getting dark. With difficulty I was taken to this small MI Room with a small mud platform and a young, inexperienced doctor on duty. As I was laid down, it was discovered that my right leg had been smashed in and broken. Fortunately, there were no other injuries as such. But the doctor said: “Look, your leg is broken and it’s gone in. I have to pull it out as you are three days away from any hospital. By then gangrene would have set in and that’s a threat.”

Though he was not authorised any anaesthesia in the MI Room, he had to pull out the leg in order to save my life. I told him to go ahead. He had my men hold me down, and then proceeded to pull out my leg, while I cursed him in all the languages I knew.

He then put on a temporary plaster. I screamed all night long but he sat up with me. With great difficulty, I was taken to Gangtok, from there to Darjeeling. Please

The rotten log gave way, I slipped, went down vertically a long way, around a 100 feet or so—but was caught in a ledge wide enough to hold me. What saved me that day was the growth on the hillside that broke my fall. If I had missed this ledge it would have been another 400-500 feet down into the river in which we had already lost a lot of people”

Yes, it was tough, very tough but you took it in your stride. It was a big change from the civilian life of course, given the strict discipline, parades and drills. But then the training took into account that the cadets came from different backgrounds and NDA whipped them all into shape.

Where were you first posted?

I got my commission having done well in the Indian Military Academy (IMA). I was third in honour of merit and won various prizes in the IMA. I was awarded the “Blue” in tennis and swimming. I was posted to Sikkim in 1961 to replace two officers who had died as part of a bridge building exercise when a footbridge collapsed. As you know, the army is generally called upon for bridge building across hazardous terrain. So off I went to join the team where the Tibetan labours were helping us.

While doing the road construction you have to mark the roads with pegs before you start digging and fill it on the other side. Now I was doing this road setting out as we call it, and it was around lunchtime and I said I would do a few more pegs before lunch. At that time there was a log lying around, I tried to put my leg on it for support. But it had been completely eaten up from the inside.

A terrible thing to happen, given that it was a very steep slope. So the rotten log gave way, I slipped, went down vertically a long way, around a 100 feet or so-but was caught on a ledge wide enough to hold me. What saved me that day was the growth on the hillside that broke my fall. If I had missed this ledge it would have been another 400-500 feet down into the river in which we had already lost people.

I know it sounds dramatic but it’s a true tale. They had to pull me up 24 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

note, it was a tough journey sans any stretchers. Instead they suspended cloth along two poles to make a makeshift stretcher.

When I reached Darjeeling, they said that I had paralysis in the leg and advised me to go to Lucknow for further treatment. That was another tricky task. There were no helicopters, so I was taken on a stretcher to the train and from there directly to Lucknow. It was six months before I was discharged from hospital. There were no nuts and bolts to speed up the process, unlike today, where you can walk around within a few days.

As a second lieutenant my pay was a modest `299 (in hand after deductions) and I was put on half pay after six months. It took me a year and a half to recover. It left a slight deformity, with one leg two inches shorter than the other leg. Doctors said I would not be able to get back to games but I did. I got okay after a number of surgeries.

I stayed in the army for ten and a half years. I was posted in Bhutan, when I went for a party with my brother-in-law and I was introduced to a Managing Director of a company. He said: they were looking for a marketing manager for their elevator division, and whether I would be interested? I was quite surprised but I said okay.

So you had to leave the army?

I had to leave the Army to join them. It took me six months to get my release. Though I had never thought of a corporate life before this, I was willing to give it a shot. When the offer came, I said to myself, if I can do well in the Army, I can do well outside. It was a tough decision because I had done extremely well in all the army courses I had attended with straight A grades all through. But once it was taken, there was no looking back. The company was into the manufacturing of elevators and they had various divisions. Later, I was moved to the auto-electrical division which was making starter motors for heavy vehicles and was made the marketing manager. I was with Best and Crompton for 20 years and it was not easy to change from Army to corporate life-it was an entirely different kettle of fish altogether.

So tell us how the Army helped you in the corporate world.

The first and foremost thing that the army teaches you is to adapt to the conditions around you, and that is exactly what I did. The army training helped me overcome the trauma of the first six months, given the huge departure in core culture, values and ethos.

Could you further elaborate?

Well, the relationships with your seniors, peers and juniors in the army are vastly different from what you have in the civilian world. The army is like a family, team spirit is strong and carries you through the toughest situations. But civvy street, a.k.a the corporate world is a dog eat dog world. There’s lots of back biting, tale carrying and so on. Moreover people are resentful when you immediately join at a higher position.

You go into any corporate set up the fellow will say, why not me? I mean, I have served here for ten years and you get a guy without any background. He’s come from the Army and you have put him up as a marketing manager in this

I had to leave the Army to join a private enterprise. Though I had never thought of a corporate life before this, I was willing to give it a shot. When the offer came, I said to myself, if I can do well in the Army, I can do well outside. It was a tough decision because I had done extremely well in all the army courses I had attended with straight A grades all through...’’

December 1-15, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 25

So when did you become an entrepreneur?

The relationships with both your peers and juniors in the army are vastly different from what you have in the civilian world. The army is like a family, team spirit is strong and carries you through the toughest situations” position: how do you justify this? But the top brass was very understanding and the first thing they did for me was to give me an elevator manual.

The advice was simple: read this and know your subject, considering this is what you are going to sell.

I worked in the lift-shaft, got to know how to do the erection of the lift and what parts go into lifts and the various things that follow. And then nobody could fool me. Later, I started a branch for the company in Delhi where I was posted for two years.

Sometime around 1980-82, my wife had managed to convince my mother to give her 300 sq. feet in the backyard of our house in 1976. She converted that into a small factory to manufacture resistors for trucks and four-wheelers. That is how it started and after that, the company grew. I was still working in Best and Crompton. In 1982 she moved to an industrial estate. In 1990 it came to a stage where she had three sheds and she needed to expand. At this stage she told me to decide what I wanted to do, because the unit was becoming a lot more technical.

At that stage, I was confident I would not lose anything because we were making enough in this company. Plus, I had the confidence to take this forward with my engineering and Army background. I resigned from Best and Crompton in 1990 and when I came into our unit it was a big cultural shock. When you’re the managing director of a company you’ve got a driver, a PA, a secretary and someone to make you coffee. Here there was nothing. I was sitting in the main factory itself and it was a very small office. But that phase of being lost didn’t last long because the Army teaches you that if the job has to be done, it has to be done. I made it a point to learn how to work on the machines, and did not make an ego issue about it. Besides, it was our money and I had to take things forward successfully. I would work eight hour shifts if needed, and if it meant replacing an absent worker, no sweat, really. I took the delays and the little troubles in my stride, because that was what the Army had taught me.

Adds Meera, “I would like to add that when he came over, actually the workers got a little scared. So far, I had been running it comfortably and when he came in they got scared, there was fear. So they went on strike.’’ Yes, says Govindachari, “they went over to one side of the factory and sat down because I had lost my temper and scolded them for poor production and delivery delays.

How much in demand were elevators at that time?

So how did you break the ice with them?

What is required to succeed in the corporate set up?

What’s your annual turnover and how many employees do you have?

It was a very small sector. In fact in the early seventies, the annual demand was no more than 6000-7000 elevators. OTIS was the market leader. Taking them on, especially in the North was a battle, but well, I did get a lot of breakthroughs…

Firstly, know your subject and understand what the customer wants. In the Army, you first understand what the enemy is all about and what his objectives are. Secondly, find out what the customer is most likely to require of you and after that, it is a matter of sitting across the table and negotiating. The army teaches you the art of negotiation, and prioritizing things maturely. You learn to think logically about what is good, average and bad and how to put the whole deal together.

Thirdly, the army gives you a lot of confidence to face people and situations. At the end of the day, confidence is what the customer wants to see: if he’s going to invest in your product, do you have the confidence in what you are selling?

26 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

I told them that if they wanted to go home I would pay them to leave and I was prepared to start all over again with new workers. I also reasoned with them that if the unit did well they will be the first to benefit.

This year we should end up with about `950 crores. We have nearly 2000 employees. When I took over in 1991 we closed our accounts with a `20 lakh turnover and a profit of three lakh rupees that financial year.

When did your daughter and son-in-law join?

They joined me two years back. My son-in-law was in a very senior position in Caterpillar. He was looking after operations for the whole of the East, including Japan, China, India, and Bangladesh. I was hesitant to ask him to join us because he was doing so well; then there is the matter of giving up on the large salaries. But he was sporting enough to agree; in fact he was

Cover story ership and management are two different aspects. So it is necessary to understand and get clear guidelines on the difference between the two.

While we have not reached that stage yet, I have seen this happen in a number of family owned organisations. Disputes arise on who should be the managing director; who should be the controlling person and so on.

The one thing that I did not want to do was to get into any kind of partnership. It is difficult to debate over who did what, who brought in how much business and so on. Sure, there are partnerships that endure for years, but generally partnership companies run into trouble whether or not they are doing well. And things get worse when the next generation steps in.

Are you a good example of Made in India?

Very much so. I mean we have adapted and localized a lot of things through our engineering. We hardly import stuff, instead we export a little bit. So far, due to the challenging conditions of the Indian market, we did not have the time to export. Besides, the management structure needs attention. Let’s see now where the next generation tackles things.

Has GST simplified or worsened matters?

GST has simplified a lot of matters but it is a very complicated law and one needs to understand all aspects of it. But what the government is trying to do now is to simplify it and make it more industry friendly.

What are the qualities required for an Indian businessman to flourish?

One is that you must choose your product with a lot of care. And you have to put in a lot of hard work in the beginning. A lot of industries are started by very good technocrats but who are usually poor managers and finance managers. And since it is usually a single person doing both financial management and running of the industry, they fail when it comes to understanding and deploying finance. How to finance the company, how to

Know your subject and understand what the customer wants. In the Army, you first understand what the enemy is all about and what his objectives are.

Find out what the customer is most likely to require of you and after that, it is a matter of sitting across the table and negotiating” positive that we could make it work. So two years ago they joined us and contributed in a big way. We are in expansion mode now. Mysuru has a factory, and there is another coming up in Himachal Pradesh. Thank God for them, because they have age on their side and the energy to run around to manage the huge expansions.

Family businesses come with their own set of problems…

Meera: Not yet because it is a very small family.

Govindachari: I know what you’re getting at, because a lot of family businesses hit that crisis, usually in the third generation. However, I am a first generation entrepreneur and that does not apply in our case. Besides, I have already handed over so I don’t think there should be a problem. But in cases where there are other siblings with a stake in the matter, problems do arise.

I have attended a number of seminars on family business relationships.

Two things stand out: the need to be professional, and the fact that own-

take it forward, how to plan, how to market it-these are challenges that entrepreneurs need to take up. You can make a fantastic product but if you don’t market it properly you will have no one buying it.

What is your philosophy of Life?

Whatever you do, do it well. Honesty will take you places, you don’t need to cheat to get there.

Do you ever repent having left the army?

Many a time, I do feel I could have had a great career, especially when I see my batchmates ending up as generals, brigadiers and so on. But the life I have chosen is entirely different, there’s no comparison. And at the end of the day, regret is not of much use. It only gets you into self-pity mode.

Meera: He has not looked back at all, but the nice thing is that he’s in touch with his course mates. He makes that effort no matter how busy he is. So when they meet it’s like the good old days once again.

December 1-15, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 27

Cover story Behind every successful man is a woman who believes in him. Just so, behind every successful and content woman is a man who supports her and appreciates all the finer qualities she brings to the table. From the army to the corporate world to starting their own company, Major Govindachari (Retd.) and his very capable better half Meera Chari have traversed thick and thin with focus, faith and fortitude

patience pays

By Vinita Deshmukh & Kalyani Sardesai

M

arried for close to 50 years, theirs is a union that combines old world values with a shared vision for tomorrow. Having achieved all that they have together, be it bringing up two children or building their factories, they could teach this generation a thing or two about partnership, adjustment, family and professional success-simply by letting their life and journey speak for itself.

Successful, focused and yet utterly in sync with each other the Govindacharis, as a couple, would resonate with both the older generation, as well as the current one. For not only are they advocates for the time-tested values of love, togetherness, respect and good patience, but their ambition to grow is something Gen Z would applaud.

Married for almost half a century, they attest to the fact that it takes patience and fortitude to keep a partnership rich, vibrant and alive. While he is the first to admire her sheer determination, not to forget the fact that she will work hard and do what it takes to achieve her objective, he also points out that for her, “Family has always come first. She has always prioritized the children over all else and attended to their needs.”

Patience, planning and good old communication

On her part, she would root for both patience and planning to keep it all together. “A successful marriage is one based on patience. I don’t have a lot of it but I am organised and plan my day well. Even as I go about my duties, I make it a point to relax with some good music at the end of the day,” she says.

Of course, communication is extremely important. “I am an introvert and a pretty poor communicator. But like she said patience is fundamental to everything. One has to take the good with the bad and carry on,” says he.

“Of course, kids these days have little of it-not to forget zero time to talk to each other. The world today has changed beyond recognition, so have the needs and requirements. In our times, the kind of luxuries the youth of today is exposed to, were unheard of. I mean 50 years ago there was literally nothing by way of entertainment-not even a TV. But whatever the age and time you live in, it’s a matter of getting over the pressures you face and not letting them get to you,” he says.

28 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

Once again, it all boils down to patience, partnership and acceptance of each others’ little foibles. Making the most of the positives and looking beyond the negatives.

When the children were younger his communication with them was limited. “It used to worry me,” admits Meera. “But I guess he was probably waiting for them to mature a little more. As they grew up a little beyond 10 and 11 years, he began relating better, talking to them about everything.”

‘Coz parenting is not a popularity contest

Speaking of children, the Govindacharis have two-a boy and a girl, now aged 47 and 43 respectively. While the daughter lives in Chennai, same as them, their son is based in USA. Both have done well for themselves. “While my daughter has finished her MBA from Wales, both she and my son-in law have joined the family business. Having worked in the US, China and Singapore, the exposure to different countries has helped them. After coming to Chennai she is helping her dad with the business and her husband who was in a very senior positions in Caterpillar, USA, resigned and joined us. This

was a wonderful thing for us, considering he had a brilliant career ahead-an IIT topper and a master from the University of Chicago.

Evidently, the Govindachari siblings are a successful lot-the credit of which goes to their parenting-the contention that no matter what they take up, they take it up well, and acquit themselves with grace.

Of course, as Meera admits, she was a very strict parent indeed-something that her own daughter is not with her own two little girls. “I used to be particular about them rising on time, finishing their studies and applying themselves whole-heartedly to games. I used to accompany both of them to their practice sessions and even sit with their coach. Both were state level table tennis players, apart from playing tennis, badminton and swimming. My daughter would swim 50 to 60 lengths, and I used to encourage her to give her best. My husband being busy with his corporate career, would occasionally join in practice sessions as and when he could. They did well at studies too and were amongst the toppers. I also had a teacher coming home to teach them classical music,” she reminisces. “My daughter, on the other hand says

Explaining things is a better way of implementing the changes you want.

It is more likely to be successful. If you dominate too much, you will end up alienating them” that she won’t be so tough, instead she will be more like a guide, helping out and stepping in only as and when required with her children”.

However, she concedes that today she believes children should be given their freedom. “Nevertheless, I am from the old school of thought who believes in discipline. For example, today when the kids come to the dining table, they pretty much get what they like, but they should be encouraged to try out everything. Sure, there is a lot more money today but I believe it must be valued and earned,” she says. “I guess we are from the older generation and can’t change our thought process overnight. We grew gradually, and everything came with time, and that’s how it should be.”

Major Govindachari believes that children today are exposed to both good and bad things. “If they end up in the wrong company, it could prove disastrous. So it is extremely important for parents to keep a close eye on the children for any suspicious sign of trouble. However, being strict doesn’t work in today’s times, this is a different generation, they would simply rebel.”

Thus, he advocates a golden mean to try and balance the two in order not to hurt them or push them away.” Try to reason with them, appeal to their

logic and intelligence. Explaining things is a better way of implementing the changes you want. It is more likely to be successful. If you dominate them too much, you will end up alienating them,” he cautions. “This is something you have to watch out for as a parent. Whatever you do, don’t distance them from yourself.”

Looking back with no regrets

Today, they believe less is more, and it’s all about being comfortable with what one has. That wasn’t always the case, though; each stage of life has been different, demanding different approaches.

“In my earlier years, I was very ambitious; I felt I had to earn well to afford a few pleasures for my husband and children, take them out of the country, travel around India as well. These things take money; that’s how I started my little business; it wasn’t about starting an MNC or anything; it was simply to earn these little joys. So that’s how I started it,” says she.

As it went, the company progressed well and grew by the day, and did even better once Major Govindachari joined in. But several nervous moments preceded his joining. “I was concerned that he was coming from a bigger corporate; so how would he cope or feel in a small enterprise,” she shares. Sure, it was tough.

But it all fell into place. Major Govindachari, being a technical brain, was a well-trained and experienced professional with a strong work ethic and clarity of thought. “Everything was common sense, hard work and the ability to judge people,” she narrates.

“For the initial few days all he did was observe things with his typical eye for detail. Then he started making the changes. First and foremost he set up the office and put the right people in place; a good person for HR and a competent secretary for himself. This proved to be an effective practice indeed: organisations develop only through trained and competent men and women. Bit by bit, he started building it up from there. What’s more, we were blessed with very good customers like The TVS Group-our first customer who helped us by sending their quality experts. They used to come and help us out as we grew. So in a way we were blessed also; it’s not just our hard work,” she expresses.

Family, friends and a few good men

Their relentless commitment coupled with a deeper understanding of people took things ahead. “I do believe I am a fairly good judge of character,” she says. “I am not boasting, but I do understand people from the way they talk and go about things,” she says.

Not the one to ever waste resources, be it money or time, she is focused on taking up a task and activity and giving it her all. As for him, his army training accompanies him everywhere he goes.

The Govindacharis are particular about thanking the good people who helped them on their way. There are employees who have stayed with them for years. For starters, there is Mr. Shivakumar whose relationship has almost been like that of a family member. “We live in Chennai most of the time and he keeps us updated,” they say. He has contributed immensely to our growth.

The daughter and son-in-law are a huge help-calling up on a regular basis to let them know what’s happening. “So it’s a combination of everything that is helping us,” she says. “Of course, as a mother, I am hopeful that our son will return from the US and join us soon.”

Given the backdrop of the Swachch Bharat Abhiyan, Meera believes in talking to companies and the people concerned about the importance of cleanliness, good food, keeping the garden clean and utilizing their resources well.

All this coupled with a sound faith in the power above keeps them positive and upbeat.” We are pretty content with what we have,” she rounds off.

And why not? They’ve both enjoyed an outstanding trajectory with a happy marriage. Yes, the two co-exist. vinitapune@gmail.com, kalyani.sardesai@gmail.com December 1-15, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 29

NHRDN National Conference

Hierarchy doesn’t work with Millennials, Autonomy does The business world is a dynamic entity, it keeps evolving with time. While organisations themselves transform, they must also adapt to the rapidly changing business environment they inhabit. This is a lot easier said than done. External factors are changing at a far greater pace than ideal, and organisations must sail through uncharted waters to combat the waves of change. These issues were at the forefront of an engaging session conducted at the 21st NHRDN National Conference in Hyderabad, moderated by Vikas Gupta, Managing Director, Deloitte, Hyderabad. Corporate Citizen brings you the riveting discussion By Neeraj Varty Vikas Gupta - The pressing issue to be ad-

dressed is changing environments. Where are we vis-a-vis the world today, and can we catch up? When I think about this topic, the first thing that comes to mind is the weather. There is a saying that everyone talks about the weather but no one does anything about it. Everybody tends to chance the channel when weather news comes on. That is because we know that weather predictions are about probabilities and not sure-shot facts. The weatherman says there is a 30% chance of rain, but when you step out, it is pouring. This topic is a lot like that. My job today was to bring together super-forecasters. We have three of them with us in this panel - Uma Devaguptapu, Director-HR, Asia-Pac & MEA, Signode Industrial Group, Saurabh Das Pattanaik, CEO, Swach Environment Pvt. Ltd., A Seri Venture, and a young HR leader from L&T, Prashant Sree. With such an expert panel with us, the forecasts they make may not be 100% correct, but they will be as close to accurate as it can get. If you think about the business environment, there are a lot of changes that are on the horizon. Robots and AI are set to take over the world. Jobs are under threat of automation.

The second thing is the job hopping in becoming the norm than the exception. Contingent workers are on the rise. Diversity is on the rise, which is a good thing. And finally, data usage has exploded in India. These are the changes I perceive happening.

Let me now ask the panel members what they perceive to be the changes they predict going forward, starting with Uma. Uma Devaguptapu - Most of us like predict-

ing things. We know what we are doing today, and we would like to know what we are doing tomorrow, and there is a growing acceptance about the need to prepare for the future to the best of our abilities.

30 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

Everyone keeps talking about India and its demographic dividend. A question in my mind is whether we are experiencing demographic dividend in India or a demographic disaster?

It is nobody but us who has to determine this.

The first marker for demographic dividend is the rate of growth. We will be close to 1.5 billion people by 2050, making us larger than China.

We are 1.3 billion people today, and we are on our way to supporting 19% of the world's population on just 2% of the landmass. I can't think of anything more momentous than that. This is going to have a huge implication on resources; it has huge implication for labour markets, and a huge impact on the environment. But if I look at it from a Human Resource perspective, the biggest impact is on the human. What we see in India is Resource Constraint Behaviour. Indians

have the frugal gene, as we have learnt to adapt with limited resources. While this adaptability helps us survive, it is far from ideal.

The good news is that we are in the third stage of demographic growth. This is characterised by a drop in the birth rate as well as a drop in the mortality rate. The fourth stage is where the death rate will fall more than the birth rate, is something India will not enter at least until 2050. Today, one crore people are joining the workforce every month.

The government is doing its bit but it is not possible to absorb so many people in the workforce. The shift from job security to wage security is happening for that reason. Even trade unions are shifting their stance understanding the gravity of the situation. The amount of labour we have displaced from agriculture can

only be absorbed by the industry. Services will not be able to absorb the scale of labour that is being thrown out of agriculture. Unfortunately, industry too is not equipped to absorb this entire workforce. Due to automation, the amount of industrial hiring has reduced. Indian economy is the only economy which has seen a reduction in total employees in the last five years. While the IT & ITeS sector is doing well enough, they do not have the capacity to absorb so many people. Also, the question of eligibility also matters.

The second point I want to touch upon is gender inequality. Everyone knows that the female to male ratio is unfavorable in our country. What surprised me is that the life expectancy of women has increased compare to that of men in India.

What this means is that a huge part of society is

Left to right - Uma Devaguptapu, DirectorHR, Asia-Pac & MEA, Signode Industrial Group, (Moderator) Vikas Gupta, Managing Director, Deloitte, Hyderabad, Saurabh Das Pattanaik, CEO, Swach Environment Pvt. Ltd, and Prashant Sree, Talent Development Manager, L&T

Pics: Shantanu Relekar

December 1-15, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 31

NHRDN National Conference completely unprepared to support themselves because the male member has died earlier. The reality is that we have the lowest participation of women in the workforce in South East Asia, and we are lower than even some African countries.

There are many jobs which have been done away in agriculture, but corresponding jobs have not been created in textiles or other industries for women. This is worrying.

Even if we can improve women participation by 10% in the economy, we can expect a 27% improvement in GDP. Every time anyone thinks of asking women to stay at home and take care of the kids, please think about this.

The last point I want to touch upon is literacy and education. In 1948, there was a declaration of human rights that said everybody has the right to education. I want to turn that concept on its head. We have so many graduates who are ready for jobs but are completely unemployable, or under-employed. I will say that we should try to get away with the least amount of education required to get into the industry.

Whatever else you learn you can learn once you start earning, rather than spending to earn before working. Given all these trends we are looking at, I have two things to say to the people present here. One is, each one of us needs to find our voice. We cannot become rooted in our organisations or in our families without expressing our opinions. Vishwas kisme hai ye zaroori nahi, vishwas hai ye zaroori hai. Have belief, have passion, and participate in government initiatives. It is the government's job to serve the people and it is our job to influence the government. We need to get out of our cocoons and become activists. We must leave our comfort zones and make a difference.

We have to work on changing our immediate world. This is not about whether your organisation of government is ready to change the environment; it is about whether you are ready to do it?

Most of us like predicting things. We know what we are doing today, and we would like to know what we are doing tomorrow, and there is a need to prepare for the future -Uma Devaguptapu

Robots and AI are set to take over the world. Jobs are under threat of automation. Contingent workers are on the rise.

Diversity is on the rise, finally, data usage has exploded in India -VIKAS GUPTA

Saurabh, what is your take on this?

Saurabh Das Pattanaik - I am going to take

the literal meaning of environment to make my point here. What is the role of an HR person going forward? There are many ecological challenges facing the world today. In the last 100 years, there has been indiscriminate ecological destruction and exploitation of the environment. The tragic flooding in Kerala is an example of the effects of such destructive human tendencies. What are the top environmental concerns? 41% of people in the world believe in climate change. Thirty eight per cent of people believe the most severe problem is air pollution. All of these concerns touch each one of us closely. India has a population of 1.3 billion. Very few of us know that India's water situation is actually worse than that of Africa.

42% of the population doesn't have access to good quality water and they have to struggle even to get access to any water at all. In Delhi, the air pollution is out of hand. This is the kind of air our children are going to breathe. We are expected to come to our offices fresh and ready to do work after breathing this kind of air. Plastic waste has choked up rivers. The quality of water is worse than many developed countries.

In rural areas, the average time required to fetch

32 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

water ranges from 1km to 5kms. Despite the efforts of the government to increase access to water, the problem is not being solved. By 2035, 50% of India's population will be in urban areas.

How will we handle such a large influx? Excess nitrogen in our food leads to depression. Our food chain has large quantities of nitrogen. If depression is occurring due to food, how are we going to address these challenges?

HR has a unique role. It is essential that HRs

he sees issues of a sustainable business environment through his perspective.

Prashant Shree- By 2025, 75% of the work-

force will be millennials and I am happy to be a part of that 75%. Having said that, a lot of discussions are happening around the culture gaps between generations of employees in organisations. What I have noticed is that millennial and Gen Z people are very quick to adapt. In previous generations, employees never directly asked questions to their bosses. But this generation doesn’t hesitate to question their bosses if they don’t agree with what he or she said. They are passionate, hungry, and impatient. They want quicker promotions, quicker success and quicker growth. They are also strongly against hierarchy. It’s not as if they hate it, but if they need information, they want to access it themselves rather than go through bureaucratic channels.

This is where I feel that technology can be a great enabler. The earlier mind-set was that you will get to know something only if you need to know it. The current mind-set is that I have a right to know it so let me know it. Earlier, you had to send mails for a query and HR would respond in due time. Now, we have WhatsApp groups where trainees type in a query and HR responds in real time.

Millennials have grown up with the feeling of instant gratification, and that applies to knowledge too. They are quick to learn and are skilled in self-learning. One way to get through them is to explain to them what you want rather than just giving orders. You explain the rationale behind a task and you put trust in them and give them space and they will perform.

Hierarchy doesn’t work with millennials, autonomy does. neeraj.varty07@gmail.com

India has a population of 1.3 billion. Very few of us know that India's water situation is actually worse than that of Africa. 42% of the population doesn't have access to good quality water -Saurabh Das Pattanaik

Millennial and Gen Z people are very quick to adapt.

In previous generations, employees never directly asked questions to their bosses. But this generation doesn’t hesitate to question their bosses

CC

tadka

-Prashant Sree

Kylie Jenner, to be world’s youngest self-made billionaire address these issues seriously. HR has a large impact not just in the organisation, but in the larger society. HR should inculcate environmental awareness in organisational culture. I think HRs need to ask themselves if they are adept at addressing these environmental situations. Are we equipped to handle large scale migrations of workforce to urban areas?

We have to work on changing our immediate world. This is not about whether your organ-

isation or government is ready to change the environment, it is about whether you are ready to do it?

There must be more discussion on the changing nature of HR responsibilities, and how we must all band together to tackle environmental challenges in order to achieve holistic well-being.

Prashant is a millennial HR leader. He is going to give us perspective on how

The world's youngest self-made billionaire may soon be Kylie Jenner. Forbes said the social media star is on track to become "the youngest-ever self-made billionaire". Kylie Jenner, 20, is the youngest person on the Forbes list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women, released recently, with an estimated net worth of $900 million. Over the next year, Jenner is expected to become the youngest self-made billionaire ever.

That's a title previously held by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in 1987 at age 31 and

by Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg in 2008 at age 23.

December 1-15, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 33

Interview Pics: Yusuf Khan

in today’s world, talent attraction is all about getting the best fits for the Company and Roles and not necessarily only the most qualified people. It’s not only about qualification or experience—it is about attitude, cultural fitment, emotional fitment, and fitment of preferences 34 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

There is no Shortcut to Success He is one of those very few HR professionals, who started his career as a mechanical engineer and played many management roles before settling for a career in Human Resource Management. In his twenty years of career journey, Arun Singh, Head-HR and Administration, Foseco India Limited, always believed in the philosophy of zealously working, accepting new challenges and continuously learning. In an exclusive interview with Corporate Citizen, Arun Singh talks about the astute lessons he learnt from his two decade long career journey and why there is no shortcut to success By Rajesh Rao Straight-A student My school days happened in a small but beautifully green township called Sindri in Jharkand.

I was fanatically in love with studies. During my ten years which I spent in the school, my focus had always been to be a topper in the school.

For ten academic years consecutively, I stood first in the school-I would sleep only for 5-6 hours and devote rest of my time to studies and some sports activities to keep fit. Then I did my mechanical engineering from Birla Institute of Technology (BIT), Mesra and joined Tata Steel through campus placement.

My first job It was my first job and I had a very good potential career in Tata Steel. I joined Tata Steel as a graduate trainee, in plant operation and maintenance. I am one of those few HR professionals, who started his career from some other field than HR—I did my engineering, then I worked in supply chain, operations, maintenance, in the office of General Manager, corporate support office and so on. I worked in almost all functions except Finance and Legal. While working in Tata Steel, I did my one-year fulltime MBA, from XLRI-Jamshedpur. I took complete break from Tata Steel—did my MBA programme after signing a bond of three years with Tata Steel.

Moving to HRM I left Tata Steel with one objective of searching

for more challenges and ability to take bigger decisions. That time Tata Steel was joining hands with a company called BlueScope Steel.

They set up a joint venture, starting their operations in 2004, with its head-office in Pune.

I came to Tata BlueScope Steel and here is a company which gives me opportunity to work in functions like office of MD, sales, marketing, business development, before I came to the HR function. I took the role of General Manager-HR, in 2010. Worked for over six years as General Manager-HR, in Tata BlueScope Steel, it was a very good experience of testing, executing and demonstrating my leadership skills. It was a good platform to brush my skills of how to motivate people. I had a good team in HR, IR and Administration spread across multiple locations in SAARC. Life is too short, the world is too big In 2016, after spending some 18 years of my career in one group, nine years in Tata Steel and nine years in Tata BlueScope Steel, I realised that life is too short and the world is too big to be at one place. I thought, let me test my abilities and explore the external world and different cultural environment to hone my skills and that was one reason I left Tata Group despite having some of the most cherishable memories there.

Though I could have stayed and grown to a better position, I left Tata Group and joined a UK based MNC, Foseco India Limited. I had heard

a lot about their strong work culture, processes, delivery and they were very hard core in performance orientation. I wanted to see how I would perform in a MNC work environment.

I joined Foseco in 2016 and since two years and 10 months I am working there. While working at Foseco, I also got myself involved in a virtual interactive learning programme on talent management, again with XLRI. It was a four month programme—it was a good feeling to stand in top five among more than 100 students, despite the fact that I had been working full time and learning simultaneously. Getting back to studentship also rekindled the spirit of my early school days.

Doing engineering, then moving through various roles before transitioning to human resource management— how did you get interested in HRM? While you are busy making other life-plans, life has got something else for you. I had never thought of getting into HR—I thought of getting into marketing and that was the primary reason I left Tata Steel. Tata BlueScope Steel gave me the opportunity to work in marketing and sales, and business development. For example, working in sales, which I did for over seven months taught me lessons of life—whether you win an order or lose an order, it’s an equally exciting or touchy feeling, because the exhilaration of winning and the pain of losing, is something you

December 1-15, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 35

Interview experience in sales and sports very intensely.

There is no grey area—either you win or lose.

About coming into HR—one fine day I get a call from the head of HR at Tata BlueScope Steel, asking if I would like to get into HR. I accepted the offer, but I was surprised with the offer. Later I came to know that I was getting promoted as General Manager-HR because the previous head was leaving the job. They wanted me to manage a team, wherein few had completed over 2-3 decades of working in HR field.

They were veterans in HR, who were to report to me, who had no formal training in HR. Despite working in a non-HR field for six to seven years, why was I chosen for the role? Probably because, even while working in other functions, people management used to be my main domain primarily. I remember, while working in Sales and Marketing functions, I used to conduct lots of pan India 'learning from failure' sessions. Sales people from one region used to learn from the experiences of colleagues from other regions. I used to spend time conducting improvement programmes for sales and marketing people. Prior to that, I remember conducting 40 workshops in almost equal days for a group of 1500 shopfloor employees to cascade the meaning of the then Vision of the Company to shopfloor employees. Though officially, I was working in Supply Chain function in those days of Tata Steel. There are many such examples where I worked in people functions while still being in line functions. Life connects the dots in a very surprising manner and here was I working in HR by 2010. In the initial days as I joined, it was tough with sweaty palms in the morning, but then later I started getting excited to be in the field which was my heart’s calling.

After a month, I was so happy in HR that I decided not to go in any other field but build a career in HR. And now it is more than eight years since I am in Human Resources Management function.

You have worked with one company for over 18 years, but today the millennials want fast results and are into job-hopping, for promotion and better package.

What is your say on the same?

First of all, we need to appreciate that millennials are going to be part of our work culture and there is nothing wrong with them. There is a talk that millennials are narcissists, they are impatient, they constantly check their mobile phone, by the time they are 21 years old they would have spent over 20,000 hours of screen-time, and so on. We have to reflect and see whether we are able to work with them and whether we are able to understand them. Every company is going to have a large number of millennials and it is for the leaders to understand and to see that he himself is

learning things faster to remain aligned with millennials. If I do not change with the environment around me, I am not going to remain a relevant leader.

At the same time, to millennials, I strongly suggest that you have some patience and give some good time to the Companies. First, you need to learn the Company’s work culture at least for one-two years and deliver what the company expects from you. While recruiting people, we look at their transition very closely. If one is job-hopping too frequently, we get suspicious if they are changing it only for the sake of money and they are not who we are looking for.

We are happy to recruit people who are driven by a purpose to make a change and driven by a desire to learn and give it back to the company. We are not interested in people who are changing their jobs every one-two years—we actually reject most of these people. So, one has to have patience, understand the Company and learn about it. Before expecting the Company to change its culture, you also have to learn the culture of the company. Give some time for it to become a win-win situation.

You have to learn continuously, if you don’t you will be surpassed by others. The only set of people who make me insecure are the ones who are learning very fast

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Today organisations are facing talent crunch, skill shortage, attrition and attracting or retaining talent has become a big challenge. As an HR how do you look at this big problem?

Talent attraction is going to remain a crucial area for us. At the same time we look for people who want to join the Company for the right reasons. First of all we see the cultural fit. If you are getting people who have hopped ten jobs in ten years, it is an alarming sign. In today’s world, talent attraction is all about getting the best fits for the Company and Roles and not necessarily only the most qualified people. I would be looking for people who are fitting into my requirements. It’s not only about qualification or experience—it is about attitude, cultural fitment, emotional fitment, and fitment of preferences. I am looking for students who are happy working in a chemical factory within the ambit of Values, who are happy to deliver in a challenging work environment, who are happy to work in a company for a certain duration, so that they can give the returns to the company. As author, Abhijit

Bhaduri, says in one of his books, 'Don’t hire the best, hire the fittest’.

Is there a gap between what the company wants and what the academia is teaching?

For example, in a city like Pune, we have thousands of industries and each Company has a different and unique cultural background. There are family owned businesses, there are MNCs, then there are big Indian companies and each of them have their own culture. Now, it is not possible for academia to train people on how to work in a particular cultural setup keeping in mind the diverse backgrounds of company work cultures. They are giving generic set of skill sets and knowledge, based on which students have to build their own customised experience.

But, one change academia can certainly make is to give lot of practical insights. Having said that, ultimately, it is that flame inside a student, which they have to run with, and they have to use the learnt knowledge and skills, in the context of the organisation and fulfilling their own desire and dreams. They must have a purpose—most of the students might not be clear what they have to achieve, besides getting a good job in a good company. They also have to understand and appreciate the fact that life is having some other plans and surprises for them, while they are making their own career plans. The fact is, most of the students who will be graduating from institutes in coming years will end up working in Companies which do not yet exist and that’s going to happen in just a few years. Hence, the institutions need to get

students ready for changes, tenacity, agility and must inculcate a sense of perseverance in a challenging and ever changing work environment.

What are some astute lessons you have learnt from your career spanning over 20 years?

You have to learn continuously, if you don’t you will be surpassed by others. The only set of people who make me insecure are the ones who are learning very fast. Always remember the message given by Socrates, “I am intelligent, because I know that I know nothing”. What he is saying is that he is always open to learn—he is like a glass which is not full and keeps on emptying it, so he can fill it with something new. That is easier said than done. Many people think that they know everything. The ones who are learning continuously are the ones who are moving up very fast. Secondly, one should be ready to work with other people and understand the cultural setup of the company you are working with. Third lesson is that one needs to set up a purpose—what is that you are trying to achieve.

Last is, be ready for surprises and develop a positive attitude—while you are busy in your task, there is always something that is changing in this world.

How does your day start and end and how do you maintain a work-life balance?

I have long working hours—I leave for office at 7 am and travel a long distance, before I reach my office. So, to de-stress, I start my day with 10-15 minutes of meditation. Health is the first

thing which comes to my mind in the morning and I see that my thought process is clear before I leave for work. I use my travel time for reading books on kindle (or hard copy as well) or listening to podcasts if I am not working on the way. When I come back home by 7:30 pm, I go to the gym or do some exercise, come what the circumstances are. Then I spend some time with family, which is very important. On weekends, I prefer morning walks in nature or treks to nearby hills to de-stress myself. It is not about health, but it is about feeling happy and being amidst nature which has that feel-good factor.

It’s a beautiful life at the end of the day. rajeshrao.rao@gmail.com

CC

tadka

World's tallest Shiva statue India is now building world’s tallest Lord Shiva statue, which will be at a height of 351 feet in Nathdwara, Rajasthan. Over 85 per cent of the work for the huge statue has been completed and it is expected to be inaugurated by March 2019. After its completion, the Shiva statue will be the fourth largest statue in the world after the Statue of Unity, Spring Temple Buddha, and Laykyun Setkyar. The recently built, Sardar Vallabhai Patel’s statue measuring 597 feet, is the tallest statue in the world at present.

December 1-15, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 37

corporate strategy

C h h a t r a p a t i S h i v a j i’s

Strategies for Corporate Leaders

From being a pharmaceutical professional to turning into a successful writer of historical literature such as ‘Challenging Destiny’ and ‘Frontiers’ has been a fruitful and fulfilling journey for Medha Deshmukh Bhaskaran. Here, she carves out lessons for corporate leaders from Chhatrapati Shivaji’s war strategies

By Vinita Deshmukh

From being a pharmaceutical professional to a successful author of Shivaji's history-how did the transition happen?

I worked in the pharmaceutical industry for more than 30 years; half of those in the Middle East where I was also a freelance columnist.

After publishing more than three hundred articles on ‘health and disease’ in the weekend magazine of the Khaleej Times-a very popular newspaper in the Gulf-I realised that people appreciated what I wrote. In that small little

and cosy world of the United Arab Emirates, I got some recognition and it was followed by big dreams. Soon I wanted to write a book on something not related to medicine. It took me a while to find that ‘something’ which turned out to be an uphill task. I realised that there are hardly any books written on Chhatrapati Shivaji in English. I am a Maharashtrian born in Ahmednagar. The love for Raja Shivaji is in our DNA, almost akin to the right to ancestral property; we are born with extreme loyalty to Raja Shivaji.

38 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

The first task was that loyalty did not turn blind, and I had to be truthful to history.

Your research on the great Maratha king has metamorphosed into books, non-fiction as well as fiction. What is it that sets you apart as a writer of a subject that has been written innumerable times?

Agreed that there were already hundreds of ‘fiction, non-fiction’ books in Marathi on the subject.

When a Marathi reader starts reading a book on Raja Shivaji she/he is already in love with the pro-

During your research you have stumbled upon Chhatrapati Shivaji's strategies that he adopted for his administration and you say they are relevant to today's management students and the corporate world. Can you elaborate?

The fine nine corporate lessons that corporate managers can adopt from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj are:

1. Think ‘out-of-the-box’ when strategically challenged

In today’s management language one may call it ‘blue ocean strategy’-do not swim in red waters where all the sharks are already there. Go for the blue oceans, do something that others cannot even think. For example-Shaista Khan was living safely in the midst of the Mughal encampment sending squadrons of armed cavalrymen to slowly destroy Shivaji’s region and its people’s morale. So he decides to enter the Mughal encampment-nobody had shown such audacity until then. (Like operation Neptune Star where Osama Bin Laden was killed). In ‘Frontiers’ Raja’s Sarnobat announces, ‘We need to get to the enemy hiding in the ivory tower. We need to think of something that is beyond his (Shaista’s) thinking.’

2. Lead from the front; at least take calculated risks to keep up your people’s morale and trust

Today’s business leaders must learn to take re-

in the dense forest covering the valley of Jawali, Moroji states, ‘I hope this is worth it in the time of need.’ To this, Raja replies, ‘Moroji, forts can be built everywhere, on the riverbanks, at the confluence, on the islands in the midst of oceans, in the desert, in the forests and on the hills like this one. Hill forts are difficult to reach.

But the foothills of the hill forts can be accessed by enemy cavalry. Pratapgad is an invincible fort in an impassable valley. Only an enemy backed by a strong infantry can reach here. And the Empires and Kingdoms around us rely mostly on their heavily armoured cavalry. Military strongholds like this will make our enemy infinitely weaker.’

4. At times play with fire!

When you are a corporate person you may have to take risks even if they are not calculated. The biggest risk is to take no risk at all! In Frontiers, when Shivaji plans to invade the Mughal Empire to plunder the rich towns of Junnar and Ahmednagar, one of Raja’s advisors says, ‘You are playing with fire.’ Raja says, ‘This fire is for light. In the darkness, only fire shows the light.

One must light it, kindle it, fan it, fuel it and even play with it to keep it burning.’

5. Make your weakness your strength

I (personally) do not take the SWOT analysis very seriously (strength, weakness, opportunities and threats). But one must keep in mind that your weakness can be made into your

In today’s management language one may call it ‘blue ocean strategy’-do not swim in red waters where all the sharks are already there.

Go for the blue oceans, do something that others cannot even think

tagonist. That love makes them pick up the book from the store in the first place. My books written on the subject, ‘Frontiers’, a historical novel, and ‘Challenging Destiny’, a biography, non-fiction (on Chhatrapati Shivaji) are for people who did not know Raja Shivaji, and are not necessarily already in love with him. I had a task to recreate history, scene by scene, what would have happened, what could have taken place, what was said in conversations and by whom and what the body-language of the people might have been. And I also wanted to remain very truthful to history.

sponsibility. I have suffered my share under bad managers-as when you go to your leader with new business development ideas-if the company succeeds, he/she gets the salary raise;, if it fails I get the blame. This reduces people’s morale. In most of Raja Shivaji’s campaigns Raja led his men (to victory). As he says in ‘Frontiers’, when his Peshwa Moroji Pinglay asks him, ‘Why do you want to lead the midnight raid to eliminate Shaista Khan? Raja answers, ‘My people are out there getting crushed under the hooves of our enemy.

Their trust in me is dwindling and will soon fade away unless I strengthen that priceless bond by risking my life to save theirs.’

3.Develop an instinct for Return-OnInvestment (ROI)

In Frontiers, while Raja is building Pratapgad

strength and your threats into your opportunities. When I embarked on searching for a job in pharmaceutical marketing in Dubai I had many weaknesses. I could not compete with Europeans or South Africans (no white skin), I was a woman, and a mother of two, I could not compete with the Arabs (I could not speak Arabic), had no driving license (it is as difficult as doing a doctorate in the UAE), had no American or any other accent (it is important in Dubai), had no business suits to wear for interviews (Indian clothes are considered too ethnic). But my ideal was Raja Shivaji, who had made his weakness (very small army) his strength, while facing the massive armies of the Adilshahi led by Afzal Khan. In my book Frontiers when Afzal Khan lands in the valley of Jawali, Moroji Pinglay remarks that Afzal was underestimating them. In

December 1-15, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 39

corporate strategy Book Review

answer, Raja comments, ‘Underestimating your enemy is the basic military blunder. And Afzal’s estimations are our strengths.’

Under the Skin of History

6. Lose to win (to save something far more important than ‘victory’)

Raja Shivaji lost most of his forts to the Mughal under the Treaty of Purandar. He consciously made that decision to save his people from the brutal massacres. The Mughal General Mirza Raja Jai Singh and Raja play Shatranj (chess) in ‘Frontiers’. Raja loses the game. ‘Do you know why you have lost?’ Mirza asks, Raja nods and says, ‘I had the centre but you had the control, my position looked unassailable, but there were hidden weaknesses-my pieces were connected and coordinated but they were no match to an expert gambler like you. Any position that lacks mobility lacks new ideas. The game was based on injustice and not on people’s aspirations. The game can be destroyed by a brilliant sacrifice

By Usha Somayaji

W

The trick is to always be in contingency mode.

Think and think-never let go of the thought process. Think of the invariables and variables – since one can play only with the variables or even by a lowly pawn-all that it needs is a gambler who thinks differently.’

7. Be prepared for any eventuality

The corporate world is tricky - there are brilliant successes as well as losses with disastrous consequences. The trick is to always be in contingency mode. Think and think-never let go of the thought process. Think of the invariables and variables – since one can play only with the variables. Like the dialogues written in ‘Frontiers’, where Raja says, ‘All our missions are potentially fatal. Death is invariable, the timeof-death is invariable. We shall make our mission as infallible as possible but we shall leave the invariability to HIM.’ I am not saying leave the results to God, but inner faith, goodness and desire to do the right things or things right can do wonders and bring the much needed peace and stability to the mind that is trained to be in contingency mode.

8. As a leader, do not discriminate, recognise the potential

You will never know which brilliant mind will save you in times of need. In ‘Frontiers’ when Moroji objects to Shivaj asking Jiva Mahale to be his personal body guard, he says, ‘Moroji, the sword is a great leveller. For the sword is then God, and the holder its disciple. Some of these disciples of the blade live life by their own codes,

-codes that do not differentiate between life and death, profit and loss, wealth and poverty … and our Jiva Mahale is one such….’ . Jiva did save Raja’s life.

9. Your imagination, intelligence, knowledge and instinct together is your ‘sword’. You can give this sword the character you choose.

Never forget that you are blessed to be in the corporate world; you are here to make money, make profit for your organisation (you are answerable to your boss and shareholders but you are here to do good for humanity and earth). So always invent new ideas for corporate social responsibility. In ‘Frontiers’ Raja tells Baji Prabhu high on power, ‘When you use your sword against the unarmed and the defenseless, it turns into a devil; when you help the undeserving and the unscrupulous with it, it turns into a traitor, when you use it against the aggressor to protect the weak, it becomes a worshipper and when you empower the helpless, the weak, the vulnerable, to defend themselves with it, it becomes God.’ What is it that makes you content in your transition from the corporate world to now being singularly buried in writing books?

The corporate world in Dubai (pharmaceuticals) gave me opportunities to meet people from all

40 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

e have all read history, about events that happened in 17th century Hindustan. We have skimmed over the chronicle of episodes as they unfolded during the Mughal years, of the uprising of a new and formidable force in the Deccan called Shivaji. For most of us, these different battles and wins and losses that happened were momentous dots on the timeline of a nation. But then, what might have gone into the thinking that steered the events and course of history? What made these individuals do the deeds they did? In ‘Frontiers’, Medha Deshmukh Bhaskaran has gone into the minds of the men, at the reasoning behind their strategies, the ambitions and intrigues, the actions and events, and the history that got made.

Frontiers by Medha Deshmukh Bhaskaran is about the crusade to extend frontiers-both

by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and Maratha ‘upstart’ Shivaji, but with a difference for Aurangzeb, it had to do with extending territory, the reach and control by the Mughal rule and his warped brand of intolerant Islam over all of Hindustan, while for Shivaji, it was the idea of freedom, of self-rule-freedom from the shackles of hunger, fiefdom, poverty, pillage and bloodshed, of deliverance from ‘a world riddled with cruelty, religious conflicts and mindless carnage’.

parts of the world, give presentations to important opinion leaders, travel, and drive new cars. It was a great life (stressful and disciplined too), but I decided to retire early and come back to India to look after my aging and lonely parents-the decision I will never ever regret, since my boys had also become independent. Coming back to India gave me the opportunity to care for my parents and also the time to write books. First I missed the money, the cars, the speed-I drove those machines on the fab roads-lifestyle, and my business suits. I also missed the marketing meetings and office interactions. Back in India it seemed like a drastically different and glamour-less life, but I have developed a taste for it now-like wine. And after seeing my mother, I am the happiest person on earth and one of my books in the bestsellers list and selected for the Raymond Crossword book awards in two categories as well as getting translated in different languages, I am sure I have done the right thing. Not

The story deals with 17th century Hindustan, in particular, the Deccan. It is the story of the birth and rise of Shivaji, his transformation from a mere son of a jagirdar, into the crusader Author of swaraj. It is the story of Aurangzeb, his passage from being Medha Deshmukh one among a crew of princes Bhaskaran and the least favoured at thatto the unscrupulous scheming Title that enabled him to become the Frontiers emperor.

Publisher The plot plays out like a game of chess. On the one hand, Penguin Books Aurangzeb, as one of the Mughal Pages princes and subhedar of the 483 Deccan wants the region under Shia Qutbshahi and Adilshahi Price rule to come under direct Mughal `399 rule. On the other hand is Shivaji, the ‘man from the mountains’ who methodically targets the low hanging fruit first-forts and regions around his jagir that have flawed oversight or complacent or incompetent overlords. He identifies the chinks in the armour and masterfully conquers region after region, fort after fort, bastion after bastion-Purandar, Jawali, Junnar, Konkan, Surat. Stalwarts after stalwarts from Fatte Khan, Afzal Khan, Shaista Khan, Kartalab Khan, Siddi Jauhar, all fall prey to Shivaji and his men’s indubitable strategy, quick thinking and valour.

It brings alive the saga of the devious and bloody path taken by Aurangzeb, strewn as it was by the relentless and diabolic decimation of each of the ‘threats’ to his throne, be it rebelling kings or his own kith and kin, his brothers,

nephews, even his father. It is also the story of Shivaji’s encounters with the stalwarts of the Mughal and Adilshahi reign, the slow but inexorable events that led to Shivaji gaining forts and territory one by one, his eventual faltering in the face of the enormous Mughal military might, his face-off with Aurangzeb, and his stunning escape.

Medha brings out the circumstances under which Shivaji emerged, the audacity of a ‘rebel’, an ‘ordinary native’ to challenge the Mughal rulers who already have half of India under their direct rule.

She brings out the events as they might have emerged, engineered in part by Shivaji

to forget hundreds of emails from young Indians saying that my books inspire them.

Tell us a bit about the book ‘Prescription of Life’ in which you have unravelled certain hard truths of the medical world...

‘Prescription of Life’ deals with the good, the bad and the ugly side of the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry and also my personal experiences. It tells people that India is known as the pharmacy of the world’ and medicines here are least expensive but (even then) half of us have no access to medicines. Several questions like this are answered, ‘Will any of us even get affordable and quality medicines in the future? Even if we do, will these medicines continue to effective?

If they stop working will we get new ones that work? Can India make the next gen medicines that treat hitherto non treatable diseases? What is going on under the name of Ayurveda? If

and his trusted band of warriors, as well as the decadence and cracks in the Qutb Shahi and Adilshahi rule that helped him gain ground. But all this gets a sense of realness in the Frontiers narrative..

Frontiers could well be a script for a film, the narration is so vivid-be it the description of the landscape and topography, the different forts, the run-up to the battles and the actual battle scenes, the conversations that might have happened among the lead characters, the intrigues, reasoning and strategies, even the treachery and tragedy that surrounds the last days of Emperor Shah Jahan and the disgrace of his final, unsung, unheroic journey. All very dramatic, yet real.

As is the characterisation. Each character in the plot evolves. The thoughts, fears, anxieties and insecurities that play in the minds of each of these characters make them what they are.

The immense research that has gone into the writing of Frontiers–through eighteen long years, as the author herself confesses-is evident in the way she brings alive even the landscape and topography of each spot she describes.

It makes you feel you are actually on the site. You feel the stealth and darkness of the thick forests surrounding Purandar fort in the maiden battle between Shivaji and Muse Khan’s men, you feel the danger that lies in the steep and treacherous Tailbaila and Radathodi ghats, you feel the heat of the northern plains as Shivaji and his men advance towards Agra to meet Aurangzeb following his defeat at the hands of Mirza Raja Jai Singh, and the palpable sense of fear and treachery in emperor Aurangzeb’s court that hangs thick and threatening…

It is a classic you can read and re-read.

China refuses to supply us with raw material-what happens? Are we getting the right medicines through legitimate prescriptions we so blindly trust?

What kind of games do MNCs play? What really happens when deadly diseases strike? How are medicines invented? What kind of nexus exists between hospitals, pharmaceuticals, governments and doctors? And much more.

It is easy to give advice when you have two great publishers backing you-one Penguin India and another, The Write Place-the publishing wing of Crossword Bookstores. Nonetheless, my sincere advice would be 1) make a great query letter (it may take months-to write all info. in one page), big and small synopsis, blurb, sample chapters, and your bio. 2) Try for a good literary agent but never pay him/ her fees upfront for repairing the manuscript.

3) Try not to pay and publish. 4) Improve your manuscript all the time. 5) Do not jump at the first offer from an unknown publisher – find out about their distribution. And talk to authors published by them.

With your experience in the field of writing, give us an overview of the publishing industry in India.

Is the author at an advantage or disadvantage?

What is the philosophy of life that you live by?

Never do injustice and never suffer from one - fight back. vinitapune@gmail.com December 1-15, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 41

TÊTE-À-TÊTE

Machines will never replace Humans A visiting faculty at IIMs specialising in Human Resource Management and Marketing Management, Sahil Nayar, a Human Capital Leader working at a leading professional services firm in the country, believes that we need to be agile to be relevant and that is the only way to thrive in today’s times. In an interview with Corporate Citizen he shares his ideas on how the HR will stay relevant in this rapidly changing times By Vineet Kapshikar Tell us how you started your career.

Many people say that their careers happened by default or by careful planning and execution, as cliché as it may sound, I was always looking out for a space, essentially a white space, where there are really few good people, so it becomes far more easier to make your mark.

I passed my Board examinations with 85%, and in one of my conversation with my father, who is a dentist, I remarked, ‘I want to become like you, because there is so much respect for doctors and I also want to be a dentist just like you are’. He mentioned one thing which was not just thought provoking but also life defining for me. He said, ‘If you choose science as your career then you will be among the bottom of the class but, if you choose commerce then you will be with the top among the batch. So what is that you want to do?’ That conversation got me thinking. I thought on his advice and I went on to do my Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS), from H.R. College of Commerce and Economics and then completed my Masters’ in HR from University of Mumbai followed by a degree in law (LLB) as well.

I started my first job post my 10th standard examinations. At that time I wanted to earn my own pocket money, so that I could buy gadgets for myself. I was a gadget enthusiast and whenever there was any new technology or a new gadget in the market, I wanted to buy it but more importantly with my own money. I used to study and do a part-time job. Today, life has changed so much with the competition in the telecom space but those were the days when I used to sell sim cards for `100 each.

Later, I went on to work for an equity research firm helping them with their business development whilst pursuing my studies from HR College. That’s when the teaching bug bit me as well and I started teaching. As I did my Master’s in Human Resources I would teach graduate students, progressing to teaching Part Time MBA students post my Masters. By the time I completed my MBA, recession had hit India. I will never forget three people in my life who got me a job at that point in time-Mr. Vidyadhar Kulkarni-my placement coordinator who put my candidature through to the company, Mr. Pujit Aggarwal-the CEO and Mr. Rakesh Raina-the then Head of HR to have found me worthy. While my peers struggled, I landed myself a job. A year and a half with that real estate firm having dirtied my hands, I moved to a very different domain of suits and ties-consulting. It has been almost eight years since then at this organisation and there has been no looking back since then.

If you look at the earlier corporate scenario and the current corporate scenario what are the changes you witnessed when you started your HR journey?

I have experienced significant and numerous changes but one thing that has been constant is the entire credibility that HR is trying to battle with. Today, everybody talks about Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, Internet of Things (IoT) and so on. In the various marketing conferences that I have attended, I have never came across anyone talking whether marketing is relevant, is it adding value, etc. No one talks about it. Today, everyone is talking 42 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

about how HR will no longer exist in few years. I don’t understand why there is a debate on the existence of HR and the value that HR brings in. AI will bring in the technology part but the human touch, the emotion aspect will always be there. For example, if you lost your credit card, would you be interested in talking to a machine, which will say don’t worry, your credit card has been blocked or would you prefer talking to a human being? It is that social angle that gives so much of comfort and reliability. I don’t think that the human touch would be replaced by machines. Machines will only help us to improve the efficiency of our work, but not replace human beings. The question changes if robots aided by machine learning on the other end of the call, start talking and responding like humans.

Over the years you might have dealt with multiple generations of employees, old employees followed by millennials. Tell us about differences you find between old generation and millennials and how do you deal with them.

Millennials are digital natives, technology comes naturally to them. But the older generation people have to adapt to the newer technologies and keep themselves updated on the run. Their generation used to visit temples, this generation plays Temple Run on their phones. My friend’s six-monthold son will not eat his breakfast unless he has an iPad in his hand. Today, all the games are not played on playgrounds but are played on smartphones. The newer generation is that technologically inclined. That is one generation, on the other hand there is another generation who are in their 50’s - 70’s, they have so much knowledge, so much experience but they might not be best at articulating and the youngsters of today who don’t have patience are not able to understand what they are trying to say. The ability is to manage this multigenerational workforce together and leverage on

Today, everyone is talking about how HR will no longer exist in few years. I don’t understand why there is a debate on the existence of HR and the value that HR brings in. AI will bring in the technology part but the human touch, will always be there each other’s strengths so the organisation can thrive. To my mind, respect is key. Learning agility keeping aside, the ego always allows room for improvement.

Pics: Yusuf Khan

Nowadays there is a need of digitisation of HR, and digitisation is in its early phase. How did you keep yourself updated, be relevant to the current trends in HR and what is your advice to freshers?

I think two key skills are needed. Firstly, the ability to know what will come and hit you, few years down the line. I think we don’t do enough of that—thinking of the future and the road we are on, how it will affect the manner in which we are doing business today. We cannot predict what sort of chalDecember 1-15, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 43

TÊTE-À-TÊTE grammes, since they are less controlled by the government regulations they can take decisions on their own. I think corporate India needs to play its role to bridge the gap. A lot of organisations have their employees who visit certain colleges and tell the colleges this is what we want you to cover as part of syllabus. I advise numerous educational institutes on their teaching pedagogy, what are the skillsets of today, what are we hiring for and therefore how should they prepare the students who will be industry ready. During this process, as students are part of the journey, we are helping them to be ready, the moment they step out of the college, we are waiting to absorb them. We need to co-create the talent of tomorrow, today.

As far as social media knowledge is concerned, how important is social media nowadays?

We cannot predict what sort of challenges will be coming our way after three months or three years. We are not able to predict the future with reasonable amount of certainty lenges will be coming our way after three months or three years. We are not able to predict the future with reasonable amount of certainty. Because of that, all our responses are reactive, they are situational. They are not proactive. Secondly, we as humans are not very agile, we operate through our comfort zones and not through the adventure zone. The adventure zone is always out of the comfort zone. When you are on a cliff, there are two chances, either you come back when it is very slippery or take-off when it is the time to take-off. What I am trying to say is, somewhere you need to understand what the future is like and ask a question to yourself that are you experiencing tomorrow-today. For an HR function, are they able to understand how is retention happening, how loyalty is changing, why are people leaving organisations every two to three years, what is an inherent need of an employee and how are you going to fulfil that need. If you are not able to get that pulse and develop what I call a stickiness factor, what is the point of HR analytics, it will give you just the data and at best information and information on analysis will give you insights. The question is how you will use that insight to get to the stage of being predictive. You should be able to say, this is the current trend in the market and I think in the next three months this is going to happen and say it with conviction. And when that happens, the entire boardroom will listen to you. That is how one builds credibility.

Is there a gap between what industry requires and what academia are grooming students for?

I significantly believe that there is a gap, for two to three reasons. First, curriculum is not regularly updated, from a university perspective. For deemed universities or PG pro44 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

I think social media knowledge is extremely important, consider your target audience, they are not sitting at an employment exchange, where two-three decades ago our parents used to go and submit one page CV to say if any opening comes up, let us know. Life has changed, organisations have moved to social media, and a lot of hiring, apart from hiring partners, internal job referrals, a significant part of the recruitment pie comes from social media. Social media is all about here and now. Today, it is no longer the time where only employers are choosing employees, talented employees are also choosing employers. An organisation’s Employer Brand is being rated consistently. How does the Employee Value Proposition stand against its competitors is also equally important.

Millennials are into job-hopping, as an HR how do you deal with such a situation?

I think we need to spend enough time to understand what triggers them. Millennials are not eccentric, they have a reason for doing things, and I think we need to identify those triggers. For them organisations need to mirror society and when that doesn’t happen in more cases then they would like or so to say cross their tolerance level they go searching greener pastures. My favourite example here is the Mobile Phone face recognition. If they can unlock their phone through the retina in their eye, why do they have to key in a complicated password with a numeric, special character and minimum number of characters to unlock their computers-more importantly keep changing it periodically. vineetkapshikar@gmail.com

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tadka India masters rocket science India recently, launched a communication satellite with its heaviest rocket and the new space mission is expected to serve the communication needs of people in the remote areas of the country. The rocket lifted off with a 3,423 kg GSAT-29 satellite, heaviest in Indian history. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chief K Sivan said, “It is an important milestone for the Indian Space Programme towards achieving self-reliance in launching heavier satellites.”

Corporate Trend Sukhdeep Aurora Chief People Officer, ANAROCK Property Consultants

How to make the open office plan work

The best companies attract the best talent, but the best talent also knows its value and will always have its sights on even better opportunities. One of the primary means of improving employee productivity is by providing an enabling workplace environment. Adopting an open office plan can be one of the best ways of achieving this

T

he fact that the best talent will be the most productive is more or less a given-that’s why they are the best.

A company’s most productive employees will bring personal accountability and ownership to their work, so they know that their productivity is closely interlinked with their own career growth within the firm.

However, it goes without saying that an organisation must also do everything it can to foster not only employee productivity but also satisfaction and a sense of being valued, and ‘belonging’. One of the primary means of doing this is by providing an enabling workplace environment. Adopting an open office plan can be one of the best ways of achieving this.

Open offices have their detractors and, in many individual cases, some of the objections do have merit. However, it is also true that when an open office fails to yield the desired results and even result in decreased productivity, it is not because of a flawed concept but because of faulty implementation.

Without a doubt, the worst mistakes a company considering the adoption of an open office workplace environment are applying a cookie-cutter approach and not factoring in the specific needs of their business and employees.

Getting the Equation Right Getting the open office equation right helps employees to feel unrestricted and simultaneously encourages productive interactions. Getting it wrong results in demotivated, unenthusiastic and downright resentful employees.

In the first place, it is important to understand that open office may not be the best model for every type of business. For instance, employees of software companies—particularly those focused on the gaming and KPO verticals and banking firms may not necessarily thrive in such an environment.

However, the open office plan is ideal for

companies whose business model is essentially consultative and collaborative. The consulting aspect is not merely an outward function related to clients, but also an inward-focused dynamic involving the free exchange of knowledge and

information. The open office plan works precisely in this manner—it encourages interaction, teamwork and the free flow of information.

These are critical ingredients for success in a real estate consultancy.

Essential success ingredients A company must ensure that the adoption of the open office plan does not involve congested pockets but a due level of personal space. Simply jamming large populations together without any particular plan, merely to yield as many workspaces as possible, is rarely anything but counter-productive.

The plan must be a welcoming one, and for

46 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

this, spaciousness and the right facilities for different functions to deliver on their assigned work are de rigueur.

At the same time, provisions need to be made for closed spaces to enable fruitful focus teamwork. Open seating spaces need to be complemented with breakout rooms for smaller team meetings and meetings with clients, as well as recreational areas. Another very essential aspect is the provision of sufficient close-door 'phone booths' integrated into the plan to enable an unhindered environment for important or confidential calls.

Another aspect that must be factored in is that different teams have different ways of working optimally. For instance, a research team needs a certain degree of privacy as the research process is intensely academic and often also involves confidential data.

Transaction teams, on the other hand, must invariably work in close conjunction with each other—especially in the case of multi-platform mandates, which require the involvement of several different teams.

From 'Closed' to 'Open' -Overcoming Change Resistance The open office plan requires a change of mind-set for everyone coming from a background of traditional office setups. The senior leadership must lead by example by being the first and quickest to adapt. Many new firms today began with the open office plan. However, many employees, including senior managemen tend to come from a traditional office environment.

Throwing everyone into the water and assuming that they will swim because there is no other option is not the right way of approaching the inevitable change resistance. It is important that the company creates sufficient awareness about the undoubted benefits of the open office layout.

The HR team can achieve much of this task at the time of recruitment, and this would be an ongoing process in a constantly growing firm. Simultaneously, the organisation must ensure that the open office plan remains inherently flexible.

The idea should not be to enforce a rigid system but to create a wholesome, dynamic work environment which can change according to evolving needs.

(The author Sukhdeep Aurora, is Chief People Officer, at ANAROCK Property Consultants)

Unsung Heroes-15 “Let no one be discouraged by the belief that there is nothing, one person can do against the enormous array of the world’s ills, misery, ignorance and violence. Few will have the greatness to bend history, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events. And in the total of all those acts will be written the history of a generation.”

—Robert F. Kennedy

S

he was working as an editor in Bengaluru, a very interesting and cushy deskjob. She has penned opinion pieces for top-notch publications in India like Tehelka and The Hindustan Times and is a familiar name to those on India’s twitter verse. Her understanding of sports, be it cricket, football or Formula 1-one can put sports-writers to shame while her deep interest in everything, from human rights issues and politics to films, music and books, makes her ideal girl.

Boys love her and girls want to be like her!

It was in the autumn of 2008 that she read of some disturbing news from her hometown back in Kashmir. She recalls, “It was a terrible few hours, I was constantly on the phone with my family checking on the situation there, and hearing things that seemed far more real than my laptop and corner spot at work.” This prompted her to re-examine her life and priorities. She needed to see change happen since

­— I decided the very next day I was quitting the city life and heading home where I could help the family and the trust we were running in Doda. Once I made up my mind, it was an easy step off the cliff.

I just packed and left - Sabbah Haji ­ —

Back to

Kashmir

Super-girl, Sabbah Haji jumped off the corporate bandwagon and quit the city life, to start Haji Public School in terror prone areas of Kashmir, nurturing hope for school dropouts

things were falling apart in Kashmir too often.

She couldn’t afford to be in her comfort zone any longer.

She jumped off the corporate bandwagon.

Sabbah described her state of mind, “I felt I should be with my parents. I felt there were far more relevant things I should be doing back home, instead of ambling along comfortably in a city far away, earning and spending in a lather-rinse-repeat cycle, month after month.”

“I decided the very next day I was quitting

the city life and heading home where I could help the family and the trust we were running in Doda. Once I made up my mind, it was an easy step off the cliff. I just packed and left,” she adds. Without further ado, let me present the inimitable Sabbah Haji!

It’s not easy reaching Breswana, a tiny piece of heaven in Jammu and Kashmir. A 10-hour drive from Jammu to Doda and then a fivehour trek across the mountains and you reach the village that houses Haji Public School, set up

48 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

by Sabbah Haji. She spent the next few months setting up Haji Public School (HPS). From two rooms of her father Saleem Haji’s home in May 2009, HPS today has its own building and nearly 200 children on its rolls, besides two branches, in Parsholla and Shadiwan. Sabbah raises funds through social media sites and invites volunteers to teach at her school that has seen no dropouts in the past five years. In this terror-prone part of Kashmir, Sabbah is nurturing hope.

For Sabbah, the all-round supergirl who runs the Haji Public School in Jammu & Kashmir, the list of engagements is unending. From training youth in the village to teaching, structuring the syllabus, choosing the furniture, to getting

certified by the education board – Sabbah did it all, to set up the Haji Public School!

Besides her work in the mountains of Doda, she finds time for social work, reading and, of course, net surfing.

When asked whether the sudden decision to return from Bengaluru was right, she said, “I am satisfied and there is so much more to do. I like my people. I love those kids a lot. They make everything worthwhile. They’re smart, sharper than any kids I’ve seen before, and they have so much potential, and the fact that we’re giving them some way to use that brilliance and improve on it, well that’s what keeps me here. I also really like the village life. It’s simple, it’s pure and most importantly, I deal with real people every day. I also like the quiet lifestyle we have in Jammu. I have no craving for the city life or a 9 to 5 work routine. There is nothing to tempt me back, really.”

Talking about her routine, she said, “I step into a class for inspection and see the kids doing well, or going as per plan. I love interacting with them and having a little crazy fun. I am also very proud of our hometrained teaching staff. We’ve employed local boys and girls as teachers in our school.

They are from that previous generation of badly educated kids that did not really know anything. We chose our staff, trained them thoroughly from basic reading and writing up, put them to the job, and they’re doing wonderfully well. I love seeing their improvement always. So, a very happy day for me is when the kids are doing well and the teachers are doing better” she adds.

Recalling her initial days in establishing the school, she said, “When we started our first elementary school in the village, it was tough-going in the initial few days. But soon we started seeing an almost surprising level of improvement. By the end of the first year, we knew we were on the right track. The kids were doing wonderfully well, the parents were happy, and we were very excited about the change that was taking place in front of our eyes”.

The area Breswana is very backward, and re-

­— I love those kids a lot. They make everything worthwhile. They’re smart, sharper than any kids I’ve seen before, and they have so much potential, and the fact that we’re giving them some way to use that brilliance and improve on it, well that’s what keeps me here - Sabbah Haji ­ — mote. The tardy public education system, terrible mis-governance and corrupt administrations over the past few decades and years of militancy created a generation of near illiterate ‘students’ and youth. Haji Public School has generated a lot of employment in the area. Apart from teachers, administrative and ministerial staff, jobs have also been created for construction workers and transport staff. That’s quite fulfilling.

Talking about the inspiration and support for establishing the school, Sabbah put her parents first and foremost. “The main person behind the whole enterprise is my uncle Nasir Haji.

Everything comes to a standstill without his direction and guidance. And then there’s the Haji Trust, under whom the school runs. Basically, we’re all one big happy family working in unison,” she adds.

(The above story is featured in “Real Inspiring Stories” ISBN 978-81-8430-2905 by Maj Pradeep Khare

(pradeepkhare2011@gmail.com). It is published

by Prabhat Publications, New Delhi.)

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tadka

US China trade war to benefit Indian maize, cotton and oilseeds The trade war between the US and China could actually prove to be a boon for Indian oilseed meal, cotton and maize producers. With China imposing new tariffs of up to 25% on 106 US products, India, the second-largest exporter of cotton and maize after the US, can benefit, observed traders and analysts.

December 1-15, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 49

Loved & Married too

Gagandeep and Manu are both travel buffs and enjoy road trips to different destinations

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

M

By Kalyani Sardesai

arried for all of three years, this is the first posting nevertheless that Major Gagandeep Kaur and Lt. Commander Manu Sharma (both 30) are sharing together. Little wonder because she’s an Army officer, while he’s in the Navy and both these careers are known to have their own independent trajectories. “In fact, I am expecting my next posting soon,” says the effervescent Gagan. “I don’t know when we will be together after that.”

But that’s how it is going to be for some time and they are both unanimous and proud of their choices. While they’ve been married for only a bit, their friendship dates back to 2004 when they were both pursuing their respective diplomas in engineering in Chandigarh. He’s half Haryanvi, from a family of doctors, while she’s a sardarni from a third gen army home.

“We used to share an auto to college and that’s how we got talking. In fact, I was the one who introduced him to a friend of mine. They broke up within a month though,” she grins.

None of that got in the way of their friendship, which simply went from one level to the next-all the way from diploma to degree college. She completed her engineering in IT while he pursued electronics and an M.Tech after that.

“While I always planned to join the army, he wished to pursue a career in research and academics and go abroad to do his PHD,” shares Gagan. But as it were, Gagan’s late father-a proud fauji himself, had one ardent wish: to see his daughter married to someone from the forces. “That’s how he decided to join the Navy,” she

Fauji couple Major Gagandeep Kaur and her significant half Lt. Commander Manu Sharma on what it means to be officers of the Indian Armed Forces as well as husband and wife. Both their careers demand time and postings away from each other, but since this is a relationship rooted in common values and a long courtship, distance isn’t a problem

Love in uniform, an enduring choice 50 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

says. “It was a big decision then but it worked out well for both of us.”

In 2015, both wed with the blessings of their parents.

The building blocks of a marriage

She’s always been a bold and decisive girl. Someone who has the courage to speak her mind and do what she feels is right” —Manu Sharma

Both Gagan and Manu are opposite personalities, chalk and cheese, so to speak. She’s outgoing, friendly and talkative. He’s a man of few words and long silences-not to forget plenty of patience. Together, they are a fine unit.

Besides, both are expressive about what they love most about each other.

“Marriage is not just about “I would say his finest quality is his maturity. respecting the person but also He’s a great advisor not just to me but to both supporting their dreams” our families. He’s balanced and sees all sides of the situation,” she says. “What’s more, he’s all financially savvy, so that kind of keeps me at ease.”

On his part, Manu appreciates his wife for her unconventional ways. “She’s always been a bold and decisive girl. Someone who has the courage to speak her mind and do what she feels is right,” he says. “Quite the tomboy in college, she has always been this dynamic personality and I really admire that about her.

She’s independent with a mind of her own and that’s something I would not want to change about her. While she can be as fun-loving and girly as the next young woman, she can switch in no time to being this responsible person, comThe pletely capable of taking charge families, time together is that marriage is essential as is the need to undermantras of the situation.” much sweeter. “We appreciate stand and respect what one’s partner wants in of a Sure, life in the forces is no each other better,” says Gagan. life as well. “You can’t impose things on the othcakewalk-considering both are Making it a point to make the er; things don’t work that way,” he says. marriage serving officers in their own right. most of their time together, they For the moment, life is hectic but happy and But they make it a point to partichave recently started working out. both are committed careerists. So, no they haRespecting each ipate in each other’s life wherever “Shared goals, and common pasven’t had ‘The Talk’ yet. “But we are both firm other’s dreams possible. “When I attend the parsions give you something to talk about the fact that now is not the time for chil ties in the Navy with him, there’s about,” she says. While he’s the dren. She has her responsibilities and I have Space a lot of curiosity about the army good cook, she’s happy to assist. mine. Besides, both of us need to explore op and how things work there. There Little things add up to the big portunities and life to the fullest,” he rounds off.

Trust is a deep sense of camaraderie picture. “He is also a passionkalyani.sardesai@gmail.com

and mutual respect between the ate biker and driver and we do a Making the officers of the forces,” she says. lot of riding/driving to different most of time Despite the cons, the fauji, as places. Last year we did Mumbai CC together they refer to the armed forces has to Bhutan by car as both of us love several pros to it. For one, being driving. It was an awesome expean officer herself, Gagan’s personrience,” she says. ality is not reigned in by her gender. SecondConflict management is an important part of ly, the atmosphere is cosmopolitan-exposing any relationship and there’s no wishing it away. both young minds to assorted situations and “We both have different triggers. While Gagan different backgrounds. “Amidst all this trust gets angry pretty quickly, it takes me time to Bengaluru has the third highest number of is a major factor,” says Manu. “We both travel get mad. But we both make it a point not to tech startups among global cities, and the separately, and often party by ourselves. Comlet things escalate beyond a point. In fact, one first two in the list are Silicon Valley and plete faith in one’s partner, as well as their ability trick that always works for us is to introduce London, a Nasscom report launched on and judgment when it comes to taking care of the third party element. Either we go out, or Thursday said. India continues to hold its position as the third largest startup ecosysthemselves-is essential. I know for a fact that call someone over and let things be for the motem, with 1,200 tech startups emerging in Gagan is a strong lady and can handle herself, ment. After a while, things cool down on their 2018, taking the total to between 7,200 and come what may.” own,” smiles Manu.

7,700.

Thirdly, since they are both away from their Having said that, he would say space in a

tadka

Bengaluru has 3rd most startups globally

December 1-15, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 51

Campus Placement

Striving for perfection, the mantra for success

Born in Delhi, brought up in Pune and now working with Deloitte as a Tax Consultant in Hyderabad, is the journey Reva Shree Baniya made. All along, she followed her father’s example in striving hard to attain perfection, and that helped her succeed...

By Joe Williams

R

eva did her schooling up to XII Std. at Bishop’s co-ed school, Pune and later went to St. Mira’s College for her graduation in Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA).

Daughter of Dharmender Kumar, a mechanical engineer with Adient, Pune, and mother Deepa Baniya, a higher secondary school teacher at Eon Gyanankur School, Pune, she also has a younger sister, Surbhi who is studying Physiotherapy in Pune. It has been around this family

“Literature, I feel is the mirror of life. It makes you more understanding and the deepest meaning of life lies in literature” 52 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

circle that Reva’s life revolved and she treasures all this. Her parents supported her every decision and guided her throughout. The main driving force has been her father, as he always strived for perfection in everything. And this was her mantra too for success.

Early life…

It was a fun and a carefree childhood for Reva.

She grew up with friends, playing in the garden until her feet turned sore and she could barely walk back home. But life turned serious when she walked into college for her graduation. And the “Student of the Year” award changed her life for good. Literature had been her favourite subject which remains so even till today, as she says, “Literature, I feel is the mirror of life. It makes

you more understanding and the deepest meaning of life lies in literature.”

She was an average student in school, an extreme introvert and kept entirely to herself through school. It was in college that she realised her self-confidence, and took full advantage to become pro-active in extracurricular activities and realised her potential for public speaking.

“This art of being able to express myself clearly helps me the most in my career today,” says she.

Recalling Campus Placement…

She had to face a battery of tests before being found fit for Deloitte. It all started with the briefing about the company with regard to work profile, package, etc., followed by the different tests.

The process comprised of three elimination rounds-of spoken English, comprehension capabilities and finally MS Excel (shortcuts, formulae, etc.). Upon clearing these tests, Reva got the ticket for the all-important interview round.

Thanks to the college, Reva was one among many to face the interview. “The preparation for the interview rounds began extensively. My friends played a major role in motivating me and keeping me abreast with the latest knowledge in the financial arena.”

“The judgement day finally dawned and with high aspirations, I reached the designated place well before time. It started with the HR round which was very basic in nature, such as with questions about oneself, hobbies and why one preferred Deloitte.” Reva was good in the interview, so unlike others who were informed a little later of clearing this round, the HR personnel told her to go to the next round–technical round. “To my surprise, the technical round seemed like an HR round yet again, the questions asked were very generic and the interviewer made it less intimidating, which was good,” recalls Reva. She was questioned on her knowledge of basic accounting, and was told to elaborate on her summer internship project. Then Reva made it to the final round, the ‘Leadership Round’.

Clearing the rounds with ease boosted Reva’s morale and made her more confident than before. The last round of the interview was conducted by an interviewer who was from US and it was his first campus placement experience in India. He was excited and also very happy with the standards of knowledge and confidence that he’d seen during the course of the day, said Reva.

Being the first person to appear for the interview is a disadvantage, as he/she has to wait for everyone to finish, and it was so for Reva, and the most nerve-wracking part of the day.

“We were finally called into the meeting room–at around 8 pm our names were called out. The memory of that one moment still lingers on and makes me excited till date! Then began the ritual of calling family and loved ones

Reva with her family

“Getting into this company (Deloitte) as a fresher right out of college is an advantage, as we are like fresh mud and can be moulded easily as per the company’s desired requirement. Also, the enthusiasm to learn new things will keep us motivated and in turn, keep us innovative in our thought process” to share this news with them. It is indeed one of the most sought-after placement procedures as you are evaluated in every aspect and then deemed fit for the job and the company.”

Apart from other perks, working with Deloitte as a Tax Consultant in Hyderabad is the biggest perk in itself. “Getting into this company as a fresher right out of college is an advantage as we are like fresh mud and can be moulded easily as per the company’s desired requirement,” says Reva. “Also, the enthusiasm to learn new things will keep us motivated and in turn, keep us innovative in our thought process.”

With parents and friends around her, Reva never felt out of place during the entire process, and optimism was at its peak during that crucial period. Being hired in one of the biggest companies is a major accomplishment in itself, but that is just the beginning, as one has to prove worthy at work which is a greater challenge. It has been one year so far for Reva with the company, and every day is a learning one for her.

Happiest moment…

Buying gifts for family and friends with her first salary was the happiest time in her life, and staying positive, believing everything will fall in place and that everything happens for the best,

is what is life is all about, says Reva.

Five tricks for success…

• Be patient, this too shall pass • Hard work never goes in vain • There’s always a silver lining • Stay optimistic • Never lose yourself in the rat race Joe78662@gmail.com

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World’s largest recruitment drive Indian Railways is organising one of its mammoth recruitment drive, which will be world’s largest such recruitment drive till now. The Indian Railways is India’s biggest employer, with 1.3 million people in its workforce that keeps one of the world’s biggest railway networks running.

The Railways is hiring for 1.2 lakh jobs, and applications are flooding in from across the country.

December 1-15, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 53

Mobile apps

Foldable Display Smartphones In 2007, Apple introduced the iPhone, which was the single biggest digital revolution in the 21st century, and created what we call the modern smartphone. Since then, smartphones have evolved, but there hasn’t been an earth-shattering revolution in smartphone technology. Until now, that is. The next big breakthrough in smartphone tech is the foldable display. Foldable displays allow you to carry a tablet size smartphone simply by folding it and keeping it in your pocket. You get all the benefits of a larger screen on a much smaller form factor. This issue, we bring you the world’s first commercially made Foldable Display Smartphones By Neeraj Varty Royole FlexPai Royole FlexPai, which debuted in Beijing in October, is a phone-tablet hybrid that features a flexible screen. Already available for developers in China, the FlexPai will be consumer-ready by December. The phone features a bendable 7.8-inch AMOLED screen that's made out of flexible plastic and has a 1440p resolution.

Running along the back of the FlexPai is a hinge, where you can bend the device in half as if you're closing a book. You can leave it bent and propped up, or close it altogether, wherein it'll snap together with embedded magnets. When it's closed, it functions as any standard phone would, and depending on what side of the screen you hold it by, you can navigate on a screen with either a 16:8 or 16:9 aspect ratio. The FlexPai runs an OS called Water and it's layered on top of Google Android 9.0. Whichever way you choose to hold or bend the device, the screen adjusts to the many different orientations and viewing options. The FlexPai costs $1,318 for the 6GB of RAM/128GB variant and $1,469 for the 8GB of RAM/256GB version.

Samsung Galaxy X Samsung just revealed the Galaxy X its first foldable screen smartphone, which opens clamshell-style and flattens out for a tablet-size display. The Infinity Flex Display, as the tech is called, is an entirely new direction for Samsung smartphones. It's a clamshell design that can be unfolded to provide you with a big tablet screen, or folded down to more of a smartphone size. The expansive 7.3-inch Infinity Flex Display unfurls without a hint of a crease or a fold down the centre of the OLED. This tablet-like display will offer more screen real estate for Galaxy X owners to bingewatch the latest season on Netflix, read a chapter of the latest page-turner in the Kindle app, flick through photographs, or

54 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

enjoy a frantic mobile game. When the 7.3-inch screen is safely folded away, protecting it from scratches. Galaxy X owners can revert to the smaller 4.6-inch screen, which Samsung refers to as the "Cover Display", to quickly interact with their device – like sending a text message, or answering an incoming call. As users switch between the Cover Display and the 7.3-inch foldable screen, apps will jump between the two display sizes in the same state you left them. There is no fingerprint scanner anywhere to be seen in the video, which suggests the sensor will be embedded beneath the glass display. The price of the Samsung Galaxy X could reach nearly $2000, as it is a first generation revolutionary technology, which is yet to be mass marketed.

Trend

‘Liquid Gold’

banks raise hope for working mums

Coinciding with the annual ‘Newborn Care Week’ in India, celebrated between November 15th to 21st, Corporate Citizen checks on the idea of human milk banks that have been slowly mushrooming in urban zones, their existence since and how women are gradually adopting these for their weaning requirements.

Human milk banks could be a boon for working mothers who often quit post-motherhood as a result of nuclear family systems and related difficulty in maintaining sound weaning schedules, as one such issue

By Sangeeta Ghosh Dastidar

B

engaluru-based paediatrician, Soumya Medamatha, who is also a donor of human breast milk, is associated with city’s first public human milk bank, ‘Amaara’, an initiative in line with the World Health Organization (WHO) Millennium Development Goals of reducing Infant Mortality rate. On how she got inspired to be part of the initiative, Soumya said, “Knowing how important mother’s milk is to the baby made me realise that when I have excess milk I did not want to waste it. I had seen many mothers unable to feed their babies,

so when I thought about it I felt that donating my milk will save babies, which is a better way to say that I too care about kids other than to just treat them when they are ill. I wish I could inspire more mothers like me to come forward to donate the liquid gold for the babies in need.”

Human Milk Banking Gains Momentum

The National Neonatal Forum (NNF) Karnataka and Neonatologists across the city have lately come forward in their support to this

56 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

(Amaara’s) initiative. I request to spread the word and motivate many more lactating mothers to come forward to donate any excess breast milk to help these vulnerable preemies,” said Sreenath Manikanti, Head Neonatology, Fortis La Femme, Bengaluru. He was speaking at the milk bank’s first anniversary that was supported by donor and recipients’ mothers and their willingness to donate milk and saving some 176 precious lives.

Indian history and mythology have had references to wet nurses; so, what’s the big deal with

donor human milk banks in modern times?

Milk banks collect donated human milk, ensure the safety and quality of this milk collected and provide human breast milk to all premature and critically-ill babies. In fact, working new mothers dealing with lactation issues are gradually breaking cultural taboos and accessing these banks either to receive or donate their ‘liquid gold’ for infant care, especially if they intend getting back to work.

Human milk banks although not a new concept, is scarce. Despite Asia’s first milk bank being set up in Mumbai in 1989, 2017 data states the existence of not more than 40 odd milk banks in India. In September 2016, the state government of Rajasthan set up breast milk banks in 10 of their district hospitals, with a total of 13 banks, Maharashtra with 12 and Tamil Nadu with 10 milk banks has set the momentum for more.

Shwetha Kamath, a milk bank recipient and her triplets

Raising Hope for New Age Mums

three weeks and by the time they were discharged The nuclear shift in family set-ups and womthey were healthy enough with the nutrition en’s aspirations to a work-life balance has infrom donor milk.” dicated that mothers do yearn for such human “All lactating mothers can donate their milk. milk banks. “I think, it could be really helpful Besides the strict screening for new age moms who process for diseases that have to manage family and we go through, there aren’t work singlehandedly. In my any other restrictions for case, I have an older child donating breast milk,” said at home. So, when weanSoumya. ing my new born (breast While doctors appreciate feeding) during the earthe idea, they feel that the ly months, I failed to pay cost incurred in managing proper attention towards milk banks far outweigh the my older one. Expressing demand in a country where milk is otherwise a solution family support is much but, then again, it is time stronger. Its cities like Benconsuming to wait a while galuru and Mumbai that has to express several times a seen spurts in demand where day making it practically women work long hours. difficult to resume full-time -Dr. Sreenath work. Milk banks could Manikanti, Head be a solution to all these Overcoming Glitches Neonatology, Fortis La post-delivery issues for “The demand for milk banks Femme, Bengaluru women to thread back their is not much prevalent in Kollives”, said Sanjukta Sarkar, kata as yet though some hosFormer Producer (News) pitals do run miniscule facilwith a prominent broadcast ities in emergency situations channel. for premature babies. Given the socio-economic nature, Shwetha Kamath, a milk there are few working wombank recipient said, “My baen who work extremely long bies were premature, triplets hours when compared to delivered at 31 weeks and those in Bengaluru or other weighed 1.5 kgs each. I did cities. Here, family support is not have enough breast milk largely responsible for helpto feed them all and was ing women in their weaning worried about their nutrischedules. Working women tion. Amaara milk bank was across strata would rather the God sent angel for me prefer to express their own and my babies. They were milk for consumption of in NICU (Neonatal ICU) for

I request to spread the word and motivate many more lactating mothers to come forward to donate any excess breast milk to help these vulnerable preemies

their babies. There is a lack of awareness and more so, the idea would deem offensive to many from the cultural aspect. The climatic conditions in Kolkata too is not suitable for the upkeep of such milk banks which need huge investments for scientific controls to keep the human milk at palatable standards,” said Nandita Saha, a Paediatrician, practicing in South Kolkata.

“It’s not like one can organise a breast milk donation drive (as one would for the collection of blood). Even though my mother was okay with me donating my milk, she has problems with me showing my bottled breast milk in public, she says that it should be wrapped in a cloth and that if anyone saw it, my breasts would not produce milk. It just shows how much of a taboo breast milk/feeding still is,” added Soumya. sangeetagd2010@gmail.com

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Garima Arora becomes first Indian woman to win a Michelin Star Mumbai born Chef Garima Arora who owns an Indo-Thai restaurant in Bangkok has become the first Indian woman to win a Michelin Star. The prestigious Michelin Guide that was started in the 1900s is a regulatory authority which allows customers to know which restaurants are worth dining. Reportedly, Chef Arora is a Le Cordon Bleu alumnus, who studied at Jai Hind College in Mumbai and has also worked as a journalist, before she decided to chase her dream of becoming a celebrated chef.

December 1-15, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 57

Survey

The Changing Nature of Employers & Employees 58 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

In 2018, organisations are witnessing seismic changes in the workforce, the workplace, and the technologies used in the world of work. Organisations are no longer assessed based only on traditional metrics, but also on the basis of their relationships with their workers, their customers, and their communities, as well as their impact on society at large. To understand the changes seen in corporations around the world, multinational professional services network Deloitte conducted the 2018 Global Human Capital Trends survey. Corporate Citizen brings you the results Compiled by Neeraj Varty

Methodology

11,000 business and HR leaders from across the globe were surveyed, and interviews were conducted with top corporate executives to prepare the report.

Freelancers on the rise

Respondents expect a substantial increase in their organisations’ use of contractors, freelancers, and gig workers over the next two years.

December 1-15, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 59

Survey Anticipated use of each labour type in 2020 relative to today Contractors

37%

46%

33%

Freelancers 26%

Gig workers Crowd workers

21%

52%

15%

56%

15%

62% Increase

Stay the same

16%

18%

Decrease

Globally, there are approximately 77 million formally identified freelancers in Europe, India, and the United States. In the United States, more than 40 per cent of workers are now employed in “alternative work arrangements,” such as contingent, part-time, or gig work. This percentage is steadily rising—increasing by 36 per cent in just the past five years.

A wide range of worker types TRADITIONAL

OPEN

Organisation-led

FULL/PART-TIME EMPLOYEES

Employee-led

JOINT VENTURES

CONTRACTORS

FREELANCERS

GIG WORKERS

CROWDS

The workforce ecosystem ranges from full-time workers to freelancers, gig workers, and crowds who focus on projects and tasks but may have little understanding of or interest in an organisation’s overall strategy. Organisations may expect these workers to be well-trained and ready to work, but in reality, they need support, guidance, and performance measures if an employer wants to optimize the entire mix.

The skills of the future may not be what you think

As technology advances, skills are becoming obsolete faster than ever. But—contrary to conventional wisdom—the greatest value now lies beyond purely technical skills. The most valuable roles are those that enable machines to pair with skilled, cross-disciplinary thinkers to innovate, create, and deliver services.

A disconnect between skills possessed and career paths taken Traditional skill development vs. non-traditional career paths 47% 28% Development aligns to defined career paths. . .

72% . . . but career paths are non-traditional

53%

Develop through experiences or collaborative learning

Non-traditional—do not follow organisational hierarchy

Develop for skills needed to advance in defined career paths

Traditional—progress through organisational hierarchy

60 =/ Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

Though nearly three-quarters of respondents indicate that career paths in their organisation are not based on a traditional organisational hierarchy, almost half still base their development programme on the skills needed for these defined paths.

Twenty per cent said that their organisations develop people through experiential learning, and just 18 per cent feel they give employees the ability to actively develop themselves and chart new pathways for their careers. More than half of the respondents (54 per cent) said that they had no programmes in place to build the skills of the future, and internal mobility is still often driven by tenure, title, and internal politics. This fundamental mismatch between career pathways and development leaves people feeling frustrated and powerless. Not surprisingly, nearly 60 per cent of respondents this year rated their organisations as only somewhat effective or not effective in empowering people to manage their own careers.

Older workers: Advantage or Disadvantage?

Organisational perception of workers over 55 Italy

32%

China

53%

31%

Netherlands

53%

30%

Global South Africa

61%

17%

United Arab Emirates

54% 62%

13%

62%

Disadvantage

No impact

13% 18% 29%

16%

Ecuador

16% 57%

20%

15%

22% 26%

Stay the same

As talent markets grow more competitive, organisations often find it valuable to keep older workers on the job rather than replace them with younger ones.

Older workers represent a largely untapped opportunity. Only 18 per cent of this year’s respondents said that age is viewed as an advantage in their organisation. But leading companies are beginning to focus on this talent pool as a competitive advantage. The older labour pool represents a proven, committed, and diverse set of workers. More than 80 per cent of US employers believe that workers aged 50 and more are “a valuable resource for training and mentoring,” “an important source of institutional knowledge,” and offer “more knowledge, wisdom, and life experience

What employers and employees bring to the table Flexible schedule Telecommuting

70%

27%

Designated office space for wellness

27%

Reimbursement for well-being expenses

26%

Healthy snacks

67% 67% 63%

32%

Employee assistance programme

63%

30%

Mental health counselling

60%

21%

Wellness counselling

60%

35%

Health monitoring or cessation programmes Back-up daycare

86%

50%

59%

24% 8% Highly valuable or valuable

53% Offering programme

Many major organisations are rethinking their reward and development programmes to include some version of holistic well-being programs, which are now both a responsibility of good corporate citizenship and a key element of an enterprise talent strategy.

This investment responds to the needs of workers, companies, and corporate leaders, and is being addressed by a growing number of well-being resources and tools.

Studies now show that more than 40 per cent of all workers face high stress in their jobs, negatively affecting their productivity, health, and family stability. Hourly workers might complain of inflexible schedules, while white-collar workers often complain of an endless stream of emails and messages that make it impossible to disconnect from their jobs. In some countries, individuals are working more hours and taking fewer vacations than ever. And, according to Deloitte’s millennial survey, a majority of surveyed millennials in 19 out of 30 countries report that they do not expect to be “happier” than their parents.

December 1-15, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 61

DrDr(Col.) (Col)A. A Balasubramanian

From The Mobile

A Working Woman’s Dilemma It’s 8:30am The maid has not arrived.

The breakfast is not ready, And I have tiffins to fill.

The laundry heap increases, The groceries need refill.

The elder one has homework, The younger one’s still sleeping.

There’s no egg in the fridge, The milk just spills over.

I have a conference today, My shirt needs ironing.

There’s a workshop in the school, I don’t know how to manage.

My mother-in-law is here To ask medicines for her backache.

A call from the bathroom, “I’ve forgotten the towel.”

The cat meows, the birds chirp, The plants need watering.

The phone beeps To remind me of a pleural tap.

The receptionist calls Full appointments overall.

My shoulders aches I have no one to tell.

My eyes are heavy With last night’s on call.

I don’t remember the last time I had been to the parlour.

My nails are brittle, My hair needs a colour.

My clothes have lost the sheen I need a wardrobe makeover.

But before that I’ve to pick up The toys that are scattered.

I think it was last year When I spoke to my sister.

Can’t recollect the moment When I chatted with my mother.

I’m no feminist I’m no atheist

62 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

I know not what I’m More than a housekeeper, A mother and a doctor.

I may be an orator, A painter, an artist, A singer, a poetess, A traveller, a cyclist, A writer, a musician, A craftsman, philanthropist.

The last time I tried To find out my ability My child scored badly And you know what followed exactly.

So next time she got a gold medal They praised her father’s genes I remembered my trophies Which none had seen.

I know not what my daughter Will do after growing up.

But I’m sure these responsibilities

Will never stop to follow her.

Marriages are made in heaven, Love is a fairy tale.

I’m sure every working woman Has a different story to tell.

So, whenever you look At a house that’s tidy, A child who is happy, Intelligent and healthy, Remember, it’s the woman behind Who sacrificed her sleep, Her degrees, her passion Her ambitions and needs.

Give her a pat, a word of praise, An ear to listen, a helping hand It’s always a woman who makes the house a home.

But it’s everyone’s duty To make her feel at home.

Who Pushed Me A man had a very beautiful daughter.

When the daughter was ready for marriage, the father sent news around town that all the eligible young men should come to compete in a test which would determine who was fit to marry his daughter.

On that day, all was set, all the able-bodied young men came out.

Some came with paper and biro and others with cutlasses and swords.

The rich man took them to his swimming pool and addressed the men: “Any of you who can swim from one end of this swimming pool to the other would marry my daughter.

In addition, I‘ll give him 15 million dollars, a car and a house so they can start life well. I shall be waiting to meet my son-in-law at the other end.

Good luck!”

As the young men, all very excited at the prospect of winning, started taking off their shirts, a helicopter came over the pool and dropped alligators and crocodiles into the pool. Immediately, all the men turned back and started wearing their shirts again. Disappointed, some of them said, “That’s crazy, let’s see who would marry that girl, no one will.”

All of a sudden, they heard a splash

in the pool. Everybody watched in amazement as one gentleman waddled across, expertly avoiding the alligators and crocodiles.

Finally, he made it to the other side.

The rich man could not believe it. He asked the young man to name anything he wanted but the man was still panting uncontrollably.

Finally, he got back to his senses and made a request saying, “Show me the person who pushed me inside this pool!”

Moral 1: You don’t know what you are capable of doing until you are pushed! Meanwhile, the crocodiles were not real, they were of rubber.

Moral 2: Those seeking to push you into the jaws of alligators and crocodiles may have helped you to reach your beautiful destiny.

Sometimes, we have to go through bad moments to bring out the BEST in us. Trials are raw materials for triumphant experiences. The push might take different dimensions; some people needed to be sacked before realising their potentials and reaching their goals in life.

All of us get a divinely inspired push in our lives, sometime or the other.

P- Persist U- Until S- Something H- Happens

Signs of aging After a meeting, I was coming out of a hotel and I was looking for my car keys. They were not in my pockets. I did a quick search in the meeting room, it wasn’t there too. Suddenly I realised I must have left them in the car. My husband has shouted many times for leaving the keys in the ignition. My theory is the ignition is the best place not to lose them. His theory is the car will be stolen if left at the ignition key slot!

Immediately, I rushed to the parking lot and came to a terrifying conclusion. His theory was right. The parking lot was empty.

I immediately called the police. I gave them my location, description of the car, place I parked, etc. I equally confessed that I had left my keys in the car, and that the car had been stolen. Then I made the most difficult call of all, to my husband, “Honey (I stammered; I always call him ‘honey’ in times like these), I left my keys in the car and it has been stolen.”

There was a big silence. I thought the call had been dropped, but then I heard his voice. “Idiot”, he shouted, “I dropped you at the hotel!”

Now it was my time to be silent. Embarrassed, and happy as well, I said, “Well, then please come and get me.” He shouted again, “I will, as soon as I convince this policeman, that I have not stolen your car.”

December 1-15, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 63

Claps & Slaps Corporate Citizen claps for the engineering marvel and bringing India’s latest tourist destination on the world map - the ‘Statue of Unity’, located on the Narmada river island facing Gujarat’s Sardar Sarovar Dam in Kevadiya colony, some 100 kilometres southeast of Vadodara Designated as the world’s tallest statue with a height of 182 metres (597 ft), the monument most fittingly pays tribute to the ‘Ironman of India’ – Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, one of India’s most prominent leaders at the forefront of the freedom movement. Following its unveiling that also commemorated his 143rd birth anniversary, it has attracted footfalls of more than 1.28 lakh visitors in the first 11 days. Larsen & Toubro bagged the engineering contract in October 2014 at a costing of ₹2,989 crore (US$420 million); involving the design, construction and maintenance of the iconic structure.

India’s first Deputy Prime Minister, Sardar Patel is much respected for unifying hundreds of India’s erstwhile princely states to form India’s modern political boundary.

Designed by eminent sculptor Ram V. Sutar in consultation with a team of historians, artists, and academics who chose a naturalistic portrayal of Sardar Patel in his characteristic garb and in a walking pose. “The expression, posture and pose justify the dignity, confidence, iron will as well as kindness that his persona exudes”, said Anil Sutar, Ram Sutar’s son. The iron collected from farmers across India for the structure adds to the spirit of unity. “The statue structure was to be designed for 180 km per hour wind speed. And if you have seen all the huge statues in the world they have a wide base on which they stand. In case of this statue, the standing leader’s two legs were to be shown separate, which resulted in a narrow base for the structure. This was the biggest challenge, as one has to make the structure withstand the high wind speed at the same time, it should meet the sculptors’ aesthetic requirements,” said L&T. The monument is likely to generate employment in the tribal area of Narmada district as well as boost its tourism sector. Here’s hoping it does so and relives Patel’s dream of a unified nation and in his words, “A nation is as strong as it is united as weak as it is divided.”

64 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

Corporate Citizen slaps the motives that draw extortionist to dampen industrial growth and curtail ‘ease of doing business’ by firms

Mafia infringement in industrial zones is not a new occurrence but attempts are often made to assert local claim to a slice of the industrial progression - not through the ‘right to skill’ but ‘the might to steal’! Pune’s Chakan area with 604 industrial units prides itself as one of the top notch industrial and automobile manufacturing belts in Maharashtra and is battling the mafia menace. The belt is dotted by manufacturing units of Volkswagen, Tetra Pak, Bridgestone, Mercedes-Benz, GM, Schindler, Foton, Tata Motors along with several Japanese, Korean, French, Dutch, Chinese, British and Indian companies which has now got Maharashtra Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’ office to take note of the complaints; especially those that were recently forwarded by German Consul General Jüergen Morhard, regarding harassment of German firms across the Chakan belt. Morhard, has publicly sought police help in warding off the mafia nuisance on issues related to tenders, water tanker supply and its control by the tanker mafia; labour issues and the demand for local Mathadi tribe to be employed on priority. While the companies are unable to hire manpower freely and control costs of certain inputs due to the mafia stronghold, there have been no official complaint lodged as such. The police need a FIR for any action to be taken, explained R K Padmanabhan, Pimpri Chinchwad police commissioner. He assured that in some cases, the police can likely take suo motu action and FIRs could be initiated on charges of extortion, violence, violent threats, obstruction and other sections of the IPC. Senior government officials also noted that the mafia influences smaller contracts such as disposal of industrial scrap and discarded metals, which is a big money spinner. Historically, in the early 2000s, when the area started developing, the locals sold their land for industrial purposes but, now want jobs from these very companies, but are ill-qualified for the jobs available. Invariably an egg and chicken situation but, someone needs to bell the Big M! (Compiled by Sangeeta Ghosh Dastidar)

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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

UNFLINCHING SUPPORT

December 1-15, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 65

the last word

Ganesh Natarajan

Crazy times call for connected leaders We all have it in us to become transformational leaders, if only we decide to look within ourselves and find a sense of purpose that we can transmit to the people we touch

O

ne of the best books I have read which influenced in many ways the style of leadership I adopted through twenty-six years of leading public listed companies APTECH and Zensar was one of Tom Peters’ publications “Crazy Times call for Crazy organisations.” In this Peters espouses the cause of non-traditional methods of motivating people and getting ordinary folk to do extra-ordinary things. The thousands of associates and business partners we had in these two organisations will agree that the vision communities which powered new ideas and the multiple initiatives supported by worthy organisations like Pragati of Pune and Manford of Delhi enabled many unconventional approaches to be taken and outstanding people and business results to be achieved.

Today we are seeing a world which is even more crazy than what was probably experienced in the last thirty years. Look at just three leaders and their acts in the last few weeks. On the corporate front the threatened tweet

by Tesla CEO, Elon Musk to take his company private and escape the probing questions of industry analysts led to the not unexpected reprimand, an edict to appoint an independent Chairman and a twenty million dollar fine and the next few chapters of this story will

Rajesh Sinha, Founder, Fulcrum, (left, first pic) with a happy team

sible corporate citizens need to do our bit to keep a steadying hand on the wheel that guides our organisations and societies. Already in India we have enough fissures caused by multiple divides and in our country as well as the world there are challenges to equity, amongst races, castes, communities and people of colour that have simmered for long beneath the surface and now threaten to erupt due to multiple provocations. As corporate chiefs responsible for morale and performance of our teams, it would be good to consider an interesting exercise Arun Wakhlu of Pragati engaged the Zensar teams

surely reveal many more interesting conflicts generated by some of today’s poster boys of the corporate world.

The actions of Saudi Arabia’s leadership and their alleged masterminding of the brutal conflict in Yemen as well as the murder of journalist Khashoggi in Istanbul have shown the brutal nature of revenge and retribution in some parts of the world and one can only hope that we are not seeing a return to the times of barbarian leadership. Today we are seeing a And finally, the most unworld which is even more expected success story of crazy than what was our times President Trump who today presides over a probably experienced in rampaging US economy the last thirty years and has time and again diswith a few years ago - a companypelled the notion that diplomacy wide initiative called Jugnu. Jugnu and extreme tact is needed to asas the name signifies, recognises sume the mantle of leadership of the fire that lights up the soul of evthe free world and arguably the ery human being and appreciates most powerful elected position that the highest performance and in the world. His recent trade morale prevails in organisations wars with China, the surprising where organisation imperatives engagement of North Korea and are integrated with the personal most recently the threatened aspirations of every individual. A withdrawal from the nuclear treaseries of interventions enabled us ty with Russia have been unprecto get a large number of new enedented in their significance and trants as well as experienced manlikely future impact. agers to feel truly connected with As the world watches to see the organisation, an exercise which how the future will unfold – in the can be truly rewarding and also USA, Russia, China, Korea and of build a generation of new leaders course the UK with BREXIT and for any organisation.

India with the coming elections, The same logic of carrying peowe as well-meaning and respon-

66 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018

ple along and enabling them to achieve their full potential is what we practice today in the Skills Lighthouses of Pune City Connect.

With the motto of “no dream left behind” experienced facilitators first work with youth from the slums to build a sense of agency where people who have suppressed their aspirations for years find expression for their desires and are able to take responsibility for their skilling and eventual livelihood options. The important philosophy we practice at the lighthouses and digital empowerment centres is also that while necessary skills in any chosen area will be imparted, equally important will be to inculcate a spirit of learning to learn on their own and also a desire to be responsibly citizens of community, city and country.

We all have it in us to become transformational leaders, if only we decide to look within ourselves and find a sense of purpose that we can transmit to the people we touch.

One person I have met in 2018 who does this naturally is Rajesh Sinha, India born US entrepreneur who has built an excellent digital company, Fulcrum Worldwide and recently joined the Board of Pune City Connect. Rajesh epitomises a valuable style of leadership that seeks out the “jugnu” in each person, enables them to work to their potential and build success through their projects – for clients or communities. May his tribe increase!

Dr Ganesh Natarajan is Chairman of 5F World, Pune City Connect and Social Venture Partners, India.

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68 / Corporate Citizen / December 1-15, 2018