Dynamic Duo: 67
Manjeet and Rajkumar Hirani Volume 4, Issue No. 01 / Pages 68 / www.corporatecitizen.in
corporate stalwart :
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IT Industry is our nation’s pride T V Mohandas Pai, former CFO and HR head, Infosys
March 16-31, 2018 / `50
CRADLE OF LEADERSHIP
Stanzin Kunzang, Principal, Druk White Lotus School Loved & Married Too
Sonam Channa and Basant Sharma SURVEY
Hurun Global Rich List 2018 BOOK REVIEW
CII Manufacturing Summit
Panel discussion on MSME sector in India 2025
Unsung Heroes
Major (Retd.) Pradeep Khare
2 / Corporate Citizen / March 16-31, 2018
March 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 67
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feedback
Great, but some scope for improvement
While I enjoy most of the contents of Corporate Citizen, there are a few notable points I wish to make. The Last Word by Ganesh Natrajan is a very interesting look into the life of a fascinating corporate leader. The interactive sessions that are featured in the magazine are also brilliant, as most of the readers may not have the opportunity to listen to so many leaders all at once. I cant recall any other magazine that carries this type of story. My only complaint would be that the Collywood section carries interesting but slightly old news. In the age of smartphones and computers, this type of news can be accessed immediately, instead of reading it in a magazine. —Vinayak Lonkar
Changes in Indian Passports
It refers to decision of Union government for not printing last page of Indian passports primarily to save identity of single parent and adopted child. Passport used to be the most authentic identity proof issued only after reliable police verification, as such deleting last page altogether is not advisable. Printing of the column of parents’ names could have been avoided. Rather, new-designed passports should be issued where details printed on the last page (without parents’ names) may be printed on page facing the page having name of passport-holder so that a photocopy may be enough to be submitted as an identity proof of the passport-holder. Idea of having a different (orange) coloured jacket cover for ECR (Emigration Check Required) though seems good for easy identification by emigration-authorities, but may pose practical difficulty when passportbooklet will have to be applied afresh for a changed passport in case passport is wrongly issued under ECR category rather than ECNR (Emigration Check Not Required) category, or category of passport-holder later changed to ECNR category. Presently, a rubber stamp for changed category is put on passports when switching over to ECNR category from ECR category. System may be modified whereby replacement by a new passport-booklet required because of changed category may be in a time-bound period with passport-holder not requiring cost for changed passport-booklet. — Madhu Agrawal (Guinness Record Holder for letters in newspapers) DELHI - madhuagrawal1951@gmail.com
A magazine is all about content and context
Volume 3 Issue No. 23 Pages 68 www.corporatecitizen.in / February 16-28, 2018 / `50
Flipping through the pages of COrpOrate StaLWart DynaMIC DuO: 65 Corporate Citizen magazine, Piloting a noticeable is the package of Partnership Marketing ideas, words and images. In IntervIeW is about this always-changing world, occupying for readers, a magazine is all the emotional about content and context. IntervIeW space of The readers have to be kept consumers engaged, by presenting ideas Survey and images in a perfect PwC relation to one another. I CII ManufaCturIng CEO SuMMIt 2017: SurvEy think, Corporate Citizen does 2018 it in a balanced way. LOveD & MarrIeD tOO There is a story in the issue 23, dated February 16-28, on Sanjiv Mehta, CEO & MD, HUL—quite inspiring as it combines a great read with best marketing advice, in today’s context. His narrative was spirited and captures the right needs for marketing success. Even the senior Air India pilot, Rishabh Kapur’s story is a succinct profile of a man at the top of his game. No doubt, I am staying with you—and expect more such inspiring stories. —Nilesh Reddy, Marketing Executive Sanjiv Mehta, CEO & MD, Hindustan Unilever Limited
Kirti and Rishabh Kapur, a senior Air India Pilot
Reema Nanavaty, Padma Shri, and General Secretary, Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA)
Pravin Paritkar, Director - Corporate HR & Admin, Poonawalla Engineering Group
Implications of GST for manufacturing sector
Manjari and Anand Rai
Faces, facts, fun and fundamentals…
In the world of journals, seldom do we find a dedicated magazine only to talk about faces behind the organization; it is the ‘story’ itself rather than the story maker who gets precedence. Corporate Citizen as it is aptly named deviates from the tested market to focus more on faces, experts, and the accomplished. It is not cluttered in its content, trying to touch upon anything and everything. It is niche, different and fresh. Nice style of writing, good photography and clean lay out. It covers different age groups and tries to encourage lesser known people. Unlike dealing with celebrities and bigwigs alone; there is a human touch while telling ‘sweet tales of love and relationship.’ Editorin-chief ’s choice brings topical issues to the forefront; ‘Expert Views’ cover important and interesting financial issues and the ‘Collywood’ section keeps us entertained.
Overall a good read. — Ritwika Chaudhuri, Founder-Director, The Palette Art Training and Consultancy, Dubai
We look forward to your feedback
We at Corporate Citizen, believe that information should not be a one-way street. Your opinion and views about this issue are most welcome. Your ideas and new thoughts you may have, to enhance the content quality of our magazine, are most welcome. We rely on you to keep Corporate Citizen, on the positive and cool note, through your interaction on this page—just as you trust us with the content that we bring you, every fortnight. Mail us your views on: corporatecitizenwriters@gmail.com
March 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 3
Editor-in-Chief’s Choice / T. N. Muralidharan Editor-In-Chief’s Choice
Dr (Col.) A. Balasubramanian
Turning skill capital of the world
Rely on a twin approach of short, customised training for domestic employability and a longer one for global skills certification
In
the next decade, India will have a surplus labour force of 4-5 crore. India can bridge the global labour shortage if the youth are imparted the right skill sets—Prime Minister Modi said while launching the Skill India initiative in July 2015. He said if China is the world’s ‘Factory’, India should be the world’s ‘Skill Capital’. Where are we against this objective in 2018? In my opinion, it is yet to take off because we have adopted a wrong approach. Here, I examine the reasons and propose a new approach to make it happen. Export manpower Simple. We cannot create enough jobs every year for the 18 million people who are looking for non-farm jobs, including 12 million fresh youth joining the workforce on attaining the working age and over 6 million migrating from agriculture. Against this demand, we have created 2-4 million jobs a year. The Economic Survey 2018 forecast that India will add seven million jobs in 2017-18. Even if we create 7 million jobs per year, we are still short by 11 million. So we have no choice but to export manpower. Why others will welcome Simple. Demographics of the ageing population and
4 / Corporate Citizen / March 16-31, 2018
changing dynamics of skill requirements. Traditionally, the Middle East and Africa are the destinations for Indian youth. Many countries like Japan, EU, Germany, Australia and South America are ageing and are also not able to attract youth to certain skilled occupations due to poor employment terms. Even robots cannot kill the demand for these occupations in the next 10 years. So, these countries will have to relax their visa norms to attract foreign workers. Japan, which is hosting 2020 Olympics, will need skilled manpower in areas such as construction and hospitality. It will amend its visa regime to allow foreign labour and over one lakh Indians are expected to be a part of the skilled workforce for the Games. Some 10,000 young workers from India will arrive in Tokyo soon under the Skill Development Ministry’s Technical Intern Training Programme with Japan’s International Training Cooperation Organisation. This is in addition to the workforce required to meet the ongoing demand for people in certain occupations. Current approach The current strategy is to identify youth, skill them and export them ‘as is – where is’.
Many states have created government organisations (not PPP) to source and even train workforce prior to departure. They even provide consular support in the ‘destination’ country. Unfortunately, this is not working because of three reasons: • Government cannot operate with the agility of a private enterprise • Current focus is on freshly-trained skilled workmen whereas the demand is for experienced and globallycertified workmen. Japanese apprenticeship model is very rare • Role of export agent ends when a migrant worker lands in the ‘destination’ county and critical support system during the migrant’s tenure is absent Bifocal Model Is there another approach? Yes. Let me present my bifocal model. In this model, skill training is divided into two phases—a short, customised training for domestic employability for freshers and a second phase, which will be long and lead to global skills certification programme for experienced workmen. India should export workmen after the second phase who will be replenished by workmen coming out of the first phase. • Domestic Employability Phase (Ph I) Here the employer drives curriculum, quality norms and certification, pre-assessment and guarantees a job on course completion. Training will be short, since it will be customised for a single employer and a single job role. The training pedagogy will be focused on producing productive people from day one. Employer must pay for sourcing and training costs while student should invest for his stay and living costs. Employer can claim refund for the costs from the government after a 90-day retention. The government will provide subsidised accommodation by setting up (in PPP) working men's / women's hostels and expense support for first work month. • Global Skilling Phase (Ph II) In this, sector skill councils will drive and define global skill standards. Training will be for over two years in eight quarters, for global certifications, in two or three stages. Employee pay hikes will be linked to sector skill council certification stages achieved during the two years. Skilled workforce will also be trained in English or one other foreign language essential for migration along with global skills in these two years. Any skilled and experienced (with minimum two years of work experience) employee has the option to sign for the Phase II of the programme and must meet the pre-qualification criteria. Training will happen on employer premises or at the nearest global ITI centre. Government must invest in capital expenditure required for training and senior employees will be trainers. Employee and government will share the training costs. Employer will first pay for the training and claim the government share through skill refunds.
New bodies These two-phase solution requires a manpower export agency. Besides, to implement the model, India will have to create an International Engineering Skills Staffing Agency (IESSA) exclusively for engineering skills workmen. • Is IESSA workable? Yes. India’s success in IT industry is due to TCS, which commenced as an on-site staffing agency for IT roles —crudely called ‘body shopping’ in the late '80s. Later, others like Infosys, Wipro and HCL mastered the art. Market valuation of TCS stood at `6 lakh crore ($90 billion) in Jan 2018. IESSA valuation will also reach a billion dollar within 10 years and provide a handsome exit to investors. • IESSA for non-IT skills We can replicate the IESSA model for skills in engineering, construction and services sectors like hospitality. Indian workforce has a great track record in the Middle East and hence migration or working outside India is not only socially acceptable but also preferred. Two other things that must be done to implement the bifocal model: • Bilateral country level agreements: Government of India needs to negotiate with global skilled workforce programme/temp-migration through ILO and enable multilateral and country-to-country agreements to export manpower after Phase II training • Large corporates must participate. They must join as investors and sign up for Phase II. The government can sign up a large number of big and MSME employers for this programme. The biggest benefit for the employers is salary capping. For example, if all workmen in a skill set after three years’ exit after Phase II to IESSA and the exiting employees are replaced with entry-level fresh employees coming out of Phase I, then the salary of workmen will remain capped. This will make the employer more competitive. Unionisation issues will be minimised due to low residency of the workforce. The government must move quickly if it wants India to become the skill capital of the world. (The author is Chairman – TMI Group and founder of TMI e2E Academy Pvt. Ltd.)
The Middle East and Africa are the destinations for Indian youth. Many countries like Japan, EU, Germany, Australia and South America are ageing and are also not able to attract youth to certain skilled occupations due to poor employment terms
March 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 5
Contents
18 Cover story
Dynamic Duo 67
Volume 4 Issue No. 01 March 16-31, 2018 www.corporatecitizen.in
Cool Buddies
Manjeet Hirani, senior Indian Airlines pilot and spouse of celebrated film producer and director, Rajkumar Hirani, talk about career, job and her recently-released book, ‘How to be Human’ dedicated to their dog, Buddy Hirani 9 COLLYWOOD Chatpata Chatter from the Corporate World 14 WAX ELOQUENT Who said what and why
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16 THE TAX MAN COMETH The fraud at Punjab National Bank and the big bank loot
24 CII MANUFACTURING SUMMIT Panel discussion on MSME scenario in India of 2025
14
28 CORPORATE STALWART T. V. Mohandas Pai, former CFO and HR head, Infosys, in a candid talk on subjects he is passionate about
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34 CRADLE OF LEADERSHIP Stanzin Kunzang, Principal, Druk White Lotus School on what sets apart Druk White Lotus from any other school 44 BOOK REVIEW On Major (Retd.) Pradeep Khare’s book ‘Unsung Heroes’
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46 HEALTH Dr Prathima Reddy, Director & Senior Consultant-Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Fortis La Femme, reassesses the importance of health
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48 CAMPUS PLACEMENT Namita Jain on her campus placement experience and her new innings in the corporate world 50 LOVED & MARRIED TOO Sonam Channa and Basant Sharma on how love for them is acceptance with a different spelling
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52 SURVEY The Hurun Global Rich List 2018, a fascinating survey 56 BOLLYWOOD BIZ A look at some of the biggest South Indian actresses who ruled Bollywood
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contents
46 Editor-In-Chief Dr (Col.) A. Balasubramanian Consulting Editor Vinita Deshmukh vinita.corporatecitizen@gmail.com Senior Business Writer Rajesh Rao rajeshrao.rao@gmail.com Senior Sub-Editor Neeraj Varty neeraj.varty07@gmail.com Sub-Editor Vineet Kapshikar vineetkapshikar@gmail.com Writers Delhi Bureau Pradeep Mathur mathurpradeep1@gmail.com/ Sharmila Chand chand.sharmila@gmail.com
60 MOBILE APPS The latest devices launched at Mobile World Congress 61 MY FIRST BOSS Raghunath Babu T. J., Analytics Lead, Arimon, on his first boss
Bengaluru Bureau Sangeeta Ghosh Dastidar sangeetagd2010@gmail.com
66 THE LAST WORD The rise of tech titans and increasing influence of social media
56
Pune Bureau Joe Williams / Kalyani Sardesai / Namrata Gulati Sapra Marketing Manager Delhi: Mohamed Rizwan riz.mohamed@hotmail.com Manager-Circulation circulations@corporatecitizen.in West : Jaywant Patil, +91 9923202560 North : Hemant Gupta, +91 9582210930 South : Asaithambi G, +91 9941555389
60
Creative Direction Sumeet Gupta, www.thepurplestroke.com
61 Be A Corporate Citizen
How do you like this issue of Corporate Citizen - The Cool Side of Business? Send in your views, news, suggestions and contributions to corporatecitizenwriters@gmail.com. We would love to hear from you! 8 / Corporate Citizen / March 16-31, 2018
Graphic Designer Shantanu Relekar On Cover Page T.V. Mohandas Pai Cover Page Pic By Sanjay MD Website / Online Subscription www.corporatecitizen.in For Advertising, Marketing & Subscription queries Email: circulations@corporatecitizen.in (Corporate Citizen does not accept responsibility for returning unsolicited manuscripts and photographs. All unsolicited material should be accompanied by self-addressed envelopes and sufficient postage.) Tel. (020) 69000677 / 69000672
collywood
People in the news
Bajaj Finserv MD Sanjiv Bajaj is EY Entrepreneur of 2017 Sanjiv Bajaj, Managing Director of Bajaj Finserv, was named the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2017. Bajaj Finserv emerged as the country’s leading name in financial services with solutions across lending, life and general insurance and wealth advisory. EY also named nine other category winners for the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year Programme’. The awards were presented at a ceremony in Mumbai, in the presence of over 400 business leaders and special invitees. “Entrepreneurs are fundamental to nation-building and it is their impact which the EOY programme seeks to recognise,” said Rajiv Memani, chairman of EY India. “The winners this year comprise first-time entrepreneurs who are disrupting sectors with innovations or dominating new industries, as also individuals from family enterprises, where despite being in conventional businesses, they have created massive differentiation with their aspirations, innovation and execution intensity.” Bajaj will now represent India at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Award (WEOY) in Monte Carlo from June 13-17, 2018. The Lifetime Achievement Award went to E. Sreedharan, who was instrumental in the planning and execution of the Kolkata Metro, Delhi Metro, Kochi Metro and Lucknow Metro. He also spearheaded the Konkan Railway
Trump Jr in love with Indian media
project, considered among the most difficult railway projects in the world. In the business transformation category, chairman and MD of SpiceJet, Ajay Singh got an award, while MD of Dalmia Bharat Group, Puneet Dalmia bagged an award in the manufacturing category.
Vatnani joins Qualys as VP-HR, India & APAC Kamal Vatnani has joined Qualys as the Vice President-HR – India and APAC. In his new role he will be responsible for managing the end-to-end HR function for India and APAC, which also includes strategy, HR delivery and recruitment across all business verticals of Qualys Inc. In his earlier act with PTC Software, Vatnani, who joined as the senior director, HR was elevated to VP-HR, leading HR Delivery and Operations for Pune, Gurugram, Bengaluru and Mumbai locations. He was with PTC Software, and worked with SAP as the Director-HR, where he managed the SAP Labs Pune site as HR site leader. He has also been with Sybase, Selectica and Dx Technologies in the past. A management graduate from Nagpur University, Vatnani also pursued his PG in HRM from the SIBM, Pune.
Everyone falls in love with our country’s media, and Donald Trump Jr, son of US President Donald Trump is no different. He said he loves the Indian media as it is, while comparing it to the “aggressive and brutal media” back home. “They are so mild and nice,” said Junior Trump while saying, “I am the first person in the history of India to say that I love the media of this country, with their smiling faces, despite hardships. In his second visit after his 2008 visit, he said, “It wasn’t me coming here for the first time. It was me coming here (India) after 10 years. So, everybody understood what I meant. But the ‘Washington Post’ the next day said— ‘Donald Trump Jr likes poor people because they smile,” while adding that he would keep away from politicians as his visit was as a businessman. Looking at the changing business scenario in India as compared to around a decade ago, Trump Jr said he sees a lot of energy and has been able to strike up good deals over the years and was now willing to invest ten times more.
March 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 9
collywood Mumbai-Pune in just 25 minutes For Uber’s CEO, Modi is ‘inspiring’ Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has been all out to encourage the economy in his own way. Here we have one of the top members of the corporate world, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi who says that it is inspiration from Modi which has made things happen for him in a positive way. He goes on to say that he wishes to do for Uber, what the Indian Prime Minister is doing for India. On his first visit to India after taking over the reins of Uber from former CEO and founder Travis Kalanick, Khosrowshahi is stressing on the importance that India has in Uber’s plan for growth, as India has been their important market. “Starting with cars moving people, we want to ultimately become a platform where any provider of mobility can plug into our system and use our payment system and offer all kinds of transportation,” said Khosrowshahi. He plans to make Uber the Amazon of mobility.
Mumbai to Pune could be the fastest mode of transport, thanks to Virgin Group along with Maharashtra government which has signed a pact to build a hyperloop transportation system between these two cities, to emerge as the fastest mode of transport. Virgin Group Chairman Richard Branson claims that if it bears fruit, then it will reduce the travel time between the two cities to 25 minutes from the present three hours. However, the speed rate is not yet known for the route. This is not the first by the Group as Andhra Pradesh government signed an MoU with Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) to study and analyse the cityscapes in order to reduce travelling time between Amravati and
Vijayawada as signed last September. Hyperloop, a concept created by Elon Musk, aims to reach a speed above the supersonic range, 1,200 kmph. The concept is designed in such a way that hyperloop involves travel in a vacuum tube and the Hyperloop pod will lift off the track and zoom through the tunnel. As of now, Hyperloop is nowhere present in the world. Virgin Hyperloop One is currently testing the pod in a desert outside of Las Vegas, US. The final design for it to execute in reality is not confirmed yet, as well. Also, the firm has achieved 387 kmph as their highest speed as against the theoretical figure.
Pawan Setty on AirAsia board HR professional for over 15 years, Pawan Setty will head AirAsia people & culture and will be part of the senior management team at AirAsia India. Setty has had an all-round exposure in HR, be it organisation development, HR strategy, talent management and development, organisation change, compensation and benefits, and manpower planning. Setty, former senior manager with Reuters, has moved from an American company - International Flavors & Fragrances,
10 / Corporate Citizen / March 16-31, 2018
which has over 5,000 employees worldwide. He headed the HR function for India operations for four years. His main role with AirAsia will be talent acquisition, building organisation culture and refining and implementing the right policies and procedures. “Setty is an excellent addition to our leadership team and will provide valuable perspective as we continue to deliver on our long-term strategic objectives, said MD & CEO Amar Abrol about the move. AirAsia India
currently flies to 16 destinations with its hubs in Bengaluru, New Delhi and Kolkata covering Kochi, Goa, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Pune, Guwahati, Imphal, Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad, Srinagar, Bagdogra, Ranchi, and Bhubaneswar.
P&G India gets new chief
Rotary honours Dr Deepak Shikarpur
Rotary International, the world’s first and largest global service organisation has constituted a Global annual award for individuals performing selfless humanitarian service in the community. The award titled ‘Service Above Self ’ was constituted in 1991 with an emphasis on personal volunteer efforts and active involvement in helping others. This is an internationally competitive award. Nominations are invited from 200-plus countries covering all global continents. Shortlisting is done with tough criteria and the Rotary International Board of Directors decides the final list of
awardees. This is Rotary International’s highest honour for an individual. The award consists of a citation signed by the World Rotary International President. For the year 2017-18 , Pune-based digital literacy activist Dr Deepak Shikarpur was selected by Rotary International for the Service Above Self ’ award. Since 1995, he has been spreading digital literacy among the masses through his 38 books, articles, talk shows, videos and free career counselling. The Union government has nominated him as a member of the National IT Board of AICTE for vitalising IT Education.
Madhusudan Gopalan is the new chief of Procter & Gamble India. Gopalan, the head of P&G business in Indonesia, will take over from Al Rajwani who retired from the company after 37 years of service, recently. Gopalan has 18 years of experience and has worked in P&G across business units and diverse geographies like India, the US and Asean countries. Gopalan, 42, is one of P&G’s youngest CEOs to lead a big and crucial business in India, which has a turnover of over $1.5 billion. “I am excited to come back to my home country for this great role with the company. P&G is bullish on India and it is a priority market for the parent company,” Gopalan said in a statement. According to Gopalan, the strategy for India will be to continue the progress it has made towards a balanced growth. According to a statement issued by the company, over the last three years, the P&G business in India underwent a portfolio transformation that saw the company go from losing money to delivering triple digit profit in a couple of years. In the first half of the company’s financial year 1718 ending December ’17, P&G delivered double-digit sales growth with majority of the business growing share. March 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 11
collywood Ericsson appoints Priyanka Anand Priyanka Anand who has been appointed as Vice President and Head of Human Resources for Ericsson in Market Area South East Asia, Oceania and India (MOAI), will oversee HR functions across markets, such as India, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Philippines and Bangladesh, among others. She has nearly two decades of experience which also includes seven years with Ericsson as vice president and head, HR global operations at Ericsson from April 2014 to January 2018. She has been the VP and chief of HR Ericsson Global Services for five years from 2010-14. She has been the main player responsible for the growth of the organisation from its establishment in India to creating an employee base of 15,000. Prior to joining Ericsson, she worked with Colt Technologies, Manpower and STG. Priyanka will head the HR team of 60 resources spread across more than 10 countries, driving HR strategy across different countries within the market area. She will
Mohapatra made director HR, IOCL A former executive director with IOCL, West Bengal state office, Ranjan Kumar Mohapatra has been elevated as Director-HR. A mechanical engineering graduate from BITS Pilani, and a postgraduate diploma in management from the Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, Mohapatra joined Indian Oil in 1987, and has since worked on varied assignments, including terminal operations, supply chain management & logistics. With in-depth knowledge and acumen in supply chain & logistics, he had been associated with the evacuation of finished products from Indian 12 / Corporate Citizen / March 16-31, 2018
collaborate with business leaders to develop and implement HR practices that inspire employees to achieve outstanding business results. She has been a transformative leader with astute business acumen and a strategic mindset. The key focus of her journey has been to turn talent management into an instrument to drive business transformation and strategy, develop able leaders and transform culture. Talking about her new assignment, she said, “this opportunity to interface and work with HR teams and stakeholders from different nationalities will go a long way towards building the best in class HR strategy within the market area. My main focus will be towards enhancing Ericsson’s winning culture, while further developing and retaining world-class talent.”
Oil’s domestic refineries, and product upliftment agreements with stand-alone refiners as well as other oil marketing companies (OMCs). He has played many roles in different ways, is also the chief architect of the auto fuel quality (BSIII/BS-IV) upgradation programmes of OMCs in India. Between April 2010 and January 2012, he headed the operations function of Indian Oil’s Maharashtra State Office, which oversees the largest number of bulk storage terminals and depots in a state. Widely travelled in Europe, USA, Africa and Southeast Asia, Mohapatra was the Managing Director of Indian Oil (Mauritius) Ltd, the Company’s overseas subsidiary during 2012–2015. Mohapatra led a team of young professionals, registering sizeable growth in market share and profitability. He was also on the Board of Mer Rouge Oil Storage Terminal, a joint venture formed by four MNCs to set up modern oil storage facilities in Mauritius.
Sunil Singh gets a lift at Reliance With six years loyalty to the company, Sunil Singh, who joined Reliance in 2012, as head of talent management-E&P will now take over as head of the Leadership Academy at Reliance Industries. The role requires him to define and execute the approach to the development of executive education and core leadership capability, within RIL. It involves identification, design, development and delivery of core elements within the L&D curriculum in order to support the building of long-lasting leadership capability within RIL. Singh will have to collaborate and communicate with peers across Learning & Talent centres of excellence to ensure a collaborative approach to leadership development and talent management. Mineral Exploration Corporation, Sasken Communication, Gulf Oil and Punj Lloyd were the other companies he worked at, earlier. Singh is a postgraduate from the Xavier Institute of Social Services and also holds a doctorate in OB and HR from IIM-Banglore. Compiled by Joe Williams joe78662@gmail.com
wax eloquent
India has a unique opportunity Take a look at what our corporate leaders have to say about recent trends and their experiences in the business world
Unique opportunity to leapfrog the technology
“Bullet train is just one of the technology interventions in Railways. We are now looking at introducing the Hyperloop. India has a unique opportunity to leapfrog the technology and we could be a manufacturing hub for all these technologies which can serve rest of the world.”
We are still an agrarian economy
“For a bank to generate money, it needs good growth and strong recovery. The Budget is likely to stimulate the economy by activating rural economy and agriculture. We are still an agrarian economy. Opportunities are plenty but are not fully leveraged to create one crore jobs in a year.”
Piyush Goyal,
Railway and Coal Minister, Government of India Courtesy: Economic Times
Shyam Srinivasan, MD & CEO, Federal Bank
Courtesy: http://www.thehindu.com
I pride myself on being an effective communicator “You can’t communicate if people don’t understand you. So, for the most part, any words I use should be understandable, or at the very least, they will be clear from the context of the sentence, the paragraph, or the idea that’s being discussed. It’s the thrust of what I am saying—I like to feel that after I have spoken or written something, people are left in no doubt about the point I’m trying to convey.” Shashi Tharoor, author-politician
Courtesy: http://www.dailypioneer.com
Isn’t content expensive? Mentality needed to be at the top
“Breaking into the team, surviving for a period of time, handling expectations, dealing with the lows and then working your way back to the top; these are situations every performer faces.” Sourav Ganguly,
cricketer and co-author of the book ‘A Century is Not Enough’ Courtesy: Hindustan Times
14 / Corporate Citizen / March 16-31, 2018
“Which is exciting if you’re a writer. But not so exciting if you’re an aggregator. But it is what the market is. So, it is competitive but so is everything else. At least, we are on the side of the internet and there is all this growth.” Reed Hastings, CEO, Netflix Courtesy: http://www.livemint.com
We are in the business of meeting the unmet “We are in the business of basically meeting unmet, unarticulated needs of customers. And there’s no way you’re going to be able to get that consistently right if you don’t have that deep sense of empathy, or being able to see what others are seeing.” Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft Courtesy: https://www.cbsnews.com
I am a reluctant entrepreneur
“I am a reluctant entrepreneur. I would rather do one thing very well than be mediocre at 100 different businesses. For entrepreneurs, revenue and market share run their ego. I was happy to shrink my business, run a `350-crore great company rather than a `10,000-crore mediocre one.” Siddhartha Lal,
MD, Royal Enfield
Courtesy: Economic Times
India is the number one country for us
“There has been a progressive reduction in bureaucracy. The tax reforms of last summer have been good. So, I am positive about the economic climate in India. It’s improving and I am confident that it will continue to improve. At the moment in terms of growth capex, India is the number one country for us, even more than China.” Pierre-Andre De Chalendar, chairman,
Saint-Gobain Group
Courtesy: https://economictimes. indiatimes.com
We need a bit of sunshine in our entertainment
This a crucial time in India’s history
“This a crucial time in India’s history as the country continues to go through digital transformation, bringing significant change to almost all sectors of society—from the way people receive critical services like healthcare to how students are taught, and business gets done. As ‘Digital India’ moves closer to becoming reality, there is a huge opportunity.” Mary T McDowell, global chief executive, Polycom
“In India we need a bit of sunshine in our entertainment. Our films are screaming themselves hoarse trying to be funny. You know what I mean? But here’s what I really want. I want to see the film with an audience just once. I haven’t seen Mr India with a live audience. I want to experience that.” Shekhar Kapoor, film
director and filmmaker
Courtesy: https://skjbollywoodnews.com
Courtesy: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com
Where is the creativity? “The culture here (India) is one of success based upon academic excellence, studying, learning, practising and having a good job and a great life. For upper India, not the lower. I see two Indias. That’s a lot like Singapore—study, work hard and you get an MBA, you will have a Mercedes but where is the creativity? The creativity gets left out when your behaviour is too predictable and structured, everyone is similar.” Steve Wozniak, cofounder, Apple
It is success that keeps me grounded
Courtesy: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com
To become the best version of yourself
“The best thing that I have ever worn is my confidence. You walk into a room feeling great about yourself, people will look. You don’t have to be the perfect form of pretty. Some people are lucky to have it. But for the rest of us who are all right, we can become extraordinary by becoming the best version of ourselves.” Priyanka Chopra, actor Courtesy: https://www. harpersbazaararabia.com
Motives of behemoths “If Google and Amazon were investing in Indian startups without strings attached, that would be a good thing. The problem is when foreign companies are allowed to dump capital and build monopolies.”
Vivek Wadhwa, Distinguished Fellow, Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering, US Courtesy: Economic Times
Indian celebrities are promoting homegrown designers internationally “Indian celebrities play an instrumental role in making Indian designers shine at international red carpets. Take Cannes for example. I like that actors who represent India try to maintain that balance by wearing a mix on Indian and international designs. According to me, that is one of the major factors that have changed the way the world looks at Indian fashion and has also opened doors for Indian designers to showcase at various international platforms.” Nivedita Saboo, fashion designer
Courtesy: http://morungexpress.com
“It is success that keeps me grounded. The more I do interesting roles, the more I realise how little I know and how much there is to learn. I am falling deeper and deeper in love with my craft. Also, the more I get, the more I give. The more I am showered with love and appreciation, the humbler I become.” Ranveer Singh, actor Courtesy: Hindustan Times
Compiled by Rajesh Rao rajeshrao.rao@gmail.com
March 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 15
The Tax Man Cometh
A wellorchestrated loot
by S K Jha
(IRS (retd) and former Chief Commissioner of Income Tax)
Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi proved the old adage that all that glitters is not gold and on the same lines proved that beneath the sparkling diamond it is only poisonous dirty carbon, while being cowards to run out of the country before public detected the crime
Unlike the regular tax desk which is manned by a tax officer whose job is to levy tax on you, this desk is manned by a non-serving tax officer who wishes to share his experience of 35 years in the tax department, while, discussing tax provisions. It is advantageous to know how the tax department thinks and acts when, as said by Benjamin Franklin, “In this world nothing is certain except death and taxes�
O
ur banking system was recently rocked by a daylight robbery. The Punjab National Bank branch in Fort area of Mumbai was plundered by an amount of about `12,600 crore and on evaluation, it may go up to `20,000 crore. The money stolen belonged to the citizens of this country who are honest taxpayers.
tem (SWIFT) by Shetty’s assistant without any corresponding entries. These LoUs were sent to Indian branches in foreign countries, mainly Hong Kong, where Nirav Modi has establishments. These foreign branches of Indian public sector banks were very quick to oblige and credits were extended by them to facilitate purchase in the international market by Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi firms.
Loot and scoot
The perpetrators of the crime, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi are elite diamond merchants and jewellery designers, having presence in many parts of the world. The glitterati adored their creations, and many international models and stars were their regular clients. They literally proved the old adage that all that glitters is not gold, that beneath sparkling diamond it is only poisonous dirty carbon, and that they are cowards in the way they silently escaped out of the country before the public could detect the crime. It was a well-orchestrated loot in which some of the branches were found complacent. Satish Shetty, who worked as the deputy manager in the branch along with his assistant, were tools in the conspiracy. The crime activity started in 2011 and continued till 2017 till Shetty retired. The culprits left the country in the first week of January 2018 along with their families, almost a month before the crime was brought to light. Today, all the enforcement agencies are actively working, and assets of about `600 crore belonging to them including diamond stock and properties have been seized and attached. Criminal proceedings are in progress, but so
Loose-hanging LoUs far there is no knowledge of the whereabouts of these criminals. Their Indian passports have been cancelled, but it is believed that they also have passports of some other countries. What is the nature of the crime? How was it committed? Satish Shetty of the Brady House branch of PNB was approached for letters of undertaking (LoU). LoUs were issued by Shetty without entering them in the core banking system. This meant that they were issued without any back-up records. LoUs were sent as messages on the international messaging sys-
16 / Corporate Citizen / March 16-31, 2018
It is doubtful whether these foreign branches of Indian banks sent confirmations to PNB about the receipt of LoUs, which is the necessary requirement. There is also a possibility that Shetty and his team might have taken precautionary steps to bury such correspondence or messaging. Initially, credits taken against LoUs from foreign branches of Indian banks were cleared by taking new loans against new LoUs from the Brady House branch of PNB, but
later they were allowed to pile up and the unpaid credit swelled to `12,600 crores. Normally, the life span of an LoU is 180 days, but Shetty became brazenly close to his retirement and a life span of one year was given to the LoUs. It is not understood why the foreign branches of Indian banks did not see red and report the matter to the higher-ups in PNB or the RBI. In a nutshell, the modus-operandi adapted was a naked fraud on the system, by making transactions without entry into the books. Both the auditor of the bank and the concurrent auditor missed unearthing the crime. The checks and balances of the RBI also failed. The crime went unnoticed as the higher authorities of the PNB kept Shetty in the same branch for seven years when the established practice is a tenure of three years. The matter came to light when new officers refused to issue LoUs without adequate security, and it was discovered that LoUs were issued to the concerned parties in the past against banking norms, and in a fraudulent manner.
Not an isolated event
Was it a system failure of banking? Yes, it was, and it was not an isolated event. Our banking system and particularly our public sector banks have been regularly suffering from frauds. The greed of some unethical business houses supported by a section of our corrupt bank staff have been the cause of our huge Non Performing Assets (NPA) and huge losses to the banks. Roughly 10%
‘The greed of some unethical business houses supported by a section of our corrupt bank staff have been the cause of our huge Non Performing Assets (NPA) and huge losses to the banks. Roughly 10% of lending by our public sector banks which amount close to `10 lakh crore have become bad debts or potential bad debts’
of lending by our public sector banks which amount close to `10 lakh crore have become bad debts or potential bad debts. After the Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi scam we have unearthed wilful default by the Rotomac Group of Kanpur where the loss caused to the consortium of banks is more than `3,000 crore. Now cases of such losses like loss caused to banks by a sugar mill and a Delhi jeweller have also surfaced.
Why the system failed
There are three major reasons for the systems failure. First, it is the lack of proper and objective evaluation of loan-seeking proposals and credibility of the parties involved. Secondly, it is the lack of a robust process for monitoring the movement of money advanced. Thirdly, it is the lack of adequate management control and lacklustre auditing by the auditors. The RBI too failed to come up with proper guidelines and checks despite being the ultimate watch dog for banks. We keep on committing mistakes and do not learn from our experiences. Scams and losses keep on hitting headlines, but we fail to improve our system and do not learn from our past failures. There is only one thing more painful than learning from experience, and that is not learning from experience, as said by a wise man. As this illustrates the ingredients of a system failure, I am reminded by a case I had come across over 30 years ago. I had conducted income tax raids against some leading elite and well-known companies in Mumbai to investigate insider trading in the capital market. I had to make enquiries against a top public sector bank which had advanced about `7 crore to a well-known NRI from its London branch for his project in Nigeria. The loan taken did not go to Nigeria, but through a sequence of funds transfer from one
CC
tadka
Women workforce least in India’s manufacturing sector About only 3% to 12% women in India are represented in the manufacturing sector, as per a study by the Consulate General of Sweden in India, as women might not be aware about the job opportunities in the manufacturing sector. Participation rate did go up to 12% in emerging sectors such as computer engineering, but fell to 3% in core engineering sector.
March 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 17
The Tax Man Cometh
‘There are three major reasons for the systems failure. First, it is the lack of proper and objective evaluation of loan-seeking proposals and credibility of the parties involved. Secondly, it is the lack of a robust process for monitoring the movement of money advanced. Thirdly, it is the lack of adequate management control and lacklustre auditing by the auditors’
bank to another, reached Mumbai in just three days, to acquire a major stake in a well-reputed company where his personal friend was the managing director. The NRI was privy to information that the company was going to issue bonus shares and that the price of the shares would rise. The NRI made his money and later exited from the company. The lending bank in London remained unaware of the movement of money lent by it and that it went to the share market, whereas as per RBI norms, money cannot be lent for playing in the share market. The same thing happened during the Harshad Mehta scam, when money from banks were being diverted to the share market and banks remained unaware till the scam broke.
Track the money trail
Barring some genuine cases of business failure frauds, losses to the banks can be prevented if we follow the forensic trail of money lent, as in case of frauds, money lent goes into areas other than the professed destination. Many unethical loan takers divert the money for their self-use rather than for nurturing the businesses for which it was lent. Loan-giving banks are also seen to give loans to shell companies in many cases, where
18 / Corporate Citizen / March 16-31, 2018
the real identity of unethical business persons is kept hidden. These shell companies only work as transfer agents of the funds coming from banks. Money so lent evaporates in no time, and banks have nothing left but bad loans. In this connection, I am reminded of a case of a listed company whose promoters had started about 30 shell companies in the names of its staff only for the limited purpose of taking loans from a PNB. For taking loans, bogus turnover was created in the books of the shell companies and the officials of the bank were lured by corrupt practices and honey trapping. The loans so given were NPAs from day one, as I discovered through the search action.
Total failure of governance
The recent scam of Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi has all the characteristics of a total system failure, coupled with a deadly fraud. The Brady House branch of PNB was hit by fraud by entering into LoUs without guarantees, and the senior officers failed to supervise what their juniors were doing, over seven years. The auditors failed to reconcile the income generated by the guarantee letters given and the actual transaction. They failed in their audit. The foreign branches of Indian banks failed
What can we do now?
completely in following the norms. Credit against alleged purchase of diamonds was given without following the actual movement of money and the diversion of such funds for personal use by the scamsters. Loan was given by the banks without verifying the loanees’ ability to pay, while they blindly guarded themselves with fraudulent LoUs of one-year periods when they knew that LoUs cannot be issued for more than 180 days. Apparently, they never verified the genuineness of the LoUs, as they did not care about public money. Again, there was a total failure of governance and audit in these banks. As against public sector banks, private banks are better placed as they are owners with financial interest in the banks they administer.
Reformative measures
Meanwhile, after the detection of the Nirav Modi scam, the government has started taking some reformative measures. The Cabinet has cleared a Bill, the Fugitive Economic Offence Bill, which empowers the government to confiscate the properties of the offenders with retrospective effect. Offenders include people committing economic offences of more than `100 crore, and running away from the country. Such offenders will not be entitled to any civil rights to protect their confiscated assets. The government will also have the power to proceed against the properties and assets located outside India, and for that, some cooperation from foreign governments will help seize the benami properties of the offenders. The offender will get leniency and the proceedings will stop if he comes back to India and joins the investigation before the proceedings are complete. This Bill is likely to become law as early as in April 2018. The government has also decided to
‘The Cabinet has cleared a Bill, the Fugitive Economic Offence Bill, which empowers the government to confiscate the properties of the offenders with retrospective effect. Such offenders will not be entitled to any civil rights to protect their confiscated assets. The government will also have the power to proceed against the properties and assets located outside India’ strengthen the auditing system in the country by establishing the National Financial Regulation Authority (NAFRA). This Authority will have the authority to regulate the audit system of listed companies. NAFRA can initiate punitive action against errant auditors. This way there will be some dilution of the power of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). The establishment of NAFRA will be in conformity with the provision of the Companies Act, 2013.
The decisions taken by the government are in the right direction, but more reformative measures need to be taken. The government should think of privatising public sector banks, as most of them run into losses because of NPAs. There is no justification for putting honest tax payer money into loss making banks by recapitalisation. Meanwhile, until the banks are privatised there can be a consolidation of existing public sector banks by mergers. Here there should also be consolidation of offshore branches of these banks. There should be serious punitive action of the senior executives of the banks if they are found wanting in the lack of governance and administration. There should be detailed guidelines on giving loans by banks, and the infringement of these guidelines should be viewed seriously. The government has directed banks to analyse each case of NPA exceeding `50 crore and to refer the case to the CBI in case there is any fraud. The government should make a fortnightly review of its directions and the guilty banks should be punished for non-compliance. However, care has to be taken to see that the ease of doing business does not suffer. Those following unethical bank practices should be punished, but at the same time loans have to be lent, otherwise there will be no economic growth. A prudent balance between giving loans and harsh measures has to be maintained. All measures should be transparent, and there should be no fear in the minds of people taking loans for doing ethical businesses after following the due process of regulation. People in business should follow the words of Henry Ford that a business that makes nothing but money is a poor kind of business. We should earn money without greed and with a clean heart and not by fraudulent practices. If this happens, there will be no need for any harsh measures by the government.
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tadka
Indian companies are better in digital and tech preparedness Around 38% of local firms in India have already achieved human-machine integration, while countries like Australia and Singapore expect to attain that in the next two years, a survey by Dell Technologies said. While Indian companies are ready to go ahead and implement technology, 47% believe that the challenge in doing so is data security and data privacy.
March 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 19
cover story Dynamic Duo: 67
Manjeet & Rajkumar Hirani
Cool 20 / Corporate Citizen / March 16-31, 2018
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Just as with dogs, children follow the pack leader. If the pack leader is doing things right, the child will follow. If I want my son, Vir, to do something, I can’t order him around; I have to do it myself. Whatever I read, I try to impart it to him. I feel the only way to bring up your child is to be the pack leader
Buddies Senior Indian Airlines pilot, Manjeet Hirani, one of the pioneering commercial pilots to have steered into this field in the 1980s, is also the spouse of celebrated film producer and director, Rajkumar Hirani of Munna Bhai and 3 Idiots fame. In a candid interview with Corporate Citizen, she talks about her career, her marriage andher recently-released book, ‘How to be Human: Life’s lessons from Buddy Hirani’ dedicated to her pet dog, Buddy Hirani By Vinita Deshmukh
March 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 21
cover story to a pilot, I myself became one. After coming back from the USA, I was fortunate that I saw an advertisement of Indian Airlines for pilots. I got selected.
At that point of time, were you single or married? I was single.
For how many years have you flown? 24 years, since I began flying.
How did you meet Rajkumar Hirani?
In 1993, when I was the First Officer at Indian Airlines, my brother asked me whether I had a boyfriend. I said, I didn’t… Then he asked me whether we should start looking for guys? I said okay. That’s how Rajkumar’s proposal came. At that point of time he was an editor and had just started direction in advertising. We met at his house in a proper arranged marriage format.
So did you immediately say ‘yes’ to him?
Y
You were an air hostess with Indian Airlines and then you became a pilot. That is quite a journey; tell us about this transition…
I joined Indian Airlines in 1986 as an air hostess, but within six months, I realised that it wasn’t my cup of tea. I wanted a change but I couldn’t figure out what. I loved the aviation world and wanted to pursue something in it. I used to watch the then popular television serial, Udaan. It showed how a lady IPS officer struggled in a man’s world. I felt that there should be a challenge in life. Life should not be too simple. I wanted to face struggle. Believe me, it was an overnight decision that I wanted to be a pilot. I took a sabbatical from my job and went to USA and did a six months’ flying course.
How did you decide overnight? It was such a stupendous thing to do, at that point of time...
Being a pilot was not my childhood passion, I didn’t know then that girls could fly. My childhood passion was to marry a pilot. My father was in the Army so I used to see Air Force guys around. Instead of getting married 22 / Corporate Citizen / March 16-31, 2018
I had a few concerns about the kind of guy that I wanted to marry. I wanted someone who would understand my profession which has erratic hours. Most importantly, I wanted to marry a guy who would allow me to work. At that time there were very few lady pilots, so a woman taking up a career in it would not have gone down favourably with most families, I guessed. When I met Raju, he asked me a question—“Do you want to ask me something?” I said, “no, I want to tell you something”. I candidly told him about my job profile, of the many late nights and sometimes overnight. In fact, even before he had asked me this question, I had point blank told his father that I would leave his son but not my job. I asked Raju, is this okay? He promptly said, okay; like it was not a big deal. Then I too promptly replied, “I will marry you.’’ It took me just five minutes to make that decision.
So, when did Rajkumar Hirani enter film-making and become a celebrated filmmaker?
As, I said, when I got married in 1994, he was into advertising. He did tell me that it was his dream to make a film. I thought he was not serious. But he had narrated the script of Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. to me. He had conceived that idea since his Film Institute days but he never got time to pursue it. So we mutually decided that he would take a break from his work and I would take care of the house. He took a break and he wrote the script of Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. At that time, my son, Vir, was just born. So after he went to sleep, we used to sit in the balcony and he used to narrate me the script. So, I played my small part in the creation of the script, that is, listening to it. He is so passionate about his work that he will write and rewrite until he gets it right. His work is his magnificent obsession and that’s what I admire about him.
t, Vir Happy Threesome! Manjee
and Rajkumar Hirani
work from home at that time. Once, I was out somewhere on a flight and Vir had Mathematics examination and Raju was very busy, shooting for 3 Idiots. Vir called him in the middle of the shoot. Yet Raju explained the problem to him with great patience, over the phone. So, with Raju, he is busy, but his presence is always there for us.
What about your son Vir? What are his ambitions?
One thing I know, Vir doesn’t want to fly. Even when he was a baby, I took him on flights, showed him the cockpit, but he was never fascinated. He is now doing a course in Whistling Woods; he has made short films too.
What is the philosophy of life that you live by?
I candidly told him about my job profile, of the many late nights and stay out of home, sometimes overnight. I asked Raju, is this okay? He promptly said, okay; like it was not a big deal. Then I promptly replied, “I will marry you”. It took me just five minutes to make that decision How did you manage this beautiful relationship? And what is required to keep a marriage together in this day of quick divorces and separations?
A marriage works if there is good intention. Intention does not mean that we don’t have problems or we don’t get annoyed with each other. He is a good guy but hardly has time for us. But I know that if I need him or I am in trouble or sick, he will come to me, leaving his work, so that faith is there. People make mistakes in a relationship, whether the couple belongs to the older or younger generation. They tend to revolve their entire life around their spouse. This gives them enough reason to sulk if they are not given attention, as we tend to completely depend on the spouse. Instead, the sooner we understand that we have a life of our own, the better. If he is there, good for you, if he is not there, you still have to be happy. And you have to make your own life by standing on your own two feet. Being possessive can irritate the person and create stress in a relationship, which I see is very common.
How did you think of writing the book ‘How to be Human’, dedicated to your dog, Buddy Hirani as you call him?
The story began with the movie PK where he was shown as a puppy. I was petrified of dogs and I never wanted one in my house. Vir was small and he always wanted a dog, but at that time we were living in a flat which was small. We shifted to this new house, but still I did not fancy having a dog as a pet. At the end of the film shoot, the dog was to be returned to the original owner, but Raju put him in a small tokri, decorated it with small cushions and gave it to Vir as a gift. A note by Raju to Vir read: ‘A dog is a man’s best friend. Have fun with him. He is yours.’ I suddenly lost fear and it was a euphoric moment for me.
What is the theme of your book?
I started blogging about Buddy as I was fascinated by his way of life. I then realised that we, human beings, don’t live natural lives. God has created us, but the rules are man-made, so we live by social conditioning. Hence, I have compared a dog’s life to human life, making the book philosophical and thought-provoking. As I have stated in the book, ‘I want to thank Buddy, who made me a writer and philosopher and taught me love and tolerance towards other creatures on this planet. Human beings are very complicated and complex creatures. We are overpowered by societal dogmas, religion, rituals, our parents and peers. We don’t live life the way it is meant to be. There are too many dos and don’ts that bog us down. Most of the time we are pretentious and trying to please others. We show ourselves to be what we are not. Every chapter in this book is based on Buddy’s life and the inspiration we can draw from it. He is a living master in the house.’
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You both are/were so busy with work, how did you manage to instill the right values and discipline into your son?
I would say, it’s all thanks to Indian Airlines, because I fly the domestic routes. I used to do small flights and was back home within three to four hours. Indian Airlines also does cooperate a lot, particularly when it comes to lady pilots. I would say that I have more time on hand, compared to a lady working in a multinational company or a bank. Of course, odd timings do take a toll on you. And I also understood as a parent that, just as with dogs, children follow the pack leader. If the pack leader is doing things right, the child will follow. If I want my son, Vir, to do something, I can’t order him around; I have to do it myself. Whatever I read, I try to impart it to him. I feel the only way to bring up your child is to be the pack leader.
How is Rajkumar Hirani as a father?
I always tell myself to be a constant seeker. My ambition of becoming an air hostess got realised. Then I wanted to be a pilot. After that, I raised my son. I have carried out my responsibilities and now he is on his own. I have started reading and writing. It is an ongoing process. Besides the blog, now I have written this book. I also explore life through travelling, for life is beautiful and has so much to offer. I travel with my group of girlfriends as Raju is too busy and I have stopped depending on him.
He is more sensitive and more emotional than me, that is the difference. I am more bindaas. I give full credit to Raju for having cooperated and supported me a lot. When Vir was small, I used to have night stops too, so Raju used to
How much time did you take to write the book?
I finished it in about two months. After my contract with Penguin Random House, the entire process took 18 months.
Has your philosophy changed after Buddy came into your life?
Yes, one major change. There’s one quality of Buddy that I enjoy, and I want to imbibe that quality. I think I have come close to it. At times when people come home, they are scared of Buddy so we have to send him to another room. He resists being taken out of the room so we tempt him with food and force him to go. He sulks. When the guests leave, we call back Buddy and he comes with the same positive energy as if nothing happened that had made him sad. In contrast, with us, human beings, if someone snaps at somebody, the next time they meet, they will show March 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 23
cover story
It’s a Dog’s World; Worth Emulating!
Excerpts from Manjeet Hirani’s book ‘How To Be Human: Life’s Lessons by Buddy Hirani’
He loves unconditionally
One of Buddy’s greatest qualities is the ability to love unconditionally. He has so much boundless affection to offer that I feel ashamed at times about not being able to return enough love. Irrespective of how we treat him—nothing more than mock anger— Buddy only knows the language of love. The best thing about him is the way he greets us, with full gusto and excitement. Sometimes, I wish my son would take lessons from him. Humans are happiest when things go their way. When they do not, we get upset and behave as if it is the end of the world. This is when we need to be sensible and understand that things do not work according to us. In fact, they almost never will. Things either happen or don’t happen for a reason. There is a higher purpose behind everything. We must give it our 100 per cent, put in all efforts and then leave it to God. Whatever the result may be, we should learn to accept it.
He never overeats
I have also observed that if he has overeaten or his stomach doesn’t feel right, he eats some grass from the garden and vomits after a while. This way, he cleanses his system and detoxifies it. He is also very health conscious. It may seem amusing but yoga comes naturally to him. For instance, when he gets up after sitting for a long time, he first stretches, lengthens attitude. You should forget any sour feelings you may have had, when you meet that person the next time, like Buddy. Become egoless. I always remember this quality of Buddy and have succeeded in following it to a large extent.
You have delved on bad governance in our country and hit the nail on the head, so to say. Please elaborate…
We blame everything on karma. Commuting to work and back, I had to encounter bad roads and one day, I almost fell into a pothole and suffered severe back pain. I was in such severe pain that I could not fly for sometime. I still remember that on my wedding day, I was in pain throughout. Now, if someone falls into a pothole and dies, you will blame it on his/ her karma. What about the fact that the authorities concerned have not repaired the pothole? My karma may be bad, but what about you not having done your job which is your dharma? We just pass it on as destiny. Poor people are unable to defend themselves against poor governance, so we who are educated should stretch our hands for them.
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How do you manage life with a star husband and what does the Bollywood world mean to you?
When I got married, I was a pilot, when Raju became Raju, the well-known filmmaker, I was a pilot and till date, I am a pilot. My world is my world. Whenever I go to a Bollywood party, I sometimes feel out of the place, as I don’t have many friends there. However, there is a feel-good factor too. Since I am a working woman, I spend as per what I earn, and not because I am Raju’s wife. 24 / Corporate Citizen / March 16-31, 2018
One of Buddy’s greatest qualities is the ability to love unconditionally. He has so much boundless affection to offer that I feel ashamed at times about not being able to return enough love Rajkumar Hirani: He always stands by his family
An article in www.bridalbox.com states that, “Rajkumar Hirani is often considered as that one exception from the show business, who has compartmentalised his professional and personal life quite well. He and Manjeet have always stood by each other’s side through the ups and downs, keeping their professional careers intact. Manjeet Hirani continues to work as an Air India pilot till date, and is often seen accompanying Rajkumar Hirani at the premières and screenings of his film. Their son Vir is also taking the same path as his father took and has already made two short films. In an interview, Manjeet Hirani joked that she is the odd one out in the family since she is a pilot. She also joked that she can never get into a gown like other popular wives of the filmland.’’ In an interview in Moneylife, with Sucheta Dalal and Debashis Basu, Rajkumar Hirani, states what inspired him further to write the ‘Munnabhai
his haunches and then slowly gets up in a perfect yoga pose. I am surprised that Patanjali isn’t knocking at our doors to sign him as a brand ambassador! Takings tips from Buddy, we must live intelligently. We must eat when hungry and avoid food when not hungry. Detoxify yourself when your system is not all right: that’s intelligence. We need to assess the situation before jumping into it. We need to be careful. Most importantly, we must be able to control our emotions. We must try and be joyous, enthusiastic and live in the moment like Buddy.
He does not believe in astrology
I have never seen Buddy worry about the future or show any concern for the position of the stars. He obviously doesn’t wear any rings for protection against the ill effects of the alignment of planets. He doesn’t even have a horoscope. I, on the other hand, have gone through this rigmarole of astrology and seen others too who are deeply involved. Some people are so obsessed that they don’t even wear perfume, fearing the scent would adversely influence planetary positions. We see celebrities around us changing their names and spellings, yet their luck does not seem to change. Some people are obsessed with the letter ‘K’. Thank God, Buddy doesn’t insist on it. I can’t imagine calling him Kuddy. M.B.B.S’ script. States Hirani, “...my reasons for writing that script were different during the two periods I worked on it. The first time, it was because I had seen that life and had a lot of funny incidents about three boys and a medical college. ...But, by the time I began to write the script a second time, I had a lot of experiences with doctors and I was very angry with them. For instance, my wife was unwell once—she used to hear sounds and they couldn’t figure out what the problem was. They sent her to an ENT specialist, then a neurologist and then someone else; I was battling big time with it. “I remember meeting a neurologist at Hinduja Hospital. We go to meet him and I offer to explain her problem because she can’t talk. But he insists that she should explain it herself. Then his phone rings and, for the next 15 minutes, he is chatting with a film producer about attending a premier. When he puts the phone down he has forgotten the conversation and says there is nothing wrong with her and she should see an ENT doctor. I tell him that she has already seen two ENTs who said there is nothing wrong… the reports were in front of him and I requested him to look at them. So he simply asks us to do an MRI. I now know this whole game; but we still did it and went back to him. “Once again, his phone rings while he is talking to us and he is once again talking to someone in the film industry. This time I lost it. I am not an aggressive guy, but I picked his phone and banged it down on the table and said: “Can you please look at her and talk later”? He then finally examined her and said that there is nothing wrong with her. So I said, “Can you then help me please find a solution?” He was then very calm with me but had no solution. I used the guy’s name in 3 Idiots. There was this ragging scene where all these guys in their briefs walk up and introduce themselves—I used the names of all the guys I hate in that scene.’’ (It turned out to be a thyroid problem.) In
Takings tips from Buddy, we must live intelligently. We must eat when hungry and avoid food when not hungry. Detoxify yourself when your system is not all right: that’s intelligence — Manjeet Hirani Depression does come to him
In 2014, when PK was released, we were all preoccupied with the promotions and other activities. In the meantime, Buddy was completely ignored. There was no time to sit and play with him. After a few days, we noticed that he had become very quiet and seemed to have no energy. We thought he wasn’t well and called up his vet. But then we realized that perhaps he was depressed. He was lonely and needed attention. He had been overlooked and was very unhappy about it. It is ironic how the reel influenced the real in this case. It was then that we decided to shower him with attention and time and were constantly around him. Three to four days later, he was back to normal. It was such a relief to see him jump around once again with the same energy. Just like Buddy, humans too don’t like being ignored. We sulk, get angry, feel isolated and become depressed. Prolonged isolation can lead to clinical problems. Depression is a disease that must be taken seriously. With nuclear families becoming the norm, there is no time to socialize as people are busy with work and their lives. As parents grow older, they are left alone once their children move abroad. Most often, there is no one to look after them. This is increasingly becoming a serious problem. Munna Bhai M.B.B.S, Hirani wanted to make the point that “the doctors should be more compassionate. There was also anger that they were running a business of asking for repeated tests, referrals and commissions from pharma companies. So my first scene in the draft was about this underworld don who gets a headache and is asked to do some tests. When the results come, he is asked to go to a neurologist, then to an ophthalmologist and there are more tests. He, finally, gets cured by a simple home remedy and realises that this is a great profession to be in... So he decides to join a medical college. That was my original draft, but it changed after I bounced it off a lot of my friends and some of them felt it was too off-beat, and needed a heroine, etc.’’ vinitapune@gmail.com
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tadka NASA’s built-in toilet suit Astronauts of NASA’s next-generation human spacecraft, Orion, may not visit toilet during their deep space trip as engineers at NASA are working on a new spacesuit with waste-disposal system. The suit will contain all the necessary functions to support life and sustain the crew in the unlikely event the spacecraft loses pressure. Though Orion will be equipped with a toilet, the new spacesuit is being designed to help astronauts survive in case of emergencies for up to six days—they can eat, urinate or defecate without taking them off, the report said.
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CII Manufacturing Summit
FutureReady Millenial MSMEs MSMEs continues to be the heart of our manufacturing sector. They are likely to change their ways of working substantially in the days to come, with Industry 4.0 innovations, with GST implementation, with better infrastructure and better global connectedness. How will the face of the new MSME sector look like in the India of 2025? A panel session at recently-held CII Manufacturing Summit, at Taj Vivanta, in Mumbai, had variety of practitioners serving and operating in the MSME sector share their views on this topic. The panellists were Rangarajan V, Principal, BCG Group (Moderator); Pulin Shah, MD, Reactive Ploymers; Ashfaque Ahmed, MD, Farida Group and Sunil Raibagi, MD, Gudel India. Corporate Citizen brings you their discussion on what are the policy derivatives, labour productivity and job security By Rajesh Rao
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he mindset aspect is very important and as we go forward, some of the structural reforms will actually be tapping the potentials that SMEs can really provide. Whenever we think SMEs, we always think jobs, we think about all the ways of working.
Talking about industry-specific views, do we really see adaption patterns of technologies, adaption patterns in employment and growth, differed by industry and what will the pattern for India 2025 look like? Ashfaque Ahmed: I come from industry which deals with leather and footwear. This has been traditionally a very labour-intensive industry. Not much modernised and it employees
a lot of people. Like textile, leather and footwear is highly labour-intensive industry. This industry has been changing, is competitive and traditionally, the buyers in this industry have moved from labour-cheap countries—moving around the world from China, to next cheapest place like India, Vietnam, or even Bangladesh. But, they are running out of places to go to. We have benefited a lot from China getting more expensive. Recently we visited Vietnam and Bangladesh, to just see where the competition is. But it is a matter of time when they are going to get expensive. So, the future is not finding places where it is easier and cheaper to manufacture, it is towards Industry 4.0, which is the future. The current status of my industry and when I look at Industry 4.0, we are far away from it. Our companies or the industry people, would not understand Industry 4.0. There is a huge gap. Now,
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to bridge this gap—people cannot just stay where they are, neither can they just jump to Industry 4.0. In our leather and footwear industry, they are just in Industry 2.0 and they are not even in Industry 3.0. Basically, 3.0 is more automation— we are mechanised and we are into mass production, but we are not fully automated. And to jump from automated to fully IT-related Industry 4.0, is a big jump. The way I see it for the future—how do we see the leather and footwear industry in 2025? May be we are not in Industry 4.0, in 2025, but we would have taken elements of Industry 4.0, we would have graduated more to 3.0 and fast-track our development in it. In our Farida Group, we employ about 20,000 people and we are graduates of CII Manufacturing Excellence course that we went through for four years and we are currently in a programme with CII, on zero-defect manufacturing. This
Panellists (L-R) Rangarajan V, Principal, BCG Group (Moderator); Pulin Shah, MD, Reactive Ploymers; Ashfaque Ahmed, MD, Farida Group; and Sunil Raibagi, MD, Gudel India
Pics: Yusuf Khan
programme has been one of the best things that has happened to our group. And our group currently, we are the leaders in export for India, in leather products. It has made us survive and compete with China and rest of the world. We manufacture for one of the biggest buyers in the world. Clarks, shoe manufacturer and retailer, for example, they buy 50 million pairs in the world and we are one of the top suppliers, even higher than the Chinese suppliers. And the only way we have competed with them, is through manufacturing excellence, which CII has taught us through cluster programmes. The future we see for us is, one, a lot of effort is going into training the people we have and unless we reskill the people who are involved in work, upgrade them, it is going to be difficult to bridge this gap. We are taking care of the people, not just by training, but also with the total employee
"The future is not finding places where it is easier and cheaper to manufacture, it is towards Industry 4.0. We are making sure that the next generation are better equipped to cater to industry 4.0" — Ashfaque Ahmed
involvement projects. I am so sure that the socio-economic welfare of the people that work in our industry, actually have a better rating than the national rating. We employ lot of people and
people who work in this industry, have a higher socioeconomic rating than the average of Tamil Nadu and India’s national average. For example over 120-150 people were involved in making March 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 27
CII Manufacturing Summit "We will need to look at the skills first, reskilling the jobs and automate in a way that you are not hurting the environment, but making the same person doing a different job" — Pulin Shah
that one pair of shoes that you are wearing right now. In the future, we'd see only 12-15 people involved in making the same pair of shoes. Adidas is doing that already. People who are working in our industry right now, might not want to continue working—there are better industries and more modern industries. But we are making sure that the next generation that is coming out is better equipped to handle the more automated companies and able to cater to industry 4.0. So, people and training are the key part. Can you tell us your observation on how SMEs will play a role in terms of adapting technology and automation in future, in order to stay competitive? Sunil Raibagi: For example, if you take a car, over 60-70 per cent of its parts come from SME sector. SMEs have realised a lot of interesting points—there is a big change in technology and change in technology brings a lot of different jobs. There will not be reduction of jobs, there will be change of jobs. With the changing pattern, the jobs have to be different, skills have to be different. What happens is that when there is a change in technology, it leads to change in the manufacturing processes. There will definitely be good growth for the SMEs. There are lot of structural reforms sweeping the country right now, which will hopefully result in a wave of opportunities coming for us. If we need to drive the wave and get noticed as SMEs going forward, what would be the few calls for action you would place on different stakeholders like education, skilling, government? Pulin Shah: We will need to look at the skills first, reskilling the jobs and automate in a way that you are not hurting the environment, but making the same person doing a different job. For reskilling or skill development—I am connected to furniture industry, I am talking about that industry—government has allocated `16,000 crore for next 10 years, to develop the skills in furniture and fittings. Lot of work has
been going on and CII has always been on the forefront of teaching people and getting them organised to work on a very efficient way without wastage. We are also part of a cluster run by CII and Godrej. We are also in Industry 3.0 and the first thing that CII taught us was that whatever you can measure, can be controlled. There are so many process controls which has come up—there are things which we really never knew are happening in our company. We have understood what kind of scrap that we are generating, what we can do to generate less scrap and how can we reuse the material. Just the way zero defect, zero effect to the environment is very important. And in my opinion, 2025 may be little to early but definitely there is scope. When you start thinking in terms of reskilling the jobs and giving the jobs of a different kind, we will definitely see a change. For example, there is QR code which is now stitched on the product which we manufacture. This QR code will actually help the customer directly to identify the product and come directly to us and say that this is what exactly he wants again or have a complaint lodged—eliminating the lines between the end customer and the process. I think we are moving in the same direction. When we think of SMEs in the next decade, how do you think these cluster programmes for development can be Credit: Christoph Roser at AllAboutLean
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reoriented and what would be your call for action? Ashfaque Ahmed: These cluster programmes help upgrade our companies from the fundamentals. In terms of actually the government helping us train and skill our employees— frankly the government is doing a lot of programmes in upgradation of skills and lot of programmes are out there. The quality of these training programmes and upgradation may improve even more, but lot of responsibility is up to the companies. I think the companies can themselves take the onus to upgrade and utilise these resources better and take it one step forward. And I would love to see CII’s cluster programmes spread more. Maybe make that more affordable to a lot of people. I would definitely say skill development is already there, let’s upgrade it, modernise it—maybe the skills are not technical skills, but skills to operate computers and machines better. Cluster programmes are a great help in improving our management system, our basics in the companies. What would be your calls for action for the SMEs and also in terms of things like infrastructure for example? Are there any areas, where you will see these things to support the growth of SMEs? Sunil Raibagi: If you see the today, the machine levels are completely automated. If you take the SME sector, there are going to be changes and those will happen very fast. I would say that there is lot of intelligence building and it will keep coming. Second change will be in workforce; there will be liquid workforce. Half of the people will not want to commute, so they will work from home and half of the people are in the factory, out of which some are humans and some robots. Harmonisation of people with robots, working with robots is going to be a challenge. Another thing is digital transaction, where our country has done well. When demonetisation happened recently, transactions had gone mobile—it was great and we learnt it very well. Even vegetable vendor knew how to accept and pay money with digital transac-
tion—these are big changes of digital reality. Next is virtual reality—we cannot miss the bus, we have to catch the bus; if we are to grow. The common theme we have been talking all through is skill development and the fact that the nature of skill development is going to be far more soft skill and analysis-driven, analytics-driven, rather than hardcore engineering skill. Skill development can be attained in terms of education; there is also another dimension in terms of managerial skills for assemblies and now that being a lacuna as far as finding big management is concerned, what are your thoughts on that? Pulin Shah: There exists a very large gap, from the top management to the worker. Middle management in all the SMEs, you will hardly find a proper middle management. I think probably the reason is our education system is not geared up to actually take the industry requirement. In Germany, when they select the person, they have two years of in-plant training, for a diploma holder in the industry. And then without any commitment from the industry, he is either taken in or he is asked to go and apply somewhere else. If we have something like that inculcated within our education system, may be we will have a diploma holder, who then actually gets to learn the industry in the next two years and most probably gets absorbed in the same company. When you have that kind of the thing then you have potential middle management coming up. Or an example of a blue-collar person getting into a white-collar job. Because he is in the factory for two years, he has a handson experience, then because of his degree or his education, he can actually go into the middle management. In Germany, the SMEs have over five generations within one place. No SME in Germany, I visited, was less than 100 years old and the oldest one I visited was 240 years old. When I visited this 240 years company, there was a gentleman who took us around. And his fifth generation was also working in the same company. That’s the kind of employer-employee
relations they have. I think we must try to develop such relationships with our employees, so that they remain with us and their skill remains with us. When we start training such people, we assure them that once you get trained within our organisation, you will be absorbed and you will be definitely given a responsible job. This is what is required for the industry. Get the middle management for all the SMEs, otherwise it will not percolate down. We should request the government to have in-plant training for two years, so one gets embedded within the industry.
and the people who are currently working with us have a lot of strain. Because the world is changing so fast, the people who are running the businesses don’t know how to handle the change. So, it’s how we train the people who are already part of the business, to equip themselves to software technology, automation or anything else that is required to move faster. And I think the government and CII have good programmes, it’s a matter of communicating that and just linking that to who are wanting it to use that resource better.
"The world is changing fast, the people who are running the businesses, don’t know how to handle the change. It’s how we train the people who are already part of the business, and equip themselves to move faster " — Ashfaque Ahmed
Middle management really being the need of the hour, given that there is such a large gap faced by the industry, what would you think will be the solution, going forward? Ashfaque Ahmed: This gap is a big gap we all face it currently. Also the companies investing in technology and ready to put people there, they forget the people who are already with them. They are good people and we are not changing them fast enough. It is also the company’s and industry’s responsibility, to realise that and get to change our people who are already part of business and make them better equipped for the future. Yes, the education system and the training, and the people who are coming out fresh from these institutes, will help us in the future. But, we are running a business right now which is not changing fast enough
"The change that is happening is fast and adaptation to this change is not that critical but the philosophy of working fast has to be adapted from top to bottom. There has to be a continuous training and learning" — Sunil Raibagi
Sunil Raibagi: We find that the newcomers are much more knowledgeable, but the middle management is two years behind. The change that is happening is fast and adaptation to this change is not that critical but the philosophy of working fast has to be adapted from top to bottom. There has to be a continuous training and learning. The worker has different problems every day unless we are not making his job easier, he may jump job. He must be able to learn and resolve his problems. rajeshrao.rao@gmail.com
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Air India’s Balle-Balle After a gap of eight years, when Air India recently resumed nonstop flights between Amritsar and Birmingham, the news caused instant celebration for many. No wonder, passengers flying to India from Britain were in for a musical surprise as moments before take-off, a special dhol-nagada performance on the beats of popular bhangra numbers was organised to send them off in style. Videos circulating online show delighted passengers cheering and clapping as enthusiastic dhol players drum up a storm in true Punjabi colours.
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Corporate Stalwart
IT Nation’s Industry Is Our
Pride T. V. Mohandas Pai, former CFO and HR head at Infosys now spends a major part of his time on public service, particularly education and public empowerment. He is President of the AIMA, has been heading the education vertical of FICCI and is Chairman of its skills committee. He works with the Government of India on education and skill development, and has been the originator of IT, startup and education policy frameworks for several states. He has worked with both the UPA and NDA government. Here he shares his views on a range of subjects he is passionate about in a candid talk with Corporate Citizen By Geetha Rao
I
was born in Bengaluru, I have lived all my life in Bengaluru. My mother taught at a government school in Bengaluru. She walked to school daily for 30 years to save the bus fare to pay for our education. We didn’t need the money, but mothers are mothers. She was thrifty; she grew up in very poor circumstances in Coorg—there were days when there was no food at home. My grandfather died when he was young. My father was put in an anathashram. He studied at Canara High School in Mangaluru, ran away to Bombay, was a casual mill worker, and served at a hotel in Fort. Later, he became a clerk at Dukes and Malleables in Bengaluru. We were well-off, I went by my father’s car to school. We are three siblings. My mother made sure I did my home-
work; that we studied well. We had to be first in class. We were voracious readers.
Glued to annual reports
I didn’t want to study Science and become a doctor or an engineer. I chose Commerce, as annual reports interested me. Beginning at 14, I read 3,000 annual reports before I was 22. I had a collection. I could attend any shareholders meeting and ask questions. My father, a shareholder, would get annual reports. I attended shareholder meetings with him. I studied at St. Joseph’s Indian High School, Bengaluru, after my 7th class. Till then, I attended Vishwa Kala Niketan in Nehrunagar, Seshadripuram, near my house. I completed B. Com in 1997, started studying CA and law at University Law College. I completed CA in 1982, getting
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Pics: Sanjay MD
We created B.PAC or Bangalore Political Action Committee to focus on Bengaluru, a political movement to empower citizens, creating an effective urban citizens’ lobby to improve the quality of life. Democracy is a system of competitive lobbies. There are lobbies in India for caste, religion, commerce, but none for the urban middle class�
March 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 31
Corporate Stalwart ranks at the All India level in Inter and Final (11th and 35th rank). I won a gold medal. I got the third ranking in B.Com in University. I set up practice after my CA. I got to know Bharat Narang, son of Omprakash Narang, founder of Prakash Roadlines in Bengaluru through a friend. They were starting a leasing company. They asked me to run it. I became the Executive Director of Prakash Leasing in 1986 at 28. I ran it till about 1994, when there was a family fight. I left and started consulting for Pradeep Kar’s Microland. Earlier, my friend N G Puranik, had told me about a company called Infosys, that it was going public. So we bought some shares. In 1993 or so, Narayana Murthy and Nandan Nilekani held a meeting at a fivestar hotel. I attended the shareholders meeting. All the founders were there—well dressed, nervous. My friend and I asked several questions, because they said they would have 100 million dollars by 2000, and 20% net income margin.
Blooming of IT
Nobody then thought the IT industry would become so big, though there was a kernel of a promise. In 1994, I produced a report, presented it at a seminar, saying IT would become a 50 billion dollar industry by 2000. I sent it to Nasscom to Dewang Mehta. It became the basis on which McKinsey wrote a report. Going back, in October 1993, Infosys held an analysts meeting in Mumbai. I went there, asking questions again. By then, Murthy called me off and on. Nandan met me in Bengaluru for lunch at Prince’s Hotel on Brigade Road, actor Sanjeev Kumar’s hotel, with a disco on the first floor. I started consulting for Infosys. But my father fell ill in January. He was in a coma for two months. I couldn’t see him. He died in April. It was a tragic period in my life. I was at Infosys when I was called and told he was no more. The day after the funeral, I returned to work because my father had insisted that work was always very important. Even when my grandmother died, my father returned to work the day after the funeral. As a consultant, my first task for Infosys was preparing the 1994 annual report. I worked with Narayana Murthy to help design it, writing it with Bala (V. Balakrishnan). Then, we did the employees stock option scheme, ESOPs, in 1994. I designed it. The government couldn’t tax it. It was designed so well. I think the employees must have got about `20,000 crore in all. Of course, when we offered ESOPs, nobody thought Infosys would grow that much. Those were exhilarating days. Then Murthy came to my room at the Manipal Centre office, saying, “You will be CFO and join us full-time.” I said OK. We did well, set up a campus in 1995, and did the NASDAQ listing in 1995. I was awarded the best CFO in
It’s all rubbish—when people say Indian IT employees are not skilled enough. Indian IT employees are among the best. In IT services, they are largely engineers. 90% of those in IT services are engineers and MBAs in sales, etc., coming from the top 20 engineering universities. They are bright, young, highlyskilled, and can learn any technology” India the first time anyone gave awards. All the big guns in Mumbai were shocked—a CFO in Bengaluru got it! We did everything–investor protection, shareholder relations, disclosures, transparency, anti-insider trading, foreign exchange regulations, overseas listings—these have all now become standard procedures. We did a billion dollars in 2014 in 23 years, and the second billion in the 25th year. We continued to grow. Then in 2005, I told Murthy I wanted to step down as CFO. He said no. But I had joined in ’94; after 10-11 years, someone else should
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get the seat. I was 47. Murthy said, “Can you suddenly leave it all? Why don’t you handle HR?” I did. Bala became CFO. I hired 200,000 people in five years, built the corporate university in Mysuru, the training centre, trained more than 250,000 people, was head of Finacle, BPO Chairman… Around 2010, I told Murthy I wanted to leave. He said no. But in April 2011, we made the announcement and I left. I wanted my life back. The stock price fell. People were shocked. Life had been very intense, 24x7, 12-14 hours a day, travel, etc. I hadn’t spent time with my wife, or seen my two boys grow up, hadn’t spent time with my father before he died. I hadn’t spent time with my mother. She is 84 now. People think I left because I wasn’t made the CEO. But I had no such ambitions.
Interest in education
I was on the board of Manipal University for years by then. Ranjan Pai said why don’t we work together and I became the Non-Executive Chairman of Manipal Global Education. Now, we have 10 venture capital funds through Aarin Capital. We have 250 investments in startups. 2,500 companies come to us every year. We helped the Karnataka government write the first IT policy for India in 1997. IIIT-B came out of that, IT.com also. We are now helping write Karnataka’s startup policy. In 2004, I started helping the Rajasthan government with my friend Abhay Jain, who got the connection. I am on the advisory council for the Chief Minister, Raje. It’s been a very rich career, a very rich life.
Did I miss Infosys? I have a simple philosophy. Once you finish something, you must never look back. Life is about tomorrow; once past 40, you have less time to live. You must always look ahead, and make the most of it. When I left, I said I would spend one-third of my time with my family, one-thirds on business and one-third on public service. Now I’ve time for public service and business but family time is when I go home at night! I travel 15 days a month. I am now President of the AIMA. I have been heading the education vertical of FICCI. I am the Chairman of FICCI’s skill committee. I work with the GoI on policy also. I worked with the UPA government, the first NDA government, I worked on a 108-point policy for the NDA government with Sudheendra Kulkarni.
A skilled force
It’s all rubbish—when people say Indian IT employees are not skilled enough. Indian IT employees are among the best. In IT services, they are largely engineers. 90% of those in IT services are engineers and MBAs in sales, etc., coming from the top 20 engineering universities. They are bright, young, highly-skilled and can learn any technology. Upgrading skills is a constant. Please remember, when I joined Infosys, we worked on Mainframe and AS/400. Then came distributed computing with servers and PCs. Then Y2K, the Internet boom, enterprise solutions, cloud. Now people talk of digitisation. Everyone’s worked on all these and survived. All these 6-7 major changes happened in the past 20 years. So what’s the big deal? Now we have Artificial Intelligence, digitisation, machine learning. People can learn because the building blocks are all there. The media wrote an article saying Indian software services companies were behind the curve, not innovative. What people forget is that innovation in technology comes through a few players in the world. And there are millions of service companies which are not tech companies. Accenture, the world’s biggest service company, does not create technology. It uses technology. People should understand that before they shoot their mouths off and all this nonsense that AI will take away jobs and so on. There will be change, there will be automation, but big companies cannot change so fast. They are large, complex animals. Because of automation and AI, the intensity of job growth will decrease. Earlier, if you grew 10%, jobs grew 10%. Now if you grow 10%, jobs may grow 5 %. But jobs will still grow. Analysts saying two lakh jobs will be gone, etc. talk nonsense. There’s no data backing it. This year, hiring will be 150-200,000. All will be retrained. That is a continuous process. Of the top-10 software service companies by market value, five are Indian. The biggest by market value is IBM, second is Accenture, third
TCS, fourth Cognizant, fifth Infosys, sixth HP, then Capgemini, Wipro, HCL, then CGI. Of the two million employees in the top-10, 1.5 million are Indian. Out of the 120 billion dollars of revenue of all these Indian exporters, not more than 5% is India revenue. No industry anywhere in the world has only 4-5% income coming from the country where it is headquartered, with 9095% coming from outside and dominating the world. Any country would be proud of this industry. But in India we have leftist malcontents who say these are cheap cyber coolies. Please! No large MNC will ever give critical software to anybody unless they do high-quality work, and trust them. People say India’s not created a Microsoft or a Google. I ask, has Europe created a Google or a Microsoft? Or Japan? Europe is 18 trillion dollars in GDP. Why has only America created
I want India to be a country where every Indian has food on the table, every Indian has a roof over his head, every Indian has water in the tap, every Indian has electricity, every Indian has access to health, every child gets good education, and access to jobs and employment, that the dreams of every mother are realised”
this? Because America has 18 trillion dollars of GDP and IT spending close to 2 trillion dollars. India’s total IT market is 30 billion. It’s peanuts. India’s not a tech leader because Indian companies are not leaders in technology. China made it but when it was 5-6 billion dollars, shut out the market to Google, Facebook, Amazon, etc. India is 10 years behind China. Our GDP is 2.5 trillion. China’s is 12.25 trillion. But Flipkart is competing with Amazon. Its technology is pretty good, all done here. So also Paytm. Having been in the industry, I have been witness to the rise of a great country, India, from 1991 to 2017, which grew from a GDP 275 billion to 2.5 trillion today, growing at 8.8% a year in dollar terms. I have been witness to a great industry which grew from 50 million dollars in 1994 to about 122 billion dollars in exports;
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Benefits of being creative We undertake creative pursuits such as writing, acting, drawing, or dancing simply because we enjoy them. Intuitively, we know that creativity is good for us. But what does science have to say about the benefits of creativity? Medical research in America has now actually suggested that being creative is, in fact, quite useful for our mental and physical well-being. It helps people to deal with different kinds of trauma effectively and allows them to take negative situations like death of a loved one or a violent situation in a very meaningful manner.
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Corporate Stalwart from 30-40,000 people to 4.5 million. That’s 45 lakh. And I have been witness to the rise of a great company like Infosys, a world leader, which shook the world, and did outstanding work in corporate governance. Even the recent letter by Murthy to the board was to ensure corporate governance standards were maintained.
Influencers Murthy and Mahatma
There have been two great influences in my life. One is Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi led by example. Murthy says the same—lead by example. Gandhi never asked anyone to do anything he himself wouldn’t. He had a long-term vision, he was a great communicator, a great strategist—look at the Dandi march, Quit India. He created multiple leaders, never hankering after power. He was a prolific thinker, writer and an intellectual. He lived simply. By his own persona, he had more power than anyone on the planet then. My second guru is Narayana Murthy. After independence, there have been three great business leaders. JRD Tata was a genteel businessman who wanted to make India big, who stood up for values. Then came Dhirubai Ambani who broke all rules but taught India how to scale, to dream big, when everyone looked down on scale. He created a huge number of stakeholders, shareholders, etc. Despite opposition, he fought and became the largest entrepreneur when there were licences, quota, etc. Look at Reliance today. Then, Narayana Murthy in the 1990s, the man who gave India a global standing, created a great company in the knowledge economy, raised the aspirations of the middle class, taught them good corporate governance, good standards. Murthy is a great intellectual, a great business strategist. Like Gandhi, he’s very simple, very compassionate. Nobody ever asked me about my family, only Murthy. A tough taskmaster, he didn’t forgive non-performance or excuses, achieving all through performance.
Focus on women’s education
Yes, I have been involved with education. We must be kind to India when we discuss education. No other country has 26.5 crore children in school, 3.5 crore people in education, not even China. We produce 2.5 crore babies a year. Around 1947, our literacy rate was 11%, college-going people only 2-3%. Yes, we made mistakes. We have not educated our women the way China did; we are suffering because of that. Educated women educate their children, take care of the family’s health. An uneducated woman, research says, will have 5-6 children; a semi-educated woman 2-3, and a highly educated woman, 1 or 2. There would have been more money for everyone if Nehru had educated women first. Mao said women hold up half
There would have been more money for everyone if Nehru had educated women first. Mao said women hold up half of the heavens, and educated China’s women. China’s literacy is 96%. Ours today should be 75%. China’s women’s participation in the workforce is 65%. Ours is 25%. India’s neglected its women. That’s why India is still growing slower than China” of the heavens, and educated China’s women. China’s literacy is 96%. Ours today should be 75%. China’s women’s participation in the work force is 65%. Ours is 25%. India’s neglected its women. That’s why India is still growing slower than China. If all our girl children attended school, if 50-60% became graduates, we can see an unbelievable India.
Education, a big task
Today, 60% of the children study at government schools. Political interference, bad governance and bad hiring have destroyed them. People don’t want to teach English in government schools for political reasons. Parents want En-
34 / Corporate Citizen / March 16-31, 2018
glish, they know upward mobility comes with English. Of course, you must educate children in the mother tongue, as it is the natural way of thinking, whatever it may be, Kannada, Konkani, etc. That is very important. But start English as a language from class 1. Today, it’s the operating language-giving access to further knowledge. Also, translate the world’s knowledge into your language, you will not get access to all content in your language; hence, no growth. Why do the Chinese train their children in Chinese, the Japanese in Japanese, the Germans in German, and do so well? It’s because they translate the world’s knowledge. We have many private schools. Out of 100, say 25 are good, 25 are ok. People prefer them, as they are better than government schools. We must allow those schools which secure 10% better results than the state board schools in the previous five years, to expand. Allow private enterprises to establish good schools. Educating a child in a government school costs around `25,000 annually. It’s not funny. Give poor children vouchers or scholarships of `20,000, allowing them to choose any school. We must run education in a decentralised model. India is like a collection of 29 states which are like 29 countries. From Bengaluru, you can’t run anything in Raichur. There’s a huge transmission loss. The UK’s population is 6.5 crore people. So also Karnataka’s. UK has school boards everywhere, good governance. India has 800 universities, 51,000 colleges and about 3.5 crore young people in college. We graduate 88 lakh per year. The top-200 universities must be given complete autonomy —academic, administrative, financial. You can set them some easy norms to follow. We have the national ranking framework, so all UGC, AICTE circulars and regulations should be vol-
untary, not mandatory for them. The world’s best universities are fully autonomous. We don’t have universities in the top-ten. Look at Bombay University, Madras University, Calcutta University now. In the 1950s, they were among the world’s top-200 universities.
Training for the global market
As HR chief at Infosys, I wanted our employees to become part of a global workforce, competing with everyone. In Mysore, 45% of our candidates were children of farmers, housemaids, labourers, small businessmen. Six months of training, and they became so confident and global. We had to even train some in using the Western commode because they came from simple backgrounds. For that matter, there was a time when even we had lived in houses, 10 people sharing a bathroom. During the training, they lived in AC rooms with running hot water, every facility available in a beautiful environment. After all, they would work in the First World. Murthy would tell us, “We live in the Third World. But they will produce quality work for the First World. So the mindset must be different.” We trained the women’s cricket team for 1 month at our Mysuru campus - Mithali Raj and others in 2004 or so. Sudha Shah was the captain. The team beat England at Lord’s. She called me, saying, “Lord’s is dirty, Sir. London is dirty, Sir, after staying at your campus.” That is empowerment. When our young Infosys employees go to London, New York, anywhere, they are empowered, confident, not overawed. When you come from very poor countries, you get overawed and think the white man is the ultimate. We must give our people the best the world has so they compete with the best. We can’t cripple people with lack of power.
Yes, I founded Akshaya Patra with Madhu Pandita Dasa (Chairman, The Akshaya Patra Foundation), and Abhay Jain (Advisor, Group Corporate Affairs of Manipal Education) in 2000. I had visited the ISKCON temple with my wife. When I met Madhu Pandita Dasa, I told him what a fantastic job he had done with the construction of the temple. I said, “You have done so much, why not a midday meal for schoolchildren?” I told him the story of MGR. MGR came from a poor background. As a child, he was often hungry. It’s said the first thing MGR did as CM was to have a midday meal scheme for all the schoolchildren. In 25 years, children grew two inches taller, ten pounds heavier. Female mortality, child mortality have decreased. People grew more literate. Today, 42% between 18-23 years go to college, the highest in India. Madhu Pandita Dasa said, “We can do it. But I want three vehicles for food distribution.” I agreed and we raised 30 lakhs. I paid a lakh, my friend another, and so on. The scheme started with 1,500 students, reached 5,000; today it’s 16 lakh. The dropout rates are falling. Students are doing better at studies, more passing out. Attendance has increased. Their health is better. All because of one single meal. The programme gave me the greatest satisfaction after my career. It’s one of the largest meal programmes in the world. The government gives 60%, we raise 40%.
Political empowerment
Coming to B.PAC or Bangalore Political Action Committee, we created it to focus on Bengaluru, a political movement to empower citizens, creating an effective urban citizens lobby to improve the quality of life. Democracy is a system of competitive lobbies. There are lobbies in India for caste, religion, commerce, but none for the urban middle class. Further, good people don’t join politics. We started B.CLIP (B.PAC Civic Leadership Incubator Program). In 15-20 years, we want to create 1,500 to 2,000 grassroots leaders. We run six-month and nine-month programmes for them. 240 people have graduated. We want them to become ward councillors. There are about 5060 ward officers doing a good job. We want them to contest in the ward elections. It’s working. We also get people to register for votes and vote. In the last election, we reached out to about five to six lakh people, 10 lakh more people voted, the voting percentage increased. We endorse candidates based on criteria, but don’t tell people who to vote for. In the last three elections, Kiran Mazumdar and I have given of-our own personal money. Democracy does not come free. Political parties need money for elections. Donate money legally, then demand performance. When Gandhiji collected money for the Congress party, citizens donated money. Businessmen also donated, but he never did anything for them. The startup industry got 13.5 billion dollars
of funds in 2017. India has 32,000 startups. They created 100 billion dollars of value, employing about 400,000. They are large employers, employing about 100-150,000 yearly. There’s a lot of money coming into the industry. Lesser number –900 or 1,000 - industries got funding. Barring the big money coming into Flipkart or Paytm, smaller companies got less money because people are discerning, they want good ideas. Skill development should be state-specific and district-specific. Delhi can give grants and funding, but not run programmes because it may not know what’s happening in each state. Skill development should be done by the industry. We need a large apprenticeship programme, where the industry partners with the government, hires the people, trains them and the government pays them. I think demonetisation was a good thing to happen to India. For 60 years, there was black money and black marketing in India. The system needed a shock. People’s behaviour has changed now. Where are the sinks of black money? Real estate. Real estate behaviour too has changed. Any dreams left? My dream is: I want India to be a country where every Indian has food on the table, every Indian has a roof over his head, every Indian has water in the tap, every Indian has electricity, every Indian has access to health, every child gets good education, and access to jobs and employment, that the dreams of every mother are realised. And that everyone lives in peace. This country has given me so much - a public education, a great opportunity. It has given me everything; now I spend 40-50% of my time doing public service. Earlier, we travelled out, were treated shabbily, faced racist experiences, had our passports checked, given searching stares. Now people ask, “Oh, you are from Bengaluru?” This industry has bestowed that pride to the country. geetrao@gmail.com
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tadka Mumbai, home to world’s highest-paid expats Foreigners moving to Mumbai reported average annual earnings of $217,165; which is more than double the global expat average of $99,903, said an HSBC Expat survey. But Mumbai is ranked lower in expat job opportunities than UK and U.S. destinations such as London, San Francisco, New York, or even Birmingham, according to HSBC.
March 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 35
“The toilets are small in the school and all the waste is collected, covered in sand and turned into manure (consequently bought by farmers) in a pit below. Imagine, the campus has 1000 people, but not a drop of water is used for flushing! We are saving 3600 times the water used elsewhere by not flushing. This, I would say, is a great contribution to the world. Being in the Himalayas, we are conscious of our responsibilities. We are sticking to an eco-friendly way of living. It takes a lot of mental strength to use a toilet like that. Arup Associates, who designed our eco-friendly school, have taken a local design of pits, given it a local turn with a VIP touch. We thus follow a cycle of 100% usage� 36 / Corporate Citizen / March 16-31, 2018
Cradle of Leadership Stanzin Kunzang
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Whitelotus Principal, Druk White Lotus School
blooms
in the
Himalayas Druk Padma Karpo School, internationally known as Druk White Lotus School, and popular as Rancho’s School (thanks to the movie ‘3 Idiots’), is a supreme example of resilience, courage and grit. Despite confronting severe topographic and climactic challenges that the formidable terrain of Ladakh offers, it has become a name to reckon with not just in India, but also on the international shores. The school has been recognised for its unique educational practices and for being a wholly eco-conscious building, which relies on natural resources, thereby saving unimaginable units of energy. Stanzin Kunzang, who became the youngest woman principal of Druk White Lotus School in 2014, exudes exceptional passion and energy about her school in this interview… By Namrata Gulati Sapra What is the greatest USP of Druk White Lotus School?
The biggest feature that sets us apart from any other school is that despite being in a very topographically challenged place, we cater to the educational needs of the displaced, nomadic Ladakhi community. The school has more than 380 children who are first-generation learners, since their forefathers had no formal education. So, the Druk White Lotus School is propelling the development of education without looking for financial gain. What matters most to the school is good energy and intention. We are going all out to help our students cope with education. For instance, we help them with remedial classes. All these initiatives require double the effort than any normal school, where children’s parents have been educated at a school. As far as the residential students are concerned, the struggle is twice as hard. They stay back at the hostel so that they come into the arena of education. Let’s accept it, education today is a highly overwhelming commercialised sector. Children from this background can never afford a residential educational setup. The school’s proportion varies greatly. It has nomads as well as the Chaungpas, or the tribal people of Ladakh. I am proud to share that the maximum range of population of Ladakh comes to our school. We are largely a humanitarian school as even the teachers work happily on a low salary. March 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 37
Cradle of Leadership Tell us why Druk White Lotus School was born.
A view of the school
The school, founded in year 2001, is the vision of our Guruji, His Holiness Gyalwang Drukpa. Guruji set up the school at the request of the local villagers who had approached him. He envisioned coming up with a centralised school for children belonging to the most far-flung belts, whose parents are nomads. Coming from the hills, they are constantly on the move. The vision has come true with this school, which gives these the exposure they need while also giving them a settled place. The school began with as little as 88 children, and today, the number stands at 840.
The school has an international sponsorship pattern. Could you shed some light on that?
The sponsorship comes from various countries of the world, who are responsible for sponsoring each child. They are working under the flagship of His Holiness Gyalwang Drukpa, who runs various humanitarian worldwide programmes. Some of the sponsors attached to our school come through ‘Live to Love’. It has various branches in Singapore, Germany, UK, France and Hong Kong. Other than that, Drukpa Trust London, New Lives-New Beginnings from Dubai, and Himalayan Friends also manage sponsorship programmes. As many as 380 students are sponsored by these bodies. For many others, the school bears the expenses of these students, while some of them bear their own expenses. Of these 380 students, 360 are residential. The sponsorship aid varies. It could be between `950 to `1,300 per month and we make do with this amount. Needless to say, it is very challenging to make do with such a small amount. For the students who pay their own fee, we keep raising it by 5% to 10% annually for the residential students. The expenses, renovation and upkeep of our world famous building, designed by Arup Associates and ARUP, are looked into by a different sector altogether, called Facilities Management. Also, we are grateful for many people who cut down the luxuries of their own children, such as weekend outing or entertainment, only to be able to help the school financially.
Druk White Lotus School is an intriguing intermingling of local traditions and modern culture…. It’s an outcry nowadays to preserve one’s culture, but the noise is usually made when the traditional culture has almost reached the brink of a collapse. Things are no different in Ladakh, where there is a stress on preserving the Ladakhi culture and striking a lingual balance. There is a conscious effort to keep up with the language because at the end of the day, the mother tongue will always remain a mother tongue. But at the same time, the new generation is getting exposed to a new culture, especially in Leh. However, we are taking this up seriously and trying to bridge the wide gap between modernity and tradition and trying 38 / Corporate Citizen / March 16-31, 2018
Multiple Awards for the School • The International Architecture in Stone Award, 2013 • The Emirates Glass LEAF Awards, 2012 • ‘Test of Time: Environmental’ Award from the British Council for School Environments, 2012 • Design for Asia Grand Award, 2009 • Award for ‘Inspiring Design - International’ from the British Council for School Environments, 2009 • Sinclair Knight Merz Award, 2005 • World Architecture Award, 2002 (Best Green Building, Best Asian Building, Best Education Building)
not to lose our native threads. Yet at the same time, let’s accept that for children, it is not easy to wear the traditional dress or take a fancy to traditional food. It holds true for almost everyone and anyone. But we are also trying to bring people back to their roots. With this in mind, we have Wednesdays, which are earmarked as The Native Day. Throughout this day of the week, everyone who is part of the school, whether teachers or students, wear our traditional dress—the Goncha and Sulma. Right from the teachers to the principal, to the students, everyone speaks the native language. The students pack traditional food for lunch. That, however, is a bit of a challenge, as convincing the parents is a difficult job. The morning hours are busy for them as they are in a tussle to send their offspring to school and they like to do up a convenient, easy meal, such as a sandwich. Cooking a traditional dish is an ordeal for them. On this day, we also teach our students one of the mother tongue, the Boti language. However, English remains the primary language at the school, while the national language, Hindi is as important as the mother tongue. The medium of studies is largely English and Hindi. Thankfully, Hindi isn’t a challenge for the students as they watch their favourite cartoons and TV shows in Hindi, such as Shinchan or Chhota Bheem. Speaking of modernity, we have to keep in mind that we cater to students between the ages of four to sixteen. The modern touch is quite evident in the students’ uniform, which is very smart. There are bows for the girls and ties for the boys. So many people have asked me if I am trying to anglicise the uniform. But my answer is, why not? We are going into the modern times, where it is every child’s dream to look sharp and modern. Every child is fascinated by the thought of it. Besides, English is being promoted greatly in the school. The modern amenities at the school are aplenty—a maths lab, music class, art class, kung fu class. The school has considered the modern aspects of education. This is achieved through the limited quarterly funds that we get from our sponsors.
Photovoltaic panels which suppply electricity to the campus
The school has been honoured for its best practices. Tell us about some of the best practices that the school follows.
We have been honoured for being among the top ten Best Practices Schools in India. For starters, most schools of Ladakh rely on the local language or Hindi, but Druk White Lotus School is an out and out English school as a great emphasis is laid on the language. At our school, there are no backbenchers as we work on ‘think, pair, share’ pattern, wherein we form a group of six to eight children around a table and stoke discussions on various subjects. However, it is challenging to stop the kids from chattering. This practice ensures that everyone is participating equally, also because there is peer pressure too. This also proves to be a great team building exercise, while allowing them to reach
higher levels of cognitive development. Children are asked open-ended questions which stokes their imagination, for instance, ‘a thief broke into a house in the middle of the night, why did he kill the dog first?’ It’s amazing how each child has a different perspective on the question! We also have sister schools in Delhi, such as Sanskriti School and Bluebells School that help us keep up with the syllabus and the books taught. These sister schools also help us train teachers, make sure they have confidence, while also letting us keep abreast with education pedagogies. They impart personal confidence training to teachers and guide us with references for books, worksheets and other education patterns. They have leaders specifically looking into this aspect. It is very generous of them to do that. It is my powerline since it keeps my teachers energised and refreshed at the same time. This practice is greatly helping us bridge the gap between Delhi and Ladakh. So, there is no vacuum, or inferiority. Our team of teachers often visit Delhi schools. As for the students, we try and provide ample exposure to our senior students by taking them on funded
“We also have sister schools in Delhi, such as Sanskriti School and Bluebells School that help us keep up with the syllabus and the books taught. These sister schools also help us train teachers, make sure they have confidence, while also letting us keep abreast with education pedagogies. They impart personal confidence training to teachers and guide us with references for books, worksheets and other education patterns. They have leaders specifically looking into this aspect. It is very generous of them to do that” national and international tours. About 40 students of Grade X set out on a sponsored travel to places such as Delhi, Nepal, Bhutan and Darjeeling. We have kids who have never sat on a flight in their lives, so this is a good exposure for them. In fact, I have been one such kid, but being exposed to various cultures has made me far more confident. It’s all because I have been exposed at the right time. Druk White Lotus School is the first school to initiate strong measures for child protection. We have taken help from Cambridge University, UK to seek guidance from them in forming up detailed strong child protection and safeguarding policies. The teachers are sent for trainings for the same. We have also worked with Save The Children India, a worldwide programme. As a residential setup, our areas of protection are larger. No other school has any such policy. We have international ties on this front with London. Despite several attempts, the school hasn’t got CBSE affiliations, but we haven’t let that come in our way. We follow the J&K State Board.
How do the extreme climatic conditions affect the teaching methodologies?
I have various examples to share about that! I have taught here in a temperatue that dips to -22 degrees. The whiteboard would refuse to get erased because the ink would freeze, we still remain undaunted in the face of such challenges. We still continue to take month-long coaching classes to help students prepare for public exams from January 2 to February 2. I’d like to say we are practically thick-skinned! We are resilient because we are naturally made to be like that. That said, the school is known the world over for its reliance on natural resources and the green factor that help us combat these challenges. The school has been designed so well that we don’t feel cold at all in the classrooms. The big glass windows and trombe walls utilise the passive solar energy and keep the rooms warm. March 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 39
Cradle of Leadership Investiture
All the teachers
Druk White Lotus School is known as ‘Rancho’s School’ since ‘3 Idiots’ was shot here. How did it help the school?
The school is globally celebratHappy faces ed for its exclusive practices that encourage sustainable development. Please share some of them.
The school is placed in a cold desert area, where there are high wind energy levels. The snowfall is depleting with the global climate change, but the extreme temperatures are the biggest challenge that we confront. However, the unforgiving cold temperatures are combatted through the double trombe wall, glazing and the use of photovoltaic panels for electricity generation. The usage of timber also insulates the building as do the mud roofs. These are key wonders that keep the school warm. We, being in the Himalayas, are also following the VIP latrine culture, which stands for Ventilated Improved Pits. It’s a terminology in architecture. Many countries, such as Australia are now following this environmentally-friendly term. The toilets in the school are small and all the waste is collected, covered in sand and turned into manure (consequently bought by farmers) in a pit below. Imagine, the campus has 1000 people, but not a drop of water is used for flushing! We are saving 3600 times the water used elsewhere by not flushing. This, I would say, is a great contribution to the world. Being in the Himalayas, we are conscious of our responsibilities. We are sticking to an eco-friendly way of living. It takes a lot of mental strength to use a toilet like that. Arup Associates, who designed our eco-friendly school, have taken a local design of pits, given it a local turn with a VIP touch. We thus follow a cycle of 100% usage. For some reason, Ladakh is a heavily chewing gum-eating place. Everybody from shopkeepers to fishers can be found eating chewing gumit’s a menace! I learnt why Singapore has banned chewing gum. It harms the environment, infrastructure, especially the railway lines. Sometimes, children stick their gums on the sensors. I was amazed by this fact. I decided then and there that once I step back to Ladakh, I am going to motivate my children to believe in the same fact. This has made Druk White Lotus School the first school in Ladakh to be a chewing gum-free school. I would say not eating chewing gum is also a part of developing our children. 40 / Corporate Citizen / March 16-31, 2018
Entire India has been hit by the Rancho virus, it seems, which has led people to have the misconception that the school is owned by Phunsuk Wangdu! We are a peace-loving people and were worried about this belief widely shared by people. I’d like to clarify that we have nothing to do with this character called Phunsuk Wangdu. Aamir Khan’s visit though has done wonders for our school. He is a living angel for us. We were already a globally multi-awarded school, but Aamir added the gold gilding by raising its popularity quotient in India. The school has become a touristy point, allowing us to generate funds. There is no entry fee required to pay at the school. But being a souvenir spot helps generate funds to at least meet some of the books’ cost and other maintenance fees. In April 2017 alone, 802 people visited the school at the same time on the same day! There are four escorts who make batches of 30 to 50 people and take them inside the school. There is a special route that takes them to the Rancho’s Point and gets them back. There is also an ‘Idiotic Wall’ in the school inspired by an iconic scene shot there. People have been complimenting our school for the marvellous work and for being eco-friendly. They are fascinated when they come to know I have come from Rancho’s School!
We are also keeping the junk food out of the school in order to keep the plastic out. You know, ours is a celebrated green school and we want to continue living that way. It is for this reason that we don’t have a school canteen. I have been asked several times as to why I am not allowing it, and I keep getting offers to. People say the school can get so much money out of a school canteen, but not having one is a conscious decision that I have made. Day students are getting their lunches packed because of that. Thus, you will find no polythene and plastic in the school. They are strictly banned. This has become our culture and we have incorporated this into our everyday lifestyle.
Students are taught domestic chores like washing, cleaning etc. Why is that?
You see, cooking and washing are inevitable things of life, only the way you do it differs. A school is a place where you explore your survival skills in whatsoever conditions. Cooking and washing are an integral part of these skills. In the kitchen at the school, there is no gender discrimination. The school kitchen is literally run by the students of Class
Infant Blooming Day
specialty day. There is elocution, inter-house and inter-class painting and spelling bees. Our central courtyard is buzzing with activities on the day. You will find one doing painting, and the other one doing the tables, speaking of which, once a parent complained that their offspring was doing fantastically at everything, barring the tables. This gave an interesting spin to our Saturdays, when after assembly, all of the teachers and students started saying the tables. With that, once in a week on a Saturday, every class does an open table mantra. This is effortless learning, where your listening skills can really work out for you. The best thing about our hostel is that there are 20 teachers in the residential area. We work tirelessly on Sundays too to promote personality development.
What are the drawbacks and the positives for the students from Ladakh?
“It’s an outcry nowadays to preserve one’s culture, but the noise is usually made when the traditional culture has almost reached the brink of a collapse. Things are no different in Ladakh, where there is a stress on preserving the Ladakhi culture and striking a lingual balance” VII to X—they are involved in the washing of all the utensils, and cleaning of the kitchen. There are three boys and three girls in the kitchen every day. I have travelled widely and known people who boast that their kids go to a school that is air conditioned or has an ATM. But how will you teach children when they are fed everything on a platter? What if life changes after their parents? You have to consciously allow them opportunities that make them independent in real, practical life. When children perform these chores like cooking in groups, it helps community bonding. The girls are taught kung fu. Our Guruji is a champion of women’s causes and I am an example of this since I am the youngest principal and a female one.
What does a typical day at Druk White Lotus School look like?
I live on the campus. For the residential students, the day always begins with a prayer to the Goddess of Wisdom at 6 in the morning. The prayers and meditation last for about 45 minutes. When he is around, the prayers are conducted by the Chairman, His Eminence Skabje Thuksey Rinpoche(Thuksey translates to ‘The Treasured One’, a title given by us) who is very spiritual. He addresses the children in a 15-minute session. He speaks on issues such as peer pressure, adolescent issues or any other regular challenges that school-going children face. As for the day scholars, the day begins at 9.50 am. They usually stay within a radius of 20 km from the school. Each day of the week is interesting to say the least. On Mondays, the prayers are followed by a teachers’ talk. On Tuesdays, a senior extempore takes place after the prayers. The students are given a topic to speak on, five minutes beforehand. This is a good way to help them get rid of any stage fright that they may have. Wednesdays are the Native Day. Twenty minutes of traditional prayers are followed by ten minutes of meditation in the school courtyard, which has been given a mandala look to give it a spiritual edge. Thursdays are exceptionally very interesting. A class of 33 to 35 students get to do a presentation, for which the titles have already been given a week before. All the children participate enthusiastically in the form of mimes, news reading, dramatics, quiz, everything rolled into one. Fridays are reserved for junior extempore. It is quite challenging to get small children to speak on the stage. We call Saturdays the multi-
The students find it hard to keep abreast with technology (because of power network) when compared to other parts of the country. Thus, there is no internet at times and exposure to other resources is also missing. Besides, employers may not want to hire students from the background that our students come from and might choose someone from a metropolitan city over them. But at the same time, I’d like to add that there is no drawback as such. Every person, wherever born, has a reason to be there and you can make yourself worthy. I believe more the challenges, bigger the achievement.
The school is open for only nine months. How do you keep the students engaged the other part of the year?
We follow the government pattern and thus the winter vacation is from December 15 to March 1. For this time, we give them projects and holiday homework. The projects are assessed as soon as the school reopens. The homework we give our students is not reading or writing-based, but activity- oriented, that requires them to step out of their homes.
What does the school offer to the little ones?
We happily engage children from Kindergarten, nursery and Grade I. The little ones love Dholakpur (period) and Joy Park, which have been inspired by the love for Chhota Bheem. Children learn through visual aids, dance, music, book reading. The Joy Park is an animated and lively area for them to play.
What are the subjects that the alumni of the school usually take up?
We keep a track of all the professions that our children are opting for. We are in the process of forming an alumni club called the White Lotus Club. So far, many of our graduates are in Pune. One of them even cleared the test for IIIT Pune. Many of our alumni prefer non-medical subjects. Many of them are in Delhi and Jammu. Some of them stay back and continue their education in Leh. Largely, everyone wants to become doctor, fashion designer. A lot of them get into Arts. CAs are a scanty number. Many boys join the Indian Army. They also move into tourism. We have designed a special programme for them that allows them to look beyond these white collar professions. The ratio is 50:50 between those who stay back and those who go out of Ladakh to more modern cities to pursue higher education. It depends a lot on the family background too.
You seem very passionate about your school!
I have 17 years of teaching experience. I started out as an accidental teacher and today, I wouldn’t be anything other than a teacher. I love my profession to death. I love it most because I feel it is the best thing in the world to bond with people. The profession allows you to think young, hard, and fresh. Being a divorcee with a 12-year-old daughter and run a school that is world-famous calls for personal sacrifice, courage, energy and motivation. I am of the view that work is worship and it is my work that has got me here. It keeps me going! namratagulati8@gmail.com March 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 41
Sikkim is home to Mt. Khangchendzonga,
UNESCO WORLD MIXED HERITAGE SITE Khangchendzonga National Park
The first 100% Organic farming State in India
R.O. No. : 227/IPR/Pub/Dis/17-18
the third highest mountain peak in the world.
Pilgrimage Tourism
Adventure Tourism
book review
Inspiring stories of ordinary people The media covers local success stories, stories of ordinary people who add value to society, or achieve something special in a relative sense. Such stories can galvanize and motivate people, and spread positivity all around. But one hardly reads about ordinary people who struggle to meet extraordinary hurdles, and succeed. It is rare to see stories of such people being brought to light. So it is heartening when one comes across individuals who step forward to fill the void. One such person is Major Pradeep Khare, who has contributed in his own small way with his book, Unsung Heroes By Vishal Kale The title, ‘Unsung Heroes’ does full justice to the book, its contents, and to the people whose stories are the subject of the book, made up of 51 high-calibre stories of struggle, sacrifice, hard work, imagination, and dedication. These are stories which either never reach your eyes and ears, or are covered sporadically in minor news snippets; yet, each story deserves a deeper contemplation, and provides a series of learnings as well as motivations for the reader. The name may sound preachy—trust me, it isn’t so in the least. Each story is thought-provoking, each story makes for a deep connect on an individual level, and each story gives deep lessons and learnings without exception. This is a topnotch collection of stories on a variety of parameters, aspects and realities of our nation—except for a few odd stories of people from abroad—covering academ-
ics, entrepreneurs, academicians, prodigies, environment, survivors, successful women, the differently-abled, rural India, trailblazers, and more. The best part about the book is its narrative style—simple, easy to understand, using simple words and language, making for easy absorption by even those not too comfortable with English. That is a vital point. To top this, each story is engagingly told, and draws in the reader with consummate and effortless ease —with a complete lack of overemphasis or need-
“These are real stories of real people—people like you and me; these aren’t your page-3 people whose lives have been covered elsewhere. These are normal people you can spot anywhere; it is their approach that has made them special, an approach that can be easily adapted to each of our respective lives and implemented with ease” 44 / Corporate Citizen / March 16-31, 2018
Author
Major (Retd) Pradeep Khare Title
Unsung Heroes Publisher
Better Yourself Books Pages
278 Price
`300
less dramatisation. This is what makes the content of the story much more powerful. Each story is balanced, and with the right positive direction in it. This factual style of narration not only drives home the reality of the lives of these 51 people, the absence of needless dramatisation actually engages the reader as it gives an overall positive tone to the book and its flow, thus making for a fascinating and deeply absorbing read. Each story presented the narrator with a clear opportunity to underscore the trials and tribulations these people went through. That is the route many would have taken; yet, this has not been done. The trials that each person went through are factually stated, not overemphasised, the entire focus is positive, stated in terms of how each individual fought his or her way out of the scenario. The net result of this approach is that each story actually lifts your mood from the first page of each story, which is a tremendous achievement, given the struggles these people initially went through. The entire focus on “how they succeeded” also gives lasting lessons and case studies which can be applied by all of us in our lives. These are real stories of real people—people like you and me; these aren’t your page-3 people whose lives have been covered elsewhere. These are normal people you can spot anywhere; it is their approach that has made them special, an approach that can be easily adapted to each of our respective lives and implemented with ease. That is what makes this book special. While the book may not have taken the preachy road, (thankfully), this reviewer is under no compunction to do so. I could not but help notice that in most of the stories, either the apathy of government officials, or their incompetence, or their shortcomings, or their resource crunch was visible. We need to improve on governance on the ground on each of these parameters: attitude, competence, ability, awareness, and performance. Some of these stories give standing lessons in one or more of these attributes. But each story also showcases that it is possible for all of us to help out individually, not to beat the system, but to give it time to build, given that we are a developing nation with a resource crunch. Each story leaves behind the lesson one man can make a difference! The book, ‘Unsung Heroes’ will be published in a series in the forthcoming issues of Corporate Citizen.
Corporate Trend positions. Every organisation also needs ‘Solid Citizens’, who are brilliant at what they do and derive their energy and satisfaction in jobs that might be routine and repetitive, but important to get done. Successful organisations have robust processes to assess and identify their different talent types and provide them with options to address their diverse needs, with respect to work, engagement, recognition, learning and growth avenues. For instance, a solid citizen’s experience could be used for mentoring younger team members and the energy of a Hi-Pot for tackling a challenging assignment, ensuring that this serves to energize both equally, though in different ways.
Leading with talent In today’s constantly evolving and increasingly uncertain business world, all organisations look for opportunities to optimise their performance and maximise their competitiveness. The one overwhelmingly critical factor which makes all the difference is, ‘People’ or ‘Talent’
O
By Jayamalini Ramaratnam
rganisations which repeatedly deliver superior performance are those who have talent with the required functional knowledge and skills, but more importantly, behavioural competencies like strategic acumen, adaptability, creativity, collaboration, organisational skills, and emotional intelligence. Globalisation too is changing the corporate landscape. Most organisations are a demographic ‘potpourri’, with millennials making up more than 50% of the workforce and the remainder comprising of Baby boomers and Gen X, all three categories of whom, have very different styles of working and expectations. The workplace and how work is done, has radically changed. Following are key mantras that successful organisations have embedded: Invest time on your ‘Talent Strategy’ One of the most critical aspects that Business and HR leaders focus on is a well thought out Talent Strategy, i.e. knowing what kind of talent is needed at different levels, which are the best talent sources and very importantly, the cost of acquiring and retaining the relevant talent to align with the organisation’s profitability goals. Talented employees are the backbone of any organisation and finding the ‘right fit’ for your organisation can be complex. Businesses looking to attract and retain the
best employees need to make strategic decisions not just about who they hire, but when, where and wherefrom. Global performance leaders have three things in common, according to McKinsey & Company: They invest in intellectual assets, they play in fast-growing markets and they have the most efficient operations. That could mean setting up operations in cities and towns where top talent in a particular industry is most likely to want to live, work and play. With social media taking centre stage and employees being the closest to ground reality, smart organisations invest in encouraging employee referral programmes, use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. which are not only efficient sources of hiring but also great employer branding avenues. To ensure that the right talent is attracted, top recruiters use varied tools for selection be it aptitude/ability tests, psychometric assessments, and focused interviewing methodologies to ensure that cultural fit is assessed, it being a critical factor for longevity of talent. Know your talent & customise your approach In my experience, every individual who brings her/his unique contribution is ‘Talent’ and not just the select ‘Hi-Potentials’ who display capability, aspiration and engagement to grow beyond their current roles and deliver excellence in higher
Address employee experience holistically Employee experience is becoming increasingly important for HR, with ‘Culture & Leadership being 3x more important and Career development & Learning being 2x more important than Salary and benefits’, as per Glassdoor data. Creating rich experiences for employees around careers, culture, compensation and benefits, and balancing the different elements beautifully, makes it difficult for talent to migrate. Employees today expect clarity of goals, challenging work, access to information, real-time and honest feedback, and timely recognition; They are more accepting of feedback even if it is critical or negative. It is hence not surprising that successful companies incorporate multirater feedback not just for performance assessments, but also for talent development and succession planning initiatives. Keeping employees connected to the organisation’s common vision and goals, needs to be consciously addressed. This could be done via multiple channels of communication i.e. Strategy/annual operating plan sessions, engagement surveys, skip level meetings, town-halls, pulse checks, etc. Build a learning culture It is becoming imperative for organisations to develop a learning culture if they wish to stay in business. With increasing automation, some traditional jobs are becoming defunct and roles that are emerging, require quick thinking, creativity, high social and emotional intelligence. This makes the ability of an organisation to learn, more important than ever. However, most organisations struggle to embed effective learning techniques and implement the 70/20/10 learning principle. Organisations which have got this right encourage learning via ‘on the job’ stretch assignments, swap & share programmes, cross-functional projects, mentoring and coaching opportunities, in addition to educational trainings. Learning technology platforms are also being increasingly invested in and utilised, as a value adding means to embed self-paced learning. (The author is HR Head, Human Resource – India, CBRE South Asia Pvt. Ltd.) March 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 45
Health
“In
the long run, it is not where you have reached in life but, how healthy you are when you stay at the top, when you can manage to continue to be at the top with good health”, said Dr Prathima Reddy, Director of Fortis La Femme Hospital, Bengaluru. With close to 20 years of experience in women’s health, her alarming observation is that, “Health is no longer a priority for a lot of people because they are young and today, there are so many opportunities in India that they all want a slice of it and consequently health gets put on a backburner!” She believes that mental fitness is equally valuable for everybody, especially for those in high-pressurised jobs such as doctors, corporate CEOs and executives. “Mental health is extremely important; the toughness is important to be able to not just make a decision, but the right decision!”
Rx for mental and physical fitness
If the adage ‘Best doctor gives the least medicine’, is to be believed; Dr Prathima Reddy, Director & Senior Consultant-Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Fortis La Femme, reassesses the importance of health in an age of smartphone, gadgets and ambitious career plans. A Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), London, her contribution to her medical practice speaks of an annual delivery rate of 10,000 to12,000 per year, in the UK for 10 years before she migrated back to India in 2000. Currently practising in Bengaluru, she is a sportsperson and continues to be an active swimmer and cyclist By Sangeeta Ghosh Dastidar 46 / Corporate Citizen / March 16-31, 2018
Beyond the Proverbial Apple... A typical morning for Dr Reddy is a time to reflect and contemplate. “It is a bit of a quiet time before going to work, especially before a surgery, when I don’t talk to anybody unless it’s absolutely work-related... It’s a time of calm that I maintain for my own self so that I can gather all my strength.” “A simple thing that I tend to do is to always take the stairs. It’s a well-known fact that if you climb about 7-8 flights of stairs per day you can reduce your risk of heart attack/heart disease by about 20%. This is simple enough for anybody to follow in any building. I also tend to walk rather than take my car if I can help it...I do not eat out too frequently as I don’t believe in wasting my calories on food that is not good for me. Of course, I do indulge but restrict myself to eating healthy stuff... I am a teetotaller and that helps too...” “Whenever possible, I take a short walk by the hospital and evenings too, I try to walk or gym and swim from time to time. On the weekends, I try and cycle. I am lucky to have some very good friends; having them to talk to and bash out a few things which also helps to bust stress. Unless it is a hospital call, I do not bring home anything back with me. I prefer either trekking or doing some activity in the mountains or the hills on holidays...” The Catch-22 for Corporate Health While depression and certain feelings of ‘inadequacy’ might be the first triggers among wom-
“A simple thing that I tend to do is to always take the stairs. It’s a well-known fact that if you climb about 7-8 flights of stairs per day you can reduce your risk of heart attack/ heart disease by about 20%. This is simple enough for anybody to follow in any building”
too.” “PCOS impacts at least 20-25% of girls and women in urban centres in comparison to 5-10% in rural areas,” she said. “About 40-50% of working women are often fighting irregular menstrual cycles, about 30% fighting obesity; and about 10-20% of couples are infertile.” “Corporate health workshops are conducted more as a ‘tick box’ as opposed to “...You know what? We really need to improve the health of the employees”, she said. “While some companies are more committed than others on employee fitness, ‘Time Out regimes’ and health workshops; there is room for more proactive steps. I have been giving regular talks on PCOS and breast and cervical cancer, on pregnancy. etc. But, but what these translates into, I am not sure off as to the actual impacts. There are often no feedback calls from companies.” Rx: “Simple things to keep polycystic ovaries at bay would be losing weight and eating a healthy diet but, a lot of people can’t seem to do this. Men too seem to have problems with their semen counts. It’s a ‘Catch-22’ situation, especially for young boys or girls. Women in their 30s or 40s who are looking to get pregnant come to me with gynaecological complaints. I tell them all the right things as a doctor but, putting it into practice is the more difficult part...Unless you look after your health, there is absolutely no point in being in your professions if you are going to be unwell. They have to follow guidance and how they do it is entirely down to them.” sangeetagd2010@gmail.com
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tadka en who do manage to scale the corporate glass ceiling, Dr Reddy pinpoints that there are other impacting factors underlying various ailments that strike corporate women. In their quest to balance work and home, highly successful women CEOs and executives bear the ‘health brunt’. “Clinically, I see a lot of women quite depressed and this impacts them when they fall pregnant... especially in Bengaluru; as many come into the city from other states and also suffer from loneliness, having left their families behind”. She strongly feels that increasingly women
higher on the corporate rung “have really lost out ‘in some sense’ as they have to balance on the personal, home and professional front. While some are lucky to have partners who will help them out, there are equal numbers that do not have enough support. So, they work outside the house and inside too. This obviously puts a strain on both their physical and mental health and from a gynaecological point we find that a lot of women these days suffer from Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), a hormone imbalance leading to irregular or no monthly cycles, obesity and infertility; other difficulties in conceiving
Internet of Things (IoT) devices gaining interest Nearly 91.1% people in India are keen to experience a reality with Internet of Things devices. Tata Communication’s ‘India IoT’ report revealed that while only 14.2% of the respondents were completely aware of the concept of IoT, around 34.6% associate it primarily with smartphones. Only 14.5% currently associate IoT with improved public services and 9.6% believe IoT could help enhance access to public services.
March 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 47
Campus Placement Namita with a friend
I
By Joe Williams
It was a very long journey for Namita Jain from Panchkula in Haryana who went to Chandigarh for her graduation and from there to Pune for her Masters. Now she is in Mumbai to start her new innings in the corporate world. She made it with her first attempt when GVK Mumbai International Airport visited her college to pick the right candidate for their Pranaam GVK Guest Services. She joins them as part of the Business Development Team. Namita, the only daughter among three siblings takes us through her journey as she goes on to enter the competitive corporate world. Patience was the key to her success. She was among the 70-odd students to appear for the interview and after waiting for over four months she got a call for the only vacancy in the firm. Namita always wanted to be a teacher for toddlers. “I feel teaching young kids is the toughest job. Handling these kids is amazing in its own way, and I wanted to be a teacher so that I can impart information and knowledge to the young kids.�
Patience pays Namita Jain managed to get the only post that was there among the 70 students who appeared for the campus interview. Her patience and positive attitude paid off in the final run, as she got selected for GVK Mumbai International Airport
48 / Corporate Citizen / March 16-31, 2018
School and college
Namita did her schooling at the Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan Vidyalaya, Panchkula, and moved to GMSS Chandigarh for her XI and XII standard, and completed her graduation from the GGDSD College, Chandigarh. Like any child she was a playful kid and spent more time on the playing ground than with her books. It was only after the birth of her younger brother that she began to spent some time with her books. She spent more time with her younger siblings, apart from making time for gymnastics. She went on to top her district and state before finally making the cut into the first five at the national contest. She was very active during the
Republic and Independence Day parades. All this was possible because of her yoga classes, and also because of her maths teacher Geeta Dewan who was more of a friend to her, and taught her the values of life.
Campus placement calling…
She got placed with GVK Mumbai International Airport and was among the very few who started working much before they got their Master’s degree. As a fresher, she made the most of it gaining experience. She would share her ideas which were always welcomed by her seniors, and that gave her much confidence. “Understanding the way work is done, and then when you are respected for the new ideas that you give is pure bliss,” said Namita. “Since I was a fresher there were not many expectations; everything was new and there was no benchmark to compare my current job with.”
(Left) Namita with her elder brother. (Top) Namita with her father and younger brother. (Bottom) Namita with her friends
gling to get placed, and the fear and frustration they had on their faces and minds sometimes frightened me. People who were so bright, so good in studies were not getting Placement blues placed even after four months of Her college helped her cope with the demands the placement season.” But being of the corporate world, showing her the right patient and thinking positive made passage into this challenging world. Being a things easy for Namita as she overmember of the Corporate Relations team in the came all these fears. Namita says, “It college made things easy when she came into is the real world out there, where contact with real life. “I was part of the Corporate Relations team at ‘‘Study well one cannot work in hypothetical numbers and make mistakes. I am BIMM and I was the SPOC (sinand never sure this new journey will bring a gle point of contact) for this comnew phase in my life and make me pany where I got placed. From day take any a better corporate person.” one, I had the zeal and determisubject for nation to shine in this company. In all, there were 72 candidates People behind her success… granted. who applied for the only vacanis what one needs, Only if you Motivation cy. I was very curious as to why and that she has been getting all so many people were interested through her life from her parents, know the in this company which made and friends. Being positheory can teachers me research more about it. The tive has been the major mantra of you can first shortlist was out where they Namita’s success story. Learning shortlisted 11 people and I was from mistakes, and making sure apply it one of them,” said Namita. “Afthey are not repeated have made ter a fortnight’s wait, we received practically’’ things easy for this Chandigarh the second shortlist of four canyoungster. “There have been many didates who had their final round of interview people in my journey, and my family has been at the Airport in Mumbai,” recalled Namita. the backbone of my success.” There was an element of surprise waiting, as there were three more students joining them Happiest moment in life from other colleges of Mumbai racing for one Getting the placement call was the happiest post. “I was the fourth to be called in to face moment. “I had no words to say when I met the five-member panel. My lips and legs were my family soon after my placement. I hugged trembling and I didn’t know anybody’s name my father and the pride he had in his eyes moor designation so I had to convince each one of tivated me to grow more in life and become a them. And all that they asked me was about my better human being.” But she is of the view that internship with Aditya Birla Grasim which went the real happiest moment is yet to come. “To be on for 40 minutes.” frank, my happiest moment is yet to come, I am sure it will come somewhere down the line in my corporate life,” says Namita. Surmounting fears… “The biggest fear was, will I even get placed? Since I was part of the Corporate Relations team What is life all about? in the college as a junior, I saw seniors strugLife is all about experiences and learnings and
thanking god on waking up every new day. “Each day and each moment is a blessing from the almighty and we should make the best of it.”
Tips for success…
• Study well and never take any subject for granted. Only if you know the theory can you can apply it practically. • Always remember the purpose of college. You and your parents have invested a lot of time and energy. Don’t let it go waste. • Take part in extracurricular activities because that will help you develop your personality as a whole and will help you work in a team. • Take initiatives, it will improve your leadership skills. • Respect your seniors and faculty and learn from them. They have much more experience than you. Take cues from them and implement them yourself. • Whenever you feel low, just have faith in the Almighty. Remember, you would ultimately get the best that you deserve and no one can take it away from you. joe78662@gmail.com
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tadka
India high on mobile wallet use India is picking up speed on the use of mobile wallets much faster than the U.S., U.K. and China. Global Data reports that 55.4% respondents from India have a mobile wallet and use it too in comparison to the U.S. (14%) and the U.K. (8.1%); followed by China (54.3%) and Denmark at 49.3%.
March 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 49
Loved & Married too It is not often these days that a college romance fructifies into 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
Togetherness simplified
Punjabi kudi Sonam Channa and her Marwari groom Basant Sharma on how love is acceptance—with a different spelling, that's all By Kalyani Sardesai
A
midst a society that continues to lay much store by common cultural ties, especially when it comes to a life-altering decision like marriage, this 30-year-old couple are proud possessors of a wisdom that belies their age. "It's all up to the individuals concerned. Either you fight over your different traditions or you concentrate on the bigger picture: your relationship and the quality of the life you share," says Basant Sharma. His wife of three years, Sonam Channa couldn't agree more, despite the fact that it wasn't quite love at first sight on her end.
50 / Corporate Citizen / March 16-31, 2018
Back to the beginning
It was the 'traditional day' for the batch of 201012 at BMRD, Pune. One look at Sonam Channa in all her Punjabi regalia and Basant Sharma was smitten. To his delight, he discovered she was in the same class as him. "In fact, the first thing he said to me was that he thought I looked lovely in the Punjabi wear," smiles Sonam. Soon, the close proximity with each other in class made it clear to her that he had a crush on her. "He would keep staring at me," she reminisces. "So one day, I decided to confront him straight out as to why he was doing that."
To her surprise, he was pretty blunt about his intent. "I like you," he said. "And one day, I will marry you." Taken aback by the frankspeak, she told him upfront though that she wasn't interested. But he wasn't one to lose hope easily. Besides, campus life has a way of throwing people together. "She happens to be this really graceful, classically trained dancer. As a result, she helped me out with the dance steps in my first-ever performance as part of the college extracurricular activities," he says. He would go out of his way to do things for her—from plotting with her roommates to organise a treasure hunt of gifts and goodies on her birthday to being a really good friend, he did not scrimp on the effort. Still, she was clear it was no more than friendship. But it was just a matter of timing. As they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder. They both got jobs in different cities in due course and bid each other adieu. "It was now that I realised how much I missed him and how we were meant to be together," she says.
Welcome party for freshers
With family
The mantras of a marriage • Respecting each other's individuality
The road to holy matrimony
• Nurturing each Despite their commitment to each other, there other's dreams were the families to convince. Both Sonam and Basant are elder children and both had respon• Accepting sibilities. Intercaste marriage wasn't the norm differences in either of their homes. ried into such a They had to take due care to introduce the thoughtful family • Patience and families to each other subtly. "So we came up that they have gone communication with this innovative idea of taking our moms out of their way to acand siblings along with a few of our friends for commodate me. They a holiday to Ooty. We told them nothing. Evhave always been considerate of the fact that I come from another eryone met everyone else, and we had a great background and have treated me with tact and time," recounts Sonam. care," says Sonam. "I am happy to say this: she is Still it would be some time before they reactually closer to my family than me. That's how vealed the extent of their involvement to each well she has blended in," says Basant. other. "When we did tell them, predictably, they Both would peg mutual respect, trust and were not pleased. But we stood our ground and space as the building blocks of a marriage. patiently explained to them that we were very That, and looking out for one another. "Whensure about each other," shares Basant. Eventually, their maturity and fortitude ever obstacles arise, I have this tendency to stood them in good stead take a back seat and sacrifice, and in March 2015 they were She happens to be this so to speak. But he does not duly wed with the blessings really graceful, classiallow that. In fact, he is very and good wishes of both thoughtful of my aspirations cally-trained dancer. families. as well," she says. Like every young couple, As a result, she helped they too have their share of From strength to me out with the dance fights, but communication is strength the key to almost every probLife is both challenging and steps in my first-ever rewarding at the moment. lem. "She is a very emotional Currently stationed at Bha- performance as part of person, someone who thinks ruch, Gujarat, Sonam is Se- the college extracurric- with her heart. On the othnior Executive (HR) with er hand, I am practical. The ular activities Jubilant Life Sciences while trick is to explain each other's Basant is Manager (HR & — Basant viewpoint to each other. We Admin) with SRF Pvt. Ltd. don't allow fights to fester; So how has the adjustment been post-marinstead, after a small period of cooling off, we sit down and talk. The golden rule is never to riage for both of them? "Honestly, I have mar-
The D Day
carry ego-hassles over to the next day," says Basant. Both are sure they would love a little family of their own in sometime; on her part, Sonam is quietly confident about the support that will be extended to her by both husband and inlaws. "The decision to work or not immediately post-baby would be mine. Personally, I would like to take a small break for a year and then start a dance academy of my own, considering I am proficient in Bharatnatyam, folk dances and western dancing as well," she says. With a partner who believes in her talent, the sky is the limit. kalyanisardesai@gmail.com CC
tadka
Cyber attacks dent Indian firms financially The onslaught of cyber attacks has caused financial damages of around $500,000 to India companies in the past 1.5 years, according to Cisco’s Annual Cyber-security report, which has also resulted in lost revenue, customers, opportunities, and out-of-pocket costs. About 50% organisations in India are reliant on automation, 53% on machine learning and 51% on artificial intelligence.
March 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 51
The Hurun Global Rich List 2018
India home to 3rd largest number of Billionaires 52 / Corporate Citizen / March 16-31, 2018
2017 has been a great year for Billionaires. The total wealth of the super-rich increased tremendously in the last year, and India has done spectacularly well for itself, jumping to No. 3 on the list of Billionaire countries, according to the The Hurun Global Rich List 2018 survey. Corporate Citizen brings you excerpts from the fascinating survey Compiled by Neeraj Varty
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boom in China, a weak dollar and a 26% hike in Nasdaq have led to a surge in billionaires across the world. The US dollar depreciated 16% against the Euro, 12% against the British Pound, 10% against the Chinese Yuan and 6% against the Indian Rupee. Global economic growth was at 3% last year, the fastest rate since 2011 and a significant acceleration compared with 2.4% the previous year. China and India have been some of the biggest beneficiaries of these changing trends, and their position on the list grows stronger. March 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 53
The Hurun Global Rich List 2018 key findings The Hurun Global Rich List 2018 ranked 2,694 billionaires from 68 countries and from 2,157 companies in another record-breaking year for the world’s billionaires. Total wealth increased by a staggering 31% to US$10.5 trillion, equivalent to 13.2% of global GDP, and almost double the 7% of global GDP six years ago. It has been an outstanding year for billionaires: 1508 saw their wealth increase and there were 567 new faces.
Chinese billionaires are pulling away from the USA for the third year running, 819 compared with 571. Just two years ago, they were neck and neck at 534 and 535. It has been a good year for India, claiming back its third place after adding 31 billionaires, on the back of a record performance of the Indian stock markets. The average lister is aged 63, one year younger than last year.
the top 10 Seven of the Top 10 are from the USA. Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett and Mark Zuckerberg led the charge, adding US$51 bn, US$24 bn and US$21 bn respectively. Larry Page, 44, of Google broke into the world’s Top 10 for the first time, and Bernard Arnault, 68, of LVMH returned to the Top 10, doubling his wealth to US$78 bn. The Top 10 grew 37% on average.
Name
Change YOY
Source of Wealth
Age
Country of Residence
1
Jeff Bezos
123
71%
Amazon
54
USA
2
Warren Buffet
102
31%
Berkshire Hathaway
87
USA
3
Bill Gates
90
11%
Microsoft
62
USA
4
Mark Zukerberg
79
36%
33
USA
5
Bernard Arunault
78
105%
LVMH
68
France
6
Amancio Ortega
73
6%
Inditex
81
Spain
7
Carlos Slim Helu & Family
67
46%
America Movil
78
Mexico
8
Larry Ellison
54
13%
Oracle
73
USA
9
Larry Page
50
35%
44
USA
10
Micheal Bloomberg
49
17%
Bloomberg
76
USA
Jeff Bezos, 54, shot up to World Number One for the first time after Amazon stock rose 70% year-on-year. Bezos becomes the third Number One in six years, after Carlos Slim and Bill Gates. Bezos first broke into the Hurun Top 10 two years ago. Last year, Amazon reported a revenue of US$177 bn and net profit of US$3 bn. Bezos recently announced a US$33 mn donation to help 1,000 immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children, to attend college. Warren Buffett, 87, retains No. 2 spot with a 31% increase in his wealth, and to becoming the second person ever to break through the US$100bn barrier. Berkshire Hathaway shares rose after the company announced a stake in Teva Pharmaceuticals and an increase in stake in various wellperforming assets which include General Motors, Bank of New York Mellon and Apple. Buffett recently made media headlines, suggesting that US tax cuts have added significantly to his wealth. Bill Gates, 62, dropped down to third place this year. Last year Gates donated US$4.6 bn worth of Microsoft shares to his foundation, his largest donation since 2000. The gift reduces Gates’s stake in Microsoft, which he co-founded in 1975, to just 1.3% from 24% in 1996. Nevertheless, Gates’s wealth increased by 11% to US$90 bn, backed by the performance of his investment portfolio, led by investments including Crown Castle, UPS and FEMSA. Rupert Hoogewerf said, “For the first time in five years, Gates is no longer the richest person on the planet.” Mark Zuckerberg, 33, up one to fourth, saw his wealth grow 36% to US$79 bn, on the back of a hike in Facebook’s share price. Zuckerberg donated US$1.9 bn to the Chan Zuckerberg Foundation for education, housing, science and improving the criminal justice system. Bernard Arnault, 68, returns to the Top 10 after his wealth doubled to US$78 bn, on the back of a surge in the value of LVMH after the acquisition of Christian Dior. Arnault’s stake in LVMH increased from 36% to 46%. 54 / Corporate Citizen / March 16-31, 2018
Wealth in US$ bn
Amancio Ortega, 81, of Zara down two to sixth place, despite a 6% increase to US$73 bn. Daughter Sandra, 48, also makes to the list, ranked 313 with US$6.3 bn. In 2017 Ortega donated US$320 million towards cancer fighting equipment. Carlos Slim Helu, 78, maintained seventh place despite a 46% increase to US$67 bn, on the back of 50% increase in the share price of America Movil. Slim recently made headlines when offering to mediate between the Mexican government and President Trump. Larry Ellison, 73, of Oracle is down two spots to eighth, despite his wealth increasing by 13% to US$54 bn. Ellison made the news recently for aggressively trying to win share from Amazon’s cloud business. Larry Page is up three places to break into the Top 10 for the first time, on the back of a 35% increase in his wealth to US$50 bn. Larry Page and Avatar director James Cameron have joined forces to mine asteroids and Page is trying to bring a flying car to the market by 2022. With a net worth of US$49 bn, Michael Bloomberg, former Mayor of New York City, 76, saw his wealth increase by 17% to keep him in the Top 10. Bloomberg is a vocal gun control activist, matching US$750,000 of donations received within 24 hours of the Florida High School Shooting earlier this month.
Where they live
The ‘Big Two’ are Greater China and the USA with 819 and 571 billionaires, making up over half of the billionaires on the planet. It has been a good year for India too, which shot past Germany into third place. Mexico and Chile broke into the Top 20 for the first time. Beijing is now the undisputed billionaire capital of the world, adding 37 to 131, ahead of New York. There are now more billionaires in the neighboring cities of Hong Kong and Shenzhen than there are in the whole of California, 157 compared with 139.
Billionaires ranked by country Country
No. of Billonaires
Change in No. of Billonaires
Billionaires ranked by city Country
No. of Billonaires
Change in No. of Billonaires
131
37
1
Greater China
819
210
1
Beijing
2
USA
571
19
2
New York
92
6
3
India
131
31
3
Hong Kong
80
9
4
UK
118
29
4
Shenzhen
77
15
5
Germany
114
5
5
Shanghai
70
17
6
Switzerland
83
6
6
London
70
15
7
Russia
71
3
7
Moscow
62
3
8
France
51
1
8
Mumbai
55
13
9
Brazil
49
6
9
Bangkok
43
18
9
Canada
49
14
10
Guangzhou
38
16
India climbs to 3rd position with 131 billionaires. This list would be 170, if we were to consider Indian-origin billionaires. Pharmaceuticals led with 19 billionaires, followed by Automobile & Components with 14 and Consumer products with 11. Combined wealth
of the Indian billionaires increased by 49% to US$454 bn. Average age is 64. Mumbai is the preferred hub for most Indian billionaires followed by New Delhi. A total of 31 billionaires migrated from India, with UAE, UK and USA as preferred destinations.
Source of Wealth by Industry It has been a great year for Food & Beverage and Metals & Mining, with both sectors up 32% and 31% respectively in terms of the number of billionaires. All sectors exhibited positive growth with Manufacturing sector registering the lowest growth of 5% in the Top 10 industries. Real estate stepped up from fourth to second place. The ‘Big Four’ of TMT, Real Estate, Manufacturing and Investments accounts 44% of the cumulative wealth and contributes 41% total billionaires. USA and China accounted for 66% of TMT billionaires in the list.
neeraj.varty07@gmail.com March 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 55
Bollywood Biz
South Indian actresses who ruled Bollywood Bollywood owes a lot to the South Indian film industry. Not only are some of the biggest hits in Hindi cinema remakes from down south, some of the biggest Bollywood actresses have come from the South Indian film industry. This edition, Corporate Citizen looks at some of the biggest South Indian actresses who ruled Bollywood By Neeraj Varty Sridevi
Sridevi, who suddenly passed away recently, was born in Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu. She debuted into movies as a child artist at the age of four. Her first lead role was in Balachander’s Moondru Mudichu, which starred both the legends of Tamil cinema, Rajinikanth and Kamal Hassan. She then acted in many hit Tamil films and was widely loved and appreciated as an actress. She made her debut into Hindi films with Solva Sawan and also acted in a string of successful movies like Himmatwala and Chandni. She starred in Mr India, one of the most iconic movies in Indian cinema. She is also considered to be the first female superstar in Hindi Cinema. In 2012, after a 15-year break Sridevi appeared in English Vinglish and it is said to be the most successful comeback for any heroine. Her last movie Mom, released in 2017, was a big hit as well. Her career spans over 50 years, and would have gone on for decades longer if not for her untimely death.
Rekha
Rekha is the daughter of popular Tamil actor, Gemini Ganesan. She was born in Chennai and studied in the prestigious Church Park Convent in Chennai. She made her debut in the Kannada movie Operation Jackpot Nalli CID 999 with superstar Rajkumar. In 1970 she made her Bollywood debut with Sawan Bhadon which made her an overnight star. Since then, she has attained legendary status in Bollywood, and is referred to as the ultimate Diva. Her most iconic role is her portrayal of a courtesan in Umrao Jaan, which won her the National award for best film actress. 56 / Corporate Citizen / March 16-31, 2018
Rati Agnihotri
A sixteen-year-old Rati debuted in the Tamil film industry with Puthiya Vaarpugal, which became a blockbuster and made Rati an overnight sensation. Even though she was Punjabi, South Indian audiences embraced her as one of their own. She reciprocated by calling herself “Tamilian at heart” and calling Chennai her home. She also starred in Telugu and Kannada films and made 32 films in just three years. She then made her Bollywood debut with Ek Duuje Ke Liye, which became one of the top-grossing hits of the year. She has since starred in over 43 Hindi films. Her biggest hits were Farz Aur Kanoon, Coolie opposite superstar Amitabh Bachchan, and Hukumat opposite Dharmendra.
Tabu
Tabu, one of the most versatile actresses in Bollywood, is from Hyderabad. She moved to Mumbai to pursue her studies in St. Xavier’s College. She made her debut with the Telugu film Coolie No.1 opposite superstar Venkatesh. Her first successful film in Bollywood was Vijaypath starring Ajay Devgan. After that she went on to do many successful films like in Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi and is still acting in major roles of Bollywood. Her roles in Maachis and Chandani Bar have been critically acclaimed. In 2012, she made her Hollywood debut with the smash hit Life of Pi.
Hema Malini
Veteran actress Hema Malini was born into an Iyengar family in Tamil Nadu. She made her debut into films with the Tamil movie Idhu Sathiyam. She then moved to Bollywood and acted opposite Raj Kapoor in Sapno Ka Saudagar. The Dream Girl became the most sought-after actress and ruled Bollywood after she gave hits like Johnny Mera Naam, Seeta Aur Geeta and Sholay. Her career spans over 55 years.
neeraj.varty07@gmail.com March 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 57
Mobile apps
Mobile World Congress 2018 It’s that time of the year again! Mobile World Congress (MWC), the biggest smartphone event of the year, just took place in Barcelona. Corporate Citizen brings you the latest devices launched at MWC By Neeraj Varty Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ Samsung unveiled the latest version of its flagship Galaxy line of phones on Sunday. The Samsung Galaxy S9 has a similar look to that of S8. The biggest differences between the two lie in the S9's camera, which lets users take better-quality pictures in low-lit settings, and includes a slow motion feature with a frame rate of 960 frames per second. It also has the latest Snapdragon 845 chipset and 4/6 GB ram. The S9 comes in two versions: the S9, which has a 5.8-inch display, and the S9+, which has a 6.2-inch display. The phone will be released in March, and is expected to start from `70,000.
Huawei Mediapad M5 Huwawei announced a new Android 8.0 Oreo tablet, the MediaPad M5, a successor to the MediaPad M3, this new tablet will come in 8.4-inch and 10.8-inch screen variants, with both versions featuring 2560 x 1600 pixel “ClariVu” IPS LCD displays. Inside, they will have the older Kirin 960 processor and 4 GB of RAM, along with 32, 64, or 128 GB of onboard storage. The 8.4-inch version will have dual speakers, while the 10.8-inch version will have four speakers. There will also be a 10.8-inch MediaPad M5 Pro model, which supports an optional keyboard dock, and can use the M-Pen stylus. Sony Xperia XZ2 Sony's flagship Xperia XZ2, launched during MWC, has a 5.7-inch screen, a curved Gorilla Glass 5 back and wireless charging. It has 4K high dynamic range (HDR) video recording, which accentuates the contrast between light and dark colours to make an image look more realistic. The phone also includes a vibration engine called the Dynamic Vibration System. This makes it vibrate when a user is listening to or watching content.
Vivo Apex Fullview Only a month after unveiling the X20 Plus UD at CES 2018, which featured a fingerprint scanner underneath the display, Vivo took the wraps off the APEX FullView Concept Phone at MWC that expands upon the initial idea. Vivo’s innovative smartphone is basically all screen, with almost no bezels. The device features an even better in-display fingerprint scanner that allows you to unlock it by placing your finger anywhere on the bottom half of the display. To unlock the X20 Plus UD, you have to place your finger on an exact location at the bottom of the screen. 58 / Corporate Citizen / March 16-31, 2018
Claps & Slaps Corporate Citizen Claps for the Indian Railway’s proposed ‘safety net’ for whistleblowers which envisions empowering close to 13-14 lakh railway employees in raising or reporting complaints anonymously on any railway safety lapse whatsoever This new initiative is likely to make each and every railway staff the eyes and ears of the administration. The reports could be addressed to top officials under the ‘universal reporting mechanism’, to be monitored under the Railway Ministry’s safety department, headed by Railway Board Chairman, Ashwani Lohani. Lohani has taken a page from Air India’s launch of a similar system when he
served as the Chairman and Managing Director, AI. Concurrently, railways officials have met their AI counterparts in understanding the workings of this system. The website is expected to be up and running by March 2018. Being developed by the Railways’ software arm, Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS), it will be made available to all railway employees, from a trackman to an officer to register or disclose any lapses incurred that would help ensure safe train operations in the long run. All issues irrespective of their triviality can be communicated via this web platform wherein employees are allowed to report on coworkers who fail to carry out their duties diligently. It could be an engineer cutting corners in maintenance protocol, or someone not following the regime of preventive maintenance of trains, or even something as mundane as a gateman sleeping on duty! While this site might have its operational hazards on false reportage, railway officials are also optimistic that once in place, there is a possibility that some of the inputs and issues could be addressed instantaneously. Rather than left until the onset or occurrence of an accident, this reporting step while it protects the whistleblower’s identity, will also help keep the railways proactive in its operations. With the Union Railway Budget proposing a total rail ‘safety’ expenditure, including the Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK), at `68,725 crore in 2017-18 and `73,065 crore in 2018-19; it definitely makes for being ‘better late than never’! 60 / Corporate Citizen / March 16-31, 2018
Corporate Citizen slaps the occurrence of India’s entry at a higher rung on the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2017 The annual corruption index, released by Berlin-based NGO, Transparency International (TI), shows India has slid down to 81 among a group of 180 countries. The CPI 2017 has also singled out India as one of the “worst offenders” in the Asia-Pacific region. Reports states that “In 2016, India was in the 79th place among 176 countries and that India’s ranking in the index had plummeted in 2013 and 2014 in the wake of the spectrum and coal scams. The ranking has improved since then, but seems to be showing signs of weakening.” In comparison India with a CPI of 40 stands close to that of China (41), and Sri Lanka (38) who are ahead of Pakistan in the CPI scores. However, Iran (30), Bangladesh (28) and Afghanistan (15) are behind Pakistan (32) in their fight against corruption. The index, ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption based on what experts and businessmen have to say. It computes a scale of zero to 100, with ‘zero’ indicating ‘highly corrupt’ status and 100 stating a ‘clean’ image. This latest index found that more than 2/3rd of countries have scored below 50, with average scores at 43. According to an
analysis by TI, “the countries with the least protection for press and NGOs tend to have the worst rates of corruption.” “Given current crackdowns on both civil society and the media worldwide, we need to do more to protect those who speak up,” said Patricia Moreira, Managing Director, TI. Analysis of the CPI also examined the relationship between corruption levels, the protection of journalistic freedoms and engagement of civil society. It found that almost all journalists killed since 2012 were killed in corrupt countries. “No activist or reporter should have to fear for their lives when speaking out against corruption,” added Moreira. “Given current crackdowns on both civil society and the media worldwide, we need to do more to protect those who speak up,” she added. The CPI reiterates all that is known but, aren’t we losing out on the essence of democracy and freedom, if we don’t act now! (Compiled by Sangeeta Ghosh Dastidar)
My First Boss
Mahesh gave us space and never micromanaged work
Boss ho toh aisa! Mahesh Koria, the then AVP of Axis Bank, Worli, Mumbai, always told a joke at just the right time. I remember numerous birthday parties, lunch breaks and Friday-dinners where we discussed music, movies and what not. We’re still in touch By Raghunath Babu T. J., Analytics Lead at Arimon, NCR / Bengaluru
A
fter I graduated from IIM Ahmedabad, I joined Axis Bank, Worli, Mumbai, in June 2013, as a management trainee. I was posted into the Retail Liabilities and Investment Products Division. I reported to Mahesh Koria who was then an AVP of the Business Intelligence Unit. Mahesh, a very jovial person, was my first boss. I still remember our first interaction. Being my first job, I was nervous but he made me comfortable by asking me about my interests, skill sets, what I’ve done and what my career aspirations are and so on. He also gave me an overview of Axis Bank and what was expected of me. So, from day one, he made me fully
charged-up to work! One of Mahesh’s amazing strengths was his ability to find out who was good at what in his team. For instance, he quickly identified I was good in coding; breaking down a problem into smaller pieces and ideating solutions. He brought the best out of me as I enhanced my programming skills in SAS, SQL and VBA. Also, he gave me pointers on my areas of weaknesses, so that I can improve on them.
Whenever our department was given a new challenge, he’ll call us and delegate work. However, if we’re struck at some point, he’d assist in solving it
Mahesh gave us space and never micromanaged work, thereby giving us full freedom to design our solution. Whenever our department was given a new challenge, he’ll call us and delegate work. However, if we’re struck at some point, he’d assist in solving it. I remember numerous coffee-walks I’d with him when we’d walk down two floors to discuss the problem and come back only when we’ve sorted it out. Mahesh always told a joke at just the right time. I remember numerous birthday parties, lunch breaks and Friday-dinners where we discussed music, movies and what not. We’re still in touch. To me, he’s more than a mentor who moulded me into the person I’m today. If you can find a Mahesh early in your career, you’re very lucky! (As told to Pradeep Mathur)
CC
tadka
Share of India’s wealth vested with the Top 10% While India’s top 10% already held over half the country’s wealth (52%) in 1991, a new report from Oxfam India said the situation worsened further by 2012 with their share in total wealth rising to 63%. In the same period, the share of wealth held by the bottom 50%, which was already low at 9% in 1991, fell to 5.3%.
March 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 61
Dr (Col) A Balasubramanian
From The Mobile
Am I making my child selfish?
W
e were out for dinner at a friend’s place. Meenal had cooked a delicious four-course meal. The arrangements were flawless. She said the kids must be hungry, let them start first. I called the kids to the table. My daughter popped up a question from nowhere, “Aunty, don’t you have separate chairs for us kids?” Aunty was a little startled and said, “No dear, we all use the same chairs.” My daughter continued in her regular over-informative style, “At my place when I was a baby, I first had a high chair and now I when I sit on a normal chair I get a cushion to adjust the height.” We all smiled at her smart reply. Aunty said, “Oh, is it? So do you need a cushion, dear?” “No, thank you aunty, I am fine. I think I have grown up now”, was her reply. We laughed and moved ahead. The kids had a sumptuous meal. While the kids were playing, us adults started with our dinner. My daughter came over and observed and said, “Mom, you all are eating our food.” “Where is your food? I said, “Aunty cooked the same for everyone.” She nodded and left to play. My friend Meenal asked, “What was that?” I replied, “We all enjoy food, which is spicy, so I always cook two versions of the same food, a mild one for my daughter and spicier one for all of us. That is why she asked this question.” Meenal said, “We all have cut down on our spice level and so I cook only one version for all of us.” We had a wonderful time and so did the kids. As we were leaving, Meenal came to drop us to the parking because it was raining. She was carrying two umbrellas. My daughter said, “Pari, let’s go in your umbrella”. Pari opened a regular floral umbrella, when my daughter said again. “Don’t you have a kid’s one? Something with a Minnie Mouse or Hello Kitty or some other
62 / Corporate Citizen / March 16-31, 2018
cartoon?” I thought Meenal would have a bad time once we left because Pari might insist on buying one immediately. But Pari was matured way beyond a 3.5-year-old could be, “If I buy a kid’s umbrella now, I would grow out of it soon, so I told mamma not to buy one for me.” I was surprised at her maturity. The kids bid them goodbye and we reached home. I realised, my daughter has a separate kid’s toothpaste, a kid’s soap, her own milk cup, her kid’s plate, a kid’s lunch box, a kid’s umbrella, and the list continued. I pondered. Is this really necessary? Our generation never had this when we were kids. We grew up just fine. Then I realised, she never asked for all this. We were the ones who introduced her to this lifestyle. We bought it all for her. And now is this making her selfish or will she think high of her going ahead in life? No, why would she? All kids have the same stuff these days. My thoughts were running faster. Why did I buy this for her? She would never learn to share now. And this happens quite naturally, especially being the single child in the family and kid’s version of everything, she will never learn to share it with anyone. Will she grow up
demanding her ‘extra’ space all the time? I pondered and decided I should revisit and rethink on how and what I buy for my child in future? On the one side, I wanted to buy this special stuff for my child because I had this feeling “we never had such nice things when we were kids, then why not let my child enjoy it?” And then on the other hand, I thought, “she should learn to value things and with abundance of these around her she will never learn.” Raising children is so tough I thought. But there has to be a balance and sense in my actions. I simply cannot make her used to getting all the things she wants right away. She will never value it. She needs to learn to cope up with disappointments. Like wanting something but not getting it immediately or perhaps not getting at all. I need to make changes in myself and start with small things. I liked Meenal’s idea. Small thing like cooking the same food for everyone is where I started. It was a good change for me too and the entire family. When I asked my daughter to sit on the regular chair at home while having dinner without a cushion, to my surprise she quickly adjusted the sitting position and was soon comfortable. No doubt her high chair helped her in initial
What is stock market?
months but I noticed that kids get acquainted to new things easily. My point is our kids have exposure to a level, which was unimaginable at our times. A kids industry is building up fast and thriving and flourishing because of buyers like me. Kids are going to demand at times, but we as parents have to balance our actions. Parents definitely have this urge to provide the best to their children and there is nothing wrong in it. Our parents also wanted to give us the best. But our generation, in the process of giving them best, we are giving more than required to the child. I noticed overflowing toy box is not getting my little one anywhere. She sees so many things at the same time and ends up being confused and not playing with anything at all. I de-cluttered her toy box and kept only two or three things around and changed them in rotation. I noticed she loved playing with those two things and played for a longer time. She valued them better now, learned to take care of her toys. A child will develop emotionally only when she learns to cope with her disappointments, she learns to share stuff with everyone, she learns to give rather than just taking. And as parents it is our duty to help the child develop.
Many monkeys lived near a village. One day a merchant came to the village to buy them. He announced that he would buy the monkeys at `100 each. The villagers thought that this man is mad. They thought how somebody could buy stray monkeys at `100 each. Still, some people caught some monkeys and gave it to this merchant and he gave `100 for each monkey. This news spread like wildfire and people caught monkeys and sold it to the merchant. After a few days, the merchant announced that he would buy monkeys at `200 each. The lazy villagers also ran around to catch the remaining monkeys! They sold the remaining monkeys at `200 each. Then the merchant announced that he would buy monkeys at `500 each! The villagers started to lose sleep! They caught six or seven monkeys, which was all that were left and got `500 each. The villagers were waiting anxiously for the next announcement. Then the merchant announced that he is going home for a week. And when he’d return, he will buy monkeys at `1,000 each! He asked his employee to take care of the monkeys he bought. He was alone taking care of all the monkeys in a cage. The merchant went home. The villagers were very sad, as there were no more monkeys left for them to sell it at `1,000 each. Then the employee told them that he would sell some monkeys at `700 each secretly. This news spread like fire. Since the merchant buys monkey at `1,000 each, there is a `300 profit for each monkey. The next day, villagers made a
queue near the monkey cage. The employee sold all the monkeys at `700 each. The rich bought monkeys in big lots. The poor borrowed money from moneylenders and also bought monkeys! The villagers took care of their monkeys and waited for the merchant to return. But nobody came! Then they ran to the employee. But he had already left too! The villagers then realised that they have bought the useless stray monkeys at `700 each and unable to sell them! This business is known as the Stock market... it made a lot of people bankrupt and a few people filthy rich in this monkey business.
March 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 63
astroturf Mars leaves your sign, not only could you grapple successfully with restraining some costs, but might also form a clear plan as to how to negotiate new currents.
Aries
Mar 21 - April 20
Invest in yourself and your career. Another strong possibility is being attracted to an item or service connected with security. If you decide to purchase around this date, keep receipts in case of later difficulty. On a positive note, you could find something at bargain basement price around Thursday 29th. March is unusual since there is a second Full Moon on Saturday 31st. other.
TAURUS
April 21 - May 20
A twist on finances as you would be securing a better deal from your own utilities provider. Investment though seems a more likely option. This year, you might have more interest than usual and could, by the first of next month, put a strategy into play. A purchase made around this time might even realise profit as early next month.
GEMINI
May 21 - June 21
It’s probable that you will experience a degree of financial turbulence during the week beginning Sunday 18th. It might be early May before issues are resolved. This being the case it might be as well to put a safety net in place. It may be tempting to invest in something global. It would surely be wise to so do by consulting your financial adviser. A further potential boost could occur on Thursday 29th.
CANCER
June 22 - July 23
It’s probable that the financial affairs of others and close partnerships will require particular attention week beginning Sunday 18th. It would be as well to be prepared for this activity right from the start of the month.
(www.dollymanghat.com)
Fortune favours the bold and the lucky
Your attitude is your altitude, says Dolly Manghat, our renowned Astrological expert and believes she helps people create their own prophecies rather than live predictions It may be that there is actually something to celebrate but before that first you have to reposition assets and savings.
LEO
July 24 - Aug 23
It’s entirely possible that you may regret a purchase made earlier. With that in mind it might be as well to take someone with you if you go shopping between 1st and 9th. The advice of a financial controller or minder would surely be useful. Another tip might be to monitor prices until after Mars leaves another of the Fire signs, Sagittarius on Saturday 17th. You may find that prices fall thereafter. You might also benefit from taking time in the last week in March to do a full financial review.
VIRGO
Aug 24 - Sept 23
Be aware though that in the days leading up to the New Moon, you may be rather more preoccupied with curtailing expenses and reducing utility bill costs. The need to do this might be suggested by a close friend of financial partner slightly ahead of the Equinox on Tuesday 20th. Mars arrives on 18th in another of the Earth signs and from that date onward focusing on the management of essential bills should suit you well.
64 / Corporate Citizen / March 16-31, 2018
LIBRA
CAPRICORN
Dec 23 - Jan 20
Preoccupation with long-term financial arrangements is probable between 9th and 17th. Arranging a meeting with a financial adviser would be a sound move. Considerable attention must then be given both to personal needs and to close financial partnerships. Restructuring these where necessary will surely require some effort yet could result in a strong partnership being formed.
Sept 24 - Oct 22
Investment-wise, focus might best be placed on further self-investment. It may be that there are talents that could be polished and improved in 2018. A strong possibility is that a new line of revenue will appear mid-month. This might well be work done from home. A fresh financial partnership might also be much discussed.
SCORPIO
AQUARIUS
Jan 21 - Feb19
Priority will surely need to be given to long-term saving and pension arrangements. Your ability to do things differently—especially in the financial sense will surely bring you to the attention of those struggling hard not to capsize in these treacherous financial waters. Involvement with the financial affairs of others is particularly marked in the last week of March.
Oct 23 - Nov 22
The close of the month could find you in rather different mood. However, this time put aside funds for long-term savings. Either way, cash flow is much affected. An assessment of assets between 7th and 10th could alert you to opportunities for furthering your nest egg. You might then decide to increase investments.
SAGITTARIUS Nov 23 - Dec 22
Getting a handle on your own affairs would perhaps best be done as the Moon moves through your sign on Thursday 8th and 9th and as Jupiter comes to its station. From that date, and until
PISCES
Feb 20 - Mar 20
Note that from the New Moon in your sign on March 17th and Mars’ arrival in Capricorn, that focus turns to cooperative financial management. Between 18th and 23rd ensuring that team-players pay their fair share, takes priority. Take particular care that those born under the Fire signs of Aries, Leo or Sagittarius and who potentially could come. Address: 143, St Patrick’s Town, Gate# 3, Hadapsar IE, Pune-411 013. Tel.: 020-26872677 / 020-32905748 Email: connect@dollymanghat.com/ info.dollymanghat@gmail.com
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PROF. SUDHIR K SOPORY, VICE CHANCELLOR, JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY (JNU) Volume 1, Issue No. 21 / Pages 68 / www.corporatecitizen.in
January 1-15, 2016 / `50
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
March 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 65
the last word
Ganesh Natarajan
Will the Tech Titans take over our lives? Google handles 1.2 trillion searches annually which is 40,000 every second and Facebook sees 1,36,000 photos posted, 5,10,000 comments posted and 2,93,000 status updates every minute. Between the two, they command over an hour of time of the average consumer every day, an astonishing feat by any standards
It
started with Arab Spring —a few thousand posts on social media created a significant uprising that threatened to challenge conventional leadership ideas and bring the voice of the citizen to the fore. It got more attention recently when the BREXIT vote and even the outcome of the US Presidential election were seen to have been influenced and some believe manipulated by the clever use of social media. Is all this true and where is all this taking us? In the US particularly, the rise of the tech titans - Amazon, Apple Microsoft, Facebook and Alphabet (parent company of Google) has enabled a big push to be given by the private sector to the ownership of data and the formation of public opinion in the country and often in the rest of the world. And all this is a fairly recent phenomenon. Amazon as a company started only in 1994, Google in 1998 and Facebook in 2004 and even Microsoft became significant only after it partnered with IBM in the eighties and Apple became a force after the return of Steve Jobs in 1997. The rise of the smartphone as the most dominant medium of interaction and information consumption and the addiction that it has created (the average American touches her phone over 2,500 times a day and it may well be higher in Asian countries) has made the citizen a
because they do not and probably never need to charge anything to the consumer which makes them virtually immune to standard anti-trust regulations though the European Commission has been levying fines on Google for abusing its dominant position in that market and China has simply refused either of the companies permission to operate in their markets. This has had a positive entrepreneurial fallout too for China since companies like Baidu and We Chat have innovated beyond the US model and created enormously sticky applications for the citizens of that country. And the big benefit—the data remains on Chinese servers! is it scary The rise of Amazon, Apple forSouswhy in India that Microsoft, Facebook and these companies are running amok with Alphabet has given a big data, our time push to the private sector to our and possibly our the ownership of data minds? At the heart of it lies the volume and variety of data about our life, advertising revenues. Google hanour work and our preferences that dles 1.2 trillion searches annually these companies have about us and which is 40,000 every second and how they can use it to influence Facebook sees 1,36,000 photos our own thinking on products and posted, 5,10,000 comments posteven issues. It also enables them to ed and 2,93,000 status updates evbe market makers and channelise ery minute. Between the two, they targeted selling messages from their command over an hour of time of advertisers to those of us who have the average consumer every day, an the highest propensity to buy a cerastonishing feat by any standards. tain product or service at a certain It is the very model of engagetime and at a given price. ment of these companies that is By itself, the ability to persuade both laudable and also quite scary
willing victim to the suggestions of influencers! If one separates the three who have real paying customers–Apple, Amazon and Microsoft—from those who see the citizen as the product rather than the customer, namely Google and Facebook, the real problem of addiction in the case of the last two, becomes apparent. In a stunning cover story in Prospect magazine aptly titled ‘How the web controls you’ some stunning data is presented. Seventy per cent of data traffic on the internet is on account of these two companies who also garner a massive two-thirds of US digital
66 / Corporate Citizen / March 16-31, 2018
may just seem to be an interesting marketing opportunity won by the tech titans through the superiority and attractiveness of their service. However, the dark possibilities that exist to unduly influence public opinion as was seen to some extent in the US elections and the BREXIT vote give the scare that our lives and our thoughts may not be our own anymore. And if this concern springs in the minds of many of us who are digital immigrants, imagine the plight of the digital natives who know no better world than to be inundated night and day by their connection to their mobile phones and through that to the power of suggestions on the internet. We are living in a changing world and will not be dissuaded by any amount of gentle suggestions through videos of people banging into lampposts walking down a street with their eyes on their device! There is no going back to an era when a pair of lovers could spend hours in a café without ever losing eye or hand contact. Today they would be hard-pressed not to let their eyes stray to their phone even for fifteen minutes. Enough already, let me get back to my WhatsApp! Dr Ganesh Natarajan is Chairman of 5F World, Pune City Connect and Social Venture Partners, India.
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