7th issue all pdf by Corporate Citizen

Corporate Citizen T he Co ol Side Of Bu sine ss

Cradle of Leadership: Sunit Tandon, DG, Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC)

Volume 1, Issue No. 7 / April 1-15, 2015 / `50

Dynamic Duo 7

Mukesh and Ritu Malhotra

Sweet Success Baby Sitting Dads

Meet the dads who quit jobs to be with their kids

Pune NHRD Meet:

Women Do Matter in the corporate world

Youth India Survey:

Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s youth is social media savvy

Corporate History:

Forever Lux: Lather that lingers on

From the desk of Editor-In-Chief

Beyond the realms of reality

to see and that is what made others to say conventional psychology departments on n this highly advanced scientific that I am a ‘Medium’. How all these things the supernatural power of human beings. world, where Google Guru has started and why I decided to withdraw from (Source: Wikipedia) opened up an endless horizon of using it, after an incident, is the story which It is a known fact that such ‘Mediums’ as information, the world of the ‘SuI am set to narrate here. And it is upto you to people with this extra power, are known to pernatural’ might seem outdated. draw conclusions. have the ability to sense and communicate However, you only google through Sometime in the early 1990s, when I was with beings and energies in other dimenwords such as ‘supernatural’, ‘medithe Director of the Symbiosis Institute of sions. They are receptive and sensitive to um’, ‘intuition’, ‘sixth sense’, ‘mind control’ or Management Studies (SIMS), and Rector of feelings, emotions and communications ‘telepathy’ to understand the interest in the Symbiosis Hostels, the then Prime Minister from others and therefore have experiences existence of power beyond the realms of our of India, IK Gujral, was scheduled for a that are considered to be paranormal. physical world - where researchers, even in visit. A brainstorming meeting was held to I wish to narrate some of my true life exthis hi-tech 21st century, are devoting good work out the logistics of the event. Someone periences where perhaps, I’ve played the role time to analyse these phenomena. rightfully mentioned about the Supernatural power usualrain as July is the peak of monly means, power which is not soon season. This could affect any possessed through any technical arrangement and the programme or scientific means but one that adversely. Dr S B Mujumdar who baffles ordinary people and is hard was chairing the meeting, simply to explain scientifically. However, said, that “Bala would take care research in ‘Parasychology’ has led of it.” Dr Mujumdar looked at me to the acceptance of the ‘superand I smiled. Why should he say so natural’ power that some human confidently? There was a flashback beings possess. to his belief – related to a previous Before I narrate my tryst with incident in Symbiosis International the ‘supernatural’ it would be interHostels with which Dr SB Mujumesting to note that, Parasychology dar was emotionally and physically is a field of study concerned with involved. the investigation of paranormal Dr SB Mujumdar is known for phenomenon and is gaining moDr (Col.) A. Balasubramanian being felicitated by the then Prime Minister I K Gujral for the care and welfare of internationmentum in the USA and UK. being the first Indian from the ranks to be conferred the honorary title of ‘Colonel’ for his al students. In fact, the origin of the Parapsychologists study telepexemplary work in management education renowned Symbiosis Institutions athy, precognition, clairvoyance, and Colleges under Symbiosis International of a ‘Medium’, without knowing that. Maybe, near-death experiences, reincarnation, appaUniversity can be traced to Symbiosis Intermy very thinking on that line is wrong. ritional experiences, and other paranormal national Students Centre of which I was the But certain things did happen and some claims. Interestingly, the University of ArizoRector. The International students therefore veterans did mention to me that I possess the na’s Veritas Laboratory conducts laboratory decided to celebrate his birthday, the 31st attributes of a medium. They also cautioned investigations of mediums. Several private July, as the International Students Day and me that I should not disclose it to anyone. institutions, including the Institute of Noetic that is still being followed religiously. On this The fact is, I am a sincere devotee of Lord Sciences, conduct and promote parapsychoday, at 7.30 am, the international students Venkateshwara. I had tried to save some situlogical research. Of all the nations, the Unitfrom the entire Pune city assembled to host ations, consciously, praying to Lord Balaji on ed Kingdom has the largest number of active their national flags, sing their national the spot and things happened for everyone parapsychologists. UK researchers work in April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 1

From the desk of Editor-In-Chief anthem and seek the blessings of their beloved God Father. On that day too they had assembled notwithstanding the heavy rain. Dr. Mujumdar though had not arrived. I called him up but he wondered how we would conduct the function in the heavy rain. I told him, ‘‘Sir, all the International Students have already come. You too should come immediately. Rest we will see.” Mujumdar agreed and arrived in his trademark white coloured Ambassador car. It was still raining heavily. I did not know what to do. I told him to be in the car. I then stood in the rain and raised my hand up and prayed to Lord Balaji to stop the rain. Suddenly, the downpour which seemed relentless, stopped. I turned towards Mujumdar and said, “Sir, we have one hour to finish this function, as the rain is going to resume thereafter.’’ Sure enough, much to everyone’s amazement, the function got over smoothly; the foreign students were able to proudly parade with their respective national flags and then the rain resumed. It was this incident which was in Mujumdar’s mind that made him say not to bother about the rain during the visit of the then Prime Minister – I. K. Gujral. The rain did visit, I did pray and the rain did stop. Incidentally, it was in this function, I

Faseem Gafoor being felicitated by Former Chief of Army Staff, General Ved Prakash Malik, PVSM, AVSM, ADC

The miracles that I had witnessed are many. So I invited many religious-minded people to seek clarifications and advice. One amongst them was Dr Dey, who was an eminent ‘Statistics’ professor of XLRI and later the Director of Tata Management Training Centre (TMTC). He told me “you are a ‘Medium.” Dr SW Deshpande, who was the Dean of the Department of Psychology, University of Pune too said the same. This message spread like wildfire amongst the students of Sri Balaji Society was felicitated by the Prime Minister on the grant of the rank of Honorary Colonel in the Regular Army. Until then those from other ranks could reach out to the rank of Honorary Captain only. I was the first, and till date no one else has got such a coveted rank. To properly understand and appreciate this recognition, I should recall that much later, great cricketers like Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni were granted the Honorary Rank of Lieutenant Colonel (one rank below Colonel) in the Territorial Army. Bharat Ratna awardee, Sachin Tendulkar, got the honorary rank of Group Captain (equivalent to a Colonel) in the Air Force. Olympian Abhinav Bindra too got the rank of Lt Col. Another incident occurred when I had 2 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

just launched my Indian Institute of Modern Management (IIMM). Mr JP Gupta was kind enough to spare me the premises of the Agresan School. I am ever indebted to him. One day, I came to know that he is hospitalised and is very critical. In fact, his family members and relatives had been called over as the doctors had given an hour or so for him to live. I rushed to the hospital to see him. When I reached him, I started praying – it was an emotional outburst. I kept my hand over him and prayed for five minutes, asking God to let his life be here, on this earth. In fact, it was a direct fight with Lord Balaji. After

five minutes I felt good. The Lord gave me positive vibrations. When I came out, I told his wife, who was crying, not to worry and that he will soon go back, on his own feet. I said the same thing to the doctor who just smiled. When I came to the school campus, I found that the black board had been kept out for announcing a holiday for the next day, due to the news of Mr Gupta’s impending death. He miraculously recovered

In happy times with parents- KK Abdul Gafoor and Sulu with daughter Mansi and sons Faseem and Sanoj, who was also the student of Sri Balaji Society

 Faseem Gafoor with his ‘Outstanding Student of the Year 2004’ award poses alongside Dr Col A Balasubramanian, Founder, Sri Balaji Society  Faseem (centre) with topper colleagues, Kareena, Sonal and Tejaswini (L-R)

and I went to see him the next day. As I reached there people fell at my feet crying, “Swamiji, Swamiji… this is the Swamiji who came and did the miracle”. My white beard coupled with my prayers in front of them and the recovery despite the doctor’s deadline made them feel so. Mr Gupta did return home, well recovered. He passed away after six months. These happenings made me worry. I wanted to know more deeply about this. Will anyone believe that the only investment for SIMS was one word “Yes” from Dr SB Mujumdar for my proposal to start the

Faseem enthusiastically took part in all cultural activities of the college

first Management Institute exclusively for Defence Personnel and their dependants and the first rupee was generated not by me but by the blessings of Balaji? The same story repeated itself in Sri Balaji Society. The miracles that I had witnessed are many. So I invited many religious-minded people to seek clarifications and advice. One amongst them was Dr Dey, who was an eminent ‘Statistics’ professor of XLRI and later the Director of Tata Management Training Centre (TMTC). He told me “you are a ‘Medium.” Dr SW Deshpande, who was the Dean of the Department of Psychology, University of Pune too said the same. This message spread like wildfire amongst the students of Sri Balaji Society. In August 2007, one of the former students of Sri Balaji Society met with an accident and was battling for life in Pune’s Jehangir Hospital. Another girl student and her husband who were also victims of the same accident were safe, but in the same hospital. When I arrived in the hospital, she pleaded to me to save her friend and said that if I pray, then he would surely be saved. I entered the ICU where he was admitted and earnestly prayed. However, it did not work. He passed away soon. He was Faseem Gafoor, once the President of the Students’

Council of IIMM (now BIMM). He was a gem of a human being and a very dynamic boy in the role of the President. This failure of mine, wrenched my heart and his death still saddens me. Ever since, I do not use my powers of a ‘Medium.’ I am at a loss as to why such a selfless, gentle and dynamic young boy like Faseem, who was also doing remarkably well in his career as Manager in LG, should have been snatched off so cruelly. I am sometimes angry with God and do not have the heart to use his divine intervention, anymore. Yet, Lord Balaji has always stood by me. Otherwise, how do I justify my starting Sri Balaji Society with so many institutes, colleges, infrastructure and more than 10,000 well placed alumni? And, the investment for this big project was five inland letters which I had sent to Army Commanders announcing the birth of Sri Balaji Society. What is more, my friend Faseem Gafoor is also standing with my Lord, ensuring the unabated blessings for us.

Dr (Col.) A. Balasubramanian editor-in-chief April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 3

Contents Volume 1 Issue No. 7 April 1-15, 2015

leadership qualities Dr Ganesh Natarajan, Vice Chairman & CEO of Zensar Technologies & Chairman of NASSCOM Foundation on Zen and the Art of Humility

Collywood Chatpata Chatter from the Corporate World

Wax Eloquent Who said what and why

trend setters Meet the dads who quit their jobs to be with their kids

book review Book review on CybercrimesTechnologyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s menace of the 21st century

Women Achievers An interview with Anwesa Sen, Global Head, HR & Organisation Development at Geometric Ltd on the various phases of her life to maintaining the balancing act between work and home

Cradle of Leadership An interview with Sunit Tandon, Director General of the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC)

Cover story Dynamic Duo 7

sweet success

An interview with Ritu, a therapist & Mukesh Malhotra, Managing Director of the Weikfield Group who are shining examples of how you can do good using success & wealth as stepping stones to fulfil your heartâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s calling

4 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

Corporate History Forever Lux, lather that lingers on

Pune NHRD Meet Women from diverse professions speak about their challenges, pitfalls and hidden opportunities in their respective careers at the conference on ‘Women Matter’, organised by the National HRD Network (NHRD), Pune Chapter

Manage Money Dr Anil Lamba speaks on Good Financial Management – Rule 1

Youth India Survey India’s youth get social media savvy

Expert Speak An exclusive talk by eminent financial journalist and Managing Editor of MoneyLife, Sucheta Dalal on financial regulators - Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), investors, Indian banking system and the issues relating to them

34 32

Better Half An interview with Amrita Goel, wife of real-estate honcho Atul Goel, MD, Goel Ganga Group, who is a testimony to the old adage: behind every successful man, is a strong feminine presence

overview Eminent Journalist, Chitra Subramaniam on the row over Professor Dr. Annette BeckSickinger denying two Indian students admission to intern at the biochemistry department at the Leipzig University, Germany

Pearls of Wisdom Osho on ‘You cannot chase Happiness’

48 April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 5

Editor-In-Chief Dr (Col.) A. Balasubramanian Consulting Editor Vinita Deshmukh Assistant Editor Joe Williams Chief Marketing Officer Subash Krishnan +91 9823021013

Manager Circulation Mansha Viradia +91 9765387072

Third Eye Agustina Kampfer, Argentine journalist gives us a fresh, new take on a country we seeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and yet donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really see

Health High energy breakfast with low energy dinner helps control blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes

Astroturf Fortune favours the bold & lucky

Citizen Claps & Slaps Our bouquets and brickbats for the fortnight!

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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! 6 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

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leadership qualities

Corporate Leaders and the Art of Humility Humility comes easily to leaders who were not born with a silver spoon in their mouths – a family name and lineage creates a sense of entitlement By Ganesh Natarajan

here is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune – these thoughts of William Shakespeare would surely have been a strand in the success stories of many individuals, in corporate as well as public life as they sensed an opportunity and strode forth purposefully to take their careers and their groups to success. The scale of the BJP’s success in the elections and the rise of Prime Minister Modi is the largest example, but on a smaller scale, the success of Manufacturing innovators like Mahindras and Thermax IT companies like Mindtree and Zensar and even Education and Skills firms like Manipal and Global Talent Track show that extraordinary entrepreneurial skills can often create great success! The problem that follows every success of course is the loss of humility in a successful leader that can be the beginning of a downfall. It is no surprise that many of the world beaters identified by management gurus like Tom Peters did not stay the course and it has taken a few exceptional companies like GE, IBM and 3 M globally and possibly TCS in India to show

that leadership renewal and a continuing willingness to learn and adapt can enable companies to last and move from “good to great” over decades. And if there is one thread one should pick up from all these companies, it is possibly the humility of their leaders. Humility comes easily to leaders who were not born with a silver spoon in their mouths – a family name and lineage creates a sense of entitlement. Successive generations of TCS leaders, from extraordinary industry doyen Kohli to Ramadorai to its current CEO Chandra had all worked their way up the ranks and saw the CEO role as a trusteeship of responsibility rather than a gift of power and control. Exceptional family businesses like Thermax have also had leaders, Rohington Aga, Anu Aga and now Meher Pudumjee who are outstanding human beings and wear the badge of company leadership with grace and humility at all times. On a personal note, my own story probably reflects that of many other CEOs of corporate India. From humble beginnings in Bihar to executive stints in manufacturing, training and consulting in Crompton Greaves and NIIT, the opportunity to lead APTECH came at the age of thirty-four and in over two decades of

leading two companies since then, I have never lost touch with my roots which very much lie in the dusty village of Tatisilwai and the neighbouring small town of Ranchi. These are constant reminders that the two hundred days of globe-trotting every year and the opportunity to work with Fortune 500 customers and shape the destinies of seven thousand Zensarians from fourteen countries around the world is just another privilege given for a brief period and one should never lose touch with the realities of the country in which companies like APTECH and Zensar have been built and succeeded. Humility in a leader inspires a passion to succeed and a willingness to go the extra mile in the other leaders who build their careers in the same workplace. Surges in market capitalisation, the adulation of press and analysts and a collection of silver awards are all very well but it is the love of one’s colleagues and the sense of having contributed to company and country that will be the true reward for humble and successful leaders. May their tribe increase! (Dr Ganesh Natarajan is Vice Chairman & CEO of Zensar Technologies & Chairman of NASSCOM Foundation) April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 7

Pic Credit: Indian Express Archive

collywood

People in the news

(L-R) Chanda Kochhar, Shikha Sharma, Arundhati Bhattacharya, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and Akhila Srinivasan

Asia’s Power Businesswomen of 2015 Women Power: We completely admire these six corporate businesswomen from India who have made it to Forbes’ ‘Asia’s Power Businesswomen, 2015’ list. While the list is dominated by bankers with SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya, ICICI chief Chanda Kochhar and Axis Bank CEO and Managing Di-

rector Shikha Sharma making the cut, other Indians in the list include Shriram Life Insurance Managing Director Akhila Srinivasan, Biocon Chairman and Managing Director Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, and LIC Managing Director Usha Sangawan. In less than a decade, Srinivasan has catapulted Shriram

Life Insurance into one of the top five private players in its industry in India in terms of profitability. Srinivasan has been with this ` 80,000 crore assets under management, Shriram Group—parent of Shriram Life and India’s largest financial conglomerate for 29 years. She started in truck financ-

ing, working her way up until in 2005 she launched Shriram Life. Srinivasan holds a Ph.D. in Economics and focuses on microcredit for women entrepreneurs. She helped set up the Shriram Foundation in 1993 to run an orphanage and several rural schools. Hats off to you, ma’am!

Pic Credit: Indian Express Archive

Once again, he’s the richest Indian What luck! India’s corporate tycoon, Mukesh Ambani has once again retained his position as the richest Indian for the eighth year in a row with a net worth of $21 billion, according to Forbes. Not just that, American software czar, Bill Gates has topped the global rich list once again. This is for the 16th time in the past 21 years that the software czar is topping the list. Among the Forbes Rich List 2015, Ambani who 8 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

stands on the 39th spot globally, is followed by pharmaceuticals business tycoon Dilip Shanghvi (44th rank with a net worth of $20 billion) and Azim Premji (48th with $19.1 billion). Indians on the list include Shiv Nadar (66th; $14.8 bn), Hinduja Brothers (69th; $14.5 billion) Lakshmi Mittal (82nd; $13.5 billion), Kumar Mangalam Birla (142nd; $9 billion) and Uday Kotak (185th; $7.2 billion), according to the Forbes list.

Ratan Tata chugs ahead

So look who’s been roped in to revitalise the Indian Railways and make it state-ofthe-art? It is stalwart industrialist Ratan Tata, who will head this innovative council called ‘Kaya Kalp.’ Working hand-in-hand with him would be Shiv Gopal Mishra and M Raghuvaiah who are well known railway union leaders. Others in the council include heads of various railway organisations. Undoubtedly, Tata would be the greatest asset for the ailing Indian Railways which is being rejuvenated by the dynamic Railway Minister, Suresh Prabhu. India is surely looking forward to resurrection of this awesome transportation with the leadership of both, Prabhu and Tata.

This Kejriwal is a popular enterprise What’s in a name? Have you ever wondered how dishes like Margherita Pizza, Chicken, Murg Mussalam Akhbari, Earl Grey derived their names? It’s true that we are so used to these dishes that we never ever give their names or their origin a second thought. One such name is “Eggs Kejriwal”. Yes, we are all familiar with this personality called “Arvind Kejriwal” who is a hot topic of discussion these days, but well, this dish is not named after him. Eggs Kejriwal owes its name to Devi Prasad Kejriwal, a member of the Royal Willingdon Club, Mumbai. It seems that he preferred his eggs in a particular way and made sure his favourite snack was served to him every time he went there. Eggs Kejriwal is all about poached eggs laden with chillies along with toast. Sprinkle some chopped onions, tomatoes and this dish becomes quite a tasty mouthful. Well, if you feel greedy, then you could always ask for a generous amount of grated cheese…YUMMYYYY, this dish makes my mouth water…

Not easy business

Recently, Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao termed India as a complicated and complex country for doing business and said that spectrum prices were way too high, limiting the investment capacity for expanding network. Colao has said efforts should be made to make it easy for doing business in India as the country holds great potential for foreign investors. However, tax, regulatory and legal issues make it difficult for the company to carry out its affairs. “The only problem in India is the cost of conducting business there in terms of spectrum, tax challenges, complexities... Everything is more complicated in India, there are different authorizations. Every time I go there, I find out that something is not possible because you need a special thing or there is a court case, and somebody has gone against you,” Colao said. In the past too we’ve had officials commenting on this subject. Well, it’s time that we seriously look into this matter… April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 9

collywood Swine flu takes India hostage Swine flu, one of the most dreaded diseases of today’s times, is spreading across the country. From January to March, a staggering 27, 886 cases have been reported, out of which 1,587 people have already lost their lives. States like Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra are the worst affected, with 6,093, 5,969, and 2,890 cases having been reported respectively. Swine flu is claiming victims irrespective of their social or economic status. Not even the Bollywood fraternity has been spared. A few weeks ago, noted actress Sonam Kapoor contracted swine flu and was admitted to Kokilaben hospital in Mumbai, after she complained of cough, cold and fever on the sets of the movie, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo. She tested positive for swine flu and was then flown to Mumbai. We hope the swine flu nightmare comes to an end soon.

Wipro’s Balasubramanian Ganesh quits, as head of banking; Shaji Farooq take over

New Delhi’s Connaught Place is fifth most expensive office location in world Did you know that Connaught Place, one of the largest financial, commercial and business centres in the nation’s capital, New Delhi, has become the world’s fifth most expensive office location, beating the central business districts of Russia, Japan and China? Well, according to property consultant Cushman & Wakefield, Connaught Place has been commanding a rental value of ` 412 per sq ft a month and has seen a rental

value increment of less than one per cent over the previous year. The CP area is witnessing some latent demand from sectors such as BFSI for front office operations, consulting and media houses who are interested in paying high rentals for aspects such as ease of location, proximity to government and quasi- government establishments and other related businesses, the consultant has noted. Is Kejriwal listening?

10 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

Wipro’s Balasubramanian Ganesh, head of banking products and solutions group, has resigned, says report. Report said that the company has merged the division with its key banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) business. The company also appointed TCS veteran Abid Ali Neemuchwala as group president and chief operating officer. Shaji Farooq, Wipro’s current BFSI head, will lead the combined entity. Shaji Farooq, a former InfosysBSE 0.00 per cent veteran and Wipro’s current BFSI head, will lead the combined entity. “Balasubramanian Ganesh, who successfully set up and led Wipro’s Products and Solutions Group (PSG), has decided to pursue a career outside of Wipro,” a company spokesperson said. Ganesh, who was styled ‘chief executive’ of the products and solutions business, has joined one of Wipro’s banking customers as deputy global chief information officer, two people familiar with the developments said, requesting anonymity.

Narayana Murthy’s son-in-law contesting for MP in UK Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy’s son-in-law is leading the list of ethnic minority MPs expected to win seats for the Conservative party in the May 7 General Election in the UK. The UK-based Rishi Sunak will contest from former foreign secretary William Hague’s constituency of Richmond in North Yorkshire. The Oxford University and Stanford MBA graduate, who co-founded a 1-billion pound global investment firm and specialised in investing in small British businesses, is expected to make the “Class of 2015” as the most high profile new Indian-origin MP. “I’m over the moon. It’s an incredible privilege to represent this really special part of the world, and to follow in the footsteps of William Hague,” the 34-year-old had said in reference to his selection for the Tory party.

World’s most fuel efficient bike Wow, the new Bajaj Platina ES, which boasts of being the world’s most fuel efficient bike, is an entirely new platform with a new DTS-I powered engine. The all new Platina ES comes with refreshed styling as well as Electric Start. It offers new side panels, new exhaust, a refreshed headlamp design, new graphics and alloy wheels as standard. The bike also offers the longest seat in the segment, Bajaj. In fact, this new motorcycle has broken all the benchmarks on mileage to deliver 96.9 kmpl as per ARAI testing. This is the highest ever among all 100cc bikes not just in India, but also all around the world! Bajaj Auto has done a global study on mileage across more than 50

major countries and more than 500 motorcycle models. All sources such as country specific OEM websites, blogs, industry bodies, and certified automotive publications were reviewed in detail. The findings prove the fact that on mileage the Bajaj Platina ES is unbeatable. No other production bike in the 95 to 105cc range, either in India or globally, comes close. Way to go!

Go job hunting with Twitter

Well, social networking site, Twitter is no longer just a plain micro-blogging site but can now also become your new job hunting ground. Twitter seems keen to position itself as a resource for job seekers. According to a Twitter survey, 77 per cent of polled British Twitter users think the service could help them find a job. With LinkedIn having its own share of “shortcomings”, people are increasingly finding it convenient to hunt for a job - or conversely for the right talent - through Twitter. It could be hard news for LinkedIn, which has billed itself as a place for finding work. In this push, Twitter is working with companies like GlaxoSmithKline, Deloitte and Nestle to connect people with jobs. There’s also the inevitable hashtag #YourJob too. What’s greater is that on Twitter, one can always go incognito while looking to move on, something that LinkedIn doesn’t really offer. After all, nobody would like their boss to find out beforehand that one was moving on. (Courtesy: www.newsminute.com with IANS) Compiled by Mahalakshmi Hariharan April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 11

wax eloquent

The health and wealth of this BUDGET

Viewed as a bold and far-sighted Union Budget, industry doyens shared their two-pennies worth on “what is” and “what can be” for perfecting the budget-balance for all sectors - with some gains and misses too! Compiled by Sangeeta Ghosh Dastidar

Corporate Gains

evident in this budget and hopefully it will turn manufacturing in India into a more profitable and business-friendly proposition. Measures to curb black money, job creation through revival of growth and investment will benefit middle class tax payers. “ Soon Kwon, MD of LG Electronics India. Credit: Financial Express

“…Although no budget can be perfect, this is a very positive one. The reduction in corporate tax from 30 per cent to 25 per cent over a four years period is very appreciable. Prima facie I can say, in this budget whatever is done is very good…” Rahul Bajaj, Chairman, Bajaj Group. Credit: Financial Express

“…We welcome the changes in taxation policy, with the reduction in corporate tax over four years and rationalisation of custom duty. The determination towards GST and the proposed implementation will boost the industry through the state-of-art indirect tax system. Efforts being made by the current government towards achieving its vision of ‘Make in India’ policy is 12 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

“…For the infrastructure space, the budget allocation has gone up significantly to more than ` 75,000 crore and that is a major delta for a one-year time frame. Already, 100,000 km of road is under construction and that is where the first level of focus is. In the coming years, the focus is to incrementally build another 100,000 km. Companies, especially on the EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) side at this particular time could be good bets.” Vinay Khattar, Associate Director & Head of Research, Edelweiss. Credit: Business Standard

“…The FY16 union budget is extremely favourable. First on the fiscal math, policy to relax the medium term path of fiscal consolidation is extremely favourable and is growth supportive, which is

the need of the economy, given the health of the private sector. … The fiscal math is extremely credible on tax revenues, disinvestments as well as subsidies. On the expenditure side as well, infrastructure seems to be the clear thrust area of the government with roads and railways expected to witness large capital outlays. Overall, budget addresses both the near as well as long term needs of the economy, with policy heading in the right direction…’’ Vikas Khemani, President and CEO, Edelweiss Securities. Credit: MoneyLife

“…The budget retains the focus on financial inclusion, education, health and agriculture. It has increased focus on infrastructure development, housing and manufacturing in India. Overall, budget 2015 is wide in its scope and takes into account the interests of diverse sections of society … But, the key is implementation. We will also need to see if some of the other tax related concerns of the IT and ITES sector have been addressed. These include resolving ambiguities in taxation of software products and services. In that context, the service tax rate going up is a concern; because of the impact it could have of driving people to use pirated software. Especially, because of the dual tax on software - the net tax rate for software is above 20 per cent…” Bhaskar Pramanik, Chairman, Microsoft India

Bang on Banking!

Healthcare – The Winners and Woes “Health has not received adequate attention and allocation in the budget. The promise of universal health coverage will remain unfulfilled unless

“...The budget has laid out a clear and tangible roadmap for the future. The decision to incentivise credit and debit card transactions coupled with the proposed new law on black money will bring down the social cost of unaccounted money, apart from adding to the bank bottom-line. The move to frame a Public Contract Bill will kick start activities in the construction sector plagued by disputes. The move to bring NBFCs at par with financial institutions will help banks to clean up their balance sheets by selling stressed assets at an early stage to ARCs. This apart, framing of the Bankruptcy Law, sprucing up of public investment to channelise private investment and monetisation of gold assets are positive steps…” Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairperson, SBI

health is prioritised.” K. Srinath Reddy, President of the Public Health Foundation of India. Credit :Reuters

“Nothing has been done for the heavily import dependent medical devices industry which is the fourth pillar of healthcare sector like medical education, health delivery and pharmaceuticals industry.” GSK Velu, Founder and Managing Director of Trivitron Group.

“Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has unveiled a stable budget that will improve the overall sentiment for the economy ... From a healthcare perspective, we were expecting a higher allocation to this critical sector, but that has not happened.” P C Reddy, Chairman of Apollo Hospitals.

Credit: Economic times

Credit: The Economic Times

“To move towards the vision of a healthy India, hygiene and cleanliness programmes have been accorded priority and contributions towards the Swachh Bharat Fund have been made tax exempt….The provision to set up five new medical colleges along the lines of the AIIMS will go towards bridging the talent gap for qualified medical professionals in the country…” Malvinder Singh, Executive Chairman of Fortis Healthcare. Credit: The Economic Times

“The budget could have spurred the healthcare sector by ensuring access to quality, affordable healthcare to the country but there are many lost opportunities in this budget.” Gautam Khanna, CEO, P D Hinduja Hospital & Medical Research Center. Credit: The Economic Times

“…There is a clear and sharp focus on the four key areas of Growth, Inclusion, Fiscal Prudence and Tax Rationalisation. The budget promotes growth through its focus on infrastructure and ease of doing business. The theme of inclusion is reflected in the measures taken to empower all stakeholders - there is greater devolution of resources to states and there are a number of measures for the poor, youth and senior citizens…The clarity given on the tax regime will go a long way in making India an attractive destination for investments, and encouraging domestic savings. The budget reflects the vision of the government and takes India forward on a path of growth and inclusive prosperity…” Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO, ICICI Bank sangeetagd2010@gmail.com April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 13

Trend setter

Hands on Dads Meet the dads who quit jobs to be with their kids, and their wives are backing them

By Monalisa Das

hirty-five-year-old Gautam John’s day begins around 6 amhe walks his dogs, returns and prepares breakfast for his wife and him and once she leaves for work, he takes care of their daughter for the rest of the day. A father of an eight-month-old girl, John is a stay-at-home dad. At a time when relationship equations are constantly evolving and gender roles being challenged, John’s decision to not stick to traditional roles is perhaps, if not too common, more acceptable in the society today. “I am just two months into it and I am thoroughly enjoying this experience”, says John. John, who had been working in the non-profit education sector, quit his job in December last year. “My wife took a maternity leave for six months. In December, she had to get back to work and that is when I decided to quit mine. I wanted to stay at home and look after our daughter”, he says. The day usually proceeds with John taking his daughter for walks, and sometimes to her grandparents’ place, making sure she gets her bath, eats and naps at the right time and has enough play before winding up for the night. He makes sure he is up to date with his work when he can and

reads when he does get some free time to himself. “I also instruct the domestic help. And since I love cooking, I mostly prepare the breakfast myself”, he says. Barring a few, everyone in John’s family and friend circle thought his idea was ‘fantastic’. “Have they done the same thing or do they know of people who have done the same thing? I don’t know”, he states. John feels that as a society, ‘we are stuck with gender roles’. “I don’t see why we need to stick to the predefined roles that society has given us. Of course there are certain things only a mother can do, but fathers also have an important role to play and their input is as important. Being a stay-athome dad may seem odd to some, but that is definitely not a reason to not do it”, he says. According to him, it is totally understandable that some people would like to focus on their careers. “We however should also not elevate men who choose to be stay-at-home dads”, he says. It is a personal choice, he feels. A lot of men could want to become stay-at-home dads but may not have the choice to do so. It worked out for John and his wife and he is happy to have grabbed the opportunity, he states. He adds that when he decided to quit, he ‘certainly did not see it

14 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

“Perhaps my only concern, when I took the decision to be a stay-at-home dad, was whether all of this would boil down to just a series of choresfeeding the baby, bathing her, putting her to sleep, etc. But what I didn’t count was that it would be a delightful and joyous experience”, says John

“I don’t see why we need to stick to the predefined roles that society has given us. Of course there are certain things only a mother can do, but fathers also have an important role to play and their input is as important,” adds John

as a break’. “It was a choice I made. The goal behind this is not staying at home, but is to spend quality time with my daughter”. The work is exhausting- both physically and mentally- because one needs to be alert all the time. Doing a full time job is perhaps easier, he says. The satisfaction from the experience makes all of it worthwhile for the doting father. “Perhaps my only concern, when I took the decision to be a stay-at-home dad, was whether

all of this would boil down to just a series of choresfeeding the baby, bathing her, putting her to sleep, etc.”, he asserts. “But what I didn’t count was that it would be a delightful and joyous experience”, he adds. Apart from the bond he has established with his daughter during the past two months, he also has become a lot more patient now. “I suppose there is no other way around it”, he says. He also admits that he is a control freak but is now

learning to let go a little bit. For John and his wife, his decision has not changed much in their lives. They go out as usual, although he says they went out less before their daughter was born. Their journey only seems to have begun. “Since this our first baby, every moment has been a memorable one-the first time we fed her solid food to the first time she crawled- all of it has been fantastic”, he states. Would John do it again if he had another baby? “Without a doubt”, pat comes his reply. For Mohit Satyanand, the decision to be a stay-at-home dad came as easily, though for him it was over a decade ago. A former media professional and a financial consultant now, Satyanand knew what he wanted in life and achieved most of it. He wanted an early retirement and so he retired when he was 40. He got married around the same time and both he and his wife took a break and went to stay in a village in the Himalayas for a while. It is when they had their son that they decided to return to the city life- for the sake of his education and because Satyanand’s wife

wanted to get back to work. When his son was four-yearsold, Satyanand took a conscious decision to become a stay-at-home dad. “I did not want my son to come home, from school, to a nanny. And since my wife was working, I did not take up a job”, he says. That was in 2003. Today, Satyanand’s son is a sixteen-year-old. “We actually have very little time with our children. By the time they reach 15, they aren’t kids any more. And today parents hardly get time to interact with their children due to busy schedules”, he states. “For me, it has been an incredible privilege to enjoy the time with

Drive CC a k d a t Carefully! India witnesses one road accident every minute, which claims one life every 3.7 minutes, one of the highest in the world. In 2014, Maharashtra topped the list with the highest number of road accidents at 68,438 followed by Tamil Nadu (65,873), Madhya Pradesh (49,406), Karnataka (44,731) and Andhra Pradesh (44,165).

April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 15

Trend Setter my son to the fullest”, he adds. For Satyanand, the beginning of his journey as a stay-at-home dad ‘was a little odd, but only occasionally’. Like the times when his son was invited to birthday parties and it was usually the mothers of the other kids who’d come to drop them. “And I happened to be the only father. Also most of the parents were a lot younger than me”, he asserts adding that his son has always been happy about the way things are. Satyanand feels that though the concept of a stay-at-home dad would raise eyebrows even now, in general, today people are more open to people being different. “We now also have more women in the workforce (which to an extent helps men who’d like to stay at home with their children)”, he says. However, being a stay-athome does not confine one to just household chores. With evolving technology, work-from-home options are today not just in demand but also quite easily available. Samar Halarnkar also did that. Halarnkar quit his job as Managing Editor of Hindustan Times in Delhi a few years ago to take care of his daughter. “My child was under a year old when we decided we did not want a nanny to take care of her.

My child was under a year old when we decided we did not want a nanny to take care of her. It is what prompted me to quit my job. It was more like an excuse to quit and I decided to become a stayat-home dad It is what prompted me to quit my job. It was more like an excuse to quit and I decided to become a stay-at-home dad”, says the editor of India Spend. Halarnkar, who is also a columnist with Hindustan Times and Mint, now works from home. He does the cooking in the morning and then drops and picks up his daughter to school apart from also organizing her entire day. Though over the years he has gradually increased his work, he says his life still ‘revolves’ around

his daughter. “Earlier, when I used to take her to play in the park, I mostly saw nannies accompanying other kids. Now-a-days I notice some parents do take out their kids to play”, he states. He is also a member of a WhatsApp school group, which includes parents of his daughter’s classmates. “We discuss issues regarding our children and the school. What’s not to like about it?” The group, which initially only had mothers as members, had a

“I didn’t want my son to come home from school to a nanny. And since my wife was working, I did not take up a job. Today, also have more women in the workforce (which to an extent helps men who’d like to stay at home with their children)”, says Satyanand

“My daughter loves my food. She often boasts-My Appa made this. It is a nice feeling. I never had a problem taking care of my daughter. My daughter is also happy,” says Samar Halarnkar 16 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

name which included the word ‘mummy’, says Halarnkar adding he doesn’t remember the full name of the earlier group. So when he joined the group, he was the only father there. “So they changed the name of the group to include me’, he asserts. What was a bit odd initially, has now become completely normal for them. “Except that the school sends emails to my wife”, he laughs. Halarnkar likes cooking and his daughter is never short of praises for him. “My daughter loves my food. She often boasts, “My appa made this,” he asserts. For Halarnkar, it was a conscious decision. He knew he would be giving up a regular salary and so he was mentally prepared for it. “You need to have a back-up and for me it was my wife”, he states. Life has changed for him. He feels many people still cannot think of it in serious terms. But he is happy. “It is a nice feeling. I never had a problem taking care of my daughter. My daughter is also happy”, says the proud father. The role these men have chose to don may not be a part of any trend and yet in a way it manages to successfully break the stereotypes of what is ‘normal’ and what is not. (Courtesy: www.thenewsminute.com)

book review

Guard against cyber crimes Each one of us is a mere ‘click’ way from cyber related crime -- as a victim or a perpetrator

ombining their individual expertise, author Dr. Deepak Shikarpur with his IT domain strength, and co-author Advocate Vaishali Bhagwat, with insights gained from her Cyber law practice, have succeeded in busting the myths surrounding cyber assaults. Designed as a guide, the book talks on the ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’ while surfing the net and on preventive measures while transacting business electronically. The book also unfolds information on Cyber laws and its limitations in preventing and protecting Internet-related crimes. Who wouldn’t want to take pride in being a digital citizen in what we call the Cyber-age? But can we interpret the impact of Cyber or Internet-related crimes in our daily lives? How many of us know the difference between a Nigerian fraud from that of an ATM fraud? Or for that matter, understand the pitfalls of getting hacked, spammed or trapped into Data Piracy, Theft of Identity, Nigerian 419 scam, counterfeit currencies, DOS (Denial of Service Attack) or the science behind Steganography? With Pune recording around 4,356 instances of cyber-crime cases from 966 cases in the three years up to 2013 as per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), it has gradually gained the dubious distinction of being one of the top cities for Cyber-related crimes. Coming to the rescue is Dr. Shikarpur’s new book and his 25th publication, ‘Cybercrimes – Technology’s Menace of the 21st Century’ – co-authored by Pune’s leading Cybercrime lawyer, Advocate Vaishali Bhagwat. The book has been drafted to include real-life case studies that draw technical know-how’s from Dr. Shikarpur’s expertise in the IT domain and merges it with experiences gained from Bhagwat’s 18 years of legal practice as much as from her background in Computer Science as an erstwhile- software developer. Threading Through Crime Diaries Choosing the case study mode in the book makes the chapters more accessible, as readers need not link themselves to the previous chapters. Each chapter is interspersed with ‘live’ cases, with an in-depth study on the analysis of the crime committed and the litigation angle as it might be in the respective cases. The instances take the form of real-life saga. For instance, the case on Cyber stalking and sexual harassment brought in the malice of an employee Mr X, who waged a fight against his boss by posing as his wife on the Internet,

Cybercrimes – Technology’s Menace of the 21st Century  author

Dr. Deepak Shikarpur and Advocate Vaishali Bhagwat

 publishers

Vishwakarma Publications  pages

160 (English) / 112 (Marathi)

 price

`160 (English) / `125 (Marathi)  book review

Sangeeta Ghosh Dastidar

interacting through this ‘false identity’ on the social media to actually to wreck the life of the real wife in the real world. The investigation that followed reprimanded Mr X, the employee. The case description talks about follow-up investigative steps, litigation and preventive measures that educate on how not to become situational victims of Cybercrime. Similar cases have been presented that depict intimidations as a result of Cyber Bullying and Online Defamations. The book also reveals cases with preventive measures against Spamming and Data Theft, Copyright Infringement, Internet banking fraud and other potential online banking frauds. The book thus becomes a textual guide, and at Rs 150 for the 160 pager English edition and Rs 125 for the 112 pager Marathi version is equally affordable. The low-cost paperback quality with its standard pictorial depiction on the cover page is less flattering. Not your regular coffee-book appeal. However, it is rightly aimed and targeted at the masses -- to conserve the rights of individuals from Cyber bullies and criminals. With Shikarpur’s desire to make this book accessible to all IT students, his wish is also to inspire some universities to start a course on ‘Cyber Crime and IT Security’. This book just might be the precursor to more Cyber awareness and crime prevention drive. sangeetagd2010@gmail.com April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 17

Women Achievers

‘One has to fight to make a place’ It’s all about how you deal with people, how people react to certain stimuli, and so on By Mahalakshmi Hariharan

e’ve heard of this old Thai saying, “A man is the foreleg of the elephant and the woman the hind leg,” which means that behind every successful man is a woman. Yes, we know and have been hearing this phrase since ages now. But, how about a successful woman? Who backs her up? Well, not surprisingly, behind every successful woman is also a man…her father, her friend, her husband, or her family. Meet one such glorious woman— Anwesa Sen, Global Head, Human Resources & Organisation Development at Geometric Ltd, a global engineering services firm. Anwesa, now in her late thirties, is a successful professional with over 14 years of experience in India and China, working across multiple facets of the HR function. Anwesa credits both her family and her

working team for her success. She spoke to Corporate Citizen on the various phases of her life, from the beginning of her career, to the people-centric, open-culture policies of her company, to maintaining the balancing act between work and home, as also offering some advice to the job-hopping youth of today

You did your Masters in Neurophysiology followed by Post-Graduation in business administration (Human Resources)…how did the shift happen?

I come from a background where my dad was in the Ministry of Defence and mom an Economics professor. I have grown up seeing both of them dealing with people… both of them are people’s persons. Looking at them, their lives, I too decided that I wanted to deal with people, be a people’s person and so decided to do my post-graduation in Human Resources. If you look at it, neurophysiology deals with the

18 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

Anwesa Sen, Global Head, Human Resources & Organisation Development at Geometric Ltd

nervous system of humans and in a way both are interrelated. It’s all about how you deal with people, how people react to certain stimuli, and so on.

Dassault Systèmes). I have also been associated with the HR department of Affar Think Tech Technologies and 3P Consultants.

Take us through your education and work.

My first job was in Mumbai, in 1999, in the HR department of an IT Consultancy firm called 3P Consultants, where I dealt with recruitment. Life in Mumbai was tough. I still remember travelling by crowded trains to South Mumbai from Powai for recruitment. Mumbai was a new place for me, it was certainly challenging then…but was a different ball game altogether.

I was born and bought up in Kolkata. I did my schooling from Frank Anthony Public School and Masters in Neurophysiology from Calcutta University. Later, I decided to pursue my post-graduate diploma in business administration (HR) from the Institute of Business Management & Research, Kolkata. I joined Geometric in 2007 from SunGard Availability Services, where I used to head the Central HR function. Prior to that, I spent four and a half years in China with the HR division of Shanghai American School. Before moving to China, I spent five years as the HR head for 3DPLM Software Solutions (a joint venture company of Geometric Limited and

What was your first job like?

You’ve been associated with Geometric since the past seven years. How has your journey been? Take us through the different initiatives taken by you at Geometric? It has been a wonderful journey. Thanks to my team who have helped me come so far. We are

PIC: mudasir yousuf

How difficult is it to manage both work and home?

Well, it is really difficult. I am a mother of two daughters, one is nine and the other is three. I completely owe it to my husband, in-laws and parents who have supported me and helped me have a career. They often come over when I have to travel. By now, my children have also realised that ‘a working mom is a different animal to tackle.’ My elder daughter has accepted that she has a working mom and has come to terms with it; but my younger one still hasn’t. I have grown up with a working mother as well and I think that has made me more confident. It’s sometimes tough when I have to travel for work and also help my elder daughter finish her project work. It’s quite a task then! So yes, managing both fronts is difficult, but with the right support system and the right team you can do it. Just believe in yourself, have the self-confidence, and work hard.

Can you take us through your staff strength and expansion plans

focused on employee engagement programmes at all levels, thereby giving our people a healthy, fun and learning environment. We are not only engaging with employees, but also reaching out to their families through various events and celebrations. We organise annual gala nights with families, Kids’ Day @ Work, Cricket Tournaments where families come out to cheer the teams. We also have an annual global painting competition called, ‘Little Geometrician’ wherein the kids of employees send in their paintings to us. We follow an open door policy. You can go up to anyone in the organisation and talk/give your views. We give our employees a lot of flexibility to work on other domains as well. We have had employees who have gone from pure techie roles to operations to becoming HR heads; or from operations to sales to finance. These endeavours ensure that we remain an employee friendly organisation.

We just celebrated our 20th anniversary last year. We have our offices spread across Asia Pacific, North America and Europe. In India, we recently opened an office in Hyderabad, about nine months ago. We will soon have offices in Bangalore and Chennai as well. We hire individuals as and when required, depending on the business demands. Typically, we go to campuses, use job portals or referrals for recruitment. In India, currently we have 2800 employees.

What has been your experience as a woman in the corporate world, especially in this so called ‘Macho’ IT sector? As I come from the defence background and having studied in a co-ed school, I have grown up like a guy. I have always understood that one has to fight to make a place. I have always believed in myself and that’s what I keep telling my daughter as well. There’s no difference between a male and female employee, ultimately it’s the role that

“

oung professionals are put to Y test after a thorough selection process and the ones coming out with flying colours become directly eligible for management level positions in the company”

gets paid. We follow this culture at Geometric as well.

What are the various programmes for employees?

We keep coming up with various development programmes for employees. We have this two-year programme called the Accelerated Techno Management programme (ATM) where we have tied up with the University of Virginia. ATM focuses on creating technical domain experts with management skills within Geometric. Young professionals are put to test after a thorough selection process and the ones coming out with flying colours become directly eligible for management level positions in the company, which otherwise would have taken them four to six more years to achieve. Participants here undertake a number of assignments, understand business from a closer perspective, and work with the leaders of the organisation.

How do you define your moment of glory?

I still remember when I was interviewing for Geometric (3DPLM). I was to be interviewed by someone else but then suddenly was asked to meet the CEO instead. I was so nervous that I goofed up by mispronouncing his name in the first few minutes of the meeting itself. I was sure I had lost my opportunity here, but as I was walking out I was told to wait and collect my appointment letter! That was truly a moment of glory. Even today, our CEO teases me saying he wanted to appoint a senior person for this role, but he chose me even though I mispronounced his name.

What is your idea of relaxation and holiday? Work is hectic and I am travel-

ling most of the time. But given a chance I would love to watch a movie or a game of cricket or football. I am a die-hard fan of MS Dhoni. Once a year, if my husband and I are both in town, we do a family trip to maybe Goa or some other destination. We used to catch up on all the latest movie until a few years ago but now it’s difficult. But I still try and catch up on movies while travelling.

Lastly, what do you think is the general trend of youngsters today, in terms of their capabilities, attitudes and willingness to stick on to a job?

Well, today’s youngsters get bored very easily. Hence, it is important to keep coming up with innovative ways to keep them engaged. We also come across many youngsters who keep changing jobs for money. They want to do interesting things & explore new areas. Social media plays an important role for most of them. Youngsters today need to be more stable and not changing jobs frequently. The grass is always green on the other side of the fence, but one must also see priorities and opportunities available for growth. Patience is the key. Mahalakshmi.H@corporatecitizen.in

India’s CC tadka shame

Education statistics at the pan India level are appealing. Eight crore children of India discontinue their education at school level. Whats more distressing is that 80 lakh eligible children don’t go to school at all.

April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 19

PIC: Yusuf Khan

20 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

Cover Story Dynamic Duo 7

Mukesh and Ritu Malhotra

Sweet

success Ritu, a therapist and Mukesh Malhotra, Managing Director of the Weikfield Group, internationally renowned for its jelly and custard, are shining examples of how you can do good using success and wealth as stepping stones to fulfil your heartâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s calling. Their story is of learning young, by example, guided by the principles and traditions of a large joint family and business. Yet they have charted new paths and created niches of their own, building on success one step at a time. Corporate Citizen brings you the story of a self-contained couple... By Sangeeta Jain April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 21

Cover Story

“Tell me, where would you like me to begin?” asks Mukesh Malhotra Managing Director of Weikfield Group, as he settles down into his chair behind the huge, solid wood desk in his plush office. A beautiful painting adorns the wall behind him and it has been painted by his childhood sweetheart and wife Ritu Malhotra, 20 years ago. This has already set the trend for what is to unfold – a story of strong family bonding and values which has kept the couple grounded, simple and spiritual. The beautiful and graceful Ritu joins us. I have known them to be gracious hosts to friends at their beautiful home where Mukesh, a wonderful singer, croons his favourite English and Hindi numbers while Ritu delights us with her culinary expertise. They look equally relaxed and open in the new Weikfield Corporate office in Viman Nagar, Pune, and why shouldn’t they? They have been in this journey together for well over 40 years. We agree that we should start from the beginning. Both Ritu and Mukesh have done and learnt so much in the journey of life and that is what they should be sharing. I have known Ritu to be a deeply committed person who has helped thousands to discover their personal sense of worth and value within themselves. Mukesh has supported her in this cause. “My family came to India from Pakistan as refugees and they were struggling hard to set themselves up when I was born in 1952. We first had a shop at Main Street in Pune and my family set up the food business in 1956. The business grew slowly and with a lot of hard work by my father and uncles and I grew up with the business,” begins Mukesh.

Groomed into the business

The family did not believe in providing short cuts for success. At the age of 12, Mukesh’s hands-on training into the business had begun. Young Mukesh was working at the factory at the weekends, and during his holidays, he accompanied his uncle on business and sales tours to learn a little more. The grooming into the business continued well into his college years as well. “College started at 11.30 am. So I went to the factory at 7.30 am and then to college.” He confesses that he made a very important stop on the way to meet his sweetheart, the young and stunning Ritu who was then studying psychology in Wadia College. “Despite all these distractions I did well both at the factory and at college,” jokes Mukesh. By the time he joined the business he had some pretty good grounding. He started with the stores and worked his way through various departments – production line, purchasing, sales etc. When he joined the business, he spent a year and a half sitting with his uncle, Bahri Malhotra, who was the Managing Director at that time. He and Ritu got married in 1973. “Our company was doing well

To me as a young person coming into a family, these were big lessons in not just discipline but a feeling of oneness. Your happiness is my happiness and your growth is my growth, is what I learnt. - Ritu Malhotra 22 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

Malhotras enjoying their family time:For Mukesh and Ritu adore their grandchildren. The duo say that ending time with the little ones is invaluable and total stress buster

in India, and different parts of the business were handled by different members of the family. There were no exports at that time. And honestly I loved to travel and I still do. In the 70s there was no scope to travel abroad except for business. So I figured that if I started the export division I would get to expand the business and travel as well,” shares Mukesh. Since we are in the office, Mukesh is also attending to urgent work as his staff walk in to brief him about something. This gives me an opportunity to talk to Ritu. Ritu married at the young age of eighteen and a half into a large joint family. “When I got married to Mukesh and came into the family there was only one feeling within us all – that we must all work together for our family, for our personal relationships and our business relationship. The togetherness and working in a harmonious whole was very important. We all lived together. Our dining table had 22 chairs and we all sat together to eat.” says Ritu. “To me as a young person coming into a family, these were big lessons in not just discipline but a feeling of oneness. Your happiness is my happiness and your growth is my growth, is what I learnt.” She admits that there was a certain security being under the large umbrella even though at times they chafed at that. “After all we did not have the kind of freedom that our kids had. We always had to consider a larger picture before exercising our will,” she says. “You know she walked into a family with three mothers-in-law and three fathers-in-law,” pipes in Mukesh, who finished attending to his work. “My father-in-law would bring in a lot of unexpected guests. He would call at 1 pm and say there would be six guests joining us for lunch. We all knew this and were always prepared for extra people joining us. A large joint family means both security and responsibility. I grew to learn on the job at home, as did Tony(Mukesh) at work,” recalls

I will never forget the first lecture that my father gave me in 1973 when I first joined business. It was simple. He said, ‘Business means both profit and loss. If you do not have the ability to bear losses, get a job. Then business is not for you.’ This advice did me good. - Mukesh Malhorta learnt not to give up when there was a loss. And despite the setback they kept the plant in good condition and finally sold off the plant at a profit.

This gift has a purpose

Ritu. They look back to say that not only did they learn to cope but to feel capable in a few years. As a team they felt they could manage anything and everything. They both developed capabilities which otherwise they would not have. Recalling his early travel days to set up exports for the company Mukesh says, “When I was building the export part of the business, there were crazy hours and travel schedules. I would be gone for 40-60 days sometimes and did two to three such trips in a year. It was not just about booking orders abroad. It also entailed coming back to India and making sure that the orders were processed and delivered to spec and on time. I was working crazy hours. I do not remember bringing up the kids at all. Ritu did a fantastic job of it singlehandedly. I am trying to compensate for it by spending time with my grandkids” “My father, S.P. Malhotra, was the patriarch. The first thing that we learnt in business was the need to be organised. We all knew where we stood in the business. Although ours was a family run business there were specific principles that we all had to abide by. We always had official board meetings, often in Blue Diamond, despite the fact that we all went back to the same home. I will never forget the first lecture that my father gave me in 1973 when I first joined business. It was simple. He said, ‘Business means both profit and loss. If you do not have the ability to bear losses, get a job. Then business is not for you.’ This advice did me good.” Mukesh talks about the time when around 10 years down the line, around 1982-83, as part of diversification the company set up a bulk drug unit. He built a state of the art unit in less than 10 months and just as they began production, the bulk drug was banned all over the world. They had to shut shop. Having burnt their fingers they did not want to go ahead with any other drug and suffered huge losses. But they had

Ritu says that the early years of her marriage had a few valuable lessons hidden in them. Ritu took up advanced study in psychology in America. There was also a spiritual stirring in her which got her to study metaphysics. “I knew that the family I was in was a gift and it was up to me what I did now. This umbrella of a large and loving family was a stepping stone for something I needed to do. If I did not do this, who else would? In that sense, I never took my work which is essentially spiritual in nature, as a business venture, but a passion. That was the time I set up the Ajna Center for Learning, for people who wished to look deep into themselves and their lives,” expresses Ritu. Mukesh was supportive of Ritu’s passion for higher studies and healing. “It was quite early on that she expressed the desire to do these courses in America. It was good that she sought her own growth. It kept her busy and gave her so much to do. We both knew in our hearts that at some point of time the kids would grow up and be on their own. It was good that she started when she did, because by the time the kids grew up and flew off, she had a passion in her life which she could continue with. On a lighter note, it also kept her out of my hair. She also could appreciate my tedious working hours. She never complained about my coming home late from work, since she was busy herself.” Ritu set up Ajna Center in 1987. Along with Dr Warren Stagg, Ritu has been teaching and practicing metaphysics for over 25 years. They run intensive training courses for life coaching every year, in India and around the world and also conduct private sessions and corporate workshops. Hundreds of students have learnt life coaching under their able guidance and thousands have benefited through personal sessions with Ritu. She elaborates, “At some point we all are looking at reducing stress in our personal and professional life. We feel stuck, suffer from low self esteem, there are children with academic learning disabilities including dyslexia, some are battling childhood sexual abuse, as teenagers we are confused. Just about anyone who wants to make a difference in their lives – we help them to help themselves.”

More than just business

Mukesh’s own exposure to spirituality began quite early in life and helped him appreciate what Ritu has been doing. His family invited a lot of religious and spiritual leaders home. “We had Osho, Swami Chinmayanand, Prabhupada, Satya Sai Baba and many others who visited us for lunch along with a whole lot of their disciples. Then of course it would follow with a satsang in our house which we all sat for. So rituals, religion, spirituality were all a part of our April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 23

Cover Story

Only when one recognises the value of themselves can they do wonders. We are in the process of doing that at Ajna. It is a nice way to grow - Ritu

Mukesh is a doting grandfather and says he would like to spend as much time as possible with his grandchildren

lives even as children. Mukesh’s tryst with spirituality took a major turn when he went to Igatpuri for Vipassana. The 10 day meditation camp proved to be a rebirth, Mukesh says. “It was a pure experiential way of learning. I understood what it meant to ‘know thyself ’. I saw many things change in myself.” The practice of this meditation every morning gave him clarity to look at things.” If during the day there are things that confuse me, I usually arrive at clarity the next morning during practice.”

Making the best of what one has

The duo have stayed grounded due to their initial grooming by their respective set of parents on how to make the best use of what one has at any given point of time. They enjoyed decorating their home with their own creativity and innovation. Tony recalls how they worked on the front door of their house. Ritu’s eyes light up as she says, “Tony, do you remember how we did the enlightened rocks?” For their first home in Kalyani Nagar, the duo worked on making fiber glass rocks and they put a light inside them and called them enlightened rocks. Mukesh nods in agreement and adds that when they had limited budget to do up the interiors of their house, he would look up something he liked and saw how it could be recreated within his budget. Mukesh grew up learning the business from his father and uncle, the conventional way that business families groom their wards. “Business was discussed at the dining table during lunch and dinner. And after dinner we moved out of the dining room to discuss some more business. That’s how we learnt. My son Akshay however, went abroad to study business. And before he came back I told him to pick up a job so that he could learn at someone else’s expense. He worked in the food industry for more than three years and then came and joined the family business. He had worked in sales, so he was ready to take up work in the family company.” It was the vision of his father that took the company into infrastructure and real estate which gave rise to another successful venture – Malhotra Infrastructure and Real Estate. So while the food provided the income for the family, real estate helped in creating wealth. 24 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

The Joie de vivre of Mukesh and Ritu in their young days

Giving back to the society

And to be able to share all that they created, the Malhotras started the Malhotra Weikfield Foundation that they have set up to promote science in rural Maharashtra with special focus on girls. There are some boys too who enjoy the benefit of scholarship from the foundation. “We felt science was a neglected area and there were not enough people focusing on pure sciences. The girl child is largely neglected, especially in villages. “ Foundation Fellowships are awarded for M.Sc post-graduation courses and B.Sc graduation courses for the duration specified by the University in any of the Pure Sciences – Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, Statistics, Astronomy, and Astrophysics. The scholarship they run is different from the usual programs in the way that they don’t just stop at providing financial help. Ritu, along with her sister-in-law Priti, runs the mentorship program where every student has a mentor who keeps in touch constantly with the beneficiaries, ensuring full support and holistic development of the beneficiary. They

It is only when employees give an organisation more than what they draw from it, that an organisation can sustain and grow - Mukesh

are not academic mentors. “We are working on giving them an exposure that they will never have in their families or villages. To give you an example, one of the mentors took her student to a fancy restaurant where they ate with cutlery, which was a new experience for the student. She was surprised with all the extra food that she had ordered. These mentors are specifically chosen, and they develop a good rapport with the students. They are in constant touch to give them mental support and guide them on small things.” Such mentorship helps the student to develop rapport with their mentor which in turn helps build confidence. The beneficiaries also have access to academic mentors who are professors teaching across various colleges. The students send in their questions through an SMS and it is forwarded to the professors who then send the reply. The foundation effectively uses technology to get these students to be in touch with their academic mentors. What began with 16 girls as beneficiaries has 124 students now. Around 600 girls have benefitted so far. The Foundation holds two to three workshops every year and places 8-10 internees with NCL during the vacations. They work under a scientist to understand what science really means beyond theory. Many students have gone on to do PhDs through scholarships and some have even gone abroad for research and further studies through scholarships. The foundation gives these students Rs one lakh for visa, ticket and shopping for essentials. They have six students abroad. “We have a girl who is working on an innovative nanotech paste. It is unbelievable that a daughter of a farmer is now researching on cancer cure. I introduced her to Dr. Mashelkar who was also very thrilled. These are farm hands. In fact one boy came from a family which made a living through crushing stones on roads. They even had no home of their own. He went on to do research.”

Ritu too is a doting grandmother who spends quality time with her grandchildren

We have a girl who is working on an innovative nanotech paste. It is unbelievable that a daughter of a farmer is now researching on cancer cure - Ritu

Walking together towards their vision

Mukesh does not believe in looking back and says there are no regrets, “I am too much of an existentialist. I know and believe that everything happened for a purpose. There are no regrets and what-ifs. What matters is what we are doing right now.” Talking about their vision, the duo feels that skill development is the need of the hour. Young kids who are bright but not too good at academics need to be taught some skills. Mukesh feels that everyone keeps talking of the great demographic dividend and that we are the youngest country but unless these people are given employable skills, the demographic dividend will become a demographic disaster. Ritu says she sees herself passionately involved in making or helping an organisation grow where the focus is on creating and helping young people regain their sense of worth. “That is what India lost in our many years of subjugation. And we are always looking outside of us for someone else to give us that sense of worth. There is no greater gift than self-reliance. Only when one recognises the value of themselves can they do wonders. We are in the process of doing that at Ajna. It is a nice way to grow old.” Speaking of what he wants to do in the coming years Mukesh says, “I started to work full time from the age of 21. I am now 62 years old. For 40 years I have done a large percentage of what I had to do and a small percent of what I wanted to do. In the next few years I want to reverse that. At this point in life I am looking forward to doing a large percentage of what I want to do and only 15-20 per cent of what I have to do. My brother and my son are more than capable of running the show and I want to move into an advisory role, contributing what I do best. I would love to travel, spend a lot of time with my grandchildren and I am passionate about providing vocational training for youngsters in rural areas. So I will do some work in that direction and will work towards building a self sustaining model in this field. This will not be for business or profit. God has bestowed us with more than enough and

every day I am grateful for that.” “Ritu is already doing this work of teaching people how to live which is as equally important as teaching them how to work. Between the two of us if we put our strengths together and open our vocational training institute, we will not only create good mechanics but also good human beings. Other than that, I want to travel and spend as much time as possible with my grandchildren,” he says. “They really are the light of our lives. Spending time with them is very invaluable and totally a stress buster,” the both say in unison as Ritu proudly shows the picture of their granddaughter, Maya. Mukesh had made a ‘We love Maya’ placard during a recent school function of hers and they both sat with it during her performance, “much to her embarrassment,” they laugh. And what is the message they both would like to impart to the young people in the corporate sector? “I don’t have a message as such. I am intrigued by their attitude of ‘get-rich-quick’ and their hurry to become CEOs as soon as they step out of college. Life is a slow and steady race. You have to grow step by step, build your skills and then utilise them. Youngsters today also need to learn about giving back to the organisation instead of just focusing on how much they can derive from it. It is only when employees can give an organisation more than what they draw from it, that an organisation can sustain and grow. Youngsters are me-first. The care-a-damn attitude towards a company will be their downfall. Pay attention to the input/output ratio instead of being so adamantly focussed on only your growth.” Ritu and Mukesh Malhotra are shining examples of the good one can do when success and wealth are used as stepping stones to heed your heart’s calling. And when your calling is to do larger good for the society, it is a life well lived. sangeetaie@gmail.com April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 25

Cradle of Leadership-6 Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), delhi

A Media School The prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) based in Delhi has been ranked among the three best media colleges of India since the last decade. Besides training aspiring journalists, it teaches media skills to all information service officers of the government of India and

26 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

the Officers of the Armed Forces; it trains public relation officers of all state governments, and is the premier institute in the world which teaches Developmental Journalism to students of different countries. Its latest feather in the cap was conducting a short course to

For All

journalists from Myanmar, a nascent democracy, on how to cover elections. CORPORATE CITIZEN spoke with the dynamic Director General of IIMC, Sunit Tandon, an accomplished theatre actor, vocalist and erstwhile news anchor of Doordarshan. By Pradeep Mathur

The I&B Minister Mr. Prakash Javadekar recently proposed turning the IIMC into a Communication University. What’s the idea behind this announcement?

At present we are a Society and the institute offers one year post graduate diplomas under different programs. But for a long time it was felt that we should either become a university or an institution of national importance with the ability to evolve our own courses and award our own degrees. So now we’ve taken considerable strides in that direction and the matter is being actively considered by the ministry, and some announcement may be made shortly. In the meantime, the government is also considering the idea of setting up a national-level Communication University. In fact, we’ve been tasked with organising a stake-holders’ consultation in the form of a seminar that will hopefully be held by next month. So all these ideas are now coming forward. Once we have a stake-holders’ conference, it’ll help the government concretise its views and then there will be progress. Institution-building is not an overnight job. The process of rethinking this on a larger scale is certainly under way.

Is there a timeline by which it will materialise?

It’s difficult to put a timeline for such a project because right now we’re in consultation with lots of government departments and stake-holders. At this stage it would be inappropriate to put a timeline but it should emerge fairly soon after all these discussions.

What then brought you here as the Director General of the IIMC?

Actually I had applied for this post casually even before I became the CEO of Lok Sabha TV. I was joint secretary but this was an additional secretary-level post. So I had applied. Mr Raghu Menon, the then secretary I&B, was the chairman of the selection committee. He had seen my work at the NFDC. He was very keen that I join here, but I was very happy at Lok Sabha TV and reluctant to move out. Then there was a lot of, shall we say, persuasion and so eventually I gave in to that pressure and joined here in August 2009.

You were never into training, teaching or research in mass communication, which is the primary job of this premier institute. How did you adjust to this new role?

When I joined here, I brought all my experience both in front of the camera and behind it. My film experience was not so useful here, but my news anchoring experience and more importantly the lessons in technology and people and media management that I learnt over the last 31 years proved very useful. Theatre taught me a lot about human relationships. I had quite a wealth of administrative experience. I’m not just about theatre and TV, but I’ve been working full time since 1984 within different government set ups and dealing with nothing but management of media. IIMC is essentially a professional training institute, and its strength is that it gives you hands-on professional training. Yes, it was a different challenge completely. But steps kept evolving, doors kept opening or closing and so I believe that if you keep doing your work to the best of your ability, things happen!

With such rich experience, what’s your perspective in running and making things happen at IIMC?

The perspective that it gives you is how to try and make the best of whatever resources you have. I have tried to take it to the next level. When I took over in 2009, besides its headquarters in Delhi (established in 1965), IIMC had only one regional branch at Dhenkanal (Odisha), opened in 1993. My mandate was to have four more centres. Though this experiment had been tried earlier, except for Dhenkanal, it had got withered away. In consultation with the I&B Ministry, we decided that it would have to be centrally administered from Delhi; that only the land and the temporary facilities for starting it would be provided free of cost by the state government, the rest we would take care; that we would continue to have April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 27

Some Noted IIMCians Chitra Subramaniam, investigative journalist who broke the Bofors scandal and is now editor-in-chief of www.thenewminute.com Ravish Kumar, top Hindi news anchor and Senior Executive Editor, NDTV India Nidhi Razdan, Senior news anchor, NDTV 24x7 Sunetra Choudhury, Senior reporter and anchor, NDTV 24x7 Deepak Chaurasia, Editor-in-Chief ,‘India News’ TV channel Rahul Roushan, Founder & Editor of news satire website’ Faking News’, aka ‘Paagal Patrakar’ and an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad too Rini Simon Khanna, newscaster-cum news anchor of Doordarshan & AIR Sonal Kalra, Editor, HT City Vartika Nanda, Asstt. Prof. in the Department of Journalism, Lady Sri Ram College, New Delhi Niret Alva, TV producer, Co-founder, Miditech, a TV software company, also producing TV reality singing competition Indian Idol on Sony TV Hasleen Kaur, Actress, model and Miss India Earth 2010 Neelesh Misra, author-cum- journalist, Bollywood lyricist, script writer, co-founder of Gaon Connection, India’s rural newspaper Saurav Mishra, Reuters journalist who was a witness and victim of the 2008 Mumbai attack, livelihood interventionist, researcher admissions through an all India entrance test and that we’d follow the IIT model of not having any domestic quota. Then we ensured that we had the same program, same course content, same semester exam conducted at the same time for each centre and the same diploma awarded. All that required tremendous work, but it paid off. Today, besides Delhi and Dhenkanal, we have four other centres at Jammu (J&K), Aizawl (Mizoram), Amravati (Maharashtra) and Kottayam (Kerala). So, now, we’re everywhere in the country—north, south, east, west and the north-east.

disabled-friendly. Earlier it was all up and down and had two levels. So we’ve put in lifts and created a series of ramps everywhere so that the campus is wheelchair–friendly. Since I’ve joined, we’ve started reviewing our syllabus every year and it has paid back. For instance, when I took over, digital media was only a very small segment of one paper. Now, it has become one full paper because no journalist can be ignorant of the new digital media today. My next effort is to upgrade the TV and radio studios to make them state-of-the-art.

How are these branches doing?

Do you think students today see print media as uninteresting as compared to the electronic media?

All these five centres are doing well. They are scoring high in placements. Many times they beat the Delhi students in the semester rankings and walk away with prizes. It’s still a work in progress because institutions are not built overnight. Incidentally, we also got land at two places and soon construction will start in Aizawl and Kottayam. Some more courses will begin when we have our own buildings ready. Establishing four new centres was the biggest expansion program in the history of IIMC and that has been done successfully.

What about faculty?

Currently we have contract faculty at these centres and we are centrally monitoring the academic inputs. We have senior professors here who ensure that we fly in experts from Delhi to these centres to fill the gaps that might be there in teaching.

What have you done for the Delhi campus?

We’ve constructed additional space here. We’ve also made the entire campus 28 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

No, that’s not our experience. The print medium is still very attractive to many people who specifically want to get into it. In fact, even the number of people applying for print journalism course is higher than those applying for broadcast journalism because, luckily for us in India, the print media is still growing and very vibrant, both in Indian languages and English. It is holding its own unlike the rest of the world where it is shrinking. For instance, in Delhi, the largest number of students we have are for print journalism!

Is this because unless you are good in print, you can’t do well in the electronic media?

No, that need not be true. There are many whose abilities are more attuned to broadcast or digital media. Our courses are inter-disciplinary so that when we teach print, the emphasis is on print media but we do teach them about digital and broadcast as well as advertising and PR and vice versa. Our

‘The print medium is still very attractive to many people who specifically want to get into it. Even the number of people applying for print journalism course is higher than those applying for broadcast journalism because, luckily for us in India, the print media is still growing and very vibrant, both in Indian languages and English.’ syllabi are structured in such a way that they know something of everything because today everything has become multi-disciplinary. It’s not that you’ve to go for only print and stick to it.

How about the quality of students? Is it deteriorating?

I don’t think so. I haven’t noticed any deterioration. After all, from about 5000 applications, we select about 385 positions for IIMCs countrywide. There is pretty stiff competition to get in. Those who make it are all very bright, passionate and committed.

Is the reading habit of aspiring journalists at IIMC going down because of digital and broadcast media?

No. The older generation thinks that by the reading habit you only mean reading newspapers and books. Today’s younger generation is not looking only at books. They are looking at the internet and Twitter and Facebook all the time. They are looking at information coming from multiple sources. The idea is not about reading books. It is about how well-informed you are. Where you read, what you read, how you read, whether you read in small bits or in large volumes of thousand pages each, at the end of the day what matters is your grasp of events that are happening, their socio-economic and political dynamics. If you are able to imbibe, analyze and write or speak about it, you’ve got it in you. Yes, they may not be reading the kind of things earlier generations were reading. If you try and quiz them on those books, they may not do well. But what they read today is far more pragmatic and has a lot to do with our day-to-day lives and concerns. In that respect they’re very well informed.

Some say there is a disconnect between what you teach and what actually happens in the newsroom?

These kind of comments keep getting made. But then there is a disconnect between what is taught in BA Economics and what you do in a company as an economist. At IIMC, we try to minimize this disconnect by revising our syllabi every year in consultation with people from the industry. Which is also why we are going in for renovation of broadcast equipment because they’re almost 20 years old. When you enter an organization after academic study or professional training, there are bound to be disparities. After all, no institute can train you for each particular institution you enter, but we insist on a one month internship in a media organization at the end of the course of study here. That’s part of the diploma and until you’ve done it, you cannot get the diploma. That’s an integral part of our education.

Can IIMC play any role in the Prime Minister’s initiatives on Skill Development / Make in India / Swachh Bharat?

We are already fulfilling some of it. Skilling of India is one aspect which we’re already contributing to for the last 50 years and we’ve also expanded it. From 2007 onwards, we have ensured that we fulfil the increased quota for SC/ST/

OBC/ physically handicapped mandated by the Supreme Court on schedule, so that those who need it the most are benefited. We’ve increased our seats 83.3 per cent in the last seven years. This means 83.3 per cent more people per annum than what it was in 2007 are being trained in our post-graduate diploma courses! In terms of Swachh Bharat, of course, we’ve had a drive here also with faculty and students. But it’s not just a question of such drives taken up occasionally. I try to see that our students inculcate the habit by personally taking part and cleaning to make sure that our backyards are clean. It’s showing results too. As for Make in India, we’re open to ideas. But you must not forget that besides these post graduate diploma courses, we’re also trainers for other courses as well. We are a central training institute for candidates of the Indian Information Service who come here for training for nine, six and three months respectively for their grades A, B and C. We also run a very prestigious -- and one of our earliest -- courses in Development Journalism. It’s a four months program, conducted twice a year, for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). For each batch, we get at least 25 students who are mid-career journalists with at least five years experience, from the Asian, African, Latin American and East European countries. Every year, we train at least 50 such people and develop relations with their countries. We’ve trained more than 1200 people from about 113 countries so far under this program and they are all IIMC alumni scattered all over the world! Apart from that, we also do short training programs for our defence forces and employees of the central government. Officers from the three forces from the levels of majors, brigadiers, colonels and up to the level of generals come here for the media relations program every year. We also train videographers from the army. We conduct special April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 29

Cradle of Leadership-6 month-long programs for the State Information and PR officers. But that is not all. We also do some special programs for the MEA for journalists from neighbouring countries. For instance, we did one for journalists from Myanmar before elections were held in their country. We recently did programs for journalists from Afghanistan. Then there was another mixed batch from Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, etc. So, we keep doing these kind of programs as well.

What about research activities at IIMC?

Yes, we also have a research department where we mostly conduct projectbased research. Projects are given by various government departments to assess the effectiveness of their media plans and social media campaigns. These form part of our mainstream activities. So we’re more than just an institute. We’re doing lots of things and the beauty of our PG diploma is that it’s highly subsidized. It is at one third the cost at private institutions but the standards are among the best. Last year The Week rated us at the top in India. We’ve been rated among the top three by various publications all these years, despite the fact that we don’t have any marketing linkages with these magazines while private institutions do.

What’s your message for those who wish to take media courses at IIMC?

ing from the state and there we get a more, shall we say balanced and more distanced perspective. But they’re not fighting for each percentage TRP point. So, it’s a symptom of the system we’ve created that happens.

Is there a way out?

I don’t see any way out until some self-regulation is attempted and the whole industry matures, and the audience matures. But that will take a long time. But I’ll nevertheless give you an example as to how it could be possible even now. When we had set-up the 24x7 Lok Sabha TV in 2006, within about six or eight months of operation, we found that our TRPs were exactly the same as that for all English language news channels, including the CNNIBN, NDTV 24x7, Times Now and Headlines Today, to name the major English channels. And, we’re much ahead of the BBC and CNN which have very low figures in India. The million dollar question is: Why was our viewership matching those of the top English news channels? This was because we had set out to create a views channel. News channel required very high costs. So we took a view that we’ll only be a views channel and show lots of documentaries, a little bit of culture and even films. Again, I drew up the film policy for it and we showed only award winning films selected for the Indian panorama. We set a standard fee for that and got tremendous response. The fact that we were showing films which other channels were not showing was our USP. So we consciously set up a niche channel. We also followed the policy of having balanced discussions. Everybody got a chance to make his point of view and each discussion was balanced politically. We found a lot of people turning to Lok Sabha TV for relief from the very aggressive programming on the other channels. There is a way out provided you are ready for a mature and reasoned approach in your news presentation.

‘The set-up is such that all news channels are advertisement and TRP-driven. They need advertising revenue to survive. Therefore they have to keep fighting for every small point, one percent of TRP points to maintain the rates. And even at the end of that, almost no news channel makes any money.’

I would say you take up media only if you are really, really passionate and sure about it. You shouldn’t come here thinking that you’ll become famous. That should not be the motivating factor. You should come here because you’re in love with the work. You want to communicate. Fame and fortune are byproducts. They are not the essential things. They come automatically if you are passionate and if you are good and have developed your skills and abilities. Those things come only if you are very sure that this is what you want to do because after all we are a postgraduate institute. By the time you get to this level, you should be able to visualize the kind of life, the kind of work you want to do after your graduation. And if you get selected, then of course, we’ll do our very best to try and equip you for this kind of a career in media, communication, journalism, advertising and public relations.

Don’t you think news presentation on TV is getting more and more opinionated today?

I’ve not only seen this transition but have also been a part of it when I started out in 1987, reading the news. I’ve been observing it from much before, from 1975 when I was doing DD’s other programs including those on the budget, election analysis but not the news. At that time, we were called news presenters or news casters. We were not called anchors because our main role was to concentrate on the presentation of scripted news in a very decent, pleasant way so that it would get across to viewers. But today prime time news presenters are called anchors and their position has become very important. To be honest, I don’t blame them for being opinionated. The set-up is such that all news channels are advertisement and TRP-driven. They need advertising revenue to survive. Therefore they have to keep fighting for every small point, one percent of TRP points to maintain the rates. And even at the end of that, almost no news channel makes any money. They are not comfortable enterprises. So within that kind of set-up, where you don’t have a sound financial model, this kind of tendency is bound to come up. It’s extremely competitive. You’re grabbing for every little point of advantage that you manage. You just can’t compare them with the public service broadcasters who get their fund30 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

Tell us a bit about your family background and early years

I belong to a family of professionals. My father was a mechanical engineer in the Railways. My grand-father, Dr. RN Tandon, was the head of the Chest &TB department at Lucknow’s King George Medical College. My great grand-father was also a leading chest and TB specialist who had treated many illustrious people including Kamala Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose. He had his own sanatorium near Nainital, a leading TB Centre before independence. I was born and brought up in Lucknow. I studied at La Martiniere College and then joined Delhi’s St Stephen’s College. I did Economics (Honours) but did not want to continue with Economics. So I switched to History for my Master’s.

How did you get into radio and television?

I had been doing a lot of elocution and debating at school and college. I was also in the college quiz team and won many prizes. Many of my fellow quiz team members are well-known personalities today -- writer Ramchandra Guha who was a year senior to me and Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Advisor to the Modi government was a year or two junior. Out of pure interest, I had started radio and TV because I enjoyed broadcasting. My first stint with TV started way back in 1976, and that too live!

You have acted in over 150 English plays. How did theatre come up? In my third year in college, some people said, you speak so well, you’re already doing radio and TV, you’re also doing a lot of public speaking, why

At present we are a Society and the institute offers one year post graduate diplomas. For a long time, the government felt that we should become a university of national importance. It is also considering setting up of a national-level Communication University don’t you do theatre? The fear of rejection kept me away from all auditions. But then a friend of mine dragged me, physically almost, and said we’ll all go together for auditions for St Stephen’s annual production. We went there and I got to play the second lead.

Besides theatre what did you do?

In those days, most of my friends were applying for the State Bank of India probationary officers’ exam. I too applied, got through and joined initially at Delhi. But at the end of the two year probationary period, I was posted to Jaipur. I got anxious that I wouldn’t be able to continue with my theatre, my radio, my television. So I resigned. I applied for the post of Deputy Director in the Directorate of Film Festival (DFF) which, at that time, was under the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC). I did well in the interview because I was already a member of the university film society, ‘The Celluloid,’ and the Stephen’s film society. Having seen so much of world cinema and Indian art cinema, I had sufficient knowledge and got selected. So, in 1984, in my mid-twenties, I became a deputy director in the DFF. It used to organize the International Film Festival of India. I was in charge of film selection and programming for the most part. That was a very fulfilling period but there was no growth. I worked in the DFF for 11 years, at the same position. In 1995, NFDC found that its business with DD was growing. They needed someone to nurture this relationship and handle operations of its Delhi office. So they gave me a kind of promotion and I joined the NFDC as deputy general manager. At that time, DD Metro channel offered family drama. NFDC marketed all its film and entertainment programs as DD didn’t have any in-house marketing expertise then. I had to take care of all such operations. Subsequently I was promoted as general manager and posted in Bombay. After a year in Bombay I was transferred back to Delhi as general manager. However, I was always doing radio and TV, but in my spare time. I consistently did it from 1975, and from 1987 onwards, I started doing the news.

So you could continue your ties with the All India Radio & Doordarshan?

Yes, but in 1999 when Mr. Arun Jaitley was the Information &Broadcasting Minister, the government wanted to replace DD Metro channel with a new channel, DD News. They wanted some anchors to join them full time. For Hindi, they already had well-known journalists Mrinal Pande and Rahul Dev, and in English they had Nalin Kohli who is today the national spokesman of the BJP. For the remaining slot, they asked me. But how could I resign from the NFDC which was a permanent job? So, under Mr. Jaitley’s direction, I was

given extraordinary leave from the NFDC to take up an annual contract with DD News. That was the first time I worked full time for DD News from 1999 to about 2001 or so. We four anchors shared a very good working relationship with each other. We did all the prime time anchoring. We had a great understanding for each other’s duty because one of us always had to be around, every single day. After a point of time, my leave ended. I had to report back to the NFDC. But I continued to do the DD News on an occasional basis till 2007. Meanwhile, I had started a profit centre at NFDC by initiating the production of TV commercials in films for government departments.

What made you join the Lok Sabha TV?

In 2006 the DD Lok Sabha channel was to be replaced by a 24x7 Lok Sabha TV channel. Our former Director General and I&B Secretary Bhaskar Ghosh had been asked by the then Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to start this channel with the idea of bringing citizens closer to the functioning of the Parliament. Mr. Ghosh, a fellow stage director and actor had seen my work in the DFF and NFDC, so he asked me to come on board and help with the channel. He got me appointed as the executive director (marketing), and in a very brief space of six months we set up the entire channel. Working under Mr. Ghosh was a wonderful learning experience, but he left in 2008 and the CEO slot got vacant. At that time they asked for applications and through a proper selection process, they selected me to be its next CEO because I had already been associated with the channel since the beginning.

Did your experience at the DFF and NFDC come handy in running Lok Sabha TV?

Oh yes. I had good experience in sales and marketing at the NFDC, and the DFF had given me lessons in artistic expression. I utilized both. The marketing plan I drew for the channel which I believe is still being used proved so successful that within a year of putting it into operation, I had started earning back 40 per cent of our operating cost and, though I didn’t stay there long enough, the channel broke even on operating costs within three years. It was a very fulfilling time indeed!

Tell me something about your family

I have been able to do a lot of these things because I’m single but I live with my larger family. We all live together in one house. My mother, my brother, his wife and children and we are all like a joint family. So I do have a family, even though I’m not married. mathurpradeep1@gmail.com April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 31

corporate history

forever lux Lather that lingers on

A closer look at Lux, the beauty secret of movie stars and the power of celeb endorsements By Kalyani Sardesai

he promise of glamour, admiration, luxury, sex-appeal, class and beautiful skin. Hard to believe we’re talking of just soap. But then Lux is not just any other sabun. A global brand developed by Unilever, with a leading presence in over 100 countries across the globe, it is safe to say Lux is not just the beauty soap of movie-stars. It is, instead, closely linked to the dreams of women the world over. How else would its world revenue cross a billion US dollars—ten years back, not today, mind you. While 32 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

Unilever leads the toilet soap segment with a whopping market share of 60 per cent, Lux is the leader in its kitty, with some reports billing it as the number one soap in India. In India, the `22,100 crore company Hindustan Unilever Ltd. is headquartered in Andheri East, Mumbai, on a sprawling 12.5 acre and 1600 employee campus, and is headed by MD Sanjiv Mehta.

Lux and the Bollywood connection

From the time it entered desi shores in 1932, Lux has been sold by pretty much every leading lady of consequence from Leela Chitnis to Hema

Malini to Parveen Babi, Madhuri Dixit to Rani Mukherji, Aishwarya Rai, Asin and Katrina Kaif. And in a memorable departure from the norm, when King Khan aka Shah Rukh slipped into a bath-tub surrounded by tinsel town’s lovelies, the fans were over the moon! In the more enlightened 2000s, focus has shifted to beauty that is real. While it continues to hold onto the premise that bathing is a ritual to revel in and beauty a feast to be indulged in, it is more accommodating of real-life women and the many roles they play. In other words, the customer is the one whose star quality has been encouraged from the word

Lux roll call of celebrities

Sadhana

Tanuja

Rekha

Asha Parekh

Meena Kumari

Saira Banu

Nargis, Waheeda Rehman and Vyjayanthimala

Zeenat Aman

Mala Sinha

Padmini Kolhapure

Madhuri Dixit

Meenakshi Seshadri

This pioneered the trend of celebrity product endorsements. Stars talked to their consumers, took them into confidence and shared their beauty secret go. Today, Lux products are manufactured at 71 locations with more than 2000 suppliers and associates providing the raw materials. It has key markets in Brazil, Pakistan, China, Bangladesh and South Africa, and is a market leader in soap bars in India, Pakistan, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Thailand and Vietnam. Its premium associations from award nights to other ‘meet the stars’ contests to having lucky dips of gold coins embedded inside bars of soap go the distance in promoting it as a premium product.

A soap etched in history

With a range of beauty soaps, shower gels, bath additives, hair shampoos and conditioners in its kitty, Lux, the Latin word for ‘light’ also doubles up as a stylish derivative of the word luxury. From fuss-free beginnings as “Sunlight Flakes” laundry soap in 1899, to a smashing progress in 1925 as the first mass market toilet soap in the world, to its present day uber chic avatar, what a journey it’s been. One that few others can lay claim to. Lux toilet soap was launched in the US market in 1925 and in the United Kingdom in 1928. Subsequently, Lux soap has been marketed in several forms, including handwash, shower gel and cream bath soap. Even in those early days, canny advertising and nifty positioning helped big time. From the outset the tagline “made as fine as French Soap” set it apart (France being the Western capital of all things classy and stylish). In the first two years of launch, Lux concentrated on building its beauty soap credentials. Advertisements offered consumers “a beauty soap made in the French method” at an affordable price. Even so, it sold at an affordable 10 cents. Between 1928 and 1940, Lux entered UK, India, Argentina and Thailand. The brand was smart enough to figure out that cinema and movie stars were the new-world royalty—and built its association with the same. Their 1929 iconic ad featured 26 of the biggest female stars of the day, creating a huge impact among the movie-loving target audi-

ence. This pioneered the trend of celebrity product endorsements. The stars talked to their consumers, took them into confidence and shared their beauty secret. From Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren to Brigitte Bardot and Natalie Wood, Lux has celebrated different decades with the brightest stars in the galaxy.

The Lux roll-call of honour

Fine perfume meets exotica, that’s the Lux signature range. Sample a few: Classic collection: A favourite with several generations, this classic collection is now enhanced with state of the art silk protein extract for silky skin like never before. The range has two variants – Lux Strawberry & Cream and Lux Peach & Cream. Mood Enhancers: This range is crafted with the icy freshness of cooling mint and the invigorating power of sea minerals to transform your skin from dull to vibrant in an instant. The range has one variant – Lux Fresh Splash. Skin Perfectors: Is crafted from effective ingredients which work to enhance the skin’s natural glow and perfection. This range has one variant – Lux Sandal & Cream. Fine Fragrance Elixirs: This is crafted with spell binding fragrances and exotic ingredients to produce a magical bathing experience which leaves your skin soft, perfumed and pampered. But even as it holds the popular imagination like few others can claim to, there is criticism that it relies too much on the beauty peg, that there is fast-emerging competition from brands like ITC and Godrej to name a few. Besides, unlike several other leading soaps it lacks unisex appeal, and the celeb endorsement idea, which is fast being picked up by other soaps, is losing its novelty. Of course, even then, Lux does enjoy the privilege of being original. However, market experts caution that Lux needs to strengthen other derivatives of soap like body washes and shower gels. kalyanisardesai@gmail.com

April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 33

PUNE NHRD MEET

Women Do Matter!

Women “do matter”, and this was how star women achievers – entrepreneurs, professional care-givers, business heads, consultant psychologists, designers, career creators, HR managers, Home Guard Commandants -- with their novel ideas on experiential business platforms, second career innings and community engagers – expressed their positive determination in paving the way forward for themselves and others in their lives. Speaking at the Quarterly Conference, ‘Women Matter’, organised by the National HRD Network (NHRD), Pune Chapter, women from diverse professions drew in from their challenges, pitfalls, learnings and hidden opportunities to relate how they finally moulded into high-fliers in their respective careers. By Sangeeta Ghosh Dastidar

From left: Neeta Valecha, Co-Founder of Meal Tango, Swati Ketkar, CFO and Founder Harbinger, Sharmila Bhide, Co-Founder at Calsoft, Priti Rao, Chairperson at Aatmaja Foundation, Owner and MD Pumpking Patch Day care

34 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

n a surprising take, Sharmila Bhide, CoFounder at Calsoft, referred to herself as a ‘circumstantial entrepreneur’ who apparently was not ‘ambitious enough’, but took up multiple challenges. One was to complete her course in Chartered Accountancy along with her undergraduate studies; furthering her academic abilities with an MBA in the U.S.; furthering her career as a project manager with Oracle alongside nurturing her three boys (a feat in itself!). Sharmila’s transition from an IT professional to that of Co-Founder linked her to other equally versatile women speakers at NHRD’S ‘Women Matter’ 2015 quarterly conference commemorating International PIC: Ahmed Sheikh

Women’s day. The common thread that bound most women on the dais was that they had their priorities in place, took up challenges to juggle the family scape, giving due importance to their respective support networks that encouraged them to venture on in their respective professions. They were unanimous on the thought that good ideas and new beginnings require sound implementation of workable models for gender management and retention of women in the work force. Priti Rao, Owner and Managing Director, Pumpkin Patch Daycare services is definitely a case in point. A stalwart who was well-rooted in her role as a Senior Vice President, heading multiple roles at Infosys -- decided to quit her 24-year old corporate stint to make way for a new beginning in the ‘not-so intellectual’ world of day care services. Her daily life today is made more profitable with ‘hugs’ from her toddler clients. She calls this venture her contribution to enabling women to get back to work. “When they (working mothers) know that their wards are being looked after by trained care-givers, they are able to focus better in their respective professions.” She aims to get at least 1000 women back to work who often quit the workforce, post-marriage and children. The stoic step taken by Vanaja Vaidya, General Manager at TCS in order to balance her professional sphere and her motherly instincts encouraged her to bundle herself and her kids to Stockholm all by herself for a project commitment earlier on in her career. It was a shocker for many, as she was moving her daughter, an VIII grader then and in her most crucial year

of schooling. Her experience in managing life as an overseas professional working mother has her currently at the helm of affairs guiding many other women at TCS who take up overseas assignments in the absence of their husbands and families and in many cases where both spouses working for TCS might not have got same-location posting. Saundarya Rajesh, Founder and President AVTAR Career Creators & FLEXI Careers India advocated the need for organisations to tap into the dormant talent pool of women returning to work after a break or sabbatical through second career programmes. Comparing the Japanese Government’s latest 20:20 program that encourages women to come back to work that has led to 15 per cent increase in their GDP, Saundarya says that “the pool of Indian women who join the workforce at the entry levels stands at 40 per cent which dips off…and 48 per cent of this trained workforce quit even before they reach the age of 30, having taken a break at least once during this period.” “…Most Indian women do not have a second career path nor an enabling ecosystem to come back; which is a drain on the economy to the tune of `15,000 crores…”, she adds. It is this talent pool of trained and mature workers who have undergone several real-life cycles that organizations need to hone and tap,” suggests Saudaraya. For Swati Ketkar, Executive Director, Harbinger Systems Pvt. Ltd, her take on engaging the workforce was more crucial and she relates the same to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). “CSR is not just doing good to others but doing

‘Most Indian women do not have a second career path nor an enabling ecosystem to come back; which is a drain on the economy to the tune of ` 15,000 crore’

Women Power Captivates Audience

April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 35

PIC: Ahmed Sheikh

PUNE NHRD MEET

Inspiring Women Leaders (from left)- Dnyan Shah - SVP Business head ,Mphasis, Rajeswari Kori - Senior Staff Officer & Commandant Home Guards, Calvin Lyngdoh - Director HR at Kimberly Clark Lever, Niloufer Ebrahim - Consultant Psychologist, Psychotherapist andCorporate Trainer, Anita Panakkal – Vice President – Human Resources Alfa Laval

‘CSR is not just doing good to others but doing it for ourselves and the society at large by creating a culture that is conducive to development and engagement.’

Cdr Rajendra Pawar, Track Lead Gen Y & Z, NHRD Pune Chapter felicitating Neeta Valecha

it for ourselves and the society at large by creating a culture that is conducive to development and engagement that goes beyond processes and policies. Through examples that women can be in leadership positions, we conduct dialogues among our women workforce to try and understand the motivating factors and the challenges that need to be tackled,” she added. Bringing homemakers to the fore is Neeta Valecha, Co-founder, Design & User Experience Chief at Meal Tango, a unique meal ‘host’ platform that brings in culinary specialists across 28 cities doling out 151 diverse meal plans to tickle multinational palates. With a women-centric model, Neeta, who has roped in her better half, Saket, both ex-IT professionals, take pride in the fact that almost 80 per cent of their meal hosts and employees are women. 36 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

The tale of Rajeswari Kori - Senior Staff Officer & Commandant, Home Guards, Brihan Mumbai, Govt. of Maharashtra, Civil Defence Corps, was as an insider into the lives of women brave hearts who champion the cause of the nation on equal footing within the confines of an all-male naval bastion. Anita Panakkal, Vice President, Human Resources, Alfa Laval, elaborated on the absence of women representations in the manufacturing sector and the need to make this sector more viable for women to take the plunge and develop adequate skills to retain them. “The need is also for organizations to learn to tackle sector specific issues related to women in the manufacturing sector. It could be as simple as providing adequate facilities such as proper restrooms,” she added. Niloufer Ebrahim, Consultant Psychologist, Psychotherapist and Corporate Trainer emphasized on the need for women to look after their own health and maintain good relationship with their immediate family and support systems to maintain overall mental and physical balance and function in multidisciplinary roles as working

mothers, wives and professionals. The feminist in Dnyan Shah, SVP Business-Head at Mphasis, says that women should strive on their performance parameters and gain credibility without seeking favours or allowances in the work space. This would help women gain respect and credence that go beyond so-called gender ‘biases’ within organizations. These women represented an even wider pool of A-listers – the likes of Leela Poonawalla, Chanda Kochhar, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and many worldwide women go-getters -- who relive the fact that “wo(men) are all worth it” – be it at home or work! sangeetagd2010@gmail.com

tadka

Software is India’s export lifeblood As per the latest RBI press release, India’s export of software services during 2013-14 stood at ` 4,322.8 billion (US$ 71.4 billion), of which computer services exports accounted for 73.6 per cent. The global software export of India including the services rendered by foreign affiliates established abroad was estimated at ` 5,011.8 billion (US$ 82.8 billion).

manage money In the previous issue we had discussed what a Profit & Loss Account is, what it contains. In this article let me dwell a bit on the Balance Sheet. By Dr Anil Lamba

Good Financial Management – Rule 1 ...continued from previous issue In the previous issue we had looked at the sources of capital and had seen that of the four items of sources appearing on the Liabilities’ side, the first three, namely Share Capital, Reserves and Long Term Loans had a cost. Now what about the last one, the creditors? This figure often represents the amount due to vendors for goods purchased on credit. If you make a purchase worth, say, 100, payable after a month, the vendor expects to be paid the same 100, without any addition of interest on that amount. This makes creditors a free source of money. Unfortunately, this is a mistaken notion! It is true that vendors will not expect to be paid interest when they are paid on the due date. However, as most businesspeople will vouch, any creditor will readily offer a cash discount ranging from one to two percent per month (and sometimes more) for payment received before the specified time. One to two percent discount per month works out to 12 to 24 percent per annum. The vendor can afford to give this discount, because the interest had already been factored into the quotation for supply of goods on credit. For the purpose of the Balance Sheet we are discussing, let’s assume an average cost of 18 percent per annum. And now let’s take another look at our Balance Sheet and calculate the weighted average cost of capital.

ed. Many entrepreneurs I meet are either ignorant of their cost of capital, or carry the impression that only loan funds carry a cost, and thus arrive at a number similar to the 4.8 percent we earlier calculated. And when they get into financial trouble by taking on projects earning lower than the actual cost of capital, they simply cannot figure out what went wrong. It is very important to remember that no source of capital is free, least of all the owners’ contribution. Owners’ contribution is not only not free, but it is actually the most expensive source of money. It’s not only outsiders who make this assumption but very often owners themselves think that their money is free! If a project cannot afford borrowed money, it definitely does not deserve owners’ money. Never forget that borrowings are substantially cheaper than owners’ funds”. Why “equal to”? Why not say “assets must always generate a return greater than the cost of capital”? What happens when the returns are equal to the cost of capital? In the Balance Sheet we are scrutinising, we have calculated a cost of 16.8 percent. We arrived at this figure taking into account everybody’s expectation of returns, including the owners. When the organisation generates a return equal to the cost, that is a return of 168 on an investment in total assets of 1,000, all those who have provided resources earn what they are expecting to earn. But what happens when the returns are somewhat lower than the weighted average cost of capital (WACC)? All the other stakeholders, the employees, the vendors, the lenders – will be paid. The only one who will receive nothing is the owner. How ironical! The business was started with the primary motive of making profits for the owner – and the owner is the only one who is not getting any return. It’s only when the business earns in excess of WACC that the owner will earn a return higher than expectations. Only then can the business be said to be successful. When will Rule I be satisfied? In the Balance Sheet we have been discussing, the WACC is16.8 percent. To satisfy rule I, the organisation must ensure that the investment in assets generates a minimum return of 16.8 percent. The investment of 1,000 in assets will be justified only if the returns are a minimum of 168. ...to be continued Dr Anil Lamba is a practising chartered accountant, a financial literacy activist, and a corporate trainer of international repute on finance management. He is the author of the bestselling book Romancing the Balance Sheet. He can be contacted at anil@lamconschool.com

If a project cannot afford borrowed money, it definitely does not deserve owners’ money. Never forget that borrowings are substantially cheaper than owners’ funds

Balance Sheet 24% Capital 300 Fixed Assets 15% Reserves 200 12% Loan 400 18% Creditors 100 Current Assets 1,000 300 from shareholder and owners at 24% 200 by way of reserves at 15% 400 from loans at 12% 100 from creditors at 18% Total Weighted Average Cost of Capital

750

250 1,000 = = = = = =

72 30 48 18 168 16.8%

The effective cost of capital is actually 16.8 percent, and not 4.8 percent as we had previously assumed. If sources cost this organization 16.8 percent, then any investment in assets is justified only if a return of not less than 16.8 percent per annum, or profits not less than 168 on an investment in assets worth 1,000, can be generat-

April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 37

Youth India Survey

India’s youth is social media savvy Young India is becoming even more connected than ever. Tata Consultancy Services conducted a Youth Survey to gauge the digital tendencies of India’s generation Y, which has yielded some very interesting results. Corporate Citizen brings you an insight into what the youth does on the internet By Neeraj Varty

also help young India connect with their family on the go. Not just ndia’s youth has taken to social media in a big way. Almost all of the Smartphones, tablets are rapidly gaining traction, especially in metro cities. educated youth are on social media, and a staggering 75 per cent Mobile phones and tablet PCs are the most popular gadgets in India, of them have an account on Facebook alone. What’s even more followed by mp3 players and gaming consoles. The humble desktop interesting is that Facebook is more popular in small towns than in computer is the least favorite gadget for Young India. the metros. Statistics reveal that over 78.58 per cent of the youth in Internet is taking a prominent place in the lives of youngsters. One in two mini metros have a Facebook account as compared to 72.87 per cent youngsters surveyed said that they spend of the urban youth in metropolitan cities. Not only has Youngistan become E-commerce is fast becoming the more than an hour each day online. is also fast becoming the social media savvy, they are becoming default shopping mode for the E-commerce default shopping mode for the youth, increasingly vocal too. Twitter, the most popular micro blogging site for self- youth, with 6 out of 10 students with 6 out of 10 students shopping online shopping online every day every day. Fashion purchases claim the expression, is becoming popular with number one spot for the types of goods 31per cent of the youth admitting that purchased online, followed by movie tickets. they tweet regularly. Studies have also shown that twitter users are more Email, which is widely considered the most important feature of the influential than Facebook users. internet, is now becoming passé. Social media platforms are now the Another significant trend is the shift to mobile. India has officially gone principal modes of communication. Mediums like Whatsapp and Viber mobile, with more and more people preferring to use smartphones to PCs are replacing paid services like SMS. to access the internet. Smartphones have emerged as the most used gadget India is rapidly changing, and so is our youth. Armed with smart devices across all cities surveyed. Smartphones are also helping young India keep on the go, here’s what our tech savvy generation is doing on the internet. abreast of the latest happenings in India and around the world. Smartphones 38 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

Social Networking: Facebook is India’s Playground Do you have a facebook account? Facebook reigns supreme as the most preferred Social Networking platform at a staggering 75.73 per cent National average 75.73

YES NO

72.87

24.27

78.58

27.13

21.42 n All India n Metro n Mini Metro

Social Networking: FB is like an addiction How often do you post on Facebook? Though there is a promising number of respondents who claim to post content daily on facebook, 25.68 per cent of students post more than 3 times in a week

Never

9.50

9.98

More than 5 times a month

21.47

Everyday

21.94

More than 3 times a week

25.68

9.01 18.77

24.16

21.44

22.45 22.86

28.49

Social Networking: FB is a Big Playground How many friends do you have on Facebook? On an average more than 53.09 per cent of Facebook users have upwards of 120 friends/connections in Facebook Less than 40 40 to 80 80 to 120

n All India n Metro n Mini Metro

More than 120

April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 39

Youth India Survey Social Networking: TWITTER could be the FUTURE! So you have a TWITTER Account? TWITTER is on the rise with the youth in India. Though 31.28 per cent seems less as compared to FACEBOOK, this is a trend that could change very soon 31.28

YES

25.56 68.72

37.01

n All India n Metro n Mini Metro

74.44

62.99

Social Networking: TWITTER follows Facebook How many people do you follow? TWITTER seems less favorable than Facebook. More than 18 per cent of respondents claim that they have less than 40 people they are following in their TWITTER account 80 to 120 More than 120 40 to 80

n All India n Metro n Mini Metro

Less than 40

Gadgets: Mobiles and laptops emerge as the principle device Which of the following GADGETS do you own? Laptops and Mobile rule India. 6 out of 10 students own a laptop. Tablets are growing rapidly, especially in metros Tablet Gaming Console MP3 Player Laptop Home PC Mobile Phone

32.19

34.82

35.85

29.55 42.35

48.40

29.34

51.92

55.05

44.88 66.00

77.03 86.68

40 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

58.18 61.28

n All India n Metro n Mini Metro 71.62

82.43

90.94

Gadgets: TAB to the future Which is your favorite Gadget? The TAB is emerging as popular as a mobile phone booth in Metros and Mini Metros. On the other hand, the Home PC is now the least favorite gadget across India. Computer Gaming Console Laptop MP3 Players Tablet

10.47

10.12

9.78

10.10

11.57

13.04

14.19

13.40 14.72

44.88

15.76 23.57

Mobile Phone

n All India n Metro n Mini Metro 13.68

21.29

29.06

25.84 28.20

29.91

Information Access: Internet need is equal across India How much time do you spend on the Internett in a day? The need for the Internet is the same across cities. One in Two students spend more than an hour each day on the internet 120-180 min 60-120 min 30-60 min 15-30 min

n All India n Metro n Mini Metro

<15 min

Social Networking: Face to Face is FUN !! Which is your favourite way to communicate with friends? Young India still values the “Old School” style of communicating. FACE TO FACE is still the preferred way n All India n Metro n Mini Metro

Face to Face

Phone Calls

Through Social Networking Sites

Instant Messaging

SMS

Twitter

neeraj.varty@corporatecitizen.com April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 41

expert speak

Financial Sector

Needs Swachh Abhiyan too PICs: Ahmed Sheikh

Sensitive news headlines on the issues of bad loans, reckless lending by public sector banks (PSBs), frequent recapitalisation of banks and political interference continue to grab eyeballs. But, are measures in place that diminish the burdens of a sector cloistered around regulators, nationalised banks with bad debts and the onslaught of multiple financial retail offerings to unsuspecting consumers? When will the market transcend from a caveat emptor (buyer beware) to a caveat venditor (seller beware) regime? These, and many other pertinent issues were brought forth at the recent Girish Sant Memorial Lecture organised by Pune-based Prayas Initiatives in Health, Energy, Learning and Parenthood. Commanding the dais was Ms. Sucheta Dalal, eminent financial journalist and Managing Editor of MoneyLife By Sangeeta Ghosh Dastidar

s financial consumers, do you know your Unit-linked Insurance plan from equity mutual funds? Well, if you are a savvy investor, you would definitely know that these are competing products. But have you ever questioned why these products are touted at different sales incentives and obey different sales processes? While the government’s agenda on encouraging people to invest in the National Pension System has given rise to a new independent regulator, why then should insurance companies be allowed to advertise and sell pension plans that have low returns and high incentives? Also, despite the entry of 28 players in the insurance sector, India remains the most uninsured country in the world. Have you ever 42 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

Sucheta Dalal addressing the gathering

wondered how Vijay Mallya’s now infamous Kingfisher Airlines alone managed to owe Rs 7,000 crore to the the exchequer? How do exCongress MPs, the likes of Lagdapati Rajagopal and erstwhile Chairman of Hyderabad-based Lanco, now infamous for his pepper spray trick on parliamentrians, could manage `9,000 crore as part of corporate debt restructuring before the 2014 general elections?. These and many more pertinent issues were broached by guest speaker Ms Sucheta Dalal who, while borrowing from PM Modi’s ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ has implored all to adopt a ‘Swachh Abhiyan’ for the financial sector too. A new thinking, but a step nonetheless that could help pick out the warts that have systematically left consumers high and dry despite an industry that prides itself on services provided by well-

funded institutions supposedly guided and regulated by independent regulators. Despite the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs heralding affairs, in the absence of a diligent consumer redressal system, taming the onslaught of institutionalised sales for financial products does seem a tall order. Who Will Bell The ‘R’ Cat? Despite regulations, there is an underlying Catch-22 situation, points out Sucheta. “Regulators are tasked with registering and monitoring financial service companies, approving products that are fit to be launched and resolving consumer grievances. But the four financial regulators function in vastly different ways, leaving consumers perplexed,” she revealed. She explains that since the advent of the Securities

and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), one of the first indpendent regulators that was created, the stage was set for discerning bureaucrats who had earlier resisted giving up their powers in the ministerial offices but were now very happily switching roles for career extensions that promised better perks and more freedom under SEBI’s mantle. The Ailing Investor Planning an investment has never been so easy as the retail market is strewn with almost all kinds of financial products that are positioned to fulfill long and short term investment goals. But with an archaic financial regulatory system that is more ‘disclosure’ based, savers are often confused with the smaller print which they are expected to read, interpret and accordingly act rationally. Diagnosed Ailments n RBI’s governance and regulator apathy: RBI enables or allows banks to hard sell insurance, mutual funds, wealth management schemes and unregulated products. Despite the banking Ombudsman’s authority to provide quick and easy redress, it does not look into product complaints which are under the purview of another regulator -- a no-win scenario for investors again. n Blaming it on the ‘Greedy’ Consumer, are we? Regulators go on a guilt-free ride as they entice consumers with their ‘disclosure based’ approach. While investors are expected to read, understand and guide their rationale to invest based on the information disclosed, the regulators have actually washed their hands off the investment product – and are merely happy to have disclosed the content of the product on sale! The pitfall of this approach was witnessed during the public issue mania of 1993-94 when almost all and sundry touted their list of harmful products and periodically duped investors despite big brother SEBI coming in since 1992. Awaiting A New Dawn It took the much disastrous 2007-08 global financial crisis to bring in new regulatory philosophies on financial literacy that marked the beginning of a caveat venditor (seller beware) approach. But based on behavioural economics, Sucheta says, “ …..the rational economic man does not exist and most people are simply not wired to understand financial products.They tend to translate their experience of buying consumer goods to financial products…” She quotes Martin Whaeatley, CEO of Financial Conduit Authority in the Financial Times, who said “…Investors cannot be counted on to make rational choices so regulators need to ‘step into their footprints’ and limit or ban the sale of potentially harmful products…”

‘The industry continues to battle age-old maladies of bad loans, reckless lending, political interference and adverse selection that has led to higher tax burdens and inflation index for the poor in India’ Through the Looking Glass – Sucheta‘nomics’ With the poor performance of independent regulators, the previous UPA government had sought to revamp the Financial Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) under Justice B N Srikrishna (former Supreme court judge). FSLRC’s suggestion was for a unified financial sector regulator comprising the SEBI, IRDA, FMC, a part of RBI along with a unified Financial Sector Apellate Tribunal (FSAT) that could hear all appeals against financial sector regulators. Financial ‘Swachh Abhiyan’ The government needs to check its selection criteria while appointing regulators or bank chairpersons to enforce accountability of various financial ‘watchdogs’ and allied sectors. She also says that the buck stops at he RBI’s door. The RBI can no longer air-brush the real reasons behind bad loans by merely acting as a spectator in the entire gameplan but take concrete steps to pull out the consumer out of the viscious debt cycles. n Enhance accountability of PSBs that are deemed inefficient as they are poorlygoverened and exhibit large scale corruption. n PSBs have resulted in creating bad loans by lending recklessly to infrastructure

companies during the regime of the UPA government which have become a huge deterrent to the ability of these banks to fund new projects. n Bankers also face tough situations when they are unable to enforce recovery measures as a result of political arm twisting which goes beyond systemic issues. n The need for better capital structures and to run a check on promoters who finance projects with slivers of equity borrowed from elsewhere. n To review projects that work around padding of project costs and diversion of funds in collusion with bankers -- especially seen with many first generation conglomerates operating in steel, power and infrastructure sectors. While the list is endless, Sucheta is optimistic that her proposal of cleaning up of the financial sector be taken up at the higher echelons. She sums up, “…For the savers, this consists of making retail products simple and grievance redressal effective. As for banks, we need strong acountability. Otherwise, for the next 20 years we will continue to see exactly what we have seen over the last 20.…” sangeetagd2010@gmail.com

tadka

Housing Crisis Despite several promises by the government to build affordable homes for India’s poor in densely populated cities, the country’s urban housing shortage is estimated at nearly 1.9 croreshouseholds. Out of all the states, Maharashtra has the second highest housing shortage of 19.4 million units next only to Uttar Pradesh.

April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 43

corporate leisure

The

‘Drive’ to win! What is it that most corporate leaders have in common? When they aren’t busy running multi-million dollar companies and chalking out plans to expand market share, these leaders have one passion that unites them throughout the corporate spectrum – Their love for Golf. Whether it’s hitting the greens once a week to let off some steam or a part of their everyday routine, Golfing is something corporate leaders swear by. Corporate Citizen chats up with the biggest corporate leaders at the third edition of the Vodafone Golf Swing 2015 held at the picturesque Poona Golf Course to find out why Golf is by far their favourite sport! By Neeraj Varty

44 / Corporate Citizen / April March1-15, 16-31, 2015 2015

PIC: Prithviraj Mallick

the player must strategise in advance about the next few moves. The same applies to the corporate world. Golf, that way, is a great teacher for corporates

unique opportunity where people from different sectors and different positions can come together to form teams and bond. Golf also provides corporates a great platform for networking. I have seen that between strokes, business leaders chat and get to know each other a lot better than in any other sport. Just today, I made 20 more friends thanks to this great sport.

Sanjay Krishnamurthy

Head of Corporate Banking, Asia, Barclays Bank Golf is one of the very few sports which is so closely related to nature. The fresh air and lush greenery by itself is enough to rejuvenate you. Even in the heat of the summer, one feels that one has come to a hill station. One of the best things about golf is that it allows you to play against yourself. This brings out your true character. Golf is a very humbling sport, and it helps you cope with success and failures not just on the course, but off it as well. A good businessman needs patience and perseverance, and golf is a great teacher

Col. Ramesh Poonekar

Head Admin, Bajaj Alliance I play all kinds of sports, including basketball, tennis and golf. What I like about golf is that it does wonders for your concentration. It also improves the players consistency. To win at golf,

Ikram Khan

MD- Sohoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Prestige resorts Golf is definitely my preferred sport. No other sport provides as much relaxation as this sport does. I hit the greens at least 2-3 times a week. Earlier, golf used to be an elitist sport. Now, anyone can play it. Some of the caddies can play even better than us. The government has also started investing in public courses. The future is very bright for golfing enthusiasts in India.

Padmaja Shirke

Ashish Chandra

Vodafone Business Head â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Maharashtra and Goa Golf is one of the few sports where people from different age brackets can come together and play. Golf provides a

BG Shirke Constructions I find Golf to be the best game ever played. Just like in life, a game of golf has its ups and downs. Golf teaches you how to take your bitter medicing when the time comes, just as it teaches you to be humble in victory. I also think that as Asians, golf is almost tailor made for us. We are naturals at this sport. With Public Golf courses like the Qutab Golf course in Delhi and the recent Cidcoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Khargar Valley Golf course in Navi Mumbai, young golfing enthusiasts have an opportunity to try this exciting sport for a nominal fee. I hope more and more public Golf courses come up and India takes to this sport wholeheartedly.

neeraj.varty@corporatecitizen.com

tadka The Silent Killer As many as 8 to 10 lakh people in India are diagnosed with cancer every year and 5 lakh succumb to the dreaded disease, which is one of the worst mortality rates in the world. Whats worse, As per WHO Report 2005, the estimated cancer deaths in India are projected to increase to 7 lakh by 2015.

March April16-31, 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 45

My campus placement experience-7

Single Minded Pursuit Richa Sijaria had not initially planned to do an MBA. But once in the course hers was a single minded pursuit of improvement, which culminated in a successful placement with a global financial major. Here she recounts her journey...

hat happened in my life two years back was something out of the blue. I had never planned it, never thought about it, I actually joined a B school to study further, and thus, MBA. With the blessings of Lord Ganapati, my MBA journey began. My intention of pursuing an MBA was to gain knowledge, improve myself, overcome my weaknesses and to get into the best organisation. At the induction program -- which I consider the best part -- we got a chance to interact with corporate stalwarts and learn from their experiences. During my induction period I decided to specialise in the finance stream. After clearing a couple of exams and interviews I finally got it. The reason behind my opting for finance was my previous work experience in the banking sector. The next phase was made up of serious studies, with introduction to financial jargon, accounting, costing, investment, etc., which made me realise that finance is not only about banking, there is much more: number crunching, strategy planning and more. However, all the tough tasks in life seem easy when you have good mentors. The distinguished faculty at the institute 46 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

PIC: Prithviraj Mallick

whole heartedly took all the aspirants into the astonishing world of finance and made us truly understand this world. They are the ones who are responsible for our great careers. Later came the Summer Internship. Here I learnt how to present myself as a Finance person. During this period I got the chance to understand the workings of a fund manager, various investment options, factors affecting investments, etc. My internship gave me the opportunity not only to learn the different aspects of finance but also a little of marketing as well. I consider this opportunity an added advantage. The Summer Internship led to the crucial time of placements. The placement season is considered to be the toughest time during the MBA, which brings lots of anxiety, excitement and competition. It is the time for hard work, improving oneself and to come out of the comfort zone. My preparation started with focusing on the basics of finance, Excel, communication and personality development. In the initial days of placement I found that there was a mismatch with organisations in terms of profile, knowledge, etc. It was a little disappointing but not discouraging. I believed that the correct attitude, self-confidence, good technical and communication skills would lead to success. But I never stopped preparing and grooming myself. Soon I heard that a world famous company would be visiting my college for recruitment. It was clear in my mind that this was my company, the company I was looking for, and I was not going to miss the opportunity at any cost. I applied and my name appeared in the list of short-listed candidates. The next day the process started with pre-placement talk where the recruiters interacted with all the students, spoke about the organization and work culture. The selection process comprised of:

l Group discussion l Technical personal interview l HR personal interview

In my GD Group, we were all finance students, we were asked some questions related to bitcoins, the economic condition of the country, etc., after which we were asked to discuss the topic, “Black money – whether it is the sole responsibility of the government of India to bring it back into the country.” After clearing my GD, I appeared for my Technical Interview. I was a bit nervous, but a little bit of nervousness does help to keep you on your toes.

The interview started with some general questions like: l Tell me about yourself and family l Why did I leave my job for further studies l Insights related to my work experience and

Richa with her friends

My intention of pursuing an MBA was to gain knowledge, improve myself, overcome my weaknesses and to get into the best organisation. The reason behind my opting for finance was my previous work experience in the banking sector” the banking sector l Activities, tasks handled by me in my previous organization l My achievements l Degree vs. knowledge: which has a higher weightage? Later on, the interviewer asked me some technical questions which were related to: l Financial terms and jargon, l Financial statements l Approaches and rules in finance l Project undertaken by me during my summer internship And then the time came for my final round and I headed towards my HR interview. The interviewer was very friendly and his kind gestures made it an interview-cum-discussion. Initially he asked me to introduce myself, and then asked my opinion on various topics like: l Why MBA l College experience (good or bad) l Where I see myself ten years down the line l Hobbies and interests In both my interviews I gave my best to convey my thoughts and opinions. I answered as many questions as I could. After all the rounds were over, there was a gap of a couple of hours before the results were declared. I was confident that the result would be positive; but I was worried that my confidence should not turn out

to be over-confidence. After sometime all the candidates were called. I entered the room with many ifs and buts in my mind, fingers crossed, full of hope and waiting for that final answer. I kept praying and praying and finally all my prayers were heard when they announced my name in the list of selected candidates. So yes, I got what I wanted. My journey form a student manager to a business system analyst could not have happened without the support of my family and friends, guidance from our faculty, and the blessings of all. I really want to thank my loved ones for what I am.

tadka

ATMs Galore As per latest data from the RBI, at the end of June quarter of 2014, there were 1,66,894 ATMs and a total of 44,929 machines. State Bank of India has capture over 27 per cent of the market.

April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 47

Better Half

An Anchor Who Holds All Together

Amrita Goel, wife of noted businessman and real-estate honcho Atul Goel, MD, Goel Ganga Group, is a testimony to the old adage: behind every successful man, is a strong feminine presence

By Kalyani Sardesai

raceful, quiet, unapologetically home-bound, that’s Amrita Goel for you. And yet the soft demeanour belies the strength and organisation that allows her hi-flying husband to focus on his many commitments, as peace that home and hearth are in safe hands. Her touch is visible in their tastefully done-up home, in the clever utilisation of spaces, the skilful use of light by offsetting neutral shades with a splash of colour, and the utter calm aura of their home. Tell her that and she nods. “Yes, we are a culturally proud family. My in-laws are religious and rooted—and that is part of our legacy. We celebrate all festivals, major and minor, together and we are firm believers in the strengths of the extended family. Both, Atul and I are the oldest

48 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

Atul Goel, MD, Goel Ganga Group (L) with his better half Amrita Goel

of our generation, and we are conscious of the examples we set,” she says. At 37, she’s been married for 16 years—a long time for such a young age. She doesn’t agree. “It helped me blend in with the family,” she avers. Having spent the initial days of their married life with the in-laws, Amrita says it helped to know each individual better. Rising by 6:30 am, she sees off her two boys—Tarush (15) and Kritesh (16) before enjoying a quiet breakfast with Atul. This is fol-

lowed by her social commitments, after which she spends two hours in Atul’s office helping the design team with space utilisation. “It’s the higher end of aesthetic planning. The way you use space and materials contributes to the lifestyle and peace you enjoy,” she says. After all, she does own a degree in landscaping from Pune’s Jagannath Rathi International Institute, which has plenty of room for expression in Atul’s line of work. Even as the Goel Ganga group makes significant strides

PIC: Ahmed Sheikh

in the premium luxury realty segment, there’s stress on design that is classy, contemporary, top-of-the line and yet realistic. “I really enjoy the challenge it offers,” says Amrita, who already has a 5,000 sq feet apartment to her credit apart from her own lovely home. But her aesthetic sense is not only employed at work, it permeates every aspect of her living. “She has a way of wrapping the simplest gift in a manner that makes it valuable and personal,” chips in Atul. “Art adds that extra bit to your everyday living,” she says, confiding that all her Janmashtami decorations for instance are hand-crafted and put together by her. Her sense of style and understanding of jewellery is a throwback both to her basic inclination, and family business. “In hometown Hyderabad, our family ancestors supplied jewellery to the Nizam,” she shares. Lest you think it’s all been smooth-sailing for her, think again. “Hyderabad is very different from Pune. The crowd there is very warm, and it took me time to adjust to Pune’s business-like ways,” she says. “But today, I appreciate it much better. People are non-interfering and that’s not a quality to be underestimated,” she says. It has been a challenge for the self-effacing young girl to get used to being wife to a real estate whiz. “It’s not been easy being Mrs. Atul Goel. There were several demands on me, especially with regard to the hectic social pace demanded by his work and position --- but it helped that we shared the same values,” she expresses. For his part, Atul insists Amrita was the first and the last girl he ever ‘saw’ for marriage. “It did not take me long to commit. She was educated and grounded, and comfortable with the system of a joint family. I made my choice, and it has stood me in good stead till date,” he says. For a couple that did not meet too frequently before their very arranged and propah marriage, it’s amazing to see how tight a unit they are. And just how much of a foil to each other. Him: aggressive, determined, focused and madly hard-working. Her: soft-spoken relaxed, accommodating and laidback. Him: a no-nonsense degree in civil engineering followed by a MBA. Her: a degree in landscape designing, and a flair for the arts. To top it all, the star signs (Linda Goodman, anyone?) too are a perfect match. He is a Cancer, she a Scorpio. “By and large, I am the calm partner in the marriage,” says Amrita, even as Atul chips in: “However, when she loses it, that’s when I calm down soon enough.” Amidst the bonhomie and shared hobbies— travel and watching movies---the Goels are held together by a deep and abiding respect for family and all its nuances. That, and marriage. “A

My in-laws are religious and rooted, and that is part of our legacy. We celebrate all festivals, major and minor, together and we are firm believers in the strengths of the extended family stable marriage is the bedrock of a sane society,” says Atul. “When you make a commitment, it’s for a life time. ‘‘

espite the social merry go round, the Goels are particular about doing things together. They also share a passion for travel and offering their kids a flavour of life abroad. “Last year, we took the boys to London, where we lived the typical life of Londoners for a good ten days. From taking trams, to enjoying the local food, to the museums—we did it all. It was a hectic time, and quite a departure from the chauffeur driven comforts of Pune, but such exposure is a must,” says Amrita. She wants her kids to imbibe Atul’s work ethic. “However late he sleeps, he is always up early to attend to his work and meetings. This passion for excellence is what I wish the boys take from him,” she says. Both are united in their insistence for respecting age. “We are friends, but not buddies,” she says. “It’s a fine line to walk.” Despite the traditional outlook, Amrita is a keen advocate of girl’s education as evinced by the interest she takes in the crèches run by the Goel Ganga Group for the daughters of the labour force. “The group I work with are mostly teenagers. Most have dropped out of school, due to family pressure and parental fear about their daughters receiving wrong exposure,” she says. To make up for the lack of a formal education, the staff at the crèche intersperse academic teaching with vocational skills. The latter is where Amrita is involved. “We don’t want them to grow up to be house-maids,” she asserts.

While Amrita herself teaches ceramics, a host of other practical skills are imparted, so the girls may stand on their feet tomorrow. An active member of the ladies group Tiger Lily, Amrita entertains frequently at home. “I enjoy having people over, and looking after them,” she says. No wonder Atul says he loves inviting guests. “In ways big and small, her contribution to my life is immense. She has kept the family together, and I can travel frequently, knowing full well that there is an anchor to hold it all together,” he says. Married at 24 and 21 respectively, they believe they understand each other so much better for having spent that kind of time together. “I would recommend timely marriages to everyone,” says Atul. “It gives you focus and responsibility. It is entirely possible to follow one’s professional goals, and give time to one’s partner—if one so wishes. At the end of the day, it’s nice to have someone to come home to.” kalyanisardesai@gmail.com

tadka

Who says India is poor? India is home to the eighth largest group of super rich people in the world, as there are as many as 14,800 crorepatis in the county. Mumbai is home to the highest number of them — 2,700, as many as that in Munich.

April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 49

corporate workout

Look Who’s Gymming!

The fitness fad has hit the corporate world. From top executive to the salaried employee, everyone is taking to ‘gymming’. So much so, hi-tech gyms have fast become a regular feature of multinational corporations in India. What types of people do you find there? Corporate Citizen finds out... By Kriti Sharma

The latest trend to hit the corporate world is fitness. From the top executive to the salaried employee, everyone wants to stay fit. So much so, hi-tech gyms are fast becoming a regular feature of multinational corporations in India. This gym culture has three benefits: First, it helps employees meet their fitness needs and thus acts as a motivator. Second, it helps employers derive efficiency and challenge employee fatigue. And third, it helps the company offer an added perk as part of the contract, making the job offer more attractive. With the emergence of this trend, employees are taking to gymming with a lot of enthusiasm. Many carry an extra bag with fitness gear to work. During lunch break, they take off for a quick thirty minute cardio or strength training session. Post their workout, they shower, change, grab lunch and get back to work with renewed energy and increased endorphin levels. Now, an extremely amusing observation has been made about the employees who use this facility. All such members of the gym can easily be grouped into four broad categories. The next time you drop by your office gym, keep an eye for these categories. The truth, when you see it for yourself, will shock and enthrall you! kritisharma26@gmail.com

Let’s take a quick look at these fascinating gym personalities: Type A

Type b

The sore loser

The fitness enthusiast

This person never ‘loses’ weight. So he is your typical ‘failure’. Now this employee is grossly obese. He wants to lose weight, but no matter how many ab-crunches he does (huffing and puffing), he just never seems to lose any! Of course, there is a dirty secret about him and his weight stability: He loves to gorge on the canteen samosa and vada and shamelessly eats the aloo paranthas from his colleague’s tiffin. No wonder his toil is in vain!

Type c

This individual has the most annoying presence, not only in the office, but also in the office gym. He has a go-getter’s attitude. His drive for excellence makes him a very promising employee. He almost always achieves his targets, be it at work or the gym. Thus, he has a healthy body, good looks and an optimistic attitude. He’s so enthusiastic about his workout (like his work), that he gives others around him a huge complex. He exercises like a maniac because if he reduces one kilogram, he starts working out to lose another two. Nothing is enough for him, he wants more, more and more!

The gossip monger Type c

The salman khan

All offices have this specific species. This breed is very conspicuous in the office gym too. Such people perceive the gym as the perfect platform to propagate rumours and gossip. They come, plonk themselves on the most comfortable of gym equipment and gossip. They talk about all and sundry. They usually talk about office scandals and controversies; who said what, who wore what, who went where and who did what. The gym for them, is akin to a watering hole.

50 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

A picture speaks louder than words and I’m sure, this title must have brought to your mind the image of a man with bulging muscles and six-pack abs. He is the man who makes the rest of the geeky employees look like reeds. He worships Mr Schwarzenegger and survives on steroids and protein shakes. He looks like the kind of man who could endorse men’s vests and health tablets. But oh wait, doesn’t Mr Salman Khan do that? You got the point!

Overview

Nobody has monopoly over stupidity German professor is entitled to dislike Indian men, but here’s why she and we are wrong By Chitra Subramaniam

he row over Professor Dr. Annette Beck-Sickinger denying two Indian students admission to intern at the biochemistry department at the Leipzig University in Germany because of news of Indian men and rapes shows that nobody has a monopoly over stupidity. The lady made it worse for herself and her colleagues in her response to The News Minute (TNM) Monday by stating that she has Indians in her department. That is tantamount to saying she has Jewish friends or Chinese neighbours – ouch! The cover-up, as always is worse than the crime and Indians have taken to the social media criticizing all things German pouring scorn and indignation. The high-pitched discussion on social media has seen the German Ambassador to India Michael Steiner intervening to distance his country from the professor’s mails. In his strongly worded letter he has told Prof. Beck-Sickinger that she has over-simplified and generalized a complex situation against which Indians are grappling with and looking at every Indian male as a potential rapist is not kosher. But there is little more here than meets the eye. Primo Prof. Beck-Sickinger is allowed to dislike Indians, male, female and food. She is entitled to feel that Indian males are unsafe to be around with and that after consulting her female staff members feels they cannot be trusted in company

‘Prof. BeckSickinger is allowed to dislike Indians, male, female and food. She is entitled to feel that Indian males are unsafe to be around with and that after consulting her female staff members feels they cannot be trusted’ or alone. She is even allowed to say they have strange eating habits and make a lot of noise, but writing an email on behalf of the university is stupid. Her personal views must remain just that – personal. She told TNM she was misquoted, her mails were used out of context, she didn’t mean this but that and wanted to make herself understood. Unfortunately all is lost in translation as prejudice, fear and arrogance or all sides rule the roost. Obviously her German colleagues were concerned – there has been a lot of bad news about India in recent years and most of it has to do with women’s safety. Bad news travels fast and sticks. The censoring of the BBC documentary India’s Daughters – work for which began during the UPA government and continued during the NDA government – has fanned fears. Secondo Indians are not prejudiced –no,

not at all. You have never heard any one of us say there is no culture in the world that does not find its origins in India and the western world has no morals. Not a whisper has emerged from us about how stem cells and plastic surgery originated in India as did Darth Veda and inter-galactic trips. Never, never have we said anything unkind about the African continent (where is that?) and rare have been instances where we have pronounced judgement on western men and women who are wealthy but lead empty, meaningless lives in their Ferraris. Tertio Let us drown ourselves in our own stupidity as well. All it takes is an email from a university professor in Germany for India’s chatting classes to jump. It’s not just the German professor who is stupid. We listen to people like her instead of ignoring them. Ignoring non-

sense requires self-assurance and calm, not more nonsense. This one is about principles, right? The message that remains after the social media war dries up is that we in India continue to think what westerners think about us is important. Are we saying every German is enlightened and well-read and by that token, are we saying every Indian knows everything about Germany? Yes, there have been a series of rapes in India, yes, the guilty are on the run, yes, women feel unsafe, yes justice is slow and no, not very Indian is a rapist. By focusing our outrage on the utterances of an ill-informed professor – she has serious competition in India – we highlighted our own failings. If this is not stupidity unbound, what is? chitra@thenewsminute.com (Chitra Subramaniam Duella is an internationally acclaimed journalist and the Editor-In-Chief of thenewsminute.com)

April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 51

Bollywood Biz

No godfather but going great guns Despite rampant favoritism in Bollywood, there have been some stars who made it without godfathers. This issue of Corporate Citizen highlights the actors who accidentally landed a career as actors, and it was far from their original game plan. If these actors wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have been stars, they still would have had well established alternate careers to fall back on. Who are these accidental superstars? Read on to find out By Neeraj Varty

Ranveer Singh

Ranveer Singh graduated from Indiana University, and returned to India to hunt for a job. He made a successful start as a copywriter in advertising. Simultaneously, he auditioned for several films, and finally was noticed by Aditya Chopra, who cast him in the role of a wedding planner in Band Baaja Baaraat. The movie turned out to be a critical and commercial success, and thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been no looking back for Ranveer Singh since then. Ranveer is now adopting the revenue sharing model with his upcoming film Bajirao Mastani, making him one of the most lucrative stars. The flipside is the advertising world lost out on a great marketer.

Akshay Kumar

After acquiring a taekwondo black belt in India, Akshay Kumar went on to study martial arts in Bangkok, Thailand. There, he worked as a waiter and chef in a restaurant to support himself. Upon finishing his training, he came to India, and tried to open a Martial arts training school. He also took up modeling as a part time job, and found that he could get more money in a one day modeling assignment than he could get in an entire month of martial arts training. It is through his modeling contacts that he got his first movie break in the movie, Deedar. Today, He has a phenomenal net worth of over ` 1600 crore, making his decision to take up acting one of the best career choices ever.

52 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

Deepika Padukone

If Deepika Padukone would’nt have been an actress today, she would still have been an international top model. Despite being the daughter of ace badmington player Prakash Padukone, Deepika has never fallen back on her father’s accomplishments to further her career. Due to her height and good looks, she quickly became one of the most coveted models in India, and received many film offers. It was through modelling that she was noticed by Farah Khan, who was looking to cast a new actress along side Shahrukh Khan in her upcoming film Om Shanti Om. This movie became a runaway hit, and Deepika became one of the most sought out actresses in India, bagging one prestigious film after another. Its speculated that her fortune has crossed ` 60 crore, and she is just getting started.

Siddharth Malhotra

Siddharth Malhotra began modeling since the early age of 18. He was very interested in direction, and he has also assisted Karan Johar on his film My Name is Khan. Karan was impressed with Siddharth enough to cast him in his upcoming student comedy Student of the Year, alongside Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan, both of whom had star parents and a much more guaranteed shot at success. The movie became a hit, and Siddharth was noticed for his acting chops, He subsequently starred in Ek Villian, which became a massive blockbuster. He is now working alongside Akshay Kumar in the upcoming film Brothers. Siddhart currently has a net worth of ` 60 crore, and reportedly charges ` 5-6 crore per film. Not bad at all for a relative newbie. But who knows, if he hadn’t become an actor, Siddharth may have been a successful director someday.

Anushka Sharma Anushka Sharma was one of the most popular modeling faces in India, when she landed the lead role opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Rab ne Bana Di Jodi. Not only has she worked with almost all the top stars of Bollywood, she has acted in the most commercially successful movie in Bollywood history – PK. In such a short while in Bollywood, Anushka has not only become a bonafide top star, she has also donned the hat of a producer with her upcoming thriller NH10, which has already grossed its production budget of ` 13 crore, and is on its way to becoming a blockbuster hit. She reportedly charges ` 5 crore per film.

neeraj.varty@corporatecitizen.com

tadka

This city is India’s New Silicon Valley India’s tech capital, Bengaluru, has increased its office space by six times since 2006, and now has more Grade-A offices than Singapore. It’s no wonder that Bangalore is fast being called the Silicon Valley of India.

April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 53

Pearls of Wisdom

You cannot chase

happiness

Happiness can be elusive and youngsters tend to reach for drugs to achieve it. One must seek truth to find happiness

A man who is in search of truth does not think in terms of happiness. His happiness, or unhappiness, that is not the point. “I must know the true. Even if it is painful, Osho even if it leads to hell, I am ready to pass through it. Wheresoever it leads, I am ready to go to it.” There are only two types of people. One is in search of happiness; he is the worldly type. He may go into a monastery, but the type doesn’t change: there also he is asking for happiness, pleasure, gratification. Now in a different way – through meditation, prayer, God – he is trying to become happy, more and more happy. Then there is the other type of person – and only two types exist – who is in search of truth. And this is the paradox: the one who seeks happiness will never find it, because happiness is not possible unless you attain to the true. Happiness is just a shadow of truth; it is nothing in itself – it is just 54 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

a harmony. When you feel one with the truth, everything fits together, falls together. You feel a rhythm – that rhythm is happiness. You cannot seek it directly. Truth has to be sought. Happiness is found when truth is found, but happiness is not the goal. And if you seek happiness directly you will be more and more unhappy. And, at the most, your happiness will be just an intoxicant so that you can forget unhappiness; that’s all that is going to happen. Happiness is just like a drug – it is LSD, it is marijuana, it is mescaline. Why has the West come to drugs? It is a very, very rational process. It has to come to it because searching for happiness one has to reach LSD sooner or later. The same has happened in India before. In the Vedas they reached soma, LSD, because they were seeking happiness; they were not really seekers of truth. They were seeking more and more gratification – they came to soma. Soma is the ultimate drug. And Aldous Huxley has named the ultimate

drug, when it is to be found somewhere in the twenty-first century, he has called it soma again. Whenever a society, a man, a civilisation, seeks happiness, it has to come somewhere to drugs – because happiness is a search for drugs. The search for happiness is a search to forget oneself; that’s what a drug helps you to do. You forget yourself, then there is no misery. You are not there, how can there be misery? You are fast asleep. The search for truth is just the opposite dimension: not gratification, not pleasure, not happiness, but “What is the nature of existence? What is true?” A man who seeks happiness will never find it – at the most he will find forgetfulness. A man who seeks truth will find it, because to seek truth he will have to become true himself.

A man who seeks happiness will never find it â&#x20AC;&#x201C; at the most he will find forgetfulness. A man who seeks truth will find it, because to seek truth he will have to become true himself

Bliss is not happiness. Bliss is more like peace than like happiness. Bliss is neither unhappiness nor happiness; it is peace from that turmoil, that conflict. It is peace, absolute peace, because it is a transcendence of duality. Happiness always lingers with unhappiness; unhappiness is always with its other side, happiness. They are two sides of the same coin. When the whole coin drops from your hand you are neither happy nor unhappy. It is because of this that Buddha never had a great appeal to the Indian masses. Who wants peace? Everybody wants happiness â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and everybody knows that happiness is followed by unhappiness, as day is followed by night, as death is followed by birth, birth is followed by death. It is a vicious circle: if you are happy, you can be certain that soon you will be unhappy; if you are unhappy, you can be certain that soon you will be happy again. Seeing this game of happiness and unhappiness, the watcher, the meditator becomes unidentified with both. When happiness comes he knows that unhappiness will be coming, so why get excited? When unhappiness comes he is not at all disturbed because he knows happiness will be coming just around the corner, so why become disturbed? He is neither excited by happiness nor disturbed by unhappiness. This is peace. He remains the same, in a deep equilibrium; his silence is undisturbed. Day comes and goes, night comes and goes, everything comes and goes. He remains a witness, unconcerned, cool. That coolness, that unconcernedness is peac. (This article was originally published in www.osho.com) April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 55

Third Eye PIC: Yusuf Khan

India thru a

New Eye Agustina Kampfer, Argentine journalist and self-confessed Indophile, gives us a fresh, new take on a country we see, and yet don’t really see. What’s that they say about the Third Eye putting things in perspective? Corporate Citizen tries to take it all in. By Kalyani Sardesai

laming locks of auburn hair and ivory skin are just one reason why Argentine journalist Agustina Kampfer stands out. The others have more to do with a reflective mind—and ability to look at things beyond the obvious. Perhaps that’s what sets her apart from other foreign tourists. That, and a sense of humour. “This is my third trip to India,” she says over a sumptuous high-tea, helping herself to her favourite Indian dish: grilled paneer. “I adore this country and most things associated with it. I have driven from Kerala to Rajasthan—Varanasi to Agra, up North to Kathmandu, and this time it’s the Osho Commune in Pune. I take with me a wealth of experiences and moments, hard to encapsulate, but let me try. “Each time I am here, this country has something new to offer. And the process of discovery starts all over again. The most striking thing about India is the sheer range of people, cultures and customs that you get to see---to say nothing of the diversity of thought and approach. Of course, in every country the rich and the poor 56 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

act and think and perceive differently—but nowhere in the world are the differences so pronounced.” Could she elaborate? She breaks into a childlike smile. “One of the most amusing sights ever is to see these beautifully dressed Indian divas at the airport—with their arm extended dramatically so---all the better to display the branded handbag, I guess. While they look gorgeous, and their saris are to die for, one does fear for the well-being of the outstretched arm,” she laughs. “The contrast between this sight and the rest, well, that’s a cliché.” Agustina and her German girlfriend have been all over the place, and while they did draw in the stares for being firangs—more especially Agustina with her ginger hair--- she’ll have you know there is a handy trick to getting by. Especially with the men folk. You interact, but don’t really make eye contact. “It’s a fine line to walk,” she says. “However, despite all the disturbing news reports about rapes and crimes against women, I can safely say yours is a society in harmony, with people who are peace-loving and adaptable for the most part.” And, she insists, this is not a flattering line to give Indian reporters. “It just happens to be true… even in the horrendous traffic of Mumbai and Pune, an experience that is overwhelming to most foreigners , people are unfazed and cool. Had people stopped and cut lanes so suddenly back home, there would have been fisticuffs. Out here people negotiate, they keep their cool under pressure, even in the heat and crowd. Amazing,” she expresses. As for her stay with the Osho Commune, she loves every moment. “The Commune is a beautiful place, and meditation has a way of bringing out the finest in you. However, I am struck between the differences in the way Osho is perceived back home—as the famous guru of the famous—and what he really stood for. But that’s another story,” she shrugs. An outstanding memory is her trip to Varanasi, for reasons both good and not-sogood. For starters, they reached the holy city of Varanasi at the unholy hour of 1 am. “Here we were, two women, at this unearthly hour, stranded -- for the taxi wouldn’t go into the ghat area,” she shudders. “So we called up the hotel that we were booked in—and waited for them to pick us up. There were tiny fires around us, with people all around it. Soon, these tiny little guys came from the hotel---we had no clue who they were—and started talking to the people around us in Hindi. Eventually, they did introduce themselves, and asked us to come along, but we found it very odd why they hadn’t done so in the first place,” she wonders. Both women were nervous, but there was little choice but to follow them. To their amazement, these ‘tiny, bird-like men’ managed to pile

all their luggage on top of their heads and maintain an even pace. “We were afraid they would collapse, but they didn’t,” she smiles. The hotel was awful, most unlike its pictures on the website. However, they had no choice but to shut up and put up; there was no way they were getting their money back. “We went to sleep, hungry and tired, but the sunrise we saw next morning, drove away all our aches and

website in the world. Maybe I should have told him I am a media person at the outset itself. We struck a deal: I paid him about Rs 2,500 and got my luggage back,” she says. But by and large, India has been kind and gracious. “Sure, people say a lot of things have changed, nothing ought to be taken for granted. Certainly my friend and I have taken every possible care to avoid tough moments. But, touch wood, it’s all been good so far.” Like most women, Agustina enjoys clothes and trinkets. “I enjoy Indian fashion; the saris, bindis and jewellery. Though I cannot wear saris back home, I spread them out as upholstery back home, and everyone gasps at their sheer beauty,” she says, eyes brightening up. Helping herself to the chaat on the menu, and savouring a tangy mouthful, she grins: “Please note, I simply love Indian food. Indeed, after the spices and freshness of India, food back home seems boring. We do have Indian restaurants in Buenos Aires, Argentina but they are nowhere close to doing justice to the cuisine. I especially love paneer tikka masala and idlis. When I start eating idlis, I just can’t seem to stop and end up hogging on them.” Argentineans are descended from the

“However, despite all the disturbing news reports about rapes and crimes against women, I can safely say yours is a society in harmony, with people who are peace-loving and adaptable for the most part” pains. This was a sight no amount of money would ever buy, and it filled us with gratitude,” she shares. “Varanasi as a city is a contradiction in many ways: a holy city with so much—sorry, monkey shit all over it. At the hotel, I left one of the doors ajar—and the next thing we knew it was full of monkey poop. Yuck. But it wasn’t my fault, I ought to have been tipped off on it!” she says. All in all, the people at Varanasi were peaceful and helpful but with several sweet-talkers who manage to get money out of visitors—“ridiculous amounts of it for a blessing or a kilo of wood for burning.” There are many who think foreigners are outstandingly stupid. Like the hotel guy in Rishikesh who demanded ` 10,000 from Agustina to replace a key she had lost; the man waited till the moment that her luggage was in the taxi and just wouldn’t allow her to leave!! “He knew I had a plane to catch, and he was cashing in on it,” she reminisces. “ Sorry, but I do realise the value of the demanded amount and what all it can buy. After much heated exchange, I told him I would write about his hotel and his behaviour on every

Italians, and are a fiery, passionate lot. However, the last few years have seen the economy in tumult. “There is a lot of change afoot---and you really have to fight---and not in a good way---for what you believe in. That’s when I am struck by how different things are out here,” she says. “There’s a reason why India is seen as the country of mysticism and self-introspection. I just want to come back—again and again.” n kalyanisardesai@gmail.com

tadka

Why the skewed ratio? According to the census data 2011, there are three times as many women as men who are currently single as after having been in wedlock. 0ver 3.2 million of those separated or divorced are women,compared to 1.6 million separated or divorced men.

April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 57

Featherlite

Corporate Twitterati The Supreme Court recently squashed the Section 66A of the IT act, which allowed the government to arrest individuals on charges of posting “offensive” content online. Here’s what the twitterati had to say on the landmark judgement NDTV@ndtv Governments come and go, can’t act on assurance that Section 66A won’t be misused: Supreme Court on scrapping law on Internet content BarkhaDutt@BDUTT Good on you Supreme Court for doing what our politicians didn’t. Striking down the draconian 66a! Now get rid of 377 too Rajdeep Sardesai@sardesairajdeep Section 66 A of IT act struck down! Three cheers for Supreme Court! #Section66A Pritish Nandy@PritishNandy Section 66A of the IT Act, the noxious, draconian law has been struck down by the Supreme Court. Restores our faith in democracy. Milind Deora@milinddeora Looks like tomorrow’s going to be an exciting day for India’s Internet... #Section66A raghu ram@tweetfromRaghu This is great news! Deal with it, Govt! Haha! #FreedomOfSpeech #Celebrateindianexpress. com/article/cities…

Laugh Aloud A junior manager, a senior manager and their boss are on their way to a meeting. On their way through a park, they come across a wonder lamp. They rub the lamp and a ghost appears. The ghost says: Normally, one is granted three wishes but as you are three, I will allow one wish each” So the eager senior manager shouted, I want the first wish. I want to be in the Bahamas, on a fast boat and have no worries. “Pfufffff and he was gone. Now the junior manager could not keep quiet and shouted “I want to be in Florida with beautiful girls, plenty of food and cocktails.”Pfufffff and he was also gone. The boss calmly said, “I want these two idiots back right now .” Pfuffff ……….:p Lesson :- ALWAYS ALLOW THE BOSSES TO SPEAK FIRST A young man asked an old rich man how he made his money. The old guy fingered his worsted wool vest and said, “Well, son, it was 1932. The depth of the Great Depression. I was down to my last nickel. “I invested that nickel in an apple. I spent the entire day polishing the apple and, at the end of the day, I sold the apple for ten cents. “The next morning, I invested those ten cents in two apples. I spent the entire day polishing them and sold them at 5:00 pm for 20 cents. I continued this system for a month, by the end of which I’d accumulated a fortune of $1.37.” “And that’s how you built an empire?” the boy asked. “Heavens, no!” the man replied. “Then my wife’s father died and left us two million dollars.” Tom was so excited about his promotion to Vice President of the company he worked for and kept bragging about it to his wife for weeks on end. Finally she couldn’t take it any longer, and told him, “Listen, it means nothing, they even have a vice president of peas at the grocery store!”. “Really?” he said. Not sure if this was true or not, Tom decided to call the grocery store. A clerk answers and Tom says “Can I please talk to the Vice President of peas?” The clerk replies “Canned or frozen?”

58 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

Beyond the bottom line

Mental health matters

How good mental health makes for a great balance sheet! By Suchismita Pai

f you know of one single cause that can lower the GDP of a nation by up to 4%, would you insist it be remedied? What if you knew that for every dollar spent by a business could get a return that would be almost two and a half times? Even Harvard says that while the symptoms may go unnoticed, the financial impacts of mental health issues are tangible. And yet the issue of mental health is rarely acknowledged, let alone addressed by employers. The social stigma associated with mental health issues prevents them from coming to the fore or being attended to. Businesses, donors and even governments often tend to brush it under the carpet. It is easy to see why this happens. We tend to joke about it or worse, internalize the problem. Like the elephant in the room, everyone sees it, but no one wants to be the first to admit it is there. Estimates from the early 2000s state that an office could lose up to six days of labour per month to absenteeism, and 31 days per month due to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;presenteeismâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (being there but working less efficiently), thanks to issues like anxiety and depression. In a case study in a large United States financial services company, depression resulted in an average of 44

work-days taken off for short-term, leaving behind heart disease (42 days), lower back pain (39days), and asthma (21 days). There is growing anecdotal evidence that ignoring mental health issues can lead to significant risks in decision-making and leadership of corporations. The stigma against seeking help for mental health issues, especially by those in high-powered, high-pressure jobs has affected their ability to do their job and lead their organizations, in the process putting their whole work forces at risk. In another study, when researchers ranked the most costly health conditions, depression ranked first, ahead of obesity, arthritis, and back and neck pain and anxiety ranked fifth. The writing on the wall say researchers is that companies investing in the mental health of their employees would not just have happier, healthier employees, but would also see tangible gains in their bottom-line. So, if corporations could openly make mental health as much a priority as physical health, it is a win-win not just for the employee and the organization, but also for a healthier world! The next time someone passes off depression as a joke, the joke could be on all of us. paisuchi@gmail.com

watch out n There is growing anecdotal evidence that ignoring mental health issues can lead to significant risks in decisionmaking and leadership of corporations. n In a large United States financial services company, depression resulted in an average of 44 work-days taken off for short-term, leaving behind heart disease (42 days), lower back pain (39days), and asthma (21 days). n In another study, the most costly health conditions depression ranked first, ahead of obesity, arthritis, and back and neck pain and anxiety ranked fifth.

AprilApril 1-15,1-15, 20152015 / Corporate / Corporate Citizen Citizen / 59/ 59

Mobile Apps

5 latest mobile launches It’s that time of the year when leading Smartphone brands release their flagship phones for the year, at the biggest smartdevice event in the world – The Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. These phones are the crèmede-la-crème of the technological world and the envy of millions. Corporate Citizen brings to you the biggest Smartphone launches of 2015. Enjoy! By Neeraj Varty  The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge

Not only did Samsung launch the Galaxy S6 at MWC, it also launched an Edge variant of the phone with a curved screen. The Samsung galaxy S6 Edge is alike no other phone you have ever seen. It has all the features present in the S6, along with a rounded display with edges that curve out and down, giving the screen a sort of bubble effect along its sides. Samsung promises a “immersive viewing experience” with the S6 edge. The phone makes complete use of its rounded corners. Say you have the phone upside-down on the table during dinner. If one of your regular contacts calls or texts, the edge of the phone will glow with their associated color you have pre-assigned them, so you don’t even have to pick up the phone to know who has called or texted. business for over 15 years. Made with high quality materials, the N1 is an android slate, which uses Nokia’s own Z launcher tailored for tablets and its based on android 5.0.2 Lolipop. It has a beautiful 7.9” display, which is reminiscent of Apple’s iPad mini. Powering it is a 64-bit Intel Atom Z3580 with four 2.3GHz cores, 2GB of RAM and the PowerVR G6430 graphics chip. This exciting tablet has already launched in China, and will soon make its way to the Indian shores.

 The Samsung Galaxy S6

Let’s start with the biggest launch of the event – The Samsung Galaxy S6! The flagship phone from the world’s largest phone manufacturer has finally arrived. For the first time, Samsung has abandoned the much criticised plastic build for a much more premium glass and metal body, making the S6 the most beautiful Samsung phone till date. This beauty boasts of an extremely high resolution Quad HD screen, 16MP camera with Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS), 3 GB RAM and 32 GB inbuilt memory. The phone will hit the stores in the first week of April, and it sure looks to be worth the wait.

Designed almost completely using brushed aluminium, the HTC flagship is a sight to behold. It not only boasts of high end specifications like a Full HD 5” display, a 230 MP camera and the latest processor, it also has two prominent BoomSound speaker grills on its front for the clearest audio experience of any smartphone till date. The HTC one will come to a store near you by the end of the month, and you can pre-order it now on leading online portals.

 The HTC One (M9)

The next major Smartphone launch comes from HTC, with the new HTC one (M9). The HTC one is probably the most beautiful phone to come out of MWC this year. 60 / Corporate Citizen / April March1-15, 16-31, 2015 2015

The Nokia N1

Just when you thought Nokia was dead and buried, the erstwhile Smartphone giant has come out with its first tablet – The Nokia N1. The N1 is a reminder of why Nokia was the most revered name in the mobile

 Sony Xperia M4 Aqua

The Xperia M4 is a mid range Smartphone from Sony, which offers a lot of bang for the buck. As you may have figured out from its name, the Xperia M4 aqua is a waterproof phone, which also has some really capable specifications, which include a 5-inch display of 720p resolution, a Snapdragon 615 chipset paired with 2GB of RAM, and a 13MP Exmor RS camera, along with a dedicated shutter button. neeraj.varty@corporatecitizen.com

health

--{ Diabetes }--

Have high energy breakfast low energy dinner

A study published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes) shows that people with type 2 diabetes who consume a high energy breakfast & a low energy dinner have better blood sugar control than those who eat a low energy breakfast and a high energy dinner

he authors of the study include Professor Daniela Jakubowicz and Professor Julio Wainstein, Wolfson Medical Center, Tel Aviv University, Israel, Professor Bo Ahren, Lund University, Sweden and Professor Oren Froy Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. Previous work by this group has shown that high energy breakfast with low energy dinner (the B diet) reduced post-meal blood glucose spikes (post-prandial glycaemia) in obese non-diabetic individuals, when compared with a low energy breakfast and high energy dinner diet (the D diet). This new randomised study included 18 individuals (eight men, 10 women), with type 2 diabetes of less than 10 years duration, an age range 30-70 years, body mass index (BMI) 22-35 kg/ m2, and treated with metformin and/or dietary advice (eight patients with diet alone and 10 with diet and metformin). Patients were randomised to either the B diet or the D diet daily for 1 week. The B diet contained 2946 kilojoule (kj) breakfast, 2523 kj lunch, and 858kj dinner. The D diet contained the same total energy but arranged differently: 858 kj breakfast, 2523 kj lunch, and 2946 kj dinner. The larger of the two meals included milk, tuna, a granola bar, scrambled egg, yoghurt and cereal, while the smaller meal contained sliced turkey breast, mozzarella, salad and coffee. Breakfast was taken at 0800H AM, lunch at 1300H PM, and dinner at 1900H PM. Patients consumed their diets at home for 6 days before the sampling day. On the 7th day (sampling day), each group consumed their assigned meal plan in the clinic, and blood samples were collected just before breakfast (0 min) and at 15, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150 and 180 min after eating commenced. Blood sampling was repeated at the same time points after lunch and dinner. Post-meal levels of glucose were measured in each participant, as well as levels of insulin, c-peptide (a component of insulin), and glucagon-like-peptide 1 hormone (GLP-1 and also known as incretin: an indicator of glucose metaobilsm that stimulates insulin release). Two weeks later, patients were crossed over to the other diet

plan, and the tests repeated. The results showed that post-meal glucose levels were 20% lower and levels of insulin, C-peptide and GLP-1 were 20% higher in participants on the B diet compared with the D diet. Despite the diets containing the same total energy and same calories during lunch, lunch in the B diet resulted in lower blood glucose (by 21–25%) and higher insulin (by 23%) compared with the lunch in the D diet. “These observations suggest that a change in meal timing influences the overall daily rhythm of post-meal insulin and incretin and results in a substantial reduction in the daily post-meal glucose levels,” says Professor Froy. “A person’s meal timing schedule may be a crucial factor in the improvement of glucose balance and prevention of complications in type 2 diabetes and lends further support to the role of the circadian system in metabolic regulation.” Professor Jakubowicz adds: “The mechanism of better glucose tolerance after high-energy breakfast than after an identical dinner may be in part the result of clock regulation that triggers higher beta cell responsiveness and insulin secretion in the morning, and both a lower rate of breakdown of insulin by the liver and the increase in insulin-mediated muscle glucose uptake in the morning. Thus, recommending a higher energy load at breakfast, when beta cell responsiveness and insulin-mediated muscle glucose uptake are at optimal levels, seems an adequate strategy to decrease post-meal glucose spikes in patients with type 2 diabetes.” She concludes: “High energy intake at breakfast is associated with significant reduction in overall post-meal glucose levels in diabetic patients over the entire day. This dietary adjustment may have a therapeutic advantage for the achievement of optimal metabolic control and may have the potential for being preventive for cardiovascular and other complications of type 2 diabetes.” (Courtesy: http://www.diabetologia-journal.org/files/Jakubowicz.pdf) April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 61

astroturf job prospects. Pay attention to your home front if you feel there are flaws then now is the time to correct them.

Fortune favours the bold and the lucky

Your attitude is your altitude says Dolly Mangat our renowned Astrological Expert and believes she helps people create their own prophecies rather than live predictions

Aries

Mar 21- April 20 Off late things have been going easy for you, monetary wise or relationships they have been happy. There is an important development happening this lunar eclipse which falls on the 4th of this month, it’s a testing time there will be upheavals repressed feelings and grievances will be thrown up that need to be dealt with. Patience will be needed to understand what exactly is going on. The strong withstand and the weak wither away.

TAURUS

April 21 - May 20 There would certainly be some excitements and happy developments this month. The time ahead does look very prosperous, after the 14th you could experience some windfalls and financial opportunities too. The aspects of the planets point towards job changes as opportunities are seeking you. You could expect a lot of drama and life changing events happening.

GEMINI

May 21 - June 21 The lunar eclipse this 4th is a very powerful one and has a

double impact on most of us. Your finances will be impacted in a positive way, as you get the opportunity to revise your thinking and strategy matters concerning finance job or investments. Travelling will bring in additional benefits other than pleasure, in fact you could consider mixing business with pleasure. Pay attention to your intuitions and dreams as they hyperactive and prophetic.

CANCER

Jun 22 - July 23 Reduce your commitments, make only those you can handle and honor. You may have already started feeling the effects of the lunar eclipse, which makes you emotional and sensitive. Do not play around with emotions or people; avoid taking any kind of stressful activities or risks. Stay focused on your career as now is the perfect time to make amends if need be.

LEO

July 24 - Aug 23 This month is going to be a happy and successful month for you in spite of the lunar eclipse. This also the time for your career peak, as much success and progress is seen. You will either get a pay raise and a promotion or better

62 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015

VIRGO

Aug 24 - Sept 23 Doing things impulsively will lead you nowhere in fact could frustrate you more. Major financial changes need to be made, look into your long-term investments and savings and make changes wherever needed. Those in employment should be prepared for changes in the conditions of work for the better.

LIBRA

Sept 24 - Oct 22 You may experience an overall low energy levels and health concerns. This usually happens during the lunar eclipse. You should be mentally prepared for all eventualities better or worse. Avoid taking any kind of risky activities take a break and try spending time in your own space and environs. Symbolically speaking it’s the start of career period for you.

SCORPIO

Oct 23 - Nov 22 The cosmic announcements are imminent. The universe tells you to get ready for big changes happening in life. You could experience a major psychological shift. Be ready for a major career push; time to let go of domestic concerns and focus on profession and outer goals. Serve your family by being successful in the world.

SAGITTARIUS

Nov 23 - Dec 22 With the lunar eclipse many areas of your life get affected but its effects are relatively benign for you for you. The impact will probably be stronger on the world at large. It also impacts your house of

friends as your friendships get tested. Good ones survive, flawed ones can break up- and this is as it should be. Its good idea to have some back plans for yourself. Excellent time for job seekers as there are abundant opportunities seeking you just need to explore.

CAPRICORN

Dec 23 - Jan 20 Health and energy needs to be carefully monitored especially around the lunar eclipse on the 4th of April. The eclipse does impact many areas of your life, you need to consider some serious career changes, make some good sound policies and you will see that these changes help you progress in your profession. Flawed relationships do get dissolved, be more patient with loved ones, as during this period he or she may get temperamental. Health and energy get dramatically improved after the 20th.

AQUARIUS

Jan 21 - Feb19 You are in an excellent period for starting new projects or launching anything new you have in your mind. You need to let go off career issues downplay them and give your attention to the home front and domestic life. This is the month for emotional healing rather than outer pursuits. There could be some health scares, but your health remains good as timely tests can drive away the scares.

PISCES

Feb 20 - Mar 20 Your finances continue to be strong, even though you may be experiencing many highs and lows. Money may come to you in many different and surprising ways sometimes when you least expect it. Family support remains good and family connections play a great role in your success. There is a powerful lunar eclipse and thus many areas of your life are affected in a big way.

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April 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 63

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Claps & Slaps Corporate Citizen slaps the continuing trend of child marriage that is still rampant in India, despite the nation progressing towards being a superpower nation Corporate Citizen gives a thunderous clap to our Indian yoga teacher, Yogaraj CP, for performing more than 1500 asanas for 40 hours and 15 minutes, thereby creating a new Guinness World Record Unbelievable… A big round of applause to Yogaraj CP, Hong Kong based Indian yoga teacher who has created a new Guinness World Record by continuously performing more than 1500 asanas for 40 hours and 15 minutes. WOWO... Well, this gentleman started the Maha Yoga Sadhana on 13th February 2015 and continuously performed yoga on successive nights of 13th and 14th Feb before achieving the feat on the afternoon of 15 th February 2015. This new record set by Yogaraj was recognised by the judge of “Guinness Book of World Records” who was present there. Yogaraj has dedicated the record to our Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, for giving ‘International Day of Yoga’ to the world and helping in raising the profile of Yoga for the benefit of humanity. Did you know that he had earlier held the record for ‘Longest Yoga Marathon’ on 14th June 2009 for 28 hours which was bettered by Austrian, Michael Schwab, in September 2009 for 29 hours and 4 minutes? Not just that, Yogaraj also holds the Guinness World Record for doing 23 yoga asanas while riding a motorcycle that he achieved on 17th February 2011. Yogaraj and other prominent yoga practitioners in Hong Kong under the overall coordination of the Indian Consulate are teaming up to befittingly celebrate the first International Day of Yoga on 21th June 2015. Yogaraj was initiated into yoga at the age of five by his father Late Shri. S. Chidhambaram and learnt yoga from yoga acharya and started teaching at the age of 12. Apart from teaching Yoga to students, he is also teacher of teachers. Many of his students are now working as yoga teachers in Hong Kong and other neighboring countries. Yogaraj, we truly admire you! Kudos to you!

Are we a progressive nation? Are we heading towards being a superpower nation? Well, we seriously doubt it…It is extremely disheartening to see that child marriage is still rampant in a developing country like ours. This trend is excessively affecting girls and endangering their lives and livelihoods. Rooted in cultural tradition and poverty, the practice not only violates human rights laws but also threatens stability and economic development. Sadly nearly 17 million Indian children between the ages of 10 and 19, six per cent of the age group—are married, many of them to older men, revealed a recent census report. This is an increase of 0.9 million from the 2001 census figure. While the legal age for marriage is 18, so some involved may have been adults, but it is unlikely both partners were. Of these married children, 76 per cent, or 12.7 million, are girls, according to census data. Only four million boys in this age group are married, reinforcing the fact that girls are significantly more disadvantaged. More boys were married in 2011 at 4 million compared to 3.4 million in 2001. The number is constant for girls. About 2.8 million children in Uttar Pradesh are married, followed by Bihar and Rajasthan with 1.6 million each. Indiaspend.org previously reported that India is ranked sixth among the top ten countries that report child marriages among females. Since the number of married boys is much lower than that of girls, it is clear girls are marrying older men. Not just that, children beget children…sadly six million children were born to couples married in the age group of 10-19. Child-bearing at a young age is detrimental to the health of both the mother and the infant. This is why child marriage affects women more than men, other than the fact that men are less likely to be married as children. It’s high time that we start changing our thinking than just GDP numbers (Courtesy: Indiaspend.org - A data-driven, public-interest journalism non-profit)

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

64 / Corporate Citizen / April 1-15, 2015