Sometimes I wonder

I have always wondered whether pursuit of material gain and professional growth should gain precedence over gains for the personality, the spirit, the family and the community. I come from a typical middle class Tambram family where simplicity and frugality marry well with hard work, sincerity and excellence in academic pursuits.

My parents never pushed me hard to study and do well, but study hard I did. And I did fairly well too. I started out at Godrej as a Management Trainee at a princely stipend of Rs. 1700 per month in 1983. At that time this was considered a decent enough pay, so much so, that when my father, out of a sense of pride, took my appointment letter to show it to the proprietor of the company he worked for, the Marwari sethji promptly raised my father’s own pay! I am quite certain that, that was not my father’s intention, though I have to thank Godrej for this development in our lives at that time.

Even in those days a Godrej job was not considered to be very hip. After an MBA, one typically took up jobs with the likes of Hindustan Lever or Johnson & Johnson or Citibank or HSBC that gave both career and money. I somehow never hankered after money but also felt that I had reasonably enough to live the life I wanted to. Looking back I also realize that I wanted quite a simple life most of the times…sumptuous food, decent clothes, simple house and a job where I felt wanted. Since I lived with my parents, I thought I had it all!

Many of my colleagues sky rocketed in their careers within the first five years. Pradeep Kar became a very successful IT entrepreneur with his Microland. C.P. Tahiliani became the youngest General Manager at J&J. Vijayan Subramani was hand picked by Citicorp to be part of their international cadre of management trainees to be trained in Greece to become a currency dealer and a treasury professional eventually. A batch mate purchased a house in Vashi, Mumbai within 3 years of passing out of B school. And the list went on. Batch mates zipped around the world and came back with their stories. I was like Duh and all I did was listened to their anecdotes and wished I could get there someday too. But clearly I wasn't spurred by it either.

It was around this time that I adopted and understood the phrase that I am about to state.

YOU ARE ALWAYS HAPPY IN THE ABSOLUTE AND MISERABLE IN COMPARISON.

But I have never been able to successfully overcome the debate of “if I don’t compare how do I constantly improve and if I do compare how do I avoid being miserable”. One of the methods was to try and be anchored in something higher to avoid sinking into the depths of the mundane. And that “something” higher made me gravitate towards spirituality at a very young age, at the great risk of being tagged with the line that “folks who can’t make it in their careers take up spirituality”. Yes, this adage was true those days. I am noticing a significant change and a turnaround these days, for sure. Its now par for course for youngsters to be into spirituality activities like Vipassana.

Many of my colleagues egged me on saying I needed to get out of the well that was Godrej and out into the big great world, if I was to grow in my career. I never felt the need nor the urge. May be I was risk averse or just plain lazy but I never looked out of Godrej for 10 long years. (Last year I did a TedX talk on Serendipity in my life as the backdrop. A link to the video is available on my profile page)

When I take a look at my class of ’83 now and do a rapid review I find that the position each person holds is no longer what it was when we started out. Big egos have got flattened, life priorities have changed, people who thought success couldn’t be theirs are indeed successful and so on and so forth. This brings me to another phrase that I adapted from a book title that I browsed some years back.

TOUGH TIMES NEVER LAST BUT TOUGH PEOPLE DO.

In one’s career it’s important to build one’s capabilities and develop strength of character to be able to handle the downturns and the tough times and yet be humbly able to ride the crests. It’s a tough ask because when the good times come, its difficult to give the credit to others and to higher powers and still remain humble. And when the tough times hit you, its difficult to steer clear of the negativity and the waves of pessimism. I wonder if there is a case for writing a book with the title?“Good times don’t last but Good people do”.

If you have seen the Bollywood movie “Om Shanti Om”, one of the striking scenes is the simple yet profound speech that the lead character, played by Shah Rukh Khan gives on receiving the Filmfare award. Things always work out in the end and if for some reason it has not worked out for you, believe that it is not yet The End!!

I am still not 100 % certain that one should pursue career growth at all costs. I haven’t seen very many successful professionals who were also good human beings. I am seeing a lot more of them these days. I am more convinced than I ever was that being fundamentally good pays off in the long run. I see lots of evidence around to support this hypothesis to convince me to pursue this line of thought and behaviour.

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And thus, my principle when I start out to train youngsters - "To be a better professional you have to start by being a better human"

With the AIM program at Tech Mahindra, an attempt was made in that direction. There was less of method and more of inspiration, but the outcome was good. AIMers (as the candidates came to be called) turned out in general to be positive, can do, persistent, flexible and hard working professionals.

And the Hindi phrase, Padi Hai became associated with me because the candidates adopted the phrase and the philosophy as a life principle.

Well, it all started a long time ago when I started to wonder about some fundamental truths!!! :-)