Resetting of Conscience, Priorities, and Emotions

Book: To Hell and Back: Humans of COVID

Author: Barkha Dutt

Price: 699/-

Pages: 288

Year: 2022

Publisher: Juggernaut Books, India

Usually, I have a wisecrack to crack on every occasion. Today, I have none. Even my posts post getting Covid in the second wave in May 2021, were full of humour [Post 1 Post 2]. I was able to laugh at myself. Not today. My pain, my experiences, seem too small today.

Sometime in April 2022, I ordered and got Barkha Dutt’s book, To Hell and Back: Humans of COVID. I was reluctant to start reading it, even though I wanted to. I didn’t want to refresh the memories of what I went through. But finally, I did start reading it last week [3^rd week of July, 2022].

There were a lot of things I reminisced while reading the book. Like wondering, during the period that I was hospitalized, that how would someone who doesn’t know someone get a bed like I had? What if the oxygen supply ran out? What if I was taken to the hospital a couple of hours later? And many such questions.

During that period, I knew of a junior, who had a two-year-old kid, not reaching the hospital on time, and then not even getting a proper funeral. I knew of an uncle who was brilliant and taught me accounts but did not get the right treatment. My thoughts lingered on an aunt who was never diagnosed with Covid but had all the symptoms and passed away soon after. I remember questioning that why did I deserve to live when they could not be saved?

Post Covid, suffering from Long Covid- chronic insomnia, anxiety, hair loss, pain in the bones, palpitations- I constantly battled my symptoms and tried to be normal and move on. Barkha Dutt describes my conversation with her on the Mojo Story on page 255 of her book. She calls me Nutan Banga. When I started reading the book, I realized that I had really moved on.

Barkha Dutt’s book is a solemn reminder of what the pandemic was and gives us a view that none of us could have had individually. The experience of a migrant labourer was very different from the experiences of a cow herder from that of a funeral service provider, to a doctor, and to a well-connected upper-class person, like she herself is. The inequalities that she has presented in her book, even in the way one faced death, are unimaginable to people like us who live in urban bubbles, disconnected from the grassroots, disconnected from our roots, and disconnected from how people outside such bubbles live.

I went to Kundli once and enjoyed the Murthal parathas with white butter and daal makhana. But did I know about the toxic yellow water that the people of this village got? No. The water that caused serious skin diseases, how would they drink that water when even buying drinking water became difficult? 

Or consider the corpses of 20 tribal migrant workers who were so exhausted from all the walking that they went to sleep on the railway tracks where “they thought they would not be noticed or disturbed by the police. A goods train ran over them an hour later.” [Pg38] A chill went up my spine.

Most of us were helpless in the case of covid deaths to a large extent. Whether it was the availability of beds in the hospitals, medicines, oxygen, testing, what could most of us do? How could I help the migrants or those who lost their jobs? Sonu Sood did it. Many others did. But let’s just say that I am a more ordinary person. At least it was a good excuse to console myself. But I could not stop my tears for a long time when I read about Aishwarya.

The girl from Shadnagar, 50kms from Hyderabad, Aishwarya, committed suicide. She committed suicide because her parents could not afford to buy her a laptop or a smart phone to continue her education. “If I can’t study, I can’t live”, she wrote in her suicide note [pg 233-234]. Probably because of the geographical proximity, probably because she got an admission at the Lady Shri Ram College despite the poverty and circumstances, probably because I feel strongly for the cause of girl education, my tears would just not stop. Could I have helped if I knew what she was going through? Would I have helped? The fact is that I did nothing. Not for her. Not for anyone.

I would gladly give away all my hair if I could save Aishwarya.

The pandemic was sudden, but not improbable. Bill Gates warned against “the next outbreak” in 2014. National Geographic warned of how deforestation was causing bats to have “no other option than to fly elsewhere in search of food, carrying with them a deadly disease” in a 2019 article. But the world at large was not prepared for the Covid19. Some events need to be prepared for due to the severity of their impact. The governments must build their Afsluitdijks to prepare for such events. The quantum of impact, the number of people impacted, the physical, emotional, economic, and societal disruption is of catastrophic scale. Life cannot go back to normal.

To understand the severity of the catastrophe that Covid19 unleashed on humanity, each one of us should read the book. It will make us realise that there is life beyond our bubbles. While everyone’s sorrow and difficulties are exactly that- sorrows and difficulties- and thus, cannot be undermined, different situations have very different impact on the different strata of society. And in some cases, survival itself becomes a challenge.

Some books move you. Leave an indelible mark on you. And this is one such book. I am not going to comment on the writing style, what the government did or did not do, the organization of the chapters, etc. Sometimes, the message is far too important, the story is so powerful and compelling that how it is delivered doesn’t matter.

I cried many a times while reading the book, choked many times, sometimes just happy to be alive, while at the other times questioning why I was alive? What was I doing? And what am I going to do now? These questions are haunting me. Something in me changed after Covid. Something in me has changed again after reading this book.

“We don’t know about tomorrow,” said the horse, “all we need to know is that we love each other.”- Charlie Mackesy

Most of you might have read my experiences with Covid. If not, it can be read here https://npbang.blogspot.com/2021/05/up-close-and-personal.html

This blog post is about the last month, post-Covid, recovery phase. I will not repeat the things that I have already mentioned in the earlier post. And once again the disclaimer: It seems that the recovery process and timeline follow a long-tailed distribution. While many may have similar and expected experiences, many others have very different trajectories. It cannot be generalized. However, what is certain is, as Kabir said:

चलती चक्की देख के, दिया कबीरा रोये ।

दो पाटन के बीच में, साबुत बचा न कोए ।

That is, between a pair of quern stones, nobody remains whole. In the context of Covid, once contracted, however mild, nobody remains as they were before Covid. Physically as well as mentally.

Homecoming: My 11 years old daughter made a poster that depicted the corona virus being killed and welcomed me home with excitement. While I have always been very fond of my home and long to get back to it even if I am away for a couple of days, the emotions that the return from the hospital elicited were intense. Legs too weak to carry me to every corner, my eyes took in as much of home as they could.

It felt like the Shahrukh Khan entry scene from the movie Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham. Except that I came in a car. Not a helicopter. And my daughter had a poster in her hand to welcome me instead of a puja ka thaali for aarti.

In the Storm: The primary concern for the first week was weakness and constant monitoring of oxygen saturation levels. Weakness was severe and oxygen levels did drop at times after walking a few steps or sitting for some time. Unfortunately, in the second wave, possibilities of post-covid complications were likely. So apart from weakness and oxygen levels, even a slight cough, or a headache, or eye ache, or discomfort in breathing, or a pain in the stomach, were all symptoms of black fungus or pulmonary embolism or a stomach infection or could be indicative of something else. Mind was on high alert and noticed every single change in the body. It continues to be, as the threat of a secondary infection or heart related problems loom until a few months post covid.

Upon recommendation from a friend, I read this lovely book “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” by Charlie Mackesy a few days after coming back home. And loved these lines: “This storm is real, and our fear is real,” said the horse. “But our love is also real, and in the end, love wins.”

Also, these “This storm is making me tired,” said the boy. “Storms get tired too,” said the horse, “So hold on.”

Weakness: Two things helped me regain some basic level of strength in about 10 days. First, drinking lots and lots of fluids. About 5 litres a day; water, coconut water, freshly made juices, buttermilk, and ORS. I could feel the improvement each day and even the difference on a day I had lower levels of fluids. Second, the fact that I was relatively fitter and healthy. After about 10 days, the improvement was not perceptible on a daily basis, and the delta became smaller with each passing day. My fitness level is down to zero right now. It is as though I have never exercised in my life. It may be a couple of months more before I go back to my pre-covid levels of fitness and that would now require starting with some conscious exercises and training. Patience is the key.

धीरे-धीरे रे मना, धीरे सब कुछ होय ।

माली सींचे सौ घड़ा, ॠतु आए फल होय ।

As Kabir says, everything happens at its own pace. As a gardener may water the plants with a hundred buckets of water, but the fruits arrive only in its season, similarly, whatever you may do, have patience and you will see the fruits of your hard work.

Food: While in the hospital, I lost 5kgs weight. My skin became dry, lost all elasticity, appeared wrinkled and sagged. Just a couple of days after coming back home, my appetite suddenly went up. I regained some taste. And wanted to eat all the time. Even now, a month later, I feel like eating all the time. With increased appetite, the weight came back, and some more ☹. Here, I must say that I ate regular food that is cooked at home and did not make any attempt to eat healthier options that few people suggested. I included seasonal fruits (only mangoes, litchis and watermelons) and lots of fluids in my diet. The dryness of the skin has improved though it remains loose. Again, exercise should help with toning.

जिन खोजा तिन पाइया, गहरे पानी पैठ,

मैं बपुरा बूडन डरा, रहा किनारे बैठ

In these couplets, Kabir inspires us to work hard and seek. Those who search in deep waters, find something. Whereas those who sit at the fence for fear of drowning do not get anything. So, I must pursue fitness now and get rid of the fear that Covid has deep rooted in my mind, in order to get back to the pre-Covid level of fitness.

Anxiety and Insomnia: These two have been my companions frequently in the past as well. But I mostly had reasons to be anxious and could explain the sleeplessness. The frequency has now increased, and I have no reasons now.

मुझे नींद न आए, मुझे चैन न आए…

हालत क्या है कैसे तुझे बताऊँ मैं, करवट बदल-बदल के रात बिताऊँ मैं

पूछो ज़रा पूछो क्या हाल है, हाल मेरा बेहाल है

कोई समझ न पाए क्या रोग सताए…

This super hit song from the Madhuri Dixit and Amir Khan starrer movie Dil (1990) describes my state quite well. The problem is that it is very difficult to explain this to anyone. Why am I not sleeping? What is bothering me? Even I don’t know. I cannot explain. It is just an after effect of Covid.

Yes, I have tried counting 1 to 10 to calm my mind and breath; yes, I have tried deep breathing many times but did not fall asleep; yes, I have tried white noise and various apps; none of them worked. I just hope this is temporary.

Concentration and memory: I’m an academician, a researcher. A lot of what I do requires me to have a good memory, to pull out anecdotes, facts, numbers, and findings, that I might have read long ago, from the depths of my memory. People used to tell me that I have an elephant’s memory. I would remember the page number in a book where I read something interesting. I have had moments in the last few weeks when I have struggled to recall names and words. Similarly, I pride myself for my ability to concentrate even amid many distractions. The nature of my work requires me to concentrate. I am not able to watch or read for more than 2-3 minutes at a stretch now. I would be devastated if Covid has a long-lasting impact on either my concentration or memory. I hope not.

Compare this to the days when I was doing a PhD. I had flat mates who were working. They would come back from work and put on the TV or loud music and partied often at our flat. I could study with complete focus at those times too. Sometimes, when there were too many people around, I would go and sit in the balcony that faced the very busy Banjara Hills Road Number 3 (Hyderabad) and studied under the streetlight that lit a part of the balcony as well (the balcony itself had no bulb/tubelight). I could easily concentrate and study even with all the noise on the road.

How do you feel? I have no answer to this question. It is a seesaw. On one day I feel good, on the other very low. One day I have no perceptible issues, the very next day, I feel that there is a faint ache in my heart that needs investigation. Yesterday, I was laughing and joking with everyone, today, I just want to be quiet. I don’t know how to answer this question.

One of my all-time favorite movies is Hrithik Roshan and Preity Zinta starrer Lakshya (2004). Javed Akhtar wrote these lyrics that seemed more like a conversation with a best friend rather than a song and were beautifully given music to by Shankar, Ehsan and Loy.

अब मुझको ये है करना, अब मुझे वो करना है

आख़िर क्यूँ मैं ना जानूँ, क्या है कि जो करना है

लगता है अब जो सीधा, कल मुझे लगेगा उल्टा

देखो ना मैं हूँ जैसे, बिल्कुल उल्टा-पुल्टा

These lines play in my head every time someone asks me, “How are you feeling now?” or “How’s your recovery?” In my mind even my expressions are similar to those of Hrithik’s as he is dancing to this song. However, I keep a straight face and say, “I am doing quite well. Thank you.”

Covid Conversations: The most difficult part of recovery is to stay positive. Unfortunately, the time around which I had Covid, the cases were at their peak across the country. There were depressing news of people losing the battle, shortage of oxygen, medicines, beds, and deaths of people too close to home. Each day, the conversations around the morning tea inevitably shifted to Covid updates even though we started out saying that we will not talk about Covid. It had an impact on the mood at home, it seemed like there was nothing to look forward to and there was the survivor’s guilt as well as the reckoning that I had come so close to becoming “news” myself. From the time the number of cases has started coming down, there is a distinct positivity in my attitude and a desire to get well sooner. Even though it is difficult, staying positive helps.

Many songs of Kishore Kumar are brilliant. However, this one from Safar (1970) is perhaps one of his best (debatable of course).

ज़िन्दगी का सफ़र, है ये कैसा सफ़र

कोई समझा नहीं, कोई जाना नहीं

[The journey of life is incomprehensible. Nobody has been able to understand it]

The unpredictability of life has been amply demonstrated to us by Covid. However, it has also shown the helplessness of the humankind and made us accept life the way it is…

ये जीवन है, इस जीवन का

यही है, यही है, यही है रंगरूप

थोड़े ग़म हैं, थोड़ी खुशियाँ

यही है, यही है, यही है छाँव धूप

-      Piya Ka Ghar (1972), sung by Kishore Kumar

I hope this will be the concluding part of my experiences with Covid and nothing major, worth writing about, happens hence forth. I would like to end with a word of caution. I still see many people relying on cloth masks. I too wore them. In fact, I have them in all variety; Pochampally, Ikat, Madhubani, Kalamkari, with embroidery, in all colours to match my dresses. They are not at all adequate. Don’t let your guard down. Double mask up. Because it’s worth it! 

Health: Journey of self-discovery

This article was first published in ISB's inhouse periodical, Spandan, September 2020 issue, https://sway.office.com/AGMm76bE9xBWptwE

In the middle of September 2017, I suffered from acute lower back pain that was diagnosed as Degenerative Spondylosis. A couple of days of rest and working from home along with the medication and exercises suggested by the doctor eased the situation.

I have always been fitness conscious and have undertaken varied activities from time to time, viz. aerobics, yoga, frisbee, badminton, gym, swimming, walking, and more, all in pursuit of being fit. However, over the years, especially post-delivery, I started to put on weight. I was 55kgs when I got married in 2008 and 80kgs in 2017. Of and on dalliances with physical activities resulted in a 3-4 kgs of weight loss only to get back to where I was and to continue the upward trend.

I am an avid reader and enjoy watching movies too. Eating when reading or watching movies takes the experience to an almost cosmic level! When did the “once in a while” eating sweets when reading or watching something at night turn into a habit and then addiction is difficult to pinpoint. As most women, being in-charge of keeping the kitchen stocked, I ensured a steady supply of ice creams, chocolates, wafers, and cakes for myself. I would feel something was missing and would not fall asleep until I had something sweet. Provocations and objections from my husband would result in a siesta of a week to ten days and then the sweet tooth would prevail, again.

While prescribing the medicines for the degenerative spondylosis, the doctor mentioned very casually that the core issue is weight for all such ailments, and it will keep happening as long as I was overweight. However, being obese himself, he laughed it off saying that he was not the right person to advise me to lose weight. The informal jest struck a chord. It also worried me that a recurring back ache at a fairly young age would mean living with it for another 30-40 years. The future with different types of aches didn’t seem appealing.

As a first step, upon encouragement from my husband and inspiration from a fit friend, I decided to leave all forms of processed sugar for a few months. The first few weeks were difficult, to say the least. Mood swings, tears, periods of craving, not being able to sleep- avoiding a single morsel of sweet was like going through thousands of emotions and turmoil in my mind each time, again and again, and with a straight or a smiling face. For the opportunity to eat sweets presented itself everywhere: at work, birthday parties, weddings, festivals, casual meetings with friends and family. Not everyone understood when I said “No” because everyone knew that I am fond of sweets.

We cannot control the actions, reactions, and provocations by others. But restraining myself from reacting to all the insinuations, mocking, show of non-confidence and discouragements has been another battle all together. Visits to the toilet to hide the tears and saying no when each cell in my body was craving for that sweet being offered was no different from the accounts of those in drug rehabilitation centres.

The immediate result in terms of weight loss was encouraging. With moderate levels of physical activity, in 6 weeks I had lost 6 kgs. But it was clear to me that my body had gotten used to a no sugar diet and I was not going to lose any more weight with the status quo. I decided to start with supervised training to strengthen my muscles, tone up and increase the metabolism, which is otherwise very low due to Hypothyroidism.

No sugar, workout three days a week and cardio the rest of the four days for an hour each day started to make me feel lighter, fitter, and agile. But it did not result in further weight loss. That is when I started to think about what I always knew but never gave any importance to; that weight loss is more about diet than exercise. It is easier to cut calories than burn them.

In all my years of being fitness conscious, I was not diet conscious. Hence, was neither fit nor healthy. The quest to get my diet right led me to a celebrated dietician. I had heard about her from a few other friends. I had seen a friend transform under her supervision. Others had experienced different degrees of weight loss but all of them recommended her highly. I did my own research too and decided to take the plunge.

December 8, 2017 was the beginning of my journey with eating right. It is not difficult was my first reaction. I was eating my regular dal and curry, occasionally phulka and rice too, and tasty food like paneer tikka and stir fry vegetables. I was not majorly into junk food (apart from sweets), nor did I eat too much of fried food. So, I still maintain that the diet plan given by the dietician was not difficult. Plus, she always guided me when I needed to eat out or had to travel outside Hyderabad. It was the quantity of food and the hours of eating that became critical.

The difficult part however was to tell the detractors to back off. People felt sorry for me. They felt I was torturing myself. Many did not understand that it was a choice, not a prescribed activity in a prison. I was getting fitter and healthier. I was not sick and did not feel weak because I was eating less. Similarly, there were many who would keep telling me that I had lost enough weight and need not lose any more. People often forgot that I was educated, aware, technology and internet savvy, I can search, I can read, and I knew who to approach for advice. Deflecting unsolicited advice without the “well-wishers” feeling bad is as much of a struggle as following the diet.

There are many who were genuinely concerned that I might fall sick if I don’t eat. I had to explain to them that I was not starving myself. I was eating as much as my body needed. I was just not overeating. Which I was doing earlier. Then there were those who felt that I should eat now, enjoy my life and worry about weight when I get some disease, to them I had to tell that I AM enjoying my life. I do not want to wait till I get a disease. Prevention is better than cure. Why should I wait till I get diabetes or cholesterol to lose weight? Yes, I can still fall sick for various reasons. But I want to try while I still can, to be fit and healthy.

Six months after I started the diet and with moderate levels of exercise, I reached my right BMI. I had lost 20 kgs. I went into maintenance diet. That meant lesser restrictions. It’s been more than two years since I stopped seeing the dietician. I have been able to maintain my weight with a few kgs plus/minus. Overall, I have been fit. I can do 500 breathe-in-breathe-outs in Kapalbhati, I am comfortably able to do Chakrasana, Halasana and a 21k. I can cycle 60kms at a stretch. I aim to be able to do a full marathon, fifty pushups without stopping, and 100kms of cycling in the near future. 

What has worked for me is eating right with a combination of yoga, cardio and weight training and above all, the discipline to consistently do it. Without the discipline, it is all meaningless. Discipline involves saying NO, consistently. To yourself. To others. Not giving in to temptations. Also, that you can eat everything but have the discipline to moderate the quantity.

As you become healthier and fitter, you will keep raising the bar for yourself. Initially it is weight. Then it is strength. Then flexibility. Then speed. Ultimately, mental and spiritual well-being. The quest is never ending. Take the path less trodden. You have miles to go. But keep going. The journey itself is pleasurable. You will discover many things along the way. What worked for me may not work for you. But something will. So, start and the path will reveal itself!

Reading is akin to breathing

This post is inspired by Oneknitatatime:

https://oneknitatatime.com/2020/07/08/knitting-versus-reading/?fbclid=IwAR2MAT4obzDzuTqyEw47IFAblyvjFmMhiw8cGhMSN1IMC424LXnqwUDY9DQ

Dear Kni-der,

Your post brought back memories of the times when I used to borrow comics, magazines and books on rent in the small town of Ramgarh as it lacked a library. I remember making a trip to this small store called the “Shreeji Stores” with Rs 2 or 3 in one fist while carrying the pile of read treasure in the other almost daily. In those days, even those Rs 2 or 3 were not easy to get and I had to beg (well, not literally, but it wasn't easy) for them many a times.

I became more academic oriented and slowed down on reading as I went to a boarding school and during the 11^th and 12^th classes. After that, I do not remember a day when I have not read. When pursuing my CA exams, I would place books inside the accounting and auditing books and read them while pretending to study. It was important that I passed the exams in the first attempt and I could not give the impression that I did not study well just in case I failed. Thankfully, I did not fail.

Book purchases became the largest expense category on my credit card. I especially got bookshelves designed when we bought the house in which we currently live. The shelves were designed to accommodate books bought over the next 25 years but are already overflowing. Meeting authors, getting first editions, author signed copies and going for book readings all made me excited. The importance of books in my life is so profound that on my first birthday after marriage, my husband gifted the complete collection of Jeffrey Archer’s books to me, signed and addressed to me, by him.

As recently as in 2018, on a trip to Ramgarh, I went to Shreeji Stores and asked the bhaiya, who  was perhaps a teenager when I used to borrow the comics and magazines, if he still had that collection. I was interested in buying the entire lot if he did. Sadly, he did not. He did not exactly recall it but guessed that it was sold off to the scrap dealer during one of the store revamps. I was left with a feeling of emptiness for a few days at least.

I have never wanted to be a librarian. The thought never crossed my mind. But the quest to open a “chai aur kitaabein” parlour where people come, settle themselves down with a book, regular and unlimited supply of tea and snacks as they keep reading, no hurry to leave and conversations revolving around books, is a retirement plan that I keep mulling upon. Tea being the other love of my life.

Netflix and Prime became the prime contenders for the scarce time in the last few years. And like you, I did not like it. I do not like it. I started exploring audiobooks then and hated it. I would miss entire paragraphs, would go blank at times, kept rewinding, and missed the feel and smell of paper. For the record, I never enjoyed reading on the Kindle or e-books on iPad too. Coming back to audiobooks, after trying a couple of books, I gave up audiobooks as well as Netflix and Prime. I lived happily ever after for many months, just reading, and reading whenever I could during the day and compulsively at night.

I have been driving to work for 14 years now. I bought my first car in 2006. Since then, listening to music to and from my workplace became a ritual. I would spend hours updating my playlists at least one weekend in a month, adding new songs, organising old ones, making folders like “most favourite”, “just favourite”, “okay”, “not-so-good”, “latest”, and so on. About two years back, I started to get bored of listening to pretty much the same songs since 2006 for the “not-so-good” and “okay” hardly ever got played and very few songs from latest made it to the “favourite” or “most favourite” lists. Once again, I decided to listen to an audiobook. Dan Brown’s Origin had just released, and I downloaded the book on audiobooks.com with the free credit available with the trial version. The rest as they say is history.

I bought the Bose wireless, noise cancellation, sweat-proof, earbuds. They have been my constant companions for all non-car listening to audiobooks. I have subscriptions for audible, audiobooks.com and storytel. I mix paper books and audio books. From cooking to cycling, driving to dusting and shopping to sanitising, I listen.

A key takeaway from “hate at first listen” to “love of my life” now, is that the first book should always be one that is fast paced, is a thriller and one that you want to get to the end as fast as possible. I do not recall the book that led to the “hate” experience. But I do recall sitting in the parking lot of my office a bit longer so that a chapter of Origin gets over. I do remember going back to my car to get my earphones during the lunch time so that I could listen to the book when eating. I do remember avoiding friends during the evening walk so that I could listen some more. So, to all those who are still trying to get used to audiobooks, listen to some recommended crime fiction initially or a genre that you enjoy the most. Once you get used to listening, there is no looking back.

The number of books that I read/listen to has increased manifolds with audiobooks complimenting the paper books. I do miss listening to music at times. But let us face it. There are hardly any good new songs getting released now a days. I switch to music occasionally to revisit the old favourites. Netflix and Prime have entered a rationalised zone and there are rare spells of binge watching. Overall, to quote you dear Kni-der, “Life is good again!”, my old friend is the center of my universe again!

Happy reading/listening.

N

Explained: How to be in the 'top league' of business education in India

This article was first published in Business Standard on December 12, 2019; https://www.business-standard.com/article/education/explained-how-to-be-in-the-top-league-of-business-education-in-india-119120301339_1.html

Rigour versus relevance is a debate that the B-schools need to engage in

Industrial revolution and rise of large corporations necessitated shareholders to employ agents who worked towards maximization of shareholders’ wealth. Business Schools globally played an important role in imparting education to students that would make them ready to manage and eventually lead these corporations. Technical knowledge was much valued and management education naturally was skewed towards imparting them.

The advancements in technology has made it easy for people to obtain hard skills as and when required. Similarly, many of the jobs now performed by MBA graduates will get performed by machines in the future. Some of the top global leaders have openly expressed that management education needs to undergo changes to bridge the gap between what is required in the real life versus what is taught in B-schools.

Speaking on education, at the World Economic Forum (2018), Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, emphasised on the need to move away from knowledge-based teaching to teaching the softer skills like “values, believing, independent thinking, teamwork, care for others...”. Similarly, Nitin Nohria, the dean of the Harvard Business School, admitted, “anyone can teach you how to read a P&L or value a derivative; those kinds of things have become commoditized. The bigger challenge is to teach America’s future business leaders how to be curious, humane, and moral; how to think outside the box about problems like funding the research for a new blockbuster drug. And how to be strong enough to stand up to Wall Street when it demands the opposite”.

In India too, the India skills report 2019 stated that only 36% of the MBA students in the country were employable. Further, hundreds of B-Schools across India are shutting down every year due to lack of offers from recruiters. While a few top schools like the ISB and IIMs are continuously re-evaluating the curriculum, marking themselves with the market demands and innovating teaching pedagogy, the trends are clearly shifting globally, and all B-Schools need to recalibrate their efforts to remain relevant.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb famously said, “In academia, there is no difference between academia & the real world. In the real world, there is”. How does a B-school bridge this difference? For one, Engage with stakeholders to add real time value to the community. Curriculum and faculty should be geared towards integrating theoretical knowledge to practice. Maximizing shareholders’ perspective is now passé with companies aspiring to move towards a more wholistic measure of performance like the Triple Bottom Line approach that looks at people and community (social responsibility), planet (environmental sustainability) and profit (the bottom line). B-Schools need to accordingly reset curriculum, faculty and mindset.

Research is an important component of all business schools. And rightly so. However, rigor versus relevance is a debate that the B-Schools need to engage in. Warren Bennis, a professor of management at the University of Southern California says that “Business schools have forgotten that they are a professional school.” Not all good researchers are good teachers and not all good teachers are good researchers. Add to this a component of practical experience and industry engagement. A healthy balance is required in a fast-changing world.

Letter versus Spirit- Ethics class doesn’t make one ethical. Knowing risk management tools didn’t prevent a Lehman brothers from collapsing. But knowing the consequences of not acting ethically or knowing what is at stake if a wholistic assessment of risk is not done, will act as a deterrent for people to take shortcuts. The school must understand, communicate and practice the basic values that it stands for and inculcate it in its students too. Strong personal and organizational values aid people to keep pace with changing times with integrity and in an ethical manner.

In order to be globally relevant, B-Schools in India must truly globalize. Efforts to attract sizeable proportion of international students, impart international experience, design globally relevant curriculum, promote cultural diversity and bring global faculty need to be made. Companies and marketplaces are global in nature after all.

Hard versus Soft Skills- Traditionally, management education has paid emphasis on hard skills and quite neglected soft skills. With technology getting more and more adept at providing on-the-go technical knowledge and soft skills proving to be vital to succeed, increased focus on enhancing skills like negotiation, human behaviour, leadership and structured thinking are needed. It is also important to allow students time to think and reflect so that it becomes a habit and incidences of breakdown and mental health issues can be avoided in the future.

Entrepreneurial- The schools themselves need to have entrepreneurial traits of curiosity and innovation. Executive education, new courses, flexible programs, online programs and specialized programs need to be launched to keep pace with market requirements.

In recent times, failure of many global giants due to flawed risk assessment, governance lapses, and judgement errors have raised questions about the effectiveness of the management education as the leaders of many of these corporations were educated at the top B-Schools in the world. Elite institutions in the US like Harvard, Stanford and MIT have reported a drop in the number of applications in the recent years. The Indian B-Schools can learn from these experiences and take proactive measures to be top of the league. Yet, let’s not ape the West. The West is looking to Us. Let’s tell them what we stand for. The East is the biggest market for global companies. Let’s make leaders in India, for the world. The leaders who understand these markets better than those educated in the US or Europe.

Views expressed are personal.

Goals of Workplace Inclusion Remain Elusive

This article was first published in GARP, Risk Intelligence on June 14, 2019. Co-author: Sai Nitya Bodavala;

https://www.garp.org/#!/risk-intelligence/culture-governance/conduct-ethics/a1Z1W0000054wahUAA

Data supporting gender diversity, though hard to refute, doesn’t automatically change behavior

It is well within the reach of companies to make the effort to ensure that there are more women in leadership positions, and that those who are receive sufficient support to flourish at their jobs. It costs little when compared to the profit that will come as a result of being more gender-inclusive.

Numerous studies indicate a positive correlation between profitability and the presence of women in leadership, but in practice it appears that many are unconvinced.

For example, in a 2016 paper based on a survey of 21,980 firms in 91 countries, the Peterson Institute for International Economics concluded that “for profitable firms, a move from no female leaders to 30% representation is associated with a 15% increase in the net revenue margin.”

McKinsey and Co.'s Delivering through Diversity  found that companies in the top quartile for gender equality not only had a greater likelihood of earning higher profits, but also outperformed companies in the bottom quartile by 27% in long-term value creation.

Recruitment firm Phaidon International, surveying its employees in 2018, found that six out of 10 felt that management did little to promote the benefits of gender diversity in the workplace. Seven out of 10 employees believed that whenever the issue of gender diversity came up, it was presented as a matter pertaining to human resources, rather than its potential contribution to the goal of diversity.

Employees' lack of awareness of the benefits that women can bring to the table, as well as managements' apathy with regard to educating them about it, paints a dismal picture. This is because in many cases, the management is itself unconvinced of this fact.

In a survey that IBM conducted of 2,300 executives and professionals worldwide, 43% could not definitively answer yes or no when asked if they thought gender-inclusive companies were more successful financially. Two-thirds believed that women weren't in leadership positions because they were more likely than men to prioritize their families over their careers.

It seems counterintuitive to think that executives of companies that primarily chase profit would be unaware of evidence linking gender diversity to profit. It may be more of an issue of prejudice than lack of awareness.

Preconceived Notions

Certain ideas have become deeply rooted regarding what a woman can and cannot, or must and must not, do. In India, where gender roles are rigid, women who are in the workforce face a double-edged sword. On the one hand, being assertive and being go-getters leads to them being perceived as “bossy” or “insufferable.” On the other hand, being quiet and conforming to what is asked of them reinforces the general idea that women are subservient and unsuitable for positions of power.

Those who make hiring and firing decisions seem to have skewed ideas of what women are supposed to be like. This idealized perception does not allow them to see the reality. When these two versions are presented as diametric opposites, companies are discouraged from hiring women.

According to a study by LeanIn.org and McKinsey and Co., participants (employees) “rated mothers as the least desirable job candidates and deemed them as less competent and committed than women without children or men.” Companies subscribe to the notion that motherhood makes the quality of work suffer. What is often overlooked, however, is the boost in productivity that could occur if companies chose to accept the reality of motherhood and to support women instead. If working mothers were assured of a conducive work environment and policies that facilitate their growth, it could greatly decrease turnover rates as well as the cost that companies incur when hiring and training replacements for those who leave.

Not an Immediate Issue

Gender equality isn't considered to be an immediate concern. Although the benefits of having more women in leadership positions are undeniable, less-inclusive organizations aren't necessarily suffering huge losses. So long as profit-making doesn't seem to be affected, companies just push the problem to tomorrow. It is far easier to blame the societal perception of women than to try to create and implement inclusive policies.

Not recognizing and addressing the issue of gender inequality means that fewer steps are being taken to bring women into leadership positions. The lack of women at the decision-making level means that there aren't enough people invested in the problem to bring it up and address it, which perpetuates this vicious cycle.

Investment in Inclusion

Effective inclusion takes time, research, money, collaboration and constantly evolving ideas.  Companies lack incentive to invest when the pay-off could take a while. Further, a bias training program or a policy borrowed from another organization does not amount to inclusion.

Inclusive policies must begin by keeping in mind the employees currently working with the company and those that it wishes to hire. It is fairly easy to label as corporate policy a checklist that contributes little to employees' well-being. For a policy to work, it has to be well-researched and thoroughly thought out.

Organizational support is crucial for implementing and sustaining inclusive policies. Over time, the idea of inclusion must be built into the very culture of the organization. As a result, when issues come up, there are mechanisms in place to handle them. On the other hand, dealing with problems as and when they come up is not very efficient. It also does not allow for the company to come up with new and innovative ways of inclusion, instead being far too busy putting out small fires.

Misled Men

IBM's study brings out the misconceptions that men have about working women. Sixty-five percent of the male respondents said that they would have been just as likely to be promoted if they were women; 68% said that they would have received the same compensation had they been women.

That just indicates how far society still has to go in making gender equality a reality. Men are not bystanders, but rather active participants who play a pivotal role in ensuring the closing of the gap between genders.

Excluding men from the conversation about equality only serves to alienate those who currently hold most of the decision-making power. IBM found that 75% of the male executives were willing to commit to certain measurable outcomes that would bring about greater equality over the next five years.

Conclusion

The reasons for companies holding back from implementing inclusive policies are many. It is naïve to think that mindsets and norms that have developed over decades will change overnight. However, it is undeniable that change is not around the corner, but here and now, and soon older attitudes will lose their sway. Every woman who has managed to reach a leadership position that allows her to change conventional ideas, every company that helps women grow and come into their own, and every woman who has just entered the job market, ready to take on all of the challenges that it poses, is proof of that.