Practicing Presence

The human race is obsessed with thought. All throughout the day we are thinking thousands of thoughts and the mental chatter never  stops. We are either thinking about past events or are imagining about the future and this is the delusion.

In fact there is no such thing as past and no such thing as future. These are mental constructs which have no significance or basis. When thinking about past events and happenings we try to make an image out of what we went through and how people treated us and when we think about the future we are thinking about what we can achieve or become-basically about salvation.

Past and Future are constructs of the mind and they do not exist .That means we are continuously living an illusion, we are not facing life as it is. There is only one reality and that is the Present. Whatever happens happens in the present and the present is all there is everything else are just thoughts, memories and imagination.

To be present means you are responsive to the present moment. Not just the content of the present but to the presence and spontaneous existence of the present. Now is all there is and there is nothing else. We if we stay rooted in the present we will face life as it is.We will experience the brilliance and exuberance of the present moment.

Whatever happens…happens in the Now so be totally anchored in the now. While dealing with our colleagues we often think about the past that is how they treated us or what they said or did in the past and this dents our relating and relationships with them.

When you meet a colleague or a friend always be rooted in the present moment. Don’t Judge…don’t expect …just share you presence with everyone.

The moment we understand that thought is the delusion and you are not the thinker we are freed from the chains of past and future and we start dwelling in the magnificence of the present moment.

By:

Siddharth Anand

Faculty, INLEAD

Healthcare System in India

In India, we don’t have a National Health Insurance or a universal healthcare system for all its citizens, because of which private healthcare sector is getting more importance. Mostly urban population is availing the services from private healthcare sector as majority of rural population are unable to afford the expenses. According to the World Bank, only about 25% of India’s population had some form of health insurance in 2010. But, a 2014 Indian Government study found this to be an over-estimate, and claimed that only about 17% of India’s population was insured. Public healthcare is free for those below the poverty line.

The Ministry Of Health was established in 1947. The government then introduced a series of five- year health plans. The National Health Policy was endorsed by Parliament in 1983. In order to bring Universal access to health, Indian Government launched the National Rural Health Mission in 2005.

Private and Public healthcare system

There is a great discrepancy in the quality of healthcare services provided by private and public healthcare system. In public health hospitals, there is lack of physician, diagnostic appliances, apathetic behavior of the healthcare providers and unhygienic environmental conditions. These above factor play a major role in footfall as people below poverty line don’t have any choice and are bound to avail healthcare service from the public health hospitals due to their economic conditions.

 In contrast to that, people from good economic background will avail the services from private hospitals as their quality of service is far better than the public hospitals.

Challenges of healthcare system in India

There are many challenges in Indian healthcare sector, few most important are:

1. Lack of skilled healthcare providers
2. Lack of resources
3. Lack of infrastructure
4. Low budget by Government for healthcare sector
5. Rural population is neglected
6. Improper implementation of health awareness program.

Solution to Above Challenges

Fund, resources, infrastructure, skilled professionals are very important but the most important aspect is awareness. Unless proper awareness of health is not there, no one from rural population will come and avail the services. So, first and foremost thing is awareness, for that we need lot many volunteers who can take initiative to bring awareness about health and benefits of healthy life style among rural population.

Volunteers we can get through Government initiative via CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility). Under CSR, corporate are required to spend some amount in social cause. So, government can make it mandatory that Rural Health Awareness should be one of the most important aspects of CSR.

We need to start from the scratch, right with the people from slums who are living in very pathetic condition. If they do not have any work for their livelihood, then how will they think of their health and hygiene? So, the literate percent of Indian Population will have to take responsibility of uneducated and illiterate group of people. This is not a One Man show; together we all can make a difference.

SWACHH BHARAT ABHIYAN launched by our honorable Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi is a very good initiative towards hygiene and health. As we all know health and hygiene are two sides of a same coin. Hygiene keeps you healthy. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan will be worthy if we implement this in our day to day life.

Implementation along with creation is very important to make your creation a successful endeavor.

By:
Dr. Rukmini Paul
Student, INLEAD         

Mango People Maketh a Mango Nation

I would be understating if I wouldn’t say that India is obsessed with mangoes! India has been the single largest producer of mangoes globally, growing over 40% of the world’s total supply, according to Forbes emagazine. Be it Alphonsoes, which are world famous, be it Sinduri, Malda or Safeda, the variety of mangoes that are found in India is unbelievable and enough to satiate the mango appetite of all and sundry. Dussehri which is the favourite of people from Lucknow gets its name from the mother tree which is located in the village of Dussehri, and is the only mango that has a Geographical Indicator tag and hence is now a brand name. Then there are the, oh! so sweet Malda mangoes. There is a place in Patna, Bihar called Digha Ghat where the soil on the banks of the river Ganga are of a special kind that gives the Dudhiya Malda the flavor that has made it one of the most exported mangoes from India. India exports mangoes to America, UAE, Sweden, England and several other nations.

And now that we are aggressively moving into super-hot Summer days, mangoes will be the flavor for everything we consume, from soufflé to ice cream to cake and juices, the list is endless.

So what are the new launches this season in India?

India’s century old FMCG company, Hamdard Laboratories has forayed into ready –to-drink beverage segment with the launch of RoohAfza Fusion, a combination of RoohAfza’s popular rose syrup and pure fruit juice; and one of the flavor’s is Mango, but obviously. Maaza from the Coca Cola portfolio and Slice from the PepsiCo portfolio are also going aggressive in their promos pan India. Simultaneously, Hector Beverage’s Paper Boat brand and Parle Agro’s Frooti are also on a marketing overdrive.

This brings me to the product category of confectionery where mango candies have also given us the label of Candy Nation. While talking of candies can we forget to talk about Pulse?

Pulse is a candy from the DS Group, a Noida-based company, that is now considered to be a phenomena among FMCG brands. The name has been on everybody’s lips as also the flavor, kaccha aam. The company has ensured that the product-placement is at 60% of the retail shelves and now is moving into TV commercials in a big way. According to Brand Equity, a supplement of Economic Times, dated 12th April 2017, the hard-boiled candy segment comprises nearly 40% of the overall Rs. 6,600 crores sweet candy market. It is growing at an average rate of 20% year-on-year. Mango comprises almost half of the hard-boiled candy market, of which raw mango is 26% and sweet mango the remaining 24%. The Pulse campaign with the tag line “Pran jaye, par Pulse na jaaye!” , has also caught the fancy of the target youth audience.

It is thus inevitable that Mango continues to reign as the King of Fruits and India with its humongous population is the largest consumer of the fruit.

By:
Monica Mor
Sr. Faculty, INLEAD

A Passion for Communication

Today in this intensely competitive world, communication is critical in getting that extra edge. Communication is the key differentiator for interviews, appraisals and promotions alike.

Wherever you are, whatever role you have been assigned, communication plays a major role in your personal and professional success. Whether it is meetings or presentations, interviews or delegation, proper communication is the key to success.

Communication helps you in building and maintaining relationships. It helps you develop rapports and engage in constructive innovation through idea generation and on the feet thinking.

Communication is important because:

1. It helps you win
2. It helps in negotiations
3. It helps in survival
4. It helps in rapport building
5. It helps in Delegation

Communicating in interviews involves marketing yourself as a brand and selling the best qualities you have. The Company is only looking towards whether you fit the bill and how you can contribute to the company-personally and professionally. So, you should talk about your educational qualification, industry exposure and professional experience.

In negotiations, talk less-mean more, works the best. Listening is the key and short crisp sentences are required to get an advantage. In true dialog both parties are willing to change. So accommodation, adjustment is critical. Your language should be closed ended so as to focus on the key criticalities and not waste or lose time.

In your personal relationships you can be more open ended and you can use casual language or slang but you should avoid obscenities or touching upon sensitive topics like race, religion, nationality or gender.

Role playing is critical in professional success. Your communication should be apt to the situation and depend upon the level of employee you are dealing with. With seniors you should be submissive and cooperative speaking slowly and in a low volume and with colleagues you can be assertive. Your communication should be assertive not manipulative. Never shout. As someone beautifully put it, “you should raise your words and not your voice.”

By:

Siddharth Anand

Faculty, INLEAD

White Belt Six Sigma Workshop, March’17

INLEAD recently hosted a White Belt Six Sigma Workshop for its students, which was conducted by Mr. Mukesh Nauhar, Black Belt Champion from Indian Statistical Institute at INLEAD’s Gurugram campus. Six Sigma certification entails learning the appropriate subject matter, passing a written proficiency test and displaying competency in a hands-on environment. These certifications helps one become a specialist in process improvement and enhances their career’s standard and credibility. But apart from benefits held in common with many other certifications, there are unique advantages that make Six Sigma certifications wonderfully useful.

Mr. Nauhar is a Certified Master Black Belt from Indian Statistical Institute and has been training INLEAD students since years. He believes that Six Sigma certification is a confirmation of an individual’s capabilities with respect to specific competencies. Just like any other quality certification, however, it does not indicate that an individual is capable of unlimited process improvement – just that they have completed the necessary requirements from the company granting the certification. Not only did Mr. Nauhar delve deeply into the inception and the theory behind Six Sigma, but he also shared his journey to becoming a Black Belt champion.

The session at INLEAD commenced with Mr. Nauhar delving deeply into the inception & the theory behind Six Sigma. He shared not just many examples about companies that have been successfully using this tool like Siemens and HoneyWell but also his journey to becoming a Black Belt champion.

He took students through the journey of 6 sigma across decades and how its evolved as one of the most sought after quality tools across organizations. There was a time when it was used primarily in manufacturing companies but overtime has become a critical part of many service companies as well.

Throughout the entire day session, students sat through lectures and videos of 6 sigma’s utility. They then answered questions on what they had learned and also attempted the questions which would, if correctly answered, make them White Belt certified.

Who Ordained Trolls With Moral Authority?

I have been quite upset of late by the vociferousness of the unintelligent and the rastamuffins, who seem to have chosen the path of destruction as their way forward! In this blog, I share my opinion on this disturbing trend in our society.

The natural political discourse of our nation these days has become rather polarized. Views are no longer views; they are acceptance and rejection of a narrative. The simplicity of debates has taken gargantuan proportions of verbal wars. And yet, we barely see the warring parties facing off each other on a dais especially set up with proper accoutrements and an atmosphere of innocent sparring. The platform for opinion sharing these days has funnily become social media, and a formidable actor has taken centrestage under the moniker “Troll”.

These Trolls on Twitter, FB and elsewhere have literally taken it upon themselves to be the flagbearers of everything in the superlative. They are, morally, politically and emotionally, the ones with a “holier-than-thou” character. They apparently characterize the epitome of all that’s supreme and inevitably have the irreverence to comment on everybody’s right to live! They condemned Karan Johar for his sexuality, they threatened Gurmeet Kaur for her invocation of peace not war, they slammed Anushka Sharma for her mere presence in a stadium! They choose to judge, to incriminate, to demonize and to sing a verse of nationalism no one has heard before. Their description of nationalism is incomprehensible and simply unacceptable.

My question to them is who ordained these trolls with any moral authority? They behave like political stooges who have chosen the easy path of being “The Ones”; The Ones who have converted a pen into a sword and who more often than not hide behind archaic ideologies to propagate their hate crimes.

It’s time the so called intelligent bourgeois need to step out of their safe zones and show the self-proclaimed Golaiths that in the final battle, David defeated Goliath. Its time someone told the Trolls and the so-called upholders of nationalistic virtues to choose who they really are, the Protagonist or the Antagonist of this stage called “World”. As Shakespeare once said, “The world is a stage and we all have a role to play”! So everybody get your acts together and let’s build a truly great nation, not one polarized by the haters and by the moral gendarmes.

By:

Monica Mor

Sr. Faculty, INLEAD

Disaster Management & Emergency Preparedness Workshop, March’ 17

Disaster, especially the natural ones, come unannounced. The least human beings can go do is, be prepared. In order to make INLEADers more alert in all walks of life, INLEAD recently organised a Disaster Management Workshop at its campus in Gurugram. Mr. Munish Kumar, who is a Certified Trainer for Safety Circle and has been training working professionals and students since quite a few years, was the designated speaker for the workshop. 

Mr. Munish commenced his training session by providing students the theoretical background of Disaster and Disaster Management. He then proceeded to train them through certain drills.

The session was very essential for students, especially since students in general seem to carry a casual approach towards everything in life. 

The speaker delved deeply into the inception & the theory behind Disaster and Disaster management. He told them that Disaster Management can be defined as the organization and management of resources and responsibilities for dealing with all humanitarian aspects of emergencies, in particular preparedness, response and recovery in order to lessen the impact of disasters. During the workshop, INLEADers came to know about different aspect of Environment, health and safety (EHS). He further told them about classification and types of Disaster, disaster preparedness, medical and public and public health response, public Health impact of Disaster, disasters in India. 

There are two types of disasters:

Natural Disaster

Natural Disaster Include such activities; Meteorological, Topographical and Environmental. Meteorological includes -: Floods, tsunami, cyclone typhoon, snow storm, blizzard and hail storm; Topographical includes Earthquake, volcanic eruptions, landslides etc.

Manmade Disasters

Manmade Disasters are Technological, Industrial and Warfare. Warfare comprises Global warming, Solar flare etc. Manmade Disasters also include Transport failure, Public place failure, fire, Chemical spills, War, Terrorism and Civil unrest etc. 

After the theoretical session, Mr. Munish then did some drills and preparatory exercises with the students, including Medical and Public Health Response systems.

He then wrapped up the session by talking about Communications during Emergency and Incident Assessment. According to him, Communication is one of the key issues during any emergency, and that pre-planning of communications is critical. Miscommunication can easily result in emergency events escalating unnecessarily. 

Mohit, Jul 2016, INHM: “I have never been in a critical situation and this session gave me immense clarity on Disaster Management.”

Amit Yadav, Jul 2016, INBM: “In times when we are witness to frequent earthquakes, I think the least we can do is be prepared for such contingencies.”