“Currently, pursuing Post Graduate Diploma in Counselling at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. An MBBS by qualification, who went on to win Gladrags Megamodel, Mrs. India and Mrs. World contests.”
Q.1 Which course are you pursuing in TISS? Can you talk more about it?
The course that I am pursuing is Post-graduate diploma in Counselling. The reason I decided to take it up is courtesy my stint in two short courses in counselling. I could gauge my growing interest in the field of psychology and thus aspired to do it from a prestigious institute as TISS.
Q.2 What was your motivation for taking up psychology/counselling?
I am a doctor by profession and had always wanted to work in the field of public healthcare. However, time did not permit me to do so. One fine day, at an opportune moment it struck me that time waits for none. It’s now or never. Thus, I made the choice of taking up psychology in TISS. Psychological illnesses in India, have always been tabooed and very less addressed. In a scenario such as this, to be able to uplift the many afflicted by psychological ailments, from the dismal condition they are in, was what I consider “my calling”.
Q.3 Ma’am if you have to talk about your career path- You did MBBS from Grant Medical College, Then Modelling and now TISS. How would you talk about these transitions? What difference these have created in your life? What lessons you drew in these different career stages?
I have always attempted to cater to the Go-getter spirit that I possess. My decisions in life, so far, have come about from my desires and aspirations to achieve certain things. I see tasks through to the end and that is exactly what I have done in my career so far- be it as a doctor or a model. I wish to achieve the same level of excellence as a psychologist as well. And how will I measure my success in this endeavour? The number of lives I touch and positively impact is going to be the scale that I measure my achievement on.
Q.4 Is profit making the primary essence in both film industry and organizations?
The latter, I feel is yes. The entire idea behind running a business is to be monetarily successful. In the VUCA world that we live in, organizations face a constant threat of either failing to keep up with competition or dissolving by way of going into losses. Thus, for any enterprise, be it large or Small and Medium in stature, a positive Return on Investment is the key. However, movies have largely come to be divided between commercial cinema and what is termed as “Art” films. Artists today are driven more by an innate passion to outdo themselves and others in terms of their performance on-screen. The reel self is being replaced with the real self. In such a scenario, individual motives range far and wide and do not just restrict to making money. However, all said and done, no artist would like to see his/her performance being disliked or under-praised; both of which are measured in terms of the money that the piece of cinema makes.
Q.5 How do you think, in terms of socio-cultural impact that the movies have on the society, film industry differs from corporate sector?
I think that for an artist the drive to work for the society comes later in his/her life. A beginner holds no position to do this. The first step in the industry, as far as I have seen, is driven by individual motives to grow, earn and expand. However as time passes and as people get closer to their envisioned self, a certain realization of how much or less they have contributed towards the society does creep in. And that, I feel is a propellant towards attempting to create a socio-cultural impact via cinema.
Q.6 The awareness that the people have about mental health is minimal in India. There are so many stigmas attached. Even in corporates, the awareness about the mental health is not so much. What would you suggest to young HR professionals to actually manage the work force and also create awareness in them?
I personally feel that it is not something restricted to an HR professional alone. In an organization, in fact any place that has human beings interacting, a silent psychological conundrum comes into being. Individual motives and aspirations always come before group motives. In a scenario such as this, where a multitude of personalities interact and work towards a common goal, it becomes a collective responsibility to wire each of our psychologies in a way that we contribute to the common goal, than be a deterrent to it. As far as the entering young HR professionals are concerned, Gen Y is much more open to the different facets of psychology and forms of neuroticism. Millenials today are more sensitive to these aberrations and are able to address issues such as these in a better way. A word of advice, however is that see each individual psychology as being located in a larger context of a myriad of social interactions with a plethora of people. Often, we form perceptions about people basis only a certain characteristics of theirs (which has been termed as the Halo Effect’ in OB), but this needs to be undone and biases need to be removed. A true HR excels in this front and therefore is successful in unifying the workforce.
Q.7 Ma’am what is your take on meditation?
Well, I am a very ardent follower of Vipassana. I have completed four 10-day courses and have been practicing Yoga for 6 years now. I meditate regularly for a simple fact that in today’s times, our levels of sensory input have quadrupled. Thus, a brief disjoining from the happenings around and reclusion into the self becomes a much needed task for mental detoxification and rejuvenation.
Q.8 Ma’am we are increasingly talking about engaging our employees and making them more loyal towards the organization. What do you think works best -monetary incentives or other benefits ?
A very interesting question, indeed. The two function very differently, and yet have similarities. During the entire project of a movie, the most prominent stakeholders such as the actors, producers and directors have a lot riding on the film’s success. One movie gone wrong can be highly detrimental to their careers. However, for daily wage earners such as the spot boys and girls, no such long term association really exists. They need to fend for themselves on an everyday basis, trying their hands wherever their skills fit. In a scenario such as this, one cannot expect loyalty to come as a natural feeling. On the other hand, an employee working in a firm, plans a long-term association with the firm, with both entities gaining from each other’s strengths. A sense of loyalty then becomes a natural phenomenon, sometimes not even needing incentives to be fostered.
Q.9 Ma’am, do you have any business idea in mind that you are interested in pursuing in future?
I actually have one in the pipeline. I am working on designing a website, where a variety of counsellors are available to provide their services. The motivation behind it is that not all people feel comfortable opening about their deepest self in front of a third person. Thus, through this portal, people who are sceptical of getting counselled in person, can easily be at leisure at their homes and receive the same level of support from our team of qualified and excellent online counsellers.
Q. 10 HR professionals’ job involves “letting employees go” due to some difficult situation that the organization is facing with or without any direct fault of theirs. How to handle such negative emotions is the biggest challenge of this profession. What are your thoughts on this?
“People leave, but how they leave stays!” For an HR professional, one of the main duties that weighs heavy on their shoulders is to fire. A sympathetic, rationale and just self of the HR can work miracles in making the process of lay off a little easier. The bottom line remains that with all the differences in our personalities, we still remain largely similar. Putting oneself in the shoes of the other can make things lighter. How would you want to be given a news such as this? What support, emotionally and mentally would you need and expect? Your answer to these questions would help you a long way in facing this challenge.
