Shows
Tell it like it isWomen at work in IndiaToday’s episode is the third in our series on women’s participation in the workforce in India. Every year, class XII grades show girls outperforming boys in science subjects. A McKinsey study, shows that in India women make up 43% of those graduating but only 25% of those in entry level jobs. That is a huge drop. There are many explanations including marriage, childbirth, care for elders, being the trailing spouse, safety, and all of this compounds as you go higher in the career ladder. The burden of childcare and elder care almost entirely falls on women. The effect shows on t...2021-02-1658 min
Tell it like it isBring back the midwifeOne of the reasons women drop out of the workforce is childbirth. Troubling as that is, even today, many women lose their lives during pregnancy and childbirth. A key indicator of maternal mortality is the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR). Recently, the Government of India published MMR for 2016-18 which stood at 113. To put this into context, the target 3.1 of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) set by United Nations aims at reducing the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births. So, what can be done? Countries like Canada, Sri Lanka and the UK have combated MMR by introducing...2021-02-0437 min
Tell it like it isVoice for GirlsIndia ranks pretty low in female labor participation. In 2019, female labor participation stood at a meagre 27% in comparison to China’s female labor participation at 60%. In India, over 60% of those who are employed are in agriculture, resulting effectively, in 11% female labor participation in services and manufacturing. It is well understood that if we are to go grow as a nation, then we need more women at the workplace. Prima facie, this should be easy, given our female to male ratio. Per the United Nations, women make up 48.04% of the population. However, in reality, getting women to participate in the fo...2021-01-2136 min
Tell it like it isAutonomous VehiclesIn a low cost, labour intensive market like India, autonomous vehicles seem counter intuitive. What is the story here? Join me, Manisha Kadagathur, as I chat with Saurabh Chandra, co-founder of Ati Motors, one of the coolest startups in India that makes autonomous cargo vehicles based in Bangalore. Cool for many reasons, not the least for an unusual team of co-founders, the youngest of whom was barely a teen when he joined. Club that with using tech like AI/ML, power electronics, control systems, mechanical engineering, system software and electronic hardware, and it makes the whole enterprise unique. As...2021-01-1437 min
Tell it like it isTrailer - Season 5Join me, Manisha Kadagathur, as we return with a brand new season and more stories of phenomenal ideas and committed guests. This season we have stories on innovation, grit, gumption and the role of serendipity, and our stories take us crisscrossing across India from Shillong in the North East to Hyderabad and Bangalore in the South. So, join us for new stories, new inspiration, and hope.
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Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/manisha-kadagathur/message2021-01-1301 min
Tell it like it isNai TalimFor billions of children across the world, schooling and education has taken a new meaning. Bedrooms, kitchen counters, dining tables, a mat on the floor became the new classroom and the noise around EdTech rose to a crescendo. Amidst the din, it is easy to forget that in 1937, Gandhiji conceptualised Nai Talim, an alternate philosophy of education which states that work and knowledge are not separate. The three pillars of Gandhiji's pedagogy were it's focus on the lifelong character of education, it's social character, and it's form as a holistic process. I caught up with Sushama Sharma, the principal...2020-12-1837 min
Tell it like it isO'BangaloreWe can choose to stay away from politics, but politics will not stay away from us. Those are the prophetic words from Srikanth Narsimhan, the co-founder and general secretary of Bengaluru NavaNirmana Party (BNP). In an earlier episode on housing societies during the Covid-19 lockdown, a management committee member told me that in a housing society, “Everybody is a CEO”. Listen to that episode here. With egos that large, getting anyone to coalesce takes a lot of energy and time. That’s where Srikanth had his first brush with public service bringing together 1000 housing societies representing 6 lac residents to band t...2020-12-0300 min
Tell it like it isRelationship BuilderJoin me, Manisha Kadagathur, as I chat with Arun D’Silva, co-founder & CEO of Retail Interface Pvt Ltd and the India brand representative for Frederique Constant among other luxury watches.
Getting fired from your job finds you at a momentous fork in your life that leads you down one of two paths – you can either let that moment define the rest of your life, turn bitter and make bad decisions one after the other or you can see it for what it is and move on. Arun D’Silva’s story begins there. From that fork in...2020-11-2600 min
Tell it like it isAll HeartToday’s story is all heart. It is the wonderful and sweet story of Pavitra Chalam, an award-winning documentary film maker and founder of Curley Street Media with a master’s degree in film making from New York Film Academy. Seven years ago, Pavitra became obsessed with telling the story of Baby Roona Begum, a child born with hydrocephalus, a birth defect caused by the build up of fluid leading to a massive swelling in the head. You can catch that story on Netflix as Rooting for Roona. This is not the first such story that Pavitra has featured. In f...2020-11-1900 min
Tell it like it isPublic PolicyThe discourse on public policy is relatively new in India and the Takshashila Institution is a pioneer in this field having set up in 2010. I caught up with Nitin Pai, co-founder and director of the Takshashila Institution, an independent centre for research and education in public policy, to understand the mandate of the think tank, how public policy engages with the Executive and how large-scale change is brought about. As citizens, we all owe a responsibility in participating in governance and improving our lives.
Contact Takshashila Institution here
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Send in a voice message...2020-11-1200 min
Tell it like it isLeap of FaithIf you are mid-career and reflecting on the first half of your career, you have probably asked yourself – What impact have the actions of the past years had on my life (personally and professionally) and what have I contributed to the community around me. How many leaps of faith have I taken and how many have taken those leaps with me?
With me today is Biren Bhuta, who has made taking leaps of faith an art form, beginning with a traditional job in banking to business journalism with NDTV and corporate social responsibility in Tata Steel. Cu...2020-11-0500 min
Tell it like it is6grams of GoldMy guest is Viren Rasquinha, former captain of the Indian hockey team, an Olympian and CEO of Olympic Gold Quest. During his playing career, Viren has represented India in 180 international matches including competing at the 2004 Athens Olympics. He is an Arjuna Awardee and has been a member of the PMO Task Force in 2016 (along with Pullela Gopichand, Abhinav Bindra and others) that prepared India’s plans for the next three Olympics in 2020 (now in 2021), 2024 and 2028.
In today’s conversation we speak of dreams so big that they consume your entire childhood, and you follow them faithfully into late...2020-10-2900 minTell it like it isTrailer - Season 4This season we focus on stories of impact.
Credits:
Storybook by Scott Holmes, on freemusicarchive.org, CC Attribution Non Commercial-NoDerivates 4.0
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Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/manisha-kadagathur/message2020-10-2800 min
Tell it like it isScissorsMy guest today is Savio John Pereira, award winning celebrity hairstylist and founder of a chain of upscale salons and the Savio John Pereira academy in Mumbai. Savio’s story is one of coming in from the outside and building a personal brand, a story filled with glamour, gloss, high drama, and a never give up attitude. Alongside, it features some gems that go into building a successful luxury salon business. Sometimes the road to the destination is not obvious, its circuitous but with deep observation, thinking ahead, staying visible and paying attention to the little things, you can fo...2020-10-0800 min
Tell it like it isAI & Life SciencesMy guest today is Manish Gupta, co-founder, and CEO of Indegene, a 3000 member global health solutions company specializing in research, content and data solutions to the pharma industry worldwide leveraging analytics and AI. The pharma industry, a highly regulated one, lends itself to the use of AI and digital capabilities since vast data sets exist across the product life cycle and therefore, the genius in spotting this opportunity.
We cover:
- Building a global company from India, raising capital from early investors, strength of the core team;
- Pivoting when faced...2020-09-3021 min
Tell it like it isAs you life itJoin me, Manisha Kadagathur, as I chat with Ayon Banerjee, author of “As you Life it - Work as usual, Life as unusual”. We talk about overlapping boundaries of work and life, of successes and failure, of time, of youth, of dreams and relationships – all of it captured as a Work-Life tool kit.
Today’s conversation is peppered with advice and life lessons for anyone navigating work and life. There is no narrative and arc here, just a freewheeling catch-up with someone who has been through many experiences and has been thoughtful enough to capture it in a book f...2020-09-2429 min
Tell it like it isLift OffThis episode is a Masterclass in entrepreneurship. At the same time, it is a fantastic story of a husband-wife team who were partners in business and are partners for life. I am delighted to share the inspiring story of Hema & Ashok Hattangady who turned a small family owned energy metering company into one of India’s finest energy management companies, leading to its eventual sale to Schneider Electric in 2009. Hema is a management graduate from IIM Calcutta and Ashok has a master's degree from UT, Austin but their story is about so much more. It includes family po...2020-09-1748 min
Tell it like it isScience of Politics“What do you want to be when you grow up?” In India, all of us have been asked this question by assorted aunts and uncles. Most common responses include - Doctor, Engineer, Lawyer, Chartered Accountant, sometimes vet and nowadays, YouTuber. Growing up, did you ever want to be a politician? You think I’m crazy. My guest today is a 3rd generation politician in Uttar Pradesh. Rahul Kaushik, a design consultant with a master’s degree from IIT Bombay, chucked it all to carry forward the legacy of his father. Today, he is the Pradesh Karyakarini Sadasya, Samajwadi Party. 2020-09-1034 min
Tell it like it isCliff HangerA life without risk, a life without real pain, a life without real joys. This is existing. Not living.
Pretty much sums up Mohit Oberoi's philosophy. Join me, Manisha Kadagathur, as I catch up with Mohit, a professional rock climber, open water swimmer and tri-athlon athlete. He is also the man who introduced artificial climbing walls to India.
In today’s episode:
- we trace Mohit’s initiation to rock climbing at an early age,
- love for the outdoors,
- pushing the limits of the body and the mind,
- drawing parallels between climbing and entrepreneurship,
- and the most rewar...2020-09-0329 minTell it like it isTrailer - Season 3Trailer - Season 3
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Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/manisha-kadagathur/message2020-09-0202 min
Tell it like it isIndian Boss - Part IIContinuation of the conversation with Steve Correa, author of The Indian Boss at Work: Thinking Global, Acting Indian. If you missed Part I, listen here.
In today’s episode, we continue our conversation focusing on the Indian affinity to communities, balancing a multi-generational workforce, gender fluidity in the Indian leader and imbalance in the way we treat women in society and at the workplace.
Get your free summary: https://stevecorrea.co/the-indian-boss-at-work/
Credits:
1. Epic Cinematic by Scott Holmes on freemusicarchive.org; CC Attribution Non Commercial 4.0; Public Domain
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Tell it like it isIndian Boss - Part IWhat is Indian-ness? Is it jugaad? What are the facets of the Indian boss? Who is a DESI LEADER?
I am joined by Steve Correa, author of The Indian Boss at Work: Thinking Global, Acting Indian.
In this two part series, we explore how well leaders understand ‘Indian-ness’ and the contextual cultural codes. In this episode, we cover the concepts of Indian-ness, the role of Kaal, Desh and Patra in our worklives, contrast management philosophies prevalent in the East and the West, the 4 varnas of life as described in ancient texts, the role...2020-08-1328 min
Tell it like it isBeckoning Isle"The right man at the right place is a devastating weapon”, motto of the US Special Forces, aptly summed up the LTTE says Abhay Sapru in his second combat novel, The Beckoning Isle. We discuss the IPKF (Indian Peace Keeping Force) in Sri Lanka, the Tamil Tigers, the paucity of war stories in India and the lack of readership of combat novels. We also cover bizarre occurrences in war and life and catch a rare glimpse of the effects of war on soldiers including post traumatic stress.
Check it out: https://tinyurl.com/y5vmyogd...2020-08-0632 min
Tell it like it isValley of Shadows"Sense and soldiering often don’t go hand in hand; in fact, in a Special Forces unit, it is taught that it is bad weather that is ideal for surprise and one often hears the remark that a dark night and inclement weather is a commando’s best friend”. Those are the opening lines of Abhay Sapru’s combat novel, In the Valley of Shadows. First in a series of 3 novels, we talk about this book, fighting the mujahideen as a Special Forces officer and the stunning Kashmir valley.
Buy it on Amazon: https://amzn.to/308Jnsr
Kn...2020-07-3030 min
Tell it like it isTotal RewardsWhat should I pay and what is my market worth are top-of-mind questions for any CEO and employee. The fact is rewards are personal, complicated and difficult to measure. Or are they? Join me as I chat with one of Asia's top experts on reward, Tzeitel Fernandes, Partner at Aon.
In this conversation, we cover:
- How one should think of rewards
- The correlation between rewards, performance and underlying behaviour
- Cultural nuances to rewards across Asia
- Radical transparency of pay and its...2020-07-2333 min
Tell it like it isSole MatesFeatured in this episode are Utkarsh Biradar and Ganesh Balakrishnan, co-founders of Flatheads, an all-day work sneaker brand for men. Not new to entrepreneurship, having had a successful exit from their previous venture, they were poised to creating a digital first consumer brand in India. But the wily virus had other plans. Launched in Nov 2019, just a few months before Covid-19 struck and wiped out the demand for footwear, the episode covers their early journey and choices. We discuss scale, value of a co-founder in the entrepreneurial journey, designing products through a user centric approach, building solid foundations with...2020-07-1534 minTell it like it isTrailer - Season 2Season 2 promises to be exciting with fantastic new guests and some old friends of the show. Here’s a sneak peak of the stories you can expect this season. We take a journey into the life of a fledgling startup in an industry that’s been severely hit by the virus - footwear. We then hop on over to Hong Kong where a top rewards expert will tell you what no one ever told you about rewards and compensation. Then we scale the mighty Himalayas to hear war stories from an army man and from there dive into Sri Lanka. Thos...2020-07-1401 minTell it like it isS1 Finale: What have you done today?Have you heard Heather Small’s iconic number “Proud”? I heard this song for the first time in 2000 at a packed auditorium under dazzling lights, great acoustics and mesmerizing visuals followed by a loud roar of applause as Glaxo and SmithKline announced their merger. Half a dozen or so corporate executives gathered on stage to unveil the newly formed entity’s vision, mission, values, and strategic priorities. Do more, feel better, live longer - powerful words that make up GlaxoSmithKline’s purpose statement. As an impressionable young executive in her first job, I was gob smacked and filled with pride...2020-06-3006 min
Tell it like it isBeer GeekYou know you are in for a fun and geeky chat when your guest starts by saying, "Man got civilized because he wanted to drink beer". In conversation with Navin Mittal, a passionate brewer, foodie and the co-founder & partner at the Gateway brewing company in Mumbai.
In this episode, we cover:
- Discovering a love for beer and educating oneself through blogs, podcasts and experiments with ingredients, roasting and flavours
- Making the "fear of failure" drive you to perform in everything you do
- Navigating "babu-dom"...2020-06-2240 min
Tell it like it isFeeding Fellow Indians"Khaana hai toh jaan hai, jaan hai to jahaan hai" is the motto that drove the volunteer group of professionals behind the #Feedmycity initiative. As the rest of us wondered what we would watch on Netflix or Amazon Prime at the start of the lock down, a group of friends - Juggy Marwaha, K Ganesh and K Venkat Narayana got together to feed fellow Indians. Starting with a modest target of 500 meals a day, the initiative eventually provided over 5 million meals to daily wage earners spanning 5 cities - Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Noida with the support of 400 volunteers and...2020-06-1230 min
Tell it like it isHelp thy neighbour"Everybody is a CEO in a housing society" says the Covid committee of a large co-op housing society in South Mumbai. Housing societies have been at the front and centre of managing and enforcing lockdown guidelines and sometimes, notoriously so as this article from the BBC highlights. Tune in to my conversation with Nidhi Pant, Prasad Baji, Pankaj Chopra and Sandeep Gadodia as we unpack what goes into managing housing societies particularly during the lockdown.
In this episode we cover:
- Framing and adapting guidelines in a dynamic and evolving situation, what goes...2020-06-0834 min
Tell it like it isBacking entrepreneursUse cash wisely and not miserly is the pithy advice that this executive turned entrepreneur turned investor turned entrepreneurial investor has for Indian entrepreneurs. In conversation with Jayanta Banerjee, Managing Partner & Co-Founder of ASK Pravi Capital Advisors. In this episode we cover:
- The psychology of private equity business and decision making,
- Using good judgement and rigorous analysis to get a "feel" for the right idea or talent,
- Leveraging the private equity investor as an aligned partner and not a "client" to be "managed",
2020-06-0441 min
Tell it like it isIt takes a villageSerendipity, paying it forward, building relationships for life and straight talk sums up this corporate honcho turned entrepreneur turned venture capitalist's journey so far. In conversation with Anuj Jain, CEO & Co-Founder of Startup-O, South East Asia's leading assessment, investment and business scaling platform. In this episode, we talk about:
- A deep sense of community and building relationships,
- Being open to opportunities and pivoting in your career,
- Venture capital as an asset class and the opaqueness in investing,
- Creating a...2020-05-2938 min
Tell it like it isEverything is a miracleIn conversation with Leslie & Pearl D'Souza, a father-daughter pair of behaviour experts. In this episode, we cover:
Being driven by purpose and finding one's true calling,
Grid change management framework, the importance of R2: Relationships between R1: Resources and R3: Results,
Belbin team roles and their impact on team performance,
Differences between coaching and mentoring,
Working together as a family,
The future of learning and the importance of re-skilling and focus on mental health.
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Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/manisha-kadagathur/message2020-05-2234 min
Tell it like it isLessons from the Special ForcesIn conversation with Abhay Sapru, ex-Special Forces and currently a banker. A world far removed from corporate life but modern management theories continue to build on lessons from the armed forces. In this episode, we talk about motivation, leadership by example, goal orientation and where the cost of not meeting targets is fatal, or at the very least, loss of pride.
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Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/manisha-kadagathur/message2020-05-1832 min
Tell it like it isIn the millenial's playgroundIn conversation with Shilpa Sirdesai, co-founder of an integrated digital marketing agency, Bay Leaf. In this episode, Shilpa and I talk about how there is no age barrier to starting up, channel-agnostic digital marketing, expectations of clients across the US and India, changing consumer behaviour, and the future of digital marketing in pandemic times.
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Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/manisha-kadagathur/message2020-05-1431 min
Tell it like it isNever looking backIn conversation with Raj Kalur, entrepreneur and ex-banker covering learning from history, how the old playbook for investment advice is redundant, performance and reward equation for investment advisors, being a life long learner, taking a sabbatical to earn a degree and more.
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Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/manisha-kadagathur/message2020-05-1142 minTell it like it isShaping HR Impact in an Economic BlackswanIn conversation: Manisha Kadagathur & Pearl D'Souza. What can HR do in these pandemic times.
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Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/manisha-kadagathur/message2020-05-0955 minTell it like it isTell it like it is (Trailer)---
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/manisha-kadagathur/message2020-05-0800 min