AFTER 40 - WHAT?
Balasubramanian G
Former Director (Academics) CBSE
In the mid of nineties, a friend who happened to be a senior HR executive invited me to a conference .. As such except me who was from the field of educational administration, all others were HR executives.. and for a larger part of the conference I was a mute spectator just enjoying some crazy and provocative statements “Don’t answer a fax or an email if you haven’t replied within one hour.. it means that is not a priority to you.” – Debateable statements, provocative, inspiring and motivating, all that good enough for a conference to trigger newer thinking.
Before the last session, my friend accosted me with a comment “Sir, you have not participated at all. Why don’t you be the rapporteur for one of the groups in the group discussions in the last session?”. I agreed and moved on to the table with the team of about 8 persons. The coordinator walked around passing a slip on to my table – the topic for discussion – and when I looked at the topic – I felt dumb; as I could not make out a meaning and the title was -“After 40- What?”
A gentleman around me helped me with a clarification – “Sir, in most of our MNCs these young boys in the age group of twenties, get through a campus interview, get locked to their desktops for days and weeks, be it sunshine or rain outside – growth, work – one fine day, they get married – a few years later, they have kids too – yet they work day, night all seasons – targets, deliveries, KPAs, learning curves, promotions and salary hikes – go on: and one fine day, they sit back and think “OMG! All this money in six figures… loan payments – EMIs.. posh houses, latest cars – have I missed anything in life?”
The stupid conscience walks in and says “Hey! Haven’t you missed your whole life?” He finds a Bodhi tree growing behind his table in that AC room… gets up and walks to his boss and says “Boss, I want to go home ..” The boss looks at his watch and it is just six.. and then he looks at those little white hairs peeping over his ears..smiles .He then shoots the question :
“So dear, Are you Forty now?”
Now, the options are many - for a golden handshake, transfer to an easy chair, reporting to a less experienced and performing boss and those lovely questions to be answered from friends : Are your looking for a change?
You, me and everybody in this competitive and performing world become victims of this “Burn-out syndrome” at some point of time in our life – age is contextual – thanks to the greed that drives us to grow, to perform – the only mistake being the absence “Work-Life balance”!
In playing these games effectively, productively and passionately, we lose the gentle nuances of life, the sense of aesthetics, the time to enjoy our own breath, to observe the unparallelled beauty of the smile of the baby at home, to be a part of the struggle of the little one in his studies, a visit to enjoy the dance or the drama of that kid on stage at school, the gentle breeze, the delicacy of the dish on the table, the perfume of the first droplet of water from the rain, the pride of reading an old book we have preserved for the last 20 years – and so on.. It happens and it is true..
Work- Life balance is an emerging issue in the modern context of life. The challenge has to be met by each individual in his or her own way.. there are no prescriptions…
While many organizations appear to be addressing this issue, the relevance and importance of this as an integral part of the HR practices of all organizations, whatever be their work space, requires more serious attention. Counseling, steam-out talks, sharing concerns, generating personal touch, gaming.. think of a wide variety… that the employees are not just prisoners of performances and pay-pockets…
Back on an evening dinner in a friends home, I heard that smart young lady, both a finance executive in a MNC and a mother, shooting a question to me – “ Hey! Forget my being burnt out – look at this little one, five years old, burnt out with her homework?”
I preferred to remain silent.
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