The name ‘Arundhati’ originates from a Sanskrit word which means ‘unrestrained’ and it was also the name given to a Morning Star. And as one of Prof. Arundhati Banerji’s article – “What’s In the Name”, in GID magazine suggests, she has done absolute justice to her name. She has been unrestrained in terms of achievements and without doubt is a morning star (The Sun is a morning star in Astronomical terms) in the IIPM galaxy. Prof. Banerji has been part of IIPM events and has organised a plethora of successful events with utmost perfection. She has abundant sincerity, passion, knowledge, and wits which make her a truly remarkable contributor to the IIPM revolution. In this edition, Cult gets to fi nd about her journey in this exclusive feature where she expresses herself both personally and professionally with her wonderful smile
Q. Brief us about your prolifi c career and association with IIPM.
A. My association with IIPM began the day I was born. I grew up watching my father as he conceived, created and breathed life into the IIPM movement. I remember my mother making all those calls to various colleges across the country to book space for IIPM admission tests and fi ling all records so systematically, some of it, even to this day. And then there were those dining table discussions, stories from the classroom about each subject and faculty member with my brother while he was a student. So when I joined IIPM as a student in 1994, it was like going to my second home, and yet there was so much more to what I had heard and seen.
At IIPM, I saw my father and my brother in a new light as people who can truly inspire many with their radical thoughts and ideas and their passionate teaching style. Th ree years at IIPM fl ew past in a blink and I didn’t even realize how much it had shaped me as a person. It was time to give back to IIPM whatever I got from here- love, passion, sincerity, knowledge, and a sense of purpose. So, in the year 1997 I started with my professional journey at IIPM.
My initial assignments were to create bridges between the institute and our alumni. And eventually I was entrusted with the responsibility of looking aft er IIPM’s accounts and fi nances. And as IIPM continued to grow and spread its wings to other regions and branches, I saw myself focusing on administration and streamlining the processes. I was also fortunate enough to get involved with IIPM’s events and corporate relations teams because of shared interests and new opportunities on that front. But the most exciting part of my profi le has been teaching at the institute, which keeps me ever youthful.
Q. How do you envision the future of management education in India in terms of radical changes and transformations?
A. Th e future of management education in this country has to be much more practical and more specialized. Th e more India matures as a player in the global market, the more diverse it will get as far as the business environment is concerned. And so we will see new niche industries and new specialized roles emerging for our managers. Th e need to diff erentiate, both as employees and as industries would lead to greater focus on subtler or perhaps one should say narrower but deeper streams of market exploration and therefore corresponding education and skill development. Like the students are a little anxious before any company comes to recruit at campus, companies too are concerned about potential vis-a-vis performance; stability and durability are other concerns and they want to know how many years their association would last especially aft er spending so much of money and time in training them.
So smart state-of-the-mart institutes can reduce such anxiety by imparting much more specialized skills/ curriculum to their students which will lead to stronger directive forces acting on the employee-employer relationship and reduce the costs while promoting growth.
Th erefore at IIPM we have super specializations, which are designed keeping the changing market’s demands in mind. Th e future of management education is also about making your students world class by exposing and orienting them towards global best practices. Th is idea is now growing and will become an unavoidable necessity for all A-league B-schools soon.
Interestingly, at IIPM we started this process nearly two decades ago through a compulsory paper called GOTA (Global opportunities and threat analysis).
Q. What is your style of leadership? How do you defi ne people skills and people management?
A. Nothing special! In our MBA classes we have learnt that the best style of leadership is when there is high concern for people and equally high concern for work (Team style of leadership: Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid). My style ranges between high concern for people/ moderate concern for work (when they understand what is good for the organization and for themselves) to very high concern for work/moderate concern for people (when the people I am responsible for are not being responsible about the work targets ‘we’ are responsible for).
But one thing is for sure, that I never felt the need to criticize junior members of my team in the presence of my seniors for any failures, as I’ve realized that everybody has a redeeming feature and I have learnt to work within them.
Q. What ways in your words would you defi ne success? Which success stories from the business world inspire you the most?
A. Success is about – taking a deep long breath; and relaxing a bit; and enjoying the journey! Everybody turns gray someday, but what matters is how you get there. If you have touched others in a positive way while getting there and they have worthwhile stories to share about you, I guess you have successfully lived your life.
I was always seen as the little one in the house who would seek everybody’s approval all the time, so when the same people fi nd me worthy enough to entrust me with such responsibilities, that was also success in my own little way.
When one of the biggest events at IIPM- ‘DARE- the business and marketing quiz’ by SRK, was given to me to handle, I was glad and upon accomplishing its challenges, I tasted my own little version of success in my own little world. As for business success stories that inspire me, I would have to go with Melinda and Bill Gates and Warren Buff et, not as much for the enormous riches they have earned through their ideas and work ethic, but in the way they have chosen to spend all that wealth. Giving back is not easy, especially in lives that busy and with as many distractions – a lesson for all of us lesser mortals and earners there.
Q. Sincerity has been one of your biggest strengths and virtues. Do you feel people today are slowly losing out on that? How can one inculcate the habit of being sincere? What role does culture and upbringing play in that regard?
A. First of all, thanks for the compliment! And no, most of the people I work with are all sincere but sometimes this sincerity comes in inconsistent patches as not at all times we can connect with the organizational goal, or even a personal goal – like a diet plan, for example. But once people are shown how accomplishing an organisation’s goals fulfi ll their own and it becomes a matter of pride, they become sincere towards accomplishing it. So sustaining sincerity is oft en diffi cult as our boss would so rightly say.
Q. What are the special childhood memories of yours when you were a little sister to Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri? How has he inspired you since then?
A. To him, I’m still his wide-eyed little sister! At IIPM, he was my favorite professor but even before he was my teacher, I was his teacher… As a kid I remember playing class-teacher and collecting all his school copies and giving him marks and would oft en fail him too and he would say nothing and quietly enjoy or endure. But the table has turned and now I seek his ten on ten. He has inspired me in many ways: I have never seen him to sit on his successes. He is restless and keeps looking forward to newer challenges. He doesn’t let us rest either, since he wants to grow but not without us staying in tow. So he keeps pushing us too to take up newer roles and responsibilities. He has immense capacity to love a lot of people a lot, and wants to touch all their lives in some way or the other. He almost insists on helping others sometimes! He is an inspirational speaker, and with his sheer words he has inspired many. I’ve not seen another person who respects his teachers so much and leaves no opportunity to mention them as the reason for his success. Th e list goes on…..!
Q. In retrospection of your IIPM days as a student, what are your most special memories, favourite professors, learning, and incidents?
A. As the song goes, those were the best days of my life… I found newer reasons to love and respect my parents and my brother, and found my soulmate in that classroom… I found myself speaking in public for the fi rst time ever… best moments too had been those walks to the lectern, debating, presenting… big brother was my favourite faculty and always watching. His classes used to be roller-coaster rides with laughing gas inside the room… and those moments shared inside and outside the classrooms with my best friend, now my husband…..
Q. For today’s generation, what is your advice for them to grow and achieve success and yet remain grounded in terms of ethics and values?
A. First of all, I’m today’s generation! Yet the advice to our generation would be- ‘fi nd that one thing that interests you most’, fi nd out a way to touch others through that and chase it systematically and with sincerity – success will be yours. And one can’t be successful on one’s own. Success is nothing but the world acknowledging that it values you and your contributions and choosing to reward you for it. And once you recognize that simple fact, and see the people you depend on for their feedback and that pat on the back, you have no choice but to stay grounded, ethical and committed to their needs as much as yours. So they’ll come naturally to you.
Q. You are the life partner of undoubtedly the Most Adored and fl amboyant man of the institute – Prof. Prashanto Banerjee. Please share your story of love and work.
A. When I see him in his tattered shorts, lying over those piles of books and creating a mess around the house, I don’t fi nd him that adorable and fl amboyant; rather I fi nd it very irritating and get angry. But as soon as he makes those endearing, and at the time, apparently heartfelt promises to clear the mess even though that rarely ever translates into reality, he brings a smile to my face. Aft er all he is my best friend. In fact he was my younger brother’s best friend and my best friend’s brother when we were in school and I would always fi nd him very arrogant and would never talk to him without jabbing a bit. Its only when he joined IIPM with me, I started to know him better and that’s how it all started, and aft er two years of insistent persistence he convinced me that we really are made for each other. Th at day he swept me off my feet and hasn’t let me down ever since…!
Q. How has the arrival of ZAK transformed you? Please share the essence of this special bond of eternal love.
A. ZAK’s arrival literally transformed me from a size 2 to a size 12! Ok, may be I’m exaggerating a little on both ends! ZAK has been an easy child to keep happy. However he has his own demands. So I’ve become even more patient these days. My team at work would be very happy to know that! But what they don’t know is that since all my patience is spent on ZAK, I have very little left for others. Just ask Prashanto! So how long did you say this interview would take !?!
Q. Being a woman, what is your idea of blending the multiple roles perfectly – daughter, sister, wife, mother, and corporate? Which role is the one which defi nes a woman predominantly?
A. Whether man or a woman, we all have multiple roles to fulfi ll. And practically speaking there’s no button with which you can switch off from one role and switch on another. Prioritize your roles at diff erent time of the day and try enjoying each as much knowing fully well that the next moment may not be as you’ve planned. I haven’t fi gured out which role defi nes a woman most. I guess it’s based on circumstances, and the nature, strength, and need of each relationship; it depends on the need of the hour too. My family defi nes me best. IIPM is my family. CULT
