Working in an IT firm means interacting with clients who may be on the other side of the globe and possibly with demands that have to be met at all costs. It is a highly pressurised atmosphere and can take a lot out of employees across the hierarchy. The pressure on the senior management can only be imagined. Some exercise helps them absorb all the stress others use alcohol or other substances.
Girish Bharne that very sober VP does no such thing. His day starts at 5 or 5.30 am. He either meditates for 20 minutes or goes cycling. Not a vigorous ride for him but a gentle amble in the surrounding area. Or if he feels like it he will check his mail and catch up on work. This has been his schedule for a year now. A decision to shift his daughter to a different school meant he had wake up an hour earlier. This is his schedule six days a week. On Sunday he wakes up at 6 am and goes cycling. He is not looking at being a super fit specimen; he belongs to the school of thought that believes it is important to be generally fit.
He usually has breakfast and then leaves for office at Verna. He is on his desk at 8 o clock and given that he leaves very early he avoids the general traffic that populates the highway later in the day. Like any good Goan he loves his fish curry and rice and yes, chicken too. He admits to a weakness for the Punjabi cuisine especially non vegetarian. Butter chicken ranks quite high in his list of likes. In terms of favourite restaurants he and his family generally like to go around and check dishes around.
Girish’s work schedule requires him to be out of Goa for a week to ten days every month. He tries to take a holiday once a year with the family. A year ago they managed to go to Sikkim but their holidays are also dictated by the holiday schedule of their children. Last year, it was Darjeeling and no it is not only India that they go around. He has also done the Thailand, Malaysia trail that every first-time Indian traveller does when going out of the country.
He loves to read and keep abreast of developments in the world. In addition he likes to read Jeffery Archer, Frederick Forsyth and management books. He likes to read about success stories which he claims helps him get ideas which can be incorporated in his company. As the AVP he is required to provide inputs to improve efficiency.
His drives to the office, which can be anywhere between 45 to 50 minutes, helps him listen to old hindi movie music. A fan of Kishore kumar he admits to not being a connoisseur of music but he says he wants to listen to something while he is driving. FM radio has a confirmed consumer in him. A big fan of the movie Sholay, he has no qualms in admitting he has watched it several times. Another favourite is 3 idiots.
Asked what his hobbies were it was a very honest answer, he said “I am a workaholic and my family complains because they always see me sitting in front of my laptop. I am checking reports or just reading something”.
In five years he says he wants to retire at 50 and do something out of the IT industry. He says he needs to figure it out. Amen to that.
