Hitopadesha, is a Sanskrit text that contains fables, aphorisms and maxims to provide healthy advice and guidance to people in dealing with day-to-day predicaments and dilemmas.
There occurs an interesting couplet which lists out the enemies of a householder.
They are, a father, who has run up debts, a mother, whose morals are weak, a son, who lacks scholarship, and hold your breath! A wife who is more than normally beautiful!
Why would a beautiful woman become an enemy(danger) to her husband?
And how did the anonymous author(s) of this text anticipate the kinky notions of a corporate honcho living many centuries apart?

The latest discovery, that a man idly staring at his wife on a Sunday afternoon (the reverse is not postulated) is the cause of a nation not galloping on the development run way, has many aspects that require careful consideration.
The received wisdom is that a man of the 21st century stares only into a smartphone or some other electronic gadget and has little time to stare at any other subject or object and definitely not at someone who is termed ‘his wife’!
A poet, a century back, bemoaned the lack of time to stand and stare at objects of moment like the stars, the sky, the streams and other highly appealing ones like a cow or a sheep!
The reason is not the lack of an aesthetic sense to appreciate such beauties of nature, which included gainly humans specially endowed with the attributes mentioned, but entirely to leading a life of care, in fact, a poor life of care!
The key philosophical enquiry warranted is how suddenly did this enlightenment dawn on a person, even should he be remunerated at 534.57 times the median salary of the other mortals in the organisation, with no evidence of a Bodhi tree anywhere in the pin code of the residence or the office!

The only plausible explanation to this view expressed, that has received a plethora of gratuitous brickbats from all strata of the population, is the common affliction labelled as the
‘foot in the mouth’ disease!
This is a disease that is the very opposite of other diseases going around the world like the corona, monkey pox and similar viruses, that spread by contact and communion.
The FIM disease afflicts those who tend to think in isolation and don’t cross check ideas with other people to moderate and modulate manic misconceptions they mistake for modern thinking!
An apt quotation from a book by Gerald Ratner sums up beautifully how an ill-conceived utterance is more destructive than actually venal crimes under the penal code!
“Despite the fact that I didn’t kill anybody, I didn’t do anything illegal and I didn’t even say anything that I hadn’t said before, that speech caused me to lose my business, my reputation and my fortune.”
Rarely do persons in positions, who have said something silly and realised the error, seek a quick reconciliation with those claiming offence, and put it to rest.
Often, such, put their damaging comments to candour, being one’s own self and talking from the heart, hiding nothing blah, blah. Nothing can be worse than trying to justify a maladroit momentary malapropism to candour as it is the most damaging damage control, if one can use that expression!

Another messy explanation is that all was meant well and has been maliciously misunderstood. No one likes to be told she has misunderstood, especially if the statement in question is something that the person feels personally offended by.
Equally disastrous is a junior official stepping forward to clarify what a director or a chief executive officer (CEO) meant by the statement that caused the stir, and adding that the individual is a genial and friendly person and generally says things that are non-controversial.
Posing oneself as witty or light-hearted and making a mashed up comment is another side effect of the virus of FIM. A witty but penetrative say needs a lot of preparation and still the comment should sound spontaneous for the humour element to prevail.
If it was said, ‘The wives would like to see their husbands in office on Sundays’ there would be no clamour. Of course, mere corporate positions do not endow such a facility of expression and the choice of the right turn of phrases!
Historically, such gaffes induced by the FIM disease caused limited damage and mostly spread among a smaller group due to limited means of communication. The advent of instant dissemination through the so-called social media channels and the access to smartphones on a round the clock basis has made it impossible to contain the spread of the faux pas.
A social media expert says “Social media realm is populated by people with the time, capability and wherewithal to create havoc. “It’s a dangerous place. The remit of many inhabitants of social networks is to whip up such frenzies and out the disingenuous, failing or unethical. It is the ultimate free press.”
And adds with great wisdom, “They spread into the public consciousness faster, more widely and more memorably than ever before. An executive can get 99% of their communications right. The internet is swift and merciless in focusing on the 1%. Gaffes now also live forever. In the days of broadcast, they were heard a few times but then began to fade. The internet can keep them alive.”
It is necessary for companies to have guard rails on when and what to communicate. Top level executives should come down on their ego to understand the niceties of communicating effectively and learn to keep their counsel as often as possible.
It is better to show in action. A company with a five-year CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) of 4.82% of its PBDIT (profit before depreciation, 9.47%, should be on guard exhorting its employees to sweat more and stink more!
The spiel on an ambitious vision for the country’ decade of growth should come not from the mealy mouthed message but in adding more permanent workers to its ranks. An annual increase of 5.59% to the work force is not the best advertisement for such noble notions!
Irrespective of the level and the importance of a person making statements that cause damage and embarrassment to a corporation’ image and brand, the board should act independently, pull up the person, and also make that public to assuage the hurt sentiments.
A subservient board causes more damage than the original sin!
Turning to what can inspire the modern day employees, it is by creating a purpose and mission beyond just performance in numbers. Contrary to the impression that people sit at home and gape at their spouses, most wish to see how they can impact society by their actions and work.
Unfortunately, many corporate leaders lack a purpose beyond pleasing those in power, keep earning more each year, encash their stock options and worry about personal wealth management!
Persons who are coming into the employment market are increasingly better qualified than the previous generations, have greater knowledge of the worldly happenings, wider interests beyond just an office routine and are not looking to the retirement pot. They are more footloose and need to be motivated effectively.
Inopportune comments and thoughtless views will little contribute to get the best out of such!
The climb to the corporate acme is relatively easier than staying there safely and with dignity. The corporate staircase at the top is extremely greasy. It is a scarecase, anyway, why bring in a ‘starecase’!
Note: Responding to the controversy,
Sonica Muraleedharan, head of human resources (HR) for domestic operations at L&T posted a message on LinkedIn. She says, "It is truly disheartening to see how the words of our MD and chairman, Mr Subrahmanyan (SNS), have been taken out of context, leading to misunderstandings and unnecessary criticism. Having been present during the internal address, I can confidently state that SNS never implied or mandated 90-hour work weeks. His remarks were casual in nature and have been misinterpreted, fuelling a controversy that doesn’t reflect his true intentions."
(Ranganathan V is a CA and CS. He has over 44 years of experience in the corporate sector and in consultancy. For 17 years, he worked as Director and Partner in Ernst & Young LLP and three years as senior advisor post-retirement handling the task of building the Chennai and Hyderabad practice of E&Y in tax and regulatory space. Currently, he serves as an independent director on the board of four companies.)