2020 has been the most unusual year of our generation, perhaps one of the more unusual years in human history. Who would have thought same time last year that a global pandemic would bring the world to a standstill, change our lives so dramatically and cause such severe social and economic distress? Covid 19 has touched everybody directly or indirectly in some way. For many it has meant health issues, loss of loved ones, and job and business impact. If not this, it has certainly meant a change in lifestyle, curtailing of daily activities and sense of fear and concern for everybody.
However, when I reflect back at this most unusual year, I also see 2020 as a year of hope. A year of celebration of the indomitable human spirit, of human resilience and adaptability, and a reminder that the true joy of life is in the small and simple things. For each challenge that the pandemic presented, we have come back with a positive response.
If offices shut down, there was an amazing shift to remote working. Who could have forecast that “work from home” (WFH) would be so pervasive and so effective? There are of course limits to effectiveness of WFH in some situations but on balance it has been surprisingly productive and convenient.
If in-person interactions got severely limited, there was a dramatic upsurge in digital adoption across all businesses and professional situations. 2020 has seen increase in digital penetration that might have taken at least 3 – 5 years in normal course. This increase in digital adoption is typically more convenient for the user and a more profitable business model for the enterprise.
If there was little travel and going out of home, there has been more time with family and also opportunity to spend time on developing or going back to hobbies.
If there was an unprecedented health scare, it has also brought focus on healthy eating and fitness for many.
And, if the unprecedented scale and complexity of the global Covid pandemic has thrown governments across the world into confusion, it also spurred great feats of service by the health workers and eventually the medical and scientific community to dramatically fast forward the development of vaccines in multiple parts of the world.
Most certainly the positives outweigh the negatives. If the challenge has been unprecedented, the response has also been exceptional. At every level, both individual and collective, there are so many positives to celebrate.
As I reflect on this most unusual year, I am filled with gratitude for the many blessings 2020 had to offer. Sharing a few:
- Health of Family. Very thankful that all my family have been healthy through the pandemic.
- Time with Family. I have had a crazy travel schedule for the past 7-8 years, consistently averaging 3-4 flights per week. My travel coupled with our three children being at different stages of college and boarding school education meant that we have not been able to spend much time together as a family. 2020 has been a very positive contrast. I last took a flight in early March and all three kids have been home for large part of the year. This meant that we have been able to spend a lot of time together, and I feel so thankful for it.
- Writing my first Book. I have been thinking about writing a book for some time, but this year I finally got down to doing it. I am so happy that I made the effort to write my first book “Winning in the Digital Age.” It is being published by Penguin Random House and should be available in stores early in 2021. Completing the book was an amazing learning experience. It was great to pen down my experiences and insights across different stages of my professional journey on a topic I feel very passionate about. It also pushed my thinking on a number of topics, which will hopefully create value for both our clients and business. Overall, it was a super intense and satisfying experience, one that I might not have been able to get down to if it was not for the pandemic.
- Bhagavad Gita and Exploring Hinduism courses. I have always had a deep passion for India’s spiritual wisdom and knowledge and have been reading The Bhagavad Gita and other scriptures for many years. This year I got an opportunity to study them in a structured and formal way at Hindu University of America (HUA), which aims to drive research and dissemination of various aspects of Hindu knowledge. I first did a course in Bhagavad Gita, which was a super intense but a truly rewarding learning experience. I have read the scripture many times, but it was a totally different experience going through it with a learned teacher accompanied by active discussions in a vibrant student group. I later did an introductory course on “Exploring Hinduism” with my children Devishi and Pragun. It was fascinating to study along with them, learn about so many concepts and principles that I was unaware of, and most importantly to see my children being sparked by the depth of our ancient knowledge.
- Running. I suffered a serious knee injury late in 2019 and had to undergo a fairly significant operation. So, first half of 2020 was all about rehab and thrice a week trips to the physio (again, thanks to Covid that I was able to manage this regular rehab). By June I started to run again thanks in large part to inspiration from my daughter Devishi. I have always been an active sportsperson but not a regular runner. This along with my injury meant that starting to run was not easy. But I am very happy that I kept at it and over the past few months I ended up running 550+ miles including two half marathons. I could have never imagined it earlier in the year when I was struggling with crutches and a leg brace. What makes the running experience even sweeter is that a lot of it was done along with my kids.
- Time with nature. One of the most pleasant aspects of the lockdown has been the opportunity to take daily long walks along with my wife Arpna. We are blessed to stay in a beautiful town in New Jersey with abundant nature all around us, and these walks have been most refreshing. Lockdown also gave the opportunity to enjoy simple pleasures like the changing moods of the setting sun or the vegetation in our backyard. I have always found time with nature to be so therapeutic, and 2020 gave so many of these precious moments.
- Daddyji’s 90th birthday. This year we celebrated my father’s 90th birthday in October. It was such an amazing opportunity to celebrate his inspiring life journey and the values of simplicity, integrity and kindness that he has lived so fully. While we could not celebrate in person, the Zoom celebrations created a very different magic. It was so heartwarming to receive over thirty videos and to have over hundred family members join the virtual celebrations. And, through all of this it was so inspiring to see how he has touched so many lives.
- McKinsey reunion in Dubai. Earlier in the year we had a reunion of folks from McKinsey India Office who had joined the office in 1990s. It was in the first week of March, just before the pandemic craziness hit and all travel got stalled. Eighty of us from across the world got together in Dubai, and I feel so thankful that we were all able to meet. It has been a real privilege and blessing to be part of that group. As McKinsey was setting up in India in 1990’s it brought together really exceptional talent and then presented them with incredible opportunities for growth and impact. The reunion was a reminder how thankful I am that I had that development opportunity early in my career and inspiration for me to contribute to building similar world-class institution(s).
- Incedo Progress. Most importantly my firm Incedo, we have not just weathered the storm of the pandemic but come out even stronger. We maintained strong growth momentum and very healthy profitability. But lot more important than the numbers is the incredible effort that all our colleagues put in the year. I find it so inspiring that despite remote working, our productivity, quality and client engagement has not only not dipped but increased in most cases. Moreover, our relationships and trust with all our clients have only grown stronger through the year. And along with all of the above, we ended up building a host of new capabilities and service lines. This is only because of the discipline and effort that 2000+ of our colleagues are putting in day in day out. It is truly a blessing to be part of such an amazing team and I am so grateful for it.
As I reflect on 2020 and the many blessings it offered, I take away three key learnings:
- Every obstacle creates its own opportunity. Covid Lockdown was a challenge but also created the opportunity to spend more time with family, write my first book, and invest in my learning by taking courses.
- Stay the course and tide will turn. Success in life is about taking the long view. You have to learn to bear short-term pain and you will start to see long-term gains. I saw that in my efforts to start running after surgery, the painful process of writing a book in the midst of an already busy schedule, or the growing pains of building a young firm.
- Joy of life is in the simple moments. We keep on chasing goals and dreams, but the joy of life is in the simple moments. I found so much of it this year in time with family, long walks and just being with nature, and I feel so thankful for those precious moments.
Thank you 2020 for your blessings and learnings. I look forward to 2021 and wish all friends and family that the new year brings everybody the best of health, happiness and success.
All the best!!
