LETTER FROM CHAIRMAN

August 2013

This time I’d like to talk about a very unique experience that was shared with me by a young business head from the corporate world. We were booked on the same flight, that was delayed a wee bit and found ourselves next to each other at the airport. As he put his newspaper down, he turned around and smiled. That’s how the conversation started.

He told me that he was on a business trip, to meet an important client. “Actually, at this very moment, I would have probably been at my timeshare resort in Goa – with my family. I had to cancel my plans, because of this important meeting with a new client that suddenly came up. I am the only one aligned to this profit centre, so found myself unpacking tee shirts and shorts, only to put in my formals for the trip.”

“My wife understands, because she does know the nature of my job. Even last year, we had to postpone a weekend trip because I was called in to office for an importance conference call.”

“So, there you go,” he said, in a helpless sort of way.

I probably reminded him of his Dad, and it looked like he wanted some kind of response from me. I told him that in my 30+ years, I too had faced situations that were similar. Sometimes, I had to put on hold something I had really looked forward to - that’s the way of the corporate world.

I also told him that if it was life-threatening on the work front, then you have to make way for it. Work gets priority, because work pays for holidays. On the other hand, I did understand the reason behind all that disappointment - who likes a holiday to be grounded at the last minute? Most of the time, a favorable work/life balance is like a mirage that we can visualize, but not really see.

What this young man could have done (and I did mention this to him …) is made the best of a given situation. For example …

• Sent the wife and kids to the resort as planned, and joined them two days later. His business trip was for two days and his vacation was for one whole week.
• Checked with his office (no harm in doing that) if this meeting could be postponed by one week. Sometimes (rare, but true) a client does see your point of view and if it’s not life-threatening on the work-front like I said earlier, will agree to a revision in schedules.
• Another thing to do is offer a free holiday opportunity to close friends, or someone in the extended family. You need to check out with your home resort how to enable this, but this can be another workable option.
• The customer help desk at your home resort has probably encountered many such situations, and they will be in a position to give you some timely advice. In fact, this is what I would also recommend.

But my young friend at the airport didn’t do any of that – he just canned his holiday and turned his smile upside down. The lesson to learn here is simple – don’t get just angry or disappointed - stop for a moment and think.

There’s always a lifeline.

B. S. Rathor
Chairman, AIRDA