The Hindu Business Line : IT

While Indians are justifiably proud of the IT and ITES industry which has virtually changed the way the world looks at India and how young Indians look at themselves, there are rising concerns on the flip side of IT; the long working hours, stress-filled lives, higher disposable incomes leading to excessive consumerism and exposure to a global culture resulting in a total discard of traditional norms and values.

Two industry leaders — Lakshmi Narayanan, President and CEO of Cognizant Technology Solutions and G.B. Prabhat, Director, Consulting and Enterprise Solutions, Satyam Computer Services, shared their views on these concerns.

Clarifying at the outset that these are his personal views, Prabhat agrees that there is a "deep downside" to what he calls "unfettered capitalism". He thinks these problems are a result of there being only one culture worldwide, "a nameless culture that is an amalgam of several cultures but is predominantly American culture. Youth all over the world are becoming indistinguishable from one another. Unless you look very closely at the skin or hair of the person, it's difficult to tell an American youth from an Indian youth."

Lakshmi Narayanan - picture by Shaju John

He feels that not just in IT but in all industries worldwide, "people do not have much of a personal life. Perhaps this is accentuated and more visible in the IT and BPO industry. Clearly the 8-hour workday which died in America a decade ago, has died in India... " With the average workday being 12 hours, and sometimes even 14 or 16 hours, often people work through the night to meet deadlines, he says.

Clearly this is a result of competition, points out CTS' Lakshmi Narayanan, who is greatly concerned about "this aspect of life in a fast lane. This sector is so competitive, and the current generation of youngsters so ambitious, that it leads to early burnout and psychological problems. Every time I meet my doctor, he makes it a point to tell me how many more IT professionals are being prescribed anti-depressants."

But he thinks that more than global this is a problem of developing economies in a hurry to catch up. "In India this is an even more serious problem because of the expectation that India will soon be a superpower, and the values that we are taught ... unless we make sacrifices, we can't have a better tomorrow."

Work smarter

He disagrees with his daughter's teacher "who always says: `No pain, no gain.' There is a smarter way of getting there, and I've seen it... many people succeed by working smart."

Narayanan says one's work and personal life can be balanced through planning. He once thought that one could either "succeed in professional life or have a peaceful and joyous domestic life, but not both. But now I am beginning to see an increasing number of families that are in full harmony and yet successful professionally. But winning both the battles needs smarter ways of working."

Prabhat sees a virtue in France fiercely protecting the 35-hour working week. "I disagree with the argument that people must have the right to work as long as they want; and that if you intervene and artificially fix the number of hours, it is no longer a free economy but becomes a regulated economy." He gives the example of the 100 m race where the distance is fixed but the fastest one wins the race, so within a given parameter it is possible to excel. Making a case for an international legal entity prescribing regulations on work, he says, "Within 35 hours, like in the 100 m race, if an Indian works the best and produces the best possible output, so be it. The true measure of economics is productivity... how much more you produce per hour and not how many more hours you work."

Long and stressful working hours leave no time or inclination for hobbies, take a toll on the quality of life and manifest in stress-related diseases. "We have people dying of heart attacks at 25 and developing all kinds of psychosomatic illnesses and earlier manifestation of diabetes."

On higher disposable incomes with youngsters in the IT/ITES industry resulting in excessive consumerism and splurging, with little thought for the future, Prabhat says this has both positive and negative results. "It contributes to an economy's growth, greater employment and affluence. But a consumerist culture quite often is established at the cost of thought and poor quality in later life; you're so busy with the monetary trappings that looking back you wonder what part of my children's growing up did I participate in? You might find your children not relating to you as affectionately as you related to your parents. All kinds of relationships are being jeopardised."

But Narayanan sees this aspect differently. "The confidence in a bright future makes youngsters worry less about it. Hence they don't save for the future. The old-world values of thrift, sacrifice, sharing etc, are gradually going away. Work hard and play hard is the new mantra. I know youngsters who say: `I work hard to make money so that I can enjoy it. I want the best of cars, clothes, everything; I've earned it and I deserve it.' I don't think there is anything wrong with that attitude, as long as the desire does not turn to greed and make people compromise basic values."

He also feels that with age comes maturity and responsibility. "A group in my office talks about the 20:20:20 rule — 20 years of tough life (education); swing to the other end during the next 20 years... work hard and play hard, followed by the more balanced 20 years."

On the unusual working hours in the industry vis-à-vis the tragic rape and murder of a young IT professional in Bangalore recently, Prabhat says the crime by "one errant driver" has to be examined in proper perspective in a community of 1 million people. "IT and BPO companies go out of the way to take care of their employees and extending employee care. It is very tragic but not something that was done because of laxity in security or because of the intrinsic nature of work. Women all over the world who work odd hours have not been extended this care (of pick up and drop). Women are expected to use public transport just as men do; so I think Indian companies are walking the extra mile in extending to both male and female employees greater courtesies than done in the west."

Narayanan sees the incident not specific to the IT industry and "the price we're paying for the widening divide between the haves and have-nots. Unless this gap narrows through a faster trickle-down effect there will be more crime and social unrests because today affluence is enjoyed openly and demonstrably."

Another problem is that people openly flaunt wealth and youngsters display their emotions in public, "which was hitherto taboo. All this has led to a law and order situation, and it has to be dealt with as a law and order problem," he adds.

Cultural policing won't work

On the general perception that there is more permissiveness and casual sex among IT/ITES employees, Prabhat says, "I don't think we can do anything about it. It's not an industry problem; I think it's a cultural problem. There is a huge shift in cultural mores and I don't think cultural policing is going to work. We have to use our media and entertainment mechanisms more effectively to get out a message if we need to do so."

He also wonders that in an era where a wholesale shift in cultural values is taking place, "then who is one person to call the other person immoral," he asks.

Asked if he's concerned about it, he says: "Personally, yes, but another colleague of mine might not be concerned at all; he might call it a very welcome development and say this generation is more outspoken and not hypocritical. Man and woman were polygamous and polyandrous by instinct, but here we have an open declaration. The IT and BPO industry is a little more visible than the other industries, but I do not think the so-called immoral behaviour is more here than anywhere else; it's just that these people are better advertised and more keenly observed as a community."

Narayanan too is not alarmed by the situation. "Old-world values are changing and society has become more permissive, and parents are more permissive too. The television medium shows everything as it is. I think the changing times are to be blamed more than anything else. Values change. I tell my kids: `Humility was once a great virtue, but no longer'."

He thinks this is a societal problem, which is comparatively less in Chennai, because of "the social fabric, homogenous society, etc. It is even less in Coimbatore which is more family-oriented and conservative." But in a city like Bangalore, it is more visible because of a migrant heterogeneous society with no common theme or culture that binds the people and hence there are "fewer tethers".

Adds Narayanan, "I don't think we should worry about it excessively. I always say that the human mind has such great potential that it will figure out a way. We are just seeing some swings of the pendulum, before it settles." He warns against imposing "excessive controls, which will lead to a rebellious society."

Prabhat adds that the important thing is to recognise the wholesale shift in cultural values and social norms. The youth of today are remarkably different from the youth of yesterday. "Even I lived through an era of continuity; between passing engineering college and first 20 years of employment. It was practically the same world and suddenly there is a huge shift, which is explained by supporting demographics. Over 50 per cent American women of marriageable age are today single, and this spurt to 50 per cent happened over a remarkably short period of time... therefore I call it the age of discontinuity. It is a dramatic departure from the past."

Asked to comment on even young Indian women with successful careers opting not to get married or delaying marriage, he says, "Marriage as an institution is now being questioned. The need for women to get married and have children — from or out of marriage — are all values that are being questioned. There are enough examples of people who don't get married or have multiple partners through their adult life."

Prabhat's second novel, due for release in May, deals with some of these issues... the new generation and the homogenisation of culture... values, dress codes, taste, spending patterns, et al.

"It is about the dark side of unfettered capitalism, and discusses some of the issues you raised. I'm not saying all this is good or bad, I'm only asking is this what we really wanted? Is this a fallout of embracing a new model of capitalism or is this a curse that is a consequence of having embraced capitalism," he adds.

Response may be sent to rasheeda@thehindu.co.in

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