To begin, unlearn then learn afresh

 

 

 

Rajdev Bhattacharya, General Manager, Global Travel & Hospitality Services and Way2go, Digital Operations Platforms for Wipro Limited, feels that now may be the time for the industry to think of new ways to function under the new normal. There is a need to unlearn and learn again, he asserts.

Sitting in an Emirates flight to US not so long ago, I slowly slipped away. I was dreaming of the not so distant past. I suddenly saw dark clouds approaching and beneath lay a ghost town of aircraft parked quietly in the bay as if an enchantress had cast her spell. Having spent 26 years in travel and aviation, I can’t help but feel the pain. It is now a part of my existence and what I know and love. Can’t imagine a world with no flights, no hotels no conferences, and no meeting clients. The old maxim ‘Change happens by choice or crisis’ has indeed come true.

I tried to wake up, but the dream just got deeper and more uncomfortable. The clouds kept darkening till I was suffocated with frustration and fear. I acknowledged that there is a crisis. In my dreams, I saw the mist clearing and in a distance I saw a familiar face, much like someone I have seen in the mirror, but wiser and older, looking straight in my eyes smiling, yet firm. “What is it that you are scared of?” he asked in a calm, confident voice. “Remember how you conquered the mighty Keng Yaste, you were at the top of 22,000 feet few days back? Wasn’t that dangerous?” he continued, “Why do you keep wanting to go back? Aren’t you afraid then?” Suddenly the answers were staring at me. Passion to keep going conquers all fear.

I was born in Kolkata (then Calcutta) and all I loved was playing the blues on the guitar till one day my first job happened in Jet Airways. I was posted in the small town of Bagdogra. Being an Air Force base, the entrance of the airport had a large sign which I would stop and see every day. It read, ‘When the going gets tough, the tough get going’.

Yes! I told myself, I have to change the narrative of this crisis! This isn’t the first one that I am facing and perhaps not the last. I have survived. Suddenly it did not look so bad and the clouds slowly cleared. “So what did I do in my last crisis?” I asked the old man. “Unlearn and learn again,” he smiled. “You have to play within the rule of the game and win,” as he paused and added, “Never fall in love with your old way of working.”

“That’s it!” I told to myself, oh dear industry of passionate people, it’s time to innovate. Get ready to change everything. The model has been reset; this is wonderful news. I see the industry digitalise. Doesn’t that mean the business we so passionately built ‘Way2go’ will now come of age? I see boundary-less opportunities opening up with work from home. I see the travel industry trying to take cost out and outsource. I see my industry becoming more modern and willing to invest in technology.

I woke up. The fear was gone. I was more energised with the opportunities I now saw. The fear from the minds of passengers will go away soon. Soon, the mighty birds will take on to the skies. I know I shall look back at 2020 and realise it made me more resilient and stronger!

What’s your passion that kills the fear in you? Keep flying!

(Views expressed are the author’s own. The publication may or may not subscribe to the same.)