Diversity & Inclusion Archives - 麻豆原创 India News Center News & Information About 麻豆原创 Mon, 14 Aug 2023 18:44:30 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Three Everyday Superpowers to Safeguard Your Business /india/2020/10/3-everyday-superpowers-to-safeguard-your-business/ Thu, 08 Oct 2020 06:00:27 +0000 /india/?p=2116 Among the most anticipated movie releases this winter is Wonder Woman, a film in which a superheroine saves the world (again and again) under impossible...

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Among the most anticipated movie releases this winter is Wonder Woman, a film in which a superheroine saves the world (again and again) under impossible circumstances.

What we don鈥檛 often see on the big screen are the everyday superheroes and superheroines who provide phenomenal services and support as part of their job. Their approach is less dramatic and has admittedly less flashy gadgets, but the results are equally jaw dropping. They safeguard and guide businesses through changes and help them to re-imagine the future.

These everyday superheroes and heroines have three essential superpowers: empathy, excellence, resilience.

Resilience is the ultimate shapeshifter superpower in business

These past months have been a reminder that teams need the ability to shift quickly and adapt to changing business environments. Above all they need resilience. Resilience is the equivalence of the shapeshifting power in Marvel comics. The outcomes of business changes are driven by people, the superheroes and superheroines within organizations who show resilience and grit to keep operations running and support even in the most strenuous circumstances.

In a recent聽, Merete Wedell-Wedellsborg argues that the broader challenge is navigating the post-recovery phase. It is easy to lean back and forget the learnings when the pressure lessens. Part of the power of resilience is to rethink the future and shapeshift the business to a better place to the future for the recovery and renew phase.

Empathy nurtures diversity and inclusion

Showing empathy and care are especially critical during a crisis based on聽. In every type of crisis, emotions run high as our world seems less controllable and less predictable. There is an increased need for comfort and peace of mind. Even if we all experience the same type of crisis, the impact is different on each company and individual.听You must put yourself into the shoes of others to see and understand the situation from different perspectives. Practicing empathy is the foundation for understanding the needs of every colleague and customer to find the best solution and maintain trust.

Empathy is also a critical skill for nurturing diversity and inclusion.听, 鈥淟eaders who are humble and empathetic will be open to criticism about their personal biases, and greater self-insight into personal limitations prompts greater humility, empathy and perspective-taking.鈥 In my own humble opinion, I consider empathy to be a superpower that should be learned and exercised at any given time and not just summoned when in a pinch.

The hardest superpower of all 鈥 continuous excellence

Commitment to excellence may be both, the most difficult and the most underrated superpower. Being an everyday superhero is hard work. You can鈥檛 just put on a cape on and snap a finger. It takes dedication to maintain a continuous high standard of excellence. Your work is not done after one day. The true power lies in showing the same high level of commitment and excellence every single day. When uncontrollable elements ripple through our universe, they focus on the parts that they can control and find their own lasso of truth to drive positive outcomes.

The superheroes and superheroines at work have at least one trait in common with their big screen counterparts. They take charge.听Here is an example from my own team. When the coronavirus pandemic hit, the 麻豆原创 Services team quickly expanded the remote service model to enable up to聽100% off-site delivery.听We are delivering go-lives completely and remotely, from small projects to large transformations. Based on conversations with customers, we also released聽聽that support them in managing risk and enhance off-site working environments. While these new service offerings were generated by the team during a crisis, they will stay relevant and helped prepare customers for the future.

What I admire most about the three superpowers of resilience, empathy, and commitment to excellence is that these powers are skills that everyone can learn. Remember, in the Avengers Endgame movie, it took all the supers to collaborate to save the world. It is the same in business. The more superheroes and superheroines we have at work, the better we are equipped to face any type of challenge and build a better future for our customers.


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Gender Doesn鈥檛 Matter, Your Knowledge and Experience Does /india/2020/04/gender-doesnt-matter-knowledge-experience-does/ Mon, 20 Apr 2020 07:28:49 +0000 /india/?p=1828 Gender doesn鈥檛 matter, your knowledge and experience does 鈥 says 麻豆原创鈥檚 Sindhu Gangadharan. When Sindhu Gangadharan started her journey twenty years ago as a developer,...

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Gender doesn鈥檛 matter, your knowledge and experience does 鈥 says 麻豆原创鈥檚 Sindhu Gangadharan.

When Sindhu Gangadharan started her journey twenty years ago as a developer, women in technology were far and few and had to face many challenges. However, things have changed today, and the biggest contributing factor is that there are more women entering this field, bringing about a change and creating a lasting impact. Sindhu, in September 2019, took over as Managing Director of the 麻豆原创 Labs in India. The R&D facility of 麻豆原创, the market leader in enterprise application software. Sindhu, the first female MD of 麻豆原创 Labs India says that one of the core aspects of being a successful leader is to be an expert in your field.

鈥淪ince the beginning of my career, I’ve always believed in really understanding and knowing the smallest of detail about my work,鈥 Sindhu says. 鈥淎ccording to me, whichever field a person chooses, they should be really passionate about it; it doesn’t matter what their gender is. For me, technology has always been my passion and keeps me on my toes to know more,鈥 she adds.

And naturally, she鈥檚 never felt the years go by. The continuous organizational support and encouragement played a big part in this. Sindhu throws light on this and says, 鈥淯ndoubtedly, 麻豆原创 is a great company to work for. And it also stems back into the cultural aspect 鈥 the open culture, the focus on learning, the focus on self-development and free-thinking鈥. She adds, 鈥淭he company provides immense opportunities for professionals like me to grow both on the career front and the personal front, which helps me evolve holistically as an individual. The culture of gender positivity at 麻豆原创 is exemplary. We encourage equal opportunity, irrespective of the gender, age, faith or orientation that one belongs to or chooses to adopt.鈥

Sindhu follows the belief that innovative ideas flourish when people embrace their differences and foster collaboration. As a leader, she encourages the entrepreneurial spirit that is within every employee and asks them to break away from silos and pursue an open innovation approach Sindhu highlighted some initiatives which defines 麻豆原创 as an innovative technology leader – Entrepreneurial Sabbatical provided to employee to pursue their ambition, an in-house startup accelerator program called the 麻豆原创 Startup Studio, a crowd-sourcing platform called 麻豆原创 Blue, and the Intelligent Enterprise Summit aimed at bringing employees from different lines of business together to work on a common set of issues and challenges.

Drawing attention to the collaborative phase of innovation, Sindhu says, 鈥淐o-innovation was just the first step and over the years, it has evolved. Now we have moved to the next phase where we are co-locating with self-select customers, through co-location of our experts and our customers working hand in hand and in real time.鈥 麻豆原创鈥檚 Co-Innovation Lab (COIL), a global network of 麻豆原创 innovation labs in 15 countries, helps customers and partners create high value, co-integrated business solutions, Sindhu points out. 鈥淲e focused on identifying the transformational areas in India business, identifying those outcomes that are relevant and by partnering with them, we bring out the right product that will help them run intelligently and more successfully,鈥 she adds.

being a Great Place to Work consecutively for two years is matter of great pride and a testament of its diverse culture, says Sindhu. Hence it makes it difficult for Sindhu to choose one aspect which she thinks is the best. 鈥溌槎乖 has brought so many difference experiences and given me a chance to interact with unique individuals as we operate out of more than 180 countries. It鈥檚 almost impossible for me to zero down on a single factor, there are so many of them. The culture, the people, the leaders, the innovation, the way we use tech for the larger benefit of humanity, our relentless drive toward sustainability, our products, solutions; the list is endless, and I can go on. All I can say is that I am fortunate to contribute to this wonderful organization and be a part of its growth story鈥, Sindhu concludes.

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I鈥檝e found my soul here at 麻豆原创 – Being able to bring real hope to others is a whole new spectrum /india/2020/02/found-my-soul-at-sap/ Mon, 24 Feb 2020 09:10:38 +0000 /india/?p=1764 Ask Kiran Venkataramanappa what 麻豆原创 means to him and his answer is profound. The company, he says, has given him his identity. 鈥淚鈥檝e spent fifteen...

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Ask Kiran Venkataramanappa what 麻豆原创 means to him and his answer is profound. The company, he says, has given him his identity.

鈥淚鈥檝e spent fifteen years here,鈥 he says, 鈥渁nd that鈥檚 more or less my whole career. I don鈥檛 know if anyone else has said this already 鈥 but 麻豆原创 has literally shaped who I am. When I started out as a software engineer like many others, my intention was simply to pay my home loan and bring security to my life, while at the same time doing justice to the education that I鈥檝e invested in. At 麻豆原创, I certainly got all of that, like thousands of others 鈥 but I鈥檓 not exaggerating when I say I also found my own soul.

麻豆原创 emables personal development through the core values of聽 Diversity & InclusionBengaluru-based Kiran is a Development Manager at 麻豆原创 Labs India and drives the 麻豆原创 Autism at Work

He says the many opportunities would probably not have come his way if he had been employed elsewhere. 鈥淔or instance,聽聽has been a big part of my life for the past six or seven years. It has completely changed the way I look at society and the people whom I meet. I have a family, I have two kids, so there鈥檚 not too much spare time I have outside office hours to devote to a cause or to a charity, purely as a private citizen. I certainly don鈥檛 call D&I a charity but this certainly gives me a channel by which I can give back to society. And the fact that it鈥檚 a part of my job, even though it鈥檚 not my primary role 鈥 there is nothing like it.

鈥淚 handle the inclusion pillar and predominantly聽Autism at Work聽and beyond that, I work with people with disabilities, shaping the way in which 麻豆原创 as an employer can welcome them and make them feel comfortable. We are an inclusive employer, which we鈥檝e always intended to be 鈥 and we rightfully spread the message that we are. That鈥檚 the space I work in, within D&I.

鈥淚t鈥檚 extremely meaningful when we meet some of the parents of our autistic colleagues and some of them even have moist eyes when they talk to us. They say, 鈥楾en years ago we could never have imagined that our son or daughter could ever have any kind of future beyond the care that we give them.鈥 That鈥檚 a really powerful statement, isn鈥檛 it? The parents also tell us that their major commitment was to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their autistic offspring but that their biggest fear was what would happen to their offspring because they would outlive each parent. Who would subsequently care for them and what would happen to them were the big questions that had no answers at all.

鈥淭hey would tell us, 鈥榃e know we can keep them secure while we are alive, but of course the big question is what will happen to them after that.鈥 But now they say to us that 麻豆原创 has given them an answer to that. And from a societal point of view, it even goes much further 鈥 generally in these cases it is the mother who looks after an autistic child, but when the mother passes away, there is literally no one else who has that level of empathy. Now, in addition to being really very grateful to 麻豆原创, they say they are filled with a new level of energy that compels them to reach out to the various parents鈥 communities and the schools in order to say, 鈥楬ey, we never gave up hope, and neither should you.鈥

鈥淏ut it goes much deeper, really. Apart from the hope, it鈥檚 also the understanding that filters down. Everyone on the autism spectrum belongs to the same society that we do. They absolutely belong in every way, no question about it. All it takes is to have those eyes to recognize what they are good at, because each of them has an ability to contribute. This is what they now believe in, and just to see this belief 鈥 a type of belief that previously did not exist in our society 鈥 is phenomenal. For me, to be able to do that as part of my role at 麻豆原创, is what I stand for.

麻豆原创 changes lives through the core values of Diversity & InclusionKiran illustrates how 麻豆原创 changes lives through the core values of聽 Diversity & Inclusion

鈥淭o give people genuine hope is very uplifting, especially because autism is not widely understood in India. We are now looking at employing candidates who are in their mid to late 20s, and the common reaction among their families is that they are now filled with positivity because there is finally a future for them. This in turn creates the overall awareness that inclusion is certainly possible, even though we cannot possibly do it for everyone.

鈥淭his is really a core value for the company we work for, and we鈥檙e not doing it just for media coverage or attention. If the impetus is wrong, then no agenda that is as wide and as meaningful as this could possibly hope to survive in a meaningful way.

鈥淭his is one way to give back to society, because we are dealing with real lives and changing them in a way where we can actually see the impact. This entire program is all about real lives, real examples, and genuine belief that this can be done in a corporate environment. To me, that really is inclusion. While we preach diversity and inclusion 鈥 as do some other companies too 鈥 the essential difference is that we follow it through to the maximum possible extent.

鈥淭his can be seen in the simplest of cases. When we were designing a policy for people with disabilities, we did an accessibility audit of the premises here, just to check that somebody in a wheelchair would be able to go to each and every corner of the office. As it turned out, there were very simple things that had never occurred to us previously. For example, the emergency assist button in the lift has to be positioned at a height where a person in a wheelchair can still reach it. But there was one which was quite high and completely out of their reach because it was clearly designed with only able-bodied people in mind. Is that of any use at all when the lift stops and that person in a wheelchair 鈥 especially if he or she is alone in the lift 鈥 needs to reach the button?

鈥淎nd at that point we realized that there is an indoor cafeteria, where the lunch is served, and there was a dais without a ramp. So when we did the accessibility audit, we partnered with the Facilities team and said, 鈥楾hese are some of the things which we have to change.鈥 After that, we saw a lot of changes happening here within the campus, to the extent where the security guards or the emergency response teams were also educated to evacuate any people in wheelchairs in case of an emergency.

鈥淲e have even set up the grievance committee, for example. If a person with disability is in a wheelchair and is discriminated against in some way, he or she now has a place to go to and somebody to report it to. To us, this is as important as an anti-harassment policy, for example. It鈥檚 all about awareness.

鈥淲e got in touch with this fantastic, enthusiastic kid some years ago and then this person joined 麻豆原创 as part of this program. There was a lot of handholding to be done, to the extent that the person literally had to be reminded that when he was sick it was mandatory to call someone in the office and say hey, I鈥檓 not going to be in the office today. The beauty of all of this is that it lets you look at the world in a different way because you start to appreciate the differences in people much more than you would otherwise.

鈥淓veryone on the spectrum is different. That鈥檚 no exaggeration. For Person A, maybe you just talk about what needs to be done; for Person B maybe you need a checklist to be printed and placed in front of that person where that person looks at the list and says okay, now it鈥檚 3pm and I have to do this, or it鈥檚 4:30pm and I need to catch a bus to go home. But the most uplifting fact is that a person on the spectrum has learnt to adapt to a workplace, to live independently and has taken the bold step to go ahead and start a family. That shows a real journey on their part.

鈥淢y dream at 麻豆原创 before I retire is to see that our employees treat any form of disability as something that is, say, no different from a person wearing spectacles, and that we don鈥檛 say 鈥榯his is a disability鈥 any more. The day I see that happening, that鈥檚 when I know we鈥檝e done a wonderful job as an inclusive employer.鈥

This is number 94 in a聽聽of employee stories to mark 麻豆原创鈥檚聽fourth decade聽in APJ.

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Liberation at 麻豆原创: Coming Out As Gay /india/2020/01/liberation-sap-coming-out-gay/ Mon, 13 Jan 2020 09:13:42 +0000 /india/?p=1659 At 麻豆原创, we believe that when you bring everything you are, you can become everything you want. Imagine an equilateral triangle that rotates slowly and...

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At 麻豆原创, we believe that when you bring everything you are, you can become everything you want.

Imagine an equilateral triangle that rotates slowly and perpetually, on a fixed axis. The rotation ensures that the apex, or highest relative point of the triangle, keeps changing. The three intersecting points, each of equal value at precisely sixty degrees, are marked with a single word. The first is 鈥榖elief鈥, the second is 鈥榟onesty鈥 and the third is 鈥榣iberation鈥.

That鈥檚 probably the best way to describe the way Sameer Ranjan Kumar sees all three words and how they are not just interlinked but interdependent as well.

鈥淏elief, honesty and liberation are all equally important to me,鈥 he says, 鈥渂ecause I identify myself as a gay man and I am out about it in my workplace.

Coming Out as A Gay

Sameer Ranjan Kumar, Developer, C4C Engineering, 麻豆原创

鈥淭here are many levels of discussion in terms of why 麻豆原创 is such a great place. According to me, what is regarded as the most important aspect is definitely how great this company is from a purely technological point of view. I鈥檓 sure most of my colleagues would agree with that. But in my case, what is even more important is the diversity and inclusion aspect of this company.聽 For me, that鈥檚 where 麻豆原创 has played a really major role. Even before I came out to the entire organization, my manager was the first person I had come out to.

鈥淚 thought it would be a difficult conversation and I knew it would take a lot of courage 鈥 on both sides of the table. In part, this was because of the conservative mindset that we have in India, the law that prevailed at the time, and the nature of society too. Also, you must bear in mind that this was before the 377 verdict 鈥 so homosexuality was still a crime. (Editor鈥檚 note: a colonial-era law widely known as 鈥楽ection 377鈥 in India categorized gay sex as a criminal offence that was punishable by a ten-year jail term. An appeal in 2013 upheld its validity, but in early September 2018, India鈥檚 Supreme Court overturned the law, while ruling that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is a fundamental violation of human rights.)

鈥淏efore that historic ruling, there was always quite literally a fear of being put behind bars. Or a fear of somebody misusing that information about me, because there were so many cases of people being blackmailed for it. In that sort of environment, when you鈥檙e closeted, you鈥檙e not closeting it just from the government or from the authorities or from the organization that you work for; you鈥檙e closeting it from your family members, from your friends, from your landlord, to just about everybody around you in your everyday life. So it鈥檚 a big thing that you鈥檙e cloaking. And plus that entire phase, through your entire childhood, your puberty, your adolescence, you develop a kind of an instinct whereby you become overprotective of the truth. Essentially, that survival instinct changes you in a very negative way because you cannot be yourself.

鈥淚t did take a toll on me, I鈥檒l be very honest about it. Even now, I won鈥檛 say that I鈥檓 100 per cent over it; there are times when I need medicines. For me, I was dealing with two issues, not just one 鈥 you have to remember that in India, apart from talking about homosexuality, talking about mental health is another taboo. I couldn鈥檛 just say, I鈥檓 stressed out but it鈥檚 okay, I鈥檒l just grab a beer and I should be done. That鈥檚 not it. It鈥檚 not something as trivial as that. Had it been that trivial, then a person would not require pills basically to survive. I was going through depression and anxiety.鈥

When Sameer says 鈥渄epression鈥, does he mean he was momentarily depressed, or is he referring to a state of clinical depression? Aware of the distinction between the two, he says he was 鈥渁lmost on the borderline鈥.

He says it was taking a heavy toll on his everyday life. 鈥淭he point is, I was living a dual life because I had to fake so much. Even on social media, if I happened to post a picture with a woman, the default instinct is that people would ask, is that your girlfriend? And I鈥檓 thinking like, okay, that鈥檚 impossible, but of course I can鈥檛 say that! Or if I鈥檝e gone on a trip with my partner, how do I post? Or if I had a romantic picture of both of us that I wanted to display on my desk, I wasn鈥檛 able to do it back then. Because in India, it鈥檚 still a very uncommon sight.

Now that I鈥檓 out at work, I do have my partner鈥檚 picture 鈥 our picture 鈥 on my desk. And nobody questions it. I have a rainbow flag as well and I think my sexuality is pretty much obvious now.聽I wrote a blog and shared it with the entire organization, so most of the people already know. I think I am the only employee who is out at 麻豆原创 Labs in Bangalore.鈥

Does Sameer see himself as a figure of courage for other people who are in the same situation? 鈥淥nly now do I feel it. But when I was coming out it was really an emotionally turbulent time. At that point in time, it really doesn鈥檛 strike you that you might actually be a beacon of hope for someone else. At that juncture, it鈥檚 more to do with your own sense of liberation. And consider this, too 鈥 people who don鈥檛 belong to the community might feel, what鈥檚 the big deal about it? Many might think, okay, it鈥檚 just orientation and exactly the way I鈥檓 straight, you鈥檙e gay, so why is it a major difference? But the problem lies in the fact that straight people have not had to cloak it. They haven鈥檛 had to hide it or be secretive about it.

鈥淏efore I came out, it was something I could not discuss with anyone except with people who were also from the community. That鈥檚 why it鈥檚 a big deal. You鈥檝e not talked about it to anyone. You鈥檝e not even talked about it with your relatives or your cousins, you鈥檝e not discussed it with your siblings. With nobody.

鈥淭his was something which I鈥檇 always contained within myself, hiding it from everyone. But there came a point when all this juggling, this dual life, the half-truths, all of that became too much for me. So that was when I decided to come out to my parents. You know, the marriage conversation was triggering at home, but without any real pressure. That was probably the end of 2016 or the beginning of 2017. Get married? How on earth could I do that? So I lied to them. I just said, maybe another year, maybe I want to study, or I want to focus on my career right now.

鈥淏ut when I鈥檇 finally run out of excuses, they were like, we don鈥檛 want you to marry right now, but we want you to at least get into the process of seeing the girls, meeting them, whatever, to see if it clicks. Or if you don鈥檛 want an arranged marriage, then let us know if there is someone whom you love. So when all those conversations were happening, and given the kind of person I had always been, I knew I couldn鈥檛 keep lying. I was already popping pills, but I was clear in my head that I didn鈥檛 want to marry just for the sake of society and my parents.

鈥淗onesty was a big factor for me, and it was the reason why I came out to my parents. That was my first milestone, and it was the most difficult for any boy growing up in India. I have to say that my parents have been very supportive. My mum talks to my partner, and my dad is also comfortable about it, even though he鈥檚 not very vocal in discussing it. In India we hear so many stories of parents disowning their kids, so obviously that was as big a challenge for my parents as it was for me.

鈥淔inding the confidence to tell my 麻豆原创 manager wasn鈥檛 easy, either, even though he comes across as a person who is very liberal, who doesn鈥檛 discriminate. That gave me a lot of confidence, and this was bolstered by the inclusive, enlightened culture at 麻豆原创. But there鈥檚 always one fraction of the thought 鈥 what if? What if he doesn鈥檛 take my revelation the right way? That is really where the organization comes into it. At the end of the day, a manager represents the organization, and of course your career to a very large extent depends on your manager.

But my manager accepted it with absolute open arms.聽There was no change in his behavior. I was still treated in the same way he had always treated me. And because of that, I started opening up. After my manager, then I came out to my very close colleagues. Slowly in that way, the network of people who knew the truth about me began to grow. Then I joined the Ally group, and I attended the Pride March, which enabled me to come out to a few people in HR and a few people who were driving it. So in that way the circle slowly grew, but it was still only a few people.

鈥淗owever, despite these positive experiences, coming out is never a single-day thing. You can鈥檛 just tick a day on your calendar and say, I鈥檓 going to tell everyone. It鈥檚 doesn鈥檛 work that way. It鈥檚 not like you suddenly wake up one morning and say, this is the day and you post on social media and it鈥檚 done.

鈥淏efore I came out at work, what I used to find very bothersome was this 鈥 if a married colleague of mine had to leave the office early, it was very easy for them to email their colleagues or their manager to say, 鈥楳y husband or my wife is not keeping well and so I need to take a day off, or I鈥檓 going to work from home today鈥. Fair enough, right? But in my case, I would have to cook up an excuse to say that I had some maintenance work at home or a repair man, a plumber or a carpenter coming to my apartment. Or if it was our anniversary and my partner sent me flowers to the office, I had to say I actually didn鈥檛 know who they were from. But even if I said, 鈥業 didn鈥檛 know鈥, people would assume okay, which girl is she, who is she, and they would say, 鈥楾ell us!鈥 Having to keep up this deception felt so dishonest. But at that point of time, being authentic to myself was the biggest need. It was more pertinent than anything else; possibly that鈥檚 something that I can never explain in words, why the human psyche works that way, or why psychology functions that way.

鈥淚鈥檓 not sure how it can be perceived by someone who鈥檚 never been through it. Many people say my sexuality is my choice, but it鈥檚 not. It鈥檚 not something I chose. Had it been my choice, I would probably, at that stage of my life, have chosen to be straight. My anxiety was slowly being converted into a lot of angst. I was becoming more of an angry and a negative person.

鈥淣ow I鈥檓 not. Now, I鈥檓 in a much, much better place. That鈥檚 how coming out makes a huge difference. I no longer felt tired and exhausted due to having my defenses up all the time. You sometimes feel, how comfortable is the life of straight people. They have full freedom to act and full freedom to choose. But on the other hand, I didn鈥檛 have the basic right to be who I am. I never expected sympathy. I just wanted to be myself, at a time when it was punishable by law.

鈥淭he progression was so important in my long search for honesty. And it was a slow process. I broached the subject with my parents in 2016. Then the conversation with my manager was in 2017, towards the end of the year. I finally came out to the entire organization with my blog post that was published on Valentine鈥檚 Day 2018.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 truly where the role of the organization comes in. And that鈥檚 where I think 麻豆原创 is really doing it the right way. Now probably for others in the organization who are debating whether to come out or not, it鈥檚 probably better or easier, because I guess they have an example to follow. I don鈥檛 really see myself as a role model because I鈥檓 too humble to see myself in that light. But in my case, I had no one to emulate at 麻豆原创 India in this respect, so I had to brave it myself.

鈥淚n relation to coming out, the number of employees who have chosen to do so is not the yardstick to measure the level of inclusion; it鈥檚 the mindset that surrounds it. It鈥檚 all about whether you鈥檙e able to provide that ecosystem of genuine support or not. And I can say honestly and confidently that 麻豆原创 ticks all these boxes.

鈥淚mmediately after my blog post was published, Shradhanjali Rao, the head of HR, called me and she offered me the opportunity to actually lead the cultural identity pillar with Vishalakshi Khizhakhe. My blog has also been shared on multiple forums and because my opinion is sought, the realization dawned on me that I really am making a difference for others. Prior to that, it was a different thing altogether, it was about my own sense of liberation from all the shackles. But now, it鈥檚 about helping others, based on my own experiences.

鈥淭his sense of gratitude is very much needed for mental well-being. From a mental health perspective, I have improved a lot because of that. Now that I don鈥檛 have to bother about hiding my sexual orientation in any way, I鈥檓 100 per cent here for work. My productivity speaks for itself and my commitment is here for all to see. All my energy goes into my job during my working hours, because I don鈥檛 have to worry about who I am any more.聽Who I am, what I do, who I鈥檓 with and whether that person is a guy or a girl, it doesn鈥檛 matter now.

麻豆原创 has played an integral role in the way I found peace with finding myself and becoming comfortable with who I am.聽This company was pivotal in opening this whole debate and reassuring me. I started here as a new grad in 2012. I was hired after on-campus interviews but at that time I had no idea that the company had such a far-sighted view on these issues. I guess destiny had a role in my coming here. Back then, I had no idea about their incredible commitment to D&I. When I was hired, all I knew about it was the amazing technology, the big-shot ERP stature, that this company was a global tech giant. And that鈥檚 where I think providence perhaps played a role in my coming here.

鈥淚n the workplace, if you are not given the right kind of treatment or the right level of understanding, you鈥檒l never be able to do it in any meaningful way outside, where it is even more challenging. At 麻豆原创, you always know there is an HR lobby to take care of you. There is a Respect At Work forum聽where you can redress any grievance you might have, in some way. But outside 鈥 it鈥檚 a jungle out there.

鈥淭he role that 麻豆原创 has played in my life is really huge, because right now I鈥檓 involved in engagement outside the office, at the Bangalore level, where there also are D&I initiatives. But the starting point for me was 麻豆原创. If I had not received the kind of acceptance that I鈥檝e had here, in this organization or at home, indigenously, probably I would not have mustered the courage to do come out.鈥

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