Dear Zahid,

Your words of appreciation always have great impact me. Believe it or not, I often read your mail three or four times! Perhaps more!! And that is because I have always considered you as my role model, and your words inspire me to do better work.

My first brush with ‘precariat’ was when I read Dr Anil Awchat’s [Marathi] book ‘Manase.’ That was in 1982! Dr Anil Awchat is a highly reputed sociologist whose trendy way of writing about people’s lives has left a deep impact on Maharashtrian readers.

Awchat wrote about ‘hamals’ who did loading and unloading jobs – from Railway wagons. At Pune. There was a specific group of hamals who carried out unloading of gunny bags filled with dried red chilles. Awchat writes that their bodies burned as red chilly powder got spread on their bare bodies. It also hurt their sex life! Many wives could not tolerate sexual relations with their husbands – painful, burning they were – and left their husbands! Nothing explains ‘precariat’ better than this….

I do not find such fact based expositions about burning labour problems in English mags and dailies.

I am noticing increasing ignorance and insensitivity among business fraternity to issues of labour facing our society. [Or have I become a cranky old man?]. I was recently asked by a well known HR professional to write an article on diversity. While thanking him and declining, I explained to him that there were bigger issues facing the the world of labour. He could not appreciate what I was saying. I feel that business fraternity is looking at issues of lower importance – it is like treating a pneumonia patient for headache instead of pneumonia!

Thanks for your response again, my gratitude!
Vivek

I continue to be amazed at the clarity with which you can communicate complex issues with simplicity & empathy yet maintain an ‘objectivity’ by giving well-researched facts.

Your speech at the seminar must have been very impactfull & evoked lots of responses.I also learned a new word for the phenomenon I was aware of – ” Precariat” .

Will be sending it out to those in my circle who I know will be interested.

LOTS of love – Zahid

Industrial Relations Scenarios, emerged out of Starting of Factories. It was considered as progressive and Developmental path for the humanity.

A time has come, when, we need to question ourselves, on, whether this definition of development was right?

We certainly need to take U turn.

I wish to introduce you and all our thinker friends in HR, a person, who has been relentlessly working in rural central India, a geography, completely deprived of so called development.

Kindly let me know, when we can arrange such a meeting.

If you permit me, I will share with you, a voice recording made by me, when I met Dr. Gajanan Dange, the gentleman, I referred above. He spoke for almost an hour and a half.

I feel, sharing his thoughts with all of you, will help us build a moment, leading us towards a right kind of U Turn.

With Respect and kind Regards,

Sunil S Apte

Industrial Relations Scenarios, emerged out of Starting of Factories. It was considered as progressive and Developmental path for the humanity.

A time has come, when, we need to question ourselves, on, whether this definition of development was right?

We certainly need to take U turn.

I wish to introduce you and all our thinker friends in HR, a person, who has been relentlessly working in rural central India, a geography, completely deprived of so called development.

Kindly let me know, when we can arrange such a meeting.

If you permit me, I will share with you, a voice recording made by me, when I met Dr. Gajanan Dange, the gentleman, I referred above. He spoke for almost an hour and a half.

I feel, sharing his thoughts with all of you, will help us build a moment, leading us towards a right kind of U Turn.

With Reapect and kind Regards,

Sunil S Apte

Thanks for this. The situation sounds distressing and pathetic. I also do not know whether the new breed of HR leaders has unconsciously or otherwise accepted this as a given in todays industrial world.

Labour reforms are needed not to make life easier for the Industrialists( It is easy from this perspective) but to prevent exploitation which seem to be rampant. I recently went to a German Company where out of a would force of 1100 or so, there were about 200 permanent and about 700 to 800 were trainees. Very sad. These companies then loftily talk of values and ethics. A lot of crap.