Inspire Someone Today
Inspire Someone Today
E171 | What Endures | Portfolio Life Series - Rakesh Khar
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A polished career can hide a quiet price. When you spend decades in newsrooms, close to ministers, bureaucrats, elections, and crisis, what happens to your inner life when your outer life never slows down?
We kick off our Portfolio Life Series with Rakesh Khar, a veteran of India’s leading news brands, to talk about resilience that is not performative. He opens up about being displaced by the Kashmir tragedy, carrying loss alongside professional highs, and the values his parents drilled into him: live by your values, keep compassion, practice forgiveness even when you cannot forget. From that foundation, we explore what “a good life” starts to mean as you age, when income can rise but the presence of parents, roots, and time can’t be bought back.
From there, the conversation moves into leadership endurance and modern relevance. Rakesh shares what he has seen sustain people in power across regimes: deep skill, self-packaging, and the discipline to “bring value for the day” because yesterday is history, especially in the age of AI. We also talk candidly about media credibility, the pressure for instant gratification, and why reinvention, unlearning, and reskilling matter more than titles.
We close with work-life balance, national responsibility during crisis, and a practical compassion experiment you can do today with the people who make your life easier. If you found value here, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review. What’s one choice you’ll make this week to invest in your own portfolio life?
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Values, Memory, And Moving Forward
SPEAKER_00Live by your values, have compassion, be forgiveful. You know, maybe you can't forget. I mean, I can't forget the Kashmir tragedy that struck us as a community, as a family, and then me as a particular case. But you know, one has to move on in life, and I guess uh that's what uh I learned from my parents. And my father used to sing this song quite often. He was a Raj Kapoo fan. We were all products of shortage's economy, that you know, sort of say left of center India, which had an aspiration to reach its own potential, Avara, and then you know, these are movements. So I think uh suve kisham hoti yeah, our sham kisube hotiye. If you live in your past, then you're history. So to my mind, you know, whether me, whether you Srikant, or in any other job, a front-end job, a back-end job, you have to constantly bring value for the day. Nobody yesterday, today, and more so tomorrow in the age of AI will have any appetite for what you did yesterday. Yesterday is history. Crisis is, you know, a blessing for a news network, but crisis for a nation where we don't learn our lessons is a travesty, it's a tragedy for the country.
Portfolio Life Series Introduction
SPEAKER_01Some help you see differently, and some stay with you long after they end. Welcome to Inspire Someone Today, my dear listeners. A space for honest conversations about life, work, and the choices that shape who we become. No quick fixes, no borrowed certainty, just real stories, thoughtful reflection, and the quiet courage to live with intention. This is Inspire Someone Today, where conversations are human, reflective, and meant to stay with you. Inspiration is common, execution is rare. This is Inspire Someone Today. Starting our new series, Portfolio Life. Portfolio Life is a series of reflective conversations that looks life as a portfolio of choices, not as a linear career. Joining us today is a familiar face on your television screens. Somebody who has worked at top levels with India's leading news brands, including the Economic Times, CNN News 18, Forbes, India's Z News, BBC World Service, Sahara TV, the list goes on. We are here having this conversation with Rakeshkar with a simple but uncomfortable question. What does a life of importance quietly take away? Rakeshkar has spent decades inside newsrooms interacting with ministers, bureaucrats, policymakers, watching decisions made under pleasure operate when the stakes are real. He has seen power up close, he has seen urgency shape identity, he has seen what sustains people and what slowly erodes them. But this conversation is not about headlines, it's about the human side of responsibility. What happens to you? What happens to your inner life when your outer life never slows down? This is portfolio life through the lens of someone who has watched it unfold in real time. It's an absolute joy to have Rakesh join us to this first episode of the portfolio series.
SPEAKER_00Rakesh couldn't have been more happy to have you on this session. Good afternoon, Shrikant. The pleasure is equally mine. I must compliment you not just on your podcast, but on the theme that you picked up. I mean, it's a courageous theme because you know headlines generate headlines, they have virality about them. But when you talk about life beyond headlines, you tend to get into a zone which may not necessarily be as exciting, or if I can use the frame phrase exciting, but then you know, these are real issues uh that shape up mindsets and possibly help shape up generations going forward because how you play the innings and that too, an enduring innings, is dependent on what your DNA is, and how do you play that DNA? And that brings in an element of resilience, an element of you know humility, an element of being able to take it on your chin, and then staying humble and to the ground.
Kashmir Exile And Personal Loss
SPEAKER_01So we'll touch upon all of those facets, Rakesh. So, first up, when you look back at your own life, not your career, which phase demanded the most from you emotionally, even if you didn't look dramatic from the outside.
SPEAKER_00Well, I mean, there are quite a few moments in one's life. I just turned 60, it's a sweet uh landmark in one's life uh last year. Uh so there are quite a few occasions. It will be a little difficult to pick one, but I would imagine uh I will create a zone rather than one particular date. See, I came out of uh Kashmir uh while my parents were still there, and uh my family lived in Srinagar, and uh they they they had to uh postly migrate out of Kashmir uh due to the terrorism problem in that state. I used to work with Kashmir Times in Jammu, which was the publication center, and then I came to Delhi, and uh that was 1990 when I got my job uh with Economic Times. It it was a great professional high, it was a great personal high, but uh, you know, so to say emotionally it was most challenging also because there was a high which was professional. There was a low because my parents were forced out of Kashmir and to they had to live in an uh extremely difficult, adverse situations, uh uh you know, leaving everything that they had in Kashmir, come to Jammu, and then I was in Delhi, and then I was to get married. Unfortunately, my father also was not well. He had uh kidney, chronic kidney disorder, and uh he was admitted uh in um Ames here, and unfortunately I lost him. So my parents lost everything. I lost my father, and uh this coincided Srikant with the professional eye that I had being at the Economic Times and being a frontline reporter. So, you know, that was an interesting situation. But I had great people to work with, Mr. Nainan, who had hired me, I think a great uh emotional faculty he had as an editor and as a CEO running that news platform, and with you know, people like A.K. Bhtachary, who was my boss, immediate boss. I think you know they lent immense emotional faculty to me. And I must say that, you know, why I'm quoting this period because uh I got married uh, you know, uh because the date was set, and my father insisted that I do get married on the same date, even when he's not there. So, you know, practically on the 13th day of my father's 13th day, I had to get married, so I got married. It was a very modest uh uh ceremony. So all of this put together, you know, really shaped me up. And then my family, my wife was uh and my mom, uh they really, really played uh great uh, you know, support. My mom is no longer there, unfortunately. But my wife and my children now, uh they've been the emotional anchor. And um I think you know that uh moment of adversity, my uh strength I drew from my parents in their Sanskaras, the value system they gave me. And uh my father was a you know teacher and he had great uh belief in values, and he also you know taught us to live by that maxim. And I think uh that's the biggest learning I have, and that is the biggest opportunity and challenge I see even today, if I am able to live by that. Live by your values, have compassion, be forgiveful. Uh, you know, maybe you can't forget. I mean, I can't forget the Kashmir tragedy that struck us as a community, as a family, and then me as a particular case. But you know, one has to move on in life, and I guess uh that's what uh I learned from my parents. And if we're able to, so to say, sustain this value system which keeps you grounded. I have had very high moments in my professional life very early on in my age. I co-launched Z News at the age of 32, which was India's most formidable television channel. But I, you know, imagined, and that was the time I was regularly anchoring Shrikant. I have had the opportunity to interview three prime ministers. I interviewed almost every politician barring uh Mrs. Sonya Gandhi. At that age, there was a chance to get astray with that power streak. But I guess my parents uh uh teaching, and I'm a devotee of Ramakrishna Burmansa. I follow Some Vivekananda. So I think this great combination is my biggest strength.
Resilience Built On Sanskar
SPEAKER_01Antaku, great start, great uh anecdote out there. I know a lot of it has also come to that resilience that kind of spoke about values, resilience. And as you have grown over the years, which of these has kind of come to your aid in terms of shaping yourself, who you are, whether consciously or otherwise? How does that help you kind of shape up you, the person?
SPEAKER_00I think you know, uh one is that uh people hate to use that word, but I I think it's important. As a microscopic minority in Kashmir, even when things were fine, you were on the margins. And then once you were pushed out and you lost everything there emotionally, you lost your roots. Uh, that survival uh capability is something very, very important. But there are two routes to survival. One is that you know, you play by the night, as they call, you know, fly by night operator. Or the second one is what I learned from my parents is that you work hard, don't give up, don't give up. You know, there isn't uh there is light at the end of the day. And my father used to sing this song quite often. He was a Raj Kapoo fan. We were all products of shortage's economy, that you know, so to say left of center, India, which had an aspiration to reach its own potential, Avara, and then you know, these are movements. So I think uh subay ki sham hotiye, our sham kisubay hotiye, these are two guiding lines which you know, so to say, still keep me alive and and and grounded. Because there is nothing permanent, we are all tenants Srikant in this world. We may live in a three BHK, four BHK, you know, five-story house, either in the office or in at your at your home. Ultimately, we are all tenants, we'll be carried back. You know, we will go back like that. But we don't remember that. I think uh my father's and my uh parents' teaching and being a devotee of Ramakrishna mission, you know, that element of at one level survival, at another level being very, very grounded. These are two principles I think uh uh uh have helped me uh sustain myself. This is my 39th year in the profession in the newsroom, out of which several decades have been in leadership. So uh if you're able to stay coarse and uh you know be we grounded, uh I think uh the nature and the environment and the ecosystem will play accordingly and you know help you.
Survival Without Losing Humility
SPEAKER_01So lovely, so wonderful anchors to have to look up to. And what once you believed as an essential to have a good life, do you see that differently today?
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. I think you know this question keeps me haunting. One that, you know, it's a package, Srikant. We we had tremendous shortages today. There is surplus income, there is disposable income, but then that uh you know that that commune is not there, that family is not there. I mean, family, I have two loving kids, my wife and then extended my own brothers and sister. But uh, you know, it's the core is the parents. When both of them are not there, you know. I used to work very hard because you know, we lived in a uh small two-bedroom rented house in Delhi, and I got my mom here. And uh, you know, she was um we we first uh when my father died, we came to Delhi. I was already in Delhi, but then my mom came to Delhi. They completely shifted from Jammu, Srinagar to Jammu, and then Jammu to Delhi. Uh we lived in a so to say a barsati in Malvianagar. Uh it was exorbitant rent, and but the landlady, we were on the top floor in 47 temperature in you know uh 92, you know, she would cut down water supply, it would not allow us to, you know, uh run the the meter to draw water, and then you know, at times she was finicky, she would not allow the maid to come up. So, from that sense, uh what that time felt, you know, apna garho, apna yeah, what baray lagrata, you know, ajal lagraikyar, you know, God has been kind. It does it really matter. And uh in retrospect, there's a saying things look better. I think you know the time I spent with my uh mom and uh even in, you know, so to say, not so good-looking uh monetary environment, I think those are happier times. That again points Srikant to the reality that I see every day, every minute. All this is ethical, all this is going to evaporate one day, and it doesn't truly belong to you. And so true.
SPEAKER_01And when that whole noise settles down, at the peak of it, at the moment you say, How I wish I had this, how I wish I had that kind of stuff. But now when the voice settles and you're kind of constantly, not constantly in motion, what thoughts or concerns tend to surface now?
Rethinking What A Good Life Is
SPEAKER_00Well, I think you know, uh there's a sense of uh actually a deep sense of gratitude that is, you know, so to say, uh overwhelming me. I really want to give back, so I spend a lot of time with students. I want to increase that quantum. I also feel that, you know, professionally, while I might have uh, you know, so to say endured, but uh the level of and the quality of uh output that I did when I was a very young reporter or a newsroom manager or a newsroom leader, that quality unfortunately is falling by the side. And I'm really pained to see, you know, the news journeys' credibility uh somehow, you know, not being able to sustain itself, whatever to be the reasons, market forces, lack of talent, pressures of revenue, ownership challenges, concentration of ownership. But net, net, I think, you know, the pride of that byline doing a small story is, you know, I think some of the stories that I've done as a reporter, uh, they're still very fresh in my mind. Rather than, you know, what I said on, say, India, US trade deal, you know, that looks very transactional. That little one byline story. I'll give an example. You know, I uh when terrorism hit Kashmir, my parents were still there. Our office in Srinagar for Kashmir Times, there were hartas, there were, you know, lights were switched off. So sending stories became a difficulty. Those days we used to send stories on a telex and publication center were Jammu. So, you know, I was shifted to Jammu to so to say man the Kashmir decks. Uh and that was quite an interesting role where I was part of the editorial desk as also a frontline reporter. It's a small newspaper then, but very respected then Kashmi time. Now, of course, it's gone the other way line uh in the wrong direction, unfortunately, to my mat. Some says, you know, uh that's arguable. But uh when I came to Jammu uh as a reporter, you're trained to look at sites which are uncommon. So, you know, if you're in Delhi, we know that bazaar, yeah, Sarujinagar, Friday Kulath, Ya Bangalore, these are like sites and sounds which you've grown up. Since I was not from Jammu, I encountered some fresh sights and sounds, like, you know, these milk women uh who came from uh Tupper reaches and wore a certain dress, they would deliver milk to various houses. So we started a series called Jammu Jottings. And those observations, there's a typical, you know, guy who used to come in the morning to ask for some alms. They used to be called Changam. They would play a certain kind of music. And then there was a Kachalu shop where college girls, which was near my office, Kachalu is a version of Alu, but it's an afternoon snack. And all these college girls, boys would come and converse. But it was in a small street gully, but it was so popular there was a waiting period. So I wrote about all of them, and I still feel, you know, far more excited about visiting that story which happened in 87, 88.
Gratitude, Giving Back, And Journalism’s Decline
SPEAKER_01So those very few lines you definitely got me back into nostalgic history mode, kind of vividly see India of those times, uh, very fresh, very refreshing. And uh Rakesh was somebody who has been in the thick of action, you have been interacting with policymakers, bureaucrats, ministers, senior leaders. I'm sure through your lens, if you were to look, after watching all of these different genres of people operating who are under constant pressure, what has you noticed that actually sustains people over a long period of time and what erodes them quietly?
SPEAKER_00Quite an interesting question. This is something that's been, so to say, uh again, preoccupying my mind. In 2019, I used to work with Network 18 and they have a product called First Post. First Post, for a brief while just before the election, the general elections, they launched a weekly newspaper. Otherwise, it is a digital platform, very popular. And uh First Post, incidentally, now is more popular because of Palki Sharma. She does a show called Vantage, but uh uh I had the opportunity to work with Palki at two places at Sahara and Network Eight. So I did a piece on India's evergreen baboos. So I picked up four top bureaucrats. NK Singh uh was one, and who is still active, he was the chairman of the 15th Finance Commission. And uh he, you know, last I remember on budget day, he gave a very succinct commentary. And uh then I spoke about um Mr. Damudran, who was SEBI chief, now is you know an ombudsman uh and uh he was also at the finance ministry. Uh third bureaucrat, I'm remembering, I'll just give me 30 seconds to remember. I I actually picked up uh Bimal Jalan, poor bureaucrats. I spoke to them, uh not all of them came on record, and uh then I looked at my first interaction with NK Singh happened in the 90s when he was in the finance ministry. I think he was revenue secretary. I went as a trainee with my boss and uh to meet him, and uh now you see I was print and not television. So this gentleman uh insisted that we take a photographer with us. These were non you know visibility days, if we can use that phrase. Uh so he posed for uh the camera, the still camera, and I think Jitinda Sharma was a photographer if I remember correctly. These are 91, 92, 93, which air, whichever. But then he said, I am representing the government of India, so I have to look in a certain manner. So these two lines made an indelible impression on me. And that encasing became, you know, he was in the Prime Minister's office with Mr. Bajpai. He was, you know, then also an advisor to Nitish Kumar when he was Nitish Kumar earlier as Chief Minister, then he was 15th Finance Commission. He was part of uh with Larry Summers, I guess, in reforming the World Bank and IMF. That was a recent committee report. So he's actually endured four or five generations being at the top. So uh to answer your question, what does it take to endure? To my mind, you need to have a package where uh someone would create and they were right politically correct. They know which side of the world. But then there have been different political regimes. So there is some intrinsic capability which I call a profound skill set, which is your core KRA. Second, ability to bring value for that day. If you live in your past, then you're history. So to my mind, you know, whether me, whether you Srikant, or in any other job, a front-end job, a back end job, you have to constantly bring value for the day. Nobody yesterday, today, and more so tomorrow in the age of AI will have any appetite for what you did yesterday. Yesterday is history. And then their ability to package themselves well. So package is also very important. Bring value for the day. For instance, Amit Abkhaz, you know, he uh extended his tenure in bureaucracy. I have interacted with him on several occasions. There are you know interviews that I've done with him when he was G20 chair in India, and uh he he you know represents by and large these packages. And now once he shifted and pivoted from the so-called Sarkari sector to the private sector, there is a B line of companies which have vowed him. So it's not just you know, one can make light of it saying that Ruska Sarkarma connection, it's the same, but that's also a KRA. I mean businesses are built at the cusp of policy, you know, uh PL, uh community, consumer, civil society. That's what all uh an enterprises are all about. So in that sense, but what has changed over the years to my mind is the names and numbers I mentioned are far and few. I think that's a bit of a sad story for India. I would have personally felt that we need to expand this canvas. We need many more policymakers who are able to sustain themselves. And not just in policy, Sri Khan, it should happen across the board, it should happen in politics. I'll give an example of uh, you know, from my own field, uh, Mr. Ike Butterchari, who was my image boss, is now the editorial director of business standard. He was the editor, then he was chairman of the editorial board. Then, you know, he endures. I think he's maybe a decade older to me, roughly, and uh he endures that core KRA, that karma and dharma of delivering for the day and not living in the past. He runs a column called uh Rice Niles, uh, in Business Standard, which is probably one of the longest running columns. Swami Nathan Ankleshwaraya, Rajat Sharma. Rajat Sharma is a phenomenal example. If you look at television uh landscape in India, he is the most enduring show that India has recognized and rewards even today. Apkiya Dalat. And then he doesn't come from a business family, but look at his business uh capability. He had all the right connections, he's very well connected, he is the among the best faces India has produced, yet he has restricted himself to one channel. You know, this uh expansionist tendency that all of us have or chain or chain chaos, I the caveat is that I have not worked directly with him, but he's known to be because I've been around as well. But I think he made immense value business judgment by not expanding beyond one channel, which is India TV. These are qualities which help you endure. And my lament is that across domains we don't have many such uh so to say faculties, not as many faces, and uh bureaucracy, judiciary, you know, endurance, uh to my mind. Going forward is going to be even a bigger challenge. And I mean, there are instances where you get simply caught your bride, but you have all the capabilities, but you're caught on the political divide. But that's the nature of the beast.
SPEAKER_01You make some very valid observations, points, particularly in the context of what we are talking about, portfolio life, right? You speak about endowing, you speak about bringing value for the day. I would want to touch upon that. That's a very nice phrase that you're calling that bring value for the day. If you were to kind of dig a little more deeper, given the fact that you work across the spectrums of the political landscape, you're seeing the industry and you're also working with students. What does it actually mean in the current day and age?
SPEAKER_00Srikant, you know, to my mind, it means just one thing: reimagine, reinvent, reshape yourself, unlearn, reskill. Don't live in a status quo. Status quo is for the dead. Challenge yourself. And unfortunately, I must point out, uh I don't want to be judgmental to borrow a phrase from Tanu Vad's Manu 2, where that girl says, you know, let me be judgmental, don't be judgmental, that famous song. I see a deep gap among the younger generation in terms of uh you know their ability to challenge the status quo. They get, they're bright, uh, they're young, they are more technology-oriented, but that hunger, to my mind, is not available in the same zone. Now, from a socio-economic perspective, Shikan, one could argue they are not uh, so to say, beneficiaries, I would say, but someone say victim of shortages economy. You know, their parents have seeded in, you know, for them a certain basic framework where they don't have to pay the rent, say, maybe many of these things are sorted, especially in big urban centers. But uh if you don't have hunger and that fire in your belly, and that fire is not a one-day phenomenon, it's a 24 into 7 into 365 days phenomenon. If that doesn't happen, then there are greater chances of burnout. I mean, I I quite agree with Kapalde when he says that, you know, when I was playing, he was in you know completely from a non-big metro phenomenon, or for Ms. Dhoni, for instance, MS Dhoni. MS Dhoni is my idol, you know, I I really value him as a great uh uh personality when it comes to portfolio of life. I'll explain that a little later. But uh what happens is that when you couple they've said that I never heard of this word called mental stress. You know, he says I was new naughty, eh, up ni team me, me, parayang, I mean, not in as many words, but point into that. Because you know, there was this Bombay Club, English, upscale, you know, tier one cities, this guy came from Chandigar. But then the belonging was very humble. So today, this sense of a bit of a victim mentality, even when you're when you put someone under little pressure, uh, you know, makes people, so to say, go into the shell and uh they are not able to challenge themselves. I think there's tremendous potential. I have a general view that the today's youngsters are far more intelligent, they have far more integrity than us, but that big ticket push and drive is not happening to my mind.
SPEAKER_01Just an extension of that, we since you're talking about the current generation and your interacting with students. So when you actually interact with students today, what do you find yourself not encouraging anymore, even if it once seemed very important to you?
What Sustains Leaders Over Decades
SPEAKER_00Well, as I said, you know, there's some bright students. I can say by my profession, unfortunately, we are unable to attract the best of the students, as was the case earlier. And the reason for that is our own failure to present uh journalism uh or media as a virtue that it used to stand for. Because the the media, as I said, you know, the P and L pressure, the all those challenges have, so to say, somewhere our own inability to put journalism as the you know the panacea for all ills, social and uh political. So in that sense, uh when you don't get the right kind of quality of students that you want, I was on the executive board of Indian Tudor Mass Communication. For one year, I was also the admission committee chairman. You know, one that hunger is missing. Second, there is a very perverse kind of hunger. The hunger to become a star overnight. So in our profession, what happens is that you are, you know, you spend a lot of time being the back end, and sometime once you rise, you become a front end. And, you know, that that that great urge, keep overnight. I come and I come into journalism. Everybody wants to become an anchor. But you know, to my mind, you know, an anchor is a stage where you really have picked up all other skills, you have domain knowledge at least in a couple of pieces, and then you rise there. So one has to channelize this hunger in a manner that it becomes very productive. But you know, without proper channelizing, without proper context, and then you know, there are not enough jobs also available because news media is, so to say, unfortunately packaged into four or five big companies, and we don't have the luxury of, say, for instance, in PR or in uh, you know, it's like your sector IT. There are just four big, big four. Uh I was actually having a chat with the Honorable Minister, Mr. Vashtov, at one of our summits live. I, you know, took the liberty to ask him that why is it that we've not been able to go beyond four or five companies? You know, we have IT, we have uh TCS, we have Infosys, we have VIPRO, we have Cognizant. You know, I mean last 40 years, I've not been able to go to another 40 names. So that problem is happening to uh media as well. I I'm not going to get into names, but you know what I'm saying. And that consolidation is happening further between two big business houses.
SPEAKER_01That's true, that's true. So true that it's a an amalgamation of forces at play, right? One is the individual himself or herself having that hunger. Instant gratification is there and for real. And lack of those role models as well, lack of people who can who can show the way. I said uh fewer platforms, but fewer role models also. So too. And again, drawing uh your attention back to your conversations, your interactions with people in power. How does prolonged exposure to power or urgency or constant scrutiny change the way people show up? Have you seen in close quarters with others? Uh how does the kind of show up when they are subject to all of these elements?
SPEAKER_00See, um politics, uh say when I was in economic times in the 90s, uh, politicians were wary of touching anything business. Today, that entire package has got reversed. The first point of impact and power is business. So that intersection is where politicians get into play. So uh that's a big change I have seen. And they feel that if you really have to be influential, you have to be in that intersection of business and politics. For the India story, which is developing, that intersection is something that attracts politicians. Second big trend, uh Srikanth, is you know, we live in a social media age, which is the age of instant gratification. I call, you know, this social media is trigger happy. One trigger happy is like the gun shooting in the US, which is a malaise accursed. Fortunately for India, it's not a problem here. Um but uh the the trigger happy on social media is something that uh makes all politicians live in a 24 into 7 visibility. Now it has two consequences. One is that it puts you in audit and it it makes you put up your best performance. But uh the other side, the negative piece here is that you now start planning to live for social media. Many of our politicians across use would uh so to say, you know, live at uh using social media to further deepen their connect with democracy rather than you know tweeting, retweeting their leaders and so to say marking their presence. And that brings me back to the question: what do you bring on the table today? Did you retweet your leader or you did something more original? And social media has its own perks, as I can keep saying. You know, India, whether it's penetration of social media, it's the capital of social media, whether you take you know Facebook, you take Twitter, we are one of the major destinations, WhatsApp, anyway, it's called a WhatsApp country. I'm taking you away from WhatsApp University for a moment. So, in that sense, uh there's so much more we can do in terms of governance when you apply these tools. So, you know, politicians uh also have a problem. Their existence unka core is through visibility, unfortunately, today. Visibility on social media, visibility in media, rather than visibility in their own conferences, where they should actually nourish them. So it's a package, it depends upon how you play it.
SPEAKER_01And shifting the conversation back to portfolio life, if we were to kind of look at your own portfolio life, uh Rakesh, among the many transitions in your life, roles, formats, responsibilities, which one changed you most as a person, not just professionally, but as a person? Let's pause here for a moment. You may have noticed one idea quietly settling in. Something that doesn't need an answer. Just awareness. Inspire someone today has always been about conversations that stay with you beyond the episode. Sometimes they continue reflection, sometimes in action, and sometimes in community. If you'd like to engage beyond the podcast, there is an IST community where these conversations are carried forward thoughtfully. And if you prefer your own quiet space, the book inspires someone today, gathers many of these ideas for slower reflection. Let's continue.
Reinventing Yourself In The AI Age
SPEAKER_00I think you know each role has a contribution, I would imagine. When I rejoined uh Network 18 in 2014, I first quit ET 95 and joined Rago Bez, and it was called Television 18. Raga is a visionary in you know news television, and I learned at his command and uh television. And then uh I left uh Television 18 in 97 and joined Z, which was a big player. So then I came back to by then it had become Network 18 in 2014. So, you know, the current MD and CEO uh who joined in 2015 didn't want me in a newsroom role. So, you know, he wanted me to align to a different function. Uh I was initially slighted. I, you know, felt that he had all my life I've been, so to say, in the pure play newsroom, but uh he wants me to align to a slightly different function, which I was not familiar with, and obviously, if I was not that familiar with, I was not comfortable with. So this is a piece of the content which is aligned to revenue. For instance, X company uh wants to use the media as a as a real estate to convey a message, but it's done in a very, very editorially credible manner, and then this is something what we call the co-curated content, which is in the era of IPs. IPs, you know what it is in the IT space. IPs, there are intellectual property, you know, you know, ideas. For instance, X Company and Network 18, X Company and TV9, where I work right now, it's the largest television news network, are playing together to sustain either a campaign. Like Mission Pani, we did at Network 18. Digitizing India we did with Cisco at Network 18. You know, we have a lot of properties here where you have a partner. So there was a lot of discomfort with this. So, but then when I applied myself, I realized that, you know, as it is the news genre on the mainframe 24 into 7 cycle, news is being broken on Twitter. We are just following it up with reactions. He said that, she said that, and then the you know, the the individual biases of the reporter, the editor, the platform, and the framework come into play. There's very little original content. So even after having spent, I was 50 then, even after having spent so much time, I, as I went into it, I realized that, you know, we are gently governed by headlines and you know, so I used to say this sentence which didn't make me very popular. We have outsourced the newsroom prime time to an OB. OB is an outside broadcast fan where from you get live signals. So, you know, you switch off the newsroom, play the OB. Because there's some big politician saying, so I, you know, maybe by default, when uh the you know Mr. Rahul Joshi, who came in, who was my ex-calling at E.T., when I saw this transition, I imagined that. You know, the way I've looked at journalism and the way it is shaping up, because there is revenue pressure indeed. So, you know, journalism is a cost center, it needs to pivot in a more credible manner without compromising on the basic tenets of journalism. So that learning is phenomenal. It also helped me reimagine myself. So today, uh I feel I have a better view of the news genre or the news product. I have a 360 degree view rather than just being a cost center asking for more reporters, asking for more resources, and you know, asking for more OBANs and more infrastructure, rather than being, you know, so to say accountable for what exactly happens to sustaining the salaries of, say, 1,000 employees who work with me. So, in that sense, that's been one big moment. I feel that that brings me back to what do you bring on the table today. I'm not saying that because I did or I got to do it, God was there. As I said, God has been extremely kind. If you get stuck in the comma full-stop business of day-to-day journalism, there are not enough jobs at senior level. That's why some of the people, they're much brighter than me, they're more well-read, you know, have fallen by the wayside. You get off track. That's the reality of the market. So reinvent yourself, reimagine yourself, pick up new skills, be ready to challenge the status quo. I mean, that brings me back to the first point. Status quo is for dead.
SPEAKER_01And reinvention is a key. At uh no matter at what state of your life that you are, that career you are.
SPEAKER_00I can tell you this gentleman, um, we know him as a B-lister actor, or you know, uh with a few movies and a failed romance. But uh that apart, uh, he was one of our summits in uh Dubai where uh you know he's now become a big ticket entrepreneur. He's invested in real estate, he m he's moved to Dubai permanently, and um he's getting global coverage for his endeavours. And uh I was writing the title for that, I called it the second act. So believe me, you he is such an excellent speaker. I'll send you the link that he's that that piece. That actually, you know, you should get him for this podcast because he's an example of that transition and portfolio of life. And uh he spoke so eloquently, he first and foremost made light of this sentence, second act. He says there's no second, and every act has to be reimagining yourself. So when you wake up every morning, you have to reimagine yourself. And you know, he says, I haven't done, maybe tomorrow I'll do something else. But don't link it to failure or success, and that being the trigger for that pivot. The pivot is that you have to challenge yourself. You might win, you might lose, bad day, good day, but don't ever, you know, get into that complacent zone having you know, there are some very lucky people, top anchors in this country, rightly or wrongly. You know, they they they they continue to dominate headlines, but far and few in between.
SPEAKER_01Far and few in between. Rakesh, when you connect the dots across decades of your work, observation and responsibility. What truth about life feels most obvious to you now?
SPEAKER_00Nothing is permanent, and nothing is in your control. Don't assume something that you don't have. You know, God's given you that breath. Take a deep breath, look back, look inwards, say what can you do for someone else today, and not just for yourself. I mean, I'm not being charitable, maybe I've not been always able to do that, but today at 60 plus, I feel you know that's the most important thing. I mean, we just incidentally you're a dot in the ocean and someone else is playing the script, and play it as well as you can, play it with as much integrity as you can. But remember, you know, and and have compassion as you carry forward sentiment. Remember, I gave you Raj Kapoor example, you know, uh the irony of life, Mrs. Deesa is a character there. Uh, and then Raj Kapoor, you know, she she she Raj Kapoor is her tenant and she really looks after him as her own son, but uh one tragic incident, a false injection kills her, which you know, if Raj Kapoor is accused of doing that. So that compassion and that irony of life, nothing is in your control. Or, for instance, you know, I gave you Tanuvits Manu, I just resaw that movie again, Returns, you know, you have uh a compassion and you feel Dato got a wrong way, the the Haryanvi girl, you know, she got a wrong uh edge of life. If you have those feelings for intact, even if you're very successful, and even if you're not very successful, you have those feelings inside you, then I think you're a human being.
SPEAKER_01Over here, we are definitely joining the dots, drawing upon your rich experience of uh four decades in the broadcasting space.
SPEAKER_00I just I told you about M.S. Dhoni. Why I do I respect M. S. Doni most? You know, he is someone when we talked about far and few in between, uh, not role models, enough role models. Uh the good thing is that we have role models outside of politics today in India. That's one very big piece in India. You know, we were confined to one big politician, even when we have strong leaders in states and centers, but uh leadership is coming from politics, fashion, beauty, technology, corporate world. So, in that sense, this gentleman came from nowhere and you know he impressed and impressed and impressed and had the ability to win. And he, you know, never showcased that, you know, so to say, how success rubs you off on the wrong way. He always showed success rubs you off in the right way. And then now look at the clones that he has created. I mean, he is brought up by a paradigm shift in terms of what we call cricket, a gentleman's game, but essentially elitist game, belonging to the Bombay Delhi Club, and then pivoting away to the rest of India. We need such examples across India. So the portfolio of life with Dhoni as an example, or you know, Saro Gangoli, for instance, though he came from a slightly better background, in picking Dhoni, you know, we need such stories to be told, and then Dhoni is off social media. I mean, I was amazed that he didn't even react when India won the uh T20 World Cup again, 2024, or won Ashia Cup. I think, you know, virtual parhees valibate, Bhagavad Gita Ramaina teaches us our own scriptures, and my you know, Guru Ramakrishna Parmansa always, you know, would directly or indirectly say, at a certain point of time, have that parahes. Distance yourself from you know the situations because it's not something that belongs to you.
SPEAKER_01Again, reflecting on we have the scriptures, we know what to do, stay in the moment, don't expect for uh results, focus on actions. This is all there. We also touched upon the element that we are in a world of instant gratification, we are a world of where things are happening on a every second basis. What would your recommendation be to stay put in the moment, to live in the moment?
SPEAKER_00Well, I think you know, uh some amount from first and foremost an understanding and admission that you are not playing the script. You are a patra, you're an instrument. That realization will help you play your part without any immediate trans you know uh results. Though we do believe that we live in an extremely transactional world. But even if it's a transactional, I think uh you know it's important to uh remember that uh that element of gratitude. If someone has helped you know take the escalator, uh when you reach the top, don't forget that there were people who you know really helped you reach there. And there you will remember them, and also you possibly could think of helping someone else who is trying to climb up the same way that you were trying to climb up.
SPEAKER_01This reminds me of a recent talk I attended. Uh Bomman Irani was sharing similar kind of an example. He was a hotelief before he moved into stardom. So one of his bosses told, son, take the elevator down and bring somebody up when he became the general manager.
Students, Star Culture, And Media Consolidation
SPEAKER_00That's a that's a better conclusion than I drew. I mean, Bomman Nirani again, uh Shrikant is a great example. You know, he uh the way he's come from nowhere and he's created a mark for himself, and he's not resting in three idiots, he's not resting in his earlier roles. The moment you are restless, I think that restlessness is extremely important to keep you going.
SPEAKER_01One of the pieces, uh Rakesh, is uh your years of proximity to news, crisis, and public life, what has it taught you about what matters to us in the long run?
SPEAKER_00I think um to tell you the truth, uh yesterday, for instance, when uh I'm not again being judgmental, when Congress, youth congress people came into uh the the Bharat Mandapam uh on India AI Summit. You know, rather than looking at it as another headline, you know, which is because news is all about what we say. When a you know dog beats a bites a man, it's not news. When a man bites a dog, it's news. I'm just giving as a as a placeholder, I didn't mean to draw any comparisons. But uh, you know, I personally was pained, you know, that uh uh having looked at uh one crisis after a crisis, another crisis hitting this country, and maybe at some level our inability to plug in the gaps that we still have. I was making a joke the other day with someone when the first day India Air Summit uh generated a bad headline because of long queues, and I said, you know, maybe uh uh India Air Mission is missing the logistical capability of an Abbatab Khan who did G20, which went absolutely smooth. And we also had additions in each state, including in JNKMI state Kashmir. So crisis is you know a blessing for a news network, but crisis for a nation where we don't learn our lessons is a travesty, it's a tragedy for the country. You know, I think uh I now that you raised it, you know, I'm going back to some of the very, very bitter headlines that I have had to sort of say navigate in the newsroom IC 814 hijack. You know, I was like many other colleagues in the newsrooms across this country, part of that story we saw. The aircraft came to Amritsar, and then you know, despite being in Indian territory, we allowed it to go up, and then you know what happened? It went you know on and on, and the crisis persisted and showed India in a certain light as extremely weak. So these episodes hurt you. I mean, for instance, uh Rajiv Gandhi's uh you know killing, uh Indra Gandhi's killing, and uh some uh natural disasters, some man-made disasters. I think um in public uh discourse, a greater sense of belonging and a greater sense of responsibility is the need of the art for all of us, beginning with me and then everybody else.
SPEAKER_01Ghakesh, we are talking about portfolio life. In portfolio life, if life are to be treated that way, which part of the life you've so you have experienced through your own lens, have you seen people investing a lot or underinvesting in some elements?
SPEAKER_00I think you know, in portfolio of life, uh generally uh I would say our generation, those born say maybe 65 onwards or 70 onwards, we have given uh life, work-life balance a determined and decided cue towards you know work rather than life. You know, I would love to go back to my own uh you know early days, my formative days. I used to work with Z. We were launching the channel. Uh Shrikana, I used to come home at 2.30 in the night uh after you know doing an edit meeting once our prime time was closed. And uh I did it. If I were to ask this question of myself, did I do it for myself? Did I do it for my family? Did I do it for my profession? I didn't see my daughter growing up, you know. She was born in 93. You know, by five years, 98, my son was born. I thought that, you know, somewhere I did that compromise, maybe in the larger in interests of giving that so financial security to the family. But then, you know, today I realize that it's not all about financial security. And, you know, that would apply to uh now I feel I have to make an amendment when it comes to spending time with my with myself to begin with. When we say portfolio of life, it's not all just for your wife, your family, your parents. It's about yourself. I haven't conversed with myself. I think today you've given me this opportunity to reflect back. Otherwise, I'm on a treadmill 24 into 7. Is that the right thing to do? Am I being ambitious? Am I being greedy? I really don't know. You know, should I slow down and uh should I have done this conversation with myself? Am I insecure? I take it back to my being a microscopic minority, you know, booted out by terror and being let down, you know, by my own uh, you know, neighbors there. So I don't know, but it's a combination of factors. I think uh spending time with family in portfolio of life is extremely important. You need to travel, you need to travel with your family, you need to, you know, use what's happening with today's kids. They are living a life. I mean, this very tragic case uh in in in Delhi that uh, you know, this Korean three girls who committed suicide. Parents are buying time by, you know, creating the ATM concept. They're using disposable money, throwing it at them, buying affection, and by, you know, while they're busy taking the escalator, as we use that phrase. Nothing wrong with that. But then I think you know, ultimately you do the balance sheet, the P and L of life. If uh your children haven't got the time and attention they deserved from you, even if you earned a billion dollars, it's not worth it.
Power, Visibility, And Social Media Pressure
SPEAKER_01That's a lovely line out there. That is the investment that we are talking about. What you overinvest in and what you underinvest. So in the spirit of building career, which is not a bad thing, but balance is the key, is what you're saying is saying. If there is a book or book recommendations, few book recommendations, that has quietly shaped how you think about people, power, or life. Even if if it wasn't written for that purpose, what would those book titles be?
SPEAKER_00I mean, I would imagine, you know, Mahaprabandi's experiments with truth and then uh Jawala Nehru's uh Discovery of India. Uh, then I would also imagine uh, you know, I would uh read again and again Sami Vivekananda. I would visit, revisit, uh, tell people to go back and again to the Chicago address. Uh, you know, these are uh these are philosophies that have shaped up. And uh also, you know, a book is not necessarily defined to my man Shrikant by the hardcover or the cover that it's carrying. A book is a means and a medium to convey a certain learning. So I think those learnings are available in the family. If you're living in a joint family, listen to your nana nani, listen to your dada dadi. They have those same imports or the outputs that a book does. And uh in today's age and time, unfortunately, people are scared of reading books, uh, they're very happy writing WhatsApp messages. So, in that sense, I would recommend pick up, create that room for learning from others, listening to them. You know, listen before you speak.
SPEAKER_01Okay, are there small personal habit or practices that helps you to stay grounded? I mean constant movement or information.
SPEAKER_00My father's uh this golden sentence, are subo ki sham ah sham kisubae.
SPEAKER_01It's so pertinent. And somebody who is in the newsroom, it's 24 bar 7 for you, right? While it is 24 bar 7 for others, for it's the other end of the spectrum. So, how do you kind of stay away from some of these things?
A Mid-Career Pivot Beyond The Newsroom
SPEAKER_00How do you kind of insulate yourself? I mean, it's difficult insular. I told you I still get pained by IC814 incident. I get still pained by the tragedy that happened in Kashmir with us, where I'm a victim in that sense. But you know, overall suffering in Kashmir, even for you know the other community members who we live together, you know, that suffering it has to end. Uh they really pain you. But then, you know, you're supposed to be uh report the story, not part of the story. You know, that's the golden rule in journalism. But I think you know, somewhere we get impacted, we get affected. And um I uh early on in Jammu, and I was telling you I got transferred there, among the first stories that I there was massive uh uh rains in Jammu, it's a small city, and um the the river got swollen up, and I went there and um you know, so to say, that that uh reporters delight and uh uh that that that byline kick. So I got almost uh you know completely submerged in water and dirt and the river was flooded. There was this basement, uh, there was this uh river town, you know, so to say, uh slum development which got completely uprooted. So when you talk to them, I you know you feel how blessed you are. But yet then you know you have to say uh and talk their, tell their story. At one level, one could say that first and foremost thing should be to help them get out of that mess. Second is that I must talk to them, try and understand what their pain point is, how long they had been sitting here. And I did this piece in um, you know, I think 88, no, 87 maybe. Then when I came to Delhi in uh 1990, when I joined ET, I think 1992, you know, the ITO bridge, there used to be a similar, uh, what we call uh a similar settlement of residents there, slums, it met the same fate. I wrote another piece for Economic Times, how despite so much change, we haven't changed as a nation for a certain section of the people. In fact, I have quoted Dr. Manmoon Singh in his famous uh July 24, 1991 budget speech, where he says that you know this chasm and uh despite great reforms, great economic stride, GDP growth, India rising to number third or soon economy, we have the gap between uh the the haves and have nots is not decreasing any day. So the pain becomes a part of you. But that pain could take you into two directions. You know, you could become an activist. Some of some of us who probably because of pain or greed have gone into politics. I think it's important to stay across. Be a journalist, tell stories, tell stories of growth, tell stories of despair, tell stories of hope, and tell good stories also where you know people in this country. It's a great country, you know. I I keep saying Yemera India, it amazes you every day. Every second there is a you know good story happening, people are helping out uh one another, each other, and then there are challenges, there are pickpockets, people, you know, uh uh there are examples of uh someone stealing a wearable AI device. No, all these are part of the package. We are 1.4 billion people, and uh my my you know strong resolve and hope and uh prayer is that uh the collective uh you know strength of 1.4 billion, everybody wants to grow. So that is the momentum, that's the driver which will take India despite some you know challenges we are on the escalator. And I think uh someone very rightly put it uh recently. I read it, I don't remember who the guy was. He said India is like you know five pieces. There is a uh Bahrain, uh, or uh there is a very, very rich H ⁇ , UHNI, which is about 1%, then there is uh you know UK, then there is a Brazil, then there is an Africa, then there is a completely impoverished India, so which is a larger piece. But the difference is that each piece is moving and each piece wants to take the next level. So I really like this example. And you know, as someone else again said, I've quoted it, I repeat it, that you know, India continues to dismay the eternal optimist and the eternal pessimists. It continues to surprise you, and that is not because of one or two individuals, it's because of the collective will and aspiration of 1.4 billion people. India needs strong states, India needs a strong centre, the two need to strongly bind and complement each other. That is the India growth story I aspire for.
SPEAKER_01It's fantastic. If we were to kind of stay put with this thought process and describe India as a portfolio life, what would it look like?
SPEAKER_00It's a brilliant, I mean I don't think uh, you know, uh India as a country or as a destination or as a family uh you know has a rival in any part of the world. It is such mired expressions of, you know, as I said, hope, despair, anxiety, anger, you know, bonhomie, camaraderie, all of these emotions coexist. And look at our festivals. Someone rightly said India is in a constant festival mold. You know, uh in other parts of the world, uh without you know, uh sounding negative, there are a couple of festivals. There is a New Year, there's a Christmas. In India, every day, every week, every day is a festival. And we know how to celebrate. I mean, everybody doesn't have tons of money to throw and shower, but that doesn't dwarf our celebrations, our capability to celebrate. Holi is coming. I mean, you come to Delhi, you'll see every Ghali, every Nukad, uh Holi is a you know, is a colorful stream. So personally, I don't enjoy that festival because you know, in any activity there would be some anti-social elements, but then larger sentiment is very, very important. And uh by and large, uh we are deeply democratic. Uh, we have a civilizational dividend, and we have uh this constant aspiration, which I said, move the block. And that that deep desire to do well, I think you know, if we are able to match the aspiration of economically economic growth and also the family values, as I kept saying. If you marry the two, if you have to describe India as a family and portfolio of life, in that sense, if you are able to marry the two, we have a great success story.
SPEAKER_01It's a fantastic response, Draesh. Couldn't have uh summarized it so unequivocally as you have done. Thank you for doing that. If I were to request you to suggest a small experiment for all of our listeners, a small experiment for living a more sustainable life under pressure, what would it be?
SPEAKER_00I mean, uh difficult, but then you know, remember, uh it could have been worse off. That's what you have to always say. I mean, I remember Lord Buddha saying that, you know, can you find a home where there is no one crying? So, in that sense, if you're able to bring your own learning from your civilizational perspective, most of the adversities will look small. I'm not saying, you know, you close your eyes and adversity is gone. Uh, there are challenges. First and foremost, is take it on your chin. Don't duck, don't disappear. You know, take it there, and that you might fail, you might succeed. There would be some bruises, but you could come emerge, you could be victorious as well.
SPEAKER_01Nakesh, this never looked like a 40 years of broadcasting experience coming to us. This is like life experience from uh your rich shared uh life that you have had. Thank you so much for doing this, sharing uh your life journey with me and my listeners. Before we you and I sign off, uh Inspire Someone Today is all about creating ripples of inspiration. What's your inspire someone today message to all the listeners?
SPEAKER_00I mean, I I might sound repetitive that you know, but remember tomorrow is another day, and live for the moment today. And uh, you know, plan and prepare yourself for challenges that you know that you don't know. And be grounded, be grounded, be humble.
SPEAKER_01Plan, prepare, live for the moment, be grounded, be humble. I I think uh we we can't ask for more, we cannot.
SPEAKER_00And wear compassion as your constant companion.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. He has spoken multiple times about compassion. Where is this whole sense of compassion coming from?
SPEAKER_00I think you know, my own uh my my own upbringing in Kashbir, my parentage, and uh I think we are missing on the compassion component as one big family, if I can call on India. And uh, you know, these tough cities, these hard uh you know, metros, they make you uh even if you're very compassionate by your DNA, they push you to you know be a little indifferent. Uh so I think you know we need to wear a mask and say, no, I'm not going to allow my compassion to go out.
SPEAKER_01What small uh little experiment people can do to kind of reinvigorate that compassion in them or in their society.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, I think it's a very good important point. I think you know, uh, as a matter of gratitude, even if uh you are you know a delivery boy, uh uh he has someone to thank the warehouse owner or a company that has hired him. And I, when I employ him, if I can say thank you and say that you know, did you have water? If he's coming at 12 o'clock in the night, I hope I hope you're at dinner. You know, I think that that little thing makes a difference rather than treat him as you know as your errant boy, he's not. He's got parents waiting home, he's coming in the middle of the night, he has to sleep, I don't know when he has slept, or your Uber driver or your OLAR driver. And then, you know, please remember that you know they're all making your life easier. All those who are part of your life trying to help you live a better life and your own family, which give you the DNA, which is undisputable, marry the two and have a sense of gratitude.
Compassion As A Daily Practice
SPEAKER_01Thank you for spending this time with us. Conversations like these remind us that good doesn't always come from answers, it often comes from better questions. Inspi someone today began with the belief that each of us has the power to make a difference. Not to grand gestures, but to everyday choices. That belief still holds now with a little more depth and a lot more listening. If something from today's episode stayed with you, carry it forward, share it, sit with it, or explore it further through the IST community or the book inspire someone today. Until we meet again, stay curious, keep inspiring, and inspire someone today.
