[0:07]but that would be telling a lie. What goes on in your mind when you are flying a plane? that you have just qualified as captain and it is your first mission as a captain. And suppose we take off and it's night and as we take off, one of the engines failed. Mayday? Mayday, absolutely. So, without getting into the technical part of it, what would be your first reaction or response? A lesser known truth about a pilot? Pilots are just plain people with an air about them. Good one. So if a pilot were to propose, how would that go? He would make a smooth approach. Oh, and that leads to a good landing. There are plenty of things that you've done. I can pick like one of them each and if you can help with a challenge that you faced in them and something that you did to overcome. So let's begin with the Indian Navy. Naval aviation is an inherently risky business and whether it's war or peace, you are constantly putting life and limb at danger. Switching gears to theater, what imprint has theater had on your personality? So, I think the biggest learning for me has been empathy. because as an actor whenever you are portraying a character, unless you don't have empathy for that character, understand where he's he coming from, why is he thinking the way he's thinking, behaving the way he is. You are not going to be able to do justice to that character. Today with me on Talking Through is Deepak Adhar, a man whose trajectory is so varied that I have had to wrote learn his introduction, and I am afraid, I will still miss out on a few things to say. A navy pilot, a human resource professional, an executive coach, a theater artist. The accolades are plenty. But more than anything else, he's a kind and compassionate human being with a beautiful heart. Thank you, Deepak, for joining us today. Thank you, Anubhav, for having me. To begin with, what led you to experiment with so many things? Well, it's very tempting to say that, you know, I had dreamt of it all my life and I persevered and pursued to make it happen against all odds. itni shiddat se chaha ki sari kayanat ne use mumkin bana diya. But that would be telling a lie, so however heroic it may sound. So I was quite lucky, most of these opportunities, I didn't have to follow them, they knocked on my door, I just opened the door and then I clung on to them. But my friends insist that I shouldn't be so dismissive about it because they want to give me credit that at least I had the courage and I dared to step out of my comfort zone and went on to try something absolutely different.
[3:00]So, I guess you know, you get life just once, but if you live it right, then once is enough. Oh my God, that's beautifully said. Well, on that note, how about you share a little more about your journey so that the audience gets to know you a little better? So, after about 20 years of sailing the oceans and soaring the skies as a naval officer, when most of my colleagues went on to transition to the private airlines and merchant navy, I went back to school. I went to XLRI Jamshedpur and I did my business management, specializing in human resources and in strategic marketing. Thereafter, I was in the corporate for about 10 years, heading HR, admin, IT, CSR from the boardrooms of the corporates. And then I switched to the learning and development stage where I you know, started off as a facilitator for soft skills and an executive coach. This gave me a little more time to be able to follow my passions like playing golf and theater. Five years down the line, theater took center stage and coaching and facilitation became my side hustle. And thanks to that, then I got a break in a Bollywood film. I did a documentary film, I did an ad film, I did a web series and I even lent my voice for a short film for the lead role. Wow, this is a lot of things. So if we were to call all of this serendipity, and correct me if you think I'm wrong. What actually gives you the courage to take all of these risks? Credit is actually due in two places. First and foremost is my family, my wife and children who have been very supportive and they have been the wind beneath my wings. They've always, you know, supported me and told me to go ahead and follow my dreams and often have made do with much less because of the pay cuts that I had to take when I stepped out of corporate to do all these things. The second has been the defense pension that I earned when I gave my youth for the country, and that, of course, helps, it's not significant, but enough to keep the kitchen fire burning. So, the practicality of life does come into play. Well, let's get to flying. What, what goes on in your mind, uh, you know, when you're flying a plane, because I'm sure it's high pressured and, um, there is what is, what is your inner dialogue in that situation? So, you know, whenever you are in a problematic situation, I believe that whatever you focus on, that expands. So, if you start focusing on the problem, the problem expands, it becomes so overwhelming that you tend to freeze. And freezing is the biggest enemy of survival. So, what I try to do is focus on the solution, and the inner dialogue that I have is relax. Don't panic. Let's see what are the options, and you can do it, and you are good. So that's the way usually I, you know, handle it. Also, in a lot of emergencies, which are those react emergencies where there is very little time to think. So, we have this concept where we rehearse those emergencies to death so that it becomes muscle memory, and you don't need to apply your cognitive brain when you are taking action for them. So that's how you make sense. Well, the only thing is if I were to say don't panic, I would panic more. But, all right. And, um, from flying to like a corporate role, which is like completely different. So what skill set made you think that you could be fit for an HR role? I am a people's person, that's what I like to believe. You know, I firmly believe that, you know, it's the man behind the machine who makes the difference. And HR is the function which can actually optimize and leverage the human potential in an organization. You know, even in the Navy, when I was there in the fleet, we had so many ships. They had similar kind of weapons, missiles, torpedoes, similar sensors, radars, sonars, similar propulsion system, the speeds at which they operated. Yet, the ship that stood out in the fleet was always because of the captain and the crew, more than the. And the same thing is true even in the corporate. So, you know, two companies can be making the same or a similar product using the same raw material, same manufacturing process, same technology. Yet, what differentiates between a good company and a great company is the people or the employees in that. So that's what tempted me to come to HR so that I could optimize the human potential. Actually, thank God for that. Because, you know, the way we are going in terms of technology and artificial intelligence, if it wasn't for these soft skills, I think we will all be out of jobs. Let's do this since there are plenty of things that you've done. I can pick like one of them each, and if you can help with a challenge that you faced in them, and something that you did to overcome it. So let's begin with the Indian Navy. So I was best prepared actually for the Navy or the armed forces because I come from a military family, and I was fourth generation in my family to wear the uniform. Apart from that at age 10, I went to a school called RMC in Dehradun, where my formal military training started at the age of 10. At 16, I went to the National Defense Academy and so by the time I really put on my uniform, I was quite well prepared. But having said that, the biggest challenge that I faced in the Navy, especially as a naval aviator, was that naval aviation is an inherently risky business. And whether it's war or peace, you are constantly putting life and limb at danger. And the task orientation versus the welfare and safety and well-being of your men, you know, that was always in conflict. So whether it is me in the cockpit when I'm flying for my own safety or whether it is me briefing my pilots when I'm sending them as a commanding officer on a mission, ensuring that the safety and their well-being is not compromised and only if the mission really demands so that should happen, that used to be the, you know, tough thing for me. It does sound like a very tough job and I really don't envy you at all. Did you, I mean, since you've mentioned about this, did you also experience like a first-hand situation which you felt was life-threatening and if you are, I mean, if you're comfortable sharing that. Yeah, I guess in the 20 years that I was there, there were a couple of things. One comes to mind quite immediately. So, let's just, you know, so that you can understand and appreciate the situation. So, just presume that, you know, you've just trained to be a pilot. Sounds nice.
[10:31]And you have just qualified as captain and it is your first mission as a captain. And I am with you in the cockpit as your co-pilot. Okay, the gray head and much more experience and all those things fine, but my position there is as a co-pilot. And suppose we take off and it's night and as we take off, one of the engines failed. Which is, you know, a pretty serious dire emergency. Mayday? Mayday, absolutely. So, without getting into the technical part of it, what would be your first reaction or response? Well, I suppose I would say that maybe you should take in charge, given the experience that you have, especially that we are in a situation where it's, it's, it's life or death. So, and similarly even for the pilot who would be, or for me, the instinctive thing would be that since it's a life-threatening situation, and I am the more experienced and skilled person in the cockpit. So, I would want to fly, rather than risk you with your degree of competence. Now, suppose if you told me that I should take over command and I say no, and I say I'll assist you as the co-pilot. So, how would you feel? I mean, I don't know what this guy is doing.
[12:00]But yes, I mean, I would understand that you must have taken a decision putting everything at stake, and given that I would respect your judgment, probably I would eventually go with it. Yeah, I guess, I mean, that is something, I mean you don't have time, there is an emergency situation that is happening. Few seconds. So, we did actually have this and it panned out with me, and that's exactly what I did, that I, you know, told that young captain to, you know, fly. So, he became the pilot flying, and I became the pilot monitoring. So, when we landed, of course, there was a board of inquiry because there was a, you know, near miss we survived, that's how I'm here to tell the tale, but, uh, notwithstanding, lessons learned, what happened, fine. So, in that when they played it all out, so this was a question asked to me as to why did you not take over control as the more experienced pilot? True that. So, it was a split second decision, I'm not saying that I really thought it through that way at that time, but with the benefit of hindsight, when I, you know, did speak in my defense. So I said that, you know, firstly, he was the captain, he was qualified as a captain. So there was no question of doubting his competence, while I may have been more competent by virtue of my experience, but the fact is that he was also competent enough, that's how he was where he was. The second thing was that if I would have taken over command of the aircraft, then, you know, it would have become me as the pilot flying, and then for a person who is much less experienced than me, for him to be the pilot monitoring, or monitoring someone who is more experienced, becomes a little difficult because you tend to hesitate, and you tend to think that because this other person is more experienced, he couldn't be making a mistake, whatever he's doing, he must be doing right, you know, that kind of a thing. So, which can be very dangerous, and in that situation, he couldn't even be busy asking, why are you doing this, why are you doing that, because right now you have got to land the plane safely. So, that's why at least if, uh, I was the captain or the pilot monitoring. I was watching him as a hawk as to every switch that he was pressing, whatever he was doing, and in fact, I kept asking him that please speak, whatever you are doing, so that I know what you are doing before you do it and, you know, I can be as a monitoring person. So, and of course, thankfully, that was received well, and, you know, we were exonerated for not taking a wrong mistake. So, that was a life-threatening situation. Yeah, I mean, I wonder in, in those seconds it is, I don't know, there's a lot of learning on mental strength here, is what I feel because it's like you take a decision and then you're thinking, you have no time actually to be thinking in that moment, and then you have to just live with the decision. So, I'm glad it went well in your year. Absolutely.
[15:30]All right. So, as we come to the close of this show, would you like to share with the audience an age that you go by? So, I would like to measure my life, not by the number of breaths I have taken, but by the number of moments that took my breath away. Oh, to your moment, we count on us. 100%, this is.
