Interview - Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai, Spiritual & Social Leader India

Spiritual & Social Leader - India

(Q1.) A lot has been talked about the corporate endeavours at IOD's London Global Convention. As someone who has been instrumental in propagating social welfare and putting it to action, how do you see the industries and businesses drawing on the wealth of resources to incorporate social welfare and emancipation within the ambit of their corporate endeavours?

The idea of business should be a social investment where a business or industry solves problems by serving a need. In our country, most students from rural backgrounds are not educated and do not have proper nutrition, which affects their health, resulting in a shorter lifespan. Food, water, health, and education, are basic to any human existence, and most developing countries are still trying to grapple with these, leave alone the means or the aptitude to purchase a product. Therefore, if the country must grow, one must invest in the future of children.

For example, the Tatas thought about how their business should impact society. Today, the impact they have created is because of what they have done for so many other businesses that are surviving. This indirect impact has been so big, contributing to the country's GDP.

Therefore, the vision of any business should be to invest in society and keep it safe; no one wants to walk in fear of being surrounded by thugs and criminals, as the have-nots will snatch from those who have, as they were denied the opportunity.

(Q2.) You have talked about the transformational power of collaboration across government, business, and social organisations. How do you see the evolution of this transformative power, and what, according to you are some of the prominent avenues of collaboration?

The transformative power of the coming together of - governments that formulate the right kind of policies; societies or industries that provide the right kind of resources, charitable organisations that implement social welfare schemes - has ripple effects wherein they not only work together for their individual benefit but also exert for each other's protection and collective prosperity. They share and enjoy their resources, abilities, and opportunities, and celebrate their happiness together.

Aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and other government policies of social welfare and including them all in the portfolio of social welfare schemes should be the way of implementing any of these collective endeavours. 'Sacrificing before consuming' is the attitude needed.

Some of the prominent avenues of collaboration could be like-minded institutions, national and international social welfare organisations, charitable organisations, corporates with a social bent of mind, and other government platforms that can validate and verify charitable organisations for their performance to create greater visibility and encourage investors to find a suitable charitable organisation to invest in.

(Q3.) Companies and corporate entities today are investing heavily in creating a sustainable and inclusive ecosystem as part of their commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). As an observer and spiritual leader with an immense corporate following, what more do businesses need to do to enhance the impact of CSR?

Apart from Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Employee Social Responsibility (ESR) should be encouraged so that employees voluntarily contribute their resources for the betterment of those who are in need. They can also physically volunteer at certain NGOs as part of corporate programs, which will also lead to better corporate bonding, and they will surely find a certain fulfillment at the end of the day.

To me, Individual Social Responsibility (ISR) is the most important. Talk to yourself; talk to the man in the mirror; talk to the woman in the mirror – 'What am I doing to make society a better place so we can all coexist peacefully?'

The onus is on each one of us, for the inevitable truth is that every individual's prosperity depends on society's collective prosperity, as we are one connected whole.

ISR, ESR, and CSR-this is the way to make social investment.

(Q4.) At IOD, we do a lot of work and research on boardrooms, and a general trend we have observed in the recent past is that boardrooms are slowly becoming more equipped and inclusive, not only in terms of their composition but also their ability to address challenges of sustainability, environmental degradation, and larger social causes. What would be some of your suggestions with regard to transforming boardrooms in order to enable them to make a more tangible and effective impact on the ground?

The entire organisation must be aligned with the same vision. This, I call it, Vision Sustainability, apart from other sustain-abilities that we generally talk about like financial sustainability and human resource sustainability. I always give this example: President John F. Kennedy went to the space station. They were about to launch the man on the moon mission, and he happened to meet the janitor while walking around and asked him, 'What are you doing here?' and the janitor replied, 'I am helping put a man on the moon.'President Kennedy was very impressed. This is the attitude we must have; every single person in the organisation-from the gatekeeper to the cleaner-must know the vision and must live the vision.

Whatever is discussed in the boardroom must percolate to the last person in the organisation, and this will build mutual trust, unity, and a strong culture. Everyone should speak the same language. Once it becomes a shared vision, then effective and tangible implementation becomes a reality.

As leaders of an organisation making management decisions, it is very important that the leadership team has its grounds in ethics and values. I recommend four steps for leaders to do their self-check.

(1) Step one is to BE. A leader must stand for what he believes and follow what he wants others to follow. The very presence of such a leader will have a great influence on others.
(2) Step two is TO DO. Translating his beliefs into coherent and consistent action is the next step. What the leader is must reflect in what he does.
(3) Step three is TO SEE. Leadership does not stop with individual integrity but holds a greater responsibility to inspire and motivate the team by keeping one's ears to the ground and keeping the common touch with keen observation.
(4) Step four is TO TELL. A leader must communicate properly to bring about the correct course correction at the correct time. Efficient communication is the key to good leadership. With these, an organisation will be able to make a constructive impact on the ground.

(Q5.) Despite a lot of efforts, there still exists an evident urban-rural disconnect in India's growth story. Filling this gap is a major challenge for all the stakeholders involved in the task of social transformation and welfare. What do we need to do to attract and draw our HNIs to invest more in the rural and economically deprived regions to create opportunities of growth and wellbeing?

What is the role of wealth in the larger scheme of things? I always say that finance is like blood in the body. It must keep flowing; it must keep moving. If it stagnates or stops, it will create clots, cause strokes and heart attacks, and kill the body. Likewise, if wealth stagnates, it will kill society. And unfortunately, at this point in time in the world, income and wealth inequalities are at their peak.

The world's GDP stands at $100 trillion today, yet there are countries collapsing from economic meltdown. The number of poor people in the world in the last two years of the pandemic has increased, and 800 million people go hungry to sleep every night. At the same time, the world has added half a billion dollars to India itself-half a billion dollars every day to billionaires' wealth and the number of billionaires in India has increased.

So, the idea is that wealth is being created in tremendous volumes, but it's stagnating in certain hands, which is leading to income inequalities. What are the consequences? Well, you will have an angry society, not just an unhappy society; a society that will grow up in anguish, pain, and anger, and the consequences of it will be very dire.

It is said that every year, six million people are pushed into poverty because of out-of-pocket healthcare expenses. Only a quarter of our children enroll in higher education. With an unskilled and incapable future workforce, how can you expect a healthy and happy society in which you want to retire in peace? Can you retire in peace in such a society?

So, my idea is that wealth should be created. It is important. But how much of it should be with each person is a question that you must ask. The Isavasya Upanishad says, Don't take another man's wealth. What does that mean? You're not stealing, or you're not engaging in bank fraud and siphoning off funds. The meaning of that is that if you have anything more than your needs, then that belongs to somebody who needs it more. You are not the owner of that wealth; you may be the custodian, the trustee, or even the creator of that wealth, but you are not the owner because somebody's need is greater than yours. And therefore, that rightfully belongs to the person who needs it more than you. As per our scriptural injunction, if you have more than you need, it is not yours. It could be your knowledge, wealth, power, or any skills that you own.

Businesses have to think beyond profits and build value for all in society; they have to nurture the needed element of trust in society. A completely profit-based venture will lose the element of trust from people. It is absolutely fine to recover costs to make ends meet. However, businesses have to work beyond profits and think of the greater cause of societal good. This will create a lot of good will in society. Rural areas have to be made independent, self-governing, self-sufficient, and self-sustaining. There is a balance required between the industrial revolution, grass roots level innovation, and self-governance. We have to shift the balance and provide equitable opportunities, even in rural areas.

(Q6.) Another facet of social issues in modern times is mental well being. As we see, businesses thrive through mediums of digital transformation and rising opportunities, but this has also ushered in problems pertaining to individual stress, depression, and mental illness. Do you see how the adoption of a work culture that hinges on spirituality and knowledge can be an effective counter to this? What would be your advice to companies and individuals to tackle the issue of mental well being?

Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah Sarve Santu Niraamayaah | Sarve Bhadraanni Pashyantu Maa Kashcid-Duhkha-Bhaag-Bhavet | Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||

Let everybody be happy. May we all be healthy. May all see good and auspicious everywhere, and let no one suffer. Let there be peace.

It is a prayer that everybody should be happy. Happiness and health were only concerned with physical or biological well-being. The COVID pandemic has shown us the underlying mental health issues. For a long time, this has been a taboo that nobody wanted to talk about. People did not want to accept the fact that mental health issues can prove fatal to one's life, purely out of fear of being branded or labelled by society for acknowledging such a condition. People suffered in silence.

Everyone should recognise this problem of mental issues and take the necessary steps to reduce and eliminate it from its roots. A world should be seen where everyone is happy, healthy, enthusiastic, brimming with energy, and looking forward to a future—a common future for all—which we will co-create together for a better world. And the responsibility lies with us.

Happiness is success. You have to define success yourself, and no definition is wrong. In my view, success is simply about feeling happiness while doing what you are doing.

When you are not satisfied, you are not successful. Effortlessness and a sense of no burden is success. The most important thing is to find happiness in success, not pleasure, convenience, or comfort.

(Q7.) The achievements of you and your team are nothing short of miraculous. Over three million government school kids are being provided nutritious breakfast; globally, there is a 'let nobody go to bed hungry' campaign in 33 countries; over 28,000 children are being provided timely heart surgeries in India, Fiji, and Sri Lanka; around three thousand children in India are getting residential values-based education across 28 campuses, along with a university giving them a higher education; all of this is done totally free of cost. As a 'Spiritual Corporate' that calculates profit as the number of lives impacted positively, where sustainability is automatic, what are some of the other campaigns and programs that your organisation plans to launch in the days to come to truly transform the social and economic landscape globally?

Globally, the organisation currently conducts several spiritual and service activities across 33 countries. Socio care programmes like elder care, disaster relief, refugee and homeless feeding, etc. are being done in several countries through hundreds of volunteers and like-minded individuals who believe in the idea of expanding individual identity to a collective identity as a society by working for everyone's welfare selflessly.

Free hospitals are functioning in Nigeria, Fiji, Sri Lanka, and the USA for several multi-speciality needs, with a special focus on pediatric cardiac care. Soon, a hospital will be established in Turkey.

(1) Courses on agriculture and mental health will commence in the academic year starting June 2024 at the Sri Sathya Sai University for Human Excellence.
(2) The Agriculture program will improve agricultural practices by going back to the old ways, growing it organically, training the new generation, and helping them build their businesses around agriculture. Agriculture has to be made as glamorous as IT, so a child can proudly say that he is the son of a farmer and does farming in the right way.
(3) Sai Swasthya Wellness Centres is a new initiative that has been launched to provide high-quality, technology driven healthcare through rural outreach and capacity building as a solution to healthcare inequalities in India. Ten such centres have already been launched.
(4) We are also starting an oncology department in our hospital, along with like-minded organisations A full-fledged cancer hospital will also be established soon.
(5) A 400-bed multi-speciality hospital will also commence by November 2025.
(6) The existing completely free medical college, which commenced in September 2023, will forge new collaborations and partnerships. This will be a game changer globally for how health education and healthcare can be delivered with compassion, without any financial encumbrances.
(7) Nada Gurukulam – an exclusive college for performing arts like music, dance, sculpture, weaving, and other traditional art forms, will be taught. Absolutely free of charge again!

(Q8.) Lastly, as someone who has championed the cause of social welfare and spirituality through your inclusive approach, what would be your message to the corporate and industry leaders globally who find themselves in the midst of a conundrum to show profit numbers while at the same time also ensuring social welfare, safeguarding the environment, and ensuring sustainability?

Message for Corporates:

(1) Corporates tend to look at social initiatives as charity, but they should understand that they are an investment in their company's long-term growth plans.
(2) Follow ethics and integrity in your business; value-based leadership is the key ingredient to achieving a successful business that will be sustainable.
(3) Your job is to create wealth. But do not keep it for yourself. Distribute the wealth. Wealth is like blood. It must be circulated in society and should not be kept stagnant.
(4) Include nutrition, education, and healthcare as one of your key areas of work. It is not just the government's job.
(5) Real potential lies in preparing the consumers of tomorrow; therefore, preparing society for tomorrow is paramount.