Why PVR INOX MD Ajay Bijli thinks leading a 3D life is the key to wellness

Make time for that forgotten hobby, advises Bijli, who revived his 1980s-style rock band during the pandemic

In the last few years, the debate on worklife has swung between how much is healthy and how much is necessary. Should a workweek be 70-hour-long or is a four-day office routine more productive? Should we give work our all or seek work-life balance? What should business leaders, who shoulder the responsibility of the company and its employees, do to stay mentally, physically and emotionally healthy?

While there is no one right answer to these questions, the general consensus is that work and wellness have to go hand in hand. Incidents such as Zerodha Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nithin Kamath suffering a stroke only reiterate this reality.

 

In an email response to questions around wellness, Ajay Bijli, managing director, PVR INOX Limited, shares his thoughts. Edited excerpts: 

“It all started at school. Modern School (New Delhi) always taught us the significance of all-around development over just academic excellence. In our formative years, the school made it mandatory to play all sorts of sports and participate in various extra-curricular activities.

Each day was dedicated to a certain hobby like art, music or pottery and a different sport. One day, it was cricket and the next, football, hockey, basketball or badminton. So my habits today are attributable to how we were brought up in school. As a result, that one-dimensional view of life... of only working and doing nothing else, never really became a habit.

I typically start my day at either 5 or 6 am with some sort of singing – either English vocal classes on Zoom with my English teacher in Los Angeles or Hindi riyaaz given to me by my Hindi vocal teacher. It's almost meditative and gets me centred and calm right as the day begins. I don’t play any sport now, so I spend little over an hour in the gym at home almost six days a week doing a mix of cardio, weights and yoga. Post this almost daily routine, I am much more relaxed to start my day at work. I feel focused and rejuvenated to dive into the goals of the day.

During the Covid pandemic, while the world, and specifically the service sector, was reeling with lockdowns and social distancing, I found music and fitness to be great channels to build my resilience – physical, mental, and emotional. I reprised my 1980s-style rock band with some of Delhi’s best musicians by setting up Random Order (music band), and releasing the first music video with a cover of Sir Elton John’s “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” as a tribute to the relentless spirit of the medical fraternity. And now, I have started my side innings as a vocalist by singing solos. My first single, launched as a music video, is a devotional rendition of “Ik Onkar”, a hymn based on Guru Nanak’s revelation of the One Supreme Universal Reality.

I believe taking care of your health should be the number one priority because to take on various responsibilities one has in life, in business and for your family, you need to be healthy, both physically and mentally. It also sets the tone and allows you to lead by example for others. And having some hobby that keeps you engaged and challenged other than your day job adds some fun (why not?) and respite to the daily drudgeries.

So my advice, if anyone is listening, would be to wake up an hour earlier or to sleep an hour later to make a little time for your health, for that forgotten hobby... and like we did in school, remember to live a 3D – three-dimensional – life.”