One cold spring evening in March 2006, I was having dinner with Anand Mahindra at the highly rated Tamarind Bay restaurant in Harvard Square. I had sought Anand’s advice about whether I should stay on at MIT, helping run the think tank I had co-founded as a graduate student the year before, or return to India, and put my newly-minted master’s degree to use in the “real world”. If I decided to return, he told me, the Mahindra group would be happy to have me.
Consider this excerpt from the judgement: “If there is one constitutional tenet that can be said to be underlying theme of the Indian Constitution, it is that of ‘inclusiveness’. This court believes that Indian Constitution reflects this value deeply ingrained in Indian society, nurtured over several generations. The inclusiveness that Indian society traditionally displayed, literally in every aspect of life, is manifest in recognising a role in society for everyone.” These are powerful words and I am glad to see corporate India activating the spirit of this judgement through a change in HR policies and practices.
(This story appears in the 01 July, 2011 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)
It\'s really nice that Parmesh came out at work but I think this article is just idealistic at best. Parmesh was in talks with OWNER of the group that was hiring him. The OWNER was ok with him being gay. Obviously, with the support of the top boss, everyone in the organization were SCARED of discrimination against him rather than being SUPPORTIVE. They kept quiet not because they were OK with a gay man - but they were just scared for their job! As someone who is just entering an organization (which may be a multi-national or a small office of a chartered accountant), how many fresh graduates or entrants would have the liberty to come out or put non-discrimination as a pre-condition for requirement? For example, are all mid-level managers in Mahindra group gay-friendly? Would a person joining Mahindra group at the lowest level still have the guts/freedom to do/say what Parmesh did? The most practical answer, sadly, is a no.
on Aug 17, 2013"inclusiveness" is good reason for Indian society to accept gays. I am not sure how companies find rational in accepting them because they are the customers. The companies work on numbers, and specially in society like India we would not be able to get numbers of gay people ratio. So, any how the companies need some substantial motivation to accept it. something like - this move can show case them as a bold brand! Good read.
on Jul 11, 2011