Corporate honcho takes to weekend farming to keep work stress away

Bhubaneswar: The common perception about top corporate jobs is that these often come with lots of stress and challenges, all points of time. The level of stress and challenges goes manifold in sales-oriented businesses and sectors, especially in the present time of COVID19 pandemic. However, many of the corporate executives are now adopting innovative approaches to maintain their calmness while pursuing the goals of business. 

Acknowledging the demanding nature of the corporate sector, Pradeep Rout, the Odisha Head and CEO of a leading digital service provider in the state mentions about his two innovative approaches which have helped him to keep work related stress at bay all the time.

He has spent a major part of his three decades long corporate career outside Odisha leading the businesses at top MNCs and brands including Xerox, Tata, Reliance etc. and is now on the mission to connect the hitherto unconnected in the hinterlands of Odisha as the State Business Head and CEO of Reliance Jio in the state of Odisha. Under his leadership, Reliance Jio went on to become the No. 1 digital service provider in Odisha with highest number of and highest revenue market share in the sector in Odisha.

However, all this success also came none the less with a very demanding schedule and the so-called work stress. Elaborating on how he manages to keep his calm even amidst the very challenges the corporate sector throws at him, Pradeep attributes it to his two-pronged innovative strategy of farming and fitness, which has helped him to keep stress away while focussing more on his work and building a successful team. 

He shares his interesting experiment of week-end farming in his native village Koro Mirzapur in Kendrapara district of Odisha, as a crucial stress buster. Turning his nearly one-acre ancestral land in the village into an open garden, he is growing vegetables, medicinal herbs, fruits, flowers etc. within the compound. Whenever he gets time on the weekends, he travels to his native village and engages in farm activities along with motivating village youth for pursuing meaningful career opportunities. The medicinal herbs, especially those related to diabetes management, have helped many of the elderly villagers, he adds.

An avid fitness lover, Pradeep says keeping himself fit with regular workouts, running and yoga has also helped in a great way in managing stress in everyday life. The open garden also has a beautiful walkway along with a nicely constructed gazebo for small meetings of villagers. While Pradeep offers counseling on the importance of fitness for leading a successful life, the walkway inside the garden also had a positive impact on the village youth as well as elderly who often use it for morning or evening walks and for meetings on village development.