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Ashish Rajpal, the CEO of iDiscoveri, could not think of taking a holiday. The Harvard alumnus had struggled all these years to get his business going and iDiscoveri was now a growing education-cum-training firm. A getaway, which meant moving hundreds of miles away from his business and clients, not to mention the 14 days of cellphone blackout, seemed quite impossible. |
| Ashish Rajpal, CEO - iDiscoveri | |
That was till the pain in his knees became so nagging that he had to |
finally follow his friend’s advice and check into an ayurvedic health centre at Kootanad in Kerala. It took a year of planning, and one round of cancellation, to finally get there. As he checked into one of the spartan cottages of the health centre, tucked away in the quiet greens of Kerala’s countryside, Rajpal could not help being sceptical.
His holidays, so far, had been more adventurous and with friends for company.
“It was a bit annoying initially that there was no cellphone coverage. But after you get over the first 24 hours, you slowly begin to think it is a boon,” says the father of two boisterous children.
By the third day, the withdrawal symptoms of the CEO-life had started waning and Rajpal had started enjoying the silence. Away from the day-to-day firefighting, there was not much to do but relax and think. He liked the fact that he could think without interruption, for as long as he wanted.
“I thought a lot. I thought about how to grow the business, how to make our case more palatable to parents, how to nurture people, and so many more things. I began to relax; also did a lot of writing and reflection on my personal life and work,” says the first generation entrepreneur who co-founded iDiscoveri in 1996 for developing innovative solutions and deliver quality education and training to schools and enterprises.
Back from the trip, a rejuvenated Rajpal cannot stop talking about how necessary such a getaway is for everyone and now feels that every leader needs this kind of time out. “I’m almost thinking of making it a once-a-year event,” claims Rajpal, who later sent his wife for a two-week holiday there and cannot stop recommending it to all his friends, family and business partners.
But be warned that this isn’t for the faint-hearted. While some might enjoy getting a two-hour massage everyday and others might even like the novelty of yoga every evening, it takes sheer willpower to survive on a glass of juice every two hours for a few days at a time.
“That was a learning experience. It made me realize that if you put your mind to it, everything’s possible,” Rajpal claims. And that includes a two-week holiday!
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