Sulagna & Shuvabrata

Sulagna Dasgupta PGP 2011 & Shuvabrata PGP 2010

“We certainly share passion and hence find it easy to support each other in pursuit of excellence…”

 How do you balance long work hours and a chaos free household?

For both of us our family life is central to existence. Hence we always prioritise each other over work. At the same time, we try to be as accommodative of each other’s professional demands as possible. I think at the heart of our mutual understanding is a genuine desire for nothing but the best for each other. We are also very fortunate to get a lot of help from our parents and others.

How do you make sure that you spend time with your partner? 

We carve out separate time slots for each other which are sacrosanct and can’t be intruded by work – especially during the weekends and occasionally on week nights too.

Also, we frequently go for short weekend trips, which have been especially helpful in rejuvenating us both as individuals and as a couple.

What are a couple of things that you appreciate about your relationship and why do these things seem significant?

I think the most special thing about us is that we feel no one understands us better than each other. There are a lot of things we just don’t need to spell out.

Also I treasure the way he plays the “big guy” role in the relationship and pampers me by letting me be the kid.

Lastly, we’re both crazy about animals. We have animal companions who we see as our children. We’re also passionate about wildlife. I don’t know what I’d do if I were with someone who didn’t like animals. So I consider myself lucky that way.

How did you go about career growth and career planning “together”? 

Careers have their ups and downs. We’ve faced serious challenges on the career front in the first few years of our life together. This did put its share of strain on our relationship. In hindsight, I’m glad it couldn’t make a real dent in our bond, and we could give each other the requisite support.

Also we’ve always valued our togetherness more than career ambitions. Hence each of us has always been ready to alter our plans to accommodate the other.  More on this later.

Have you lived/living in different cities? If yes, how do you cope with family commitments/manage trying travel schedules?

Since getting married, we have been based in the same city. However being a management consultant, Shuvo is always travelling which unfortunately does take away a lot of our time together. The weekends sometimes become the only time together and when we need to finish the routine chores of running the family.

Do work conflicts come home? How do you keep rivalry at bay?

Shuvo was my senior in IIMA (he graduated in 2010 and I in 2011). I have always looked up to him and turned to him for guidance. Hence from a professional point of view I see him more as a mentor than as a peer. So there has never been any question of any rivalry between us.

We’re each other’s closest friends, so we do discuss work stresses with each other. Hence at times one person’s work related stress ends up affecting the other negatively too. However we make it a point to always be there for each other because in the end it helps de-stress and deal with negative situations better.

Please share any instance of compromises in career growth for the family. (One by husband & one by wife)

My campus offer was a role based in Singapore. However, by the time my training was complete and the time to take up this role came, I was already about to be married to Shuvo. So I internally transferred to a role in Mumbai instead because Shuvo was based there.

(What felt like) Zillions of years later, I decided I wanted to move beyond climbing the corporate ladder and shift into an academic career. I wanted to join the Indian Statistical Institute in Delhi (my current organisation!) for pursing my PhD in Economics. This sea change in location and in life wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for 100% support from Shuvo, who immediately agreed to make the necessary arrangements with his employer and to shift to Delhi.

How does it help being in the same boat?

The biggest advantage of having the same background is that it helps you understand each other’s lives, because let’s face it – in the modern world work has become our life. However in my opinion the severe time crunch and extra stress created by both husband and wife working in the corporate sector – especially in sectors like professional services where I worked and consulting where my husband currently works – outweighs its financial benefits. Hence I feel, in addition to the professional satisfaction that it gives me, the timing of my career move was also just right for our family.

In the end I think more than sharing the same career, what matters is sharing the same passion for making the biggest possible difference in whichever field you are. We certainly share this passion and hence find it easy to support each other in the pursuit of excellence in our respective fields.