How my past lives have influenced my current lifetime!

I never knew why Christmas carols or Buddhist chanting or esoteric stuffs create a strong impact on me; whereas I don’t feel that affinity towards Hinduisim even though I am a Hindu by religion in this lifetime. Yes, the persona of Krishna or Indian mythology fascinate me a lot, the way the serene expression on Buddha’s face does! Why do some people seem so familiar and you can read them well, or why your rationale try to suppress your intuition when you see people and feel something: all these things have deep-seated connection with your past lives!

You may like to call me mad but every time I happen to get into deep meditation to do past life regression in order to unravel a mystery, I come across something new. Between April and October 2013, I underwent past life regression thrice (didn’t succeed during the fourth attempt) and received answers to my questions related to my life’s purpose. In 17^th c I found myself in the western world born as a Frenchman serving Christianity through a foundation and the society, and in 19^th c India, I saw myself as a non-Indian businesswoman. In both the lifetimes, I saw three individuals from this lifetime that played significant roles – two of them (who play major roles in my professional life now) were related to my professional lives in 17^th and late 19^th centuries. The third one who was there in both the lifetimes as a supportive friend (17^th c) and spouse (19^th c), gives good guidance in this lifetime.

I had a curiosity about my lifetime in 18^th c and so one day I was back-calculating about my earlier lifetimes - with the help of a software that works on the natal chart – using my date and time of birth. The results showed that probably I was born twice – once as a magus deeply into esoteric stuffs and also in South-east Asia heavily into art and music and supporting the downtrodden. Another prediction showed that maybe I was also born in the Pre-Christian era as a Roman nobleman, and probably that is why I have a strong liking for Greek and Roman mythologies.

The earlier past life regression experiences didn’t leave me upset even when I saw myself becoming a rich widow at a young age and taking up the reins of business in 1950s. I understood that in each lifetime I would have to be professionally and spiritually active but I do miss that 19^th c spouse or 17^th c friend. But what happened between 30^th January and 1^st February 2015 was something totally strange and had a strange healing effect on my psyche.

An associate at office gave a Buddhist mantra to listen to and she and another colleague said that immediately I went into a trance, had a flushed face and was swaying – a similar state of body and mind happens when one does past life regression. I could only sense that my body went numb and was trembling, with tears of both pain and gratitude running down my cheeks when suddenly I had a vision of a huge Buddha statue draped in bright yellow (with a thin red border) in a monastery; and a monk dressed in saffron walking off with his back turned towards me. I am not very sure whether the monk was my own self or someone for whom I deeply cared.

On 30^th January and 1^st February early mornings I played that mantra again and underwent a deep meditation for a longer duration to have a better understanding. Deep within I felt a sharp pang alongwith the anguish for losing something precious; it was as if I had resentment towards my Fate for taking away someone who was very dear to me and at the same time a sense of gratitude towards that statue of Buddha for supporting me during my trying times. It was a feeling that I never felt before. My tarot card reading yesterday confirmed about the reason of separation (the monk walking off was my twin soul) in the past lifetime but I still don’t have any anger towards him in this lifetime.

I didn’t realize that the unresolved issue from one of my past lives had created such a strong impact on my soul that the pain was wringing out tears from my eyes, which I didn’t try to check at that moment. But now am feeling a lot lighter because I have realised that it was a twin soul connection where we had to learn our respective lessons. I was frequently getting to see some positive omens shielded by Archangel Michael’s aura during psychic meditation sessions, since October 2014 regarding this twin flame issue. The heaviness in the heart is now gone and I felt Archangel Raphael’s aura leading to a calm of mind. Every time you undergo a past life regression session, you will witness some changes coming up in your life that will set you free from the psychic patterns of karmic obligation. It has happened with me earlier and I know that I will see some changes coming up soon!

As Dr Brian Weiss says, twin souls or soulmate relationships do not always materialize - maybe the partners meet briefly or cross each other's path to choose two different roads. If at all they meet for a lifetime then it will be only once in every hundreds or thousand years, but then for the relationship to be successfully working till the end it will involve investment of time and energy because there will be a lot of opposing forces operational whenever they come in close contact.

Signs of a twinflame/ twin soul relationships:

(http://www.twinflamesoulmates.com/twin-flame-signs.html)

There may be an unusual synchronicity or event that surround the initial meeting between first flames. Often you have a feeling or 'knowing' of something that you just can't quite put into words. Twinflames often encounter each other for the first time (whether in person or online) in an unusual way. The twinflame comes into our life in an unexpected way out of the blue and usually there are synchonicities and strange occurances or major shifts in energy the same week of the initial meeting. 

Most twinflame couples are physically at a distance or live in different countries. Often there is something that prevents the twinflames from being physically together in the beginning. This is usually because there is much energetic work to be done on the mental and emotional levels before the physical meeting can occur. If the physical meeting were to occur too soon the energy can often be too intense. 

The relationship is immediate, as though no time had been lost since you were last together. You feel comfortable with them and you feel you can truly be yourself with them. Sometimes conversation seem to last forever and there is not much that twinflames are not willing to talk about. It's as if you could share your entire life with this person and there is a level of openness and understanding between you that brings a comfortable yet intruiguing sense of familiarity. You feel an overwhelming sense of love and attraction. This love is genuine and heartfelt and you feel magnetically drawn to their energy. This is not to be confused with lust or an obsessive love. Twinflame love is unconditional and transcends the ego. If you have found your twinflame it does not mean that the relationship will necessarily be free from issues or personal conflict. There may still be lessons and healing that must take place between the twin souls. Twinflames are still human beings on the physical level. 

You feel a sense of completion that goes beyond words. This feeling is about wholeness on a soul level that is beyond the physical. Each twinflame is still an individual and is not 'the other half of your soul' as if you are a complete soul now that you have found them. You are meeting an energetic mirror of your own soul. You share a vibration and you resonate with them. You even feel an attraction to the sound of their voice and it may even sound familiar to you. 

Designing of RP-SG Group calendar, diary and greeting card 2015: my experience

Expressions! What imagery does it conjure up in our mind?

Since our childhood days we are taught that the face is supposed to be the mirror of one’s mind, the facial expression is nothing but its silent language while bringing out some facets of the persona.  Portraiture is one such technique that encourages an artist to delve deep into the recesses of her/ his subject’s character (of the portrait) in order to explore the numerous layers within a subject’s personality. Once an artist adorns her/ his work of art with feelings and emotions, the creation comes to life. And that is what it makes a portrait – be it realistic or abstract - so meaningful! ‘Expressions: the power of portraits’ is a well chosen theme for RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group’s calendar, greeting card and diary for the year 2015.

RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group greeting card 2015

RPG Group and RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group are known for their “elegant” and “classy” calendars. On 22^nd October 2014, the eve of Diwali, after our celebrations at office got over, my former boss Sunil Bhandari, Executive Director – Corporate, sat down to discuss the calendar, greeting cards and diary; and showed me the photographs of the paintings, which he and the Chairman had shortlisted (except for the one of Bikash Bhattacharjee that later on I wanted to use for November-December in the calendar), and asked me how would I like to design the layouts. I suggested a basic layout based on whatever I’d visualized at that moment. But it was evident that unless and until I give them some shape it would seem vague for him. He decided to have a chat with my current reporting manager Sanjay Gupta, Head – Corporate Marketing, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, and the CEO of Au Bon Pain, for resource allocation; and also have the high resolution images of the paintings sent to me through Kankan Banerjee by the following week so that I could start my work with an immediate effect.

  

  

 

  

RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group calendar 2015

Unlike the previous years, this time Sunil Bhandari wanted to complete the work before the yearend and set a deadline of exactly 10 days for me for showing him the final layouts. He had been far more flexible for the ad/ designing agencies in the recent past that had stretched things to more than a month and a half, resulting in unnecessary delays in designing and dispatching the products throughout the first month of the new year. There is always a difference between a job being outsourced and the job being done in-house, in terms of the sense of onus and timeframe, setup and manpower involved, quality of the output and the efforts put in. And probably which is why people tend to rely more on the agencies and label them as professionals. My experience in this case is different – even though I was never considered as a “professional” but time and again I was asked to intervene for providing creative solutions like designing/ creating the last page of the calendar or a DVD cover for the outsourced job and so on. I remember pointing it out once to my ex-boss. It used to be a ‘ghar ka murgi daal barabar’ situation! But this time, I was surprised that three reputed ad agencies that are considered as “professionals” became apprehensive and hesitated to do the job after getting the brief from Sunil Bhandari. And a decision needed to be taken between the fourth one and me, the ‘ghar ka murgi’. His assistant Madhuja felt that since I’d done these types of jobs in the past, I could do it while his other team member Saumyapriya felt that it would be a mammoth task for one person, so it should be given to some other agency.

  

From left: RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group diary cover, back cover with spines on the either side, flap attached to one of the spines, page with poem/ quotes and the poet's signature, and other inner pages for writing 

 

Knowing my current relaxed state of mind and speed, I started my work on 29^th October with a few conditions including the fact that that to save time and get rid of unnecessary confusion that usually arises due to diverse opinions, the final intelligent and filtered feedback from his current team should come via Sunil Bhandari only. Since I had worked with him for 14 years and being aware of his artistic sensibilities, I could rely on his feedback. In three days’ time, I gave shape to the layouts of the calendar, diary and the greeting card. Once he approved, I started developing the three things in Adobe Photoshop and Corel Draw. The job got completed in 14 working days and there were two areas where Sunil Bhandari chose to intervene – the images/ layout of the calendar cover, and the typefaces (14 font styles were downloaded by him) used on the calendar and diary covers, the inner page of the greeting card. I have used four amongst those downloaded fonts in three internal pages of the diary.

When I look back to the calendar design that I did for 2011, I clearly see the difference in terms of the output quality (though nobody else will be able to make out the difference), and my speed that has drastically improved in the last 1.5 years after my transfer to the Corporate Marketing department, thanks to my current relaxed state of mind. Unlike the ad agencies that worked in the past on this assignment, I completed the job in 14 working days’ time. I see this as a great achievement for myself! J

Jaatishwar

Was watching 'jaatishwar' last night. Prosenjit's performance - effortlessly switching from one character (Antony) to another (Kushal) - haunts us. Jisshu and Swastika did justice to their roles. But comparing this film to that of Uttam Kumar's would be improper. The subjects are slightly dissimilar and so are the modes of treating them.

The film gives us an insight into the 18th c. Bengal literature and culture and leaves us with the desire to delve deep into the 18th & 19th c. history of Bengal.

The main plot was loosely woven and the sub-plot involving riya sen was unnecessary. Infact, like 'Mishor Rohoshya', the main plot was uselessly stretched and was then hastened to the climax! Thankfully, Mahamaya wasn't forced to remember her past, the moment she went to Kushal's residence at Chandannagar. Not always do the people whom we see in our previous lives tend to remember/ get the feeling of deja vu when we meet them in the current lifetime. Regarding Mahamaya's resemblance to Mini's (Antony's wife) face, there was nothing absurd. The features can continue to remain same/ more or less similar in two or more lifetimes.

Unlike Vikram Bhatt's movie on past life regression & reincarnation that led people to criticise it, Srijit Mukherjee has explained the subject quite logically through the character of the psychiatrist. He spoke about parapsychology and also mentioned that past life regression is a therapy. I personally underwent past life regression thrice and it is therapeutic (something which most people don't understand and come up with silly/ expert comments).

- Nilanjana

From the pages of my diary…

theme pandal at siddheswari garden aabashikbrinda.

 

'Accountability' is a word that reigns our thoughts when we are employed in an organisation. But this very word had the same impact on my psychological being since mid-July 2012, when I was chosen by the residents of SD Tower as a member of the Puja Committee, for a community service named Durgotsav! I felt accountable to the residents who selected me in the General Body meeting 2012 and hence making an attempt to connect with all of you through this platform.

with puja and apex committee members

 



Initially I was extremely pleased with my responsibilities that were confined to the ideation and planning of the pandal and idol concept, cultural activities, designing of some of the creatives and publicity & promotion. Being an artist and graphic designer by hobby and profession respectively, the pleasure of implementing these tasks was immense, and it had a very positive impression on my mind till I started facing resistance. Thankfully, the residents always came to my rescue on time! Even though I fought to defend my ideas, I had to run away twice to avoid getting embroiled in silly controversial issues. Some of the ladies with strong spine and who knew that my aim was also to highlight the ladies through cultural activities also came forward and supported me in my work!

nari shakti

 

One thing was clearly evident to me that after becoming a part of the Puja Committee, many of us tend to forget that we are accountable to the majority of the 1200 residents who are paying puja subscription. Rather a sense of vanity replaces the thought that we are doing some community service through our monetary and non-monetary contributions. We at times tend to give an excuse “residents won’t be able to appreciate it” keeping actually our own taste and preferences in mind, and get external artistes even if their quality do not justify the charges.

Another thing which I keenly realised while working for the puja is that it is not the responsibility of SD Tower puja committee to bear the weight of every family who is not paying puja subscription. There are other expenses to be taken care of, so if we think that we are unable to give the yearly puja subscription of Rs 1200 then we can give only Rs 250 that goes to other puja pandals outside the housing complex. Could we have avoided giving subscription if we were staying in the same locality but outside the housing complex? We would have had to give that bare minimum of Rs 250!

When it comes to community lunch, the building committee members, instead of getting biased for their own friends in the building, must act practically by keeping the entire community in mind. We also need to understand that against the subscription (it takes care of the community lunch as well), a building secretary cannot act selfishly by just giving away the community lunch coupons too leniently. It has been observed over the years that some of the secretaries give away excess food coupons to their friends and neighbours in the same building, than the actual number of heads per family. As result, the secretary is in the good books of their friends but INDIRECTLY is responsible for a shortage of food items when the community lunch is served.

sneha pareek and dhruti walk the ramp

 

A request to all the residents: do involve more teenagers and ladies from various communities, for Durga Puja! I strongly believe that intelligent teenagers and proactive young people below 45 years of age, and maybe some people above 45 years who constantly upgrade themselves – would add more value when it comes to such community services! This thought helped me to have faith in the smart and mature 14 years old Sneha Pareek when I used to observe her towards the end of 2011, though we never had any interaction till we started working together! Some of the faces that come to my mind are - the talented Trina Maitra, the cool identical twins Ritika and Kritika Dutta (the duo give support to their mother, Rajashree Dutta for rituals), the vivacious Ayelita Ghosh, the young violinist Utsav Biswas and chess player Anusil Das; and a few more (names of whom are unknown to me), should be given responsibilities during such events. These smart kids can do wonders because they are more creative and flexible than most of the people who are in the age groups of 40s and 50s! A small example: my  intelligent little co-host, Sneha Pareek, once came up with some suggestions for the promotion of the Puja, which as a Puja Committee member, I could think, maybe only because of my MBA specialization in Marketing Communications! 

Whatever I wanted to see during the tenth Durgotsav, got materialized inspite of the challenges and limitations that cropped up before me – be it the theme pandal, probhaatanusthaan, association with an NGO, the effective utilisation of Sneha Pareek’s strengths in cultural activities, highlighting our ladies who play key roles but remain behind the scene, the involvement of residents (adults and kids) from various communities in great numbers;  our position in the 2^nd round for both Sambad Pratidin and The Times of India Bari Puja contests, a minimum of ‘596 Likes’ in the powerful social media, the positive feedback from the majority (residents) and outsiders (via word of mouth); and overall there was warmth that I have always found missing in the earlier years!

And this would not have had happened without the enormous support from most of the residents; Apex Committee members - Subrata Das and Vikash Pareek; and last but certainly not the least, the President - Puja Committee, Susanta Sarkar! Another person whose artisitic sensibilities one could easily rely upon was our bindas “live Ashur” Manas Biswas, who effectively monitored the decorator's and the artists’ jobs, whenever he got free from his professional responsibilities; and also gave support to the cultural sub-committee as when required! Biswanath Sharma, our efficient treasurer, always used to be near the stage, whenever the puja committee had to pay the artistes and others! The Vice President - Puja Committee and a senior scientist by profession, Dr. Sourav Basu, had always been a patient listener and a peacemaker! As a result, he instantly produced a fire-extinguisher, first aid box and some biodegradable black disposable bags when I placed a request -  just before Sambad Pratidin and The Times of India teams came to visit our pandal! He also brought in an NGO run by Balaram Karan, a well social worker based out of Midnapur district of West Bengal, India.

The acknowledgement from the residents like Rina and Alok Mitra, Sudeshna Mukherjee, Trina Maitra, Rajesh Keswani and others - was my greatest reward for the community service, in which I was involved for the past three months! After the entire phase of mental struggle that I went through while working, the appreciation from most of the residents gave me a pleasant surprise and a deep sense of victory against all odds! It was the same kind of surprise and satisfaction which I experienced way back in September 1999, when I was receiving a state-level 'Paschim Banger Kirtimaan Manush' award in the Fine Arts category from Rotary International at Oberoi Calcutta. And probably that was why I couldn’t express my emotions well, when Rina-di was handing over the token of appreciation. Well, what more could one ask for? All the best to the residents for another great puja in 2013! J

PCBL heads towards a BRIGHT GREEN tomorrow

Have we ever thought as to what could be the biggest challenge for any progressive economy in this 21^st century? Of course, it is about offering a vision of a green energy system and then convincing the society at large about the philosophy. Like any other Green company in the world, Phillips Carbon Black Ltd. (PCBL) leaves no stone unturned in preserving and enriching the environment while being a pioneer in the production of carbon black in the country! The Company enthusiastically lays emphasis on development in the areas like health, hygiene and education, along with environment, which has gained momentum for the Company with the passage of time.

PCBL advertisement which i designed for OPEN magazine ('Environment' issue, release date: 1st june 2012)

Environmentalism leads to cost-cutting and revenue generation for companies. PCBL is the first company in the world to have its power plant at Palej manufacturing facility, registered as a Clean Development Mechanism project (CDM) under UNFCCC. The significant amount of flue gases emitted as a waste byproduct of carbon black manufacturing process, can be well used for the generation of electricity at zero costs. The energy generated from the plants meets captive requirements, thereby leading to revenue generation for the organization. PCBL, the first carbon black company in the world to be awarded carbon credit under Kyoto Protocol of United Nations Framework for Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC), has a power generation capacity of 70.5 MW and aims towards adding another 70 MW of capacity through 2015.

The PCBL family is well adapted to the requirements of the communities where the Company’s manufacturing set-ups are located and takes initiatives to ensure that the employees align themselves to the needs of preserving the environment. These involve interactions between PCBL and the community representatives in terms of contribution to environmental, social and economic development; Afforestation, rain water harvesting, recycling of waste, treatment of waste water, zero emission and spillage policy.

PCBL’s Mundra plant concentrates on Afforestation, while Cochin manufacturing facility is located in a forested area with lush green vegetation all around. The Company has also planted more than 5000 saplings at various locations, across the nation. PCBL has installed specialized equipments like secondary filters at all plants to ensure zero carbon emission. Despite being located close to thickly populated towns, the Company’s plants hardly receives complaints from the inhabitants.

Treatment plants for recycling waste matter are an integral part of PCBL manufacturing facilities! Effluent Treatment Plants or ETPs are used to treat waste water and then recycle it back into the system, thereby leading to zero discharge policy at its all manufacturing set-ups. It is an environment-friendly initiative which results in the reduction of water usage costs. The Company has also embraced a programme of rainwater harvesting.

PCBL, the eighth largest carbon black manufacturer in the world, currently aims to reach the bracket of the top three global producers of carbon black in some time from now. Known for its world class technology and state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, PCBL’s own R&D centre is government recognised, and is constantly focused on process efficiencies and new product development. The Company deals with efficient, low cost and environment-friendly operations to produce 4,10,000 MT; and has been continuously reinventing itself in order to make the best in class products for its customers like Bridgestone, Goodyear, Sumitomo Tyres, Kumho Tyres, MRF, CEAT, Apollo, Birla Tyres and J K Tyres etc.

PCBL’s after sales service and strong technical support ensures a fiercely loyal base of customers around the world and at the same time the Company does not forget to give back to the environment as much as it receives from it, as it walks towards a BRIGHT GREEN tomorrow!

11th September 2010

11th September 2001! Chaos, confusion and death filled the air! Twin Towers (USA) affected by the militant attack. The impact was felt globally...


9 years later... 11th September 2010...

After so many years, when life has gained its normal pace after that incident, in this small corner of the globe, I am sitting with a laptop - feeling content and relaxed that one by one my short term goals (desires) are getting achieved.

Evolution and weeding (in terms of human relationships) go on side by side in my life! My peace of mind started returning since September 2009 and I feel healed internally – thanks to some people around me! My sister’s wedding on 23rd September 2009 (the greatest source of satisfaction for me) and other short term goals – all my desires started materialising between August and November 2009. 2010 started quite nicely in respect to materialistic aspects and continues to do so till now. I can only thank and be grateful to God for being so generous towards me. I didn’t get derailed inspite of all the emotional struggles that I’d to go through, in the last eleven years.

At times when I look around, I get a feeling that academic qualification, knowledge and capabilities are not important in life. Ego massaging, sycophancy, gaining sympathy of the people around by talking about one’s personal problems or using charm would ensure growth in some areas of life! Yet, I thank my stars that I didn’t compromise with my principles (by doing all these things) under any circumstances. My upbringing would not allow me to do so! That is my greatest satisfaction on the personal level!

Never mind! Time wasn’t with me earlier but I’m hopeful that the scene is changing now. The attainment of these short-term goals only direct towards a better tomorrow! I am sure that I’d be able to achieve my bigger goals too without compromising with my principles!

The more I see these things happen, the more humble I feel and my roots go deeper into the ground. At the same time, I feel strangely calm internally. Now it is time to do something more significant in life!

Beware of fudging!

“Satyam computers has terminated 500 of its employees because they had fudged with their documents”


In a case of a reputed business conglomerate, there are examples where CVs are not verified and the truth is revealed gradually after recruitment, through various incidents. There was a case where an employee couldn’t recognise a colleague’s masters level certificate (from a reputed university) when the person had claimed to have completed Masters from the same university like that of the colleague; or checked from one boss’ secretary, the spelling of the name of an English medium missionary school (under West Bengal board) that was mentioned in one’s CV, whereas, in reality the person had actually studied in a government school for Bengali Muslims (under West Bengal board). The candidate’s diction gave away the reality even though in front of the other colleagues, the employee continued (till one’s exit) to stick to the name of the school mentioned in the CV! Same was for the candidate’s age (and other personal details that were verbally shared): instead of mentioning the actual age (mid-40s), the CV (including one’s passport) indicated it to be something in the 30s!

A false CV can help a employee to secure a job; but performance, body language and etiquettes would say a lot of things about the employee and one’s efficiency!

Fudging is not restricted to CVs only. You might see a secretary of a senior management person, mentioning something else (similar to that of another colleague) in the visiting card, instead of writing the exact designation mentioned in the appointment letter. Who would verify if the boss is unaware of it and the administration segment is not involved in the procedure of getting the visiting cards done? The truth was noticed only when the person was filling up the appraisal form before it was taken to one’s boss. Avoid giving the designation in the visiting card if you are embarrassed to mention it!

Forbes.com mentions that candidates usually lie about qualifications, employment dates, job titles, technical skills, achievements. According to Ashish Dehade, managing director, West Asia, First Advantage Pvt. Ltd (a background screening and verification company) more than 90% of the registered companies don’t verify about education, address, previous employment, criminal record, references etc though there are some large firms that insist on detailed verifications. As a result, the growing importance of candidate verification has generated a new business opportunity for background screening companies.

The Association of Search and Selection consultants estimates that 25% of the CVs contain false information, ranging from fudged dates to hide a career gap, to falsified identities to conceal a bad credit history or worse. Karen Edwards, co-director of the Brighton-based Personnel Risk Management, which specialises in providing City firms with pre-employment scrutinising services, believes that "in 25% of cases, something comes up” and in “one week it was 57%." He mentioned that “one IT department was told it was going to be checked and there were 12 resignations in one week."

Debbie Beecroft, an associated at Ernst & Young's fraud-investigation group, says fraudsters often turn out to be long-serving, trusted workers who know the systems and procedures well enough to work them. This can be avoided if pre-employment verification is done thoroughly.

Preventive measures:

Unlike that of the past, the check should happen at all levels. Companies like Wipro Ltd, Infosys Technologies and Satyam Computer Services take action against employees (terminating of services and blacklisting of such candidates and recruiters) involved in fudging résumés. ICICI Bank Ltd, witnessed 17,000 new recruits in 2007, 400 to 500 of which had misrepresented facts in their résumés. The bank has set up a fraud prevention unit that functions as an independent auditor and keeps an eye out for risks and frauds threatening the organization, including recruitment-related fraud. Every new employee undergoes a full background check. The candidate verification process to specialist agencies is outsourced. “Companies in India don’t lodge complaints of white-collar fraud with the police. In that sense, we are letting the same people (fraudsters) circulate in the system,” says Ramkumar of ICICI Bank. “So, unless an organization is very vigilant, it is difficult to curb this menace.”

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories and Samsung India Electronics keep track through an in-house reference check process. Prabir Jha, the global head of HR at Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, mentions that the HR department calls up the referees provided in a résumé, the candidate’s previous boss, peers and juniors before hiring.

Multi Screen Media Pvt. Ltd (formerly Sony Entertainment Network) believes that 3% of total new hires produce fudged résumés. The discrepancies involve falsification of educational qualifications, work experience, job roles and projects, and inflated compensation figures. Some don’t hesitate to submit fake certificates and documents. Multi Screen Media has a team, which oversees the background check process and also hires third-party agencies for the verification process.

KPMG’s forensic practice helps organizations conduct background checks. “It is a serious issue that can have long-lasting repercussions,” says Rohit Mahajan, executive director, forensic services, KPMG India. A bad hire not only impacts business efficiency, but can have consequences such as theft of intellectual property, leakage of confidential information or misuse of resources. The key offerings of KPMG’s background verification services include database verification, which helps clients ascertain if the candidate has been reported for any misconduct; education, employment and reference verification; criminal verification; and address verification.

TCS once sacked 20 employees for furnishing fudged résumés. The organisation has a team within its recruitment unit, responsible for overseeing the verification process. At TCS, a candidate’s credentials are verified on various parameters through specialized agencies. Dabur’s HR team conducts pre-and post-employment reference checks and asks recruitment agencies to verify the personal credentials of candidates. For critical job roles, it hires independent agencies for background checks.

As mentioned in www.control-cv.com, the agency deals with validating of diplomas – including the verification of the date of passing, grades achieved; or the schools/ universities are approached to check the authenticity of the details provided. Other details like the career history, dates of the candidate's employment, positions held in the company and the the reasons for leaving are also verified. It is done through employer reference checking or by contacting the candidate's former superior(s) or the HR department.

If after reading all this, you are thinking twice about applying for a new job, then be careful – your CV could also be considered as an object of investigation. At times employers even check out their existing workers!

- nilanjana