October 6, 2023

Wisdom Stories Ep.17: Mr. Pradeep Kumar Garg

Cultural expectations surrounding the elderly are being challenged today, and with good reason!

While it was the norm to slow down and retreat into a quieter life post-retirement, more men and women are finding purpose and joy in doing the opposite.

WisdomCircle honours such men and women by shining light on their journey through an inspiring series called “Wisdom Stories”. These people have successfully smashed stereotypes, and their stories remind us that life should be lived to the fullest, no matter what age or stage.

I was born and raised in Delhi and never left the city till my career took me to the Middle East shortly after I became a qualified Chartered Accountant. I learnt the value of working with different nationalities in vastly different environments in organisations like Danube Group, Saud Bhawan Group, DULSCO and JUMBO Electronics, and this experience taught me the importance of being sensitive to cultural values and local customs.

I have failed in many aspects of my life and still do. What has changed is the way I deal with them. Earlier I clung to my failures, but now I realise that failures are my best buddies – learn from them and move on. Life is too short to procrastinate.

I have been deeply impacted, firstly, by my parents, who taught me to keep going no matter how tough the situation. Secondly, by my paternal aunt and uncle – I am what I am today because of the time they invested in me. Lastly, the owner and chairman of Danube Group. Rather than focusing on the problem, he encouraged me to identify and discuss their possible solutions as well. It is more important to act than to know.

I firmly believe that there are no free lunches in life. There is a very interesting line in an old Hindi song that my chairman sang often, “Duniya mein rehna hai tau kaam kar pyare”. In my opinion, the word “retirement” is a myth. You don’t retire from life. My analogy is that probably all we do is swap our racing car for a Maruti 800 and move forward at a different speed and possibly in a different direction. It gives you time to focus on finally putting together that bucket list and ticking each one off one by one.