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You you eat chala chala. Haha, you dunia. I think I'm consistent. If I have kind of visualized something that this is what I want to work towards, then I'll be consistent towards this and I'll be sincere about it. If there's a customer, if I can improve his or her life, I'll do anything and everything that I can do. Hi everyone, welcome back to the Limitless Pod series Season 2. I'm super excited. The next guest for today is somebody who's been crunching numbers in his consulting days to now managing a vast empire within Airtel. He is a real life problem solving superhero and a sales maverick who's now ruling our digital entertainment Kingdom. Let's meet Pankaj Dyani, our business head for entertainment. Welcome to the Limitless Pod series. Thank you for doing this with me. Congratulations on Season 2. Thank you very much. Your aspiration of becoming Karan Johar is going live now. I am loving it. Yeah. Have you done a podcast before? No, never. So this is your first one? Yes. OK. So tell me, you have been running around in business suits in your consulting days to now heading a music app and extreme. So crunching numbers in a suit and now heading the music app. What's been your journey? Take us through your story. That's a good summary. Yeah. By the way, from so consulting world, all suits and numbers, Suits and stats, Suits and stats then. Simples to now songs and streams. So Suits and starts to SIM sales to song and streams. That's the alliteration that my journey has been absolutely and it's been that way. Each phase has been very different. OK, So for me, the suits and starts phase, which is the consulting world and my first stint here at Airtel with RCU Gopal, that was very different. That was a lot about problem solving, understanding what works at large. They're getting exposure to the ecosystem within which was and I as a person was very different back then. I think I've also morphed as a professional, as an individual in each of these phases. The next phase and which was the sales role for Delhi Circle. I think that has been the most transformational role I've had and. Very thankful for that opportunity that I got within the ecosystem and amazed at the kind of I'm amazed at my own journey as well within Airtel, how things have kind of shaped up. Well, that's what Airtel does to you, right? It gives you the experiences that you love and cherish for your lifetime and it makes you grow actually as a person definitely. And I think that goes without saying, right? The kind of like it's almost a bet that the company takes on you. I have known you for a while, so I can vouch for the fact that. You are a great listener, right? So I want to understand because this is a quality that actually doesn't come naturally in a lot of people listening. So what is it that you did to yourself to be able to hone this ability of being a great listener? I'll be very honest on this one. So whatever you see is the professional side of me. So whatever great listening and excellent and managing time and all of that you see at office, it's completely opposite at home. I'll call your wife for the next podcast. So I'm. Like I think it all balances out for me because I'm I try to be a certain way at work. That balance happens in my personal life and I think it's important to have that balance where I can be spontaneous, I can just not. Worry about time I can just like. Being the flow of things and that's something which my wife takes the brunt of. So that's how it is. But I think here at Airtel, I think I've been lucky to be surrounded by leaders. I think the first role which I did, which is the strategy role, I got exposure to Gopal. I got exposure to all the AMB members. And I think we have some really great leaders within the company. We got Sunil Baldar in that session. One thing which he said which has kind of stayed with me is whenever you're having a discussion. Remember, there's an emotion to it, there's a truth to it, and there's a context it. Nice. So if you want to be in a situation where you have to take a decision and like just from a listening perspective, listen, call out the emotion, call out the context, what remains is the truth and then take the decision that that's really healthy. Yeah, that's great. Yeah. Like take for example. Yeah, like he'll not speak in a meeting in the last five minutes. The meeting just pivots in terms of his input. So that's the kind of. Leaders that we are surrounded with and that's something which I tried to emulate. That's a good thing. So let me take you back to your teenage years of Pankaj, right? What do you think has changed since then? I mean, I do now know that you were a little impatient back in the day and now you're trying to like sort of get over that. But a teenager Pankaj versus today teenager Pankaj was very heavy. So that's something which is definitely changed. Thank God I didn't spit the water out. You wrong time to sit the water. Yeah, no. So that's something that is definitely changed consciously, but just. I think she's from a what has changed perspective. I've become more comfortable with myself. That's something which has definitely changed. And I think that everyone goes through their journey right where in the early days they're still discovering themselves. Wow, yes. So that's something which has really helped me in terms of understanding what drives me. So now I have very good understanding of what I like, what I don't like, what triggers me negatively, positively, and just having a sense of having, being able to identify that and then like being. Customizing yourself facing your situation that correct. I think that's something which has changed a lot where now I have a better understanding of me as a person. So that's something which has changed definitely. Awesome. OK, so we've learned that you are very, very disciplined. You wake up early in the morning, you have a schedule that you follow. So schedule. What does it intake? It's very simple. No. So my wife sleeps till 8. So I have to wake up at 5:30 because that's my 2 1/2 hours of me time this time, just like chilling, doing whatever I want to. But that's how it is. And by the way, she balances it out. So for her, like, I sleep early, I sleep at 10, she sleeps up. Yeah. So that's her. That's her free time. Yeah. So it balances out for me. That time is for myself. So I go for a run, I go for a swim, just something to kind of get the day started on the right note. As far as being disciplined is concerned, no, not at all. Again, maybe something you are seeing, but it balances out completely on the personal front. So holistically, I don't call myself as discipline. Having said that, I think I'm consistent, consistent so and if I have kind of. Visualize something that this is what I want to work towards, then I'll be consistent towards this and I'll be sincere about it. OK, what about our guilty pleasures? I mean, while you have a routine that you follow, disciplined or not, you do have some guilty pleasures in life. So what are those I really guilty pleasures or not? I don't know. But I really love to spend time with my family. That's something is paramount for me. So whatever time that I get. Out of my 5:00 to 7:30 slot when I go back home is for is for my family, Yeah. And I don't think. That like that takes first priority whenever one gets time for that. Besides that, I love to eat out like I have explored. All the restaurants like at least 90% of the restaurants that Delhi has. Wow. And because I was in the sales role. Ohh, yes. You were roaming around a lot. So my market was visits will be like that. Yeah. OK. I want to try this restaurant. Let's go to North Delhi today. So which one is your favorite? So did you tell the North North Delhi N Delhi? So there's this restaurant called invitation. What about street food? So I am born and brought up in Lajpat Nagar. Wow. So I have had the most street food and street food is not like shop Wallace St. food street Street food is street food. Yeah. No, no, that's a clarification that we should do. There is a tailor in large Banakar which sells that little do with. So all of that I have grown up on, yes, allow it to, but that's still popular. There are some hidden of course stalls in Lajpat Nagar which like which are doing that. Balu and all of that. Ohh, correct. All of that is something which has the best treat. For anyone who needs any advice on traveling to Delhi and wanting to know where to eat what, please reach out to Pankaj Dyani. OK? Yes, please. It's gone to everyone. OK, so family, food, life, discipline, work. We've gone through your entire phase, your entire journey. Let's sum it up with what we believe are and not what we believe, but what is our EVP, right? Being limitless. What does being limitless mean to you and how do you be limitless every day of your life? So being limitless, I think it's very personal to me, and not just from a professional life perspective, but I think it applies. To me personally as well, because this is an ethos which I like to live by. Yeah. And that's reflected I feel in my journey as well, because I've always taken decisions about my journey without any sort of boundaries or constraints in mind. So when I think about being limitless and when I come to work every day or when I go to my family every day, for me it's about. Not having any sort of restrictions or any sort of boundaries in terms of what you want to achieve what. You truly believe in Yeah. And let's take for example, right? So let's say there's a team member that you have. Uh, for me, being limitless would be inspiring that person to achieve their best potential and making them believe that, you know what all they can achieve. So that's being limitless. Yeah, you know, very rightly put, because I believe that within Airtel, each and every employee in their own personal way and space believes that they are limitless, right? I think which is why we work well, we work better in teams, we work better when we are collaborating. Everyone has their own definition of being limitless, but the very fact that everyone feels it right and believes it, what else can we ask for? Definitely no. So we are blessed. We are blessed. We truly are blessed. So thank you, Leaders, please listen to this. We're really, really thankful to you. OK, let's come down to the fun part. You are entertainment king for us. So we Bollywood kimanthi soda both, right. But I'll ask questions to you as well. OK, We'll see about that. Yeah, yes. Don't cut them out. I will try. Do. I will try. If your life was a movie, what genre would it be and who would play you? OK. Drama, definitely yes, because of course drama. Who doesn't like drama? Long, who would play? OK, so. Let's make it a anime movie. Let's make it like a anime movie, OK? And we'll design A character who looks and talks like me. We should it be like the teenager Pankaj or the new Pankaj? No, like whatever. OK. If you can sing one song for the rest of your life, which one would it be? But I don't want you to name the song. I want you to sing a line from that song. You haven't seen that movie for this. Yes, you you have heard the song. Yes. So. You, you chala chala. Haha, you dunia. Who decided to take her? Voulons qu'aimer les baril. Hey. Nice. Nice. Thank you. No, thank you for singing along. I don't know the words too much, but I was. Yeah, that was quite good. OK Modern Family or Brooklyn 99. Which one is the favorite and why? Brooklyn 99, One day, team of misfits coming together, doing something more than what they are individually. Right answer. I'll just give it to you. OK. Netflix, Amazon, Spotify, YouTube. Which one is your preferred app? Hey, Lincoln Extreme. Yes, that was all that was. Quick question. Trick question. Come on, you question. You can't ask trick questions. Well, thank you for doing this with me. This was a lot. Great. This was fun. Yeah. And thank you for having me. And it was so much fun. And all the best for your next episodes. Thank you. What a brilliant conversation with Pankaj today. I'm super excited to have this chat with him. The one thing I'm going to take away from the podcast is whenever you're having a conversation with your peers. Or in collaborative working in collaboration with teams. Always remember 3 things, emotion, context and truth. Look at all of them independently and work just within the truth. Thank you all for watching in the Limitless Pod series with us. See you soon, very soon for the next episode.