Bharat Thakur sits cross-legged on a wooden floor, looking straight into my eye. His gaze has a hypnotic hold, a tranquil, studying, evocative effect which I resist in the interests of dispassionate journalism. Heck, I'm here to do a job, to determine just what attracts corporates to all this, and I have already discovered the power of the preliminary proposition. Any more of this, and I might find myself captivated. Even addicted to this stuff.

And it doesn't help that so many executives have been talking about 'bliss', as enunciated by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the founder of the Art of Living course that is making rapid inroads into the Indian corporate sector. Remember Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Transcendental Meditation rage of the 1970s? Well, Art of Living seems to have taken over. Dr. Morepen, UB, Maruti Udyog, Tata td Waterhouse...are just some of the names putting their executives through it.

Results Count

So, what explains the extraordinary appeal of spiritual techniques? In the business domain, performance counts above all else, and decision-makers are beginning to find that what counts the most towards performance is the stuff that can't be counted.

The specific appeal of Art Of Living, as a branded programme, perhaps lies in it being a 'holistic health' package, with an array of exercises for the mind, body and-ahem-soul.

"In Art of Living," elaborates Arun Suri, 42, Director, Morepen Laboratories, "the perception and condition of mind can change, and there's a lot of enthusiasm to life." Dr Morepen insists on its team of medical representatives (MRS) attending the course.

"When our MRS go to doctors and are turned away, they don't lose hope," says Suri, "they don't mind going again till they clinch the order." Around 240 MRS have been trained so far, with the company shelling out about Rs 1,500 per person. That's nearly Rs 3.6 lakh-0.04 per cent of Dr Morepen's turnover. That, says Suri, makes it amazing value for money.

Others have found cynicism levels declining, even as employees learn to transcend the rigmarole and free their time up for more thoughtful, productive and creative endeavours. Some even attribute physiological benefits to such courses. "Stress management techniques such as yoga help in eliminating toxins from the body," claims Jerry D'Souza, Head of Personnel, UB Group, an avid Art of Living believer. Agrees Anant Iyer, Executive Vice President, UB Group, "The course tends to reduce stress and cleanses the body of toxic substances... it helped me, and today, I continue doing yoga." The UB group had conducted the course for its senior executives a year ago in Goa under the tutelage of Rhea Pillai Dutt.

According to Yezdi Batliwala, Director, Tata td Waterhouse Securities, it helps tide over the pressures inherent in dealing with stocks. "I'm able to keep my equilibrium and focus, and Art of Living has energised me," he says. In 2000, Batliwala organised an in-house training session for this Tata firm and noticed a "significant change in the attendees' interpersonal skills, leading to an improvement in productivity".

Maruti Udyog has been at it since 2001, under corporate Art Of Living trainer, Tathagat Roy. Has it worked? Says course-attender Biren Anshu, Assistant Manager, ord, Maruti Udyog, "I regularly follow the bhastrika exercise, and I can focus much better than before... productivity has surely gone up." Roy, for his part, is glad that "PSUs are getting more sensitive to new age issues", having worked with NHPC and Oil India as well.

There are, of course, various other programmes too. Max India, for example, was wowed by a Canadian new age teacher, Dr Mike McGanon, with his own course. "Approximately 150 staff members participated in a rash of sessions intended to enhance physical and mental well-being," says Surendra Kaul, Director, Legal and Corporate Affairs. The result? People have struck the 'balance' that they lacked earlier.

Spiritual Quotient

Healthy bodies are good, but what interests managers most is the mental exercises, which can make the biggest difference to performance. Most forms of meditation are mind discipline exercises, designed to transform the most thought-charged of buzzbrains into an utterly tranquil mass of monofocused grey matter, for half an hour. A sort of reboot for the brain, to declutter the memory, escape the tyranny of our own thoughts, relieve stress and prepare the mind for clarity of thought later.

Tyranny of our own thoughts? Far out, you might think. But given the turmoil in the corporate world, with all the slowdown pressures, you'd be surprised how many executives 'awaken' to realisations that alter the way they manage themselves at work. Most problems are the result of old conceptions that have assumed such authority over people that nobody dares question them. Those who dare, tend to be the 'awakened' type, for want of a less mumbo-jumboish word. So the next time you hear someone talk of spiritual quotient (SQ... as if EQ wasn't vague enough), don't roll your eyes up.

Many Paths

Of course, while Art Of Living may be the apparent leader these days, stress-relief programmes don't all carry the 'spiritual' tag. In fact, some hr executives feel that people want to escape the hurly-burly of business to put their agonies at rest, and what they really need is some form of psychotherapy-or maybe some avuncular person to talk to-without risking any raised eyebrows. Often, sharing problems and indulging in self-analysis can work wonders as well. That's what the Landmark Forum, a voluntary group of self-help advisors with all-India operations, does. Says Anupam Bhasin, Director (HR & TQM), Hero Corporate Services, "Some of our employees in the group were having problems with negative attitude on account of problems that took place in their childhood, and we were able to rectify this through Landmark Forum." After the session, the group displayed a marked improvement in productivity.

Apart from Landmark Forum, the company has carried out Art of Living and Transcendental Meditation courses. Bhasin contends that all the programs have three common benefits: "Firstly, identifying barriers to personal productivity; secondly, building better relationships; and lastly, inculcating happiness at the individual, team and enterprise levels."

As the aura surrounding these techniques grows, there remain few corporate trainers who have risked leaving their advice unbranded. Bharat Thakur, the guy who held me with his gaze, is among them. He just hates labels for these techniques. "I treat every case on an individual basis," he explains, "and tend to customise my training... not like the rest who give a fixed package where some win and others lose." His promise? A jump in personal productivity. His clients? He rattles off a who's-who list, including Bharti's Sunil Bharti Mittal, Sahara's Subrata Roy, Ranbaxy's D.S. Brar, Infosys' Nandan Nilekani and Reliance's Anil Ambani, with consummate ease. Are they very different in their requirements? Well, "Mittal needs to be chanted at, spoken to all the time, whereas Subrata needs breathing exercises." And off I go, wondering if my brief brush with tranquillity will make a difference to my work. This story, by the way, was filed ahead of deadline.