Uma Bhushan, a communication expert who won many gold medals, quit the corporate world to become a teacher as it helped her find a fine balance between her career and personal life

Teaching brought to her life that elusive equilibrium

Uma Bhushan, a communication expert who won many gold medals, quit the corporate world to become a teacher as it helped her find a fine balance between her career and personal life

When Uma Bhushan graduated, she took the path less trodden by joining the booming communication industry. One of the few women to do so much against the wishes of her ‘orthodox’ family. But disillusionment set in quickly with long hours and short deadlines. “I was young and a career in the communication industry was the happening thing,” she says. “But I never enjoyed the uncertainty of each day in a corporate life with everyday deadlines.” The irony is hard to miss. Bhushan, a communication expert, who won many gold medals during her academic career went against her family’s wishes to take up communication. She even funded her own education after coming to Mumbai. But corporate life wasn’t for her. “Corporate life hardly allowed me any time of my own,” says Bhushan. She switched to teaching in 2004 because it helped balance her personal and professional life. It gave her a lot of personal satisfaction and time to achieve her goals. She teaches business communication at Somaiya Institute of Management and enjoys meeting youngsters every year. Bhushan feels that finishing her PhD and authoring two books on corporate communications was possible only after she entered academics. She says, “Only after quitting the corporate life, I had the courage to have two kids and take care of their upbringing without depending on anybody else.” While Bhushan was achieving higher goals in her professional life, she also appeared for the National Eligibility Test (NET) – a qualification necessary to become a university level professor. “Mentoring young students and the respect that you get from students can’t be expressed in words. I am able to enjoy my professional and personal life simultaneously without compromising on anything,” says Bhushan who feels she has found equilibrium in her life after entering the profession. Commenting on the disconnect between industry and academics, Bhushan says, “When you come to learn anything, all of it cannot be practical. You have to get the fundamentals right. Without that, you cannot anchor yourself anywhere. To run any department in a business one needs to know the fundamentals about all departments.” She has taken initiatives to call visiting faculties from the industry so that students get to know the current situation.