Forward Together
We are resilient. We are one. And we will emerge stronger.
We are stronger than the moment. We are better tomorrow than we are today. Because we know that this is a new beginning. One where we learn to keep growing, keep learning, keep adapting and keep giving. So we can make business better, talent smarter, and communities happier. We cherish our passions, our people, and our families, knowing that we may be apart, but this will only bring us closer. This is our journey. And we are not alone. Let’s keep moving. Forward. Together.
At Infosys, our values prepare us for the future. Led by our common objective of surpassing client expectations, we strive to be accountable, ethical, and fair. Our diverse and remotely located employees have risen to the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that we act responsibly, collaborate intelligently, learn continuously, and grow exponentially both professionally and personally.
Stay home stay safe
Fit Infy Family
The pandemic is turning out to be a major stressor for most of humanity, including our employees. At an individual level, it is important to continue being active and create a routine for ourselves. Read stories of how Infoscions across the Global are staying physically and mentally fit.
"The “lockdown” did necessitate some knee jerk responses to daily routines. Today, people are finding their new balance in creative ways that are very personal to them.
Working from home took a bit of time for me to settle into a balanced rhythm. Initially, it was about sitting at my work space, shutting out distractions (closing my study door)…. and ending up spending long hours. Not healthy, you will agree. So, I have deliberately put in a few breaks to build balance. Here’s what’s working for me. An hour in the morning and in the evening for a brisk walk at home! I try and get some calls done during the walk, that also helps . Meals together with Family, no ‘working meals’ for me, and recently we rediscovered our shared passion in old board games a great, fun way to spend quality time together. Finally Guess what? It also gives me more time with my dog Pepper.”
Rajesh Varrier
India, Infosys
“The outbreak of Covid reminded me of the fragility of life and that we all can do more for the planet and each other. Nine weeks ago I re-committed to this planet and those we share it with. I switched to a plant-based diet to reduce my carbon footprint and help fight climate change. Every actions counts and is a step towards a sustainable future, but it’s our duty to go beyond sustainability and promote a regenerative human culture that cares for the planet and actively tries to create a thriving future for all.”
Dena Tahmasebi
UK, Infosys
9 Lessons Surfing Taught Me About Life, Business and The Covid-19 Crisis
“I am a surfing addict. Surfing has taught me many lessons about life. The ocean has been my classroom over the years. During the COVID-19 lockdown, I used the valuable lessons I learnt on my board to keep up the rhythm with my work, my family and my health. I am happy to share those lessons here:”
Emmanuelle Blons
France, Infosys
1. Believe in yourself
If you go out to surf believing you can't surf, you won't be able to. You have to believe in yourself and your ability to achieve your goals, otherwise you don't stand a chance of succeeding.
2. Focus
While surfing you cannot focus on anything else. There is no room for distractions in your mind while you are paddling into a wave or while you are in the line-up waiting to find the perfect wave for a take-off. As a contrary, in life there are plenty of distractions around us. This is why we sometimes get home from work with the feeling that we have not accomplished anything during the day. We should apply the same focus to important things in our life than the one we apply when surfing.
3. Look at the next wave
As a surfer, you learn that it's not only the wave that's about to come that matters but also the one behind.
If you look just one step ahead, you may not appreciate that a group of big waves is about to come through just after that and, as a consequence, find yourself in the firing line when they do.
Never look at only what is right in front of you. Always make sure you're looking further into the future.
4.Encourage people
Surfing is a friendly sport. In surfing, it is very usual to cheer someone else when he / she gets a good wave. It doesn't matter if you know the person surfing that wave or not.
In life, and in at work, we so rarely remember to congratulate people on their actions. If you see someone doing something you think is great, you should tell them right away.
5. When you get knocked down, you have to get back up!
You don’t know when the next wave is coming behind you. Chances are when you get knocked down, it feels like you just went through a washing machine. You may be out of breath from your near drown experience but never let that discourage you from getting back on your board. It is the same in this COVID -19 crisis, we were knocked down, but we now have to get back to work!
6. Manage your energy between waves
Surfing is intense and can be physically exhausting. Just paddling out through the surf into the line-up is a challenge... It is key to manage your energy by alternating active and rest periods to make sure you got the energy to paddle when the next waves come in. In life, it is important to know that your energy level is fluctuating and you will need regular rest periods. Resting is the secret ingredient when we talk about performance. Are you resting enough?
7. When you fail, you learn
I have tried different sports and I believe surfing is the most complex and challenging one. Surfing has a high level of frustration and the learning curve takes very long. Mastering Surfing requires persistence and resilience. Life can be similar, yet, we often take the easy way out. But there is no easy way to success, only a bumpy road. The moment you understand that life is nothing but a learning journey, anything becomes possible. What did you learn during the COVID crisis?
8. Adjust to constant changes
Surfing means being in a continuously changing environment. The water is never the same. Surfing is all about adapting to that change. Whether it’s a different spot, different wind, different board, or different positioning, surfing requires flexibility in many ways. Life is quite the same, especially in today’s world and the fast paced environment. Cultivating an adaptive mindset and behaviour allowing you to adjust to changing conditions is irreplaceable.
9. Stop waiting for the perfect wave.
A lot of times, I sat just outside the line-up and wait for the perfect big wave to come, watching the other people catching little waves. As a result, I spent all my energy just waiting for the big one and I let a multitude of other opportunities pass me by. Likewise, in life, if we are just waiting to make a move until the perfect situation comes, we may miss out on chances for hapiness that we never even expected.
So instead of just waiting, make a move now.
“Each one of us reacted differently in this unprecedented time we all went through. I chose to see it more as an opportunity and less as a blocker. First and foremost I had the chance to be with my family in Athens and spend some quality time with my parents and brother. Even though fitness is part of my everyday life, the lockdown gave me the chance to involve hiking in my routine, as we are fortunate enough to have a mountain in close proximity. The combination of exercise, fresh air (no cars, airplanes, etc. really made a difference), view and, most importantly, company of a member of my family enabled us to reconnect (I’ve been away from home for almost 6 years) and really helped in keeping myself motivated and engaged. This photo was taken during a 2-hour hike with my brother George when we reached one of the top points of Mount Ymittos.”
Eleni Aslanoglou
UK, Infosys
“During lockdown I have been working from the family home in French countryside. I started a new daily routine which includes a 30 min nature walk at a nearby forest every morning and an hour of workout session in the evenings. The most challenging part was to disconnect from work during lunch time, I tended to stay connected to my smartphone in the initial days, but now I put my phone on mute to allow myself a true mental break.”
Frederic Beynel
France, Infosys
“Staying physically and mentally fit is important at all times and I believe it’s all about finding the right balance for oneself, with no pressure from others around you. One of my favourite quotes is “If you can't love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?” (RuPaul) This embodies well that true happiness comes first from within.
The main shift I’ve made is to embrace my crazy fun side – what I call my ‘cuckooness’ and be less ashamed of things I say and do. In that spirit, I dressed-up as a unicorn for my birthday and do similar transformations for my calls with my friends and family. I am currently preparing for the mini-concert my friend and I will do in the coming weeks.
It makes things fun especially when others join-in using filters or actual props. (see unicorn picture and cat picture)
Additionally, I utilise my time outside of work to do little things that make me happy: I reconnect with friends and family, I go for walks exploring new areas of my neighborhood, I buy myself flowers and create bouquets (see picture), I makes juices and smoothies from scratch, I cook new dishes or family recipes etc.”
Tamara Certain
France, Infosys
“I have been dealing with the current restricted situation by doing two things. When I need the silence and focus, I draw. I guess a category is referred to as “religious painting” – I use old and very old patterns and symbols and adjust to these mighty thought-forms. This helps to somehow find focus and is expression of my thinking in the process of drawing. Actually it is one or two moments of focus, when I decide on the drawing, and then the process of painting the inner picture.
When I need to be active, I get on my bike, actually a racebike, and do a tour, usually not less than 50 km. In April this was about 777 km (really! You see the evidence attached – what a number ….) For May I have 765 km already, and one 100-km tour. So this will be more than what I did in April. What does this give me? Most important part is living in nature, being active and be part of nature. This season was exceptionally insofar, I really did do a small number of routes only, and therefore was able to see and live with nature going from winter to summer (almost). Saw the trees getting green, the crops growing and felt the change in nature, well, on my skin. This was very important – smoothing all the hard lines and thoughts to some kind of consciousness embracing the planet – and not just a pandemic.”
Jan-Meinhart Sachau
Germany, Infosys
“After moving to this ‘new normal’ of WFH for the past 3 weeks, I have actually started to enjoy it. While work schedules continue to be as hectic and priority driven as ever, I am actually spending some quality time to de-stress. I would never have imagined that after marathon calls I could just sit in my balcony and have tea together with family while listening to birds chirping….and feel the stress ebbing away. Work breaks offer me a great opportunity to pick up my old hobby of charcoal sketching. I just love my ‘me time’ every morning doing Yoga. I say again. I am enjoying it.”
Varsha Verma
India, Infosys
“In end of March, to add some zest to the Work-from-Home situation, I started the #fitnesschallenge” for Infosys Germany for the month of April, then I could not foresee that Covid would still tie us to our homes for May and June as well. Beating the Covid blues has become a task in itself - and which better way than to counter it with sport, meditation and a solid work-life-balance. Seeing other colleagues work-out as well has been truly inspirational, and I hope that this can-do spirit stays with us long after Covid.
My personal target is to still fit into my jeans after Covid – working out daily is part of the program, but in order not neglect a mental balance I enjoy the evening walks in nature with my daughter.
So irrespective of Covid: Let’s stay fit – because we can!”
Andrea Hendrickx
Germany, Infosys
Difference Makers
The current times have been testing for all, but some of them among us are out there, who begin each day with the intention to make a positive difference in what they do, who they do it with and who they do it for – They are the Difference Markers. Making a difference starts with the heart. Difference Makers have the courage to impact lives and build stronger communities, one step at a time. Read stories of Infoscions who are #DifferenceMakers.
Radhakrishna Hurulihalli
Senior Technical Architect, Infosys
Moved by the plight of daily wagers in Mysure during the COVID-19 pandemic, Radhakrishna Hurulihalli, a Senior Technical Architect at Infosys, decided to make a difference. He began to cook home-made meals for 31 days starting 5 April, 2020 till 6 May, 2020, serving nutritious vegetarian lunches to an average of 400 people daily. The recipients included daily wagers, on-duty police staff, and nurses in hospitals with no kitchen facility. At the end of the month, he had distributed an astonishing number of 10,200 meals.
Radhakrishna began his preparations the previous night and woke up early every day to ensure he completed cooking before beginning his day job. He was helped by his wife, two daughters, and a few friends to pack and distribute the meals by lunch hour. He ensured he changed his menu every day to keep it interesting.
Infosys appreciates and is proud of RadhaKrishna Hurulihalli who is an inspiration to many.
Rohit Vishwakarma
Consultant-Salesforce Professional, Infosys
When Rohit Vishwakarma learnt about the sorry state of hundreds of migrants from Delhi and Haryana crossing the city of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, to return to their villages, he and his cousin thought of feeding these unfortunate people. They collected and distributed over 550 food packets consisting of wheat flour, vegetables, water packets and biscuits.
When they realized that the situation was going to last longer, they decided to identify families near their locality whom they would help in the longer run. They identified over 30 homeless families living by the road-side and started providing them with weekly ration which included wheat flour, rice, pulses along with cooking essentials like mustard oil, spices, and salt. They also provided toothpaste and bathing soaps.
Rohit also distributed over 50 sets of masks and gloves to the people who worked in providing sanitation services in his locality. He collaborated with the local police station to provide ration to the needy. He has been running this cause for almost a month and till now he has distributed more than 650 kilograms of ration. Rohit’s mission is to ensure not a single daily earner suffers from hunger till the lockdown is lifted. Rohit is grateful to his friends and seniors from across the globe for their full support to his cause. Infosys would like to thank Rohit Vishwakarma, for being a ‘Difference Maker’ and appreciates his contributions towards the society in these difficult times.
Satish Doreswamy
Principal Consultant, Infosys
As a pharmacist with an experience of handling epidemic situations in other countries, Satish Doreswamy nominated himself as a volunteer to help in the COVID-19 pandemic.
He began to assist the government by printing and distributing face shields in the COVID-19 hotspots in an effort to support the healthcare and sanitation department and the police who were working relentlessly to protect the public. He began this initiative to ensure that essential protective masks were made available to those on the frontline tackling the pandemic. Enquiries poured in across the state and other states for help.
Satish used a 3D printer that he had at home and borrowed a face shield design from his Malaysian friends who were using it in their country. Initially, it took him 2.5 hours to print one shield, but with the help of a friend he was able to reduce the time taken to print one shield to just an hour. He distributed these shields to several rural healthcare workers and at the Bowring hospital and the Vani Vilas hospital in Bangalore, as these two hospitals were dedicated to Covid patients. So far, he has given away more than 300 3D printed face shields free of cost to different groups of people. He initiated crowd funding in order to manufacture these shields in bulk and distributed over 4000 face shields and ear protectors across the state. Infosys is very proud of Satish and his contributions toward the society.
Happiness Projects
From cooking to painting to gardening and more, people went back to old hobbies or learnt new skills or connected more closely with their families amid the lockdown. Here are a few very interesting stories of how Infoscions are utilizing their free time during the lockdown.
Ramadevi Sethurao
“The last several weeks have been very tough for all of us owing to Covid-19. Though this is not the ideal scenario, I look at the brighter side this epidemic has brought. Never have we, as a family could spend time together, especially during weekdays as work, school and the busy bangalore traffic would take away most of our time. My older son, Sahit is soon to go to college in the US and these few weeks have given me time to bond with both my sons better, sharing house-hold work together while our live-in help was also away. Sahit has now taken keen interest in cooking and he can cook some of the Indian and western cuisines well. Even though we are glued to our laptops from morning till evening, we do take some time off to play TT,( making better use of our dining table), something new I have learnt in the last few weeks from my sons”
Antonia Rizakou
Covid-19 is changing our lifestyle in many ways: new working habits, new hobbies, etc. Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is more challenging than ever since the boundaries with Work from Home at this scale are often unclear. Being responsible for your mental and physical health is essential. That means going further than washing your hands and wearing a mask when going out. It means seeking opportunities to change your habits efficiently and find out the positive outcomes of this paradigm shift. For me, the most powerful positive aspect was that we had the opportunity to take up new hobbies and find more time for ourselves that the daily commute to work didn’t allow us before.
Here are my activities out of work that kept me busy during the crisis:
- Gardening: Thanks to the lockdown measures, I found time for our little garden. I managed to terrace and plant some flowers, such as roses, Mexican marigolds, mint and dahlias. I learned a lot about many types of flowers and how to maintain them.
- Cooking: I finally had the time to try some of my mother’s recipes and improved my cooking skills!
- Connecting with others: I had many catch-up calls with friends. We even connected to play poker online, while trying to understand poker faces remotely!
- And of course, running! I was able to run more frequently. With the restriction of 100 km, I explored the 100 km around my place and found out that there are many beautiful hiking trails. Moreover, I was able to run during the lunch break since there were no more constraints in dressing up and showering. Running invigorated me and strengthened my brain!
- I discovered yoga and its benefits after a long run, with delightful stretching! This was a powerful tool for me to fight against potential injuries due to new working habits, like the position of work at home.
- Last but not least, Netflix and movies. The lockdown offered more time to chill in front of the TV and strengthened my film culture! I had the time to watch some exciting series too.
There are positive aspects of this situation. Let’s focus on them and get the most out of it. After all, the important is to stay physically and mentally healthy! A crisis like this makes us stronger, more resilient. Seize this opportunity to get out of your comfort zone and navigate your next!
“The recent global changes have forced us to reassess how we carry out our day to day tasks, including how we conduct our professional lives. Change is embraced, and this (hopefully short) transitionary period is a great time to reflect and regroup with what we deem important. A precious time when we are brought closer at work and to our families through the power of technology”.
Lilly Vasanthini
Germany, Infosys
Zweigniederlassung Deutschland | 60306 Frankfurt am Main
Look at a quick comparison between how a son (Gen X) and mother are managing life during this lock down period.
My son who lives oceans apart
- Setting fixed work hours.
- Setting up a quiet and safe work environment -having alarms set for meals.
- 2 Espresso shots.
- Calling my colleagues more often.
- Scheduling a team wide check in at noon, to see if there are any roadblocks that I can get help on or help others with theirs.
- Getting to be a pro on my cooking.
- Learn how to play the guitar, and finally run that marathon.
Me
- Love the extended hours.
- Setting up a quiet and safe work environment - tend to forget to eat.
- My pot of coffee is tempting.
- Calling my colleagues more often.
- Scheduling a chat on the weekend with good friends across the world, to catch up on any help needed.
- Opportunity to enjoy awesome delicacies - courtesy my husband.
- Getting better on crosswords and back to 10 KM walks on the weekend.
