The Bystander Podcast

Being a Leader — In Conversation with Dr Tathagat Varma Hosted by Raghavendra Mithare, PCC What does it mean to lead from the inside out, when the world around you is in constant flux? In this reflective conversation, Dr Tathagat Varma traces a journey shaped by continents crossed, disciplines bridged, and a remarkable expedition to Antarctica.
Together, we explore how formative experiences, from childhood curiosity to confronting the edges of the known world, quietly build the foundations of who we become as leaders. The conversation moves through the terrain of resilience, decision-making under uncertainty, purposeful growth, and the inner compass that keeps us anchored when external certainty runs out. Dr Varma's stories carry something rare: the kind of wisdom that is lived, not borrowed. Life doesn't just happen to leaders. It shapes them. The question is whether we are paying attention.
 
I learned a great deal in this conversation. One phrase in particular stayed with me: "Deserve before you desire." Simple, but it reframes everything about how we show up as leaders. We also explored what it means to lead from not-knowing, holding ambiguity not as a weakness but as an invitation to stay curious and stay honest. A thoughtful conversation for leaders, professionals, and anyone on the journey of understanding how life, in all its complexity, shapes the people we are becoming.
I hope you enjoy it.

Life — The Story We Carry
In the previous episode, we explored living in the present moment.
In this episode, we turn our attention to something different: life.
Life is the story we carry with us. It includes our work, relationships, responsibilities, ambitions and disappointments.
Over time, these experiences can slowly reduce our enthusiasm for life. But what if life could be understood in a completely different way?
In this episode, we introduce a powerful idea: life is a game.
Understanding this perspective can completely change the way we approach challenges, setbacks and opportunities.

Living — The Truth of Now
Welcome to the first episode of The Bystander series: Life, Living and Winning the Game.
In this episode, we explore a simple but powerful idea: living happens only in the present moment.
Most of us spend our time thinking about life, analysing it, judging it, or worrying about the future. But living is something very different. It is the direct experience of what is happening right now.
Through this reflection, we explore why certainty about living cannot come from thinking or beliefs, but only from direct experience.
This episode invites you to pause, observe, and reconnect with the simplicity of the present moment.

Paul Witts is an experienced recruitment professional with more than 30 years in hiring at all levels across a range of industries. In this podcast we discuss about the current job market in the UK. 

With the new majority government in the UK, there is a sense of stability. While there will be few policy changes, businesses can now plan their investments with greater certainty.The current job market, while challenging, is also showing signs of recovery. To explore this further and help the community, I spoke with Sanches Clarke from La Fosse to gain insights from the hiring space, especially in the Agile space. We also covered some basics that will help candidates prepare their CVs.I found this conversation very useful. Sharing this recording was beyond my comfort zone, but I'm figuring out ways to contribute and support others in doing the same. I don’t believe in debating the "value of agile ways of working," but I do believe in generating value by doing it and helping others do it (from the manifesto :-) ).If you have any ideas or feedback for improvement, please share them with me. If you like this podcast and find it helpful, please share it with others!Have a great weekend!

You have great potential, don't wait for the perfect time. You can accomplish any goal that you want. Get into action.

In this new episode, I had the to speak with Sri Navneet Bhushan.
He founded CRAFITTI  (www.crafitti.com) – an Innovation Research and Consulting firm at Bangalore, India. His earlier positions include Scientist, Technology Specialist, Vice-President (Innovation) in a career spanning more than 30 years.   The principal author of 2004 book Strategic Decision Making, Springer- UK , currently he is writing “Choice Crafting – Innovation and Decisions for a Complex World”. 
 
He blogs at innovationcrafting.blogspot.in and can be contacted at navneet.bhushan@crafitti.com.
 
Hope you enjoy this podcast!!
Please share your feedback at mithare@gmail.com
Raghav Mithare
 

It was a pleasure to speak with Sri avneet Bhushan
He founded CRAFITTI  (www.crafitti.com) – an Innovation Research and Consulting firm at Bangalore, India. His earlier positions include Scientist, Technology Specialist, Vice-President (Innovation) in a career spanning more than 30 years.   The principal author of 2004 book Strategic Decision Making, Springer- UK , currently he is writing “Choice Crafting – Innovation and Decisions for a Complex World”. 
He blogs at innovationcrafting.blogspot.in and can be contacted at navneet.bhushan@crafitti.com.
 
Hope you enjoy this podcast!!
Please share your feedback at mithare@gmail.com

Sridhar Vembu founder and CEO of Zoho started Zoho with other co-founders about 20 years back in Chennai, now it is one of the most successful software product/SAS company from India. In this podcast, he shares his journey from a Tamil Medium School to IIT, then from Princeton to Tenkasi to build complex products as part of the Zoho suite. 
He also shares his problem-solving approach and project management principles. 
I was fortunate to have him in this podcast. Please share your feedback and views to me at rmithare@processwhirl.co, 
I have also written a blog about Sridhar: The Monk Who Built his Own Ferrari 
Hope you enjoy this podcast!
Regards, 
RAGHAV
 
 
 
 

The name Bystander was inspired by the title of Peter Druckers autobiographical collection of stories and vignettes  “The Adventures of a Bystander”.
Peter Drucker’s books and teaching have made a significant contribution to my own thinking and beliefs during my early days of professional life. Especially those around managing knowledge workers and managing oneself. One of his quotes “The best way to predict future is to create it” became my favourite. 
You can reach me at (Raghav) at: rmithare@processwhirl.com