A mridangam is a story teller. The double-sided drum is usually used in Indian classical music, to bring mythology and spirituality to life in temple music, for example. But the mridangam can also be put to completely different use. In the instrumental progressive jazz-metal produced by Art against Agony, the Indian temple drum sets the beat for a stage and sound experience that is highly acclaimed in the prog scene.
Bhaskar knows all about the mridangam. In a way, he grew up with it. Born in Chenai and raised in Mumbai, he later moved to Calcutta (now Kolkata), then studied electrical engineering in Tiruchirappalli (shortened to Trichy) in southern India, and later added an MBA in strategy and marketing. A constant companion on this long all-India trip was the mridangam. No wonder that, in the course of his life, Bhaskar has been able to develop great virtuosity and his very own expressive force on this instrument.
Drumming, however, was only ever the music that accompanied Bhaskar on his way. In 2009, a techno-commercial job brought him to Germany, to work for a well-known electronics company. "The brand had a global reputation, but I had never before heard of Hildesheim, where it was based," says the engineer. As soon as I was there, though, I fell in love with Germany." He quickly settled in his new home. "I have a wife, two children and a dwarf poodle – the perfect family."
In Bhaskar, this decidedly cheerful "hello world" mentality is coupled with curiosity and enormous interest in people and markets, technologies and digital innovations. "I think it's good when things are in motion, and even better if I can make a difference myself," is how he sums up his own personal philosophy. For this reason, the term "entrepreneur" has always had a special meaning for him. In the various management functions he has held in international corporations, large to medium-sized industrial companies and small start-ups, Bhaskar has always looked for and found new challenges, especially from the world of digitalization and Industry 4.0.
Later, in a global management consulting firm, he turned his attention to strategic issues. To begin with, Bhaskar enjoyed working as a consultant. "I traveled a great deal and saw companies through some really exciting, forward-looking projects. I learned a lot – and lost a lot." As a consultant, he often had to spend periods of many months working abroad for clients during the week, only getting home at the weekends. For the children, the best thing of all at this time were the Toblerone bars he brought them from the airport. "I remember one time when I didn't have any chocolate with me: the little ones were so disappointed they wouldn't even look at me. That was when I realized that something was going badly wrong, so I resigned from the consulting firm."
One particular lesson he learned from being a consultant made a deep impression on Bhaskar. "I have a hard time dealing with unwieldy structures, silo thinking and the division of responsibilities. If we don't seem to be moving forward, I quickly become dissatisfied." For this reason, he doesn't want to spend the rest of his life alone on the theoretical level. He became CEO of an eMobility startup company where everyone had to pitch in. "I also like to work where people still get their hands dirty and meaningful solutions emerge - solutions that have a future."
In this situation, Bhaskar encountered EDAG employees at an automotive event. "We got talking about EDAG's plans for digitalization and the role of mobility IT." He later also met Jochen Hagel, Senior Vice President Electrics Electronics at the EDAG Group. "The moment Jochen, with great conviction, said 'We make it work', I was hooked."
At EDAG, Bhaskar is today in charge of Mobility IT and Software Development. "That was the best decision I could have made," he says. "You see, we have mastered something that not many people can do. We can develop cars and software, because at EDAG we understand both. This is absolutely my thing." Especially on a personal level, Bhaskar feels that he has found his place. "In all my years of experience, I have never found a company where at any time and any place, I come across so many fantastic people. At our sites in Germany and Malaysia, we are a close-knit team in which we value each other and work together in an atmosphere of trust." As a result, what we achieve is not simply output, but a true outcome. "That's what makes the difference," is Bhaskar's firm conviction.
He always sees his manager's role within the context of his team's success. "If things go well, that's US. And if something is not quite right, then it's ME. And then we work together to find a solution." And that's where the mridangam comes in again. In Art against Agony, it is the "maximalist". On stage, the six-member formation always performs anonymously, hiding their faces behind masks. "The concert is solely about the music, not about us as people," explains the 'maximalist'. "We don't want the artists as people to be significantly more famous than their artwork – or even worse, for certain parts of artists' bodies to be more famous than their art."
