In Conversation with Harish C Rijhwani – Author of 9 to 5 Cubicles

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Being in a 9 to 5 job has been considered a boring one but Harish C Rijhwani, the author of 9 to 5 cubicles brought about a different take on white-collar jobs. Today we have the author himself for a virtual tete-a-tete.                                  

1. Tell us about your writing journey.

My first writing experience was way back during my engineering days when I co-authored the second edition of an electronics book with one of my professors. I understood how publishers work to a large extent, but there was intense competition for the specific book we planned to revise, and things didn’t pan out. After six to seven years into my corporate journey, I got interested in writing blogs because that is a way to share knowledge. At that time, I again tried to rework the earlier electronics book, but still, there were many apprehensions from the publishers, mainly due to the intense competition. Ten years into my career, I began teaching as a visiting faculty, and after a long journey of 17 years in the industry, I thought of writing a book about healthcare IT (Healthcare Decoded). During the pandemic, I published a marketing book (Technology to Business – The Invisible Gap) and a Data Science book (Master the Mystic Arts – Begin your Data Science Journey). Finally, after much thought and additional learning, I wrote my first Novel in 9 to 5 Cubicle Tales.

2. The book is about corporates. Do you feel like somehow life was unfair to them in terms of the pressure?

I don’t think there is any industry/profession where there isn’t any pressure. Even as an author, one is stressed if our work will get recognized. As an entrepreneur/independent business owner, one worries about finding the next customer or big idea. As an educator, the challenge is making students not only understand the concepts but also give them a vision of how to use the same in real life. The corporate world is no different; it can be compared to an exam of real life where we meet various characters in our day-to-day life, some supportive while some who love opposing your ideas.

3. You have shared several relatable anecdotes. Was it inspired by your life?

I would say these experiences are from the corporate world but not limited to a single person. People who have read the book can relate to many aspects as they feel nostalgic about finding a Job, the training one undergoes, working on a client project, visiting the US for the first time, and many more. The way the book is written, you might feel you are the book’s main character at some point.

4. The book wraps at a note of optimism and ambiguity. Was it intentional?

Well, that’s reality, isn’t it? Life is never about clarity; only when you move ahead in life is when you realize the reality was right in front of your eyes, and you needed to connect the dots. The book’s essence is to showcase that whatever the situation, one needs to stay calm and keep trying to reach our goal. In the words of Rocky Balboa, “It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!

5. Were you always in the world of words?

I wouldn’t say I was always in the world of words. From my youth, I have been a quiet person; even my responses to other people I spoke with were in the form of an SMS (still is though ). However, I realized I needed to improve my communication once I entered the corporate world. So, sometime in my corporate journey, I read the book “Made to Stick – by Chip Heath and Dan Heath” which made me realize how to communicate. Between September 2021 to March 2022, I did two courses on creative writing, which helped me on my journey into the world of writing.

6. Are you planning your next book?

Absolutely!! By the way, 9 to 5 Cubicle tales is a 4-5 part series; fingers crossed, I have a long way to go.

7. What is your advice to aspiring writers?

Create a plan, and execute the same!! For any idea to be successful, execution is more important. You might have a thousand ideas, but they will remain an idea if you don’t act on them. For example, if you want to write on a specific topic and focus and diligently write 500 words daily, you will have written a novella in three months. 

HARISH C. RIJHWANI – AUTHOR PROFILE

Healthcare IT professional, professor, writer, author, consultant

Harish C. Rijhwani is an IT professional with 18+ years of experience in delivering value to clients through technology and business services.

Armed with a rich experience of working with various US-based entities, particularly in the healthcare sector, such as university hospitals, not-for-profit medical centers, Integrated Delivery Networks (IDN), surgical and hospice centers, Harish helps organizations to leverage technology to meet their business goals and optimizing business processes. Honing his skillset and knowledge with technical as well as business acumen, Harish has helped provide solutions not only in the clinical domain, such as telemedicine and analytics but also in the non-clinical domain, viz. revenue cycle management, HR payroll, finance, and supply chain.

Presently, Harish is a part of CitiusTech, a US-based Healthcare IT company, where he manages the service delivery of specific projects. He has an excellent understanding of healthcare providers, such as end-to-end revenue cycle, and Electronic Health Records (EHR) like Epic, Meditech, and GE and has in-depth knowledge of meaningful use, International Classification of Diseases (ICD – 10), and Terminology Standards. An avid technocrat and innovator, Harish won Citius Tech’s hackathon, where he his team developed an Algorithm to detect Pneumonia in X-Rays.  Prior to his current role at Citius Tech, Harish worked at Syntel and Hinduja Global Solutions, where was part of a Digitization Initiative and was driving a Start-Up Accelerator Network.

Harish has been invited as a speaker at multiple conferences, such as NASSCOMs Centre of Excellence – IoT: Life Sciences & Healthcare Innovation Forum (LHIFE), National Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Health Informatics at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Indian Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR) University, SMS University Hyderabad, Chetana Institute of Management and many more. At these events, Harish has spoken extensively on the theme of how healthcare delivery organizations are using technology as a game changer.

Harish also shares a tremendous passion for teaching, which has led him to become a visiting faculty and judge at various institutes viz. Welingkar Institute of Management, KJ Somaiya Institute of Management, Symbiosis Institute of Management. Teaching for 9+ years and counting, Harish teaches subjects like Healthcare Informatics, Business Analytics, and Advanced Analytics to 1500+ management students. In the past, he has also been affiliated with UpGrad as a Program Curriculum Consultant.

Harish is also the author of 3 self-published books which can be purchased on Amazon. His 1st book Healthcare Decoded’, released in 2019, broadly encompasses the history, present, or future of Health IT by simplifying complex functions and process flows of the healthcare system. His 2nd book ‘Technology to Business’, launched in May 2020, during a highly relevant time when the whole world was hit with the global pandemic of COVID-19, encourages readers to understand the “business” aspect of opportunities and address prevalent industry gaps and challenges by bridging the gap between Technology and Business. His 3rd book ‘Master the Mystic Arts’ focuses on demystifying complex Data Science concepts using day-to-day examples like Harry Potter, Cooking, Tom Riddles Diary, and many more movie references.

Born in Pune and brought up in Mumbai, Harish completed his B. Engineering (Electronics) from Thadomal Shahani Engineering College and MBA in Systems from SVKM’s Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies. In his free time, Harish enjoys watching movies, walking, yoga, and solving Rubik’s cubes.

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