What happens when a Communications Professor is pushed to present Deep Tech at a global AI summit? A viral disasterโand a profound modern masterclass in the Bhagavad Gitaโs concept of Swadharma.
The recent incident at the India AI Summit didn’t just cause a social media stir; it brought unnecessary embarrassment to a platform meant to showcase genuine technological capabilities.
As the dust settles, a critical detail has emerged: the individual presenting the “in-house” AI innovation was not a technologist, but a communications professor from the Management faculty.
The real takeaway here isn’t just about a single institution’s misstep. It is a striking real-world example of what happens when the lines of expertise are inappropriately blurred in the corporate world. Marketing and communications are brilliant, essential functions. But when PR is completely disconnected from actual subject matter expertise, fiascos happen.
Thousands of years ago, the Bhagavad Gita addressed this exact professional dilemma, offering a timeless warning about the dangers of stepping outside one’s domain to claim the work of another (Paradharma) rather than focusing on one’s own duty (Swadharma):
โ๐๐ฉ ๐๐จ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ง ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ค๐ง๐ข ๐ค๐ฃ๐โ๐จ ๐ค๐ฌ๐ฃ ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐จ๐๐ง๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ช๐ฉ๐ฎ, ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ช๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ก๐ฎ, ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ค๐ง๐ข ๐๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ๐๐๐งโ๐จ ๐๐ช๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ก๐ฎ… ๐๐ค๐ก๐ก๐ค๐ฌ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ๐๐๐งโ๐จ ๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐จ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ง๐ค๐ช๐จ.โ โ (๐ฝ๐๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ 3.35)
In today’s professional landscape, this ancient wisdom translates directly into how we operate:
๐๐
๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฑ: Let the engineers speak to the engineering. Let the marketers amplify the truth. When we blur these lines for the sake of optics or a viral moment, credibility is lost.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ณ “๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ”: When individuals or organizations represent capabilities they don’t genuinely possess, the resulting embarrassment always outweighs the short-term PR gain.
๐ข๐๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ “๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ”: Real professional strength comes from knowing exactly what your core competency isโand just as importantly, owning it with integrity.
We don’t need to fake it until we make it. We just need to do our actual work, in our actual lanes.