"Reflect Before You React": Anand Mahindra On Ex Jet Airways CEO-Designate Over Dubai Rains

Dubai recently experienced an unprecedented weather event as heavy rain swept through the city. It affected air travel and caused flooding on the streets throughout the United Arab Emirates, halting normal activities. The state-run weather agency said it was a "historic weather event" and Dubai had not seen such rain in 75 years. Amid this, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra's and Ex Jet Airways CEO-Designate Sanjiv Kapoor's posts on social media have sparked a discussion. On April 17, Mr Kapoor said that Mr Mahindra's analogy of comparing Dubai rains to Mumbai rains was "incorrect".

Reacting to this, the Mahindra Group Chairman said that he recommends people should "pause before you punch and reflect before you react." He wrote on X, "I'm glad you subsequently retracted your comment implying that I was mocking Dubai, Sanjiv. In fact, the only purpose of my post was to  highlight how atypical this weather was for Dubai."

The businessman continued, "For example-to use your own analogy-if it had ever snowed in Mumbai, I might well have said: Nope Not Oslo Mumbai. For the very same purpose of highlighting how atypical this weather was for Mumbai;  Not to mock Mumbai."

Replying to the same, the former Jet Airways executive said that he agrees with Mr Mahindra. "Absolutely.  My initial reaction was triggered by, and directed to, the responses by others to your comment, many of which were mocking / gloating. Which is why I subsequently went back and added my follow-up comment."

This started on April 16 when the Mahindra Chairperson shared a video of Dubai rains and wrote, "Nope. Not Mumbai. Dubai..." The clip showed various vehicles including cars, luxury cars and trucks partially submerged in floodwater. Sanjiv Kapoor reposted the same and said, "Incorrect analogy. Dubai was not built for such heavy rains - rains that would flood most cities. A better analogy would be if it suddenly snowed heavily in Bombay, which was obviously not built to handle snow at all. Would people in snowy Oslo mock Bombay?"

He later clarified that Mr Mahindra might not have been mocking Dubai with his post on X. "Ok, upon re-reading the post, maybe it is not mocking Dubai. However the point remains Dubai was not built for heavy rains, no matter what the source of the rain (seeding etc). It would be impractical to build cities to handle any extreme weather scenario, however unlikely," he said.