The Unargumentative Indian

While reading 'The Argumentative Indian' I was struck by the sheer erudition and genius of the author, Dr. Amartya Sen. Though the range of book is gargantuan and research unimpeachable, I disagree with Dr. Sen on several counts. He holds Mughal Emperor Akbar and Buddhist Emperor Ashok as the reference and touchstone to judge the Indian society during those times. He posits their social conduct and propriety as evidence of the argumentativeness of the ancient Indian society. I think Akbar and Ashok were exceptions and their argumentativeness cannot be taken as an evidence to justify the argumentativeness of the society. What needs to be researched is how the exemplary behaviour of these kings influenced the society of that time. Because the fact of the matter is both the kings were ensconced in their palaces and perhaps most of their subjects would have even seen them.

My second 'argument' is, given the lack of credible evidence of argumentative tradition ,it cannot be safely said that the Indians today are argumentative. Because, facts point the opposite. We are argumentative only in our homes, on T.V. shows and books (and perhaps blogs!!). When it comes to practising argumentativeness as a virtue, we shirk from it. I believe practising argumentativeness requires tremendous objectivity, impartiality and lack of ulterior motive, which again is conspicuous by its absence in our day to day life. We take everything for granted and accept everything which is forced upon us without slight demur. This is not a middle class trait, as Pavan Varma may say, but ubiquitous across the upper middle class and rich class as well. This has resulted into blatant hypocrisy and crises of social leadership. Most of us live blinkered life, as an assembly line conditioned robot. The evidence is there to see in the way we: behave in private and public, voice our prejudiced opinions, indulge in unethical and extra-constitutional acts (without a smidgen of compunction). The world has diverted its gaze on us and expect a lot from the land which has witnessed five thousand years of human upheaval. Would we match up to the expectations? Can we create a new social paradigm for the world to practice? The answers are not easy to come and very complex with multiple layers. But we can make a start by introspecting on our own behaviour in social, econimic and religious context. By raising the bar of our own personal integrity and probity. Perhaps then we can say we are argumentative,in the line of Ashok and Akbar.

Indeed, a Ratna

Ratan Tata could never have imagined 16 years ago that one day he would be India's most powerful man. His ascent to the helm of the Tata group was fraught with succession battles with some of the senior Tata executives. Luckily his uncle,the iconic J.R.D Tata was with him. This made matters a bit easy. He inherited a group that was grappling with globalization and open markets. It had become personal fiefdoms of top executives of various companies of Tata group. Mckinzey & Mckinzey had advised Tata to quit the steel business.

Today, Tata group is India's largest group in terms of market capitalization; Tata tea is world's largest tea producer; Tata steel world's fifth largest Steel producer; TCS is Asia's largest software company; Tata motors India's largest automobile company phew....
Ratan Tata is definitely credited with this turnaround. He has changed the way the group is now perceived by the public. All these achievements without sacrificing the values and ethics which the Tata group has consistently upheld since its inception. Ratan Tata is a bachelor. He has less than 1% stake in Tata group, lives in an apartment in Bakhtawar,Colaba, Mumbai. At 70, he is super fit and doesnt smoke and drink. The Corus acquisition brought to the fore his lesser known quality: Determination. The one lac car is on the verge of fruition, thanks to his tenacity and determination to achieve something which all car makers across the world had declared: impossible.

William Blake wrote:

Who then can lead us out of the darkness?
What we need is an emperor of men, someone who is strong,
commanding,brilliant, secular, compassionate and valorous
so that the forces of darkness will shrink back, powerless
to stop his onslought

We have found that man in Ratan Tata. A God's gift to India and jewel in Tata group's crown.
He is indeed,a 'Ratna'.

Sporting India...

I underestimated the importance of sports in development of one's personality. In fact I used to avoid sports for reasons unknown to me. But almost two years back, I decided to play tennis and enrolled myself at a tennis academy. It exposed me to a host of experiences which shocked, suprised and amused me. on the first day I realized how pathetic my fitness quotient was. Gradually i began working on my fitness, following a regimen of two hours of tennis and fat free diet. I had once read swami vivekanand's exhortation to the youth about sports,'You would be closer to god by playing soccer than reading the gita.'I cant say whether I have come closer to god by playing tennis, but it has made be very humble. Any sport reveals your personality to yourself.i.e. are you competitive, do you go beyond your comfort zone, do you pick up a challenge to outflank an opponent who is better than you, etc. I realized that I was competitive but not hyper competitive like shahrukh khan or adman suhel seth (which, I believe is the need of the hour).

The whole experience of learning tennis has also made me experience the pathetic state of Indian sports and our lack of support in improving standards of sports. If India has to become a superpower than the young India should be fit. Physical exercise and sports should be encouraged across educational levels.Today,in school classes, a student topping in mathematics is made the star of the class but a student good in athletics or sports is labeled dunderhead. This has to change. Of course we need future Narayan Murthys and Abdul Kalams but we also need future Tendulkars, Mirzas and Kartikeyans. I believe that can be done by recognising, appreciating and supporting talent. By support I dont mean mere scholarships but institutionalize support which props up the sportsperson durings her sporting career and beyond. I have a very limited experience of sports but there are experts sitting idle who can guide the nation towards sporting glory. Chak de India!!

The neo patrons

India is gradually becoming a capitalist economy. Markets have entered almost all spheres of life. This has unleashed a lot of energy into the economy and its growing at 9.4% annually. The unique characteristic of markets is that they are impersonal. A full flegded capitalist economy like the U.S.A has a social security net to protect its citizens from the drastic upheavals of markets. In India the government has not given a free hand to markets yet. As markets enter in creative fields like music, art, literature, these fields would cater to mass culture, which entails lowering the bar and a fall in standards. The tremendous influence of western culture is being gradually felt on the art and music fields as well. The new generation of musicians want instant success; nothing wrong with it. But it takes years to learn classical music or become an artist. There is no thing like instant success in art or classical music. Thus the new generation is steering away from such fields. Classical music is now confined to only few maestros and their families. The art and music fraternity is in a dire need of patrons. There are no Akbars,Shehjahans and Dara sikohs today to foster music and arts. The time has come for the new patrons to chip in. The mantle of the erstwhile emperors should be accepted by the corporates, who with their wealth can create a new generation of maestros and artists.

Though few corporates like Tata's and Mahindra's are patronising music and the arts but that is not enough. We need visionary industrialists and businessmen,like J.R.D. Tata, who look beyond bottomlines and balance sheets to serve the community at large. Or else classical music and art will be extinct.

Selling reforms

Intellectuals and business community have been very critical of the U.P.A. government's status-quo over reforms in all the spheres of the economy. At the grass root level there is an immediate need to provide jobs to the millions of graduates comming out of the outdated educational system lest the tribe of unemployeds will become cause of social unrest and easy potential naxalites. One is shocked to see that there is no reaction from the civil society and media over staggering of the reforms process. But one cannot even expect from the citizenry, that doesnt know what is reforms in the first place. Globalization has become the order of the day. Any developing country wanting to grow rapidly will have to embrace globalization or else no one can forestall doom. The process of integrating with world markets entails a lot of pain. And there is no such thing as painless transformation. But it is possible to lessen the pain by knowing the process and anticipating pain. This is where the government has failed. It has failed to sell globalization and reforms. When was the last time did you see Dr Manmohan singh on tv apprising the country on what the next 20 years hold in store for India. I dont remember any such public appearence of Dr Singh on tv. Thus, an ordinary citizen doesnt know where the country is heading and what is in store for her.

Instead of carrying full page ads in newspaper extolling Arjun singh's achievements, it would be better if the government gave an insight on globalization and reforms. This will not only educate the people but make them ready for the painful process of globalization and reforms. Dilly-dallying over reforms would make India a hotbed of terrorist activities and social unrest. I urge the civil society and the media to join in this endeavour to sell reforms and give history a helping hand.

Change the smell of the place....

Human resource professionals are perturbed by risisng attrition rates across management ranks. They have tried every trick in the book to dissuade people from quiting their company. Call it supply side gap or loss in loyalty values, I believe people work for intanglibles and not tangibles like salary or perks. Of course, monetary benefits are important but upto some extent, after that it is the intangibles which drive people to scale new heights.In India private companies were never known for treating their employees well and taking care of their career growth (except the Tata's). Even the pre-90's cinema potrayed the capitalist as an evil person who exploits poor people by making them work for long hours, paying meagre salary and indulging in skullduggery. But globalization has turned the tables, now the employees look upon the employers with disdain. Talent shortage has compounded the problem. HR professionals have to rack their brains to come up with innovative ideas to retent employees.
I believe the whole approach to this problem is wrong. These days people have fallen into a rut of living a life chasing material acqusitions comprosmising their inner callings. This leads to an emotional conflict, which often leads to stress and burn-out among executives. Ever wondered, did Gandhiji, Nehru, or Sardar Patel felt stressed or burnt out? They were, perhaps,leading a mission without knowing whether they would reach the destination. They plunged into the freedom struggle without caring whether India would win freedom in their whole lifetime. Mind you, they could have made a 'career' outside politics. But still they opted for the freedom struggle. The intangibles played the trick in their case, they participated not to avail of perks and monetary benefits but to achieve something which transcended their self and gave them a sense of contentment. In these times of rapid and multidimensional change, old age wisdom proves handy. Work place needs to be put at the alter of temple, where people come to seek solace and faith in themselves and fellow beings.

An unfinished life : A tribute to Dr. Ghoshal

" Running a business is like spinning a top. One has to constantly spin the top to prevent it from wobbling. The same rings true of running a business"
- Sumantra Goshal in 'lessons in excellence' on
cnbc tv-18


Such a simple yet profound analogy between spinning a top and running a business could only be drawn by one of the greatest management gurus of the 20th century, Dr. Sumantra Ghoshal(1948-2004). It is sheer misfortune to the world of business that Dr Ghoshal left his life unfinished. In an era where business schools are churning out assembly line management graduates and book publishers making management gurus out of naive lecturers, Dr. Ghoshal distinguished himself as not only a management theorist but also a pragmatist and ethicist. The story of his ascent in the world of management education should make a good reading for management students.

Born in a middle class family in Kolkatta, he graduated with a major in physics from Delhi university and Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management. Later, he joined Indian oil corporation and rose through the management ranks. He went to the U.S.A. as a Fulbright scholar in 1981. His extraordinary intellectual appetite was noticed when he produced two Phd. dissertations one at Harvard Business School and another at MIT simultaneously. He pursued consulting and teaching career at European B-schools. The impact of his work and expertise, which was availed by European companies, led the THE ECONOMIST to hail him 'Euro-guru'.

An eloquent debater and mesmerizing raconteur, he enthralled the audience wherever he lectured. In the last phase of his life he was engrossed in the raging debate of increasing power of corporations and related ethical issues. He argued that corporations across the world are gaining importance and legitimacy on people's life, earlier such power was the preserve of religion and monarchs. This called for more ethical approach by corporations towards various stake holders, which he said, was almost lacking in the corporations. It would be grave injustice to Dr Ghoshal if we were to label his stance as mere rhetoric post enron scandal. Infact it was a concern of a futurist-historian. Its surprising and shocking that Indian students are scarce aware of man who made a profound impact on the palimpsest of business education. May God bless Dr Ghoshal wherever he is.

Ratan Tata's letter to J.R.D.

TO : jeh@beyondthelastbluemountain.com

Dear Jeh,

I still remember the day when you passed on the task of running the group into my hands. The media had written me off and there was dissent in cetain quarters of the group to boot. You were the one who evinced confidence me and encouraged me to proceed with the daunting task of restructuring the group so that it can embrace globalization. Your approval of the restructure plan, which i conceived in the early 80's in newyork while sitting next to my ailing mother, has proved to be visionary. In this letter i want to apprise you of the tremendous success achieved by the group across all businesses without compromising the values instilled by Jamestji and yourself. The corridors of Bombay house are jubilient again, the group has rejuvenated itself and is ready to take on global corporations.The battle for Corus is finally over. I am glad to say : ave corus aapri che. My dream of developing a people's car is on the verge of fruition, despite the political quagmire fomented by rivals, the car will hopefully be launched in India in 2008. I wish you were here to test drive my dream car. The country seems to have realized the contribution of the group hence made me the poster boy of indian business. I have been on the cover of almost all the business magazines and t.v. journalists are vying for my interview. Some are also saying that the coveted Bharat Ratna is in the offing. . I took a sortie in the F-16 and F-18 fighter jets and became the oldest indian to do so. i attribute all my success to you : under your tutelage i learnt the art of managing business, living life unostentatiously and conducting business ethically. i know you must be concerned about the next chairman, rest assure, the person who would succeed will be competent and not necessarily a 'Tata', in light of the fact that Tata is not a family run business.

I will continue to write regularly to you as has been my practice since you left on a new adventure. You are missed very much by all of us at home and in india.

avjo,

Ratan