James Bond & The Next Billion Indians.

Gutka stained streets & walls, of Bharat, bring a smirk on the face. Maybe even while reading this, recalling a man spitting Gutka from his mouth, makes one feel disgusting. Gutka belongs to the realms of labourers from Bharat, outside the social boundaries of modern middle-class India.

James Bond the charismatic spy, wielding the talismanic charm, of not only new-age gadgets & swanky cars but also playful zest & classy lifestyle. Bond is perched atop the class hierarchy of even super-heroes because unlike the latter, Bond is flesh and blood!

This chronicle begins in the year 2016, Jio was just publicly launched, MS Dhoni was beating MSG: the lionheart warrior, on the box office, Samsung was busy launching S7 and all was good with God in heaven. The term “next billion” was yet to be coined because the next billion weren’t “market worthy” in the mainstream, surely the next billion were not on the Marketer’s radar. Yet there were unmistakable signs of their advent, lost in the noise of our cliché-based approach.

James Bond (retired Pierce Brosnan) advertised for a Panmasala brand (Image attached). The uproar in social media was “deafening”. Though the concern was on the carcinogenic nature of pan masala, perhaps the unstated angst was because Bond’s image did not gel with gutka ( Gutka is Pan masala mixed with Tobacco). Gutka was crass, Bond is Class. Gutka belonged to the 'Bharat' class of people, your watchmen, that delivery boy, your housemaid. Although Gutka & Cigarette are children of the same father “tobacco” cigarettes don’t evoke such a sharp emotive repulsion. Perhaps the ridicule betrayed the amusement on the arrival of Bharat in the league of Bond, James Bond. Drowned in the brouhaha & meme fest was the signal from inconspicuous Bharat.

Ads are an interesting window in the "aspirational world" of consumers. The disdain & ridicule about the adv reflected the inherent entitlement of India over its obscure brother Bharat. Gutka needed legitimacy of being a classy product despite its rural origins and desi heritage. Bond was just a device, an image on which business wanted to piggyback, to reduce the stigma around gutka consumption. The noise drowned the signal. But it was just a signal of the coming awakening.  

The signal though was clear and not category-specific, Bharat finally had enough scale to afford James bond to dance to its tunes. Bharat may be vernacular, value-conscious but it has its own unique cocksure aspirations & consumption behaviour. As my next 2 articles will unravel- Bharat talked back to the people who talked down to it. The beauty of this consumer class, its uniqueness was its innovative pathways yet many biases towards Bharat continued, the "next billion" have made their name despite it. (Spot the pun)   

The year now is 2022, - Shahrukh, Salman, Ranveer, Priyanka and even Amitabh Bachhan do ads for surrogate gutka brands with “NO” social media outcry. We will walk through this journey of change about perspective on Bharat( & not gutka) in the series of articles. So If as a brand manager you are satisfied by your status quo, happy with improving reach in Bharat, you may witness a “Skyfall” sooner than later, scan the environment and aspirations of Bharat with a “Golden Eye” & remember “Tomorrow never dies”. You really have “No time to Die”

If Tanu weds Manu.. Shouldn’t Marketers Court Bharat!

As Tanu mocks Manu above, chiding him for his choice of “substandard” Jhajjar girl Datto- over herself. One wonders how Bollywood's Movie Camps viewed such Desi movies just a few years ago. The Formula driven, mega budget star casting Bollywood camps would have called this as “Reebokey” or Dublicate. Until the block buster like "Dabangg" broke the mold- Thus movies with connect with small town North India (Bharat) perhaps have become the new formula!

Advertising and marketing Mirror the Society, unfortunately the Metropolitan context of most our adv’s makes me wonder.The Marketers of India, sadly still view the “Bharat part” of India as peripheral but not “Main target” of their Brand value & imagery. The question is: is it Time to target Bharat as “mainstream” for Brand’s core values? Marketers will argue is there even a need to connect to Bharat? Isn’t that something akin to what Bollywood was doing? Let’s evaluate.

Metro Vs Urban Populations

Numbers with the right lens show us the opportunity. 31.2% of Indian population is Urban (not metropolitan) 68.8 is rural, Top 6 metro cities have 6% population, top 10 only 7.7%. Top 20 only 9.73%. In conclusion 25% of Indian cities are non Metros. So the metropolitan values & Imagery connects with only 6%. The remaining part for a diverse nation like India would have  similar Psychographics, aspiration and brand preference is the premises – one wants to challenge.

 Chart shows urbanization trend in 16 key Indian states.  8 states are below the average level of urbanization,  4 among these 8 figure in the top 10 GDP contributing states of India. Potential? Further if bank deposit signify buying power the fact that 36% of all bank deposits are from Non Metro Urban India  Indicates of a viable opportunity .

 One element, which needs to be underlined is that metropolitan India has high percentage of immigrants from small towns. Instead of  stereotype of Metropolitan SEC A- the Emigrant software engineer from Raipur, young sons of a PSU worker from UP, the government employees all migrated from small towns connect more with their towns than Metros.

Psycographic

The Marketers argument that aspirations are same across India, need to decipher seemingly simple yet defiant Datto in the movie “Tanu... In her rebuttal to “Naivete” ridicule by Tanu. Datto says she may not know to dress up, but knows how to manage relationships, she is a state level athlete due to her own efforts, battled her circumstances, against all odds-on her own terms. She is confident go getter, no complexes for her not knowing English (Evoked clapping in suburban Mumbai)

 Does this resonates with the world of privileged English speaking 16 year old of Metros? In my wide travel the well-off youth of small towns always looked Cock sure -where they want to go & unapologetic of their limitation. They are indifferent to the “perception generated by their in-difference“. Why so? Because several of their conviction are labelled  too forward in their home town and considered regressive or backward in cities. Their rebellious indifferent attitude, can be summed up simply as “we are like that only & we are very good”

The Movie though not seminal work, connects across India. Realistic characters right out of small town north India. Rich textures of relationship’s absent in an “emigrant’s make do city life. The languages & Jargons of small town. Perhaps the emigrant Software Engineer in Bangalore isn’t ashamed of his roots? Perhaps we cannot force feed “aspirations”. You can look down upon Bharat, but they won’t look up to you.  

Competitiveness.

Many would argue making a mainstream brand targeted only at Small town India- would sacrifice the Metropolitan urban market completely. Agreed, but all brands imagery and context target Metros’s would not you be alone targeting connecting to Bharat’s ?-Thus a Brand inside a lesser competitive space can have more success.

Another argument that the Brand will lose the “aspirational hallo” for Metros. Certain categories can be brought to life by “connect” to the audiences- Bollywood movies are just one of them. There is an element of pride in Bharat- it needs more manifestation in our Brands.

Competitive sports are the most notable signal of the rise of small towns, meritocracy which may not require an education ecosystem. Lads into lime light of cricket (Shami, Rahane, Hardik Pandya,even Dhoni & Raina) Kids cracking  IIT JEE  prove this again- the next big wave of aspiration lies in Bharat, an aspiration which is definitely different than pure hedonic consumption driven Metros portrayed by advertising.

Courting Bharat

Beyond making a sales network for catering to Bharat. It’s time to court it with  brands, which resonated and connects with them ( Quite a few have already begun)- City emigrants will value it too. In cities outside metros, Bharat is not aping the West. It will not follow the US markets- it will create its own solutions. Its protagonist & its local role models don’t share mindset of urban westernizing India- a conservative BJP in power, does signal it. Youth entrepreneurs are making their own mark in small towns guided by values with a different moral compass. Let’s create a brand which encapsulates their unique views. Let’s court Tanu, Manu, Pappi and the real Bhartiya Middle Class.

Not a Shallow Conversation around Rape

Unlike blogs, post release of “India daughter”- This one will not crucify the lawyer/rapist for his mentality- it will though shine light on your blind spot.A separate reality is for us to discover.

A rape like the Nirbhaya one, was sexual violence beyond mere lust. Did it have an inkling of perceived social justice? The drunk driver and cleaner were merely sexually overcharged? They did justify there act by questioning why was the girl out with a boy at 9’o clock at night? Perhaps “rape” is also about some angst, frustration.May be an unfulfilled desire-carnal ,sexual or psychological or could it be something more?

The politician, the lawyer who blunt the guilt on rape of women by questioning women's character are illiterate people, of a sick psychology, Perverts. they see women as mere objects of gratification. Partially wrong?. Actually it could be the other way round.lets dive deeper. Both of you- the urban Indian middle class & the rural class of the heartland have a different world view. some how they haven’t bough over “Our” idea of freedom.may be we are wrong!

Let me take you to their world. Dive deep now. Lets see the world of  14 year old rural villager boy. Villagers may be poor but are well fed.The have a set routine and schools- with teachers that do not more than literacy.a Curriculum which is no match for children's curiosity & aspiration. Schools are n't place where rural kids think they will grow in life.So what feeds the mind of a child? The city, as he has heard about, by his distant relative and friends brother, city is where he builds his dream about. The social environment of village is different- drunk men beat there wives reinforcing that alcohol is evil.women folk have limited wants and are considered frivolous by men. Men violate women, and sisters are supposed to be protected- as the goons, the politician overrule the feebly present police. Ask a person with rural origin- your istriwala etc, about law and order in his village. Thus in the “physce” of rural India- there is no law for the rich,the women are vulnerable in their eyes-But he has one window to the world it’s not internet,unlike you-he sees this window- completely differently-actually its cable television.

You have to see TV from the eyes of this rural Boy-un-baised devoid of knowledge of showbiz, lineage of stars,  performance, dance forms etc.  please do this experiment.Its aimed to neutralize your biases.switch on your television, mute the sound, play movie songs / promo on a channel. Close your eyes tell yourself you will not see “Names of Star” and “Star kids” but mere Bodies, their expression, their body language. You will not judge dance forms but just see the acted out message, the gestures- just plain message. Watch the TV- the music channel. Do that.

Interspersed in normal sings will be gems of insights devoid of Brand “Sunny leone” – you will see scantily clad  women thrusting her bossom in various stages of undress. Merely longing for… right? Emran Hasmi stalking some girl in a car with a song, ultimately the girl ending the song on bed with a Stalker.  In the song “ party all night” beyond the background of Sonakshi - the girl who's hanging on Akhshay neck is drunk & carefree. In an adv break a girl is suggesting to look fairer to land a job, another girl insist to drink green tea to lose weight. The message unfiltered by the acceptability of the star kid is brutally naked, visible to the Rural Indian, its young and adults alike. Did someone say- they see women as object of gratification- or is it what we project?? Do this experiment today. 

Pause rewind to the 45 year old lawyer of the rapist Who grew up in a village.Now you see his point- he is right as per the social environment of his village and his value system. The women need protection and anything out word will invite trouble- because for them its what they perceive on tv. The Kid we imagined will immigrate to the city. In city he will be shocked, unable to understand wealth- a 1000 Rs movie date & opportunities to create wealth. He will not be able to connect equality of women freedom, “liberation” and his value system.

Stop you cannot dictate your morality, your value system to deprived class in their eyes your wealth is not legitimate, you are the privileged- it is more us versus them. they do not understand  Women empowerment as you see it- there idea is n’t about short dresses or pub hopping.Their life is struggle,  their  cultural context different than entitlement.Your maid, The pizza delivery boy, flower boy, Mall assistant invisible to your own eyes have different social context and value system they diverge from your thinking and stereotypes.

The overcharging plumber, difficult maid, auto wala overcharging and exploiting.The juggi wala electing AAP despite the middle class vote to BJP are all manifestations of immigrant rural villagers extracting from rich more than the fair share, Simple because you are priveleged they are not. It is  natural justice in their eyes,  because they never had opportunities.In their eyes you don’t have values and they are the majority. Educating the girls is  priority but protecting them from preying eyes in lawless villages is more important.

Perhaps we have to acknowledge- We are a privileged class, we are millions, yet only 20% of India. On facebook and twitter are  million of people of your own class inside the proverbial “well” where you are the frog. India still has a huge population in  rural India,  which has a separate value system ( and its not dated) it has a different moral compass. There ll be friction  in these two classes- time an again- until we acknowledge their value system. Debates around rape end at blaming mentality and installing CCTV. Whereas core to it is the Urban rural difference in opportunities and our own projection of women.

 As marketers it time we  stop ignoring the Rural rich and middle class- they are a equally viable market- lets not dictate to them, respect there choices even in a value system. And of course stop castigating the immigrant rural laborer slums in you city.we are in a democracy and they will be the majority. 

Why Mumbai has the worst Infrastructure!!

Having grow up in Mumbai city in late 80-90’s one remembers Mumbai to have fantastic transport system and civic amenities. We would enjoy traveling in local trains, BEST buses and that’s what middle class in Mumbai did. In late 90’s the BJP Shiv Sena govt began constructing some 30+ flyovers in anticipation of traffic congestion. Cut to 2014, Now no self-respecting person would like to travel in a local train in peak hours for the sheer indignity of being packed up like food grains.10 minutes on roads in Mumbai and you know, we are not even close to Delhi standards of road- long shot shanghai. The daily traffic congestions due & badly filled potholes, cause long bottlenecks. You could once enjoy your swim at the Gorai beach, no more the sewage system now pukes out untreated shit( literally) into the sea coast of Mumbai. No wonder Mumbai perhaps offers its citizen the worst quality of life.

Why so badly managed amenities for Mumbai, we really see a lot of people wonder…. Here I analyze some not so obvious hypothesis for it.

 Mumbai is always cheered for its resilience to bounce back after a calamity, its citizens helping each other to get over the calamity, the strong work ethic & community spirit, coming out together, more stronger than fear to personal safety. 26/11 strike on CST and Taj, targeted the elite of Mumbai-here was the financial capital of India under direct siege. With Taj still under siege, on 27th Nov a Parsi business man not far from where Kasab was arrested previous night, located at pedder road, opened his small shop, so did a catholic mechanic in Ville Parle, not to earn some money, but to ensure that the terrorist fail in their purpose to create terror. When the train bombs blew innocent commuters, the juggiwala nr the tracks took taxi's to ferry the injured to hospitals before the police could arrive.I haven’t heard of ordinary citizens doing such things with no organization around them.

In this AAP led zeitgeist in urban India, Chetan Bhagat in his article "Manage the nation, but don't try to play king " says correctly that Urban Indian’s are aware, smart & Privileged to have better education & exposure, he believes, as do many, that they are entitled for better governance. He extrapolates further that this behavior of the Middle class is despised by the congress & the voters will banish them to opposition for this folly. Nothing could be further from truth.

Read on, before sticking your neck out.

26/11 attack shook Mumbai, so I foolishly ( in hind sight) believed as Chetan does now in his article, that the middle class will defeat the incumbent government, with election just 5 months forward. The old home minister was reinstated and the central government never took any responsibility of containing the strike. Mumbai did not receive any justice. And the Congress swept back to parliament across Mumbai Again!!!

How?

What drives Mumbai folks to vacation- A long weekend? The Lok sabha voting was scheduled on Thursday 30th April 2009, Friday 1st May is holiday for Maharashtra day a weekend of 4 days ( I predict this will happen again in 2014) most people chose to head outside for a mini vacation with schools and colleges off in summer time.( plz suggest any other theory for low turn out) South Mumbai reported 40% voting.

 Resilient Mumbai some say? We agree that It also had to do some extent on the MNS splitting with Shiv sena. Across Mumbai the voting percentage was abysmally low.The very people who stood by the massacre chose not to vote or cared more for their holiday. Considering the fact that around 50% of Mumbai are urban poor (Who vote religiously) Who was the culprit? – Of course the middle class residents of Mumbai who just took the bait. If one sees the actual margin of victory as a percentage of total electorate you see it ranged from 0.2% (2833 votes) to 10% with highest margin of victory for areas with lowest polling percentage. Attached is the table.

So this demonstrates how much at least the Mumbai Middle class took to voting to vent out their anger. The ruling government easily manipulated a terror struck and supposedly angry Mumbai. Now if you are such a lethargic lot of voters, who don’t come out to vote- what’s the incentive for a political system to develop better roads and amenities for you? If  as a politician, you fail in your duties ( which was mature handling of attacks, clear leadership) still no one is penalized, who do you think will rise against politicians, who continue their benign neglect of Mumbai?

One can think the youths will change that- May be, but there are caveats, lets theorize further.

 At office, I lunch almost daily with 8 youths working in their first job, My conversation centers around governance, politics and the general direction of the nation. All, Crib about Mumbai & its pathetic infrastructure; It is not livable, the government here does not care is a common foregone conclusion and all tend to agree. All 8 of them are not from Mumbai, 6 are north Indians, 1 Gujarati and another is a local Maharashtrain. For most North Indian immigrant in city- in north India- Corruption is a accepted norm of social behavior, it is the same in Mumbai, for Gujarati- Modi remains to be the benchmark- Mumbai has no leaders. The local Maharashtra says the immigrant have stretched the city resources too far.

 One fine after noon when the canteen lunch was still hot and no one was cursing Mumbai , I asked the a simple question- Have you ever voted- the prompt answer yes, but no not here in Mumbai, my name is not on the voting list here, Ditto with the all 8 immigrants to the city. I was the lone registered voter of Mumbai on the table of 8, most of them were staying in the city for last 4-6 years. My MBA class mates in Gurgaon, went back home to vote for the elections, they are not in Delhi’s voting list - ditto to so many of other people in my social circle, Even the immigrant taxi wala at Mumbai airport voted back home in Jaunpur. Do a survey. Check this out yourself.

 As per a report in economic times the cities of India have 30- 35% immigrants. if we add 10% to the total electorate population(Which than adds up near to census population of Mumbai), We have a voting percentage of 30% for Mumbai- A city which was attacked repeatedly responds with 30% voting, apathetic; they are towards their own city right? Any other plausible explanations? How do you think they will respond to benign influence of corruption? Even if we argue to say that voting percentage does not reflect the interest of its citizen towards it cities, how can we ever argue that the immigrants need not contribute towards the democratic decision making ? after all aren’t all major cities made of immigrants?

Min 10% of Mumbai is not registered to Vote yet eligible, 50% of Mumbai is urban poor (the office peon, the sales man in mall, your driver, cab wala, your maid & the slum dwellers seeking a SRA) and the remaining 40 % are Middle class. BUT Effectively only 36% vote. Mind you, the votingdiscipline in Urban poor household is adhered to. So who did not vote? Middle class of course !! If you are the politician - Who do you have to win over, to win the election? What margin of victory you require? (refer table) Any guesses what would a smart politician do? Invoke the local man as many Immigrants don’t vote? and the crorepati flat owner will prefer a vacation to a vote? Why bother to target him? Why improve roads, cater to the working class or the largest tax payers, when it does not bring in the votes for congress.

 Why will the BMC bother, if very few middle class men go out to vote for BMC elections?.Now look at the MNS strategy of evoking the local Man? Or the congress actions of favoring the builders and Slum dwellers, creating a urban planning Disaster. Why give civic infrastructure? who cares? Does it make sense on the urban infrastructure? You can punch holes in these theories, but no matter what, middle class India was not the vote back the politician needs to cater for. Chetan dig deeper.

 If Middle class in Mumbai is too buzy in it’s life, to look deeper, to take effort to be on voting list, to have atleast an opinion about your communities future. Extrapolating that Urban India will punish Congress is way off the mark. Also all the Journalists.. should stop cribbing about Mumbai Civic infrastructure. Mumbai deserve this apathy and the “AAP” electing Delhi junta deserves better.

The illusion of control: the curse of Knowledge.

Lehman brothers hired the best-trained brains in the industry, best MBA, CFA and Analyst. Arguably the best intellect at investment banks form the spine of the global financial system, yet the global meltdown of 2009 , was completely a man-made disaster. In an article, The Economist said that any outsider could have seen the rot in the financial system of America but not the bosses of the financial firms. Think of it, the best brains in the US, Ivy league executives which taught others, to make money out of money…actually could not see this happen.

Why could not they see? How did they Errr..?

Can we call it the curse of too much knowledge? Or was it the illusion of control? Or is one the cause of the effect? This is not about the global financial crises. It is about box of knowledge.


Let's pick a story from the "Wisdom of Kung Fu-Panda" crux of the animated movie Kungfu Panda. Sagely Kung-Fu Master Oogway the Tortoise selects a fat Panda Po, devoid of any Kung fu skills as the ultimate saviour from notorious Tiger Tai Lung.Master Shibu  ( Disciple of Tortise- Oogway) cannot believe that a fat, lazy, perpetually hungry Panda, could be better than his other legendary disciples, who had practised hard for years. He believed, his disciples were better equipped to beat the Challenger Tai Lung and Panda could never learn the art. Master Oogway remained sagely unperturbed- he gave Shibu some Kung-fu wisdom - to bring harmony in his eyes, to see beyond his curse of knowledge, shed his illusion of control. Only then did Shibu, Inspired by the faith of his master believe in the Panda. The Panda not only learned Kung Fu..but had some advantages which Master Shibu would not imagine…….the panda proved the faith in him right By defeating Tiger Tai Lung

Why did the Panda succeed?

Did panda have too much systematic knowledge, conventional wisdom?..did he have an illusion of control..he was just what he was, himself, doing the basics right with courage…devoid of too much knowledge of the system not enclosed in a box. Unfortunately, the global financial system had no celestial intervention or the wisdom of Sagely kungfu guru Oogway.

One can merely speculate, whatever it is worth. Innovation and varied perspectives aren’t formed due to a system, they are spontaneous and arise when we leave enough slack & diversity in the organization. Unfortunately, we believe that only one X set of inputs in a system can create Y. We narrowly define the inputs. Take a straight jacket approach. Get stuck…exactly as the financial system. Knowledge is power, yet…. It is as much a curse, It imprisons you inside the very body of knowledge. It encloses you in a box, curses you not to see, beyond it. It can be seen, as an improvised form of the bounded rationality concept of economics. Rare are people who break this BOX.

Human beings want to control, they wish they could measure everything and try to analyze and recreate it. Man’s achievement…its monuments, his scientific advancements exist because of this instinct. Overindulgence in this knowledge creates exactly what one can call the curse of knowledge.

Let's look at our own organization, inside the organizational process and systems- how many are willing to have a fresh viewpoint from a fresh manager? Does not our organization use, only going through their own grind as a pre-requisite to have an opinion. Is there any motivation or understanding to innovate, to change, to look at things differently? Is it not a curse of knowledge? The Inertia of Status Quo?
A fresh new look by a fresh manager from a different industry may bring in the imagined space and innovation in your products or services. Why? Maybe this new blood is not under the pressure of encroached knowledge of your industry or organizations. Do leaders need this new blood with an unbiased perspectives, different kinds of knowledge? yes they do… Why then would you find young line staff coaching Leaders at this renowned company?
Reverse mentoring at Nokia

Connecting the dots........

Posted on XLRI GMP Collaborative blog on my initial XLRI experience.....

I opened my eyes and looked outside- It was dawn. I jumped out of my berth time was still 05:15 Am. The sky was a deep blue with hues of red and orange melting into yellow on the horizon. It was a magical feeling different than other morning i had felt. As the train sped toward the station, a dry cold wind was hissing past me, as if whispering welcome to Jamshedpur!

It is not easy to leave a well paying job in recessionary times, especially when you are doing very well .The Job market not looking too good, people questioned me? MBA is a separate charm, It was my cherished dream, I was willing to take risk; confident about myself.

As I first entered the XLRI campus, the greenery struck me, the silence and serenity of the place was a stark contrast to the noise of Mumbai. The hostel was neat & clean, I got a garden facing room. When I connected my laptop to the Lan- I was online 10 minutes into the hostel.

The Inauguration ceremony was simple, the views of the administration candid. No big show or festivity was kind of visible but the communication was crystal clear and effective- XLRI’s has 9 years experience of 1 year batch, you are mature and experienced guys, we have all the facilities, it is for us to extract the best of it. The preparatory course began, and I was in for some hell of ride 4 lectures each day 1.5 hrs each. I was scared, as the day was to end with a 3 hrs accounting class, but that........ was not to be.

The accounting class was the surprise package, we all now look forward to that lecture J faculty entertained us J with accounts, must acknowledge it is one of the best education experiences I had. Learning accounts will be fun with this Prof, he ended the preparatory course with the address of his home- simple statement “’do drop in!!!!!’’I realised each Prof stayed in the campus and was accessible. Another interesting Gentleman professor we have ( of all the things he teaches us managerial communications) is a elderly reverent father, who has clearly laid down strict rules to be followed in his class, a formal attire grooming us to be Gentleman- but in anger he address us as ‘”Jokers’’ hilarious at times - but then again he treated us with a 7 course dinner, a formal event at MDP residence- he went ahead to teach us table etiquettes, thus he is using all his tact to make us learn things we may not pay much attention to- Non verbal communications. Meticulous and dedicated is what I have made my opinion of profs at XLRI- I frankly did not expect it, as these guys are very humble straight forward and how they ‘’present’’ themselves is never an indication of what they are. This was way beyond our expectations- this place was too good.

I was not expecting this at XL, I remember in January, I filled a very simple admissions form. The Sudden request for online essay form by XLRI was not expected, but manageable. These essays tried measuring my motivations and probed me as a person. An interview followed, where the Profs respected my opinion not trying to prove that they knew better. They were probing me, checking my presence of mind, understanding tit bits of my industry commenting about Korean chaebols but not arguing with me, not aimed in outsmarting me. They had straight forward humble approach. I had not imagined that this approach was backed by some solid knowledge, understanding of the subject and the industry.

I can now connect the dots, it was this all along....XL was not founded by government intervention or some corporate bigwigs glamorising MBA- recruiting students to play the rankings game. It was formed by Jesuit priests. It is the part of a tradition what is called as “Convent Education” The staff is humble, dedicated and meticulous because their aim is to serve, glamorising or marketing the course isn’t their aim. The reputation of this place is not based of glamorous advertising or smart PR work.

This institute routed in history sticks to its values- excellence and integrity. All along from the application, essays, interview and now lectures at the institute. The GMP program is not about 26 year old guys outwitting each other in class- as if groomed packs of brats need masks of managers. This is about mature individuals with experience, exposure and talent. This place is not about excellent advertising and PR. It is not money spinning machine .XLRI is about its service to society, sticking to its values Excellence and integrity.

"HEAD HELD HIGH AND THE EYES TIGHT SHUT"

( I wrote this in year 2000- 10 yrs ago- for my college magazine)

Chitragupt smiled, never in his career as book keeper of heaven had he seen such an unusual request. It came from a soul of very high stature. He was a man whom an entire nation respected. The fact that he had been a resident of heaven for few decades didn't help Chitragupt. He was the stuff gods were made of. It was his vision that had brought progress, prosperity and unity to his country.

He was standing, right in front of Chitragupt, his face pained, tired, devoid of serenity the very characteristic of heaven. "Why?" Chitragupt asked, amazed, "What makes you do this unusual request ??" The pale face produced a piece of paper, he handed it to Chitragupt”this”. The paper was a page of perhaps some magazine from earth. So unusual he thought. It was titled "The heads held high". He decided to read it.

"Who are the heads, held high, those who decide. how we do, what we want to do. These are the heads, whom you proudly proclaim to despise, that come begging & pleading to you every five years. But these are the heads, which govern & rule us. These are the men who lead India tryst with destiny. Who decide what price we pay for our urea and gas. They are also responsible for making us realize our religion and caste when we fill some of our forms, & yet they are the ones who promised you equality.

They claim their aim, is peace. But then they fuel anger to lead riots, killing innocent humans, making us feel ashamed. They don't discuss riots they walkout from the 'round' building. The don't debate, just walkout to seek political vengeance. Do they care for legislation? Or Governance? And come the season, they will barter their support for a ministerial berth, in greed of power, seek unrealistic alliances.

These are the heads corrupt, criminals, responsible for dividing us, responsible for riots, accountable for slack governance, guardians of a crumbling system. Symbol of a bankrupt morality & unashamed opportunism. They are India's fragmented polity They have turned India tryst with destiny into political chicanery.

It’s unarguably them, who have been elected to lead India, into the future ....Bright future!
They are the heads held high."


Chitragupt could now see the plain face filled with guilt, unceasing pain & a look of utter disgust." It is my fault" the man whispered." I could not see the future, I left many loopholes, and I trusted them too much. Now they use my name in their dirty game. His voice trembling yet steadily rising " look what they are doing to my country, tearing it, dividing it on regional, caste & linguist grounds"

His eyes wide open tears rolled down his eyes "all these are my followers, I am guilty. I want to repent Chitragupt, let me suffer, let me out, let me go to hell”. The last sentence came almost as plea.

Chitragupt waited for the man to calm down." The Indian middle class's disinterest in politics never ceases to amaze me, because after all, everything is for them. Chitragupt eyes fixed as if gazing the distant horizon.. “No........ it's not you, it is not even the heads held high. It is the government of, for & by the "people". It is the people, who elect. It’s the people, who remain silent majority & allow goons to lead them & tear their cultural fiber. It is they who chose a 2 days vacation to a vote. It is them who don’t want to be aware of politic and see indifference as intelligence. It’s them who stay indifferent to immoral actions. It’s them, who refuse to see the injustice, the prejudices, the violence, and even if they see it they prefer to propagate it, for selfish interest.
They prefer to join the system instead of questioning it. They are the mob which is witness to rape, who chose to be blind If not to join the crime. They "chose" to be uninterested and Ignorant of the impact on themselves. The choice is their own If they want to live with their eyes tight shut and the head held high ……Let them,