Brand Anna - My Thoughts

It was no surprise when I read that Anna Hazare has now become a case study in brand management in B-schools in India. As quoted in the TOI, Prof. Harsh Verma (he taught me Marketing Startegy too) says
"What has this simple man, who otherwise may fail to attract attention on the street, appropriated? If Anna has caught the imagination of people, which is visible wherever he goes, what is it? Anna's brilliance lies in his ability to sense the void (latent need: freedom from corruption) and respond to that by creating a product accordingly (Lokpal). Some needs are so obvious (patent but relegated to dormancy) that they escape attention. Anna has lent voice to a murmur which political establishment knowingly ignored. He converted that into a war cry. Anna brand stands for a 'promise' (India liberated from corruption) which connects people,"

Well, these words are an important learning. Anna no doubt addresses an unmet need, a demand, the collective anger of the masses. But, in my opinion, the more important question that we need to answer here is this. Could any other person have managed to garner this kind of overwhelming support from the masses? The above passage is restricted to a diagnosis of the context in which Anna is acting. It articulates that Anna was able to bring the attention of the people to a dormant need of a corruption free society. It further says that Anna could successfully create a product called Lok Pal to address this need and that struck the chord with the masses. At all stages in the passage, there is heavy emphasis on the context - that of a corrupt establishment, a dormant need of a corruption free India and the creation of the Lokpal bill as a product. The contribution of Anna is restricted to his ability to sense the need and creating the product. Unfortunately, the passage somehow seems to give little credit to Anna in this whole movement against corruption. Again, the question of whether any other person could have garnered such support from the masses remains unanswered.
The need for a Lokpal was felt 42 years ago. If so, why this mass support only now? Corruption had been at seemingly high levels in the 80s and 90s too. In fact there were more scams in the 90s than there are today. I can atleast talk of 5 scams - the Stock Market scam , the St. Kitts scam, the urea scam, the JMM bribery case, the telecom scam (the Sukhram one). Even then, the then PM was pointed fingers at. Despite the fact there was no mass agitation then. Why only now?
I feel that a brand can be built regardless of the context. A young Anna Hazare, a soldier contemplated on committing suicide thinking that ultimately everybody has to die without taking away anything from the Earth. However, he realised that life is best lived if it is spent in serving human beings and society at large. He returned to life and what a life he led!! He brought greenery back to his drought stricken village, he educated his fellow villagers, he reformed the village convincingly dissuading people from drinking and consequently creating a model village. He led a spotless life with wealth not being able to touch him at all. He led a life full of austerity and service and he understood the ground realities. He is neither qualified, nor a glib talker, neither a style icon, nor is able to speak in English. He is merely a rustic human being charged with the idea of service. He is upright and stands on a moral ground that is above the rest, yet is an humble down to earth human being. He has had a history of facing challenges and has emerged victorious. His impeccable track record and his qualities of simplicity are what make the people believe that Anna can address the need of creating a corruption free society. None would believe in a politician if he said that he would rid India of corruption, because the political class has created a brand for itself of being corrupt by its track record. The actions of the individual are the ones that ultimately make the difference.
If the context would have been something else, Anna would have probably worked in that direction, the reason being that he has a mission of performing social service and that aspect is the one that strikes the chord. Like Rome was not built in a day, strong brands too are not built in a day. But if the intentions are right, if the actions speak for themselves, if there is consistency in delivering what is said, then packaging is not so much of a problem. That I think is the secret behind Brand Anna!!

Where will all this take us?

Billions pocketed and stashed out,
Trillions to be made and sent out.
Oil and gas, telecom and games,
Leaders playing dirty games,
Oil for food, cash for votes,
Offices of profit and fake notes,
Where will all this take us?

Flora and fauna, the tribals worship,
But wealth in it is what we sip.
The hills and vegetation may be their God
But the mine is mine says the new landlord.
Kill the forests, kill their beliefs,
Set up the plants and be the chief.
Where will all this take us?

Seismic sensitivity – doesn’t matter,
Effluents in the Ganges – doesn’t matter,
Green house gases – do not matter,
Power and ports – yes they matter!
Dirt in the river and smoke in the air,
A little here and there is always fair.
Where will all this take us?

Traffic violations and bribes at airports,
Copying in exams and doping in sports,
Qualifications horribly mistaken for education,
Making misguided men and a corrupt nation.
The system’s corruption is the mind’s first,
Missing values causing a never ending thirst.
Where will all this take us?

The Accidental Analyst ....(written in a lighter vein)

I have been a student of Mathemetics though Mathemetics or the Sciences never interested me. Doing anything else other than engineering or medicine is considered a mark of incapability in my part of the country. Though music is popular, local fine artists are looked down upon. Though people like to talk about politics, they beleive that sanity should always prevent one from being part of politics. Economists are best known to teach in local colleges and are understood to be incapable of finding good jobs and people who pursue the Arts, Social Sciences and specialize in the languages are considered nothing but fools of the nth order digging their own graves. In such an environment, it was a crime even if I said that I loved the study of history, I liked the languages, I loved music and heavens began to fall apart when I said I wanted to become a journalist. Well, society dictates terms by way of criticism and peer pressure of course played its role too. Though I didn't like the Sciences and hated Math, I did my engineering with all the possible heart. Chemistry was OK. I could understand a little bit of it. Physics was always a maze. Physicists always spoke of the world a few million years back and a few million years hence. But I felt that problems of day to day life were more important. I always felt that a fortune teller who can say with a certain degree of accuracy about the events in my life in the near future was better than a Physicist. But none cared for my thoughts. So what if the fortune teller is better than the Physicist? Newton's laws were the ones that governed Mechanical Engineering. I compromised and worked hard to understand the concepts and did a good job. However, all through my course of engineering I kept thinking of things other than technology and was constantly looking for opportunities that could help me get rid of Mathemetics and Technology. I hated Computer Science from the bottom of my heart and writing codes in languages so logical was a nightmare always. I could never understand how A could equal A + 1. I always felt that those people who designed these languages would some day be proven wrong. But then, there was no respite. I realised that the cancer of Computers was infecting every other branch of engineering and the Mechanical Sciences were no exception. So my friends and I decided to learn C, VB, Access and what not. I found the learning really really irksome, but it was the demand of the day. To top it up, I chose a software project for my engineering degree and I still do not know what I did and how it worked. I knew after engineering that I would be a miserable failure if I chose a software job - that intense logical thinking that it demanded always scared me. But then, there were several of my father's friends who told me that I should also do some courses in JAVA and what not. I told my Dad I knew two types of JAVA - 'Mar JAVA' and 'Mit JAVA'.

Good riddens said I and joined Praj industries in a role that did involve some Computers, but certainly not coding. I worked in the Purchase department chasing vendors for deliveries and running away from chasing vendors who wanted payments on time. and then came a stint with Hindalco, where I was handling engineering activities, managing projects, negotiating orders etc. But still, there was quite a bit of technology that I was dealing with and I wanted to completely erase the traces of technology that were there. I thought that the MBA degree was the degree that could help me liberate myself from the drudgery of technology and Math. And so with great courage and great pride, I joined the MBA programme at IMI, Delhi a prestigous B School. On the first day, my professor there said that one should know at least 12th Standard Math well to be successful. I said to myself that Math was required merely to complete the course. Post MBA, I could certainly do something completely different without Math having to bother me a lot. I did well in the course and then I was hired on campus by HSBC for my skills in Math in the role of an Analyst who had to crunch numbers. I do not what made me accept the offer though I knew that I was required to know a good deal of Math and the job did require me to crunch numbers to some extent. Here I am today, crunching numbers and waiting to get rid of Math....I can't and I no it for sure....I can't; unless there is a miracle and something happens that makes me do something radically different. So here is a guy who has been cornered into doing what he hated most - Math. With time, I learnt to think logically, I learnt a bit of Math and now I am not surprised when I see A equalling A + 1. That's the story of an accidental Analyst !!

Development - A myth?

I woke up in a village to a pleasant dawn,
The birds chirped and the Sun shone,
Greenery boundless in the countryside,
On leaves, I could see the dew drops slide.
On the dusty way rang the temple bells,
When bulls went to the fields with ringing bells.
Ploughing and sowing and waiting for the rain,
For the farmers was routine but never mundane.
Enlightening was Diwali and colourful was Holi,
Houses illuminated decorated with 'rangoli'.
Life was enjoyable, life was peaceful,
A little more or a little less, was never painful.
And then stepped in the the Govt and gave a boon,
Brought with them some enterprising tycoons.
In the fields lush green and pure clestial,
They found wealth in abundance sparkle.
Farm lands acquired for meagre compensation,
Farmers lured with jobs for a generation.
Estate was real only if it was a mall,
A farm's valueless though it produced for all.
Trees were cut for plant erection,
Soil was mined for metal extraction.
The nation progressed with an impressive growth rate,
How does it matter if suicidal is the farmer's state?
Ozone depletes as forests deplete,
Assets monetized are still not replete.
I am no socialist, nor am I a capitalist,
Wealth distribution's not a question on my list.
My mind seems embroiled in a mess
And so I ask, "Amidst this development and progress,
if uncertanty goes up and sustainability, down,
Should we rejoice with the weatlth or frown?"

A walk in the clouds

On a pleasant winter morn, I set out,
The fog so thick blurred everything out.
A few feet ahead 'twas clear, and the the rest
Was hazy rendering the sight at its best.
Which way to go in the woods was unknown.
The paths were clouded and the winds moaned.
On this day, in the fog so thick,
I set out to unravel the mystique.
A step forward, and a new sight I behold;
The past, gone in the haze of the cloud.
A step backward, and it wasn't the same;
A step ahead again, the fog played a game.
Nature, I stole in my camera as I treaded,
A deep cliff I saw and I was dreaded.
So much like the thick fog is life I feel,
What's in store, so stealthily does it unveil.
The fog though beautiful brings with it a haze,
Like ignorance makes life a wonderful maze.
The cliffs deep and the mountains high,
Are seen only when the Sun rises high.
Life unfolds in its real hues;
Only when ignorance, knowledge subdues.

Service

No leave when sick, no travel allowance,
No provident fund, neither pays enhance,
No insurance, no retirement plan,
No semblance of security for her clan.
Weekends ? Don't be crazy!
They make her more lazy.
She comes daily with head down,
And goes back with head down,
Listening to all our complaints,
With none to tell her complaints.
In poverty she lives, in a nearby slum,
Leaking roofs extending her a welcome,
She labors again to feed the kids,
Emptiness of the vessels hidden by lids.
A smile on the face hiding the tears in her eyes,
Another night passes to see the sun rise.
A hard day follows with ten houses to serve,
A life passes thus straining every nerve.
Oh maid, a word you never say,
No appraisal, neither a hike in pay,
Suspicion for sincerity is what you get,
“God’s merciless”, you never say yet.
With folded arms before thee I bow,
You are a model I ought to follow.

Why are Indians so smart and Americans so stupid

On the 7th of Nov, 2009, I typed, "Why are Indians" on the Google search bar and on top of the list of suggestions (433,000 of them) was - "Why are Indians so smart". On the same lines Google threw up the top suggestions for "Why are Americans" as "Why are Americans so stupid" with 7,610,000 almost 15 times as many suggestions as the former. The world seems to be awestruck by the smartness of Indians and the stupidity of Americans. These search suggestions are definitely counter intuitive and do force one to think as to what makes America a world leader despite its so called stupid people and what is it that makes India a developing country despite its so called smart people. Here's an attempt to answer the question.

The direct implication of the search suggestions is that an average Indian is smarter than an average American. But then this disparity exists at the individual level alone. Collective smartness is certainly not an aggregate of individual smartness. For collective smartness to benefit society, an individual's smartness must compliment another's smartness, for which, every individual must be aware of the larger picture and the objective. In the USA, the establishment takes the onus of service to the people. The people in turn are aware of their rights and can get justice for the issues they raise. The average guy in the US does not need to wade through the system to meet his basic needs and hence an average American need not be as smart. The little smartness that he has is well respected and utilised for his own well being and that of the nation.

In India, an average individual is at the mercy of the system. To get a gas connection he has to bribe the agent; to get continuous power supply, he has to bribe the linesman; to get a ration card he has to work his way around multiple in-trays and out-tray; schools do not have teachers or classrooms; colleges are not centres of learning, but are places to fight elections with the support of political parties; a position in the civil services is not to serve the nation, but to extract hefty sums in dowry; employment in the private sector is not meant to contribute to the growth of the company by innovation, but to take home a hefty pay for listening to the lousy remarks of the employer; a driving license can cost you a fortune; crossing a road is a nightmare and the list goes on and on... Every other guy on the street is smart enough to realise that he is out there to outsmart the rest of the guys he encounters. We as a society are a dumb society with smart people. Individual smartness is not made use of to contribute to the nation's well being, but to the well being of the individuals. So an outsider would be plain astonished by the fact that Indians are smart despite the nation being not so great.

The world unfortunately does not work in the ways of Math that is taught in schools. 2+2 need not be 4 in the real world. Five intellectuals in separate compartments might be doing pioneering work at the individual level, whereas collectively they might all be opposing each other. The result is akin to a large number chefs spoiling the broth. Whereas five not so intelligent guys working together helping each other, sharing each others knowledge can accomplish more than what those five smart people can achieve. A quote from none other than Swami Vivekananda goes thus, "A few heart-whole, sincere, and energetic men and women can do more in a year than a mob in a century". Imagine what would happen if all these smart people aligned themselves to attain a goal collectively. It will result in a force unstoppable. Imagine what will become of India if every Indian who is smart thought and acted in the direction of the progress of the nation. This is the challenge for India - to learn from the West to organise and align its masses and use what is inherently ours to the betterment of the nation.

One might ask how was it that India with a similar social fabric was the richest nation in the world a few centuries ago? Well, the answer is pretty simple. Society then was divided on caste lines. Castes were mainly based on occupation. A member of every caste religiously practised his occupation to the best of his ability contributing to the society and benefiting from the services he provided. The outsiders who came to India were smart enough to use these classes of society to raise feuds amongst castes for their own sake. One negative that the caste system had(has) is that a member from one caste could in no way move to another caste. A Brahmin who wanted to become a blacksmith was not allowed to become a blacksmith. He had to be engaged in learning. Similarly a blacksmith's son was born a blacksmith and had to die a blacksmith despite possessing all the abilities to become a Brahmin. There was no way in society then to deal with such square pegs in round holes. This led to a large number of people who were dissatisfied and these people fell prey to the designs of the colonisers. The British rule left the Indian society in complete disarray. However, it did a good in that the oppressed classes got a voice of their own. Thousands of years of oppression and suppression began to be questioned and foundations for a new social order were laid. A Dalit need not seek the permission of the Brahmin to learn today, nor does a Brahmin have to go through hell to choose a profession of his choice. Times have changed and the Indian society seems to be realigning itself into a new social order. Lets wait for the time when this process of change undergoes completion and individual smartness of the average Indian begins to add up into collective smartness. I am very optimistic about a bright future!!