Creating temples of modern India versus finding God in poverty

Amidst the charged debate on the land acquisition amendment bill and the state of agriculture in the country all political parties are jostling to claim the farmer friendly mantle. All parties to the debate on the land acquisition bill – political groups, civil society activists, and industry chambers, seem to be taking diametrically opposite views. It is either pro farmers or anti farmers - no meeting ground at all.

A key opposition leader suggested to the Prime Minister that he was choosing the wrong constituency by bringing this land acquisition amendment bill as 65% of voters are dependent on agriculture.

In my opinion the Prime Minister is actually making a very astute political choice. Let me tell you how.

Unfortunately no one seems to be seriously making the argument that this land bill in conjunction with the ‘Make in India’ campaign could unlock unprecedented economic opportunities for the country. It could help us obtain the elusive double digit GDP growth.

A basic understanding of the theory of modern economic growth will tell you that an economy with some 50% of labour force still involved in agriculture is far from eliminating poverty of its people. From 70% of labour in agriculture at the time of independence in 1947 to 50% now some 68 years hence is a reflection of the failure of our economic policies. It is also representative of the reasons of our continued poverty. A significant chunk of the labour force involved in agriculture is actually disguised unemployment. Disguised unemployment is an important reason for the continued poverty of this labour force – a small pie is shared with far too many people to make it sufficient even for one.

India needs, to take off, lots of jobs. To create jobs we need an enabling environment where it is easy to do business and where factors of production are abundantly accessible.

With this land bill if infrastructure can get a boost, and manufacturing gets a shot in arm it will create a virtuous cycle of economic growth.

Manufacturing is to be a very important component of India’s economic growth. The rise of manufacturing’s contribution to India’s growth is essential for it benefit from the so called demographic dividend. By creating jobs the Prime Minister is creating loyal voters. These jobs are not only going to prevent social unrest but are going to take the country out of this abject poverty. Our manufacturing prowess will strengthen our defense industrial complex and aid India’s world power aspirations.

Development of infrastructure will allow large sections of the society to access a better quality of life – better healthcare, better housing and education. This in itself will have a far reaching multiplier effect – creating jobs, increasing disposable income and improving standards of living.

However we must guard against a shoddy implementation of the proposed provisions. Crony capitalism will put paid to any creation of virtuous cycle of growth. Adequate safeguards for environment protection is also very important for the sustainability of any economic transformation. After all ‘We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children’

So let us get going with the land acquisition bill and start work to get labour reforms in place.

AAP’s enormous win – My two bits

In the recent Delhi assembly elections the upstart Aam Admi Party (AAP) managed to win 67 seats of the 70 available. The enormity of the win reminded us of those that you hear in ‘democratic’ dictatorships where the supreme leader gets say 95% of the popular votes. Such wins are rare in thriving democracies and more so in the cacophonous democracy called India.

 How did this come about?

In my view the primary reasons for this humungous win by Kejriwal and Co are the following.

Most important factor was the time AAP got to prepare for this election. A good 8 months of focused activity on the ground since the General elections of May 2014 allowed him to connect with the people, appreciate their issues and share his side of the story. With the benefit of time the other important factor that played out very well was Kejriwal’s acceptance of his failure to govern the last time around. His repeated apologies and humble acceptance not only helped him regain the favor of Delhi’s underclass it also endeared him to the educated talking classes. People appreciated the sincerity of his regret.

Much of this success can also be attributed to the machinations of the primary rival the BJP.

 BJPs juggernaut had looked invincible and with it came the swagger that reminded one of Tendulkar’s Sharjah swagger against the Australians. The arrogance and swagger helped people decide to bring the BJP a couple of notches down. The personal attacks on man considered by everyone as genuinely good back fired big time. Calling Kejriwal all sorts of names, much of this coming from the Prime Minister himself only strengthened people’s resolve to put BJP in its place. Remember Manmohan Singh in the general elections of 2009.

The next factor, but in no ways any less, was the other CM candidate Kiran Bedi. The bumbling Kiran Bedi just could not get her act together. Her choice caused a great deal of heartburn amongst the local leadership and dissonance amongst the numerous ordinary party workers was understandable. She didn’t realize that party workers are not police constables who can be asked to stand in a line in ‘attention’ or even ‘stand at ease’.

 Why were such mistakes made?

BJPs confidence, rather over confidence is one big reason. The delay in holding the election is also BJPs doing. While they wanted to avoid the headache of this election by cobbling together a majority and could have waited for more time. It is only when the Supreme Court forced a decision the elections as the way forward was announced.

With Congress on a decline, possibly terminal the BJP sees AAP as a viable opposition in the future. To nip this headache of the future it came out with all guns blazing – quite the Narendra Modi style of not leaving a viable opposition, and that led to the name calling and show of arrogance.

 What Next?

Either AAP picks up from where it left in its previous stint and couple of years down the line realizes that there is little money left and many more populist demands to meet or it governs well, evolves its policies of governance and goes beyond the rhetoric.

 I am hoping that they will choose the latter option and steadily fill the vacuum created by the fast disappearing Congress. I would like to see them as a key contender for power in the general election of 2019.

 On the other hand, Kiran Bedi will quit BJP over the next 12 – 18 months and the AAP government will accept her back and use expertise in an advisory capacity.

 

 

 

India as I see it

India gets its name from the Indus River, which also lends it name to religion of the people – Hindu and the land is therefore also called Hindustan, the country of the Hindus. This country of the Hindus is the land between the Hindukush mountains in the west, the Himalayas in the north, the Arakan mountains in the east and the oceans in the south.

While there is so much to write about India, its history, culture, people, diversity, economy etc the following adds to all this – India my motherland as I see it, and understand it.

I am not a historian or a sociologist or for that matter a political scientist but a layman applying his common sense to understand his world.


Religion

I am a Hindu and Hinduism to me is the greatest religion.

The genesis of the Hinduism’s greatness lies in the fact that it developed into a religion from what was essentially a way of life. It is also probably why there is no known founder of Hinduism and when exactly was it founded is also not known. Hinduism does not have a unified system of belief encoded in declaration of faith or a creed but it is rather an umbrella term comprising varied traditions of life.

As a Hindu there is no code of conduct for me. There is no defined time, place or frequency of worship, no defined dietary restrictions nor any constraints on going to someone else’s place of worship. I can do what I feel like and I continue to be as much a Hindu as one can be.

One cannot be converted out of Hinduism or converted into Hinduism. One has to be born a Hindu. The concept of apostasy or blasphemy doesn’t exist in Hinduism. It is only in modern times that the concept of reclaiming Hindus was devised by what is called the ‘suddhi’ or purification ritual.

Further, Hinduism did not spread by the virtue of the sword. There were no religious crusades carried out by Hindu rulers, it was traders and travelers who spread to Hinduism to most of South East Asia


Casteism

While the concept of caste is not unique to the land called India, but it is most prominent here.

This system of division of labour and power in the society continues to play an important role in the Indian society. While a clear distinction for the priestly and warrior classes has existing in all societies, the Indian concept of ‘shudras’ or untouchables is some what unique.

In my opinion, the genesis of this unique concept lies in the fact that the India we know is an Aryan civilization and not the Indus Valley civilization. Aryans, people of the Caucasian mountains conquered India after destroying the Indus Valley civilization.

Aryan features are as the name suggests Caucasian, while the Indus Valley Civilisation was that of a people who were of Negroid features. When the Aryans swept into the vast plains of the Indus and the Ganga, the original inhabitants of India – the Negroes were pushed southwards towards the peninsula and eastwards towards the mountains. The conquered people were forced into the menial tasks and this created the class of ‘shudras’.

As the Aryans pushed further into India, conquering the plains was easy because of the simpler terrain, and numerous rivers for navigation. South however was slightly more difficult as the Deccan plateau and Ghats created natural barriers.

Further, over hundreds and thousands of years, inter breeding took place between the conquerors and the conquered and this (when combined with the climatic conditions of the country in various parts) resulted in the current physical features of Indians.

The evidence of this theory is the following.....

a) People in North and North West India are of fairer skin and closer to the Caucasian looks and features.
b) People in Southern India normally have darker skin and are more likely to have Negroid features than those in North India.
c) People in Bangladesh, the eastern extent of the Aryan push in the plains of the Ganga and Brahamputra are more likely to have Negroid features than those in say Punjab or Kashmir.
d) Tribal societies, in all parts of India, may have seen far less or no inter breeding with the Aryans and hence often have very pronounced Negroid features – dark skin, thick lips, curly hair etc.
e) Lower castes or the current scheduled castes are more likely to have lesser Aryan features than say Brahmins, for example darker skin.

Isn’t it strange, the worst off sections of our society – tribal and lower castes are more Indians than the rest of other Indians?

Why Sushil ji is my hero?

Over the last few days we have witnessed, on prime time television, a phenomenon which has been showing up with increased frequency. This phenomenon of very ordinary people using varied platforms to transform their lives with sheer intelligence, knowledge and confidence. Sushil Kumar, the winner of this season’s Kaun Banega Crorepati typified this phenomenon as he transformed his and his family’s life beyond his imagination.

This Sushil Kumar is my hero, and let me tell you why.

His story is that of a true slumdog millionaire. From earning a salary of mere Rs6000 per month to winning Rs 5crores in one fine evening by the virtue of his knowledge, intelligence and confidence is nothing but stupendous. His ever smiling face did not give us even an iota of an idea of his difficult background.

Sushil‘s, rather Sushilji’s (quite like the way my fellow Bihari brethren are used to being addressed) simplicity was rather exotic, after all who on national television proclaims his difficulty in managing the pressure of nature’s call. Unwittingly he also taught us key lessons in quizzing – you don’t need to know all answers, you can provide correct answers by choosing by elimination and by intelligently guessing.

Sushilji’s values impressed me most. His reverence for his elder brothers, one of which appeared to be his father figure, is quite unheard of in our metropolitan lives. His yearning to learn and gain knowledge was noteworthy. His belief in the adage ‘where there is a will, there is a way’ and rest is a bahana – an excuse is heartwarming. Rarely had any participant thanked the ‘expert advisor’ as profusely as Sushilji did. His gratitude towards the ushers at the studio also stood out. The strong sense of patriotism kept surfacing when Sushilji and his brothers repeatedly told us how happy they were to have done their district and state proud.

These values and ideas probably belong to a different age. They are rather romantic when it comes from people without enough to eat or a proper house to call home.

Inspite of the humongous amount of money that Sushilji won, his aspirations remain simple. He wants to read many more books and become a writer. Not for him, setting up a business that will make him more money.

In various ways Sushilji embodies the state he comes from, Bihar - a place with large hearted people with simple aspirations. A people deeply endued in the romanticism of culture, history and values. However inherent in Sushilji’s encounter with national television was an outdated phenomenon of the youth aspiring for government jobs. This doesn’t seem to have changed yet in the fast changing Bihar.

For many more Sushilji’s to be discovered it will be important that the state creates avenues and provides appropriate platforms to the talented people of Bihar.

Congratulations and well done, Sushilji. I am your fan.

Whither Wealth Management in India

The following article was published in the Business World (4th April, 2011) as 'A Wealthy Experience'

http://www.businessworld.in/bw/2011_03_25_A_Wealthy_Experience.html



India's booming economy is leading to great changes in its financial markets. One such change is the emergence of numerous players in the booming Indian Wealth Management market place. The economic growth in India has led to significant rise in disposable incomes and the ranks of affluent household have been soaring like never before. This huge business opportunity calls for specialized wealth management companies and various companies with little to do with wealth management have stepped in. But how will these players create their space in this action packed market which is yet to break out of the structural constraints of yester years?

This industry operates in various segments – i) Mass Affluent, customers with invest-able surplus of some Rs30lakhs to upto Rs1crore; ii) Affluent, customers with invest-able surplus of approximately Rs1crore to upto Rs5crore; iii) High Networth Individuals (HNI), customers with invest-able surplus of more than 5crore.

While the Mass Affluent and Affluent customers are being serviced by preferred or priority banking divisions of the retails banks, HNIs by organizations which call their services ‘Private Banking’. The new entrants in the market have the affluent customer as their target segment. These independent Wealth Management (IWM) companies plan to address the more sophisticated requirements of the Affluent customer and also benefit from the sense of disillusionment against their existing Wealth Managers.

Investors across the spectrum suffered during the credit crisis because of the inherent shortcomings of the existing structures in the wealth management practice - product pushing, and absence of advice and portfolio churn. This and recent events such as the Citibank wealth management fraud has catalyzed action towards putting together comprehensive regulations for this business – not an easy task given involvement of multiple regulators.

IWM companies are trying to fill the space between private banking and preferred banking as Affluent customers are currently being served, rather very inadequately, by the preferred banking divisions.

The current regulatory structure doesn’t allow banks to offer a wide range of investment products or offer the advisory services the Affluent investor requires and increasingly expects. Further, changes in the mutual fund industry have reduced the existing margins dramatically – MF being the mainstay of the investment product offerings at preferred banking divisions. The regulations suggest that investors pay directly to advisors hence link revenue to quality of advice and service. This can be best done in an independent wealth management company structure.

The business model of an IWM revolves around the following factors
• Offer a very wide product suite which can help provide customized solutions for the investor.
• Offer advice which is independent, sophisticated and proactive.
• Have an enhanced level of service offering, using superior technology.
• Create a brand to which trust, credibility, integrity can be readily associated.

Affluent customers confront considerable complexity and vast opportunities in the financial markets. To help affluent customers navigate the market ups and downs and to take advantage of opportunities while paying close attention to their needs and factors that may affect individual circumstances, a sophisticated advisory process and a very wide product suite is required.

However the current offering from these IWM companies seems to be a copy of their preferred banking cousins. They are found wanting on all counts except with regards to their ability to offer a wider product suite. An IWM product suite normally comprises, besides the regular MF, PMS, VC Funds and deposits, high involvement products like real estate, trust services, and sophisticated structures. In other aspects too, when pitted against preferred banking business, IWM companies again fall short.

Products push approach, recommendations based on only quantitative variables and historic data characterize the advisory platforms of preferred banking divisions. And as IWM companies have hired most of their client facing team from the preferred banking space, their advisory platform too is hostage to these factors. Most such people are yet to develop an approach of listening to and understanding client needs, and proactively provide an up to date investment advice and designing wealth management solutions.

Further no IWM company has yet been able to create a brand to which trust, credibility, integrity can be readily associated. They are no match to the delightful service banks, especially MNC Banks offer to their preferred customers.

Hence for IWM companies to become significant players in the Indian wealth management industry a hard look at the existing structures is required. They will need to invest, in a big way, in their people. There is a pressing need for training and skill enhancements of the people so that they are well informed and can offer high quality advice to their customers. In the advisory proposition there is a need to include more sophisticated tools for asset allocation and model portfolios. Including concepts of dynamic asset allocation and qualitative factors in the advisory process, along with specialized research on Alternate Investment products will position themselves to offer products and services that affluent investors rightfully demand and expect.

A brand building exercise is also important as most of these IWM have been set up by equity broking companies and the equity broking companies in India have rarely commanded trust and respect. A respected and trustworthy brand will help IWM companies reach out to their rapidly increasing potential customer base, who might be currently being serviced by the private bank across the street.

Independent Wealth Management companies should offer end to end services from wealth creation, to wealth protection and estate planning and in the process form generation long relationships. It is only then that these independent wealth management companies will be able to come into their own.

Recent Publications

Two recent publications.

First in the Money Today, the personal finance magazine of the India Today Group. Guest Column in the September 2010 issue.

http://moneytoday.intoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&issueid=86&id=6355&Itemid=1&sectionid=106



Second in the Business Standard. 'Opinion' in the Saturday 2nd October, 2010 issue.

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/manavendra-prasad-mutual-fundsstillbest-bet/409893/

Mumbai only for Mee

Ages ago, while I was working in Mumbai the Indian Express asked me to write some 500 words about being an outsider in Mumbai, for their end of the year special editions. This was in the backdrop of Raj Thackeray and his hooligans then as part of the Shiv Sena beating up students from UP & Bihar who had come to Maharashtra to write the entrance test for jobs in the Railways.

How the Indian Express reached is rather interesting. I had written a small article and with a desire to have it published took it to the newspaper. They didn't it like and rejected my contribution. I wrote another article, this time about Bihar. The local(Bombay) editorial team liked it and they sent it to their central editorial team in Delhi. A couple of days later I heard from them, to be told that they couldn't carry the article.

I asked, why?
They said, ' Who are you that we should publish the article?'
I was stumped, I always had been sure of my identity.

Then a month or say later they called to check if I was keen to write for their end of the year editions.

Pasted below is the said article I had sent to them. Further below is the link to what was actually published.

So that is how my second article was published in a newspaper. Though the editing left me very dissatisfied, I felt like a celebrity with the photographer from the newspaper spending half a day clicking pictures of me all over the city.


My Contribution

A European friend on his first trip to India was briefed by his consulate that Bombay was not India and yet all of India, but for me, fresh out of India’s irrepressible cow belt Bombay was and is what only India could be. Bombay is a microcosm of the whole of India – rich, diverse, tolerant and ‘shining’.

My encounter with the city initially was full of disappointments. Soon after I had arrived the city shut shop because it happened to have rained heavily the night before. The dividers on arterial roads were submerged under water and above all people didn’t think twice before wading across ankle or even knee deep mucky water. The only thing people seemed to eat were ‘pav’ and everything they said seemed to end with a ‘che’. People appeared to be mild to the extent of being sissy, and this was quite disconcerting for someone who had till then lived only in the pushy, and crass north.

Names of most fashionable stores written in Hindi, besides the usual English, albeit in small font was a peculiar sight. The Oval maidan and its cricketers in whites amidst the neo Gothic buildings gave it all an old world charm. The sensex indicator at Churchgate station appeared quite queer. No conversation being complete without discussing and predicting sensex levels felt a trifle too materialistic.

Live in Bombay for a couple of weeks and you see all the original notions of the city crashing one after another, and that sure happened with me too. From the initial fascination of the endless and rumbling sea to the kem cho’s the city simply grew on me. The mildness was better appreciated as the politeness and the civic sense of its citizens. The unusual spectacle of queues at bus stops and trains running by the minute and not by the quarter of the hour soon became routine. The city did not sleep and the freedom to go anywhere and at any hour without any fear or whatsoever gave me a sort of a heady feeling and I realized I was snugly falling in love with this city.

Though the on and off xenophobic violence under the ‘Mee Mumbaikar’ campaign raises some questions about the city’s large heart and its accommodating spirit, here too one needn’t despair for these incidences fall in the realm of politics for was it not the Tamils at the receiving end some years ago. These are for the voters’ consumption which we from Bihar and UP find it easy to appreciate given the disproportionately large public space we give to politics back home. Such incidences are against the spirit of Bombay for Bombay thrives on its cosmopolitan culture and has always accepted in her bosom anyone who has chosen to seek his fortune here.

Hence and not surprisingly, living in Bombay for the past few years has made me realize that living elsewhere now would be a difficult proposition.



The link to the published article


http://cities.expressindia.com/local-news/archivefullstory.php?newsid=71732&creation_date=2003-12-27"