Author: Pran Kurup

Globalization has been the buzzword for the last several years. Over the last decade, India’s tech sector in particular has benefitted substantially from the massive outsourcing of jobs to India from the US, Europe and other parts of the world. As a result, jobs that were previously done in these countries have now been transferred en masse to India and other developing countries. This post is not about the merits or de-merits of globalization. Instead, it focuses on how cultural aspects come in the way of “true” benefits of globalization. We pick and chose aspects of globalization to suit our needs. The bad news is that in this process, those that are often considered “good” business practices followed in western countries are often ignored due to our cultural differences with the west.

Let us look at how much these migration of jobs have carried with it fundamental attitudes and behaviors that are the norm when it comes to doing business in the western countries. For instance, in the west, when you are in the midst of negotiations for a contract with the customer, all the issues are often sorted out during this stage. There is complete transparency regarding who the decision makers are, the decision making process, the timelines involved, etc. During this process, the customer would haggle on costs, terms, fixed vs. variable costs, estimate, over-budget projections, legal language, etc., and the vendor is encouraged to ask questions. But at the end of the day, when the contract is signed and the handshake occurs, it’s an agreement that both parties fundamentally promise to live by. This written agreement carries with it an underlying sense of commitment and decency that both parties automatically adhere to. Most importantly, it’s a relationship of equals. Beyond this point, operational activities like invoicing and getting paid are considered routine and happen like clockwork. In fact, the customer will call the vendor to make sure that they were paid in a timely fashion. The vendor and the customer both strive to live up to their end of the bargain.

In India, on the other hand, there is often very little transparency with regard to who the ultimate decision maker is for a project. You might miraculously get a contract signed off but rather than serving as a watershed moment in your sales effort, it could just be the beginning of a nightmare that remains throughout the lifetime of the project. This realization dawns on you when you send in your first invoice. Instead of getting paid for a service that you have already delivered, you are at the mercy of your customer. It’s like a “malik-naukar” relationship. Despite having delivered your part of the service, you have to chase every single individual in the flow to finally get paid. Unfortunately, this happens to be true across a large swathe of our businesses. As a result, sales personnel not only have the difficult task of closing business but also the added responsibility of ensuring timely payments from clients.

Click here to read the rest of the article in The Economic Times

A boy is born and raised in a conservative muslim family in Hyderabad. He turns out to be a tremendously talented cricketer and eventually makes it to the coveted Indian cricket team. Thanks to his impressive performance beginning with his debut Test he slowly makes his way up to become the captain of the team. Meanwhile, he goes through a conventional muslim wedding and is soon the father of two boys. His cricketing career continues on a meteoric rise. During this rise, he is exposed to the glamour of Bollywood and its nexus with the underworld. Cricket in Sharjah gives him access to the bigwigs of Bollywood and the mafia. He is slowly but surely drawn into the glitzy world of fame and fortune.

The simple middle-class upbringing was now a thing of the past. Instead flashy cars, hot women, a persistently upturned shirt collar, expensive watches, fancy perfumes, and late night parties become the order of the day. He divorces his wife and marries a Bollywood star. He continues to perform well on the cricket field, so his tenure as captain continues. Suddenly, and quite unexpectedly a sting operation exposes match-fixing in cricket and the young man finds himself in trouble. Meanwhile, the all powerful cricket board changes hands from one power block to another. This shift combined with his being from a minority community with little presence in the upper echelons of the board, leaves our hero with no backers.

With no one to pitch his case in a cricket board that is largely an exclusive rich man’s club, he finds himself at the receiving end of lifetime ban. Still supremely fit, yet unable to play the game that practically gave him everything, he finds himself with no where to turn. After trying everything he could to overturn his life ban, he takes to politics. Blessed by a high powered political dynasty he joins the rolls of the ruling party and contests elections from a constituency that he had barely visited but had a significant muslim population. The move paid off landed him in Parliament despite lack of any experience in public service whatsoever. There were occasional rumors surrounding his personal life. Then, there was the tragic death of his son in a road accident. Along the way, he challenges his life ban in court. Twelve years go by since the outbreak of the scandal and the courts finally overturn the ban citing lack of sufficient evidence. Now, he is too old to play cricket, and finds himself in a new avatar, that of politician.

 Click here to read the rest of the article in The Economic Times

1. Law of “big” money: Most politicians in power and their kith and kin make “big” money by exercising their power and influence to the fullest. Common areas of involvement include land deals, educational institutions, power projects, coal mining, cricket associations, etc. Where there is “big” money to be made, expect the involvement of one or more politicians. If you find none, you can rest assured that there is an invisible hand. Recently, Beni Prasad of the UPA rightly pointed this out when he said, “I believe that Salman Khurshid would never get involved in a scam of Rs 71 lakhs because it is a very small amount. Had it been Rs 71 crore, it would have been more plausible.”
2. Law of families and personal lives: Families of politicians are off limits when it comes to exposing scams. In other words, the ruling party will not go after the immediate family members of opposition leaders and vice-versa — a well understood and accepted quid pro quo. Digvijay Singh sincerely refers to this as “political ethics.” Gadkari captures it brilliantly when he says, “Char kaam hum unke karte hain, char kaam woh hamara karte hain.” Personal lives of politicians are also off limits. Multiple wives, extra marital affairs, sexual favors are all ignored. If exposed for some reason, rehabilitation is often just around the corner.
3. Law of legal process: Investigations and court cases almost never produce anything of significance because they simply take so long that they become irrelevant. e.g., the Sukh Ram telecom scandal which took over a decade, Lalu Yadav’s fodder scam, Mulayam’s DA scam, the all important Bofors deal, to name a few. Most importantly, people involved in the process of investigations and cases can be bribed, eliminated, or if nothing else, transferred (a la Ashok Khemka). Also, politicians almost never go to jail. The more visible they are, the less likely they are to go to jail, no matter what the case against them might be. “I am open to any investigation. If found guilty I will quit politics.” Not surprisingly, starting with our erstwhile PM, this is the mantra of Indian politics.
4. Law of enforced silence: People in power, especially politicians, prefer that you take them to court rather than spew allegations at them in the media. When there are allegations, the standard counter is to say, “If you have enough evidence, why not go to court? Why indulge in a trial by media?” The reality is that if you go to court, then the matter becomes “subjudice.” A convenient shield that virtually buries the issue for eternity.

Click here to read the rest of the article in The Economic Times

It has been over a week since the irrigation scam in Maharashtra. A week has gone by and no scams unearthed yet? Come on. This can’t be true. But one thing is for sure, the country can trust Kejriwal & co. not to disappoint when it comes to fulfilling their thirst for scams. Sensing this desire for frequent scam news, they have now slowly started to announce dates in advance when they intend to go public about scams. This is perfect. We certainly need a schedule so we can mark them on our calendars so as not to be left out of the excitement. While a schedule is welcome, just two announcements is a little underwhelming. It’s like a two-match T20 series. In any case, we’ll take what we can get. With Dhoni and his boys on a downward trend, we need this fresh injection of speculation and expectancy from time to time.

By now, you are probably thinking, “Oh well…cut out this cynicism, please!” It’s hard not to be cynical when you have an assembly line of scams but no sign of any action from the government. Instead of addressing the scams you have ministers of the UPA vowing to teach those who attempt to expose corruption a lesson.

The irrigation scam and the allegations against Mr. Vadra strike at the heart of a widely accepted practice in India — many in positions of power routinely exercise influence in return for unaccounted benefits. They often operate through their nearest kith and kin and the benefits can be to individuals or to political outfits or corporations, are all of the above. Most politicians groom their extended families to eventually enter politics. Very often, the early stages of grooming involve acting as “fixers.” These individuals remain below the radar for the most part until they get embroiled in a publicized scam of some sort. This role of “fixing” is a broad term encompassing a pretty diverse portfolio of services. Commonly offered services can range from routine school and college admissions, job appointments and transfers, new bank loans, write-off of old loans, film financing and distribution, etc. to more high stakes services like “encounter killings,” coerced land deals, and general “goondagiri”. All of these services are provided in return for some benefit or the other. This is the unwritten underlying system that has been in place for years and is widely practiced, no matter which party is in power.

Click here to read the rest of the article in The Economic Times

Our PM, Mr. Manmohan Singh, recently turned eighty. Given his active role in the country over the last two decades, there is little doubt that he bears a lot of responsibility for India’s current state. His recent (rare) address to the nation, though very much in character, was a rather poorly delivered speech. I don’t mean to imply that we need fiery rhetoric, but how about some passion and conviction in the speech? Mr. Manmohan Singh comes across as a “boring” bureaucrat, when in reality what India badly needs today is truly inspirational leadership.

In a country where 65% of the population is below the age of 35, it’s quite ironic that the man in charge of steering our unwieldy country is more than twice the age of most people in the country. Meanwhile, the main opposition party is led by Mr. Advani who is well into his 80s, and still harboring prime ministerial ambitions. While it may be unfair to discriminate on the basis of age, in the case of Mr. Manmohan Singh, his job performance is a serious concern. In the case of Mr. Advani, he has been unable to rally the rest of his party behind him, and is struggling in a battle for supremacy with his fellow aspirants.

Given this state of our two major parties, one can’t help but wonder why in a country with so many young people, no capable youngsters devoid of family connections rise to the top of our political arena.

Click here to read the rest of the article in The Economic Times

The movement that captured the imagination of the nation has now officially broken into two factions. One led by Arvind Kejriwal firmly believes the there is no option to achieving Lokpal but to fight electoral battles. The other faction led by Anna himself wants to continue and remain an independent anti-corruption, civil society movement.

A political party backed by Anna would have posed a formidable challenge to many of the existing parties. But Anna clearly lacked the motivation or the wherewithal to take the plunge. So after months of dilly-dallying and flip-flopping, to the utter dismay of many youngsters, he decided that he does not want to be a part of any political outfit whatsoever. Clearly, he is uncomfortable with electoral politics, and when it came down to it, he chose to follow his heart which lies firmly in social activism.

There is no question that civil society pressure groups with no political leanings or affiliations are a critical asset to any vibrant democracy. But what sort of an un-affiliated pressure group can Anna claim to have with the likes of saffron-clad Baba Ramdev, Kiran Bedi who is eager to work with the “less corrupt” and General V.K. Singh who has plenty of personal scores to settle with the current government, on his new team?

Social activism is a commitment to one or more causes that can often span several years and sometimes an entire lifetime. In the world of social activism, unlike in electoral politics, there are no immediate wins and definitely no losses. There are scores of activists who have shown commitment to several causes but have never been able to achieve their goals.

Click here to read the rest of the article in The Economic Times

Another day, another scam. Vociferous denials from the ruling side. Obstructionist chest thumping from the Opposition. Parliament comes to a standstill. No debate. The ruling party discreetly plans for an adjournment while trotting out its litany of suave, smiling, smooth talkers on TV to feign innocence and accuse the opposition of preventing a debate.

The Coal-gate scam is a perfect example of how bad the state of our politics is today. What makes this scam unique is that it appears that the UPA, the BJP and several other parties are equally culpable when it comes to corruption. The BJP wants no discussion whatsoever. Their central demand is that the PM should take responsibility for this scam and resign. Clearly, the BJP is caught in a “pot calling the kettle black” predicament and any attempt to allow a discussion in Parliament is sure to leave them as exposed as the UPA. It would be prudent not to “paint all parties with a broad brush” but sadly there is little to choose from among these parties. The coal scam confirms that no party was in favor of an auction. Why bother with an auction when you can dole out the country’s resources to your friends in the business world?

What is the punishment for denying the people of this country an open debate on this scam? Who is going to investigate this case? How long will it be before justice is delivered? What use is an investigation by the CBI which is directly under the control of the government? When the ruling coalition and the country’s major political opposition are both involved in the country’s largest ever scam, what options are we left with? A special investigative team, perhaps? Don’t you long for the elusive Lokpal which was so deftly scuttled by all our political parties?

Click here to read the rest of the article in The Economic Times

“Anna must find and support good candidates in the next election.” This seems like a sentiment doing the rounds among many who supported the anti-corruption struggle and are now disillusioned or uncomfortable with the plans of the IAC movement to launch a new political party. While this goal of finding these elusive good candidates is idealistic, it is also very naive, unless it is executed in conjunction with the formation of a new party.

The reality today is that while the current political parties have their share of dubious characters who get elected, they also have among them individuals who fit the “good candidate” profile. But the problem is that every such candidate ultimately belongs to a political party (independents are a non-existent or rare breed) and is subject to the diktat of the party high command. Swami Vivekananda said, “Give me 100 men of steel will and I will change the world.” If these men of steel were our elected MPs, they would have been stifled and crushed by the weight of their party high command.

Our political system today has limited value for “individual goodness” because ultimately, it is the party high command that holds the cards. For instance, the so-called good candidate might promise the Lokpal bill but the party high command might not support it. In other words, there is only so much that good candidates can do for you because they control hardly anything when it comes to decisions of their party. Our PM, Mr. Manmohan Singh, is a perfect example of this malaise at the heart of our political system. Despite being viewed as personally being “good,” under his leadership, India has had the most corrupt government in its history!

Click here to read the rest of the article in The Economic Times