I B S 

An Idea Whose Time has Come: The Story of the Indian School of Business by Pramath Raj Sinha; Published by Penguin India ; Pages 210; Price Rs 499/-

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Pramath Raj Sinha is the Founder and Managing Director of 9.9 Mediaworx, a special- interest  media company. He was formerly a partner with McKinsey & Company, the international management consulting firm, where he continuesto be a Senior Adviser. He has been intensely involved with ISB since its inception in 1996, first as the project’s CEO and then as ISB’s founding Dean and Executive Board member. He is now leading a philanthropic initiative to build Ashoka University, which launched its flagship Young India Fellowship in2011. Pramath has a B.Tech. from IIT Kanpur and an MSE and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. 

Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad has been ranked No. 7 and No. 8 in Best  B-school surveys. It has been ranked among the top 20 global B-schools by the Financial Times, a spectacular achievement by any measure. It has a (visiting) faculty roster that makes other schools   turn green with envy, and students who are among the best in the country.

 Sinha, a partner at McKinsey & Co. when the ISB project was launched in 1996 - the school itself started in 2001 - became an academic, ISB's founding dean,at the insistence of Rajat Gupta, the School's founding Chairman . By all  accounts, he was as good a dean as he was a manager.

That Sinha is a good storyteller becomes clear from this book. The first paragraph resembles the start of a Alistair Maclean thriller: "On a damp summer day in 1998, a small column of cars pulled up at the side of the road next to a low hill in Gachibowli, about 10 miles northwest of the centre of Hyderabad. A group of people got out of the cars and stood looking at the hill,some holding umbrellas against the drizzling rain, studying the scene and talking in low voices."

 IBS  is on a low hill in Gachibowli, about ten miles from Hyderabad. “The hill was  unremarkable . Part of it was covered with scattered boulders, some of them enormous. In between the big stones there was nothing but coarse grass and a few scattered trees, among which goats browsed here and there…”

 And, getting out of cars on a damp summer day in 1998, a group of government officials and leading members of India's business community were studying the scene.

Three years later, on that same hill, the Indian School of Business opened its doors to its first students, 128 in all, the author recounts. The founding Chairman, Rajat Gupta, reminisces in the Foreword how the idea transformed from a Department of Management Studies (with a Master of Business Administration programme) at the Indian Institute of Delhi to an independent, world-class business school. As for the financial resources, he mentions the initial questions – such as, who would fund such a start-up, whether the initial funding could be raised, and more importantly, whether a sustaining financial model could be built. “The initial board members provided generous seed funding. We attracted lots of additional funding and were feeling euphoric, but the dot.com  bust put us in somewhat of a crisis…”

The author, who took charge of the project as the CEO early in 1999, narrates an incident to highlight the difference between putting together a plan and implementing it. He was a full-time consultant with McKinsey, and had undertaken the job of CEO as an additional duty. “I remember that at first I had the tendency to continue to behave like a consultant, coming up with recommendations for the board and options they might like to consider.” A moment of truth, however, was when Yogesh Deveshwar took him to one side and said, “Pramath, you are the CEO. Your job is to come to us with decisions, not to ask us to make decisions. We will provide inputs and tell you if we think you are wrong. But it is up to you to make the decisions.”

Three cities were in the shortlist for locating ISB, after an exercise to visit more than fifty locations. “All the governments were very proactive and very keen to have us in the city,” reads a quote of Arvind Pahwa. Thackeray was in favour of giving land at below local market price in Maharashtra, but the demand was for a quota for students, staff and faculty. “There is some justification in what he said, and he was passionate about developing Maharashtra. But the board needed a free hand,” recalls Deepak Parekh. And, in Karnataka, the Chief Minister offered a site with good infrastructure near the Ring Road, away from central Bangalore's infamous traffic jams, but the ISB delegation felt the price was on the high side.

Meanwhile, in Andhra Pradesh, the then Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu was determined to expedite the economic development of Hyderabad. He would call each member of the Executive Board personally, and send them a letter. And, after a breakfast with the Chief Minister, the delegation would hear him say, “Since you will be visiting other States, whatever they offer, please let me know. If they offer X, I will make it X+1.”

We have an exciting story about building a functioning institution in the field of business education, by turning barren land into a vibrant campus.

 Sinha manages to maintain the same tone and pace through the book, peppering it with anecdotes on how things progressed and on lessons learned, some of which are lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs and managers.

What appeals most is Sinha's honesty. He readily accepts that ISB has succeeded beyond the expectations of its founders. And at the same time, he admits that many of the early goals are yet to be reached. This honest account adds to the charm of the book making it  eminently readable.

Talking of rankings, IIM-A is the only other Indian B-school in the FT Global MBA rankings, at No. 11,  nine slots ahead of ISB. But that is not the point. The point is: two of the world's top 20 B-schools are from India, the same number as from Spain, UK and France; China has one; the US 11. But as many experts will tell you, we need many more. With Great Lakes Institute of Management opening in Chennai, and with ISB's second campus in Mohali  we are certainly  on the way. If you want to join them, pick up this book as a first step.

The book is an excellent source of information for anyone who is involved or may get involved in setting up an institution in India. The books focusses on setting up an MBA institution but what we learn can be put to use in other areas too. Team building, conceptualisation, fund raising, regulatory issues, marketing, staffing are discussed at length with excellent examples.

It is a book that helps nicely envision the thought process went into making India's greatest management school.

PPR

27/5/2018

ZULFIKAR  BHUTTO

Born to be Hanged -Political biography of Z.A.Bhutto by Syeda Hameed ; Published by  Rupa ; Pages  264 ; Price Rs.500/-

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I was fascinated to know how the author of this  political biography of Z.A.Bhutto chose the title. Enter  Sir Morrice James , the British High Commissioner in Islamabad in the 1960s who wrote presciently “Bhutto certainly had the right quality for reaching the heights—drive, charm, imagination, a quick and penetrating mind, zest for life, eloquence, energy, strong constitution, a sense of humour and a thick skin. Such  a blend is rare anywhere and Bhutto deserved his swift rise to power…There was a rank odour of hellfire about him…Despite his gifts, I judged that one day Bhutto would destroy himself.. I reported in my dispatches – ‘Bhutto was born to be hanged’ ……Fourteen years later that was what it turned out to be.”

 Bhutto was  the Prime Minister from 1971 to 1977.   His Chief of Army Staff, General Zia-ul-Haq   overthrew him and executed him in 1979. Zia ruled over Pakistan for eleven years with an iron fist until he got blown up in an air crash in 1988—pure Greek drama.

 Syeda Hameed , who is a well-known human rights activist and  a Member of our Planning Commission has studied in depth  politics of Pakistan, met a number of  Bhutto’s contemporaries and collected a wealth of data  from archives and letters to portray her subject.  Syeda’s subject is a man who declared to wage a 1,000-year war against India. This  well-researched book is a product of 20 years of painstaking labour, coupled with access to the Bhutto family's personal library and interviews with Pakistan People's Party co-founder Mubashir Hassan.  Hameed reveals unkown facets of Bhutto. One letter from the late Prime Minister to  Mohammad Ali Jinnah is an indicator of the beginnings of  an ideology deeply rooted in religion and the firm belief  that there could never be a truce between Hindus and Muslims in the subcontinent. "Musalmans should realise that Hindus can never and will never unite with us, they are the deadliest enemies of your Quran and Prophet,"

 The book is spread over four major parts, each of which delves into details about the key phases in Bhutto's life as a person and as a personality. The author makes clear how socialism crept into the psyche of the young Bhutto: a principle he vehemently believed in, but one which he conveniently jettisoned when the going got tough . For Bhutto the introduction  to Marx  came in the form of a biography  on his 21st birthday, along with a biography of Napoleon, another  hero . Over the years, a mixture of University of Berkeley and Oxford and Pakistan and its division-ridden society got him working on a passion which linked Islam with socialism . The book  expatiates on  the second key phase , when Bhutto  was sworn in as Minister for Commerce  at the age of 30 and as Pakistan's Foreign Minister at 35 in the administration of  Ayub Khan, his benefactor, whom he later denounced as a dictator and hence had to face incarceration. 

 Bhutto’s  socialism got weakened  and the politician in him  started pushing the realpolitik pedal. "Declaring Friday as holiday, closing down 'dens of vice' like bars and cabarets, stopping short of ordering chopping of hands and feet for theft (it would happen later) was how Islamisation played out on the ground. All this he did against his grain, against his better judgement," the author writes. Hameed, through her conversations with Mubashir Hassan, and other references, analyses graphically the peak in Bhutto's career in the 1970s, when he became in 1973 the country's 10th Prime Minister. Based on the work of Rafiuddin Ahmed, the author  recreates the last moments of Bhutto's life before he was hanged at the central prison in Rawalpindi.

In an interview to Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci, Bhutto is quoted  having said, “You don’t go into politics just for the fun of it. You go into it to take power in your hands and keep it …. There is no such thing as a good, moral, consistent politician. The rest is Boy Scout stuff. And I have forgotten the Boy Scout virtues ever since I went to school.” (p. 179).

  Mubashir Hasan, J A Rahim, Mustafa Khar — had all worked together to put together the Pakistan People’s Party and Bhutto deserted them one by one.

Soon after his accession to power in December 1971, Bhutto threw out  the socialist ideas that led  to his rise. He declared  that the PPP had to be a centrist organisation and needed to maintain dialogue with all groups. The feudal landlords, who had been marginalised by a modernising Pakistan re-emerged. Bhutto became close with the rabid kathmullas, who then changed the story wholly. Another of Bhutto’s favourites, Maulana Maudoodi, according to Syeda  had been against the very foundation of Pakistan and had even said that fighting for Kashmir by Pakistanis will not bring them martyrdom but they will die like dogs .

Bhutto made every effort to reach out to Muslim leaders throughout Islamic Asia for international support against India after the creation of Bangladesh in 1971. He arranged  the Islamic Conference in Lahore in 1974 which enabled  Saudis  promote right-wing Islamists in Pakistan much to the detriment of the people and Bhutto’s own party. 

 Once it became clear to Bhutto that General Zia-ul-Haq was the most incompetent of his peers, he made serious efforts to elevate him. Zia, who was  an old school officer with a completely new school commitment to Islam, lost no time in setting Bhutto right once he had the opportunity.

 Bhutto comes across as a shrewd politician and a powerful orator who knew how to establish a personal connection with the masses. Hunger for power and burgeoning  arrogance ultimately led to his downfall. You start  sympathising with a man who despite his personal flaws had profound love and loyalty for his nation and its people.

 What is the quintessential Bhutto? . In some of his writing, for example  “If I Am Assassinated” , he becomes a politician whose sole aim was to grab power; one driven more by lust for it than by any urge to transform society. Unsurprisingly, in an interview, he said: “You do not get into politics just for fun of it. You go in to take power in your hands and keep it. Anyone who says the opposite is a liar.”

 Bhutto’s fascination for Pakistan was  grounded in a deep mistrust and hatred of India which he saw  as a major  threat. War and the arms race was part of the thinking of the elite and Bhutto was integral to the conduct of Pakistan. A key issue in Bhutto’s life is  the relationship between Zia Ul Haq and  Bhutto. According to some comentators  Zia was deeply afraid of Bhutto. According to Mubashir Hasan, a worker once informed him of how, when a few drops of tea fell on Bhutto’s shoes, Zia took out his handkerchief and cleaned them. Such anecdotes help  in understanding the power struggle. Zia gradually came to enjoy the upper hand. The chapter entitled “Judicial Murder” makes clear  how vulnerable institutions are in post-colonial societies. Clearly, Zia was in pursuit of a predetermined verdict--- ending Bhutto’s life. Global opinion was disregarded, the bigger evil triumphed, and Bhutto was executed.

 Bhutto chose to rely on the bureaucracy, the intelligence agencies and finally the army to bolster his authority. In the process he distanced himself from his grass root support and the descriptions of this in the book are its unique features.

 Bhutto was hoist with his own petard.

P.P.Ramachandran.

20/05/2018

SUMAN   CHATTOPADHYAY 

My Date with History by Suman Chattopadhyay ; Published by Rupa ; Pages 283 ; Price Rs.395/-

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Suman Chattopadhyay is the “Enfant Terrible” of Bengali journalism. He edited for nine long years the Anandabazar Patrika. He played a major role in the most popular TV Channel Star Ananda. Presently he edits Ei Samay,a Times daily.

Suman ,in the book under review , captures the   three eventful  political decades India witnessed  since 1983, as perceived through his journalistic assignments. As in a Sidney Sheldon novel the scene shifts from place to place—Calcutta, Delhi, Kabul, Jaffna, Moscow and Washington.  

The book begins with a placid account of village life ---as part of a middle class family--in what became Bangladesh and shifts to his days in Presidency College. He climbed the  grand staircase of the College   earlier climbed by Subhas Chandra Bose,  Swami Vivekananda, Ashutosh Mukherjee, Rajendra Prasad and Amartya Sen . These persons influenced not only the  history of Bengal but of India in the 19^th and 20 th Centuries.

 Suman was twenty years old by the time the Left Front firmly enacted  its second thumping victory in the 1983 Assembly polls and had begun his voyage in journalism.

He was always known to be the First. He was among the first handful of journalists to be in Kabul, just before the fall of the Soviet-propped regime, he was the first Indian journalist to arrive in Moscow (that too without a valid passport!) as the Soviet regime withered away, he was in Islamabad to cover the Rajiv Gandhi–Benazir Bhutto agreement, he was in the United States covering P.V. Narasimha Rao’s historic visit to that country, which finally set the seal marking the beginning of India’s economic reforms, he covered the demolition of the Babri mosque, he has covered every major Lok Sabha and Bidhan Sabha polls since 1983, across India.

He is fortunate to be counted as a close friend by a variety of leaders-- Pranab Mukherjee ( his father’s student), Jyoti Basu, Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, Mamata Banerjee and Anil Biswas, the architect of the CPI(M)’s stranglehold over Bengal.We are treated to a wealth of anecdotes of these persons.

What a phenomenal effort is called for  to establish enduring contacts with leaders of several hues , penning delicately balanced pieces and editorials .

Suman  covers  major developments which took him to Delhi, Jaffna and Moscow. He has covered extensively rise of  militancy in Punjab, Rajiv Gandhi’s rise in power , his brief encounter with LTTE Chief Velupillai Prabhakaran , the minute-by-minute account of Babri Masjid Demolition.

The CPI(M) in 1996 had some 60-odd MPs in house of 544  - when Jyoti Basu was seen and named as a prospective Prime Ministerial candidate with no single party winning a clear majority. But the CPI (M)’s central committee had then shot down that proposal and Basu had “lost the opportunity to become India’s first-ever communist Prime Minister”. Basu had  openly denounced his party’s decision as a ‘Himalayan blunder’. Basu’s loss turned into Deve Gowda’s gain  who  emerged as the consensus candidate.

 Basu defended his criticism and even  admitted his criticism of the party decision might be construed as violation of discipline while adding, “I did not challenge or oppose my party’s stand, I just aired my personal views. In our party, all contentious decisions are taken on the basis of majority and once a decision is taken even the dissenters have to fall in line. That’s the way a communist party works. That’s the way I have been all my life. Here too, I was a minority and went by what the majority wanted.”

 Basu went on tell Suman in a rare interview: “I have two objectives in mind. First, my assuming prime ministerial responsibilities would surely have bolstered the dying Left movement in places where we were once quite strong and powerful. That way the Left would have regained some of its lost grounds and political relevance.”

“Second, I would have got the first real chance to change the face of Bengal in a meaningful way by accelerating all-round economic development. As Chief Minister I have only partially succeeded, as in our country, all the real powers are vested with the Centre.” A candid Basu ,indeed !.

 Suman has laid bare the story of the succession of  Buddhadev Bhatacharjee and how he floundered in the face of Singur and Nandigram mass movements  years later.He is able to present  the story in his typical colourful and logical perspective, the hallmark of the powerful regional language press in Bengal, and later shows how it led to rise of Mamata Banerjee.

The second major item relates to the  militancy in Punjab and  the Rajiv-Longowal accord in 1984. Suman writes eloquently of his ding-dong battle  with Mrs Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister when Rajiv Gandhi was being groomed as the next Congress leader,  Rajiv’s frequent  trips to Bengal in a bid to wrest power from the CPI(M) in the run-up to the 1987 Assembly polls, the dramatic rise of the Raja of Manda, V P Singh, after the 1989 Lok Sabha polls when the author dared to predict the “rout of the Congress” in the Hindi heartland of U.P.

 One fascinating item is Suman’s  brief tete-e-tete with LTTE Chief Velupillai Prabhakaran after he managed to gain entry into the rebel stronghold of Jaffna posing as a member  of the  Red Cross. Other items are official, the blow-by-blow account on  the fateful December 6, 1992, when the Babri Masjid was pulled down in Ayodhya, trailing Pranab Mukherjee as the ‘Comeback Hero’

 Suman also brings home revealing anecdotes of his seniors in the field, as in this case one narrated by Kewal Verma in Delhi about Pratap  Singh Kairon, former Chief Minister of Punjab, under whose tenure the Bhakra-Nangal dam project made possible the ‘Green Revolution’ in Punjab. When charges of corruption against Kairon “rattled Jawaharlal Nehru in Delhi”, he was summoned to the capital. But before meeting the Prime Minister, he met journalists at Punjab Bhawan, where he told them in crude Punjabi, with disarming candour --  “for heaven’s sake don’t disrupt the construction of the dam”.

 Regarding the Babri Masjid demolition Suman presents a grisly picture. The zeal and fervour with which the karsevaks were taking part in the demolition job sent a chill down our spines. Those who had no tools to use were scratching away like madmen with their fingernails on the domes. A few young men tied a noose around the domes and were trying to pull them down.’

 Suman’s Memoirs  is a perfectly fascinating recount of major developments peppered with colourful anecdotes ,witty vignettes and is written quite racily. His penchant for details does not prevent him from putting things in an overall perspective which comes through very delectably. We have charming vignettes of Top-Cop K.P.S.Gill and the tearful tale of  Governor caught for his sexual peccadilloes.

P.P.Ramachandran

13/05/2018.

MIDDLE   CLASS

The New Middle Class in India and Brazil ; Edited by Dawid Danilo Bartelt and Alex Harneit -Stevens; Published by Academic Foundation ; Pages 279 ; Price Rs 1195/-

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Dawid  Bartelt is an authority on Brazilian and Latin-American history and is the Head of the Heinrich Boll Foundation in Mexico. He has several books to his credit. The second Editor Harneit-Stevens has specialized in African history and is presently the Foundation’s Chief in New Delhi.

The book is published by the Academic Foundation in partnership with the Heinrich Böll Foundation and contains contributions from  researchers and social activists.

 The origin of the book under review is to be traced to the Conference entitled “ Green Perspectives of the Middle Class—A New Reality  in India and Brazil” held in New Delhi in 2015.

Since the turn of the millennium, the rise of the “New Global Middle Class” - N M C -has been one of the most remarkable aspects of the rapid growth of the emerging economies. The discussion is primarily of the validity of the concept of the N M C and the politics around it. The thinking has been different in Brazil and India. The Heinrich Boll Foundation  and the “Development Alternatives” , a leading research organization arranged a workshop with 20 participants from India and Brazil. The book under review documents some of the presentations made at the Conference,

 But what is New Middle Class really like in countries such as India and Brazil? Is it a solid upwardly mobile social group – or rather a fragile class prone to poverty again once the next economic crisis comes? Does the New Middle Class support democracy – or does it rather tend towards aggressive nationalism? And if so much of the world is going to pursue typical middle class lifestyles and patterns of consumption, wouldn’t that have massive environmental impacts – or are there more sustainable options?

With perspectives from India and Brazil, this volume provides new insights into what is likely the most significant social development of our times: the rise of a global middle class, full of aspirations, in a world where safe limits of sustainability are already being transgressed.

 India and Brazil are functioning democracies, providing substantial space for political participation to its citizens. Democratic elections and the competitive party politics are well established in both the counties. The two countries have had State control over the economy or State-led economic development strategies. The nations comprise vast geographic areas and are highly diversified with regard to geo-climatic zones and bio diversity.

Apart from the two Editors there are sixteen contributors. Indian contributors include Paranjoy Guha Thakurta on “Political Preferences of India’s middle class “, Richa Singha on “The Rise of the Aam Aadmi” and Ashok Lahiri on “Green Politics and the middle class.”

In the beginning itself we have an analysis of  the  middle class in India and Brazil. “The growth of a middle class is expected to play a transformative role in modernizing the Indian economy, create new pressure points on the Government to tackle the vestiges of the Licence Raj and enable a more propitious entrepreneurship and job creation”. The ideological tether of the middle class to political parties will remain weak for the foreseeable future. The authors expect a concomitant growth in economic voting.

In Brazil, there is an intermediate stratum between the poor and the middle class whose position is precarious and unstable, without full access to the consumption market and constantly besieged by the  ghosts of social decadence. There has been a shortening of social distances and a new “ struggling class” is emerging, still deprived of the social and economic security that distinguishes the full—fledged middle class. 

Four pillars of green politics, namely social justice, grass roots democracy, non-violence and respect for diversity have become established principles of political parties in India. The integration of the environmental dimension of green politics, consisting of the twin pillars of ecological wisdom and sustainability, is in an evolutionary phase. Parties will get feedback on their environmental policies from the electoral battlegrounds and adapt them suitably. In India, green activism started with civil society organizations protesting against the Sardar Sarovar Project or Narmada Valley Project in general and forcible evictions, inadequate compensation to project affected people or even large hydroelectric dams,

In Brazil ,green politics was a fight against nuclear power plant and environmental degradation through the destruction of the Amazon forest and disruption of life and livelihood of the indigenous people. Brazil with its higher level of prosperity for a longer time has fostered a post-materialist philosophy among the middle class, which is congenial for the growth of a green party .What is required is a green party that addresses failures of governance in resettlement and rehabilitation, without militating against progress, modernity and emancipation from poverty.

The participants in the Conference concluded that the middle class must be analysed thoroughly in the national context in a broad sense, historically, culturally,politically, sociologically and economically. This will help us identify the common features which will enable us to understand the phenomenon both nationally and globally.

The problems posed in this seminal book enable us to comprehend what are the directions taken by the citizens of India and Brazil and also whether there is a chance of the “ New Middle Class”  accepting these sustainable, environmentally growth patterns. The contributors throw a flood of valuable light on the ticklish problems that afflict “Development” and “Growth”.

P.P.Ramachandran.

06/05/2018