Two women prove how successful feminine shakti can be!

Deepak Chopra may be guru to Hollywood stars but he's sure not to have these two women on his speed dial. For a man raking in the bucks, selling old wine in stylish, new bottles, he's got some antediluvian ideas. He believes women in the corporate world lose their feminine shakti!

He certainly should line up to meet Swati Piramal and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw. Both of whom are in cutting edge careers. Director of Nicholas Piramal, Swati A Piramal and Chairman & Managing Director, Bicon, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw are the women, who are in the forefront of the biotechnology movement in India. The West may be miles ahead of us, when it comes to biotech research but these two women have atleast given us a good start.

Mazumdar explains, "I think what has happened is, biotech has been a sort of an untrodden path and it hasn't been a crowded space. In fact, it has been a fairly unexplored space, so I think the focus on the opportunities, were more in the pharma sector and less in the biotech sector and in terms of scientific challenge, there are plenty of women in this country.

Though, women have never had it easy, even in the West, there is a belief that scientific careers are not meant for them. This kind of statement created quite a ruckus recently, when the Harvard dean and Former Treasury Secretary, Lawrence Summers made it. Mazumdar told CNBC-TV18, "Well I think that was quite a controversy and I don't think there were too many people, who would agree with his view, we don't agree."

Piramal explains, "Women in science, they are really coming up and Larry Summers talked about some of the hurdles and I think we have those, but the point is, how do we get across those hurdles. I am on the Prime Minister's advisory board, and we're writing a paper called Women in Science, on how do we get more women in India to study science."

Indian women could be cajoled into studying sciences, Swati Piramal explains, "There are 3-4 things that really make them scientists. One of them is a parent who really believes that a child can learn science, whether it's a boy or a girl. The second is that, someone has told her that you can achieve, you can do this. The third is, somebody has taught you this love for science - a teacher, a professor, a book, it could be anything. So these are the three factors which I think really influences a woman, and of course, the last is a role model."

Ofcourse, these two women are exactly the kind of role models for a future generation of female scientists. They have started the race and the baton will surely be passed on. In fact, they are already making a difference in boardrooms.

Piramal elaborates, "I actually found myself, though I am scientist, on three finance and insurance companies and I asked them why did you ask me on the board, they said we want people who can think of things in a different way and not their own standard. And I think, women bring that sort of diversity, the differentiation and creativity, this is kind of natural for them."

Mazumdar agrees and says, "There is a little sensitivity attached to whatever you are doing. When it comes to human relations, I think their sensitivities are far more acute amongst women, than it is among men."

"Very often in my company, many of my male colleagues when they are faced with the human relation dilemma, they come to me and say, hey do you think, I should dissolve this problem. You can ask them why they come to me, they say, somehow, you give us a very different way of thinking about these issues and maybe that's the way it's going to be solved."

Both of them are representing a new science and they have been the faces of India abroad in their field. Mazumdar acknowleges this, "Yes, I have sort of been a brand ambassador for Indian biotech for many years and yes there has been a credibility issue because India has never been really an R&D hot bet and I think that is something that I wanted to kind of change - that we are not just imitators, but we are innovators."

"But today, I think when I stand there, people sit and listen to me and take me seriously and I think that's the transformation I am seeing." Piramal admits that people do seem to take them seriously now. Especially with India's potential to deliver affordable drugs for five billion people.

Mazumdar explains, "Obviously, when you are in a business like ours and when you are driven by an ambition to basically deliver a billion dollar drug, out of your research table, I think that is really a very exciting space to be in. I think, to me affordable drugs for a large part of the world is something that is very possible, only out of India. And I think, if we can really develop an important drug in an affordable way out of India, that would mean a lot to me."

The flipside to being so incredibly focused is that one could lose out on the lighter moments in life. Kiram Mazumdar says that after Biocon went public, she's become a bit boring! The pressures of running a company with shareholders to answer to have not left much time to pursue her interests much.

So, she considers it a bonanza, when she can catch a rock or a western classical concert, in India or abroad. She also tries to watch a game of tennis, when the Wimbledon's on but even though she like golf, she hasn't been able to tee off for two years now! Well, you win some and you lose some.

Both have also authored and co-authored books, appreciate art and both are a 'husband-wife team', as Mazumdar puts it. She says, "There is another dimension which I never thought about, even though I knew about it, and that is, we both are a husband and a wife team. The most important role that someone can play in building these careers for women, are husbands."

Swati Piramal has co-authored two books with Mrs Tarla Dalal titled 'Eat Your Way to Good Health,' and another 'Diet and Nutrition Guide for Patients with Renal Disease and Renal Disorders'. While Kiran Mazumdar's coffee table 'Ale & Arty: The Story of Beer' is for the lager fans.

The multifaceted Piramal has also directed a music video called 'The Science Anthem with some of India's greatest musicians, lyricists, dancers and filmmakers and written an Indian opera called 'The Dance of Life', which tells the story of 2,500 years of Indian scientific discoveries, including astronomy, mathematics, ayurvedic medicine and other life sciences

That beauty is a part of their environment is obvious, as anyone who has been to Kiran Mazumdar's lovely home in Bangalore would attest. Swati Pirmal admits she was struck by Mazumdar's office. She says, "I visited her beautiful research centre, which is just stunning, all the work that she is doing and I really enjoyed her office, there were lots of beautiful paintings."

Swati Piramal's a free spirit who is into communing with nature. She says, "My big indulgence is my boat. Whenever I can, I take off with a few friends and we have this gourmet meal on the boat, with a glass of wine, with the sea and some great music for company. It’s so nice to get away from the city of Bombay because we have too much of traffic and buildings and when you are close to nature, you kind of respect everything."

These infrastructure problems do exist and that's what is keeping India back, on delivering on the brand-India promise. Mazumdar explains, "I don’t think the government is doing enough, because all that we want from the government is an enabling environment and infrastructure. Now in our business of biotechnology, there are lots of initiatives being taken and I think we have to address these with a sense of urgency. Somehow, I just feel that the government is not quite in sync with India Inc."

Piramal says, "I spoke to the Prime Minister only a few weeks ago and I said please do something to implement all the things that we have put together. If they can put that, India will really become a world power."

They have visions for a better country, and by the nature of their work, a better world. They also continue to be looked up to but whom do they idolise? Mazumdar says, "When I was setting up Biocon, I looked at certain people who have done things very differently. So I was very inspired by Jack Welch. In India, I was inspired by Professor Mashelkar because he was a big change-maker in science and technology. I was also inspired by Vaghul of ICICI and Narayan Murthy."

"The one woman who influenced me in terms of business, was Anita Roddick of Body Shop. I used to like her style of doing business because I have always looked at very unconventional people. I like unconventionality in people and I am very unconventional and when I set up the company, I certainly wanted it to be a very different kind of organisation and I insisted that every single person in the workplace call me by my first name, and I said everyone should call each other by their first name and it was quite an alien concept in those days."

Piramal's icon was the ultimate beacon of hope for the downtrodden, Mother Teresa. She recalls, "The one who really moved me, when I met her was Mother Teresa. She came to my hospital and she gave out packages to all the little kids who were paralyzed and she wrote that working for children is working for peace and she was so beautiful, that I can never forget her face. She was truly one of most beautiful women I have ever seen."


To order Kiran Mazumdar Shaw's coffee table book:
http://www.prakashbooks.com/details.php3?id=5965&c=Cookery,%20Food%20/%20Drinks

Written for www.moneycontrol.com

He brought the Satya Paul brand to life

He is the man who helped give the Satya Paul design label, a fresh lease of life. Sanjay Kapoor is an economist armed with a management degree from the University of Rochester. A short stint as Assistant Manager with Citibank later, he made a decision to do something entrepreneurial.

He teamed up with Jyoti Narula in the early 1990s to start Genesis Colors, to export designer neckwear. He formally tied up with Satya Paul in 2001 and has kickstarted their mission to corporatise the ready-to-wear market in India.

He says he decided to do something by himself because he didn't want to work for someone else for the rest of his life. He had also spotted a gap in men's wardrobe - that India was exporting a $2.5 Madras plaid shirt but neckties were being ignored. Being a banker, he realised how important ties were to complete the corporate look.

So he started Genesis Colors in just one room in his parents' home and now he has given the Satya Paul design label, a pan India footprint. With 13 standalone stores across the country and a foray into women's wear, Kapoor is now working on promoting a menswear line.

Managing Director of Genesis Colors, Sanjay Kapoor told CNBC-TV18, "In the next 18-24 months, we will be coming out with a menswear line."

His joint venture with Satya Paul has been on since 1992, but it has become more of a partnership now, with Satya Paul's son Puneet joining him and Jyoti Narula as an equal partner. He feels marketing a designer brand is something that needs newer and fresh approaches

In keeping with this motto, Satya Paul fashion shows have been held at Madame Tussaud's or models have catwalked to the notes of Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia's flute. Kapoor is always looking out for innovative brand promotion strategies.

With a view to building economies of scale, he is open to private equity funding and is also looking at issuing an IPO. Backing promising designers is also part of his mentoring strategy and they have made a start with Sanjana Jon and Deepika Gehani. This might pay in the long run as well, when these young designers hitch their wagon exclusively to Kapoor's successful brand.

There is an irony in this tale. Kapoor remembers a time, when he had just started out and bankers were wary of extending loans because they didn't feel garment exporting could be banked on.

Today, he fends off plenty of calls in a week, from investors and venture capitalists, VCs, who are looking to buy a bit of his business. Suddenly, now he seems to have a very appetising cake, from which he's eating all by himself - barring the two others who were smart enough to get on board when they did.

Note: At the time of writing this story, his deal with Sanjana Jon was on but since then, they have parted ways because of major differences.

Written for www.moneycontrol.com

If London & NY can do it, then so can India!

She is one of the crop of Generation Next investment bankers who dabble in global depository receipts, GDRs, in the US, do some interesting mergers and acquisitions, M&As in London, sell equities to foreign institutional investors, FIIs and have a world of experience in a very short span of time. The managing director at Kotak Investment Bank, Falguni Nayar is one such bright spark.

She began doing her homework on stocks early when her father was investing in them, she would look up P/E margins in the newspaper. It was then she knew she wanted to go on to do an MBA course, so IIM - Ahmedabad beckoned. She liked everything in her course but soon decided to specialise in finance. She graduated and went to work with Ferguson & Consulting, which she credits for giving her "a very good, all-round experience in the aspect of management."

But all the same, she did move on to Kotak Investment Bank in 1993. She joined the M&A department. She told CNBC-TV18, "Around the early 90s, Kotak had set up an investment banking division and they were doing a lot of equity deals and they wanted to build a strong M&A department and they felt that I had the right skill set. So I had to build it from there. Fortunately for me, within six months I got transfered to London and I moved into the equity business. So I set up our London office to sell equities to FIIs as well as high networth individuals, HNIs."

"So I think it was a good call, otherwise for many years in M&A, I may have not seen enough action. I was fortunate because by then, Uday (Kotak) had probably seen potential in me, so he asked me set up our London office. Then when I moved to the US, I set up our US office. So my career continued to progress.

In the US, she did get some experience working with Goldman Sachs for about 6-8 months. She was particularly impressed with a big name on Wall Street back then - Abby Joseph Cohen. She elaborated, Around 1998, Abby Joseph Cohen was a big name on the street and listening to her was fascinating. I must say, that I do believe in growth and I do believe in secular growth and I was convinced with her story that the US was in for further growth, even in spite of high valuation."

"I think at that time, US price-earnings multiples were around the low 20s and I thought that their accounting system was so strong and she (Abby) used to constantly highlight that compared to Europe or Japan, the US accounting (practices) was so strong, that I thought that US multiples would expand even from there.

She has also seen the internet bubble days but she acknowledges "I saw the value creation so to speak during the internet bubble days. On hindsight, it was truly a bubble. But there are always risks and at that point it didn’t feel like that. The fact was that every merger was accruing value for these firms because they were trading at such high multiples, that once they acquired some earnings, that multiple created huge market cap growth. So, it was a virtual cycle that taught me a lesson that there are (business) cycles."

Then she came back to India in September 2001. Here, she started on the sell side of equities and came across a gamut of investors. She's dealt with and serviced so many investor relationships, she has developed a couple of investment philosophies. She explained, "There are value investors who go for value stocks. There are growth investors who like growth stocks, then there are macro-investors who take a macro theme - top-down investing."

"A top-down approach is selecting the sector and then winners within that sector. So that’s the third type of investors and then you have arbitrage investors, who always try to arbitrage. It could be arbitraging differences between convertible and equities or a special situation arbitrage, where a merger ratio is announced and the stocks don’t reflect that. So those are the special situations."

"We also had investors who were long-short investors. They take a call upstream and buy downstream. They want to be short even within the intra-sector. At every stage there is may be one philosophy which is more prevalent than others, but there are investors with different philosophies in all phases of the cycle."

"Unfortunately, on the sale side you don’t have the liberty of choosing any one philosophy and just sticking to up. You have to really know your client and see what investment will suit his style."

She describes her personal style as being an optimist and a bullish person. She is also a growth investor who sometimes thinks a contrarian investment strategy may work. She said, "I believe in the structural factors and the macro economic factors, which drive growth over a longer term. So since I have a such a long-term perspective, within that, I do believe in secular growth and I think there are countries like India and China, which will see a very long-term secular growth."

"However, I have to some extent, matured. I mean there was a time when I used to really believe only on secular growth and now I truly believe that even if it’s secular growth, there will be cyclicality."

In India, she quickly moved into the flow of things and was involved with the big Maruti Udyog, MUL, initial public offering, IPO. She explained, "There are simple rules by which we evaluate a stock. What we (Kotak) thought as an investment bank did add value in terms of fitting Maruti within a (financial) yardstick with regard to international investors. While the stock was priced at 20-times historical multiples, we had worked with the company for certain improvements to their earnings model, so it was a huge success. So I think you need to have that clear judgment about what investors will think based on certain yardsticks of finance."

She's also level-headed about PSU disinvestments and about the share prices going down. Falguni reiterated, "It’s a market and there will be buyers and sellers. I mean for everyday when there is buying, there is a seller out there. So I just felt that to a certain extent, to be concerned about stock prices going down or selling in those shares was not right."

"Bankers are always working in the interest of their clients and even the bankers in the (PSU) deals were also working in the interest of clients. But it is a market and there will be some investors who will sell a particular stock during the time, when they think that IPOs are coming out and they don’t necessarily always gain because the stock may outperform during the period up to the launch. So even if the deal happens at market or slight discount to market, the stock maybe 10%-15% higher."

Apart from such hi-flying issues, she has also pioneered the GDR market - by marketing them under her own brand name. She said, "That’s where my international experience came to use, the offices (she set up) as well as the legal and compliance aspects. So I knew how it works. So when I came back, I worked with my equity team towards being one of the first Indian investment banks to in fact, lead manage as well as participate in GDR transactions in our own capacity, and similarly even on a convertible. Kotak did one of the first convertibles ever done by an Indian investment bank."

"I think this business has been done by foreign banks, but as an Indian investment bank, we are one of the first who are also offering a full service product range to our clients. So clients don’t need to come to us for domestic offerings and go to foreign investment banks for ADRs/GDRs, we are trying to offer them an integrated package."

Since, she's also looking at M&As, she has a gameplan in mind. She said, "For a successful M&A banker, sector expertise is very important and I am going to be focusing on having sector experts in as many sectors as we want to service. It’s only when you have the expertise on your sector, then you can be a true advisor to senior corporates heads like CFOs/CEOs. They really need you to be able to give them ideas on how they can take their business forward through M&As. So, you need to be very knowledgeable on their sectors."

Falguni is foreseeing a huge record volume in the IPO markets. She elaborated, "I think we are going to see a lot of IPOs as well as secondary offerings because we are in that growth phase, so there is a need for growth capital and also infrastructure - related financing will start off. Also new sectors are coming into play. So I definitely think that the markets are positioned well."

She signs off on a buoyant note feeling that Mumbai has the potential to become a powerful and truly world class financial centre, like London or New York. She has some parting pearls of wisdom for anyone looking to follow her footsteps. She said, " I would say that customer needs are important. Everything needs to be done from a customer’s perspective and you have to give excellent quality of execution, to satisfy that need."

Written for www.moneycontrol.com

Providing you with a classy makaan

Want a swanky home with a swimming pool on the roof and in a area like western Bandra, then you should book a flat at the upcoming Buena Vista. The going rate there is Rs 20,000 per square foot. And you thought good things came only to the deserving. In reality, it comes to the people who can afford it - good or bad.

The man who is selling such expensive real estate is Boman Irani, the 37 year old Chairman and Managing Director of Keystone Group. He has a Mechanical Engineering degree from the Mumbai University. He came into contact with real estate developers at the young age of 19, when he was trying to sell a family property. Though far from being organised, this industry lured him in.

He told CNBC-TV18, "I got into this industry because I realised the scope this industry had. Roti, kapda, makaan are the basic needs of any human being and the makaan had a long way to go in this city. This is what I set out to do and this is what our future goals will be."

Despite no degree, pertaining to putting up buildings he still wanted to be here. He recalls, "When I put up a building in Dahisar, I found out that the rooms we were making were too small and I asked my architect if we could make them a little bigger. He told me about what the city is like, what the area is like, what the people are like and where exactly I should go and get my grounding from. Basically just being interested teaches you a lot."

He does admit that there is a lot more that needs to be done in Mumbai and he feels it is happening - slowly but steadily. But he says that it takes a slap in the face for the sharpest reations to occur - like for instance the July 26 floods finally made the Mumbai authorities wake up.

But of his company's residential properties, he says, "We've decided to concentrate on locations and build only in places which will be considered great places to live in." So he settles on locations, he would be comfortable and want to live in himself. His company has been making apartments, keeping in mind what people want and if they are getting environmentally conscious now, his firm has been using sewage treatment and rainwater harvesting techniques for 6-7 years.

He feels people should be educated about the fact that to live in such environment-friendly homes has a cost attached to it. He says because people don't understand the sewage treatment technology, he's had people complain about treated water being used to water the gardens, just because their children play in the garden! He says that people should undertand the technology and ofcourse, make sure their children don't drink that water!

A Rustomjee home will be an efficiently functioning property, or so claims Irani. With the garbage disposal, sewage treatment, swimming pool all working and being maintained in perfect order. He promises that his firm builds quality into design and keeps people's needs foremost in mind.

Today, Keystone Group has a turnover of Rs 150 crore and employs over 200 people. So with his company doing well, he has set up the Rustomjee International School in Borivili (W), which gives good quality English education to children, who normally wouldn't be able to afford it. He says, "I told the teachers at this school, that it won't give me any shame if no engineers, doctors, scientists or artists come out of this school, but it would hurt me immensely, if I found out that one of them turned out to be a thug, rogue, cheat or a killer."

He has started a programme called 'Shiksha', where child labourers are taken to school between 1.00-3.00 pm and 5.00-7.00 pm and taught. There the child is taught basic reading and writing, about hygiene and moral values and basic things they need to know about this city.

With work and philanthrophy taking so much of time, how does he relax? This multifaceted man unwinds by reading, listening to music, riding his bike, going for long drives. Just to give himself that extra edge, he's also learning karate.

For more information on Keystone projects:
Call: +91·22·56766888
or e-mail : info@rustomjee.com
Website: http://www.rustomjee.com/index.asp

Written for www.moneycontrol.com

Clemenceau controversy: A lethal weapon

Green groups are up in arms and it's a cause that has found many believers and some recent converts. The decommissioned French warship, Clemenceau is a sailing load of asbestos and it's on its way to Sriram Scrap Vessels at the Alang shipyard in Gujarat. There it will be broken down. This ship has created such a ruckus because it is believed that it carries lethal amounts of asbestos, which is going to ruin the health of people, who work on dismantling the ship.

This is a Rs 40 crore contract, which has been rejected by other countries like Turkey, Greece and Spain but there are as many countries willing to pounce on it, if India says no as well. Bangladesh being one of them. Newspapers have been making environmental activism a daily feature, which is a good thing, since in this case, the Supreme Court has ordered the government to prevent the ship from coming near Indian waters till February 13.

The apex court order couldn't have come sooner because Greenpeace's toxic campaigner Ramapati Kumar told CNBC-TV18, "There are a lot of hazardous materials on board, which makes it unsafe. And also because, they lied from day 1 - they said it would go to Turkey for scrapping, once it is decontaminated but when it arrived there, it was found that it had not been decontaminated and due to Greenpeace's intervention, Turkey refused to accept it."

Both France and India are signatories to the Basel Convention, where it was promised that toxic waste would not be imported and exported. The French are conveniently arguing that warships are an exception to that, while the Chairman of the Monitoring Committee, Dr Thiagarajan says that no such exceptions must be made.

Well known environmental lawyer and Magsaysay award winner, Mahesh Chandra Mehta says that Dr Thiagarajan is right and at this point, this ship is not a warship at all, but rather, almost like junk. Ofcourse, it hasn't helped that the warship has 220 tonnes of asbestos on board and that France promised to decontaminate 90% of it but didn't do it.

Now, the French are singing a different tune and are saying that according to the weight of the entire ship, there is only 45 tonnes on board, which is 0.02% of the whole and which the French Defence Minister, Jean Francois Bureau calls "very neglible."

Not only is Greenpeace skeptical, but even the French NGO, 'Ban Asbestos' says the ship must be carrying somewhere between 140-180 tonnes compared to the official figure and Technopure - the French company, which was supposed to carry out the decontamination process - said that the real figure could also be as high as 500-1,000 tonnes.

Technopure provided the Ship Decommissioning Industry Corporation, SDIC, two quotations - 3 million euro and a 6 million euro - so that the high level of contamination could be properly dealt with - but the cheaper one was chosen. Kumar feels that the French government is lying and that Technopure is the one telling the truth. He feels that Technopure wasn't allowed to do a proper job about decontaminating the warship.

He's even more convinced because he heard the French ambassador make a remark on a TV channel, that India was a poor country and needed the money. The implication being that morality and environment issues shouldn't be made such a big deal about. The ambassador said they had 'got a good deal'."

Congress party spokesperson, Jayanti Natrajan says that India should institutionalise mechanisms that should prevent such issues becoming a controversy in the future. But at the same time, with regard to Clemenceau, she feels that if there is the slightest danger to workers' health, then the ship should not be allowed into Indian territorial waters.

But as things go in India, the environment minister, the deputy minister and the Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, have refused to reassure people, while in France, public opinion and newspaper editorials are urging the recall of the warship back to France. But now, the matter is in the hand of the Indian Supreme Court and the French government, and something should be done soon before it blows way out of proportion.

Kumar also puts the blame, where it also partly and correctly belongs and says, "The Ministry of Environment and Forests culture of silence is giving tacit approval to the whole game that France is playing. France is lying and India is willing to accept those lies."


Want a ringside view to see how a ship's torn down? Click here:
http://www.hms-vengeance.co.uk/farewell2.htm

Written for www.moneycontrol.com

The code that still intrigues

The Da Vinci Code has been a crucible for religious dogma, myth and emotions to flourish. Some Catholic countries have taken up the cry to ban this movie, while China does what it pleases, and this time it has flouted a Vatican ban and actually screened the movie there!India seems to always make a noise, just because everyone else seems to be doing it. Is there a case for banning the The Da Vinci Code in India or are the Indian Catholic organizations making an outrageous demand?

Spokesman for the Catholic Bishops Conference of India, Father Dominique Emmanuel told CNBC-TV18, "Not all the Indian Catholics are demanding this (ban). There seems to be one Catholic secular forum, which I happened to hear only in the last few days. I do not know what this organization is and there is one Mr Joseph Dias who is demanding this ban."

The fact is that this movie is based on a novel which is a work of fiction, even though this is something that Sony Pictures, (the producers) are not willing to put as a disclaimer and the author Dan Brown himself believes that Jesus Christs bloodline exists.

So there is enough fuel to keep the fire raging here but there was another Fire a movie made by Deepa Mehta that also created a furore in India because it touched on the topic of lesbianism and that time, it was Father Emmanuel who had called for reason. So whats so different now?

Father Emmanuel says, "I have said the same thing now that it is a work of fiction but having said that, what Dan Brown has cunningly done he has brought in certain factual characters in it. If it was a fiction, why did he not use fictitious characters? The way he is misleading people is that, he is talking about fiction and bringing in real characters like Jesus Christ."

He adds, "But nobody should be stopped to see it. While we are talking about the intolerance of the Christian community, I feel that the media has been a bit intolerant towards those who are protesting it because everyone in this democracy has the right to protest that is freedom of expression. If Dan Brown has a right of freedom of expression to what he does, certainly, there are other people who have a right to protest, if they feel they have to."

But some of the protestors are taking things too far. One of them is an activist, Nicholas Almeida who has asked for both the book and the movie to be banned and also has offered a Rs 11 lakhs as a reward to anyone who delivers Dan Brown dead or alive!

Almeida seems to be the Christian version of a Muslim religious fanatic and he says that he has the right to threaten Dan Browns life because "for the of Jesus Christ I can do anything on this earth because "under the garb of freedom of expression, it does not give licence to any person to show my religion at the lowest level."

Hes also going to increase the reward to Rs 22 lakhs, if the movie is released in India and he plans to stand outside theatres and appeal to people not to watch the movie because it hurts his religious sentiments.

Where religious sentiments are concerned, another book got its author a death sentence. Salman Rushdie lived his life in fear of being killed for his book The Satanic Verses and if that book could be banned, then why cant The Da Vinci Code?

Former Attorney General, Soli Sorabjee though doesnt agree with banning The Satanic Verses in the first place. He explains, "I do not agree that the ban of Satanic Verses was correct and besides what was banned was importation of the book. There was no question of banning the exhibition of the movie, if it has been passed by the Board of Film Censors. The two things are entirely different."

"When one comes to the exhibition of a movie, you are in the realm of Article 19/1A Freedom of Expression which ofcourse is not absolute but the grounds on which it is going to be restricted are specified in the Constitution. The relevant grounds would be either obscenity or immorality. Hurting the feeling of a community is not a ground on which you can ban a book or ban the exhibition of a movie."

He also does not agree with the like of Almeida and says that "someone should file an FIR and then action should be taken against him."

He explains. "In the first case, there is no law of blasphemy in the country. In the Indian Penal Code, it says that if any person deliberately, with malicious intention, publishes something, then he can be prosecuted and punished. That law is there in the Indian Penal Code as far as criminal law is concerned. When we come to the question of exhibiting a movie and censorship the relevant heads for censhorship would be what they consider immoral or indecent. The fact that youve hurt the feelings of some people is not a valid ground."

Managing Partner, Counselage, Suhel Seth puts it in a colourful manner. He says. "There are three things here. One is that Christians, who were known for their tolerance have had within themselves, some elements including people like Almeida who believe that by offering a bounty, they are holier than the church. Nicholas Almeida has brought more disrepute to the Catholic movement and to the church in India, by even offering this bounty because one would not have expected it from Christians."

"If you look at the book, it says there are three facts. It doesn’t talk about the whole book being factual. Today, there is a situation in Mumbai, where you have a gentleman who is saying he will go on a fast unto death."

He adds, "The third point that I need to raise is that, we need to stop when films like The Da Vinci Code is being screened in predominantly Christian/Catholic countries, why should India always be at the periphery of lunacy, when it comes to tolerance of creative expression?" He concludes, "This is a country, where you analyse and analyse till you paralyse."

How true! Meanwhile, a perfectly good movie is being held up because some people, for lack of better sense, are going against the tenets of the God they claim to follow. He talked about peace and justice and love for all mankind and had he lived today, may have just enjoyed the movie with a slight ironic smile like the one which plays on Mona Lisas lips!

Written for www.moneycontrol.com

Why finance is no longer male turf

Both of these high profile women bankers came to be where they are, via two very different routes. Deputy MD of ICICI Bank, Kalpana Morparia didn't even want to be there in the first place! She had no great aspirations and just wanted to be married and have kids.

She credits her mother for giving her the impetus to get an education and then take up a job because she wanted her daughter to have an independent income. So she did her BSc in chemistry and microbiology and then did law and in 1975, she found herself working for ICICI Bank.

Since then, she hasn't looked back or regretted her decision. The only regret she has, is of a very personal nature. She says, "One of the biggest disappointments that I had to come to terms with is not having children. Once you get that maturity, to accept such a severe limitation in a woman's life, I felt, if I could do that, I can just about handle any other disappointment."

On the other hand, Morparia's counterpart, Director of Kotak Mahindra Capital, Shanti Ekambaram did her schooling in Ahmedabad and came to Mumbai to attend Sydenham College. She was good at math and wanted to be a chartered accountant. She knew she was destined for a career in finance.

Both of them have given the world of finance, a more humane face. Being women has been an asset rather than a liability, as these two have successfully proved. But they also admit to working in very enabling environments.

Morparia says of her bank, "ICICI is place which gives you a lot of freedom. It really enables you to bring in all your inner creativity. It really inculcates the entrepreneurial spirit in an individual. And an entrepreneurial sprit with the backing of an organization - you can't get any better than that."

"I was also lucky to have good mentors. I have been here for 30 years now. It was a very different style of mentoring but they always created opportunities where l could grow in every opportunity that I was given."

But she does acknowledge that the fame that ICICI Bank has got for giving women such a leg up is now such a cliché! She explains, "I have been making this point at virtually every forum that I get. It's really got to do with the general neutral points. In ICICI, it does not really matter whether you are a male or a female except that we can dress better than men. But there is absolutely no discrimination at the time of recruitment, career progression, assignments or compensation."

Ekambaram agrees, "What is required in your business or your daily decision-making is a certain level of competence and I think if that's given and as long as your committed, I don't think there is too much of a difference. Yes, women do bring a certain amount of emotional quotient, EQ, which may perhaps make them more sensitive to certain situations and they may be able to handle certain situations better."

"But EQ without IQ means nothing. So at an IQ level, if that is a given, the EQ gives you an added advantage of being sensitive in certain situations and may be handling people better, or diffusing a certain situation or bringing a certain sensitivity to certain situations helps, but otherwise I don't really see too much difference."

Morparia feels because of their sensitivity, they make for better mentors as they tend to understand that people do have a life outside of the workplace and hence are more accommodating. But, she's also seen changes taking place. Now, more of her male colleagues can't make it to a meeting on a Saturday because it's their turn to babysit!

However, even if the number of women bankers are on the rise, they don’t have it any easier. They have to live up to expectations as well. Morparia agrees, "This is a world, which is driven purely by performance and no investor of mine is going to say, well you have a large proportion of women in your house. So it's okay if the first quarter numbers are not met."

Her career has thrown up many challenges. Morparia elaborates, "It has been a very varied career. I was a lawyer for 20 years of my career in ICICI. My first real big challenge came in 1996, when Mr Kamath asked me to move to treasury from law and I had never handled treasury and he also put me through corporate communications as part of that. So that was the real challenge - suddenly being thrown into doing something new."

"Another big challenge I faced, was the merger of ICICI and ICICI Bank and another one, which is now almost through, is the Dabhol settlement."

Ekambaram is all proactive and on the go. She says, "I deliver the best when I am pushed into a corner because I hate to lose. When I am pushed into a corner I think it brings out the best in me because it's all systems on wire. Your mind just thinks of 50 different things that you can win and I hate to lose."

She goes onto explain, "I have a favourite theory. I think your best competitor is yourself. You must learn to keep on beating yourself in whatever you do, only then will you excel. But the important thing in our organisation is teamplay. There is no substitute for hard ground execution, dirt under the finger nails work, and that can happen only when you have a team and you have five people in that team working towards one goal and actually delivering it."

Morparia believes, in the future, banking will see a lot of consolidation. She says, "Come 2009, when foreign banks will have an ability to make acquisitions, that's when you’ll see some serious M&A activity. The second trigger could be, if the government decides to privatize some of the public sector banks."

That’s in the future, but what’s in store for both of them, after the hurly-burly of corporate life passes them by? Ekambaram has eclectic plans for after her retirement. She says, "I want to do something different. I want to be a TV anchor. I used to anchor shows for Doordarshan in college and do radio shows for All India Radio But do something different is always that I have said. I dream of getting back to dancing. I almost became a professional dancer, I have done seven years of Bharatnatyam."

Outside work, Morparia unwinds at the movies or could be caught reading Stardust, a film gossip magazine! Sundays are for working out at the gym. Ekambaram is also a Hindi movie buff and loves old Hindi film songs and you would never guess this – cartoon movies! She thrives on Cartoon Network.

Written for www.moneycontrol.com

BPOs are waiting for another Y2K moment

Sanjeev Aggarwal and Neeraj Bhargava give a lot of leeway to their employees. Aggarwal allowed IBM Dakshs's cafetaria to be painted in eye-popping psychedelic shades of pink and yellow, when Aggarwal would have preferred a staid green.

While Bhargava had his moments of letting his hair down, at a company retreat, where he suggested everybody either do a salsa or a tango and then realised everyone didn't have the right footwear, so dinner jackets had to be rounded up in three sizes, to set just the right mood, for a night of dancing. Well, a disaster waiting to happen turned out just fine. It also proves that he and his team were not lacking in sheer ingenuity.

So taking a chance and taking risks is something both of them know a lot about. Bhargava says, "I think it starts with a sense of opportunity. When with some good people, you put a plan together. One thing leads to another, so it’s not usually grand strategizing."

"It is about where you want to be, what you want to be, and what you want to create." From being at a steady job with McKinsey & Company for 8-9 years, he felt like doing something of his own and started by running a venture fund and then got into WNS. Today, Neeraj Bhargava is the Group CEO of WNS.

He recalls, "The IT boom had just started. There were role models emerging in the form of Narayana Murthy and Azim Premji, you could see that coming and then other industries emerged, whether it was BPO or in commerce or media for that matter. The whole notion that you had to be blessed with being born in a certain family, or have access to capital, I think that just went away."

CEO of IBM Daksh, Sanjeev Aggarwal says, "The second big change is validation of India as a (BPO) destination, which I think is more relevant to export-led businesses like ourselves. But I think, you are absolutely right that the barriers to creating anything are pretty much limited by your own imagination."

"So my belief is that, this story has just begun. It’s like a pilot phase. My belief is that it has even started because we just have around 1% marketshare and there isn’t any other country, which is as well resourced as we are."

Initially, there was disbelief that something like this could be done from India. There were question marks about security, data, reliability and whether we can actually move up the value-added chain etc.

Bhargava elaborates, "What’s interesting is that customers are far more relaxed about it, than the people and the media here because in many ways this has happened in other countries. In fact, at the time when they were exposed, there were many such situations in the US, of a much bigger magnitude."

"So I think it’s all a matter of are we more visible? You will see more of this happen here but at the same time, I think you got to take this in your stride because I think I can speak for everyone in the industry - it was doubly hard being in India - to make our premises and our operations much more secure."

The BPO industry has other challenges to deal with, like the ability to transform customer businesses as opposed to managing discreet processes. Now, India has moved on from phase 1, which is the cost arbitrage game. Aggarwal admits, "Arbitrage was a good entry point, like Y2K was a good entry strategy for the IT services industry."

However, India is also poised to offer more knowledge process outsourcing, KPO, as opposed to BPO but Bhargava feels that it is not an easy business to be in. He says, "I think KPO is a part of an overall range of services you can offer from India and you will see a lot of that happen. I think like most buzzwords, it tends to generate more hype than what it is."

WNS has consistently come out on top in Nasscom's ratings and Bhargava sees it as a privilege and a good morale booster. But he does have higher goals tacked up on some softboard somewhere. He explains, "I think we are more married to the notion of numbers, we want to meet. So, we've got to grow 40% a year for five years, which is my personal goal and frankly, in this era of M&A, no one should take rankings seriously."

This sector has attracted a lot of fresh young blood and that gives them a chance to learn. When Bhargava was holed up in his office due to the floods, he made use of the time to get to know his young staff members. He feels people are overly critical of young people. He feels with the right goals, they can get a lot done.

He adds, "I basically like to have good people in my team and leave them alone to get the job done. I am a firm believer of, get good people around you, let them do their job and don’t try and second guess them. Be helpful and help them succeed."

Going forward, this industry will see a lot of consolidation acitivity. Bhargava agrees, "I think consolidation is a way of life in corporate India and it’s got to happen and I think it’s all a question of how good or bad an acquirer is. A good acquirer will know how to be sensitive to a company’s culture and find the right ways to integrate that."

"I don’t think that‘s the scary part at all. I think it's more a question of that one should still see a lot more entrepreneurial activity here. It’s been very healthy, it’s been good that companies come up. I don’t think that the entrepreneurial opportunity in the BPO industry is dead and one should keep on seeing as many companies come up as consolidation grows. We need to see more serial entrepreneurship, we need to see more initiative of that kind."

Coincidentally for Aggarwal, his passion for building a business has now become true. As for Bhargava, he loves to work hard, play with his kids, watch movies, listen to music - he's learning to enjoy rap music. Bhargava says, "I am fanatical about maintaining some balance with my family and I don’t do business dinners. I do miss out on racket sports, which I am very fond of and for which I don't get enough time."

But he admits to hating losing to his kids at Monopoly! He hates losing at anything. In his own words, he's "intensely competitive, I get really annoyed if we lose a sales deal and I am fairly paranoid and insecure guy, I don’t like losing."

On the other hand, Aggarwal is more laidback. He claims to be driven by what he "wants to achieve, which is probably not competitive, from a comparative stand point of view."

For more on WNS and IBN Daksh and the services they offer:

www.wnsgs.com and www.daksh.com

Written for www.moneycontrol.com

What Nobel laureates teach about investing in B-Schools

Fund Manager of Fidelity Fund Management, Arun Mehra studied electrical engineering and then did his MBA from the University of Chicago. He then did a stint with Motorola but wanted to work in the Indian equities market. After all, India is where he sees tremendous growth occurring over a 5-10 years period.

At the University of Chicago, he rubbed shoulders with some eminent minds - it's a school with a fair proportion of Nobel laureates including the now deceased, monetary economist, Milton Friedman. He credits those years for stoking his interest in how the markets function.

He told CNBC-TV18, "Clearly their (Nobel laureate professors) teaching is perhaps at a very high level for the PhD students. But you have constant lectures and you have a chance to interact. But it's that whole thought process which flows down, in almost every course that you do."

This is exactly the kind of intellectual stimulation that engaged his attention when he chose to check out the equity action in India. He explained, "I started trading and looking at markets when I was in college in Delhi and it was really the intellectual process - that one could uses one's mind and really invest and understand something - and see the value of that growing."

But theories and models learnt in some of the best global business schools remain just that - theories. One such theory that prevails is the myth of the markets being an efficient mechanism. So does he believe in it? He said, I think if markets were efficient, then we wouldn't have a job. I think markets are inefficient and that's where the opportunities come. However, if you think about Chicago and what they talk about is that if you have large enough companies and the information is widely disseminated, then the chances are that everybody knows what that company is about and what it's doing."

"But again, I think in a market where different people have different kinds of thought processes and view things differently, that's where the opportunities come and markets are clearly inefficient and valuations keep swinging to extremes."

The Beginning....

The MBA did give him skills apart from textbook knowledge, which he put to use when he began work as an analyst at Fidelity. He recalled, "Coming out of college, it (Fidelity) was clearly the shining light - a brand that you wanted to be associated with, if you wanted to work in this industry."

"The interviewing process is really rigorous. You have several rounds of interviews. You start with 1-2 rounds of interviews where you meet people and based on that, you actually go through the third round, which is a critical round. This is called a prospectus-test round."

He explained, "What you have to do is, you are given a company and you are supposed to do work on it, write up something, do some modelling and then come up a investment thesis. You have to present this report to a committee of fund managers and analysts within the day. After this, is the interactive session."

Mehta obviously made it through those grueling rounds and chose to work in international equities. He chose this specialization because "I had been in the US and was learning about the markets. I clearly saw that the global market was the place to be. One had to be international. The US market was there but there were a lot more opportunities outside of the US and clearly that is where the inefficiencies were. That is where research was not being done properly. So I really want to look at the entire globe and look at different parts of the world."

He was sent to Hong Kong which was in the midst of the handover to the Chinese and there was concern that once China took over, it would be the end of Hong Kong. But that never happened.

He recalled, "But then, there was the Asian crisis. I was coming out of college and getting into this profession which was hitting the bear market, which is perhaps one of the best experiences you can get. What I had learned is that, a bear market really teaches you all about investing."

"In this scenario, companies disappeared, brokers, dwindled, there was no interest in Asian equities and all you had to do at that point in time was, go out and do research and just spend time visiting companies, understanding which company is going to survive. And, the most critical part was understanding the balance sheet, because the companies that had a balance sheet, had the capability to survive."

His research supported his optimism about the virgin equity markets that was Asia, particularly India. He did see a lot of opportunities that were in favour of the Asian continent, like demographics and the fact that these countries were evolving along the same pattern as the developed countries.

Want to work with Fidelity? See if you can match up!

-To start with, there are 1-2 interviews
-Then comes a prospectus-test round - where you are given a company on which you write up an investment analysis.
-Present the analysis to a committee of fund managers and analysts at the end of the day.
-Then comes the interactive session.

With regard to India, the market was developing. The trading systems were being put in place. Some clearly emerging sectors were IT and pharmaceuticals and these weren't very well developed then. So as Mehra put it, "clearly at that point, there was no pull but the opportunities were immense."

Having witnessed a bear market in Asia and in Europe, the learning process continued for him. He said, "I think the very fact that at Fidelity, we stick to fundamentals, we stick to numbers and we stick to discipline. That really helped identify a business model that we made money in."

Investing philosophy

So these developments gave him an insight, on which to base his own investing philosophy. He explained, "As far as I am concerned the basic process is clearly the same (as Fidelity's). I focus on companies, on managements and try and understand their business models. But clearly, most of the money is made when you differ with the street. That's really the way to make a lot of money - when you use your original thinking to do something, which you think is right."

The contrarian investor has to go against the flow, which can be a lonely feeling. He explained, "If you look at the companies and if you think about how investors think, the worst times in a market are when nobody really knows what's going on and it's generally during those times when you have to take the tough call and make a decision, because you see value in the company, in a brand or a franchise, which is just down for no reason."

But he does look at other parameters as well while investing. He said, "We (Fidelity) look at a management's track record and disclosures and their commitment to minority shareholders. We are looking at business models and at franchises. I really want to see the sustainability of the business model. At the end, you come down to valuations and numbers, and then try to put the whole thing together."

"I also spend a lot of time in cross-checking with customers, suppliers, competitors, over and above what the company is saying, to get a holistic picture on the company." He also sets store on diversifying his portfolio but doesn't include too many new companies because he would prefer to keep the risk element low and stick with the consistent performers.

He explained, "When you are buying good companies, then that's really where the overall portfolio performance will come through. However, your bets and the conviction that you have, is really stacked up in those top 10-15 holdings, which give you the data every year."

"In this (equity investing) business, the simpler the business, the easier it is to understand and the more money you can make out of it. So clearly, that is the focus. You have to drill down to the basics, to the key variables that are going to drive earnings and performance."

Mehra's agenda is to have a long-term investment horizon with a record of consistent performance. That's what he emphasizes to Fidelity's customers as well. He aims to "spot winners and pick stocks, that will generate value over the long run and that's what we really want to own in the portfolio."

The India story

The demographics, the return on capital and the quality of management are factors in favour of India being a better bet than China. Higher disposable incomes, companies going global and if infrastructure was strengthened, then India will be an unbeatable package!

Mehra has studied over 400 companies but he's learnt not to be complacent because there is always some new company which pops up, which excites his interest. He feels India could become a stock pickers paradise.

But he elaborated, "The main thing is that the Indian companies know how to make money. Indian managements know how to make money. These are not high capital intensive businesses. These are high cash-generative business and services oriented. There is the mentality of turning out more from an asset. Indians are entrepreneurs but they have been shackled and if you let them free, these companies can grow and make a lot more money. I think that is a big difference between India and China."

He does intend to put his money where his mouth is, and has plans to build a big business In India. He said, "If you look at our overall India exposure today, Fidelity has close to $3 billion invested in India. We are clearly one of the top FIIs. We have raised close to $330 million. I think over time, we want to have a share of the consumers' wallet."

"We clearly have a missing product in cash and in fixed-income but I think over time, we want to build a big business. India is a strategic market for Fidelity and that is really where we are focused. We want do what is right for the investor."

Written for www.moneycontrol.com

Jim Rogers plays the field but India's on his mind

Jim Rogers has come a long way. This poor boy from Alabama is today a legendary investor. With degrees from Yale and Oxford, and a reputation built on Wall Street, the world of investing keeps their ears peeled for his advice. For a guy from a rural village in the US, he sure knew his mind. He knew he did not want to become a lawyer or a doctor or a politician!

He told CNBC-TV18, "I read the Financial Times. I read as much as I could about what was going on in the financial world and in the economic world. I also read about politics, I read about everything. If you are going to be a successful investor, you have to know about the whole world. You can’t just know about the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE, you have to know about the whole world."

He did get a superb education but he says he didn't much learn about the market at Oxford. He recalls, "I didn’t know much about the market when I was at Oxford. I learned that later. All bubbles look the same, whether it is in India, Germany, Australia, Japan or in America - people act the same all over the world, whether during a boom or even in panic."

"As far as I am concerned, an MBA is a waste of time, money and energy. Many people think it is a way to get a job, it may be a way to get a job but it's not going to help you make money. Plenty of MBAs are not successful investors and many people, who have never seen a business school were great investors. So an MBA is very overblown as far as I'm concerned."

He had a unique kind of entry to the world of investing. He wanted to know if getting an MBA would be worthwhile and he was told by an experienced older investor that, if he learnt to short sell soya beans a couple of times, he would learn more, than at any B-school. The older man told him, "I assure you that when the soya beans go against you, you will learn a lot about yourself, the markets and the world."

Today, he's done well for himself. He began to look at countries to invest in and the asset classes that would really pay off in the long run. He explains, "I guess that came from experience - from realizing if a country is going to do better, we should invest in all the stocks in that country. If one thinks, commodity is going to do better, one should invest in all the commodities. If an airline industry is going to do better, probably all airlines are going to do better. It is something I have learned from experience."

"As far as I am concerned, an MBA is a waste of time, money and energy. Many people think it is a way to get a job, it may be a way to get a job but it's not going to help you make money. Plenty of MBAs are not successful investors and many people, who have never seen a business school were great investors. So an MBA is very overblown as far as I'm concerned."

Since he's made a killing on foreign playing fields, these are a few things he recommends that budding global investors should look out for. He elaborates, "I certainly want the currency to be convertible. One needs to make sure that there is a rule of law, make sure that there is liquidity in the stock market. You want a country, which has an improving balance of trade, it doesn’t have to be positive but it has to be up and on the rise. You have to have an economy that is getting better and an understanding that investors are good for a country and are welcome investors."

"There are countries which are obscure and cheap because people don’t know about it and don’t go there. I have invested in many countries that aren’t obscure. Japan is not obscure and I have investments there on the theory, that Japan is going to get a lot better. So, it doesn’t have to be obscure, it has to be cheap and one I think as a market, will get better."

Another guideline is really simple. Find something cheap and secondly, see if change is in the wind. He explains, "One can be a successful investor if you can figure out when something is going to change. If it is for the better, one wants to buy and if it is for the worse, then sell it and sell it short. Right now, I have been buying airlines when the airline industry was not doing well for the last five years. They have lost billions and billions of US dollars."

"In my view, there is change taking place, the airplanes are full now, the fares are going higher. Either the airlines are going to disappear or there is change taking place for the better. I don’t think we are going to take a boat to London anymore! I think we will be flying, so one way or other, the changes coming in is a positive change. Also, other things being equal, I prefer a company that does not have a lot of debt but if I think a change is coming and if it is going to be positive, then I don’t mind a lot of debt. I have bought companies in bankruptcy, and I think they are going to come out of it."

Jim is an experienced player and feels that an MBA degree doesn't prepare you for an investment-oriented career. He's also all too aware of the fact that he's the world’s worst market timer. He admits as much and says, "I am the single worst market time trader in the world. I have to be patient and I have learned that it might take a while for things to work out. That is okay because I have always learned that perhaps it is going to work out if I stay with it. I do worry about that, if a change doesn’t take place, or something derails the change, I would have to change my opinion."

"It is not easy to become a successful investor or get rich. It takes a lot of work. If one is not prepared for that, then one should not be investing. It is that simple. You are better off, putting the money in the bank and earning interest."

He also suggests that potential investors look at certain ratios to understand their purchases well. He advises looking at debt-to-equity and return on equity. This apart, the man has his own quirky ways of doing research. In Jim's case, he does his research in a very hands-on manner - he's famous for making his own spreadsheets - manually. He feels, this is the best way, a rookie could probably learn more in this manner, than in any other way.

He adds, "I don’t use Wall Street research. One has to be suspicious of everybody’s numbers. I am sure at Enron, there were people who didn’t know that there were problems. But if one does the numbers and compares them over a period of time, one will start to see problems showing up. One may not know what the problems are, but one can figure out that something might be wrong."

Earlier, he was sanguine about the Indian stock market but was gung ho about commodities. The bull market in Indian commodities is already on and it may last from 2014 till 2022. These bull markets last a long time because it takes a long time to bring out a new supply and when shortages develop, they go on for a long time.

This is beside the point that he feels that, "Commodities get absolutely no respect, though they are starting to - people are starting to learn how to spell commodities! I bet most of your readers have never bought a commodity (stock) and I bet most of them don’t know anybody who has bought a commodity. People know about stocks and bonds and very few of them know about commodities and care about them."

But today, things have changed. He says, "I am more optimistic about India than I have been anytime in my life. I still have a lot of skepticism. The market is a little bit frothy right now, I am not convinced that India is going to be the next China but India seems to be doing the right things, I know your politicians say the right words. I hope they mean it, but my problem is that I have heard Indian politicians for 15 years, say the right things!"

"In fact, I have sold out on the Indian stock market including the hotels. Though, I think Indian tourism can become one of the great investment sectors in India and in the world. There are other sectors in the Indian economy like agriculture, defence, education and tourism. In my view, India is the single best country in the world to visit from a tourist point of view. You have a combination of man-made and natural sites, food, culture, breadth of languages, of religions and everything else. And you always win the beauty contests!"

Written for www.moneycontrol.com

The secret behind Vedanta's success

After having acquired Balco and listing on the London Stock Exchange and coming out with the second most expensive IPO ever, you would think Anil Agarwal was done. But the chairman of Vedanta Resources, is ambitious and wants to put his company up there - right alongside the top two companies of the world. His being the first among equals.

His journey began in 1986, when his company made a turnover of a million dollars making cables, which is not the most exciting product in the world. He knew that he had to make the most out of it and grow his business to the maximum possible.

So, that is when he decided to take the business abroad. He told CNBC-TV18, "There were two aspects. One was that the metal business is no longer a regional business. All the wealth is in the First World and all the natural resources are in Third World. We took over the first two Australian copper mines about nine years back and it was very difficult but we managed it very well because we need the copper concentrate for our Tuticorin plant."

"In the last 15 years, we are the only company who has done a greenfield and a brownfield, project. We did a large Indian privatisation successfully. We bought a sick company (Balco) and turned it around. We took the company abroad. We took the company to Zambia, where it contributes to 26 per cent of the GDP of the country."

After making such drastic moves, he couldn't afford to take it easy and he was constantly benchmarking his company against other international players. He's borrowed BHP's successful formula, where they go to a Third World country to see the geology and get the funding and equity from the First World.

He agrees, "It was my model and I always thought that India has a tremendous opportunity because of the geology."

He feels that in this age, the theory of 'boundaryless' - a Jack Welch concept of sharing resources, ideas and strategies - works for maximum benefit. This works across a vast organisation but in this case, it could also be about sourcing and making use of the elements that is best for a company's future growth prospects.

Agarwal says, "I did realise that probably if I went to the London market, they understood mining better and I would get better value."

Agarwal's looking to improve his odds by being the lowest cost producer of every business he is in. He explains, "If you look at each of our business, in copper, we are the lower cost producer in India as well as in Zambia. In aluminum, we are also going to be a low cost producer. If you look at Balco, we have created another Nalco. When we took over Balco, it was producing 100,000 tonnes, now it's producing 350,000 tonnes of aluminum."

"Going forward, we will be expanding more because we find that we have the expertise. So we are definitely hungry to acquire more mines in any part of the world and are also looking at some greenfield or brownfield businesses in India."

Managing a global enterprise with different infrastructure levels was a challeging task and India was then, not on anyone's map! But Agarwal can take satisfaction in having done just that. He's put India on the global mining map and also made itself known to the international financial world in London and New York.

His second priority is shareholder value. He elaborates, "We are very conscious about our shareholder value. When we listed on the LSE, people realized the shareholder value and then they found out that we were basically an Indian company who were giving them better multiples."

He believes his team is a bunch of motivated people with risk-taking ability and a lot of credibility. He has put in a de-centralised management model in place. All his businesses are run by independent CEOs with the best people working in these divisions. Agarwal wanted the world to take Vedanta Resources seriously and he's hired the best to get the recognition he deserves.

He brought Brian Gilbertson, who was CEO of BHP Billiton on board as the non-executive director and chairman because he states, 'those are the people who will not come to you until and unless they believe that your product is right and you are right.' With Gilbertson having propelled Vedanta Resources into the limelight with the $876 million IPO, he has stepped down to make way for Michael Fowle.

But Agarwal concludes, "Vedanta has definitely shown to the world how cost can come down. When we took over Balco and when we took over Hindustan Zinc, the cost was $1100 a tonne. We brought it down to around $500 a tonne. We increased production from 100,000 tonnes to 400,000 tonnes."

He is conscious of his company's responsibilities towards the community and the environment they mine in. Keeping corporate governance on par with making profits, any new development including extensions to existing abstraction or operating licences undergoes an impact assessment, which includes a review of environmental and social impacts.

Opening new mines entails liaison with the elected local community representative. Compensation is given for any loss of land and this includes the provision of replacement land for relocated families and the opportunity for employment with the group for a member of each family who has been adversely impacted.

Agrawal's company also looks at building of infrastructure such as roads, making provision for water and healthcare facilities, wherever they operate. Apart from this, remediation measures are taken by businesses when mines shut down for good. This includes back filling and replanting, wherever it is required.

Written for www.moneycontrol.com

A bath that's refreshing & pricey!

Cutting edge technology has now entered the boring bathroom. For most, it's just an enclosed space to take a bath but the romantic and the rich are adding a whole new dimension to this room.

People are putting in a spa, jacuzzi and just about everything that would help them de-stress, after a hard day at work and especially after the tedious commuting. And there are a lot of manufacturers out there, trying to wriggle into people's homes. Hansgrohe is one such high-end brand. Their shower cubicle is worth checking out. This is a multisystem shower with about 15 torrents, which makes up the medicated steam bath concept. This includes body showers, neck massagers, steam and chromo therapy, the Scottish shower and aromatherapy, as well as a foot massager and a built-in FM radio, or a CD player that attaches itself to your speakerphone.



All this doesn't come cheap and costs as much as a brand new, small car. This shower system is priced at Rs 4.75 lakhs. Or, if you rather prefer to soak luxuriously, then the freestanding tub is what you'll need. Being freestanding, it means you can carry it into your living room and soak in front of your television and enjoy watching Baywatch or Psycho! A copper tub could set you back by Rs 1.2 lakhs.

But the ultimate, seductive device is a German jacuzzi, which hits you with 100 jets at a go and propels bubbles into the tub. All this to make bathing a very enjoyable affair! This is priced at Rs 95,000.

All this is for one aspect of cleanliness, what about if you want to sit on a top-of-the-scale loo and crow about it to the whole world? Well for such people, Keramag's new range of sanitaryware and accessories called the F1 series should do the trick. Porsche, yes the premier car brand, has designed a range of commodes, washbasins, bidets, bathtubs, furniture and unique original ceramic shelving.



The range distinguishes itself, especially through its natural line management. Bell-shaped washbasins symbolizes the "presentation" of water and this is all for a mere Rs 66,000. A floor mounted WC comes at a price of Rs 1.18 lakhs and a bathtub, that can be ordered from Germany, comes for a whopping price of Rs 9 lakhs.

Well, if you have that kind of money, then you may have a Porsche - the car - in your garage anyway!

Written for www.moneycontrol.com

Evocative first impressions

Bhavna Jasra was five months pregnant with her daughter Tia, when her husband inadvertently gave her another gift - the gift of a hobby that became a lucrative and creative profession. He took her on a holiday to London and that's where she got smitten - by a pair of tiny feet.

Though Bhavna wasn't on the look out for a business opportunity, but the two little mounted feet at a friend's home in London, had her hooked. She forced her friend to take her to the studio, where she had got the impressions made. There she got the typical English stiff upperlip behaviour - they gave her some brochures to look at and told her to come back, when her baby was born.

But Bhavna wanted to know more and she persevered. She waited in the studio for five whole days, to the point where Mrs Ferguson almost called the cops because she thought Bhavna was a stalker! But on the sixth day, Bhavna was invited in for a precisely five-minute audience with the lady, who made these impressions.

Mrs Ferguson soon allowed Bhavna to use her art, after she charged her a stiff fee for the franchise - enough as Bhavna says to "buy a house in London." So, after first getting her daughter's impressions made, very soon the marketing consultant in her took over. She says that the franchise fee was high, but she has more than made up for the initial investment. On the first day, she made over 150 impressions of newborns.

Today, she can demand her price and get it because she offers that kind of quality. Her impressions can come in diverse finishes, such as gold, silver, copper, bronze and pearl finish. Also the dimensions of the limbs matter as well as the frame, that it is mounted into. So she offers a choice of frames, like wood, wrought iron, one-piece glass bubble frames, (which is when the impressions are enclosed in a glass bubble and the only way to get them out is to break the glass). So keeping all this in mind - her price can begin at Rs 15,000 and go up to a couple of lakhs.

She's done so many celebrity impressions but she finds Bal Thackeray's the most fascinating one because as she puts it, she has always been a Mumbai girl and there's never a day, when he hasn't made news. She recalls that when she held his hands and immersed them in clay, her own hands were quite cold and he had wittily remarked to calm her down a bit, that "few have held the tiger by his paws!" She also cherishes the memory of doing impressions of Sanjay Leela Bhansali and his mother's hands.

Acclaimed filmmaker, Sanjay Leela Bhansali told CNBC-TV18, "When I see this (impressions of his mother's hands), it's all there - the lines that have come out on her hands, all that she's lived through is all there. It's primarily less of my hand and I think it is a wonderful gift that she's given to us."

Today, Bhavna is also a marketing consultant to some companies like Citibank and ICICI Bank. With no degree in marketing, she says it comes naturally to her because she could even sell a product in her sleep. While Bhavna is very satisfied with both her marketing assignments and First Impression, it's never done at the cost of time with the family.

Written for www.moneycontrol.com

The US might make a martyr of Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein has been demonised quite a bit by the media and he does deserve it, to a fair extent. But when his trial has been such a travesty of justice, does he now deserve the death sentence? Wouldn't life imprisonment have been better, especially since the Americans have hardly got Iraq under control to begin with and their former president's death at the hands of an occupying power could so easily set the country up in flames?

Financial Times, South Asia correspondent, Jo Johnson told CNBC-TV18, "I think the verdict may be just but the sentence is wrong and a big political mistake. No one disputes that Saddam was guilty of many of the crimes for which he was tried. I think the political mistake is that countries which are behind trying him are seeking to impose the death sentence on him."

"For eg. Britain opposes the death penalty at home and normally wouldn't extradite people to countries which have the death penalty - it does seem to be extraordinary that our foreign secretary seems to be endorsing the death penalty. Britain seems to be caught in a complete political quagmire of its own making. A life imprisonment would have been much more consistent with Britain's stand on the death sentence."

But Strategic Affairs editor from Indian Express, C Rajamohan feels that to expect amnesty is futile because "we are talking about the consequences of war and it is not the first time or the last time, when victors have delivered justice. Given the conditions that exist in Iraq today, and in the broader context of the Middle East - the point is that a dictator pays for his sins and it's a reasonable outcome out there."

"You can keep questioning the process but it won't take us very far because he (Saddam Hussein) is a divisive figure in Iraq. If the Sunnis or the Iranians had got their hands on him, they would have handed out their own justice. So, we've got to see this in the right perspective rather than be troubled by whether the highest level of western jurisprudence will be applied."

National Public radio, South Asia, Philip Reeves disagrees and explains, "I feel the issue here is the moral authority of the people who are now running Iraq, be it the US or the Iraqi government. I think the task they have is to recover some moral authority, which they have lost over the last three years. And by applying the death penalty, they are missing the opportunity to show that they could have handled this differently, that they could have given him a life imprisonment and dealt with all his crimes and given the Iraqi people time for reconciliation."

Chief correspondent, South Asia, Al Arabiya, Walel Awwad feels that this sentence has made any ordinary American a target, anywhere in the world. He says, "I think counterproductive measures have been carried out by the Americam administration." But Reeves says that this would give rise to even more anger among the Sunnis and Saddam Hussien could become a martyr if executed.

Also there is the timing of the verdict. It's come just in time - right before the November elections in the US, and no one is surprised because it seemed like a foregone conclusion - that the judgment was delivered just in time to boost President George Bush's rating at the hustings.

So now, America seems to be caught between the devil and the deep blue sea and with no face-saving measure in sight to retreat with any amount of grace.

Written for www.moneycontrol.com

Narayana Murthy & Nandan Nilekani – divided they stand

They are the team that is the first couple of the information technology sector. That's NR Narayana Murthy and Nandan M Nilekani for you. The former, whose brainchild became Infosys is the Chairman & Chief Mentor while the latter is the Chief Executive Officer, CEO, President and Managing Director.

They are about as alike as chalk and cheese. Murthy is the Mozart and Elton John fan while Nilekani loves the Beatles and rock music of the seventies. So, it's anyone's guess that this team was going to be complementing each other perfectly. As Nilekani says, "They say that you should team up with people you can grow old together with, and that’s really been our story. We are with people who we are happy growing older with."

Infosys was a gleam of a vision in Murthy's eyes when he was toiling away like any other salaried employee. It's his wife Sudha who has an engineering degree, which she put to use on the Tata Motors shop floor, at their factory at Pimpri, Pune. She was a pioneer in her own way - the first woman engineer to work in an automobile factory.

Families had to put on the backburner while Infosys was being born. Murthy remembers the time when he was away in France for six months and his son jumped from the top of the car and broke his arm. His wife took care of it in her quiet and competent way. He only heard about it on the phone, when he called from France and his son told him that his hand was fine!

Such trials and "deferred gratification" as Nilekani puts it, paid off big time. So, Infosys started small - with USD250 in 10x10 room, with no fancy venture capitalists having spotted them and starting them off. Today, however, the company is listed on Nasdaq and it has a beautiful 70 acres campus in Bangalore.

Also on the anvil is a hotel for the business crowd that Infosys has managed to lure down to South India because the existing hotels charge much higher and make money at Infosys's expense. So it's smart on their part to direct that business their way as well.

But the story was about keeping the faith and that's what the team around Murthy did. Nilekani told CNBC-TV18, "Well, I think we all were working under Murthy’s leadership and we just jumped into it without even thinking or worrying because we said we are with him. He is an extraordinary leader."

"I think when the history of India is written, he will be ranked up there, among the top 5-10 leaders of this country and because he is able to lead by example. He is a very fair person, even though he is very tough, in fact is toughest mostly on me because he is very brutal in his feedback."

But feedback is welcomed, especially if mistakes that have been pointed out can be converted into lessons learnt. Murthy explains, "Well the lessons learnt are one, you have to benchmark on a global scale. Second, you have to lead by example. Third, you have to look at long-term interest. You have to look at the interest of the community, the corporation. You have to bring people, who have mutually exclusive but collectively exhaustive, skill sets and experience."

There has been an emphasis on accepting the company's value system and putting it before one's own. It's an ideal that everyone who works at Infosys accepts as a credo. Nilekani admits, "It’s something out there and all of us, any day, will subordinate our egos for that purpose." But this has served a purpose in the past. It's the very reason for their immense success.

Murthy acknowledges that and explains, 'I think the success formula is, one, we brought together a team, which has a common value system. Once you have an enduring value system, which means sacrifice in the interest of the company, you look at long-term rather than short-term. You don’t shortchange anybody. Here it is a leadership of the idea.'

He credits his destiny for the people he met and started out with. Five out of the original seven still work at Infosys and he says if he had to do it all over again, he would do it with the same people. But Infosys has managed to keep an exclusive image, by not hobnobbing with the business community at Page 3 events. Both Murthy and Nilekani have adopted a low-key lifestyle. They have both seen years of struggle, so the arclights do not enamour them, as their goals are bigger than the momentary fame.

Nilekani elaborates, 'I think our trip is building a great company. Our trip is really putting India on the global map, our trip is to create jobs for thousands of people. That’s what we get our excitement from. It just so happens that, as a byproduct of that, we also made some money but I think the real thing is that, that’s the excitement for us.'

Murthy adds, 'Also it’s my personal view, that people who are making capitalism become more and more attractive through entrepreneurship, I think we have to conduct ourselves in a manner that people see as approachable, people see us as one among them. As I have often said, the ultimate contribution of Infosys is that, there are thousands and probably millions of entrepreneurs in the country, who may think that if these seven jokers (people who started Infosys) could do it together, we could do it too. I think that is the ultimate compliment that can be paid to Infosys.'

Their singular approach has seen them make conservative guidance estimates and then stick to them. An attempt is made to make a commitment, which they can honour. Murthy explains, 'I think it’s a part of the value system. It’s about being trustworthy. It is about delivering on promise. So it’s about being predictable. So once all of us have agreed, we obviously have to say things or commit to things that we can really work toward.'

Obligations to shareholders apart, they don't feel any pressure when coming up with guidance numbers because a lot of the issues have been discussed threadbare internally. So once their minds are made up, it's just a matter of articulating it. So, a lot of argument happens back and forth but the better idea, from Infosys' point of view always wins.

Infosys has made it a matter of pride for people to want to work with them. There are interns lining up from abroad, who want to come to Bangalore to work. Keeping in mind the late hours, that employees may have to keep, Infosys has taken care of providing comforts and good quality facilities. How does a French restaurant, a clothing store, a hotel and a gymnasium sound? Well, all that's to be found on the Infosys campus!

Now they are selling the Infosys and by extension the India story abroad - at the World Economic Froum in Davos, in Washington and elsewhere. They are pitching a changed India to the global business community.

Murthy explains, ' A lot of things have changed for the better and if the government, the industry and all of us together, were to sort out a few minor issues - if we were to create a few visible signs of progress, like the airports, the roads etc - I think we can quickly go to the next orbit, which is $80-100 billion in just this industry plus the manufacturing sector.'

For doing this, though, Murthy rules out joining politics as he knows it's different from running a company. He says, 'It's one thing to run a company like Infosys which has a really enlightened democracy. On the other hand, to manage a country like India with it’s urban-rural divide, with its rich and poor divide, with huge problems. It’s not easy. I think we should be very realistic about our own limitations.'

In other ways as well, Infosys is a trendsetter. They put India on the map as the foremost destination for outsourcing but they were the first organisation in the world, to come up with a designation like 'chief mentor'! But for Infosys, this is only the tip of the iceberg.

Nilekani agrees, 'Well, I think in some sense, the journey is just beginning. Because we have managed to convince the world about our model, that it’s better model and I think the whole industry is restructuring and leaders are going to emerge from this in the future, who were not leaders in the past and we have a very good shot at being one of the leaders of the future. So in that sense, there is lots to be done and I think that’s what drives all of us towards our next goals.'


Written for www.moneycontrol.com