[edited briefly for content April 7]
This is a simple back-of-the-envelope approximate statistical exercise that took less than 10 minutes to do, using the "Sepoy" approach that generally looks at every Indian problem with a non-Indian (western) lens, and measures Indian performance on western metrics. Unlike the Amartya Sen humanities approach, we will not use some wild POTA ("pulled out of thin air") numbers to make up a case, and will try working with plausible approximations using data available in the public domain to make order-of-magnitude calculations.
In predominantly Christian USA (population 314 million) has approximately 450K churches.
Rate: 1433 churches per million of national population.
How many mosques are there in Saudi Arabia?
There appear to be 20K in Mecca alone (population 2 million). wow. But let us suppose than an average, "less-holy" Islamic city perhaps has a rate that is only half as much.
Rate: 5000 mosques per million of national population
Number of dharmic Mandirs in India?
South India has an estimated number of 110K temples. [I assume this number ignores the street-side deities and tiny shrines that doesn't allow more than a handful to congregate - there's probably a couple of million of those in India - and counts only the reasonably sized mandirs that allow public services]. Relatively speaking, this region suffered the least in terms of wholesale temple destruction by Islamic invaders. Still, let us conservatively assume about 100K mandirs per quadrant, which gives us about 400K temples in India (population 1237 million).
Rate: 323 mandirs per million of national population
If India is to achieve parity with just the US rate (forget the middle-eastern rate that is much higher), it roughly needs to increase the number of dharmic mandirs by a 4X factor. To achieve this target, India would need to construct:
(1433-323) * 1237 = approximately 1.37 million more mandirs have to be built. Given that these are rough calculations, we can conclude that an order of a million new mandirs have to be built in India to achieve some degree of "parity" with the US, and several million more to achieve parity with the middle east.
Perhaps more importantly, similar statistics can be compiled to calculate the additional number of Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh seminaries and educational institutions, libraries, think-tanks, etc. that have to be built to achieve parity.
Modi's manifesto talked about one temple, and the sepoy media goes into shock. Let them take a look a this :)
The Lost Temples of India
What started off as a ten-minute trivia exercise turns interesting when we ask (assuming that the above calculations are not way off): Why is the Mandir number relatively small? After all. Hindus are/were pretty "religious" like anybody else, and Mandirs were the most important and popular public institutions in the past and its number in India must have been proportional to the size of the population served. My own line-of-thought is to ask: are these "lost temples" partly or largely attributable to the wholesale destruction of temples by Islamic invaders over the last millennium? Descriptions of these acts are available in rich detail via first-hand accounts. If we compare the Mandirs-per-million population in different geographical regions of India and segment these areas into those most affected and those least affected by foreign invasion, and statistically adjust for time, population-growth, and other factors, we may be able to get an order-of-magnitude estimate of the number of mandirs destroyed in this manner. This may help uncover a portion of that shocking era in Indian history that is being white-washed by Marxist historians. This important statistical analysis needs to be taken up by Indian engineers and scientists.
Showing posts with label Narendra Modi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Narendra Modi. Show all posts
Monday, April 7, 2014
Thursday, December 5, 2013
NeMa and NaMo
Update#1 Dec 6, 2013: added link to Rajeev Srinivasan's 2004 Rediff article "Apartheid in India'.
While re-reading the decisive role played by the great Nelson Mandela (may his Atma be liberated) in shaping the destiny of his once-divided nation, I could not help but see the similarity to the present situation in India.
Mandela was the voice of native Africans oppressed by a racist minority that was supported covertly and overtly by powerful forces in the west, and also by monotheist scripture. His people were oppressed for centuries by white rule and their native knowledge systems digested or destroyed. The system of apartheid, that has biblical blessings, was used to eradicate native black culture and rights.
Modi has travelled far, but he also has a lot more to do, but already, he is the voice and the unifying force of the dharmic, peaceful, and pluralistic peoples that have formed the heterogeneous majority of India over many a millennium. However, they are controlled by a west-sponsored Stalinist-Nehruvian minority that has looted India for more than 60 years and stays in power by the vice of divisive vote banks that perverts democracy. The intellectual wing of this militant leftist minority (who self-deprecatingly mock themselves as 'liberals') have borrowed the racist Aryan-race and Aryan-language theory that Mandela's captors so cherished, to divide India and allowed their white sponsors to intervene in India's fault-lines (read 'Breaking India'). The leftist monopoly over the discourse and media, the appeasement of fundamentalist monotheism, promotion of divisive racist fiction (Aryan/Dravidian) under the garb of secularism, the targeted shaming of innocent people over their dharmic faiths, entrapment of their Gurus for propaganda, weakening their educational and leadership institutions, the takeover of their temples, the divisive anti-Hindu legislations, the digestion of indigenous knowledge systems of its artisans and Rishis into Western monoculture, the ethnic cleansing and takeover in Kashmir and Assam, the fundamentalist Christian (missionary) activity that is destroying the social fabric in many parts of India, the institutionalization of poverty ...the list is endless. There is more than enough evidence to suggest that the dharmic peoples of India live in bondage despite gaining political independence, and have been persecuted based on a policy that looks, smells, and feels like apartheid. The similarities are quite shocking, frankly. Let us today resolve to fight this apartheid in India.
-------------------
Narendra was born in poverty in an economically backward community, worked humble blue-collar jobs and rose up the ranks despite all odds (If not for the single reason that he acknowledged his deep faith in dharmic ideals and patriotism, his lotus feet would've been worshipped by leftists and secularists, and they would be constructing his statue of unity!). He wandered through many parts of India to obtain a grass-roots level understanding of the Indian society and its problems. For the last twelve years, he has been vilified and made a target of a concocted witch hunt for the riots of Gujarat that was triggered by the burning alive of scores of innocent Hindu pilgrims, including women and children by an Islamic mob, encouraged by their 'liberal' protectors. It has now been acknowledged that Evangelists and leftists in the US teamed up to deny him a visa. Now it is also clear to everybody, except the the chauvinists, that he was not responsible for the 2002 riots. Moreover, what is now becoming increasingly known, thanks to the internet, is that this left "liberal" minority was actually responsible for instigating or participating in several pogroms (not riots) such as the one in 1984) that have been orders of magnitude more disastrous in terms of the human toll and the divisiveness it has caused to India. In fact, it is also reocgnized that Modi saved the lives of thousands of Haj pilgrims via his decisive actions during the riots. These stage-managed attacks have only made Modi stronger.
Nelson's imprisonment for 27 years is well known. What many do not know is that the US regarded him as a villain and placed him and his followers on a terror list until just 5 years ago. The decades of imprisonment did not break Nelson, but only made him more determined.
---------------------
Modi, a Gujarati, is inspired by Swami Vivekananda, and Mahatma Gandhi (who was inspired by Vivekananda), and Sanathana dharma.
Mandela was also inspired by the Gujarati Gandhi, other Indians, and it is now known, how the Hindu festival of Deepavali lit a lamp in Mandela's heart and mind during his incarceration. Many Indians of Gujarati origin reside in Africa, and contribute to the continent's prosperity.
------------------------
Nelson was a unifying force for his peoples and polarized world opinion into taking a clear moral stance on whether they were for, or against apartheid.
Similarly, Narendra has unified those who consider India to be their 'Bharat Mata', and polarized opinion - those who want the destructive western proxy rule in India to continue, and those who want India to take control of its own destiny.
---------------------------
Modi's idea of development based politics and dharma-based messaging is inclusive of all Indians, including equal roles for women and men, young and old, rural and urban, and is a wonderful living example of India's pluralism. He has been very clear in not blaming the present day citizens of India who are born in the religions of India's invaders. He has demonstrated his commitment to the Indian concept of dharma-Sapeksha (not the silly Marxist import of secularism, which is dharma-nirpeksha) by showing no fear or favor to any community while making policy. He has lived his talk, and today, Gujarat is the best example in India, of what a positive, corruption-free, optimistic approach to governance can achieve.
Mandela's efforts in the reconciliation of the native majority and white minority, and his work resulted in a stable South Africa that is called a "rainbow nation". He did not launch a revenge campaign against the white minority after coming to power, and instead proposed a unified model of growth and prosperity that has worked well so far.
---------------------------
I can go on, but these few examples will suffice for now.
Long Live NeMa. Namaste to NaMo. There are many differences between them, but both have exhibited a grace under pressure that has been unmatched in recent times.
While re-reading the decisive role played by the great Nelson Mandela (may his Atma be liberated) in shaping the destiny of his once-divided nation, I could not help but see the similarity to the present situation in India.
Mandela was the voice of native Africans oppressed by a racist minority that was supported covertly and overtly by powerful forces in the west, and also by monotheist scripture. His people were oppressed for centuries by white rule and their native knowledge systems digested or destroyed. The system of apartheid, that has biblical blessings, was used to eradicate native black culture and rights.
Modi has travelled far, but he also has a lot more to do, but already, he is the voice and the unifying force of the dharmic, peaceful, and pluralistic peoples that have formed the heterogeneous majority of India over many a millennium. However, they are controlled by a west-sponsored Stalinist-Nehruvian minority that has looted India for more than 60 years and stays in power by the vice of divisive vote banks that perverts democracy. The intellectual wing of this militant leftist minority (who self-deprecatingly mock themselves as 'liberals') have borrowed the racist Aryan-race and Aryan-language theory that Mandela's captors so cherished, to divide India and allowed their white sponsors to intervene in India's fault-lines (read 'Breaking India'). The leftist monopoly over the discourse and media, the appeasement of fundamentalist monotheism, promotion of divisive racist fiction (Aryan/Dravidian) under the garb of secularism, the targeted shaming of innocent people over their dharmic faiths, entrapment of their Gurus for propaganda, weakening their educational and leadership institutions, the takeover of their temples, the divisive anti-Hindu legislations, the digestion of indigenous knowledge systems of its artisans and Rishis into Western monoculture, the ethnic cleansing and takeover in Kashmir and Assam, the fundamentalist Christian (missionary) activity that is destroying the social fabric in many parts of India, the institutionalization of poverty ...the list is endless. There is more than enough evidence to suggest that the dharmic peoples of India live in bondage despite gaining political independence, and have been persecuted based on a policy that looks, smells, and feels like apartheid. The similarities are quite shocking, frankly. Let us today resolve to fight this apartheid in India.
-------------------
Narendra was born in poverty in an economically backward community, worked humble blue-collar jobs and rose up the ranks despite all odds (If not for the single reason that he acknowledged his deep faith in dharmic ideals and patriotism, his lotus feet would've been worshipped by leftists and secularists, and they would be constructing his statue of unity!). He wandered through many parts of India to obtain a grass-roots level understanding of the Indian society and its problems. For the last twelve years, he has been vilified and made a target of a concocted witch hunt for the riots of Gujarat that was triggered by the burning alive of scores of innocent Hindu pilgrims, including women and children by an Islamic mob, encouraged by their 'liberal' protectors. It has now been acknowledged that Evangelists and leftists in the US teamed up to deny him a visa. Now it is also clear to everybody, except the the chauvinists, that he was not responsible for the 2002 riots. Moreover, what is now becoming increasingly known, thanks to the internet, is that this left "liberal" minority was actually responsible for instigating or participating in several pogroms (not riots) such as the one in 1984) that have been orders of magnitude more disastrous in terms of the human toll and the divisiveness it has caused to India. In fact, it is also reocgnized that Modi saved the lives of thousands of Haj pilgrims via his decisive actions during the riots. These stage-managed attacks have only made Modi stronger.
Nelson's imprisonment for 27 years is well known. What many do not know is that the US regarded him as a villain and placed him and his followers on a terror list until just 5 years ago. The decades of imprisonment did not break Nelson, but only made him more determined.
---------------------
Modi, a Gujarati, is inspired by Swami Vivekananda, and Mahatma Gandhi (who was inspired by Vivekananda), and Sanathana dharma.
Mandela was also inspired by the Gujarati Gandhi, other Indians, and it is now known, how the Hindu festival of Deepavali lit a lamp in Mandela's heart and mind during his incarceration. Many Indians of Gujarati origin reside in Africa, and contribute to the continent's prosperity.
------------------------
Nelson was a unifying force for his peoples and polarized world opinion into taking a clear moral stance on whether they were for, or against apartheid.
Similarly, Narendra has unified those who consider India to be their 'Bharat Mata', and polarized opinion - those who want the destructive western proxy rule in India to continue, and those who want India to take control of its own destiny.
---------------------------
Modi's idea of development based politics and dharma-based messaging is inclusive of all Indians, including equal roles for women and men, young and old, rural and urban, and is a wonderful living example of India's pluralism. He has been very clear in not blaming the present day citizens of India who are born in the religions of India's invaders. He has demonstrated his commitment to the Indian concept of dharma-Sapeksha (not the silly Marxist import of secularism, which is dharma-nirpeksha) by showing no fear or favor to any community while making policy. He has lived his talk, and today, Gujarat is the best example in India, of what a positive, corruption-free, optimistic approach to governance can achieve.
Mandela's efforts in the reconciliation of the native majority and white minority, and his work resulted in a stable South Africa that is called a "rainbow nation". He did not launch a revenge campaign against the white minority after coming to power, and instead proposed a unified model of growth and prosperity that has worked well so far.
---------------------------
I can go on, but these few examples will suffice for now.
Long Live NeMa. Namaste to NaMo. There are many differences between them, but both have exhibited a grace under pressure that has been unmatched in recent times.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Transcription of Narendra Modi's IAA talk
I found Modi's IAA speech (marketing India to the world) yesterday quite remarkable in terms of the original Indian ideas it contained - thoughts that went beyond rhetoric and deeply substantial, in sync with some Rajiv Malhotra's novel ideas in his book 'Being Different' that Rajiv has also explained via his videos. I've tried to transcribe some of his observations into English to the best of my ability with some limited annotation (words in italics)
Why he attended this event
Modi: I could not escape attending this event because of Swami Dayanand Saraswati and Swami's father (aged around 90?). His father used to work and scrutinize each issue and I observed how there are different angles of examining the same issue.
Colonized Mindset
There are many topics where we have our own personal problem entangled, and because of this, 'Brand-India' is not displayed to the world with any strength of conviction. The first requirement for being able to so is self-belief and self-confidence. If you are taking an product or topic to the world, but you don't believe in it yourself, then you just cannot do it. After 1200 years of slavery, we Indians have developed just a colonized mindset, that when we find a white man, a six-footer, who rattles off English vocabulary, we retreat into our shell. Consequently, even after 60 years of independence, haven't been able to overcome this problem.
Gandhi
There are some things that have symbolic value. Everything has symbolic value that opens door, and the belief you have in this symbolic value is crucial. You may find great orators and speakers who deliver nice lines, but communicators are few. In the last century, the greatest communicator was Mahatma Gandhi. In this world where people resort to shortcuts (cutting corners), the focus is on impressive marketing. We have a choice. whether to go with inspiring marketing or impressive marketing. If you look at Gandhi's personality, there was nothing "impressive" about him, but was truly inspiring in totality. Simply dressed, humble-living. He talked about Ahimsa, but carried a stick. Today's world hasn't paid much attention to this communication of contrast. He did not wear a cap, but many wear the Gandhi cap! What strength!
In those days, there was little media coverage. extremely tough to transmit information. Gandhi's words, spirit, without any dilution, diversion, or loss in translation, reached every last person. Friends, such communicating skills are rare, but on this point, nobody in marketing has written a book on this topic. Please form a committee, and next year, please research and launch a book "Gandhi, the great communicator". it must become a case study for world top universities. This also means that branding of India has also been accomplished! This is how its done. Even today, our mental colonization, we talk of Tulsidas as India's Shakespeare, and Sardar Patel as India's Bismarck. Why? It's because of our lack of confidence. We should be saying the reverse (Shakespeare is England's Tulsidas, Germany's Sardar Patel). This is how we must express comparisons, but we have lost our identity.
If we want to talk of a brand India, we have to understand our core competencies, only then can we effectively market our brand. The world knows MLK, but we don't know if the world views Gandhi in a similar manner. When the Gandhi movie was made in the1980s, a publisher friend remarked that all his Gandhi books were sold out after the movie and reprints were required. Friends, Attenborough did a job. If in the last 50 years, for the benefit of humanity, if we presented the values of Gandhi to the world, and force them to think about it, we would not even had to strive for a brand-India, the world's universities would be coming to India searching for Gandhi here.
Global Warming and Environment
The world is abuzz with talk about global warming. When people are in search of something, when they find what is necessary, it is immediately accepted and in marketing u go to the top. The world worries about global warming and searching for solutions. Who worries the most? Those societies who most exploited nature the most. Those who most toyed with nature and today, are the champions in the fight against global warming. Winning Nobel prizes (as a society)! We are the people, whose nature, whose Sanskriti and cultural heritage if protected and popularized, can convince the world that we have the best answer to global warming. We don't have that confidence. Ganga did not get polluted as long as it was considered Mother Ganga. Once it was viewed as some H20, the degradation began. Our ancestors called it 'mother', plants were called 'Paramatma' (highest souls) so trees were not cut, living in harmony with nature. People mocked us for worshiping trees, cows, and rivers, and labeled us 'backward' We believed this criticism and began to destroy our natural heritage. Today the world talks about protecting the environment, while we received this as a cultural treasure. Gandhiji would pour back half a glass of Sabarmati water because that was what he wanted. Nothing more. No exploitation or milking of nature. Such lofty ideals and vision our ancestors had, and the world desperately seeks a solution to global warming. With such ideas for brand India, via these ideas, with a scientific approach, and keeping with modern terminology and presentation, move forward.
Heritage Sites and Tourism
In the world of architecture or heritage building, France is well known. Suppose India was as small was France, and all of its monuments and heritages were present in the same space, then we would encounter a heritage building every three steps. Why can't we globally market this heritage? For those in tourism, this can be such a big deal. But for us, this is just some vague building built by some old king. We have the world's oldest port, 5000 year old Lothal, oldest citiy Dholavira. Have we every wondered - how great our ancestors were. If you go to Dholavira, you will surprised to know, 5000 years back, road signs are there! Which means people from other parts of the world must have come there. Did we market this with pride? No. Dholavira had a 5000-sitting capacity stadium for sports. Sports, entertainment, social gathering must have been there 5000 years ago in India! If the world hears about this, they would be most interested in visiting. We must have faith in our cultural heritage and values.
Music and Soft Power
(India's real soft power (not the superficial Bollywood type) is one of the key ideas that Rajiv Malhotra has promoted)
If you just take only music and market it to the world, then we can give a lot, which doesn't even know that the 5am music is different from the music during sunset. The afternoon music is different from that at night. Let them know about this heritage. Did i market this? No. Dance, Drama .... My ancestors gave me this heritage that I haven't presented to the world. Even when our kings were fighting, the world was not running on military power or economic power, even though that is important, it is soft power that built relationships. History is witness to this. Two potentially warring kings ceased hostility when a sister of one king tied a Rakhi to the other king. This is an example of soft power. We are more rich in soft power than any other country in the world. The power of music is immense. Why are people united by music? You must have attended concerts too. Music is not just meant for the ear. It is tied to the mind and heart. If you listen to an hour of loud western music, take a break, and then listen to an hour of any original Indian music with rhythms. Western music enthralls the body, but Indian music deeply influences the heart and mind. Impact on bodily senses is shortlived joy. The joy that reaches the mind can even be Chiranjeev (eternal). The difference between western and Indian music is just as wide as listening to mighty ocean waves, versus listening to a small stream. Have we branded this? No.
Yoga
(Rajiv mentions this is already multi-billion dollar industry and India has missed the boat big-time)
The world is crazy behind Yoga. If you know how to breathe in and breathe out, regardless of how low the rupee falls, dollars will fill your pockets :) There is no bigger market for India's knowledge industry than Yoga. If you ask our govt, why we aren't exporting Yoga, the world is ready to accept it ... We did not brand it. who first taught the world how to breathe in and out are not marketing Yoga. Today is about holistic health and healing. Desperate for it, sick of medical drug based treatment. Such a big market. Have we a brand-India that markets our traditional medicine and treatment approach? Herbal medicine is our ancestral treasure. We performed the world's first surgery! In Mahabharata, Karna was born via genetic science :)) We are pioneers in medicine. What the world desperately seeks, we have. But we need to have belief in ourselves, but we don't have that belief today. During Pandit Nehru's time, there was Haathi commission about marketing Ayurveda. Due to the craze of socialism in those days, there wasn't any emphasis on marketing. The report came out that Ayurveda is fine as far as its substance, but it can only be popularized by improved packaging. Friends, China is #1 in the world in Herbal medicine export, when it OUR ancestral treasure. If we properly package, perform value addition, and brand it, we can market it to the world as traditional food if not medicine, and make it part of a holistic heath care offering and preventive care solutions. The market is ready for this.
Youth and youngsters are committing suicide today all over the world. In such a situation, are there ways to prevent them from taking this extreme step? Our ancient texts and treatises on Yoga, Pranayama, etc. focus on the inner sciences (adhyatma vidya, in Rajiv Malhotra's terminology). We can't sell Taj Mahal to everybody. We can only sell what a person needs. We still haven't progressed beyond Taj!!
Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism is another popular movement today. When Clinton was first elected, I visited the US. Our team visited a hotel in Houston. ... If we are late, we say "this is Indian time, isn't it"? If every Indian says this, insulting India, then how can we do branding of India?? This has to change. So I reached early. The Gujarati person (secretary) there embraced me. I asked why. He said he was vegetarian, and there were many Gujarati veg restaurants. He was proud of it. The world is receptive to it. Have we ever done an Indian food festival? In Japan, our curry is popular. Did you know that Subhash Chandra Bose's brother introduced Indian curry to Japan. This is again our cultural treasure. Not just food travels when we market this properly, the entire Indian identity goes along!
Science and Literature
When we talk about Nobel winners, we talk about Einstein, but not our people. When we talk about literary greats, why do we take the name of some random western guy but not the name of Rabindranath Tagore? To effectively do brand India, we have fill our minds with India. Like the cricket ad that does "i eat, sleep cricket etc', If we do "India, India ...." every moment, then we can do effective branding of India :))
Organic Lifestyle Market
My background is in RSS. There are stories about what we can and cannot do. We cannot do fashion shows it seems. I organized a fashion show. I was sure those who "love" me would call me out. I held it in Porbunder. I know how to create a stir :) Our NIFT/NID students in their campus totally live in their western world, no sign of India whatsoever there. We selected those kids and make them come on the ramp. They liked doing such stuff anyway :) We played Vaishnav Jan song, used Khadi costumes, in Porbunder, on Gandhiji's birthday, with Vinobha Bhave's disciple in the audience - we tried to market Khadi in a fully modern manner. VB's disciple was very impressed. The point is, the world is looking for chemical-free cotton, natural grown cotton. Our Khadi has that strength. The poor get their livelihood from Khadi, but we have limited it to politician's houses. If we make it a global market, it would light the cooking stoves of many poor people in India. Holistic lifestyle seekers would be proud to wear a Khadi that is chemical free and natural, and willing to pay a premium for it. Maybe 10% of our farmers still haven't used pesticides but continued to do natural, traditional organic farming all their life - our people don't know that in the global world, organic food market is massive. (Cow's milk example is given). Our farmers have traditionally done organic farming for centuries. We don't have certification facilities, authorization procedures etc., so we cant create an organic food market. If the farmer can sell his products with organic branding, he can command a premium price in the world market. The point is, from a farmer's livelihood perspective, we can fulfill our vision of Brand-India in a harmonious manner.
(Extempore again) Seeing Kiran ji, i recall that our nation is celebrating 100 years of our film industry. The world's biggest industry that feeds lakhs and crores. But we lost the opportunity to do global marketing. If I could, I would have done a branding of India just via Indian films. But fear not, I'm not entering this world :) But I've talked to (some names) for hours on such topics. We should stop trying to impress the world, but inspire the world. India must be branded properly, and this should be our dream. Thanks.
Why he attended this event
Modi: I could not escape attending this event because of Swami Dayanand Saraswati and Swami's father (aged around 90?). His father used to work and scrutinize each issue and I observed how there are different angles of examining the same issue.
Colonized Mindset
There are many topics where we have our own personal problem entangled, and because of this, 'Brand-India' is not displayed to the world with any strength of conviction. The first requirement for being able to so is self-belief and self-confidence. If you are taking an product or topic to the world, but you don't believe in it yourself, then you just cannot do it. After 1200 years of slavery, we Indians have developed just a colonized mindset, that when we find a white man, a six-footer, who rattles off English vocabulary, we retreat into our shell. Consequently, even after 60 years of independence, haven't been able to overcome this problem.
Gandhi
There are some things that have symbolic value. Everything has symbolic value that opens door, and the belief you have in this symbolic value is crucial. You may find great orators and speakers who deliver nice lines, but communicators are few. In the last century, the greatest communicator was Mahatma Gandhi. In this world where people resort to shortcuts (cutting corners), the focus is on impressive marketing. We have a choice. whether to go with inspiring marketing or impressive marketing. If you look at Gandhi's personality, there was nothing "impressive" about him, but was truly inspiring in totality. Simply dressed, humble-living. He talked about Ahimsa, but carried a stick. Today's world hasn't paid much attention to this communication of contrast. He did not wear a cap, but many wear the Gandhi cap! What strength!
In those days, there was little media coverage. extremely tough to transmit information. Gandhi's words, spirit, without any dilution, diversion, or loss in translation, reached every last person. Friends, such communicating skills are rare, but on this point, nobody in marketing has written a book on this topic. Please form a committee, and next year, please research and launch a book "Gandhi, the great communicator". it must become a case study for world top universities. This also means that branding of India has also been accomplished! This is how its done. Even today, our mental colonization, we talk of Tulsidas as India's Shakespeare, and Sardar Patel as India's Bismarck. Why? It's because of our lack of confidence. We should be saying the reverse (Shakespeare is England's Tulsidas, Germany's Sardar Patel). This is how we must express comparisons, but we have lost our identity.
If we want to talk of a brand India, we have to understand our core competencies, only then can we effectively market our brand. The world knows MLK, but we don't know if the world views Gandhi in a similar manner. When the Gandhi movie was made in the1980s, a publisher friend remarked that all his Gandhi books were sold out after the movie and reprints were required. Friends, Attenborough did a job. If in the last 50 years, for the benefit of humanity, if we presented the values of Gandhi to the world, and force them to think about it, we would not even had to strive for a brand-India, the world's universities would be coming to India searching for Gandhi here.
Global Warming and Environment
The world is abuzz with talk about global warming. When people are in search of something, when they find what is necessary, it is immediately accepted and in marketing u go to the top. The world worries about global warming and searching for solutions. Who worries the most? Those societies who most exploited nature the most. Those who most toyed with nature and today, are the champions in the fight against global warming. Winning Nobel prizes (as a society)! We are the people, whose nature, whose Sanskriti and cultural heritage if protected and popularized, can convince the world that we have the best answer to global warming. We don't have that confidence. Ganga did not get polluted as long as it was considered Mother Ganga. Once it was viewed as some H20, the degradation began. Our ancestors called it 'mother', plants were called 'Paramatma' (highest souls) so trees were not cut, living in harmony with nature. People mocked us for worshiping trees, cows, and rivers, and labeled us 'backward' We believed this criticism and began to destroy our natural heritage. Today the world talks about protecting the environment, while we received this as a cultural treasure. Gandhiji would pour back half a glass of Sabarmati water because that was what he wanted. Nothing more. No exploitation or milking of nature. Such lofty ideals and vision our ancestors had, and the world desperately seeks a solution to global warming. With such ideas for brand India, via these ideas, with a scientific approach, and keeping with modern terminology and presentation, move forward.
Heritage Sites and Tourism
In the world of architecture or heritage building, France is well known. Suppose India was as small was France, and all of its monuments and heritages were present in the same space, then we would encounter a heritage building every three steps. Why can't we globally market this heritage? For those in tourism, this can be such a big deal. But for us, this is just some vague building built by some old king. We have the world's oldest port, 5000 year old Lothal, oldest citiy Dholavira. Have we every wondered - how great our ancestors were. If you go to Dholavira, you will surprised to know, 5000 years back, road signs are there! Which means people from other parts of the world must have come there. Did we market this with pride? No. Dholavira had a 5000-sitting capacity stadium for sports. Sports, entertainment, social gathering must have been there 5000 years ago in India! If the world hears about this, they would be most interested in visiting. We must have faith in our cultural heritage and values.
Music and Soft Power
(India's real soft power (not the superficial Bollywood type) is one of the key ideas that Rajiv Malhotra has promoted)
If you just take only music and market it to the world, then we can give a lot, which doesn't even know that the 5am music is different from the music during sunset. The afternoon music is different from that at night. Let them know about this heritage. Did i market this? No. Dance, Drama .... My ancestors gave me this heritage that I haven't presented to the world. Even when our kings were fighting, the world was not running on military power or economic power, even though that is important, it is soft power that built relationships. History is witness to this. Two potentially warring kings ceased hostility when a sister of one king tied a Rakhi to the other king. This is an example of soft power. We are more rich in soft power than any other country in the world. The power of music is immense. Why are people united by music? You must have attended concerts too. Music is not just meant for the ear. It is tied to the mind and heart. If you listen to an hour of loud western music, take a break, and then listen to an hour of any original Indian music with rhythms. Western music enthralls the body, but Indian music deeply influences the heart and mind. Impact on bodily senses is shortlived joy. The joy that reaches the mind can even be Chiranjeev (eternal). The difference between western and Indian music is just as wide as listening to mighty ocean waves, versus listening to a small stream. Have we branded this? No.
Yoga
(Rajiv mentions this is already multi-billion dollar industry and India has missed the boat big-time)
The world is crazy behind Yoga. If you know how to breathe in and breathe out, regardless of how low the rupee falls, dollars will fill your pockets :) There is no bigger market for India's knowledge industry than Yoga. If you ask our govt, why we aren't exporting Yoga, the world is ready to accept it ... We did not brand it. who first taught the world how to breathe in and out are not marketing Yoga. Today is about holistic health and healing. Desperate for it, sick of medical drug based treatment. Such a big market. Have we a brand-India that markets our traditional medicine and treatment approach? Herbal medicine is our ancestral treasure. We performed the world's first surgery! In Mahabharata, Karna was born via genetic science :)) We are pioneers in medicine. What the world desperately seeks, we have. But we need to have belief in ourselves, but we don't have that belief today. During Pandit Nehru's time, there was Haathi commission about marketing Ayurveda. Due to the craze of socialism in those days, there wasn't any emphasis on marketing. The report came out that Ayurveda is fine as far as its substance, but it can only be popularized by improved packaging. Friends, China is #1 in the world in Herbal medicine export, when it OUR ancestral treasure. If we properly package, perform value addition, and brand it, we can market it to the world as traditional food if not medicine, and make it part of a holistic heath care offering and preventive care solutions. The market is ready for this.
Youth and youngsters are committing suicide today all over the world. In such a situation, are there ways to prevent them from taking this extreme step? Our ancient texts and treatises on Yoga, Pranayama, etc. focus on the inner sciences (adhyatma vidya, in Rajiv Malhotra's terminology). We can't sell Taj Mahal to everybody. We can only sell what a person needs. We still haven't progressed beyond Taj!!
Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism is another popular movement today. When Clinton was first elected, I visited the US. Our team visited a hotel in Houston. ... If we are late, we say "this is Indian time, isn't it"? If every Indian says this, insulting India, then how can we do branding of India?? This has to change. So I reached early. The Gujarati person (secretary) there embraced me. I asked why. He said he was vegetarian, and there were many Gujarati veg restaurants. He was proud of it. The world is receptive to it. Have we ever done an Indian food festival? In Japan, our curry is popular. Did you know that Subhash Chandra Bose's brother introduced Indian curry to Japan. This is again our cultural treasure. Not just food travels when we market this properly, the entire Indian identity goes along!
Science and Literature
When we talk about Nobel winners, we talk about Einstein, but not our people. When we talk about literary greats, why do we take the name of some random western guy but not the name of Rabindranath Tagore? To effectively do brand India, we have fill our minds with India. Like the cricket ad that does "i eat, sleep cricket etc', If we do "India, India ...." every moment, then we can do effective branding of India :))
Organic Lifestyle Market
My background is in RSS. There are stories about what we can and cannot do. We cannot do fashion shows it seems. I organized a fashion show. I was sure those who "love" me would call me out. I held it in Porbunder. I know how to create a stir :) Our NIFT/NID students in their campus totally live in their western world, no sign of India whatsoever there. We selected those kids and make them come on the ramp. They liked doing such stuff anyway :) We played Vaishnav Jan song, used Khadi costumes, in Porbunder, on Gandhiji's birthday, with Vinobha Bhave's disciple in the audience - we tried to market Khadi in a fully modern manner. VB's disciple was very impressed. The point is, the world is looking for chemical-free cotton, natural grown cotton. Our Khadi has that strength. The poor get their livelihood from Khadi, but we have limited it to politician's houses. If we make it a global market, it would light the cooking stoves of many poor people in India. Holistic lifestyle seekers would be proud to wear a Khadi that is chemical free and natural, and willing to pay a premium for it. Maybe 10% of our farmers still haven't used pesticides but continued to do natural, traditional organic farming all their life - our people don't know that in the global world, organic food market is massive. (Cow's milk example is given). Our farmers have traditionally done organic farming for centuries. We don't have certification facilities, authorization procedures etc., so we cant create an organic food market. If the farmer can sell his products with organic branding, he can command a premium price in the world market. The point is, from a farmer's livelihood perspective, we can fulfill our vision of Brand-India in a harmonious manner.
(Extempore again) Seeing Kiran ji, i recall that our nation is celebrating 100 years of our film industry. The world's biggest industry that feeds lakhs and crores. But we lost the opportunity to do global marketing. If I could, I would have done a branding of India just via Indian films. But fear not, I'm not entering this world :) But I've talked to (some names) for hours on such topics. We should stop trying to impress the world, but inspire the world. India must be branded properly, and this should be our dream. Thanks.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Does disagreeing with Narendra Modi make you a communist?
(scroll down for new update on November 21, 2013)
NO- as Malini Parthasarathy, formerly (update: now editor) of the renowned communist newspaper, The Hindu, tweeted today, but wait ...
On the other hand, given that there are very few Indian communists in this universe who agree with Narendra Modi (NaMo), the following implication holds true.
Theorem
Prob (disagree with Modi | person is commie ) > Prob (any person disagrees with Modi)
⇒ Prob (person is a commie | disagree with Modi ) > Prob (person is commie ).
In simple language, the theorem states:
Since a person is more likely to hate Modi if it known that he/she is a commie, this in turn implies that the probability that any random Indian is a commie increases if it is additionally known that he/she disagrees with Modi.
In fact, if given additional information that the person also worked for a reputed communist newspaper, this probability goes up even more. On the other hand, if you try to flip this around to say "You are more likely to be a Hindutva-vaadi if you agree with Modi", this theorem won't support you much. There are a huge number of Hindutva-vaadis who do not agree, and who agree with NaMo, since support for NaMo is issue-based and cuts across sectarian barriers.
Update November 21, 2013:
After the Tehelka and AAP fiascos in the last 24 hours, we now have a
Corollary to main result
Prob (pSecular | person is big fraud) > Prob (person is pSecular)
⇒ Prob (person is big fraud | pSecular ) > Prob (person is a big fraud)
in other words, the corollary states:
Given that we are observing with increasing frequency that the biggest frauds of Indian origin being exposed are pSecular cheerleaders, this in turn implies that the probability that a random person of Indian-origin you meet is a big fraud increases if it is additionally known that he/she is a pSecular.
Hence the phrase "pseudo-secular fraud" is kinda becoming redundant, since being one increases the probability of being the other.
This is not opinion, but a mathematically provable, data-driven result that serves as a warning for gullible Indians.
Here's a short proof from the Endeavor blog:
NO- as Malini Parthasarathy, formerly (update: now editor) of the renowned communist newspaper, The Hindu, tweeted today, but wait ...
On the other hand, given that there are very few Indian communists in this universe who agree with Narendra Modi (NaMo), the following implication holds true.
Theorem
Prob (disagree with Modi | person is commie ) > Prob (any person disagrees with Modi)
⇒ Prob (person is a commie | disagree with Modi ) > Prob (person is commie ).
In simple language, the theorem states:
Since a person is more likely to hate Modi if it known that he/she is a commie, this in turn implies that the probability that any random Indian is a commie increases if it is additionally known that he/she disagrees with Modi.
In fact, if given additional information that the person also worked for a reputed communist newspaper, this probability goes up even more. On the other hand, if you try to flip this around to say "You are more likely to be a Hindutva-vaadi if you agree with Modi", this theorem won't support you much. There are a huge number of Hindutva-vaadis who do not agree, and who agree with NaMo, since support for NaMo is issue-based and cuts across sectarian barriers.
Update November 21, 2013:
After the Tehelka and AAP fiascos in the last 24 hours, we now have a
Corollary to main result
Prob (pSecular | person is big fraud) > Prob (person is pSecular)
⇒ Prob (person is big fraud | pSecular ) > Prob (person is a big fraud)
in other words, the corollary states:
Given that we are observing with increasing frequency that the biggest frauds of Indian origin being exposed are pSecular cheerleaders, this in turn implies that the probability that a random person of Indian-origin you meet is a big fraud increases if it is additionally known that he/she is a pSecular.
Hence the phrase "pseudo-secular fraud" is kinda becoming redundant, since being one increases the probability of being the other.
This is not opinion, but a mathematically provable, data-driven result that serves as a warning for gullible Indians.
Here's a short proof from the Endeavor blog:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)