Posts from — December 2009

India ranked 45th in the internationally respected 2009 Legatum Prosperity Index – which embraces social and political data to provide a wider measure of national success.  The purpose of the Prosperity Index is to encourage policymakers, scholars, the media, and the interested public to take a holistic view of prosperity and understand how it is created. Holistic prosperity extends beyond just material wealth, and includes factors such as social capital, health, opportunity, security, effective governance, human rights and liberties, and overall quality of life.  Finland tops the index which uses nine separate submeasures across 104 countries. Northern Europe, Canada and Australia figure among the top 10. The United States, with the highest GDP in the world clocks in at Number Nine.

Among the other BRIC countries with which India is often compared, Brazil is slightly ahead at #41, Russia ranks #69 and China is Number  brings up the rear at #75.

My book on Doing Business in India was published over a year ago.  Major media and the public at large have been very kind to it and it is now established as the “go-to” primer on the subject, far ahead of other books on similar themes.  I’ve been blessed to be mentioned in sources as respected as the New York Times and India Today. But I get even more thrills when reviewers on Amazon and other sites continue to compliment the book. Today, a friend sent me yet another new review, on Suite 101 where Prem Anand describes it as

“A “pocket guide” for non-Indians to know the essentials about the culturally complex country. A must-read for all business as well as leisure tourists travelling to India”

When Indians speak English, there is occasionally a tendency to say “few” when what is meant is “a few” or to say “little” when the intended meaning is “a little”.  The indefinite article “a” does not exist in languages such as Hindi. Often this little nuance causes Western executives to mis-interpret the meaning of a thought completely.  For example an Indian distributor might say “We have few customers this quarter for your new machine, Mr. Jones.”  The intent might be to celebrate that “a few customers” had already bought the product within weeks of its launch.  But poor Mr.  Jones thinks that his launch in India has failed due to too few customers!

Historically,  India’s  Advertising Agencies and Public Relations shops have in-house proofers that prevent such mistakes in print, television, billboard ads and in press releases. But BBDO‘s India counterpart really goofed up in this print and billboard campaign for top fabric maker Raymond.  With  too “little style” their customer will surely make a big negative  impact. Uh-oh. (This ad is one of many in print; I also saw the same message on billboards in multiple Indian cities last month).

ittle Style Big Impact, Raymond's ad by BBDO/Swamy

The United States if often (justly) criticized for viewing India in  hyphenated way with Pakistan. Certainly this view has been prevalent since the days of President Richard Nixon and his formerly India-hating adviser Dr. Henry Kissinger (who famously referred the India’s Prime Minister as “an old witch” and used even more colorful language for Indians in general).  Respect for India arrived  two years after it conducted a nuclear test in May 1998:  President Bill Clinton visited the country in March 2000 (but also made it a point to stop in Bangla Desh and Pakistan on the same trip).  His successor George W. Bush continued the path of India friendliness.

But in President Obama, we saw a willingness to understand Indian sensitivities. He referred to the  religious diversity of India: Hindus, Muslims, Sikh, even Jains.  He spoke about enjoying Dal with his Indian roommates at Occidental College. And Time magazine reported that he carries a charm of the Hindu monkey-god Hanuman.

Obama’s administration has been willing to separate India from Pakistan. Richard Holbrooke’s charter includes ” Af-Pak”  but not India.  Secretary Hillary Clinton visited Mumbai and Delhi in July but did not make a stop in Islamabad on the same trip.

Just as important is what is not being said. When she granted an interview with Al Jazeera English’s Riz Khan, the word Pakistan or Pakistani came up nineteen times.  But she did not even mention India once. The India Expert says this is a good thing and a sign of maturity in India-US relations.

The global production of bananas is estimated at 48.9 million tonnes out of which 10.4 million tonnes, is contributed by India. India is followed by Brazil (5.5 million tonnes), Indonesia (2.3 million tonnes), Philippines (3.8 million tonnes), China (1.9 million tonnes) and Australia (1.8 million tonnes). India rise in bananas is a recent phenomenon. Today Maharashtra and Gujarat in Western India, Karnataka in southern India and Assam in the northeast are large banana growers.

More about the banana trade can be found at http://www.unctad.org/infocomm/anglais/banana/market.htm.