Gujarat: Breaking Rules - Part 2

True story: Nutcase-1 draws a triangular route on the back of a cocktail napkin at a restaurant and says “Let’s start an airline”. Nutcase-2 responds: “You’re crazy, let’s do it”. That’s strategy for you. That’s how Rollin King and Herb Kelleher started Southwest Airlines. It was the start of the low-cost, no-frills, no-tickets, no seat allotments and no-food, no-appeasement airline. All they served in-flight was Peanuts.
 

It’s the most cheerful airline and the only one to make profits over a long period since starting early 1970s. A story about the airline is, naturally, called NUTS! Their aircrafts were painted as sharks, whales or the American eagle. They broke every established practice and rule of the airline industry. A mission can be shared by many people, Vision is usually of an “individual” nature; it’s rare that two people share the same vision. What does Southwest deliver; just low fares? That’s the tangible part. The intangible, non-visible part is the joy, the “experience”. That experience is what endears an organisation to customers or endears even a politician to citizens. People go back to the same restaurant not just for the food but for the ‘experience’, customers return to the same stores, airlines for the experience.

These people are reading newspapers. That’s not very hard to tell, is it? I can tell you what they’re reading. They’re reading all the poll analysis and predictions. You know, like the ones by Rajdeep Sardesai, Yogendra Yadav, Prannoy Roy or India Today and many other pundits. They are also analysing the GDP figures of all the states, poverty figures of all states. Why all this? Of course, they have to decide who to vote for! That’s what normal people do, don’t they? They sit around and analyse all the figures, manifestos, claims and other stuff put out by the govt and media before they decide who to vote for. No? Well, all that stuff is good for debates and policy making. Ordinary people know it in their gut. Whether the economy is good or bad, they know it in their gut. The same “experience” that draws them back to a restaurant or airline also draws them to a politician or makes them reject him. People feel good at visible development and experience it but they also vote based on the intangible, non-visible experience. The more connected a politician is the better the experience. Narendra Modi knows to connect.

Vision is usually an individual’s or at the most a few. It is therefore unique that a politician could get a good part of the population of his state involved in his vision and mission. This is what Narendra Modi has managed to accomplish. Even the best CMs deliver results but in this century none has managed to get people so involved in his adventure; that of making Gujarat a great state in many respects. How does he do it? Like I said in Part-1 there are two kinds of development; one that is very visible and one that is not. The visible one drives pride and participation, the non-visible one drives experience. Anyone visiting Gujarat is going to talk about the great roads, power supply, Sabarmati river-front and so on. An exception is bimbos who pass for editors of news channels who might also talk about food that has a “religious divide”.

Let’s talk about Sabarmati. People used to once call it Sabar-Matti (Mud) since there was never water in it except monsoon. Now there’s water all year round and that itself is a sight. But did Modi stop there? No... He wanted to paint it like whales and eagles like Southwest. He envisioned a massive river-front project that may now have hotels and other buildings and a great place for people. If not a sea-front, Ahmedabad can have a river-front. This much circulated image of the holy Yamuna and Sabarmati on the net says a lot about the vision of two CMs (Expense figures not vouched for). That’s visible. Sabarmati also provides water for Ahmedabad and other towns. What is not visible is that it has shut down many bore-wells in many towns. Earlier the underground bore hard-water was salty, contained arsenic and in many places had TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) of over 2500. The areas which got municipal water had TDS below 600 which is within permissible levels for drinking water. Yeah… you’re not going to hear about this. This water supply is visible to only those who use it. Even more, the improved quality of water is only experienced and not visible.

I talked about the English language usage being an issue in Part-1. It was poor in Gujarat and affected higher studies, technology and global transactions. Ever heard about action on it? I doubt it. SCOPE (Society for Creation of Opportunity through Proficiency in English) is a project created by Modi. It teaches functional English to students even in Gujarati medium schools, colleges and other institutions, even commercial organisations. The programme is partly paid for by the govt and partly by the participants for students. It is delivered by private partners. Even Rajasthan was considering implementing this. This is not visible, it is experienced. It is felt in the gut! The MSM may have never noticed it but it took the Supreme Court to applaud the PDS system in Gujarat. That’s not visible, that’s an experience. It’s felt in the gut.

There is no free power supply. Farmers too have to pay, at a lower rate. Instead of bleeding the state with free power Modi had sent Babus and teams to various farmer-groups to educate them on better use of power; to use power-saving devices and machines. While the media propaganda machinery will harp on farmer suicides you won’t hear of this. Farmer suicide, when compared to other states, is not that severe and all suicides aren’t farm-related. It’s true, even one suicide is one too many. But the other work is not visible. It’s experienced in the gut. There are many others, the list can go on and on. Vaanche Gujarat is a reading program. Vanbandhu Kalyan is a programme for forest dwellers. Vibrant Gujarat is seen and also experienced. Vibrant Gujarat is a path-breaking initiative that invited visitors and investors. It’s now emulated by many other states. Despite the size of the venture, the last Vibrant Gujarat 2011 wasn’t even covered by media. The haters in the media are like that guest of Mullah Nasruddin.

Mullah Nasruddin had a friend from Delhi visiting him in his small town. He gave him a guided tour of his town in the evening. Mullah showed him the biggest river in town and the guest said: “That’s a river? Any gutter in Delhi would be bigger than that”. A stunned Mullah then took him to the biggest temple where 90% of the people in the village prayed and the guest said: “You call that a temple? Silly! You should see Birla Mandir in Delhi then you’ll know what a temple is”. Dejected Mullah decided not to show him anymore and they went home and had an early dinner. But as they sat outside on the cots Mullah couldn’t help pointing at a big bright full-moon to his friend. The friend from Delhi sniggered: “You call that a moon? You should come to Delhi, you’ll see the largest moon of your life and it shines for everybody not just 90% of people”. Mullah smiled and said “Yes, maybe one day I’ll come to Delhi” and went to bed. So you see, for the Rajdeeps, Barkhas, Sagarikas, Arnabs, Ashotushes, Wagles, Kanwals, Aakar Patels and many others the moon in Delhi is far bigger than the moon in Gujarat. Their blinkered vision cannot and need not be altered. People feel it in their gut.

To the luxury airliners of Delhi this ‘Chaiwalla’ from Gujarat was unacceptable. That he is far more skilled and talented than other politicians is unacceptable. So Modi had to break another rule. He decided to fly low cost. He took to the internet like no politician in Indian history has ever done. He communicated his vision, thoughts, problems of the state, achievements and every issue with people. He took to creating websites, he took to Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, GooglePlus and 3D campaigns. Before they could even say ‘NaMo’, he had built a vast army of followers on the net in India and abroad who spread his messages far and wide. They combated the lies of the MSM and exposed those frequently. MSM could get away with spurious stories for a while in 2002-03 but not later. Every LIAR in the media, NGO and his political opposition today stands exposed. Nobody knew if Modi was Brahmin or ST or OBC. Both NDTV and CNN-IBN made sure everybody knew after the 2007 elections with their special stories on him. Nobody cared. The People of Gujarat showed they cared for a performer and not for which caste or community he belonged to. Modi has made the MSM redundant for his political pursuits.

The MSM, beaten at its game of 2002 riots, now has a new line: “Modi is a regional leader and unfit for PM”. They seek confirmation of this from every possible idiot. The Social Genius, before a trip to Gujarat, sends out a subtle message about having tea with the Chaiwalla. Some may have missed the viciousness behind the subtlety but it exposes the filthy mind behind it. We need to start realising and treasuring the fact that performers from ordinary backgrounds can aspire to high offices in this land. To Modi, Gujarat is ‘One people under one roof’. The road ahead for India has to be ‘one nation under one roof’. Anything else is a deception that is bound to fail and bring more misery to the poor and backward. Does Modi have weaknesses or flaws? Maybe! But those pale into insignificance when you consider the heads of GOI stumbling from one problem to another; from defending one scam to another.

Edward De Bono, a prominent writer on thinking skills, said it best. You can analyse the past but you have to ‘design’ the future. Right now, Modi is the only one dealing with the present and still designing the future. The road ahead for India needs more such daring leaders, not mindless appeasers. It is December 6 today. I can predict the media morons will use the occasion to run more stories on Babri and attempt to divide Muslims and Hindus on the eve of Gujarat elections. Some of his fans tend to call him “Mahatma Modi”. There is no need for such dubious titles. Let’s not have any more mahatmas who become beyond question by the ordinary man. India will have to break a lot of rules in the road ahead. Gujarat and Modi have only shown the way.

Gujarat: Breaking Rules - Part 1

It was some 13 years ago that waiting around at Bangalore airport for a flight that was very delayed that I bought one of the most interesting books I’ve ever read. It was just released and I bought it for 2 reasons: The authors were Gallup researchers and I have frequently followed the principle that the title proclaimed: “First break all the rules” (Marcus Buckingham, Curt Coffman). The book is an outcome of research with over 80000 successful managers and what principles guided them. In all these years I have never forgotten its main principle: “People don't change that much. Don't waste time trying to put in what was left out. Try to draw out what was left in. That is hard enough”. (I recommend the book for any manager or leader, including aspiring ones).

Change matters. But real change happens only with a dramatic experience or through a conscious new insight gained. Many mothers have lost children to drunken driving and they usually react angrily. One woman, Candice Lightner, who lost her 13-year old daughter to a drunk driver, even as she was deeply upset founded MADD (Mothers Against Drunken Driving) to combat drunken driving and help victims. That’s a dramatic event that changed a mother to respond differently from the normal. People who have learned that the Aryan Invasion Theory is a hoax have changed their thinking due to new insight and scientific research into history. Change is usually not incremental.

HR specialist Susan Heathfield says about the book: “The implications of this insight for training and performance development are profound. This insight encourages building on what people can already do well Instead of trying to “fix” weaker talents and abilities. The traditional performance improvement process identifies specific, average or below performance areas. Suggestions for improvement, either verbal or in a formal appraisal process, focus on developing these weaknesses”. Let me explain this. Steffi Graf, the great Tennis player, had a powerful forehand but the worst backhand in women’s tennis. Instead of improving her backhand, her trainer taught her to go around the ball to her left and hit her same powerful forehand. If he had tried to greatly improve her backhand, he would still be doing it. What great managers do is not eliminate the weakness but manage it in a way that doesn’t affect one’s strengths. They FOCUS on strengths. They don’t try to put in what’s not there, they draw out what’s left inside.

Godhra and post-Godhra 2002 Narendra Modi had a dramatic experience as also gained deep insights. He was vilified and political opponents, assorted NGOs and gangs and most of all, the media launched the most vicious witch-hunt ever known in Indian politics or media against him. He had the choice to fight them by reacting and fighting like any normal politician. He did not. Instead, he chose to focus on his strengths, the strength of people’s mandate and the strengths of Gujarat. Talent and skills are two different things. Skills can be transferred, not talent. One can be taught to fight fire, one can’t be taught to ‘stay calm’ under fire. The first is a skill, the latter is a talent. When it came to fire-fighting Modi had both. He stayed calm under fire and fought fire in his own way. On January 15, 2009, Capt. Sully Sullenberger landed a troubled aircraft with 155 on board on the Hudson river in New York. Everyone was saved. He had the talent and skill to fight fire and stay calm under fire.

The changes in Gujarat are not of great dramatic achievements, though many can be listed, but one of leadership. Creator of the artificial heart, Dr. Robert Jarvik says: “Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear and no concept of the odds against them”. No matter what one chooses to say about Modi that describes him quite well. He had no fears and didn’t bother about the odds against him. These are signs of strong leadership.

Imagine, Gujarat is not a state gifted with many natural resources. On that count it has a lot in common with Rajasthan. A few years ago Rajkot and Saurashtra region were completely starved for water. Yet, instead of rioting or agitating against the govt Gujjus pulled out their resourcefulness, their sense of community and combatted the water issue. The Gujju refuses to beg. He or she may sit on a footpath and sell Neem sticks as tooth-brush or anything they can sell but they do not resort to begging; it is extremely rare. It has been many years since one has even seen a rally protesting anything (unless you talk about Mallika Sarabhai). Many industries haven’t seen a strike in all their existence in Gujarat. No matter how much a Gujju earns he doesn’t spend like there’s no tomorrow. Except for a small number and a few weddings there is nothing ostentatious about the manner in which Gujjus use their wealth or about their lifestyle.

The only thing that had consistently angered Gujjus is the political division of society and communal riots. These are trademark features of Congress politics and of similar parties. KHAM theories, mindless reservations, freebies and turning a blind eye to communal crimes of the minority and alienating Hindus. Other than that, may be an increase in VAT or Sales Tax could upset Gujjus. Since mid-1990s a full-strength BJP has been in power and there has been no looking back. The last straw was when a known bootlegger and mafia guy was propped up to rule a small kingdom in one part of Ahmedabad and the 1985 riots. He was killed in an ‘encounter’ type strike when Shankersinh Vaghela was the CM. Vaghela had quit BJP to join forces with Congress to realise his ambition of becoming CM. Something the Gujjus have never forgotten and he is still paying a price for it. So what do Gujjus really want? Nothing really! Their basic message to the govt is “you mind your business and let us mind ours”.

Peace, safety or freedom of movement are all nothing new and have always been around in Gujarat. Even in times of natural disasters Gujarat has a large number of NGOs that reach the needy faster than govt agencies do. The plague in Surat in 1994 turned the city into a model city later on instead of destroying it. In times of disasters you won’t often hear the line “Sarkar kuch nahin karti”. On January 26, 2001 when a deadly earthquake struck most parts of Gujarat, power was back in Ahmedabad within 24 hours. The first responders, as always, were volunteer NGOs. Some parts of Kutch, the epicentre of the earthquake, are far better now than they were before the earthquake.

All the Gujjus want from a govt is to build great infrastructure, ensure water supply, create medical facilities and curb evil social practices. They don’t like their govt to be in their face every day. They don’t want to see Narendra Modi give a speech every day. They don’t look for grandiose schemes or announcements frequently. These are the rules Modi has broken and has been breaking frequently. Corner shops, Cafes and Paan-shops in Kolkata or Delhi are great places to discuss politics all the time; from morning till night. These same outlets in Gujarat would hardly have any political discussions. The best you can find is stock market discussions and during Cricket season a little more exciting betting discussions. I don’t think even a Central govt policy, except taxes, find much discussion among common folks. Most of all a huge majority of Gujjus don’t watch NDTV, CNN-IBN, TimesNow, Headlines Today or read TOI. In fact, most don’t read anything at all, unless mandatory. Believe me, till some years ago if you spoke English in Gujarat you were God. Er… That was till this Sachin Tendulkar came along.

So when the Social Genius from a news channel heads to Gujarat and wants to find out the condition of Muslims alone, she is not just insulting Muslims she is insulting all Gujjus. The Congress has built it into the psyche of media morons that the question must always be asked what a govt is doing for minorities (read Muslims). First and foremost it is a great achievement of Indian society that whether you are from majority or minority you are legally equals. The other question never occurs to the media: “What have Muslims done for Gujarat, what have Muslims done for India”? What have Hindus, Christians, Parsis, Sikhs, Jains and others done for Gujarat? For India? That’s the question that endeared JFK to the American people. Why not ask what the people have done for their state or country?

It is in such a divisive and destructive atmosphere and a viciously hate-filled media that Modi’s leadership was tested. And what did he offer? Let me quote Marcus Buckingham again: “What a leader does for followers is… turn anxiety into confidence. They’ve always done that throughout time and in every different society and situation. When leaders lead well, it’s because they’re able to rally people to a better future and make people spirited when they were previously anxious”. It is undeniable that Narendra Modi broke many rules of traditional Indian politics, especially Nehruvian politics. No subsidies, no free power, no freebies, no mindless reservations, no cash doles. Nothing! Have all the problems disappeared? Not at all! There are quite a few and newer ones are sure to come up. But Modi has quite definitely changed the political and electoral dialogue.

Modi’s development agenda is much talked about and much recognised. Which is why enemies of a progressive society will keep reminding of old wounds to attempt dividing societies. Our media does exactly that. Their only job is to defend the corrupt and keep dividing society on caste and communal lines to further their agenda of their political masters. Gujjus are far more liberal and open as a society than the ones on TV who have a twisted idea of “liberalism”. The development agenda is two-dimensional; one that is very visible and one that is not so visible. In the next part we will try and examine where the road from Gujarat leads to.