PART 4: THE SPIRIT OF VICTORY

7th July 2019


We were heading back home from Paris on a chartered flight. We had gone there along with our country’s prominent economists to attend a conference. The agenda was to share various ideas on reducing the rural-urban divide with leaders of developing countries. Apart from that, we also shared information regarding our path of development during the past decade with them.

While staying at the hotel there, I spoke to a celebrated Indian journalist who was also a part of our delegation. He presented his most recently published book to me, which was a product of his painstaking research. He described his work as an attempt to give an account of the sweeping changes that had taken place in India during the past decade. And immediately, I was interested in reading his book.

Just as our flight took off from Paris, I took out the book and began to read it…with utmost curiosity. The author described how the attitude of the masses had changed for the better. “A social revolution took place in the minds of millions during the past decade,” he noted in his work. The modified attitude did not involve mere bland criticism of the government machinery. It was marked by an awareness of a greater sense of responsibility of the peoples towards their motherland. He reproduced a comment made by a fellow citizen in his work: “The greatest feeling of achievement comes from the satisfaction that you’ve done the best you can for your country.”

The past decade witnessed a huge increase in the number of business concerns which gave prime importance to corporate social responsibility and environmental conservation initiatives. Charity was being regarded as sacred on one hand, and on the other, as an investment in the future of India. Fearlessness and the hunger to win, backed by innovative capabilities were the characteristic features of the new generation of Indian entrepreneurs.

The writer elucidated that these changes would create a positive impact on politicians, in the not too distant future. During the last general elections, voter turn-outs were very low even in places where the literacy rate was over 95%. This seemed to suggest that large sections of voters, including those who were educated, did not have faith in any of the candidates. Sooner or later, political parties would realize that votes could more effectively be garnered by developmental politics rather than relying on vote-bank politics. They would probably realize that the people didn’t want them to play the caste and religion cards.

He also made use of some statistics to point out the speedy decline in poverty, illiteracy and unemployment. Growth, being more inclusive, had led to the reduction of impoverishment.

And I was in for a pleasant surprise when I came across a chapter which explained how our business model in Kerala got replicated all over India and thereby ‘created a magnanimous impact’. Another business model also came in for special mention. The idea was conceived by Radha eight years ago. It involved the creation of supermarkets in rural areas on a no-profit basis. The intention was to provide employment to the rural folk and also supply products at the cheapest prices to them. This model was later adopted in different parts of the country successfully.

I showed these pages to Radha who was seated beside me on the plane. Glancing through the pages of the chapter, the corners of her mouth turned up to reveal a pleasant smile. It wasn’t the first time that one of our business models was being acknowledged in print. But then, even small recognitions were sweet because they gave us a feeling of satisfaction that we had done something worthwhile for others.

“The active patriotism present in the people of India made way for the replication of our themes at such a rapid pace,” Radha said. I nodded in agreement.

***

Within forty-five minutes after landing at Cochin, Radha and I came out of the airport. We then got into a taxicab to head back home. A few minutes later, she was asleep beside me. I took a good look at her. We were married for the past nine years. But my admiration for her grew by the passing year. This wasn’t strange considering the fact that she was always backing me up and giving me confidence in every initiative I undertook. She was always beside me, lifting my spirits when I was down. Looking at her, I remembered how she would often tell me: “Abhinav, change is the law of nature. As time passes by, things change. So does love. Overtime, it evolves into different forms—forms which we haven’t seen before.” She would sometimes, say this romantically, and sometimes, seriously. But whichever way she said it, she was right. My feelings for her were continuously germinating into different kinds since our marriage. Even the gaze that I fixed on my better half, after nine years of matrimony, was a manifestation of that very emotion she was talking about.

I then rested my head on the cushion of my seat and began to recollect what had happened during the past decade. The book I read on the plane was having its aftereffects on me, though I was exhausted from the trip. Yes, the wave of active patriotism did spread across the country, cutting across barriers like race, religion, caste and linguistics. People were now more mentally strong and I believed that many of them were working for a cause greater than themselves.

There was another thing that I noticed about India and her people. To me, Indian culture seemed to be evolving…into a unique culture which imbibed the revered qualities of compassion, dignity, selflessness, perseverance, along with some other qualities probably adopted from the West such as accomplishment, independence and individualism. To me, this was the perfect recipe for uninhibited development.

I was tired but I couldn’t get sleep. I soon went into a flashback mode.

I went back to the days when Raju, Stephen, Majeed and I conducted our food products business. Our entity had grown overtime into a hugely successful one, with product diversifications being undertaken at just the right times. Our company had also gone public. We were now in the process of diversifying into businesses which were unrelated to each other. We were now engaging in commercial activities that required the wide use of high level technology.

Innovation was the one thing that was lacking a decade back. Indian industry was infamous for simply applying tried and tested management techniques developed and used elsewhere many years back. We were determined to change that. But how was the question. Raju provided an answer. The idea was to build up funds from several participants in the same industry with the sole purpose of investment in innovative business propositions. The contributors of the fund would become shareholders in the newly registered company. This way the risk would be shared by all the competitors in an industry without creating profits or losses for any particular company while leaving out the rest. So the central idea was collaboration between all the participants of a particular industry with the goal of creating common solutions for all of them. The result would be a professionally managed company with focus on productivity creating high technology innovative solutions for use in different industries. This would propel the development of the whole industry itself.

We made this possible by taking national level industrial confederations into confidence, and passed on the baton to them. These organizations then continued the relay race, convincing various associations relevant to particular industries. Eventually, such initiatives began to show positive results, such as the creation of more cost-effective yet technologically superior raw materials and finished goods, enabling the entire country to grow.

We were now onto a desalinization project. The objective was to desalinize seawater at the lowest possible cost, thereby creating water which could then be made potable by using an ordinary water purifier. From our feasibility studies, we had found the project to be economically viable. We decided to move forward with the project which would solve innumerable water-based problems.

The better halves of Stephen, Raju and Majeed were actively involved in Spiritual Development Programmes which gave training in meditation techniques to economically and socially backward house-wives in rural areas of the country. There was a plan to bring in male members of their families to participate in the initiative. But there seemed to be a stigma attached to that. The programme was thought of as one drawn out solely for the women-folk and men restrained themselves from joining the party. But we found a way out. We suggested our employees at the supermarkets, as well as loyal consumers to join the initiative. They promptly obliged and in this way, we succeeded in breaking the ice. All the members of the families joined the Programme and gained the higher benefits from spiritual development.

It also gave a golden opportunity to Stephen. He was able to use the co-optation approach to reduce the friction in his marital relationship, without giving his wife’s name to any of our products.

After a couple of years of starting Primacy Products Pvt Ltd, Majeed noticed that our company consisted of a group of members hailing from different religious communities. Yet, we were able to carry on the project in such a successful manner. The answer lay in the common values we shared with each other. So it was evident that anything could be achieved by a team of individuals if there were common goals and common values. We decided to spread this message to the society by sponsoring various NGOs which would work relentlessly for the benefit of the entire community.

Our children had formed a gang of ten bubbly youngsters, who were now studying at a school managed by a trust which we had founded. They were tutored by teachers who were not just friends, philosophers or guides, but visionaries. They encouraged their students to have a direction in life and work towards that direction.
Some of our little brothers and sisters at Alappuzha were employed at this school while others were undergoing their higher studies or working in our ventures. I could never forget that visit with Radha to their home a decade ago. That single incident had completely transformed my life.

I thought about the marriage ceremony which would be held in a week’s time. The bridegroom was Abhilash, the orthopaedically handicapped boy who realized his dream of becoming a college lecturer. And the bride was Radhika, the girl who had asked me what the biggest problem faced by our youth was. She was now working with us. She told me that they happened to fall in love just recently.

But I suspected them to have found each other long back, at Alappuzha itself. That’s because people themselves never know what they are up to. And I don’t know why, but they were afraid of letting it out to us. Radhika finally chose an old-fashioned way to reveal it: she allowed her phone-bill to go through the roof. On nabbing her, she first greeted us with a prolonged silence, which was customary in such situations. Then she let the cat out of the bag. And it left us all looking forward to the wedding.

Thinking about the pleasant things, I fell into a deep slumber.

***

I woke up on hearing the sound of the gates being opened. We had reached our home. I saw our parents waiting for us out on the verandah. They then came forward and did not hesitate to try to take our luggage out from the vehicle. But I stopped them and instead gave them a hug. As I was taking out the baggage, I noticed the sky become overcast with dark clouds heading from the south-west direction.

I changed my clothes and went to the terrace only to find that I had just missed the approaching rains. It had already begun to drizzle. It then rained heavily drenching the plants and trees in the vicinity.

I was observing the area when I felt the presence of another person beside me. It was Radha. She had the day’s newspaper in her hand. She rolled it up, gripped it and began hitting me with it, on the elbow of my hand. I folded my hands, as if in prayer, turned towards her and bowed to her.

“Do you know the number of times Padma called you on your phone?” she asked me. “It was when we were returning from the airport.”

“Oh! I didn’t realize it,” I replied. “My mind had been involved in a flashback.”

“Oh! Flashback?” she responded, smiling. “In your flashback, did you remember the role Padma played?”

I began to recollect the events.

“Ah!” I exclaimed. “Yes…yes…years ago, Achan and Amma had decided to look for a bride for me, so that I could settle down. They asked me whether there was somebody on my mind. And I replied, ‘Of course! There’s Radha, if you don’t mind…’

“Amma actually appreciated my frankness. I was pleasantly surprised.”

“And then what happened?” sang Radha, in the tune of a nursery rhyme.

“Um…and then my parents came to your place to propose. And initially you weren’t ready to accept the proposal…in the name of friendship or something.”

“Oh, ho?” responded Radha, protruding her nose and lips forward and nodding her head in a playful manner.

“Mmm, hmm…and that’s when Padma came into the picture. She met you in person and popped a few questions to you…”

“Such as…” replied Radha.

“Let me think…okay. ‘Radha, you know Abhi Anna so well. In fact, much more than we all do. Will you be able to find another guy whom you’ll know better? Will you ever come across another guy who shares the same values you do, and who’ll take even greater care of you?’ ”

Radha looked away and smiled sheepishly.

“And that was it,” I replied. “You were clean bowled. Silence was the only answer you could give her. And you threw in the towel.”

Radha continued to look elsewhere. Eight years of marriage were still not sufficient to remove the shyness painted on her face.

“Padma, her hubby, Lok uncle and Nandi aunty will be coming here in the evening,” said Radha, trying to hide her blush.

“It’s been a long time since we last saw them,” I replied. “I also have a few doubts to clear from them regarding a software program. Good thing both of them are software engineers. So even if Suresh doesn’t know the answer, Padma might still know it.”

“Yes,” responded Radha and she began to think about what I had just said.

I noticed a few drops of water dripping down her neck. She had just had a bath and her hair was still wet. I took a few steps towards her. I then collected a few of those drops from her neck onto my fingers. Just as she realized what I was going to do, I shook them off onto her face. I loved to see the way she twitched and the emotion on her face when I did that. She gave me another hit with the newspaper.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. “It has stopped raining.”

I looked to find that the drizzle had stopped. The clouds had given way to sunshine.

“Will we be lucky enough to see the rainbow now?” I asked.

Radha scanned the sky. There was no rainbow.

“What do you see?” she asked.

“What do you see?” I asked her in reply.

She looked at the sky once again and around the area and said, “I see the future…of a developed world.”

She was right. The ultimate good for mankind was our aim. And we saw active patriotism as the means towards achieving that end. The next thing on our agenda was to spread India’s development to the world. There was absolutely no time to rest. We had to go further. Chalo. Perfect.


E-mail: soniachuthan@gmail.com