The Kesavan Advisory Services Ltd

Advising is in the Kesavan blood. As a family we are proud of our heritage, proud of our culture, proud of our accomplishments. But, most of all we are proud of the advice that we disperse (freely!).

Grandpa Kesavan used to fill me with stories of how people benefitted from his advice and moved on to great things in life (I used to listen with rapt attention!). Daddy Kesavan is the same (though he regrets that his own son never took his ‘advice’ seriously). Sr Uncle Kesavan and Jr Uncle Kesavan are also the same (and have the same regrets with the 3^rd gen!!!).

Grandpa Kesavan once ‘advised’ the Kuwait Investment Authority to come out of their position in IBM. They made a cool $ 32 million on the trade (back in the 80’s). Daddy Kesavan once ‘advised’ his friend’s son who was home sick and wanted to leave Dubai to stay put and ‘fight it out’. Now, that boy is doing very well and has even bought his parents a house.

Sr. Uncle Kesavan once ‘advised’ this young bright chap from the village who was working in a pharmacy to apply for a position as a medical rep. Now that same boy is in senior management with one of the pharma MNCs.

Jr Uncle Kesavan had this friend Vasu who was a cook for Daddy Kesavan’s aunt. One fine day Dad’s cousin came home with some friends who were planning to open a restaurant in Moscow. Vasu had to prepare the lunch. And lo and behold when the ‘payasam‘(Kheer for North Indians) came out the guests were blown away. They immediately offered him a job. Aunt was not too happy so Vasu came to Jr Uncle Kesavan for ‘advice’. “Go for it man”- was the response and so Vasu who’d never been out of his village moved to Moscow. He came home a couple of years back and had this to say- “Jr Uncle Kesavan is God!”

It is natural for people to come to the Kesavans for advice. I’ve had my own share too. I once had this friend who was stuck between 2 choices his father had given him. One was to do the Indian Economic Service exams and the other was to go to UK for his Masters. Poor chap was confused. I broke it down for him simply. “Blonde or Indian boyo? That’s the choice you got to make!” He chose blonde and within 6 months he had his blonde babe!

The other interesting anecdote was this one time with a friend. He had just got married and was about to go for his “Suhaag Raat”. And he’d come to me for advice! The situation was made even more complicated as there was no internet! I think we managed rather well between us. He now has a kid!

Then there was this case recently of a 19 year old that came to me asking for advice on “how to get popular with the ladies”. (Those who know me please don’t laugh!!!) Some idiot had given him the idea that it was as simple as going to a ‘dance-bar’ and “talking” to them. I corrected the poor chap and explained to him what a dance-bar is and that his ‘friend’ was probably referring to a ‘club’. This is still a work in progress and I shall keep you posted.

Then again there was this case where these 2 girls were acting in a play and they were clearly struggling. I came in. “We are not getting this right”- I nodded my head. “We need to change this”- I nodded my head.  “We should do this”- I nodded my head. They made the changes and were brilliant. “Oh Ajai- you’re such a great actor, and such such big help. We can’t thank you enough!”(ps: Advising women is easy- they will point their problems and come out with their own solutions. You just need to nod your head and they’ll love you for it. )

So the next time you need advice you know who you should go to!

Why we need Mr. Kejriwal and what the AAP needs to do

Now that the parliamentary elections are over the focus will shift to the Delhi assembly elections that should be held within the next few months. After the poor showing in Delhi state for the parliamentary elections the belief is that Arvind Kejriwal and AAP face an uphill fight just to remain politically relevant.  But, is that how it should be?

Long and tough road ahead, but he needs to be given the chance.

There’s no doubt that Kejriwal made a mistake in resigning the Delhi CM post with such haste. The ‘united’ opposition have very clearly outmaneuvered Kejriwal in the media and the public goodwill that he’d earned with the spectacular showing in the Delhi assembly elections seems to have dissipated.  

Mr. Kejriwal seems to have been overwhelmed by the initial success that came his way. Looking back we could say it was beginner’s luck. Everyone was surprised with the strong show that the AAP put up in the December elections in Delhi. Not much has been written/said about the psychological effect that those results had on the general elections. But, in my mind, there is no doubt that the AAP’s ascendancy sent out a strong message to the people of this country that the Congress was a ‘spent’ force and voting for the old establishment was a waste of time. If the people of Delhi, the bastion from where the Congress has ruled over the country for most of the post-independence era, had rejected the Grand Old Party for a small political upstart then the rest of the nation was not going to give them another chance.

Kejriwal realized this and tried to capture this political space that he’d created at a national level. The problem for him was manifold. First of all he was up against a Modi juggernaut that had been planning and preparing for precisely this moment for the last 12 years. Second, he didn’t have the team/set-up to go all-out nationally and ended up spreading himself too thin. And third, his little time in the CM’s office didn’t inspire enough confidence in the people to see him as a credible alternative.  Team Modi deftly captured the political space created.

But all is not lost for Mr. Kejriwal and Co. The 4 seats from Punjab are a spectacular result and only the most optimistic of AAP supporters would have been upset by the national results.  However, there is a lot of homework for the AAP to do and they will need to do an objective analysis of what is required and the time-frames in which they will be able to implement and achieve their results.

First let me get in to why the AAP and Mr. Kejriwal are relevant to the political future of this country. The AAP is a unique one- of-its-kind  political movement in the country with absolutely no precedence of any sort. It’s a movement that has sprung up from the general anti-pathy of the public towards the old establishment. Its success reveals that there is a large section of the country that is fed-up with the politics as usual approach.  Success for the AAP, therefore will mean our democracy would have matured and that it would be possible for a genuine citizen of this country with absolutely no political lineage or association with one of the known political outfits to make a difference in this country. It will inspire and give greater confidence to the public to debate and actively participate in the democratic process without any fear of back-lash.  And whatever the image for Mr. Kejriwal in the public eye at the moment there is no doubting his personal integrity. Unfortunately, this quality is a rarity in our politics and it is political capital that needs to be made most of.

But what exactly does AAP stand for? And this is the biggest problem for Mr. Kejriwal. We know that the AAP is anti- corruption and anti- crony- capitalism and anti- this and anti- that. But, what exactly is the AAP for? This is the first point that has to be communicated clearly enough.

The AAP needs to sit-down and create a political manifesto that broadly outlines its approach to the various issues of governance. Government is not one-track and anti-corruption is not the one-plank/ one-issue- wonder that is going to deliver political results for the AAP. The AAP has a fabulous opportunity to prove its credentials in Punjab where the people of 4 constituencies have voted for it. They need to hit the ground running and actually implement the promises made and deliver visible results. The people of this country should be able to see what the AAP is for in these 4 regions by 2019. The national issues raised by these 4 parliamentarians also need be very carefully thought out.

Another place where the AAP needs to get its act together is PR. In the initial hype after the Delhi election results we had a whole lot of celebrities, socialites and intellectuals jumping on the AAP bandwagon, only to dump them post the Lok Sabha results. The AAP will need to be careful of who it gives membership to and who speaks on its behalf. While it is good to have membership open to anyone and everyone, a small check such as ensuring that anyone who joins the party must do at least 3 months of volunteer work before being given full membership will ensure only those that are actually interested in making a change join the party.  There is no need to give membership to people who are only interested in media sound-bytes. A lot of AAP member also seem to be suffering from foot-in-mouth disease and that needs to be kept in check. Creating a political manifesto will also give clarity to those who seek membership and there should be no awkward moments with the media quoting two opposing views from within the AAP.

Arvind Kejriwal also needs to stop getting slapped! It sends out the wrong image to the public. There is no easy way around this but something has to be thought out. It is disgusting to see people behave in such a manner but Mr. Kejriwal also needs to take care and not present himself as such an easy target.

The AAP team will have to sit-down and chalk out their strategy. Mr. Kejriwal will have to show much cunning and guile (qualities not taught in IIT!) if he has to outwit the likes of Modi. He will need street-smart managers and project implementers. And most importantly he will have to come out of the ‘idealistic intellectual’ trap that he seems to have created for himself and get down and practical about his politics. A realistic target would be the 2024 national elections- preparations for which would have to begin now! I wish him and the AAP all success.

Note: Author is a supporter of the BJP.

The Similarities in Modi’s and Obama’s campaigns

Borrowing from the Obama campaign?

Obama’s victory in the presidential election in 2008 was a watershed movement in world history. It captured the imagination of the world. It was a play of the classic story of the under-dog, the David who dared to take on the Goliaths of the world and won! While it has been described as a victory of multi-culturalism and of the “American Dream”, many analysts believed that the victory was the result of an “outstanding campaign”.

The Obama campaign was the first to discover and utilize Web 2.0. It drew on millions of fans from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and MySpace. It didn’t matter where in the world you were, you could still support and participate in the Obama campaign!

It was also a very shrewd and pragmatic campaign. “Race” was consciously kept out of the campaign, while everyone on the outside was constantly talking about it. The tensions and desperations were more visible on the Republican side with their campaign denigrating in to a vicious and vociferous “keep ‘em out- PLEASE” type of campaign. The Obama team was thus also able to capture the moral high-ground.

The campaign focused on the weak economy, the state of the nation and simple plots of the same nature where it was obvious to one and all that the current administration had failed and therefore deserved to be booted out. The Obama team was smart to place itself as the better alternative to the most pressing issues.

Obama drew on the media. He was everywhere, all the time. And this constant barrage broke in to the American consciousness. He was no longer just some random senator from Chicago but a very “real” and a very "serious contender" to the top job of the land.

Team Obama also made full use of the momentum that was in their favor. Right from the primaries and the face-off with Hilary Clinton (who would have given Obama a chance with her in 2007?) to the final elections, each victory was milked.

We also had Obama masks, Obama T-Shirts, Obama coasters, Obama with Hollywood A-listers, Obama in a pop song etc etc. all with the idea of creating an aura around “the chosen one”.

Modi and Obama represent two opposite ends of the political spectrum. However, Modi’s team seems to have taken many leaves out of the Obama campaign book. Readers would have seen the many parallels to the Obama campaign.

He’s omnipresent in the web. His campaign has been using technology to the hilt. Facebook, Twitter, Blogs- you name it, he’s there. He has an army of fans online.  I’ve even seen a video where Modi and his audience chant- “Yes- we can!”- borrowing from the famous Obama refrain. Modi masks have become a famous and standard feature at all his rallies. 

“Religion” has been consciously kept out of the campaign. The focus has been on the “mis-goveranance” and “massive corruption” of the current dispensation. There’s also been a very smart and calculated way of tackling with the media. Even if the campaign hasn’t been directly sponsoring any air-time, Modi seems to have found a way to be constantly in the news. The attempt has been to target the young- urban-educated middle class, the same group that took Obama to the White House. And Team Modi misses no chance in attributing any victory anywhere to its mascot.

The two key questions to be asked here are:

1.       Is this campaign working? And,

2.       Is the Urban-educated middle class in India big enough to influence the outcome of a national election?

There has been massive attendance at all Modi rallies, especially in urban areas, even in cities such as Hyderabad where the BJP is not all that strong.   

The results of the state-elections have come out today. Modi fans will be quick to take credit for everything.  I will ignore the verdicts in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh. The two questions above would be more pertinent to Delhi and from the verdict the answers are still not clear.