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He Swam with Sharks for an Ice-Cream
THE creation of wealth is one of the duties enjoined upon us in the scriptures, yet, somewhere along the way to the evolution of economic thought, we began to look upon the act as sinful. Perhaps, this has been due to the influence of the Socialist ideology. But, despite all the anti-capitalist hype the business community in India managed to thrive. After the economy was liberalised it demonstrated its true genius. Today, there are quite a few Indian men and women who are either among the richest in the world or head some of the most powerful business and finance organisations. Although the Tatas, Birlas and Mittals command respect in the corporate world, it is the New Economy wizards like Bill Gates, Azim Premji, Narayana Murthy and Nandan Nilekani et al who inspire awe. But in the pantheon of these gods of wealth-creation Dhirajlal Hirachand, a.k.a. Dhirubhai Ambani — the apparent inspiration for this book — remains unique.
What was the secret of his success? How can one adopt/adapt his methods and mantras to one’s own business enterprise? The book goes step by step in explaining them for the benefit of wannabes and stragglers alike. It enunciates the GATE theory wherein gigantism, aggression, trust and efficiency are the hallmarks of a successful enterprise. Think different and think big seems to be the mantra of Dhirubhai style of functioning, if one goes by the contents of this book. Of course, the ability and readiness to take risks come first and foremost. As the author states, "`85 ships are safe in the harbor, but that isn’t their purpose." A caution here. Harry asserts that the businessman does a great social service by creating jobs and generating wealth. Actually, no business runs on altruistic motives. You don’t do any favour by hiring a person. Actually you need his or her skills to run your enterprise. Whatever you give in terms of pay and perks is nothing but rent for labour. Similarly, the state protects you from domestic anarchy and external aggression apart from facilitating the running of various enterprises in so many ways. The taxes are but a small token money that the business person pays for all these. Most of the burden is actually borne by the common man who pays direct and indirect taxes and plays an indispensable role in wealth creation. Nevertheless, this book is peppered with parables from different cultures including Indian; and the interpretations are interesting. For example, he looks upon the Ocean Churning story (Samudramanthan, wherein gods and demons agree to share the fruits of churning the ocean although the most prized was the nectar) thus: "The divine beings are all of us, the demons symbolise challenges, and the hidden treasures in the ocean are our hidden potential`85" The author also exhorts us not to undervalue ourselves. He points out that our thoughts mould our persona and thus our lifestyle. If we look upon
ourselves as average middle class then the chances of millions flowing
into our lives are negligible. If you think big, you become big. It is
not that successful people don’t experience failures. It is just
that they show enough resilience to come up trumps ultimately. For
this you need "Bania buddhi". What’s that? Read the
book.
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The
protagonist, Harry a.k.a. Haribhai, is a retired billionaire and is
more or less Dhirubhai Ambani’s alter ego. He narrates how Ambani
once took up a challenge to swim in shark infested waters off Aden
just to win ice-cream as prize! It was not that he was broke but he
loved dangerous challenges. The incident has apparently inspired this
book’s title. This has been Ambani’s life’s leitmotif too. In
the business world, he encountered powerful rivals who were out to
destroy him. However, he not only managed to survive but also turn
tables on them and become the success story of India Inc.