The Wind

As the new year begins, I am reflecting on some of the key events in my life during 2019. 

On a personal front, my daughter Arooshi quit her 2 years’ job at IBM to begin her own start-up called “OLEO”. This gave me an opportunity to observe young minds at work creating the future of this country.

Younger daughter Mallika joined a TATA Trusts/ Google JV NGO and seems to be excited working with rural women of India called “Internet Saathis”. 

Broke my tibia and fibula bones in a stupid accident but enjoyed undivided attention from my wife, Hema. 

At work, Amitabh took over as new CEO and I was privileged to partner him in creating a new vision, newer capabilities while retaining the uniquely warm and welcoming culture of the Bank – “The Axis Way”. 

However, one event that stands as remarkably enriching and humbling was my visit to the projects of our NGO partner Dhan Vayalagam Tank Foundation (DVTF) in Madurai in the month of November. 

RJs of Vayalaga Vanoli – 90.4

Axis Bank Foundation (ABF) is operating in some of the most socio-economic backward districts in India. ABF supports marginalized communities to enable inclusive and economic growth. Presently partnering with close to 30 like-minded NGOs, 

Each year, the Board members of ABF visit a project area to understand the impact of the Foundation’s work. This year we visited Kongampatti, Vengaipatti and Kottampatti villages in Madurai, Tamil Nadu where a project has been implemented in partnership with Dhan Foundation (DVTF) and observed the governance mechanisms the project has put in place. 

To our pleasant surprise, we came across Community Radio (Vayalaga Vanoli – 90.4 MHz.) working solely for the purpose to provide information to the community. Managed by the Madurai District Tank Farmers Federation, the radio covers 15 km radius, reaching out to over 4, 500 households. Topics such as agriculture, livestock, education, health, and traditional knowledge are covered in the radio programs which are broadcasted on a regular basis and are received by the villagers either through mobile radios or transistors.

The Community Radio associate covers the queries/feedback from the farmers which are referred for solutions to experts from Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Tamil Nadu Agriculture University (TNAU), Agriculture Dept. and other farmers. Community engagement programs are also broadcasted with opinions and views from the community members so that the listenership of the radio station increases. The listenership is further tracked through surveys to understand its outreach. Community feedback is sought on programs broadcasted and topics on which they would like to have radio shows. The Radio Jockeys (RJs) of the community radio have a good understanding of ground realities as they earlier handled the roles of community resource persons. 

S Ramadorai, Chairman, ABF gave a short interview on the community radio during the visit highlighting the Foundation’s efforts towards improved agricultural practices and rejuvenation of tanks. 

It’s heartening to see the rural poor with their own meager resources and with help from NGOs like DHAN and ABF taking strides towards becoming self-dependent and literally as well as metaphorically tuned to their privileged counterparts in cities.

I dedicate the next decade to many more rural youth like the young RJs of Vayalaga Vanoli – 90.4.

Anecdotes, analogies and stories are great learning tools. We human relate a lot to them. True, no analogy is a perfect match – but this is where all analogies carry a tease. They make us discern, discriminate, contrast and compare. 

On my studies on Sufist philosophies and lifestyles, I hit upon the idea, how it matches the profession of sales. Not only that, the realm of Sufism shone inspiration and canons for excelling at having undying faith in their craft but also subsume themselves completely in the process of building a trusting relationship with the other party, the almighty in their case. Sales stand distinct from marketing – it is very essential in finally helping the potential buyer’s to arrive at a state of mutual trust in the offering and reach the pockets in exchange for the proposition offered by the salesman. 

A dervish practices multiple rituals, the primary of which is the dhikr, a remembering of Allah. The dhikr involves recitation of devotional Islamic prayer. This dhikr is coupled with physical exertions of movement, specifically dancing and whirling, in order to reach a state assumed by outsiders to be one of "ecstatic trances". 

You can poetically visualize the similar motions of a salesperson – complex interlinked manoeuvres that build trust, establish credentials of the buyer, further rapport, and in educating the buyer, surmount the objections which inevitably crop up, culminating in a final mesmerized stage of paying for the good/ service. The giving of cash, the click of the button post entering CVV of the credit card, the let go of any reservations, which still might be lurking in the buyer’s head. This trance, we all know, the buyer soon fades out of – what is commonly called cognitive dissonance, where apprehensions come in on “Was it a good buy?”.

If the answer to above turns out to be a resounding Yes, the Darvish has found the lap of his beloved almighty to rest for a while. 

and for the Salesman, tomorrow is another day in the field ...