Global Investor Summit: Bama Vijayam?

Bama Vijayam, a Tamil movie from the 60s beautifully depicted the emotions of a lower middle class family as they prepare to welcome an actress to their home. The movie reminds us of the importance of prudence and financial discipline. And today, an erstwhile actress and the chief minister of Tamil Nadu is getting ready to roll out the red carpet for the global investors meet to promote Tamil Nadu as their preferred choice of investment destination. Will the erstwhile actress and current Chief Minister aka Amma pull through a successful welcome and wooing? 

When I landed on September 1, the ride home to Alwarpet was terrible. Though nothing that I experienced surprised me from the warm climate (37deg c) and high humidity, metro rail projects progressing at a snails pace, poor roads that had more vehicles than people, to Government run liquor shops (Tasmac), but made me anxious when I read about the Global Investors Meet in the city. Does she have the power to summon Viswakarma to clean up the city or create another smart city overnight?

But a week later when I drove to the airport at 4.15 am, I was reminded of Bama Vijayam and how the host family upgrades their home from renting new furniture and home electronics to rehearsing individual roles and scripts for welcoming the actress. 

Most arterial roads were relaid at mission impossible speeds, a pavilion, shape of an igloo was erected right besides the lighthouse at Marina to beam the achievements of the government (I call it the spherical Facebook wall). Amma selfies are being placed on all arterial roads, giving them no surprises of her larger than life personality. 

I reached the airport thirty minutes after four, and the place was unusually busy. I needed to wait for five minutes to gain entry into the airport, the usual matching of ticket and id to ensure that you legitimately had a reason to get into the airport and you were who claimed to be to prevent impersonation. Like in Bama Vijayam where the daughter in laws were showing off their prowess in Hindi and English, some family members who came to see of their loved ones hugged, kissed and uttered the famous last words: take care, miss you. Indians are either emotional or commotional and it is funny irrespective of whether you are a recipient or an observer.

Despite getting early to the airport, I spent the next 25 minutes waiting in line to go through security check and get the hand baggage tag stamped. It took me the same time to get to the airport from my home, 15 kms away. And by the time I completed the security check, I heard the boarding call for the flight giving me no time to test the facilities at the airport: seating, wifi and toilet. If we were wooing tourists, investors and NRIs, should we not simplify the procedure and de-clog airports and cities and make them friendlier?

While I speak of simplifying life, Ola cabs comes to my mind. Unlike Uber, at Ola you book cabs by either calling their call center or through their App. The discount coupons that they give almost makes your ride free, a good marketing and advertising investment that propagates their brand through word of mouth. My friend strongly believes that these discount coupons will eventually make them bankrupt. Btw, I used a 300 rs coupon given to me at the time of joining to pay for my 15kms trip from Mumbai airport to a suburb and it turned out to be a free ride. 

Sustainability is key to longterm success of any business be it Ola cabs, Nokia, or Foxconn. Beneath the smooth roads and behind the window dressed city there is so much history, red tape, cronyism and deceit. With elections around the corner, the ruling party needs proofs of success to Tom Tom during the 2016 election year and today's summit seems to be focusing on short-term success. The state is still reeling under power cuts, acute shortage of water, over dependency on the revenue from the sale of liquor which almost turned the state into a alcoholic state (33% consume alcohol) making Tamil Nadu a topper among 30 states and finally slew of welfare schemes that is draining the state coffers. The Amma canteen has run into a rough weather and now Govt is evaluating ways to keeping it alive and managing canteens through NGOs. 

Finally, like how actress Bama in the movie gets to discover the real family, the investors will soon get to discover tax issues (Nokia vs. GoI), frequent strikes (labor issues @ Hyundai and Ford) and  cost of doing business in the state (@Foxconn shut their doors). Varavu yettana, selvavu pathhana....http://youtu.be/vAoUr0p094g. But before they begin their journey, investors must learn how to fall at the feet of Amma and also realize the shortsightedness of the Government.