Last week was special. Two respected men, both in their 70s, were in Mumbai. Age has nothing to do with the awe they evoke, but Philip Kotler (marketing’s messiah) and John Naisbitt (the acclaimed futurist), have it in them to turn black-suited business executives into star-struck children. At question time, a bespectacled delegate at the seminar told Kotler, “Sir, it’s a dream come true to see you here today.” Read the rest of this entry »

I believe in miracles. In a Mumbai public bus, yesterday, I saw a lady standing with a five-year-old in her arms. None of the passengers offered her a seat, though somebody offered half a seat to her child. The kid did not take up the offer. I gave her my seat and moved away from the crowd to the front. A gentleman got off. In a flash I had got back a seat. Good deeds beget good deeds. But what about bad deeds? Read the rest of this entry »

Last week I was speaking to a senior executive from Wipro, a top-notch, information technology services company in India. I couldn’t help but ask him, despite their IT prowess, why don’t Indian companies have enough patents? Despite the fact that the top 10 patent holders across the world are IT companies. Read the rest of this entry »