Your columnist traces his roots to the Paliwal Brahmins of Rajasthan’s Thar Desert, a once-prosperous community that turned the sands of Pali into farmland and bustling trade. Their abrupt exodus centuries ago, driven by excessive taxes and the cruelty of rulers, left over eighty villages deserted. Many migrated to other parts of Rajasthan, UP, Punjab, Haryana and the Himalayan foothills, carrying with them the habits of enterprise that had made them flourish. Some, drawn to the ascetic...

India’s cities, once symbols of ambition, are now choking under filth, traffic and civic neglect. The solution will not come from politics but from enterprise. A “Clean Cities Compact” could unite business groups, local chambers and civic volunteers under a common banner to fund pilot projects, benchmark urban performance and publicly rate municipalities. City leadership awards and transparent audits, modelled on corporate disclosure standards, could shame or celebrate performance...

Continuing our series on India’s merchant classes, this week’s column turns to the Armenians, who arrived during the reign of the Great Mughals. Scattered at first, they later anchored themselves in Calcutta and Madras, then the twin capitals of British India’s trade. A small community remains in Calcutta, but most departed around Independence, to Britain, Australia and later Armenia after 1991. Your columnist, while at school in Asansol, remembers a few Armenian classmates, pale-skinned and ...

The relationship between India and the United States will, in many ways, define the fate of the Western alliance and the balance of power in the decades ahead. Washington’s turn to transactional behaviour risks undoing years of careful diplomacy and mutual trust. India, for its part, has drawn its red lines and held firm, signalling a new maturity in foreign policy. As the West fumbles and China courts India, New Delhi's choices will shape the architecture of the future world orde...

In an environment where volatility is unrelenting and risks extend well beyond finance, the remit of the CFO has become that of an enterprise risk leader. At a recent India CFO Forum session inMumbai, Rajeev Gupta, CFO of L&T Technology Services and Surendra Goyal, Global CFO of Birla Carbon, drew on decades of experience to examine how organisations can strengthen resilience. They highlighted that the real task for finance leaders today is not only to manage balance sheets but to antici...

In an age where volatility has become the default and hierarchies are flattening under the weight of technology, leadership must shift from command-and-control to collaboration and influence. At a recent joint session of the India CEO, CFO, CHRO and CMO Forums in Delhi, Shiv Shivakumar, Operating Partner at Advent International, drew on decades of experience leading some of India’s most recognised companies to outline how leaders, Boards and organisations must reinvent themselves. He em...

In an era where work is being reshaped by automation, AI and fluid workforce models, the role of leadership is no longer simply to manage people but to design the very architecture of talent. At a recent India CHRO Forum session in Delhi NCR, Antony Alex, Founder and CEO of Rainmaker, argued that the real challenge lies not in choosing between technology and talent, but in weaving them into a symbiotic whole. Drawing on his expertise in corporate governance and workplace ethics, he highlighte...

Across industries, transformation remains a constant ambition. Yet for CFOs, the hidden force that shapes its success is how organisations unlock value at speed and scale. At a recent India CFO Forum session in Bangalore, Dr Raghav Narsalay, Partner at PwC India and Head of the company’s Research & Insights Hub, unpacked how PwC’s 'Value in Motion' framework can equip Finance leaders to expand beyond their core intelligently. With his deep experience advising global companies...

In a world where competitive advantages erode faster than ever, the pursuit of leadership is no longer about scale or dominance but about sustained distinctiveness. At a recent session of the India CEO Forum in Mumbai, Shishir Joshipura, former MD of Praj Industries, set out a compelling case for treating innovation not as a toolkit but as a cultural anchor. He argued that true growthemerges when organisations stop chasing quarterly wins and instead build systems that outlast individuals. Inn...

The rise of Jardine Matheson owed as much to Bombay as to Britain. Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, a Parsi merchant , supplied the cargo, capital and connections that William Jardine needed to build his “Noble House.” The Parsis of Bombay were not mere middlemen; they were global traders. From cotton and tea to the darker commerce of opium, families like the Jeejeebhoys, Readymoneys and Wadias tied Canton to Bombay. They spoke Gujarati at home, did business in English and haggled in Cantonese in Ch...

As American tariffs bite and orders dry up, Indian firms exposed to the US are scrambling for options. None is straightforward. Shifting production elsewhere means heavy capital outlays, new supplier risks and the headache of securing components and sub-assemblies. Yet a sudden shift in US policy could render such moves pointless. The calculation, then, is less about margins than about risk. Which is the bigger danger - losing customers or tying up capital in ventures that may turn sour? The ...

India’s $2.1 trillion consumer economy is being rapidly rewritten. Aspirations are rising, as the rural –urban divide begins to blur. The digital media now shapes buying decisions, even when purchases stay offline. Premiumisation is spreading beyond metros, while health and wellness surge nationwide. Consumers loyalties pivot on relevance and trust, forcing brands to adapt faster. From FMCG to autos, spending patterns are shifting in unexpected ways. IMA’s latest report decodes these t...

Your columnist has, over the years, been trained by his better half to visit museums with the noble intent of cultivating an interest in art. Initially reluctant, he is now more attuned to its charms and has even begun to recognise the works of the Greats. Admittedly, he still sometimes wonders what all the fuss is about, but he has evolved into a more willing follower—something of a loyal aide-de-camp, trailing his master with immaculate precision. On a recent hiking trip to the Alps,...

The new order will be multipolar, fragmented and spiked with suspicion. America will remain strong but unpredictable. China will be powerful but mistrusted. Europe will hedge and Asia will prepare for the worst. In this unsettled world, India’s choices, whether it pursues reform, asserts itself diplomatically and balances skilfully, will shape not just its own future but the architecture of the century. The order is not yet written, but Delhi holds one of the pens. The only question is...

Tata Motors has learned to treat disruption as a forcing mechanism. Product disappointments such as the Nano and the Indica, exposed not only poor design but also structural weaknesses in quality control and consumer insight. By 2016 the rot was visible, as market share eroded, customer trust waned and internal morale sagged. The company responded with urgency. The turnaround playbook was rooted in recognising crises not as aberrations, but as catalysts for reinvention. Adit Jain in conversat...

In an era where consumer attention is increasingly fragmented and fleeting, marketing must pivot from persuasive monologues to precise behavioural interventions. At a recent India CMO Forum session in Delhi, Biju Dominic, Chief Evangelist at Fractal Analytics and a pioneer in applying neuroscience to consumer strategy, challenged conventional models of influence. Drawing on two decades of work with global brands and behavioural science labs, he argued that marketers must stop appealing to the...

The world today is in a state of flux - geopolitical tensions, economic volatility, trade wars and environmental crises are converging into an unrelenting storm. In such a landscape, running an enterprise is no longer about operational excellence alone, it’s about human resilience. The role of a leader has fundamentally changed. From being a figurehead or coordinator, the modern leader is now omnipresent, emotionally available, environmentally aware and prepared to manage failure at mul...

Sustainability and ethics are no longer optional 'nice to haves’ but an essential element of long-term business success. Today’s organisations must go beyond minimising their environmental impact and actively integrate ethical practices and sustainability into their core operations. Avery Dennison, a global leader in materials science and digital identification solutions, is at the forefront of this transformation. By optimising labour and supply chain efficiency, reducing waste and driving s...

The pressure of delivering strong results quarter after quarter can tempt even the best companies to be myopic on ethics and fair business practices. Sometimes, this gives rise to the sort of scandals that can destroy the very foundations of a business. While some may view 'fair practices' as resource-draining and growth-impeding, companies that adopt a values-based approach to ethics and compliance gain a long-term competitive edge in the marketplace. At recent combined sessions of the India...

According to Spencer Stuart, 87% of CHROs today are active participants in CEO succession planning – a powerful signal that boards increasingly see HR leaders as strategic stewards of enterprise leadership. As the CHRO role expands beyond functional excellence into business transformation, culture-building and digital foresight, it is becoming a credible springboard to the CEO’s office. At a recent India CHRO Forum session in Delhi and Mumbai, Ashish Srivastava, Managing Director o...