India of today has changed; PM Modi is recalibrating our country; NRIs need to re-visit the idea of India – Marketing Guru Suhail Seth in Kuwait
IIK Staff Reporter; Photo: Winston Alphonso
Monday, May 22, 2017
In a time where more and more people are talking about global citizen and borderless world, essentially we cannot ever be a global citizen. The cultural imprint that we share can never be shed. There is something unique about each country and what our Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done is that he made us proud of our Indian identity, well known marketing guru, author and columnist Suhel Seth said. “What defines the nationality is the cultural identity and Narendra Modi bought back the pride of being Indian and that is more important than the Make in India or any other initiatives,” Suhel Seth said.
He was addressing the gatherings during the 14th anniversary of Indian Business & Professional Council-Kuwait (IBPC) at Crowne Plaza hotel, Farwaniya. Earlier, Indian Ambassador to Kuwait HE Sunil Jain inaugurated the event.
Country needs a strong leadership. Leadership is about getting things done. For years, we planned, but the implementation was zero. Today our country has changed. With absolute candor, I can say that this is the most corruption free union cabinet Independent India ever had, Mr Seth said. “He is driving the country in a selfless manner”, he added. Large number of Indian business man and professionals and number of Kuwaiti personalities attended the event.
In this era of Google, we have forgotten to read. One thing we are missing is revisiting of our past. When our PM Modi made the International Yoga Day a key initiative of his government, he took back the powers of the brand name yoga, which Americans had mastered, and kept the identity unique to India, the marketing Guru said.
India of today has changed for once and for all. We need to reinvent our country. Not from any religious point of view, but from Indian point of view. Today transparency has been injected in every aspects of life. Technology has been in place everywhere. Technology is not just about the speed, it is the transparency we are achieving through the use of technology. The economy across all verticals are working. The demonetization was not just that the currency note is replaced. It is a culture being changed. From corruption to transparency. From dishonesty to honesty, Mr Seth told the august gathering.
The poorest of the poor suffered a lot during demonetization, but they accepted that suffering saying that it’s a short term pain for the long term gain, he told.
For long Indians turned away from paying tax, but Modi brought the fair and reasonable law back to India. I see India with great optimism. It is a renewed hope and that hope is not just outside India, but also inside India.
I see today it is the "re visiting of our India" and "who we are". Narendra Modi is re calibrating our country and People are proud to participate in the re-calibration.
India also scored brilliantly on the marketing front. Marketing is essential. It is ultimate about consumers buying benefits, not brands, the marketing Guru said. In front of the world, we were known as the nation of snake charmers and Bollywood films. We were known in England for the curries, but today Tata is the biggest employer there. Today India occupies the place both in your mind and in your soul. If communication doesn’t reveal true nature of the brand or the product, consumer will never ever imagine the benefits that occupy both in the mind and in your soul. Today people come to India for spirituality as much as for super computers.
It is not the rule of families. It is now the rule of values. And it is the rule of how you deliver it, which is now coming paramount importance, Mr Seth said.
We have miles to go. We need to grow from a country which are outsourcing to a country with global brands. That is where people like you should come in picture, he told the large number of Indian business man and professionals who attended the event.
There was a time when NRIs believed that if we do this in India we will be faced with multitude of problems and that was the case. But I would urge you to re-visit the whole idea of India. If the Indians don’t invest back in India, then who will? He asked the audience.
I sincerely believe that India today is ready for investment. Modi changed and made it sure that every Indian have a stake in India of tomorrow. It is not going to be Modi’s India tomorrow. It is every Indians India, he said. It is upon us that we should play our part to recalibrate our country. “India is ready. The question is when you will be ready?” he concluded his speech.
s