A Passage to India: consulting in mumbai

I’d never been to India but had always wanted to go. Land of the Buddha, former British colony, emerging market dynamo. The assignment was a good one: help a sales team struggling with more demand than it could manage to become the market leader. More demand than it could manage. Unless you were in the outplacement business, it’s safe to say excess demand was not keeping you up at night in early 2009. Companies that weren’t shrinking were collapsing. Think Apocalypse Now and you aren’t far wrong. Boarding the flight to Mumbai I felt a little like Martin Sheen, but leaving the Heart of Darkness instead of heading upriver to it.

The first thing you notice in India are the people. There are so many of them. And they all seem intent on moving to Mumbai – more than 300 families do each day. No wonder it’s one of the most densely populated cities on earth. If you’ve seen Slumdog Millionaire, you’ve seen Dharavi – the largest slum in Asia –  you know just what I mean. And here’s where it gets interesting.

The Indian economy is growing at approximately 7% per year. While some 900 million people remain poor, living on as little as $1.25 a day, opportunity is in the air. Never have I seen the fundamental industriousness of a people on such vibrant display. Everyone is hustling, from rag pickers to sidewalk barbers to titans of global commerce. Mumbai is capitalism, and Bollywood its star. It’s dirty, corrupt, unequal and unfair. It’s also on the move.

If you think India is only outsourcing, you need to think again. The team I worked with in Mumbai was young and ambitious, assertive and proud. They had good educations and great aspirations. In fact, they’re just like you and me, products of rising GDP. So take heed. And take advantage. A nation of 1.1 billion consumers won’t be ignored for long.