Foreword
It’s been more than a decade that I moved out of India to the Southeast Asia and, since then, I have had the opportunity of looking at India from the outside. The biggest change that I see in India today is its energy. The buoyancy in India is palpable on its streets, in its boardrooms and in the eyes of every Indian walking the road. Needless to say, this new India is making news all over the world today. As the equation of the world economy changes in favor of India and China, the World’s attention is turning sharply towards these markets. While on one level China and India look attractive for their potential, with a closer look they are not so easy to crack. For many marketers brought up in a Western way of thinking, these are comparatively new markets, and consumers in them think and behave very differently. Marketing in India and China is about unlearning our past and learning for the future.
This doesn’t however mean that from within, it’s easy to understand India. As Dheeraj points out in this book, India has seen unprecedented change in a short time: about 15 years. For people living through the change it generally appears continuous, unless they step out of their lives and look at it objectively. It is important to do this, as most Indian business houses have built their success through the traditional Indian value system. Today, they face the huge challenge of transforming their culture, products and services based on an understanding of this new, changing India. ...
