[Puné]

Though  I  am  rather  averse  to  writing  ‘technical’  stories  in  the first person,  this story  happens  to  be  something  else  altogether,  and  hence  the  concession or deviation.  This  is  a  special  tribute  to the city  I  live   and  work  in,  and  it  has  to  be  personal.

          Puné,  a  thriving industrial city in Western parts of India, only 150 KMs from Mumbai [Bombay],  has  been  described  variously  as  a  pensioner’s  paradise  [no  more],  East’s Oxford [?],  Maharashtra’s  [or India’s]  cultural capital,   a  sleepy town [yes cattle still amble gracefully across the busiest roads and no one honks],   dudsville [in parts],    a  big  city with a small town mentality [sure, thanks for the compliment],   a  happening place [!],   India’s Detroit [for everything that moves, right from skinny mopeds and short-skirted ‘scooties’  to heavy trucks,  roll off from this city], and  a  cosmopolitan place.  It  is  also  sometimes  called  Punyeshwari,  a  town where your visit will fetch you a whole lot of ‘punya’  [grace]. I like this last one best,  for I have made it home and never regretted the fact so far.

          Industrially speaking, as the sub-title of this piece suggests, for the industrially – inquisitive,  the  curious and the restless community of innovators and inventors and developers,  there  could  be  no  similar  place  anywhere  in  India.  Many  a  displaced  person –those who have relocated here from other states – especially those who have a nodding acquaintance with Baroda in Gujarat have often told me that there is something in Baroda which  sets  it  apart  from  other  cities,  and  that  mystical  ‘something’ is very much here in Puné too.  I usually agree with them.

          Perhaps the lexicon may not permit me to pluck the right word or a combination of words and a  turn of  the phrase in addition,  to help me  define  this  ‘something’  but  lets  attempt  to  dissect it anyway. After all there are many esoteric ingredients to this ‘something’ and unraveling even  a  few   should suffice, as far as getting a true flavour of this intriguingly fascinating place, is concerned. 

          For one thing, it is that diehard innovative spirit of the entrepreneurial genius here. This mild madness streaks across a wildly expansive canvas, a colossal spectrum covering the highly original innovators in school-kids at science fair projects to the retired executives running some sort of consulting service not for filling their coffers but for the heck of it – give me a problem and I will solve it,  that seems to be the motto. And it seems to work that way too. If it can be done elsewhere, it can be done here too… and it can be done better. This, I think is the gist of a mantra being pumped into the Pune university graduates, and though it smacks mildly of an aggressively  chauvinistic attitude,  looking at the  performance of the people, it may not be an empty brag either. We’ll take a hard look at some negative factors on the flip side of this phenomenon slightly later.

          Another endearing quality of the local entrepreneur  is perseverance [and they are a rare breed in this town where business has never been the forte of the burgeoning middle class that prides itself on having produced a litany of top bosses who worked with top companies till retirement…]- so much so that in future when the telephone directory will show two thousand entries under Rajan Kulkarni,  you could do what the innovative Southerners did long back. Rajan ‘Telco’ Kulkarni started his own business, but Rajan ‘Bajaj’ Kulkarni migrated to Alaska…and Rajan KSB Kulkarni is still working…   Well  to  come back to perseverance,   and  that  can make the vital difference between scratching a sandpit to go on collecting  bucketfuls of  sand, or persevering  till  you  hit  pay-dirt in alluvial gold mining…   You  don’t come across  too  many fast-quitters,  especially amongst the industrialists  who  have  braved  it,   come rain or come shine  or hailstorms or the equally whimsical governmental regulations and twisted policies. Right from the ‘stand-alone’ entrepreneur to the giant but obsolescence ridden corporates, many had been predicted to go out of business a long time ago.  Rather  like  the rattling  and  jerking  local  buses,  condemned  to  disuse  long  ago,  they  still  work.

          Yet another attractive quality is the adventurous spirit amongst all classes and ages, especially amongst the decision makers  in  the  industry.  Delaying  tactics  come  imprinted in the genes of the senior executives everywhere,  who  usually  are  trained not to stick their necks  too  far out  when  it  comes  to  trying  out new ideas,  technologies,  materials, equipment, or in the glib terms of today’s  jargon-ridden  expertise vendors,  : ‘solutions’.   These  executives may get bombarded  by  six  different  technology-peddlers  in  a  day,  and their  heads will not swim,  their analytical  ability will  not  get  groggy and diffuse, and they will take a decision much  faster than their counterparts anywhere.  Clearheaded-ness  and slapping  up  an  appropriate  decision based on that  indefinable  personal  trait which could be called choosiness or the exalted ability to separate the wheat from the chaff,  is  what  sets  them apart.  And  it gives  a particular healthy tone to the steep curve of progress, technically speaking.  Countless innovations in technology have started life from Puné.

          At  the same time there is this intriguing  laid-back  attitude  towards life  in  general. Like the entire Hispanic world, if the concept of siesta were to be introduced here,  it  would make  precious  little  difference  to  the self-employed  Puneite [and a good chunk of the working class too],  for  nothing  at  all  seems  to  be  working  between  12.00 noon  and almost  4.00 P.M.   If  that is not siesta,  I  must  be  a  six-legged  creature  from  Mars talking through  my  hat.

          Well  as  far  as  the  state  of  the  industry  is concerned, Puné has proudly and justifiably  so,  maintained its lead with other industrial centres. Innovation and resourcefulness  lie  at  the  centre  of  this  concerted  effort  to  beat  all  the  negative  factors that  act  like  chain  and  ball  attached  firmly  to  the  legs  of  industries  all over. The Chinese finally came  and the Russians  will come,  and  who  knows  the  Bulgarians   will come  too.  This does not mean that one of the local industries with a three decade old reputation  in  manufacturing  high  quality  ceiling  fans  or  mopeds  or  motorcycles  or  trucks  or water-heaters  will  snap  shut  the  works  and  throw  their employees to the wolves. In fact the industrial labour relations seem to have been faring decently well here for quite some time.

          It was interestingly claimed by the press,  only a few years back, that the total octroi collection of a part of Puné, only the Pimpri Chinchwad industrial belt,  was  higher  than that from  the entire city of Mumbai.  This  speaks  eloquently  of  quantity,  apart  from quality we have been discussing so far.  Even  if  that  piece  of  statistics  does not hold true anymore, it calls  for  respect  –the fact that a small  part  of  a  city could  have  thrived so thunderingly  well for so long.

          At the same time, the ability of the local culture to welcome and amalgamate the alien cultures, especially the industrial culture, the management culture, and the fast changing paradigms of international business,  has  been astounding.  The people  here  are  truly flexible and adaptive. During my earlier visits to the city,  more  than  three decades back, the German influence was sharply conspicuous.  The local populace used to believe that the supreme  achievements  in  science and technology can  come only from Deutschland… that explains  the  presence  of  Max  Muller Bhavan  [though  Mumbai  is  only  a  few  hours journey]  and  the innumerable Indo-German  collaborations.  Lately however the Japanese seem to be running neck to neck with the Germans, or rather Europeans, for the Swedes and Norwegians have also struck roots here,  with  their  own advanced  technologies. This happy amalgamation  seems  especially  discernible in view of the strong  swadeshi lobby which also has quite a few stalwarts amongst the industry captains in Puné rooting  for  it vociferously.

Well everything cannot be hunky dory in any one particular place. Puné, as an industrial centre has its own pitfalls and treacherous grounds where the angels would fear to tread. Business ethics seem to have taken a huge beating, but then that seems to be happening to life itself everywhere around us, seekers of a quick buck strategies and fly-by-night operators trying out questionable new business ideas on people, have also burgeoned, sadly.  Despite the illustrious efforts of a chosen few to inculcate the ‘quality’ culture in industry, most of the middle level operations seem to be least concerned with it. In fact, one quite often hears that the existing international standards and procedures have metamorphosed into an ugly business involving elaborate records [where fabrication of records is nothing unheard of] only. When such a hope-generating movement crumbles into mere procedure, it is a sad realization for all of us indeed.  Another built-in setback has been the tendency of the average Punéite to strongly believe  in  what  was  widely  described  as  an  industrial depression,  or  recession till now.  This claim didn’t really hold water,  at least to my mind.  Why would the scooter sales go down nationally [is that recession?]  But at the same time, the motorcycle sales would shoot up four times [remember, the same brand, the same manufacturer…]?   And what explains the huge development of ancillary units on the outskirts of the city, whilst the older establishments fall into disuse ? I am fond of telling other observers of industry that what we were watching so far was a reshuffling process. Inefficient manufacturers have gone out of business, and so have the top-heavy PSU’s and others of the dinosaur lineage, sheer irrelevancy has pulled the plug on them. Those that survived the huge scare  are  leaner,  meaner  and fitter  towards  sheer  forces of survival.  May  their  tribe  increase…if we are to taste the fruits of true economic reforms.

But  all  said  and  done,  Puné  still   remains  an  engineer’s paradise  –the sort of engineer  who  feels  enthralled  when  he  encounters an advanced new technology, an unusual material, or an innovation calculated to make his/her life easier… And not the engineer  who  spends  half  a  day  counting and re-counting  his  fringe benefits and allowances   and the investment options.   The city  has  maintained  its  lead  in  absorbing  new  technologies  and  constantly  astonishing the rest of the country with its own special brand of ingenuity and resourcefulness. Virtual treasures  of  pragmatic innovation  and  technology  lie  untapped  in  its  vast  bosom.

Viva Puné !

End of story