"My approach has been to use analytical skills to break a complex problem into a series of smaller interlinked problems, and then attack these individually," is how Susim Mukul Datta explains his achievements. In the ’80s, Datta transformed Indian marketing by masterminding Hindustan Lever’s push into rural markets. Later, as chairman of Lever, he combined fleet-footed opportunism with awesome fire-power to slam dozens of brands into the market, take over companies and lead the Unilever group to unassailable positions in soaps and detergents, and processed foods. Datta was co-opted recently by Jyoti Basu to help clean up the Augean stables of Peerless. Can he do it? Yes, if anyone can.