The CEO’s Last Temptation

Bissell diplomatically side-stepped the question. Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani had become a master of evasion on the same question—until June, months after the launch of his own book, Imagining India, when it was announced that he had accepted a cabinet-ranking post to lead the government’s new unique identification card scheme.

Cocktail party conversations now routinely parcel out such jobs, as in ‘Deepak should be given housing’ and ‘Kothari would love commerce’. “I call it the ‘lal batti’ syndrome,” says Suhel Seth, an image advisor. “After reaching the top of his game, the chairman ‘ka dil maange’ more. What’s a BMW when he can get a battered Amby with a red light on top and access to power? It’s a massive ego trip, but in most cases it’s also a waste of time as the system does everything in its power to stymie him.”

Though Rajiv Gandhi perfected the art of coopting boot polish and paintwallahs and NRI technocrats into positions of power, it was his mother Indira Gandhi who led the way with her selection of P.N. Dhar, Somnath Chib and M.S. Swaminathan. Yet, as these pioneers discovered, the system hates outsiders with a genuine passion.

Seasoned insiders like Mani Shankar Aiyar are convinced that an outsider’s chances of making a seamless transition from private to public roles lie in his ability to adapt himself to the bureaucracy’s way of working. “Bureaucrats are alligators who snap at outsiders if they preen as peacocks,” says Aiyar, “but they can equally turn into chameleons when they realise the interloper has the blessings of the prime minister.”

But is it in reality a dud experiment? Is all lost even before Nilekani has done justice to his new khadi threads? Will the beast use him for its own adornment and spit him out when he has been seen to serve his purpose?

Nilekani, with what must be called an unblemished record of business achievement-cum-social enlightenment in New India, arrives in ‘babuland’ with the PM’s perfumed praise, and that bodes extraordinarily well. How Nilekani actually fares in his new avatar will certainly act as a green light or a red alert to other business chiefs privately mulling similar propositions. Their greatest challenge is to take on a deeply powerful conservatism, wrapped in a wilful resistance to change.

“Consider this,” says Seth: what can the professional do but: a) highlight lacunae in the traditional workings; b) press for accountability; c) worse, advocate downsizing. Which bureaucrat is going to let him get away with this?”

“They can tie him up in knots, saying ‘that’s a great idea, but you see....’’ says Malavika Singh, whose father, Romesh Thapar, though not formally coopted into government, was part of Indira Gandhi’s kitchen cabinet.

“Mrs Gandhi was always attracted to talent and expertise and she backed her choices to the hilt. People she inducted into government could call her and complain when they were being blocked,” recalls Malavika. “I’m not sure if that’s the practice these days.”

“Basically it’s the CII cozying up to government,” meows Seth. “Yes, businessmen get unlimited access with the government chhaap, but what hope do lesser mortals have when even the likes of Ratan Tata, who chairs a committee comprising Ashok Ganguly and Deepak Parekh to encourage and facilitate foreign investment in India, finds himself stymied on many occasions?”

“Outsiders are often hamstrung by the establishment,” says N.K. Singh, a consummate civil servant and rare among his generation in his reading of the world outside. “But that does not mean the system must not seek to invigorate itself by the lateral entry of talented professionals. Successful examples abound: Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Bimal Jalan, why, the PM himself.”

So there’s reason to cheer for the Mumbai banker who was overhead commiserating Nilekani’s situation. “Those babus are not going to let him shine. That will make them look bad.” Did that stop him from hankering after a similar leg-up? “Arrey yaar, I’m just waiting for the call,” he admitted, a few Scotches down, “I’ll accept like a shot!”