White kurta - Pyjama with the latter being of the 70's style bell bots..wherein 2 people could fit in instead of one...A Gandhi cap....typical Marathi accent, oh not so fluent hindi. One look at the dabbawalas initially took me down memory lane to Pune where i spent 8 years. Same humility, rustic tinge....but wait something was different...
These guys walked and talked like simple maharashtrians but underneath were shrewd, intelligent and expe
rienced businessmen. They were no MBA's..in fact only 8th - 10th pass. But they were marketing whizkids...The way they were going about making a brand for dabbawalas was not missable. They knew how to handle publicity. In fact, when the media photographers and other press people came to click pictures/take interviews, they handed them a business card. The photographer was overawed and we were impressed. They spoke in broken hinglish, but were eloquent speakers who could hold the audience...There took an occasional potshot at their lack of education, but they did indeed throw all the jargon that was ever needed in a supply chain conference...logistics, six sigma.. blah blah blah....They humbly ridiculed all management gurus, saying their six sigma certification for delivering 2 lakh lunch boxes everyday with an accuracy of 99.999999% was a result of dedication and no management jargon!!
rienced businessmen. They were no MBA's..in fact only 8th - 10th pass. But they were marketing whizkids...The way they were going about making a brand for dabbawalas was not missable. They knew how to handle publicity. In fact, when the media photographers and other press people came to click pictures/take interviews, they handed them a business card. The photographer was overawed and we were impressed. They spoke in broken hinglish, but were eloquent speakers who could hold the audience...There took an occasional potshot at their lack of education, but they did indeed throw all the jargon that was ever needed in a supply chain conference...logistics, six sigma.. blah blah blah....They humbly ridiculed all management gurus, saying their six sigma certification for delivering 2 lakh lunch boxes everyday with an accuracy of 99.999999% was a result of dedication and no management jargon!!The talk was indeed excellent and a wonderful learning experience. The biggest takeaway obviously was that - you don't need to be an MBA or for that matter even a graduate to run business. Here we had amongst us a bunch of village bumpkins who ran a 5000 strong organization of 36 crores and that too with almost zilch use of technology!!...They had seen the world, wined and dined with Prince Charles!! Thus, what it takes is commitment and single mindedness, a go-getter attitude and a passion to do well no matter what...To just hang in there...when things don't go as planned.... Well done Omega!! Thanks for a wonderful OPUS 2006.
The Samurai signs off.....
Rock on!!
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