THE HIGH & MIGHTY
The India Today Power List 2018 sees more exits than ever though established titans maintain their supremacy
In
geology, an outlier refers to a younger rock formation isolated among older rocks. This year, india today’s Power List celebrates the outliers who, by their propensity to take risks, are able to make a difference in the crowded marketplace of ideas. It could be the man from Tripura who started a bank for the little people and had a most successful initial public offering (IPO). It could be the lawyer who has shaken up the judiciary by fighting the good fight for those who had no other recourse. It could be the superstar coach who invested the best of himself in creating an army of badminton champions forged in sacrifice and skill. Or it could be the MP who uses his formidable information network to be an equal opportunity scalper.
The established titans still stand tall, some bruised by a government which is tightening the regulatory noose without providing adequate opportunities for investment, others rattled by the cutting off of access to those in authority after a series of failures. Those who have tapped into technology and bet big on it are rising, not in the least the biggest baron of them all, Mukesh Ambani, whose less than two-year-old Jio with its promise of endless data is the fastest growing cellular service with a subscriber base of over 15 crore.
In an age where the public square speaks more than leaders who measure their words, those who are generous with their creativity and can communicate with the world are seeing their influence widen. So whether it is the godman who has declared himself to be the arbiter of last resort in the Ram Janmabhoomi dispute or the public intellectual who is unafraid to call out cant, the actor who has left behind his action hero days to put his muscle behind good causes ranging from Swachh Bharat to families of the central armed police forces or even the uber literate MP whose linguistic abilities are surpassed only by the frequency with which he uses it to write bestselling books, it is clear that those who are articulate and willing to amplify their aims will do well even in an environment where screaming matches on television pass for news and emphatic speeches from elevated pulpits disguise themselves as dialogue.
At a time when diamonds are truly turning out to be dust, trust is a valuable commodity. It is this that saw an ailing Infosys find its way back to co-founder Nandan Nilekani; that ensures that R.C. Bhargava, even at 83, is the man at the steering wheel of India’s most successful automobile company; and has witnessed the emergence of Ranjan Pai who, at 45, is investing heavily in India’s healthcare potential, having already created an education empire that spans subjects from medicine to hospitality, engineering to journalism.
In a way, the india today Power List is an ideal example of a meritocratic society, where industrialists are celebrated not only for their business successes but also for their support for a better world, as is evident in the formidable presence of Anand Mahindra and Uday Kotak, two tycoons whose hearts are in the right place. In a world where what you give away and to whom is more important than what you keep, it is significant that philanthropy is becoming more than just a mandatory photo-op for the company annual report. The power list and its dynamism underline a society and country where possibilities are endless but so are the challenges; and success in any field is a true test of will, endurance and talent.