Laloo Prasad Yadav
I met Laloo when I was in the 9th standard. Ok I just saw him. He had digressed outside his fiefdom North Bihar in an attempt to win some brownie points among the tribals in the south (including yours truly). To make the Morabadi Maidan appear teeming with spectators, my school (among others) was invited to send a convoy of jobless youths as cheerleaders. (Rudy, Jinx did you share the honor on this historic event??). Caution.. cheering meant swaggering displays of innovative expletives, eardrum tearing whistling, a little bit of property damage and maybe a few mob-fights. The bovine devotee arrived with his deliciously named wife many hours late and was immediately greeted with a misdirected chappal missile. We never heard a single word of the uttered gospels, as the loudspeakers chose a very opportune moment to conk off. Post enlightenment, some over-cheerful ( refer to definition) friends went on a rampage writing highest order expletives on seat covers of bikes. I was amused at their bravado. Ha ha .. what the heck.. good ol’ days.
Today Laloo Prasad Yadav is credited with the miraculous U-turn in the fortunes of (IMHO) .. India’s biggest asset The Railways. Much debate surrounds wether my childhood hero should be given the olive wreath for this spectacular feat. To be frank, I don’t know. The turnaround story of the moribund PSU has made its way into the classrooms of institutions like IIMA, Harvard. European Railway ministers, corporate honchos are among the cowherd seeking an appointment. There are talks of public-private partnerships (PPP) in the Railways.
I am sure of one thing. Laloo didn’t do anything new or innovative. All predecessors must have attempted reducing unit cost by increasing the freight moved, in turn by improving utilization of wagons. No rocket science. I am tempted to recall that phrase “Winners don’t do different things, they do things differently”. I read an article by Swami Iyer who says LPY just kept away from the operational issues. He provided the vision and allowed the right men to do their jobs freely. Iyer makes a very very interesting remark about leadership. Great managers sometimes lead from the back. Hmmm…..
His bitter rivals and critics ask, “Then, why the 15 years of misrule and perdition of Bihar?”. I accept this argument. However, I would still lean towards extolling Laloo for the railways story.
Today Laloo Prasad Yadav is credited with the miraculous U-turn in the fortunes of (IMHO) .. India’s biggest asset The Railways. Much debate surrounds wether my childhood hero should be given the olive wreath for this spectacular feat. To be frank, I don’t know. The turnaround story of the moribund PSU has made its way into the classrooms of institutions like IIMA, Harvard. European Railway ministers, corporate honchos are among the cowherd seeking an appointment. There are talks of public-private partnerships (PPP) in the Railways.
I am sure of one thing. Laloo didn’t do anything new or innovative. All predecessors must have attempted reducing unit cost by increasing the freight moved, in turn by improving utilization of wagons. No rocket science. I am tempted to recall that phrase “Winners don’t do different things, they do things differently”. I read an article by Swami Iyer who says LPY just kept away from the operational issues. He provided the vision and allowed the right men to do their jobs freely. Iyer makes a very very interesting remark about leadership. Great managers sometimes lead from the back. Hmmm…..
His bitter rivals and critics ask, “Then, why the 15 years of misrule and perdition of Bihar?”. I accept this argument. However, I would still lean towards extolling Laloo for the railways story.
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