Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Is it “End of Good Times?”

It was month of April, 2004. April 7, 2004 precisely. "I am that mysterious buyer," roared Vijay Mallya at a press conference in Bangalore as he unveiled the legendry Tipu Sultan’s sword taken away after the British assault on Srirangapatnam on May 4, 1799 which saw the end of the 'Tiger of Mysore.' “Oh..he made the country proud by getting back the sword”, mumbled my father. Perhaps Dad himself has never before heard the name of this “savior of our national honor.” And rest they say is history. Vijay Mallya’s arrival on the national conscience was grand and grander were the ways in which he ruled the national imagination for seven-years.

Postscript: "To write the epitaph of Kingfisher airlines constantly is not fair," Vijay Mallaya told reporters on November 15, 2011. So, what actually happened between April 2004 and November 2011?

Mallya’s rise incidentally coincided with India’s own rise as an economic super power. With one of the world's most expensive yachts and a cricket and Formula-1 team, Mallya soon became "King of the Good Times" for his zooming lifestyle. Mallaya symbolizes the resurgent India. For Indian middle class, he was what everyone wanted to be. He was the emblem of new India - flashy, high-risk, rich, flaunting and never ashamed of it.

Worth $1.1 billion, according to Forbes magazine, Mallya’s lifestyle fascinated many Indians, including the nearly 700,000 that follow him on Twitter. But now India’s “Richard Branson” is in deep trouble. Mallya’s business interest includes liquor, IPL and F1 teams. But it was his aviation dream that perhaps made him a power in business world to reckon with. His Kingfisher Airlines, accounts for nearly one-fifth of flights in the Indian sky at any given point in time. He literally transformed the flying experience by focusing on services like good food, personal screens on domestic flights. On each flight, Mallya appears on a recorded message on the inflight entertainment system, boasting of hand-picking each of the airline's hostesses who "have been instructed to treat you in the same way as if you were a guest in my own home", writes Reuters. Mallya’s innovation touched the flyers and the company was doing brisk business so much so that last year the company even applied for flying in international skies.

And now board members of Kingfisher airlines are considering a sale of property to raise funds for the airline. The airline has cancelled more than 200 flights in the past week, raising fears it could go bankrupt. I enquired with one of journalist friend as to what ail Kingfisher? She promptly blamed it on the “extravagant and pompous life-style,” of Vijay Mallya. And this sentiment is shared by many others including Shiv Sena’s Bal Thackeray. "Mallya's flamboyant lifestyle is responsible for the debts that Kingfisher Airlines has incurred," Bal Thackeray said.

Type Vijay Mallaya on the Google and the first suggestion it prompts is “Vijay Mallaya’s car collection, his yacht, and his house.” So did Mallaya flounder all his wealth which he earned from Kingfisher? By all indication it seems so…! He flies around the world, take our MPs on his personal plane for cricket matches across the globe, dines with global celebrities which includes soccer stars, F -1 drivers, Hollywood stars and not to say voluptuous models. His 312-foot yacht, the Indian Empress cost almost $89 million. Mallya also owns a Scottish whisky company. News reports suggest that he “once personally flew in his private jet from New Zealand to Scotland with three bottle of whisky found left from British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1907 Antarctic expedition.” His vintage cars have envied the rich and the famous. And not the last, the most waited calendars of the year- The Kingfisher calendar. Often appearing flanked by almost nude models in photoshoots, Mallaya almost barred himself in family homes.

Mallaya in a live televised press conference on Tuesday blamed high fuel costs, fierce price war between a handful of airlines for all the ills. He has also sought soft loan from the government. But the sentiments against any financial help are very high. Main opposition party BJP has vociferously opposed any such move by the government. The All India Bank Employees' Association has also voiced its sentiment against the bailout. Rahul Bajaj is more critical of the issue. He said, “Those who die must die."

It’s very strange to see Kingfisher in red despite the fact that civil aviation industry has seen passenger growth rate of 20 per cent this year. Good pitchers, as Don Cooper once said, after a tough outing, bounce back. Real good pitchers don't let too many poor games get in there. Hope Vijay Malaya will take this crisis as a lesson and will walk with a little more caution in times to come. Kingfisher’s failure will do irreparable damage to India’s growth story. Market runs on sentiment and India can’t afford to fail Kingfisher as it will lead to a huge perception crisis. Let’s wait and watch.

And for the government there are issues which need to be regulated in order to keep the aviation sector in good health. Fuel costs are high internationally, so government can’t do much and certainly cheap money and not cheap fuel is the biggest hindrance. The FDI limit is 49 %, but intriguingly it bars foreign airlines to invest in domestic sector, a regulation which is flawed and at worst demoralising. Secondly its high-time government should privatise Air India. When one player in the industry can use taxpayers’ money to stay afloat and keep fares low, the rest of the industry will have to compete on its terms. A weak Air India will keep the rest of the industry weak, too. And lastly our airports need investment and upgradation. Barring Delhi & Mumbai most Indian airports are run on public money. Privatise airports as well. This will increase competition even among airports.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Rahul Dravid - Perhaps the last classical batsman

Is he most under applauded batsman India has ever seen? Below are a few facts -
  • Not many can bat for 835 minutes (its not a typo) like he did in this epic match in Adelaide, or when he batted for 12 hours for his 270 in this match. Not to mention the Adelaide victory was the first for India in a generation and the Pakistan series ended up being India’s first ever series win there.

  • Ask any bowler and he will name Dravid in the top 3 of “most difficult to dismiss” players, and yet he is the first to be dismissed by the viewers and critics!!

  • He is the player who has formed the platform around which many big names have hit knocks of a lifetime. May it be Sehwag’s triple century , or Laxman’s 280, or during many of Sachin’s tons, he was the player at the other end. Cricket is a game of partnerships, and he has shared 19 century partnerships with Sachin (a world record), 11 with Laxman, 10 with Ganguly and 10 with Sehwag.

  • In many pitches that appeared to have landmines buried on a good length, Rahul Dravid has waged a war. Ducking, weaving, blocking, watching partners come and go, jabbing, leaving, ducking, weaving… Not many have batted for more than 600 minutes (like here when he scored a double when all others struggled to get even a fifty.

  • You need to see him sweat during a match to understand his concentration levels. Right in the beginning of his career, he batted 541 minutes in the first innings of this match and followed it with another knock in second innings while the rest struggled to put bat to ball.