WEALTH CREATION - KERALA MODEL

As economies of the countries grow, there comes an urgent need for the entrepreneurship to grow up in the place, for undoubtedly, entrepreneurship is the basis for economic growth of society and nations. What is entrepreneurship? It is all about the start up of enterprises by individuals or group, based on competency, talent, opportunity and or an idea. Entrepreneurship results in creation of wealth, which in turn is distributed among the stakeholders, thereby achieving equity or inclusivity. Society/community grows based on this economic activity, resulting in better living condition and life prospects for its members. Due to a combination of reasons, Keralites (particularly those within the state) are not entrepreneurial. Rather than starting ventures, they would like to be taking up employment, where the risk element in minimal and the safety element (perceived), higher. However Malayalis have their own versions of wealth generation activities. After observing the scene closely for many years, I site some of them as under:

Join Politics:

This is the safest bet for Malayali today. And indeed it is big time business and a definite wealth creation activity. It really does not matter whether you are right, left or centre as far as your political ideology is concerned. In Kerala, the wealthiest guys are politicians who have investments in every sunrise business, in many cities inside and outside the State. In the guise of saving the country and serving the poor, you could really save yourself. Every opportunity to serve is a possibility to have a 'deal'. The percentages are good. Many of the deals have the possibility of annuity income coming year after year. Very lucrative field indeed, if you have the patience and attitude for the same.

Take your cut: There are different models of taking the cut. Malayali is not exempt from the simple act of bribery, which is a universal phenomenon. The act of taking bribe is a fantastic wealth distribution activity, specifically when there are layers of people involved in the process. Depending upon the size of the cake, the pie varies. There are instances where bribe in percentages or in absolute term are very very high. Lavleen deal, Palm Oil deal (there are thousands of them) etc are prime examples of this type of taking the cut. Another model of taking the cut is typically the Nokku Coolie that is collected by the comrades belonging to trade unions. Do nothing and keep collecting is the motto. There are plenty of examples to cite. Typical is the Tipper lorry with sand coming to the construction site and delivering the same on auto mode and the then paying the Nokku Coolie to the comrade who will come to collect it at prefixed rates. Originally this was considered as a sort of compensation for the opportunity lost due to automation coming in, but now it is an accepted practice. The beauty of or this type of wealth creation is that it is achieved without moving a muscle? I was impressed to find the formula that the comrades apply something as minimum as ten percent of the total construction cost coming to him/party as Nokku Coolie. 

Buy Lottery Tickets: Malayalis want the state to provide for them. Since its attempt to run public sector enterprises came cropper, the State started the activity of running Lottery. It is said that fifty percent of Malayalis sell Lottery and the balance, buy it. Since the Lottery is conducted by the State itself, the trust is very high (it is another matter that the State pinches a lot out). The State Government almost died when private lotteries such as Lotto etc came to set base in the State. By applying so many measures, the State had been able to retain the exclusivity in this matter, thereby enabling Malayali to find his wealth generation activity through the draw of lots! 

Invest in Blade Cos. Average Malayali would not ever want to flex his muscle at all. So whatever saving that he can lay his hand upon, (pension benefits, LIC mature amount, hard earned money sent by son from Gulf, etc) is put into the blade company (the so-called NBFC companies) which run in the guise of Nidhi company, Kuri company, Teak Tree plantation ownership, Goat farm ownership, Jasmine garden Ownership etc, who promises of paying high percentage of interest, in addition to the one gram gold coin that is given whenever the deposit was started (gold in whatever weight is a big incentive to Malayali, there is one more such incentive – scotch whisky). From time to time (almost at a fixed intervals), these companies take birth to the absolute happiness of Malayali (only to vanish in two years!). He never minds becoming a prey. It almost looks like that the Malayali gets up every day morning with a prayer, “God, please let somebody cheat me today”. If something worse happen, it does not bother him, after all, he could commit suicide in the end. 

Join the MLM Company. Today, this is one the highest wealth creation activity in Kerala. Logic is set-aside for these multi level marketing companies to flourish. MLM forms groups, chains and sub chain of people and sell into the chain; those fancy products (Protein tablets, Magnetic beds, Websites (?), Woolens, Insurance policies etc) at unrealistic prices and share the margins based on some pre-fixed formula. It is another matter that the guy who really benefits this exercise is the one at the top of the chain. If one applies the logic, he would realize that one is paying 3 to 4 timers the actual cost of the product. He would have been better off buying it or an equivalent of it from outside and it would have ensured good savings for him. However, Malayali is willing to pay high to be part of the chain. I had seen many relatives and friends falling prey to the hype of these chains and moving away dejected later, after having lost considerable time, efforts and money on the endeavour. As an attractor, tricks such as the promise of the member’s personality development through grooming exercises and motivating speeches is very well employed in this MLM way of selling. It indeed is very impressive to watch such MLM meetings happening in huge stadiums where thousands of people from all over the State converge to partake. These conventions give an impression of the utsav taking place. As already stated, the guys at the top of the chain make substantial money and those at the bottom, wither away. 

Be an NRK’s Sidekick There are many NRKs. Mostly they dwell in Middle East nations, in addition to US and Europe. At these places they would do anything (even if it is dirty and manual a job) to make money. But by the time, he comes home for annual leave (he will positively come home every year, the lure of the Coconut land is very high indeed), friends, kith and kin gets attracted to him and forms his sidekick (shinkidi). In about a months time the NRK goes back to grind the body and soul all over again. After having squeezed the very last out of him, our shinkidi will wait for the other NRK to land. Life goes on thus. 

Blackmail This is developing into a good means of wealth creation lately. Probe deep into every individual is a Malayali pastime. Whatever information thus gathered (whether true or not) is put to use to blackmail hapless individuals particularly ladies, a majority of whose husbands are away and working in outside countries and states. The remuneration comes in cash, kind or both, including the pleasure of flesh. What a scene! Do nothing; take away everything, including chastity!

Conclusion In management parlance, lately one has been hearing the importance of doing smart work than hard work. The pre-runner of this smart job (in a crass manner), had been followed by the guys in Kerala, for decades. No wonder Kerala is called God’s own country. For, every one inside resembles a God who does nothing, who drinks to glory, who indulges in the pleasure of the company of roving beauties and who whiles away time gossiping about the neighbours. To create a balance (of both economy and population), the hardworking ones are identified in his/her twenties and exported out, only to work hard for sustaining the life and pleasure of the Gods inside Kerala. The privileges of remittance economy is truly tremendous indeed!