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[Music]
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the 2009 Wharton India economic Forum
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titled India the road ahead took place
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in Philadelphia and brought together
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CEOs of leading Indian companies
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investors heads of nonprofit
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organizations Sports celebrities and
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Bollywood stars to discuss where India
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is headed in an age of economic
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uncertainty Indian knowledge at Wharton
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brings you one-on-one conversations with
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these leaders thanks very much for
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joining us today happy to have you here
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I want to ask uh about something that
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you've talked about which is the
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importance of dignity and you also talk
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about something called a self-conscious
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belief in yourself which is I think you
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as you put it a foundation for success
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in sport can you talk about that and
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then maybe we could talk about how it
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applies to business perhaps yeah I think
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um you know for a for a country which uh
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you know India which was starved of
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sporting success we um we we had a very
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defeatist attitude and U taking an
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example from my own sport of billiards
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in
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1956 Wilson Jones he won India its first
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world title of any sport and that was
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Billiards and the minute he won it uh we
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found that he won one more World title
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retired and then there's a gentleman
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called Michael Ferrera who came on the
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scene now he had played with Wilson
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Jones he had almost beaten him but not
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quite and he said if Wilson Jones can
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win a world title I've almost beaten him
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so perhaps I'm world world title
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material too and then one day he beat
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Wilson Jones in a club level tournament
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and he said yes I can be that world
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champion and I think yes I can sorry yes
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I can we' just heard that phrase in yes
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I can and I you know and he then won
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three World billiard titles I played him
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in the Nationals defeated him and won
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eight World billiard titles after that
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and we have this young kid punka adwani
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who's not yet 25 and he's already won
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six World bilard titles and that is the
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power of the self-conscious uh
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self-belief uh and I I do believe that
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it is it's true of every field of human
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endeavor so we you know India is is is
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poised at the moment uh to do great
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things
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abhinav bindra is just one US Olympic
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gold in shooting uh prior to this that
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is the last Olympics rajor won us a
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silver in shooting and in fact in one of
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the programs that I was speaking on I
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did mention I said I believe we are now
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ready to get a Olympic gold and and in
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shooting and sure enough we did I think
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by the next Olympics we'll get back five
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goals and it is this power of the
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self-conscious belief undoubtedly so
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well that's interesting because uh India
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has not done well in Olympics and
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probably because it hasn't tried that
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hard because it's focused on other
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things perhaps but now there seems to be
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a lot of interest in that particularly
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with CR Cricket exploding in India uh
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and the idea that that sport can get
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sponsorship and it can grow and and have
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that kind of an audience so when it
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comes to the
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Olympics maybe you could explain why is
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it that India has hasn't met its
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potential yet U our I think the way our
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Sports um the Olympic Platform Sports
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the way they are structured in
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governance is through a federation model
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so they are federations for every sport
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uh which really uh are autonomous bodies
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and they are ruled and literally ruled I
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use the word ruled and governed and
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ruled by people who uh who are there for
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years for 10 years 20 years 30 years and
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they they're there massaging their own
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egos really uh not really caring for the
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uh you know for the well-being of the
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athletes who there to get us the medals
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and I think that uh for a long time was
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a big problem uh I also believe that
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priority was a big issue uh for a
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government which was struggling to uh
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you know to get poverty out of the
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system so Unemployment uh you know roads
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infrastructure sport occupied a very
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very low priority and it was reflected
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in our budgets so our sport budget uh in
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98 was uh 150 crores which translates to
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about $30 million uh as compared to at
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that time a sport budget of China which
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was something in the region of about I
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would think about almost uh uh you know
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a billion dollars or just under a
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billion dollars uh so money is very very
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important and uh I think the the value
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of that you know the money coming so so
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priority has changed government over the
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last 10 years says yes we now need we
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need to reaffirm our standing in the
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world uh in sport 2 we've done it in
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we've done it in steel we've done it in
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so many other areas we need to do it in
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sport they injecting more money into
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infrastructure perhaps not as much as
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they should but more importantly they
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injecting money directly to the athlete
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so an athlete if he wins a Olympic gold
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is being given taxfree money to the tune
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of about a half a half a million to a
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million dollars uh you know you WI a
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Asian Games gold medal you get something
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like $100,000 and all this is
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translating into uh you know the athlete
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slowly uh finding himself you know at at
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a different level both psychologically
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both in terms of the dignity that I
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talked about Dignity should uh we should
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have dignity in ourselves and I think as
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a society we need to impart and instill
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dignity into our fellow fellow beings
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especially athletes by the competency
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levels of the athletes not necessarily
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with the amount of money that they have
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but we live in a real and harsh world
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and I think dignity is identified
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directly with money and I think this
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injection this huge dose of injection of
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money is slowly raising our dignity
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levels and so I'm very very hopeful uh
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of U of our Indian U of of India doing
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very well in the in the Olympics well
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it's certainly understandable why a
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country that that has uh a lot of people
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living in poverty would hesitate to
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spend money on what some might consider
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a luxury but it sounds like they've made
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a decision that that maybe investing in
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sport can make it if not a business that
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there can be a return on that investment
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in other words it's not just money
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that's being spent and and and not
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coming back in some form and maybe in
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multiples even is that part of the
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equation and how how how does that
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thinking work I don't know whether
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whether government injects money and
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they and and they've clearly recognized
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that sport is a priority and they're not
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really looking at uh multiples coming
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back in terms of any monetary form but I
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think it's a status issue it's a it's a
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issue that we you know we we are now
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bench marking ourselves against the best
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countries we are a developing Nation we
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want to be you know we want to be
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recognized by the G20 in the economic
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forums in the it Forum certainly we are
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right there at the top so it's just uh I
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think from our our our governance point
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of view we just want the status of being
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recognized as a as a power in sport too
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we're not necessarily looking at it in
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terms of uh you know what multiple of of
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money that you know we can we can get at
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you know get from uh from from the sport
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though there will be spill-off I think
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once you have Achievers once you have
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people who have done well in a
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particular sport typically we find that
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that particular sport flourishes in the
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country a case in point is vishwanath
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Anand who's the world chess champion uh
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and a grandmas and he's just
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revolutionalized sport the chess in in
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the country it's it's it's a widely
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played sport tennis is a case and
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example starting from the era of vij rrj
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even before that ramanathan Krishna
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today you have um Mahesh bhupati Leander
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between the two of the they won I think
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about 12 Grand Slam titles uh and you
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have a young siia mza who's do who's
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doing really well so it has its
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spill-off uh you know and uh so but from
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government perspective you know they
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want I think what we're looking at it as
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a from a country's perspective uh from a
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society's perspective is uh we want to
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be considered a sporting a sporting
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power we are not that yet but we will
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reach there well in the case of cricket
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which uh at one of the forums today
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someone referred to as not a sport in
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India but a religion um there's it it's
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become a big money maker and a big
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business and there's now a lot of
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sponsorship money players are making
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higher salaries than all the rest of it
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um are there any of the sports that uh
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would also be Olympic sports where this
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might be
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possible I don't know whether golf is
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yet an Olympic sport I believe not um
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but when it does I think golf uh could
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be uh could surely be one on tennis I
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think with you know uh whil we we we
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don't have players who are in the top 80
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or 100 also in the in the singles but as
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a D in in doubles and in the Davis Cup
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we good so as a Olympic discipline sport
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I do believe tennis could uh could
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become that uh that that uh you know a
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really well marketed and well- packaged
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sport which kind of catches the
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fascination of the public uh it has all
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the Glamour the you know the excitement
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uh which has really made it into a
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global sport uh amongst the other
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Olympic disciplines Athletics always
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will will have a certain charm about it
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and uh we we are strong in women's
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middle distance running uh so there is a
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lot of focus uh happening particularly
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on that on that too and of course
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shooting so shooting is uh you know
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we've now uh we considered one of the
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best Shooters in the world and uh you
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know abinav bindra gold medal has has
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done a lot for uh you know um for for
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our country to kind of elevate us uh to
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a very very high Benchmark and level but
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unfortunately shooting is not a is not a
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spectacular sport to watch um and uh
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there lies in the you know the
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the it's a tough call how does one
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popularize and monetize uh the Olympic
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gold medal or the benchmarks that our
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Shooters have reached how how do how
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does one monetize that from a from a
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event perspective I think that's a very
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big challenge uh perhaps uh uh it's not
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happened anywhere in the world and
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perhaps it will not happen in India so I
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think it's very important to see which
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sport one plays and eventually the
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sports that have really succeeded are
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the sports that are very simple uh to
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follow by the by the Layman by the guy
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watching it on TV so uh we will need to
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look at those Sports really to uh you
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know to see them evolve into into uh
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multi-million dollar Industries uh so as
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of now I just see uh I think tennis uh
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women's Athletics um and uh and and and
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golf perhaps even golf gets into into
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the Olympics uh some people say that in
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order for these things to develop India
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is going to have to make some
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investments in infrastructure and you
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referred to that briefly could you
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elaborate on that yes we just going to
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be hosting the Commonwealth Games uh in
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2010 uh and there is a lot of
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infrastructure uh happening in Delhi
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because it's it's going to be hosted in
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Delhi uh but clearly our are uh uh the
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the dose the injection that one needs is
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very huge India is a large country uh I
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believe that with achievement at the
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Olympic uh platform we will slowly uh
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you know increase this uh increase the
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investment into sporting infrastructure
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at the moment whatever infrastructure we
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have is courtesy the 1982 Asian games
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which was again held in Delhi and uh the
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same infrastructure is continuing and we
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had we had afro Asia afro Asian uh in
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afro Asian games uh which happened in
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the southern part of India through which
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a lot of infastructure got developed so
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we I think we will let the Commonwealth
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go if we can show the world that we are
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capable capable of holding uh another
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Asian Games or perhaps the Olympics if
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that happens it could be in 10 years or
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15 years I don't know but if we can host
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the Olympics I believe India's
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infrastructure uh requirements would be
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uh well catered For and well executed
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you also mentioned the sport Golf and I
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wanted you to talk about your own sport
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a little bit because um it I think that
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one thing that I find fascinating about
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it is it's one of the few sports like
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golf where yes you're competing against
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a competitor but in some ways you're
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competing against yourself it's it must
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be such a psychological game I mean even
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in tennis you know you're it's not a
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team sport but you still have an
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opponent here it's it's it's not a team
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sport and you have an opponent but
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really uh you're not interacting with
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the opponent is just your own it's up to
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you entirely absolutely right the only
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two sport where you strike a stationary
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ball so there is no opponent uh your
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your biggest opponent is yourself and in
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a sport like that when they talk about
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Killer Instinct uh you know it conjures
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you know Killer Instinct in tennis is
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all about a lot of aggression about Ma
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androe you know with with all that
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Killer Instinct but I think in bilard
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snooker pool and golf Killer Instinct
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really is u i define it as the ability
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to just retain calmness at the pressure
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point at the point when you need uh you
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know a particular red pot and you need
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to pot that ball at that point you need
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to maintain and be completely calm so
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it's really the inverse of what that
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Killer Instinct kind of uh you know that
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that term invokes uh something with with
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a lot of aggression it's the opposite
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here you need to be completely calm you
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need to be uh you know take a deep
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breath and just say I I you know that's
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the pressure point and you need to you
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need to go for it so and in fact I U I
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personally uh uh lengthen this
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definition of Killer Instinct further
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the calmness I believe very you know
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very strongly that Killer Instinct even
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in aggressive sport like football and
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tennis and and Cricket or whatever you
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have is all about retaining your your
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calmness really at the pressure point uh
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it's not about aggression it's about
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it's it's the inverse of aggression it's
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about
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calmness uh one last thing and that is
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that
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um the the importance of dignity and
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self-conscious belief that you talked
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about um perhaps standing on the
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shoulders of your predecessors to
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succeed um India seems to have done that
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in the software business with the great
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success of it of its many big and
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successful Global software companies uh
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and that seems to have have sparked a a
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kind of national self-consciousness
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about um the ability to succeed Beyond
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borders and can you comment on on that
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parallel yeah it's a it's a terrific uh
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uh it's a terrific case in point the it
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sector and uh I think it's the same
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thing you have two good companies who
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who've come in who've established good
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corporate governance who made you know
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who made it to the you know the top of
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the world we uh it's going to happen in
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every field of human endeavor eventually
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and U it's U I'm a great believer and I
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I'm a great believer in this subcon self
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belief it it starts off as a
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subconscious belief and then manifests
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itself into into achieving very very
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high benchmarks but uh so so both at a
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personal level and at a social societal
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level uh there is a great value that I
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put on this uh and and and whilst you
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could be competent whilst you could have
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Excellence you could have have have
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achieved a particular excellence in your
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own discipline but somewhere down the
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line the impact of tradition and the
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impact of history and of predecessors
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that F uh that that you follow uh does
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does make uh does make uh make an impact
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and it does influence you uh to do and
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to become more positive and to achieve
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uh you know to achieve greater greater
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Heights and now it sounds as though
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that's what you have in mind partly as
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you take a leadership position in and
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perhaps helping the country to uh
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achieve greatness in other sports and
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and and building infrastructure and that
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sort of thing are you is that what
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you're attempting to do yeah I've
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actually started a foundation it's
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called the Olympic gold Quest and we had
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yeah we
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had badminton player called prakash
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prakash padukon so the two of us and
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we've got some industry leaders involved
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in uh in this as well uh and we have
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started this foundation with the clear
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Mission the mission statement being
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raising money uh to uh to to to fund
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those athletes in India who have a
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genuine potential to win us an Olympic
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gold uh so uh we find that even though
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that there is money from the government
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uh the you know the tone of the
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government and the sentiment of the
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government has changed for the positive
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but uh you know the bureaucracy and the
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speed of dispersement of funds is not
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necessarily still at its efficient best
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so I I have a a shooter called gagan
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narang who we've adopted and he needs to
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go you know tomorrow for for a training
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session uh he has the plan all planned
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out but he doesn't get his funding for
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his ticket in time his coach is not been
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cleared so we just come in and says
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whatever government can't fund you we'll
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put in and you just do what you have to
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do you get the best coaches the best
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mental coaches the best shooter and the
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you know the best physiotherapist that
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you want and uh let not money be uh a
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cause why you have not been able to
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achieve your potential uh in in winning
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Olympic gold so that's what Olympic gold
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Quest is all about which we started so
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you're an angel investor in sports
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Talent well an angel investor with a
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with a very strong NGO bias this is a
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not for-profit uh company and we we just
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focus at raising money from any Indian
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uh any Indian anywhere in the world uh
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for this this this hugely emotional
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sentiment of getting us more Olympic
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goals thanks very much for speaking with
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us today thank you
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[Music]
