Rumpanathan: Or How to Succeed by Cheating!
Here's the true story of an India-style achiever I knew long ago.
I was 27, going through the pain of losing a beloved father in tragic circumstances. With a family to look after and no income, I needed a steady income for some years. So, rather than take the risk of starting a medical practice, I joined a British pharma company in old Bombay. I opted for Sales Promotion. My senior partner there turned out to be a fellow who had risen from Medical Rep. And at first sight I nicknamed him mentally as Rumpanathan or the Buffalo's Rump. That's what he looked like. The other lead character in this story is the Englishman who was our Sales Director. I nicknamed him John Sneeze because he had a nose like Punch in the Punch and Judy show. Other colleagues warned me not to air new ideas in front of Rumpanathan as he was sure to run to the SD and present them as his own. They also told me to avoid criticizing the Director in front of Rumpo. A toady and backbiter, he would add his own masala to get you in trouble with the SD.
At my first sales promotion meeting I presented a product promotion idea. 'Excellent!' said Sneeze and then asked, 'Whose idea is it?' Sitting next to me, with no hesitation at all, Rumpanathan pointed at his own head. The SD looked at me and said pointedly: 'I thought so.' Strangely, I didn't react. At that moment or later, if I had challenged Rumpanathan to tell the truth, his career would have ended. Instead, all I did was decide that if a colleague could lie so brazenly and the SD would believe him, I did not want to stay more than a year or two in the company. John Sneeze was stupid to trust and encourage Rumpo; but in his own country he may never have met a Cheating Champ without scruples or shame like Rumpanathan. Two years later I opted out of the company and started my own medical practice.
Years later I learned the Indian Cheating Champ had become an international director of that British pharma company. Surely, on Rumpanathan's international success route many others, like his colleagues in Bombay, would have seen exactly what he was...and spread the message that Indians were dishonest. That they were cheats!
Rumpanathan rose by Undoing India!
India surely has the talent-potential to rise among nations.
But can the achievements of Cheating Champs contribute to India's progress or make her truly modern? No! Not a whisper of hope!
It was Lee Kuan Yew's foresight and emphasis on Order, Honesty, Humane Values etc., enabling Chinese, Malays, Indians and people of differing ethnicity to live in peace and unitedly strive for progress, that turned the city-state of Singapore into the 4th most developed place in the world - just a spot behind New Zealand and one ahead of the United States. In development India, on the other hand, still languishes at around 138th among 180 countries.
I was 27, going through the pain of losing a beloved father in tragic circumstances. With a family to look after and no income, I needed a steady income for some years. So, rather than take the risk of starting a medical practice, I joined a British pharma company in old Bombay. I opted for Sales Promotion. My senior partner there turned out to be a fellow who had risen from Medical Rep. And at first sight I nicknamed him mentally as Rumpanathan or the Buffalo's Rump. That's what he looked like. The other lead character in this story is the Englishman who was our Sales Director. I nicknamed him John Sneeze because he had a nose like Punch in the Punch and Judy show. Other colleagues warned me not to air new ideas in front of Rumpanathan as he was sure to run to the SD and present them as his own. They also told me to avoid criticizing the Director in front of Rumpo. A toady and backbiter, he would add his own masala to get you in trouble with the SD.
At my first sales promotion meeting I presented a product promotion idea. 'Excellent!' said Sneeze and then asked, 'Whose idea is it?' Sitting next to me, with no hesitation at all, Rumpanathan pointed at his own head. The SD looked at me and said pointedly: 'I thought so.' Strangely, I didn't react. At that moment or later, if I had challenged Rumpanathan to tell the truth, his career would have ended. Instead, all I did was decide that if a colleague could lie so brazenly and the SD would believe him, I did not want to stay more than a year or two in the company. John Sneeze was stupid to trust and encourage Rumpo; but in his own country he may never have met a Cheating Champ without scruples or shame like Rumpanathan. Two years later I opted out of the company and started my own medical practice.
Years later I learned the Indian Cheating Champ had become an international director of that British pharma company. Surely, on Rumpanathan's international success route many others, like his colleagues in Bombay, would have seen exactly what he was...and spread the message that Indians were dishonest. That they were cheats!
Rumpanathan rose by Undoing India!
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India surely has the talent-potential to rise among nations.
But can the achievements of Cheating Champs contribute to India's progress or make her truly modern? No! Not a whisper of hope!
It was Lee Kuan Yew's foresight and emphasis on Order, Honesty, Humane Values etc., enabling Chinese, Malays, Indians and people of differing ethnicity to live in peace and unitedly strive for progress, that turned the city-state of Singapore into the 4th most developed place in the world - just a spot behind New Zealand and one ahead of the United States. In development India, on the other hand, still languishes at around 138th among 180 countries.
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Read Ms. Jagjit's Dreams of One Country: a Great Love Story lights the way for youth's united campaign for Universal Values that will elevate India as an exemplary Super-Modern Nation! Indeed, to Singapore's Heights!
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