Working Knowledge

“This is a map,perhaps a manual that calls out for social justice in India,” says William Nanda Bissell,the managing director of Fabindia,about his book Making India Work (Viking,Rs 499). It has emerged out of his experiences across rural India; but instead of just pointing out the problems,it offers solutions as well.

“India is not a poor country,it is a poorly managed country. As a businessman I know that no development is possible without economic growth. But market distortions that create economic inefficiency must be removed,” says Bissell. The book follows a Gandhian paradigm when it talks of building a sustainable and realistic framework based on three principles. “Firstly,people are inherently good. Individual responsibility and accountability are the basis for a society that enjoys widespread legitimacy. Secondly,we need to value our environment. Lastly,self-regulation. Gandhi stated that need,not greed,has to be the basis of all consumption,” says Bissell.

The circumstances that led him to practise his theories came suddenly in 1993 when his father and founder of Fabindia,John Latane Bissell,suffered a cerebral stroke. “I took up the business and travelled across the country. It’s only when the rug is pulled from under your feet that reality hits home,” says Bissell,who took over as managing director in 1998. “My proudest achievement is that the commercial success of Fabindia has been accomplished while staying true to the company’s original mission of providing a market for goods produced by artisans,” writes Bissell in his introduction. It worked for Fabindia,perhaps it will work for India too.