By Rahul Chandawarkar
Yoga Guru and founder of the Patanjali g​roup of companies, Baba Ramdev predictably gave Goa ​fest 2018 a rousing start when he took the battle into the MNC camp with his spirited and energetic, inaugural address in Goa on Thursday evening.
With his aggressive statement, ‘Hum MNC companies ko dhool chatayenge’ ( we will make MNC companies bite the dust), Ramdev lambasted the business policies of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies.
| Baba Ramdev’s Mantras
:: Only when knowledge, skills, emotions, research and innovation gets converted into WEALTH does it make any sense. :: You only learn 1% in classrooms. The rest, you learn in ever day life. :: One must complete the task at hand despite all obstacles. :: No dishonest business can last more than 10 years. :: Health is wealth. Exercise One hour every day. :: Good diet, good thoughts, good exercise and good sleep is the only truth. |
Stating that the main objective of the Patanjali brand was to defeat and vanquish MNC companies, Ramdev said, “The East India company looted our country for centuries. The MNCs are doing the same now. This must stop. This why, we formed Patanjali to compete and beat them.”
Pointing out his major grouse against MNCs, Ramdev said, “MNC brands have blatantly used chemicals in their products, made fun of our traditional raw materials like turmeric and tulsi, made an unfair distinction between dark skinned and fair skinned people in their product advertising and made obscene amounts of profits. All this hurt me and motivated me to start Patanjali to counter this MNC scourge.â€
Stating that Patanjali had been registered as a not-for-profit charitable institution, Ramdev said, “We want to offer our country’s people with completely organic and indigenous products at affordable prices. This is because our motive is not profit. We are service oriented instead.â€
Lambasting the popular advertising practices of MNCs, Ramdev criticized toothpaste and soap advertisments which had sexual overtones. “Why do we need to use young men and women in a glamorous setting to sell these products. We at Patanjali keep it simple. We simply speak about the strength of our products and it is paying us rich dividends. We avoid wasteful expenditure on advertising this way,†Ramdev said.
Driving home the point, Ramdev claimed that the Patanjali toothpaste had captured  50% market share of a prominent, MNC toothpaste brand. “Likewise, our Aloe Vera brand is now a Rs 5,000 crore brand with less than Rs 10 crores of investment,†Ramdev said.
Expressing his confidence in the Indian economy, Ramdev said, “The Indian economy is growing at 10% as compared to the US and UK markets which are struggling at an abysmal 2%. There are opportunities galore in our country.”
Predicting that Patanjali would become the ​No 1 consumer products company in India very soon, Ramdev said:​ “We plan to introduce a wide range of dairy products, a complete range of apparels and even a drinking water brand called Divyajal next year.â€
Sharing his thoughts on human resource management, Ramdev stressed the need to compensate employees fairly and also creating an emotional connect to retain good quality human resource.
In conclusion, the yoga guru stressed the need for working professionals to keep themselves fit and healthy. “Everybody must devote one hour every day to exercise and fitness. You must either do yoga, running, swimming, cycling or some exercise to keep healthy and fit,†the yoga guru said before proceeding to perform a string of yogic asanas on stage including a headstand!
Rahul Chandawarkar is a former newspaper editor and presently a communication strategist and freelance journalist based in Goa​