Case 7: Patanjali: The Black Swan

When one of India’s foremost news magazine puts you on their front page, then you have certainly arrived. However, when the issue is closely read by stock market analysts who are understanding the dynamics of Indian stock market, then there is something happening which is disruptive to say the least and a black swan to say the most. The person in question is Ramdev Baba of Patanjali, the most dynamic businessman in India, who continues to create a complex supply chain of products based on his learnings not from Harvard but Haridwar, a pilgrimage site in the foothills of Himalayas. So why are the investors and consumers putting their bets behind this monk, fondly called Baba Ramdev by his followers? And here we enter the heart of the paradox. At one level he is a sadhu, an aesthetic and a monk, and as a monk he has to leave his family, adopt a new name and live a frugal life in a monastery or ashram as it is called in India. In these ashrams the monks are usually engaged in religious practices, reciting hymns, offering prayers, doing rituals, doing meditation and reading religious scriptures. Ashrams have Hindu devotees coming to them for listening to religious discourses of the monks and conduct religious activities. Baba Ramdev has done all this and continues to do so, yet paradoxically, surprisingly and astonishingly he has been able to use the ethos and working principles of ashram ecosystem to create India’s most ruthless, ambitious and expansive business organization with global ambitions. He himself is one the richest men in India.