Anand Kurian

Anand Kurian is a writer and marketing communications professional in Mumbai, India, who has written a best-selling political novel and has developed three marketing concepts.

He has employed his professional skills to advance social causes, particularly in the struggle against religious fundamentalism.

Education

Anand Kurian had a remarkable academic career at some of India’s premier academic institutions - Bombay Scottish School, St Xavier’s College and Govt Law College (he stood first in his division at the Cambridge ISC examination, outranking IIT, IIM, IIT-IIM, and GS Medical College students). At law, he topped moot courts in the city, the state as well as in the country (1) .

Early career

He chose not to practise law. He trained, instead, at Griner, Cuesta & Schrom in New York, one of the larger advertising film companies then. He set up Emphasis on his return to Mumbai; his company has produced, and he has directed, commercials for multinational majors from Coca Cola and Lays to Procter & Gamble and Unilever (1) .

The struggle against communalism

The rise of communalism in India (in south Asia, communalism refers to forces that separate different communities based on religious and social discrimination) provoked him to write ‘The Peddler of Soaps’, a political novel set against the world of the media (2) (3) (4) .

The book seemed prescient; the Gujarat riots broke out shortly after it was written (16) . The book found support among a number of intellectuals and celebrities, from newspaper editors to national award winning actresses, from Vir Sanghvi and Shabana Azmi to Shobhaa De and Tabu (2) (3) (4) (5) (7) (17) (18) (19) (20).

Sanghvi described The Peddler of Soaps as ‘Deceptively simple, a contemporary, modern-day fable’; Azmi called it ‘The right book for these wrong times’ (7) . The book was on the India Today best-seller list (6) ; Anand Kurian travelled across India and the book launches in various cities became meetings where feelings and opinions on the rise of religious fundamentalism were shared (2) .

Articles, keynote addresses & lectures

Anand Kurian continues to spread the message against communalism, now encapsulated in the dictum, ‘A world without borders... people without labels.’ (7) He lectures at reputed academic institutions as diverse as the Indian Institutes of Management (the IIMs), the Film & Television Institute (FTII) and the National Institute of Design (NID) (13) (14) (15) (21) (22) (23) .

‘The Indian way’, a commencement address to the graduating class of the Mudra Institute of Communications (MICA) is an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the distinctive Indian way of life (10) . ‘Racing on the fast track’ takes a hard look at the caste system that has plagued India for centuries (11) .

The three concepts

Anand Kurian has lectured at the IIMs, the Indian Institutes of Management, on the three management concepts he has conceived and developed, ‘Reality Plus’ (12) , ‘Simulated Obsolescence’(13) (14) and ‘The Afghanistan Syndrome’ (15) . These concepts make for a better understanding of today’s world; the concepts have been outlined in the lectures, the lectures have been published, the book is in progress (12) (13) (14) (15) .

His keynote addresses, lectures and articles are published and reprinted in publications that are widely read and respected - the Hindustan Times, the Business Standard and the Times of India; they are reproduced in professional advertising and marketing journals as well (12) (13) (14) (15) (24) (25) (26).

References

1) Short profile of Anand Kurian:http://www.aicar.net/faculty.htm

2) The Hindu newspaper in conversation with the writer:http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2002/12/12/stories/2002121200380300.htm

3) Interview with Agencyfaqs:http://www.afaqs.com/perl/news/?sid=5300 4) Article in Indian Express:http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=37160

5) Star endorsements: http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=38113

6) India Today’s top ten bestsellers:http://archives.digitaltoday.in/indiatoday/20030210/books2.html

7) Cover of Peddler of Soaps:http://partnerpage.google.com/newcenturystudios.org

8) India’s best advertising man:http://www.afaqs.com/perl/news/index.html?sid=19875

9) The superhero next door:http://spirituality.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1843537,prtpage-1.cms

10) The Indian way:http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=241258

11) Racing on the fast track:http://www.hvk.org/articles/0606/16.html

12) Reality & Reality Plus:http://www.afaqs.com/perl/news/index.html?sid=18387

13) Simulated obsolescence:http://www.businessstandard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=333153

!4) Simulated or Artificial Obsolescence:http://www.exchange4media.com/Viewpoint/viewpoint.asp?view_id=100

15) The Afghanistan syndrome:http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=335122

Internal links

16) The Gujarat riots of 2002:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Gujarat_violence

17) Vir Sanghvi:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vir_Sanghvi

18) Shabana Azmi:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabana_Azmi

19) Tabu:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabu_(actress)

20) Shobhaa De:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shobhaa_De

21) Indian Institues of Management (IIMs):http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IIMs

22) Film & Television Insitute of India (FTII):http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_and_Television_Institute_of_India

23) National Institue of Design (NID):http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Design

24) Hindustan Times: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindustan_Times

25) Business Standard: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Standard

26) Times of India: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_of_india