|Photo: Adnan Abidi/Reuters|Many call him a "Yoga Guru", while some loathe him for being just another "Capitalist".Known to Every Indian but barely recognized outside the Country, The Wholistic View dissects the story of Swami Ramdev who is giving the likes of Unilever and P&G a run for their money (6 min. read)
Not too long ago he may have been the most televised person in the world. In 2016, he featured for an average at least 19 and a half hours a day on Indian TV Channels. He abjured possessions and renounced the material world but today he can be found in the most material of places. Switch on an Indian TV, there's Swami Ramdev demonstrating his signature belly roll, flip the channel and there's the Baba selling dish soaps and shampoos. Roam around any City in India and you will find this saffron-clad yogi's face in stores selling the products of Patanjali Ayurveda Limited, the multi-billion dollar FMCG Corporation he controls, leading to some believe that there is no one who can bend it like Baba.
Like many other ascetics, Swami Ramdev's path to prominence had humble beginnings. In the early-90s he moved to Haridwar(City in Uttarakhand) to teach yoga. There he met his apprentice turned close aide Acharya Balakrishna. Together they started a Pharmacy called Divya Pharmacy where they sold homemade herbal remedies based on Ayurveda( Ancient System of Indian Medicine). When yoga was gaining popularity in the west while in India it was still associated with rigorous studies and perceived as somewhat elitist, Swami Ramdev took to democratise it. He simplified the poses and ran free workshops which continue till today albeit with a far lesser frequency. He also promoted yoga as a treatment for many ailments-obesity, depression, infertility, even cancer-his yoga had you covered.
|Photo: Money Sharma/AFP/Getty Images|In 2002, Swami Ramdev's yoga workshops started being broadcast on T.V., Despite the early morning hours, his playfulness and charismatic persona made him an instant hit and in turn a household name. But Swami Ramdev and Acharya Balakrishna had a vision of going beyond medicines and yoga, they wanted to reach every Indian Household which led to registering Patanjali as a corporation in 2006 with Balakrishna owning more than 98% of the shareholding while Ramdev merely taking up the role of its Ambassador belying his role in the company. Patanjali Started selling soaps, shampoos, juices and beauty products, all based on natural ingredients. In the very early years, you could hardly see any marketing campaign but only the products on store shelves, thanks to the Supply Chain Network which Patanjali could foster without much difficulty due to Swami's Popularity. People who were not necessarily his followers started buying these goods because of their belief that these were less contaminated than other products available in the market.
Between 2011 to 2014, Patanjali's offerings grew tenfold from 50 to almost 500 products as it started catching fire in terms of popularity coinciding with the growing feeling of nationalism in India as consumers took a liking to it because of its Indian Origin and usage of ancient Indian recipes to make things like soaps, shampoos and even food products. Patanjali tapped into consumer patriotism and became the flagbearer of "Atmanirbhar" Bharat, thus, promising India's economic independence from the chains of Foreign Conglomerates. As Swami Ramdev once himself gloated-"The ‘gate’ in Colgate will shut, Pantene will wet its pants, the lever of Unilever will break down, and the little Nestle's bird will fly away."This Turned out to be a great sales pitch and lead to Ramdev's Popularity and influence grow further.
|Photo: ANI|Along with his extraordinary rise, Swami Ramdev has had his fair share of controversies as well, The most prominent being the incident at Delhi's Ramleela Maidan in 2011 wherein he was caught after having escaped from police baton charge wearing a white coloured Salwar Suit with his head covered in a Dupatta as he had mobilized a strong crowd running in thousands staging a dharna protesting against the alleged scams happening under the then Ruling party Indian National Congress' Government. Swami Ramdev defended himself by saying "It was not a sign of weakness to be in a woman's dress. A mother gives birth to a man" and lashed out at the atrocities of the Delhi Police crying Human Rights Violations. Swami also flirted with politics when he planned to launch his Political Party-Bharat Swabhimaan Manch which he soon shelved and started mobilizing his popularity for the Right Wing Political Party-The BJP. This gained him some powerful allies as The BJP came into power with a thumping majority in 2014 General Elections.
According to a Reuter's investigation, Patanjali received more than 46 million dollars in discounts on land deals in states controlled by the BJP. Patanjali had also been accused of selling sub-standard products such as noodles with dangerous ash content, gooseberry juice failing lab tests and legal actions over misleading ads. Swami Ramdev simply shrugged off these claims as nothing but "A Foreign Conspiracy". Many Critics view him as a perfect lens with which one can examine today's India which they say is a nexus of Business, Religion and Politics.Despite these controversies, Patanjali's annual revenue surpassed a billion dollars having skyrocketing from Rs.2000 crores in 2015 to around Rs.9000 crores in 2017 making Acharya Balakrishna a Billionaire. Swami Ramdev boasted that the Revenue will touch Rs.20,000 Crores in 2018. But this hasn't happened, rather the opposite, revenues have taken a narrow dive as the company posted Revenue in tunes of Rs.8500 crores in 2019.
|Photo: Dalip Kumar/ Business Standard|These colossal revenues have brought the company in the leagues of Big Ticket conglomerates such Hindustan Unilever, P&G, Marico, Godrej Consumer and Dabur. Though successful, Patanjali has started to face the heat as its competitors have started investing heavily in Ayurvedic and Herbal Products Portfolio, a category which is seen as Patanjali's Forte. Still, Swami Ramdev remains unfazed and his ambition and determination are far-reaching with the latest acquisition of Bankrupt Ruchi Soya for Rs.4,350 crores to add new products into health segment and increase palm plantation."We are looking at increasing the turnover of Ruchi Soya to Rs 50,000 crore in the next 3-5 years by launching new healthy products, full capacity utilization and increasing the cover under palm plantation to 2 lakh hectares from the present 50,000 hectares." Swami Ramdev said.
Well, all this remains yet to be seen, but one thing is for sure that the enigma of Swami Ramdev continues to thrive and looks to chart new territories in the coming future. His life Story is nothing short of a movie script and curiosity remains as to who will get the starring role but given his electrifying spirit and animated personality, it won't raise eyebrows if the Yogi himself makes the final cut.
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Pricise and informative.
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