Media honcho and management guru Ramesh Praba is a man who has worn many hats with aplomb. For almost three decades now, he has been actively involved in the multiple domains of marketing, advertising, journalism, production, education, rural marketing, political marketing and media launches. He has been closely associated with the Sun TV Network from the beginning, as well as Kalaignar TV Network since inception in the capacity of anchor, director and producer. Creative and entrepreneurial by turns, he has served as the Chairman and Managing Director at the Galaxy Group of Companies since 1995. He began his career with Clarion Advertising Services as an account planner in 1986. In 1990, he moved to Ulka Advertising (now Draftfcb Ulka) as account supervisor.
After working at Ulka for a two-year period, he joined Dattaram Advertising as Brand Manager. He was responsible for the successful re-launch of Tamil daily Dinakaran and magazine Kungumam. He has authored 10 books on education and business, apart from conducting counselling programmes with a view to provide young people with the crucial guidance that he himself was not fortunate enough to avail of during his student days, given his simple, agrarian roots. That's not all. He runs the Galaxy Institute of Management in Chennai with a focus on the fast-emerging arena of media management.
Affable, gracious and forthcoming, Praba’s simplicity belies his scholarship and staggering achievements. Talking to Corporate Citizen , Praba stresses on the importance of doing the right things for the right reason, be it choosing a career or your priorities in life.
First and foremost, I would say, you need clarity of thought and purpose. Don't choose careers because of your peers; do so, because you have the aptitude and liking for a particular field. Secondly, this generation tends to be very relaxed, mainly because they have got a lot of things easily, so they don't realise their value. They are also very choosy. For example, when companies come to campus, they are the ones doing the choosing-when it should be the other way around! This is because they want something 'relevant' to their needs, when actually, relevance only happens over a period of time. In the early stages, they ought to be more open-minded to different learning experiences.
To that end, I have always had these mass counselling sessions wherein I have ad- dressed huge gatherings of students with the twin purpose of motivating them for their exams as well as helping them choose their career. Over the last twenty odd years, I must have reached out to as many as 10 to 15 lakhs and counting; it is my way of giving back to society. There are options beyond engineering and medicine, which people are not aware of even today. The media, for example, offers an ocean of opportunity to youngsters; if only they knew!
Well, I've always been a people's person, and hugely enthusiastic about taking part in a plethora of extra-curricular activities both in my school and college days. Quite frankly, as time goes on, you realise that these extra- curricular activities and not academics were the most memorable and educative part of your student life. It's all very well to get high percentages and gold medals, but learning life skills and self-confidence are even more so. Extra-curricular activities give you the chance to initiate, lead, co-ordinate and participate as a team member. All this adds to your personality and helps you emerge a winner. Right through my school, BSc Chemistry, B.Tech Production, followed by IIM-Calcutta, I participated in all these creative pursuits. It was a given, I suppose that I would end up in a creative field, be it media or advertising.
I have always wanted my programmes to combine information, education, social relevance, meaning and message with entertainment. For the last 20 years, in the course of a talk show I did with Sun TV, I have interviewed as many as 6,000 personalities from all walks of life. It's been a record of sorts. From scientists to cine artists, lawyers to engineers, I have tried to give my viewers a flavour of their life and its relevance. And while I am at it, I try to explain their work as simply and lucidly as possible to the viewers.
For example, I could be interviewing a remote sensing engineer. The trick is to bring out his work and his contribution without getting into the jargon of engineering. This perspective is important for any communicator. An interview is not a forum to show off your knowledge or project yourself. That is why, despite being from a management programme, I will start by asking a management professional about CAT.
"The social media includes more people and gives new talent a chance and a voice; it also ensures that the ownership of the media is not controlled by only a few but instead, creates an open forum. On the other hand, there is the concern of account - ability and authenticity”
“Quite frankly, as time goes on, you realise that these extra-curricular activities and not academics were the most memorable and educative part of your student life. It’s all very well to get high percentages and gold medals, but learning life skills and self- confidence are even more so”
By and large, it's a good thing, no doubt. The social media includes more people and gives new talent a chance and a voice; it also ensures that the ownership of the media is not controlled by only a few but instead, creates an open forum. On the other hand, there is the concern of accountability and authenticity. Besides, there is weight to the criticism that it rests in the hands of the largely urbanised elite and comes with its own set of biases.
Having been part of advertising and the media, both as a journalist and talk show host, I have always felt the need for a standalone state-of-the-art B-school that would offer courses in management, particularly media management. There are several options available at the undergraduate level, but not enough at the post-graduation level. And so my institute specialises in media management courses: how to manage an FM station/ad agency/ print media set-up/event management/PR firm and so on.
To that end, I pick up students from mixed backgrounds who are then placed at a senior managerial level with various organisations. What is particularly advantageous is that I can decide the curriculum based on practical experience and its relevance to actual context.
You are perfectly right! However, my parents are simple agricultural folk who had no idea about the media or management, so I could choose, as I wanted. (laughs.)
I did my BSc Chemistry, since I couldn't get engineering. After taking my degree though, I did manage to pursue production engineering. When I completed that, I realised it wasn't enough. So, I studied management at IIM. All through, I was self- taught; there was little guidance. However, when I started studying marketing, I found it to be very creative. One of the subjects related to that was advertising taught by none other than Subroto Sengupta, the ad guru who launched Maggi and Vicks.
I realised herein lay my calling. So on my own, I applied to Clarient, one of the top notch ad agencies in the country. I worked there for 8 to 10 years. In 1993, Sun TV, the first satellite channel was launched with a game show as one of the first programmes.
I work for a minimum 18 hours a day and seven days a week. Most of my public functions and career counselling happen on Sunday. Those are important to me. Having said that, it helps that my wife is part of my world and directs one of my cookery shows. Being in the entertainment field, work is fun! Still, my wife, my daughter and I make it a point to go for movies every week, apart from taking regular holidays during summer and Christmas vacations.
Focus on what you do. Since I come from a simple background, it has always been important for me to give back-to my parents, to my village and to the society. For that, I had to achieve my goals. I could have fallen in love during my college days, but I stayed firmly focused on what I wanted. Another point, I would like to add is that it is very important to prioritise. If an important business opportunity presents itself, I can vacation later.
By Kalyani SardeSai
