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[HCDX] Helping radio get a new reception in India
TROY â Radio in India was famously dreary. Stations were owned by the government, and they were largely ignored. No longer. The nation deregulated the industry in 2000, spawning a widely popular medium that now includes 259 private stations, including 32 in the Radio Mirchi network.
Amba Preetham Parigi helped build Radio Mirchi, which today reaches at least 200 million listeners. It's the effort that earned him the 2009 Entrepreneur of the Year Award from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, given to a businessperson who succeeds with a high-tech venture.
Wait a minute. Radio is high-tech? Is this the 1950s?
"It is low technology in our context," said David Gautschi, dean of RPI's Lally School of Technology and Management, which sponsors the award. "But in terms of rural India, it's high technology."
Parigi never owned Radio Mirchi. The stations, which mostly play music from India's film industry, are operated by his employer â The Times Group, a massive media conglomerate whose holdings include India's largest newspaper, along with magazines, television stations and more.
Parigi didn't scratch together a business in his parents' garage or launch a low-cost Web site from a trendy loft.
But Gautschi said Parigi's version of business building â "entrepreneurship within a going concern" â is far more prevalent than the stereotype. And it's worthy of an award, he said, noting that Parigi built the hip radio network within what was seen as a stodgy print media company.
The award, which culminates with a celebration this afternoon on RPI's Troy campus, brought Parigi to the Capital Region for a whirlwind tour of appearances and lectures.. On Tuesday morning, for example, an interview with public radio network WAMC (expected to air Thursday) was quickly followed by a visit to Tech Valley High School at Rensselaer Technology Park in North Greenbush.
The appearances have revealed Parigi, 59, as a natural teacher and speaker. He's quick with a memorable phrase, and he has strong opinions.
His take, for example, on the Capital Region, which he visits about once a year: "Where in the world do you have a Boston, a Montreal and a New York? How many towns or regions have this kind of connectivity?"
On restlessness with President Barack Obama's attempts to revive the economy: "You took 10 years to get into this place. Now you want him to pull you out in 10 months? â Societies and civilizations have been built on patience, not impatience."
Parigi isn't a stranger to RPI or the Lally School. He has a brother-in-law in Niskayuna and a chance campus visit several years ago led to a meeting with campus officials that became a lasting relationship.
Gautschi, the dean, said that relationship has shown Parigi to be a thoughtful and creative leader, with a kind heart. "He is terrifically empathetic and humane," Gautschi said. That empathy was on display during the Tech Valley High visit, as was Parigi's desire to inspire. He told the students of his personal "secrets to life" and stressed that the key to happiness is not material things, but internal satisfaction.
In an interview, Parigi repeated Mahatma Gandhi's words that he saidguide him: "Earth provides enough for every man's need, but not for every man's greed."
Chris Churchill can be reached at 454-5442 or by e-mail at cchurchill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sponsors: Lally School of Management and Technology, Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=788102&category=RENSSELAER&TextPage=2
-Jaisakthivel, Chennai, India
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