Khabri, Kaikeyi, Khata, Kaash and the Boss

KAIKEYI is an important character in the Indian epic - Ramayana. More importantly, do you know Manthara in that story? Without Manthara, the Ramayana might have not had the long twists and turns it does.

- Srinath Sridharan & Nilesh Khare

But what's that got to do with Indian family businesses? Businesses, led by promoters in India, and family businesses in particular, have many idiosyncratic and interesting characteristics.

These could be flawed but fabulous, amusing but adorable, messy but man-made, irreverent but important, but not ignorable. A few peculiar ones - Khabri (informer) and Khata (old fashioned daily accounts of profit and loss)-relate to how information flows to the promoters with their interesting, often less-well-appreciated consequences.

Kaikeyi, a boss who suffers from Khabri's influence

If you are familiar with the epic of Ramayana you would recall queen Kaikeyi's personal servant Manthara. She arguably played the most important role in the epic. Manthara heard about Ram's elevation to the prince regent status, saw this development from her own sense of insecurity and the likely loss of status for Kaikeyi and her son, prince Bharat. She informed Kaikeyi and influenced her to demand exile for Ram, and a throne for Bharat. Manthara might not qualify as an appointed Khabri, but this episode comes very close to how the Khabri system works.

Khabri-an informant.