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FACE TO FACE WITH MUMBAI BUSINESS: Prince Charles in the company of Mr Uday Kotak of Kotak Mahindra Bank, Ms Lalita Gupte of ICICI Bank, Ms Anu Aga of Thermax and others during a meeting in Mumbai on Tuesday. - Shashi Ashiwal

Mumbai , Nov. 4

IT was a royal recognition for Mumbai's dabbawallas. Britain's Prince Charles, on a nine-day tour of India, met up with the city's meal providers, whose distribution of tiffin boxes is a case study globally on efficient logistics.

"I have just had a very enjoyable visit to the dabbawallas. I can say that the service they offer to the customers is of a very high standard. For more than a hundred years they have had an incredible record of success without using any modern technology at all - it is an extraordinary example of what can be done,'' Prince Charles later told a business meeting.

He made a plea to the business community that modernisation should not be achieved at the expense of India's trait of looking at the world in a holistic way.

"India, perhaps more than any other nation in the world, has a true sense of the sacred. For centuries, Indians have been admired for seeing the world, and human life, in a holistic way - as a network of essential relationships. I hope that modernisation and economic growth, crucial as they are to the future of your country, will not be achieved at the expense of this special characteristic,'' he told a gathering comprising an array of business leaders including Mr Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata group, Mr Rahul Bajaj, Chairman, Bajaj Auto, and Mr Manvinder S. Banga, Chairman, HLL.

India, according to him, has built strong relationships on its history "... which is perhaps why the Indo-British relationship is valued so highly by both nations. This relationship, encouraged by the Governments, institutions and leading business associations of both countries, appears to me to be flourishing.''

This was evident in the fact that trade between the two countries grew by 16 per cent in the first half of this year.

He also hoped that companies in India would turn their creative minds to the issue of enabling sustainable livelihoods in rural areas.

"I am sure no one here needs me to spell out the dangers of an increased drift of disadvantaged and disaffected people to the cities, creating huge urban pressures and increasing degradation, but I fear that is what will happen if new opportunities cannot be created in the rural areas,'' Prince Charles said.

"What I find unique about India is the quality of India's human capital and the strength of the diverse human relationships that underpin every aspect of society. Relationships matter here. Values matter here too, especially spiritual values.''

Prior to meeting business leaders, Prince Charles launched the shooting of a Hindi film called The Rising by sounding a clapperboard to the clicks of hundreds of photographers at a five-star hotel.

This was followed by a small scene enacted by film star Aamir Khan and Hollywood actor, Toby Stephens. Aamir Khan plays the role of the revolutionary, Mangal Pandey. Stephens plays the role of a British commanding officer.

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