The biography of RK Swamy, written by Ramnarayan, edited by Chakrapani, and commissioned by the Swamys is clearly written, well structured, thoroughly researched, laid out with finesse and professionally published.

The biography covers his long advertising innings, from translator getting a foot in the door at JWT, his rapid elevation there, his being sidelined when the MD’s post became vacant, his subsequent founding of ‘RK Swamy’, and the rapidity with which he took his agency to the top ten spot in under a decade flat.

But it isn’t just about the adman. The book presents less known facets like his interest in the Nadi Shastras, that he was an ardent devotee of Ahobila Math, and a glimpse of his humanism, and philanthropy. And rare for a biography sponsored by the family, it reveals even unpalatable aspects of the man. His less-than-perfect record as a father.

So what made RK Swamy such a powerhouse? “He was relentless like a Bulldog… Absolute persistence was the gist of him.” Now Bulldogs are persistent, they are also grouchy and bite. And it is here that the book falters into contradiction. Often in one sentence attempting to airbrush the bulldog into a Labrador. And in the very next, sharpening his teeth. 

One can well believe he inspired loyalty and respect. For here was a man who gifted his servant a flat in Madras. But when one comes across the claim in the book, “Swamy never put undue pressure on the team…” one has to snigger. For as his wife relates: “Of the early days of marriage I only remember how busy he was…” As the book testifies in JWT itself he’d developed a legend of “being demanding and uncompromising.”

One is told he empowered people. Ram Sehgal, called to Madras to assist RK Swamy, describes him thus— “He reeled off ten things I needed to do in a day and a half, I said to myself, ‘Does this man need help? He has it all worked out’.” Now is that empowerment or just good old-fashioned authoritarianism?

One is asked by the biographer to believe that RK was good with creative… Now creative people as all admen know are often like children. And here was a man who was a holy terror to his kids. To quote Vathsala Ravindran, Swamy’s eldest daughter: “We were afraid of him when we grew up…”

‘RK Swamy’ under RK Swamy did do solid advertising. But few would describe it as creative or inspired. In fact, one of the well known criticisms of RK Swamy was that his presentations were better than the advertising that followed. In fact, RK Swamy cultivated a distance from his feelings. To quote Shalini, a grandchild: “He would not react emotionally, but think deeply, reflect on it.” Not unnaturally, few observers found the advertising he guided to be spontaneous.

We are told RK Swamy was a visionary. The truth is he had a well defined advertising vision but not a distinctive one. What he spouted was no different from Ogilvy, or every ad conservative’s spiel. How come the man who was steeped in the Vedas didn’t pioneer a Vedic approach to advertising?

The biographers are distressed that RK Swamy is not considered one of advertising’s maharishis— that because his work was in Madras, far from the ad capital of Bombay, that because his greatest work was for PSU’s, that because he was the exception, the pro among glitzy sluts, he has not received the rightful admiration he deserved.

RK Swamy was a force, a powerful strategic thinker, able to search the haystack and find the needle. Ogilvy once quipped that RK Swamy was wasted on advertising. Perhaps he was a man that never truly found his Himalayas.

RK Swamy: His Life & Times.
By Ramnarayan & Chakrapani.
230 odd pages