Prof Mahul Brahma’s Decade-Long Fight to Democratize Luxe

A tale of an author’s journey in the world of luxury, something he compares with Dante’s Inferno. A former Chief Editor and Communications Leader, Prof Mahul Brahma’s fight, through his books, columns, and lectures, has been to break the myopic view of luxury based on price tags and to make luxury inclusive, for all.

“The realm of the unconventional is the space where mythic value is created for luxury brands.”, as quoted from one of his books, in his quest of finding the secret behind luxury brands surviving centuries, Prof. (Dr.) Mahul Brahma started researching on myths. Since The Luxe Trilogy he has been looking at luxury very academically because he was on a mission – ‘to bring luxury out of the bondage of price-tags and democratize it, make it inclusive…for all.’ Hence, he started looking at luxe from various lenses of history, philosophy, sociology, philosophy, and anthropology.

His sixth book The Mythic Value of Luxury is his extensive research that unveils the power of embodying contradictions that create a mythic value in a luxury brand. The greater the contradictions it can house, the greater the mythic value. He says, ‘If you deeply study The Thinker or Le Penseur, you will see its mythic value, embodying the two biggest contradictions of all times – mind and body.’

A strong believer in the fact, “The word luxury comes from the word luxe, which means “dazzle”. The dazzle is the brightest when the mythic value of luxury is the highest. Therefore, the degree of the mythic value will determine the Luxe Quotient and Luxe Factor. The greater the degree of contradictions that a brand embodies, the greater the mythic value, the greater the Luxe Quotient, and the greater the Luxe Factor. This is where perception plays a critical role.”, he has backed it with stunning examples in his literary works.

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For example, the Patiala crown necklace made by Cartier in 1926 had the seventh-largest diamond by De Beers of 234.69 carats and was overall adorned by 2,930 diamonds. The black and white photograph of the Maharaja of Patiala adorning the necklace is widely showcased by Cartier in every strategic boutique of Cartier even today. The photograph is an example of the mythic value of luxury which embodies the biggest contradictions – diamonds are a man’s best friend, and not a woman’s.

“The realm of the unconventional is the space where mythic value is created for luxury brands,” he further elaborates.

Luxury has always been his inspiration. His TEDx Talk on the Mythic Value of Luxury is based on his research towards answering a fundamental question “how do some luxury brands survive the test of time while others perish?”

So, it was Prof Brahma’s research paper on this fundamental quest that led to the talk on TEDx and then The Mythic Value of Luxury. It took him almost a year to complete the book, including research. However, the idea for the same had been conceptualized almost a decade back, when he started editing the luxury magazine for the India partner of the New York Times. In his third book Luxe Inferno, he elaborates on his journey to the inferno of luxury during this period.

While writing books on luxury, his biggest challenge has always been the review of literature, that is, finding references. He says, “The literature on luxury before my first book Decoding Luxe has been, unfortunately, product catalogs. So it is always a struggle and in many cases, I have to refer to my own research.”

During the lockdown, he had written a book called Quarantined: Love in the Time of Corona, which has been lauded by the international media as it depicts stories of people from various strata of the society who were stuck during the lockdown in 2020. The book explores the lives of people who were struck, mostly with people they thought they knew. It is an anthology of dark love stories.

Having spent a decade in the corporates with the Tata group, heading corporate communications, CSR, branding, and publications, he has written a book in his preferred genre, which is, non-fiction, titled, “How to Communicate Strategically in Corporate World”. It is a handbook for CEOs on leadership, crisis, and strategic communications.

The Luxe Trilogy holds a very special place in his heart as well as in the literature on luxury. The Foreword for his books are written by noted Economist and Author Dr. Bibek Debroy, who is currently the Chairman of Economic Advisory
Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM). Decoding Luxe was a book that was able to break the hackneyed profiling of luxury as a product catalog based on “price tags”. It was a story that needed to be told, on the evolution of luxury in India and the love affair between Indian royalty and luxury brands. For example, Rolls Royce’s 25% sales used to come from India alone in the 1920s, the Nizam’s postmen used to ride Harleys, and the Maharaja of Patiala converted Rolls Royce into a garbage collector because his ego was hurt. Through this book, Dr. Brahma illustrates in length how luxury should be democratized and freed from the bondage of prices. The craftsmanship and the stories are for everyone to appreciate and enjoy. Luxury is not about possession alone.

In the second book of the trilogy, Dark Luxe, he explores a very strange combination – Luxury and Crime. It highlights the darkness that hides behind the dazzle, an area that has always been uncharted. The stories are dark and disturbing, but yes, luxury remained a silent witness and sometimes even an accomplice to a crime.

The third book, Luxe Inferno is about his own journey…to hell and back. All in search of the philosophical meaning of luxury. “It is very difficult to write about yourself, to share things you are not particularly proud of, your vulnerabilities,” Prof Brahma says.

Besides writing, he is an avid golfer with a single-digit handicap and a painter who fuels his creativity to generate art that resonates with people.  He is also a noted Actor in the Bengali Film Industry. He has acted in a recent release titled, “Aparajito” (The Undefeated) by the ace director Anik Dutta. It is based on Satyajit Ray’s journey in the making of his first film “Pather Panchaali”. The film has garnered wide appreciation and is performing very well, critically and commercially, both in India and abroad. The film was selected for the Toronto International Film Festival. This has been Prof. Brahma’s second film with director Anik, the first one being, “Borunbabur Bonshu”, which starred the legendary actor and Satyajit Ray’s favorite hero, Soumitra Chatterjee. His first short film as an actor was selected and screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016. His micro-short film as a director, “Post-It”, has also received many national and international accolades and was screened at Berlin and Dada Saheb Phalke film festivals.

He advises the budding writers to continue writing with passion. “I write every day from 6 am, for an hour. You have to be very disciplined to pursue a creative field. The work is most important. And if it has quality, it will surely find a way to surface and reach its readers, no amount of rejection will be able to hold it back.”

His upcoming book on contemporary essays about life and times, titled “Mostly Missing”, will be released in August 2022. It talks about the various facets of life that are, as the title says, ‘mostly missing’.

About the Author

Prof. (Dr.) Mahul Brahma is an author of six award-winning books – The Mythic Value of Luxury, Quarantined: Love in the Time of Corona, How to Communicate Strategically in the Corporate World, and The Luxe Trilogy (Decoding Luxe, Dark Luxe, and Luxe Inferno). He has won many awards for his writings. His latest book The Mythic Value of Luxury won Sahityakosh Samman and Non-Fiction Author of the Year in 2022. His books are appreciated by Mr. Ratan Tata and Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. He is a Professor and Dean at Adamas University. He is a Fellow at Bath Spa University, UK. Prof Brahma is a TEDx Speaker on the Mythic Value of Luxury. Prof. Brahma is an Actor and an avid Golfer. He is a Ph.D. and D.Litt., and is an alumnus of St Xavier’s College, University of Calcutta, Sri Satya Sai University, IIM Calcutta, University of Cambridge Judge Business School, and MICA.