We didn’t invent the guitar. We chose to innovate it.

It’s India’s time to innovate. For years, it made sense to replicate what was working elsewhere. We were disadvantaged. Our role was execution: outsourcing, labor-intensive work, and tangible value addition. The West held the space for creative and intangible value addition. It was about comparative advantage. Even if they were better at both, it made sense for them to focus on invention while we focused on production.

But if we never spend our time taking risks, asking questions, and thinking differently, we will always remain in that role. Following prescriptions works. It produces what is reliable. But it is not remarkable. And it is definitely not leadership.

We thought the flip phone was the best way to communicate until the smartphone came. We thought taxis were the only way to book a ride until ride-sharing appeared. Every time, the shift came because someone refused to settle. History shows that sometimes even the consumer doesn’t know what they need until you show it to them.

Our example

For decades musicians had to choose:

A dreadnought guitar gives you full resonance and volume. A cutaway guitar gives you easier access to higher frets. You could only have one. No one questioned it.

Until we asked why. Why should a musician have to compromise?

That question led to our demi-cutaway design:  a scooped dreadnought body, a small contour cut into the upper side that preserves resonance while also allowing access to the higher frets.

Today several of our models carry this shape, and the Slowhand SH04 stands as the bestselling example. The response was immediate. Shelves emptied faster than we could restock. More importantly, it proved that innovation from India could answer a question the world had stopped asking.

Our principle going forwardDo what works, but also dare to ask what could work better. Only then do ideas move from workable to remarkable.

Let’s bring out the best from India, for the world this time.