n June 1976, I was transferred to Erode. This branch was to be opened by me. While on my way to Madras, this posting was cancelled and I was asked to open Annasalai Shopping Centre Branch,Madras. The branch was opened by Mr Dave ,who was the Advisor to the Governor. President!s rule was imposed in Tamilnadu following the dismissal of Karunanidhi Govt. I gave vote of thanks on behalf of the Bank .With this posting in Madras, I began to live in my own house along with my parents.
During August, Mr D.K.Gupte, who was my Divisonal Manager in Pune,became an Asst General Manager, in charge of Southern Zone. He felt that for a man of my experience and ability, I should not be wasting my talents in a new branch. I was posted as Manager of Mylapore Branch in August. This again was a prestigious branch with a large depsoit base.Opened in 1957, the branch was very well-know for customer service and had the accounts of all important lawyers of Mylapore. I also met Mr R.Krishnan, Tennis Player and his father for the first time in this branch. In 2007. I was invited to a celebration commemorating 50 years of service at Narada Gana Sabha Sabha,Alwarpet,Chennai. I spoke and I was given "Ponnadai".
While working in this branch, I was mentally disturbed for six months because of some bad advances. Ultimated, through tact and pursuasion, I was able to recover all the advances.My children were admitted into schools-Meena in Mayilai Karpakavalli,Adayar and Kaushal in St. John!s School.I also financed film distributors and through them met some actors including Sivakumar. Towards November, I was called for an interview for overseas postings. Though I was selected, I could not go to Hong Kong because of some cash fraud in coins to the extent of Rs 10,000/ I was asked to remain in India till the investigation was completed., I was feeling very bad.
I was also asked to finance 55 small business-men in one day without verification on the occassion of Indra Gandhi!s 55th birth-day by a congressman and our work-man director on the board.. I refused. Our Head Office transferred me to Calcutta as Faculty Member in Central Staff College for Officers at the instance of our work-man director, Mr Lakshmanan.
My Field Offficer Mr Jyothiramalingam helped me with a negative report on these loans. He remains a fried even to-day. Recent I was happy to attend the marriage of his eldest son.
I reported for duty at the College in November 1978. I immediately fixed a house in Lake Market and asked Anu and children to come to Calcutta. At the college, I was asked to conduct programmes in Credit Management and Foreign Exchange. To conduct these programmes I read a lot. My knowledge and confidence levels improved substantially. I admitted the children in Swarna School in Lake Market,After conducting a senior level programme in Forex Management, I became very popular. Very senior officers began to know me personally.After a year of stay in Lake Market, I was given Bank!s accommodation in Alipore Avenue. It was a good accommodation.I was asked to write two Manuals of Instruction by the Bank. After completing this job, our Executive Director, Mr J.N.Pathak called me to his cabin and complimented me on a good work. He told me he was including me in the list of candidates to be interviewed for Overseas Postings. Mr R.A.Narayan, Dy.G.M., was our
neighbour in the
flats and he recommended my name strongly to Mr Sastri who was the Chiarman of the Interview Committee of overseas selection.
I was interviewed on the day Sanjay Gandhi was killed in air-crash . I did very well in the interview, thanks to the knowledge and confidence leves acquired while working in the college. I was placed first in the interview and posted as a Manager in Singapore Main Branch for a period of three years. I used to visit Kali temple very frequently and believed that my overseas posting was due to HER blessings.I applied for work permit immediately. I had already acquired pass-ports for me ,my wife and the children in 1975 when I was negotiating for a job in Nigeria.We left for Singapore on 31st December 1980 by Thai Airways via Bangkok.Before leaving, I had to make arrangements for stay for my brother-in-law Balu. He had come to stay with us from early 1979.
We were received at Changi air-port by Mr N.V.Srinivasan.We were all aghast looking at the air-port. We moved into 25 B Fair Drive,Singapore 1543 not realising that we will stay there for six years.
.We admitted th children in Govt Schools where the fee was eight dollars for a child. My main intention of getting overseas posting was no to acquire knowledge but to save money for my children. At the time of leaving for Singapore, I had a bank balance of only Rs 18,000/ and a house in Adayar with a loan. This was my financial position at the age of forty
We had three branches in Singapore. I I reported for duty at the Main Offfice in Robinson Road.It was a fabulous Office with all facilities. Mr R.K.Sood was the Manager. I learnt the fundamentals of working in overseas branch from Mr Garudawjan, who was senior to me by three years. He had already worked in the branch for some years. I was sent to replace him..Mr N.V.Srinivasan ,Manager of Serangoon Road Branch had already resigned and wanted to be relieve immediately. His successor Mr A.Sunbramanian had not come to Singapore by then. I was asked to officiate as Manager of serangoon Road Branch for a period of three months when Subramanian took charge frome me. I came back to Robinson Road. In 1982, when Dwajan also resigned, I took his place and became No, Two in Singapore of a branch with more than 120 staff members.
Before going to Singapore, we went to Tiruchii in December 1980 to attend Chandru!s marriage.
By the end of my first year posting in December 1981, my bank balance was Rs 1 lakh. This was after remitting Rs 40,000/ to my father for the marriage of my sister Radha. Many friends used to come from Madras and stay with us.We had three bed-rooms in the flat and one bed-room was most of the time used by guests. My wife was very hospitable .Radhakrihnan!s wife and her friend Geetha (actor Jayashankar!s wife) came and stayed with us for a week. I also had a lunch with Jayashankar at Oberoi Imperial where he recounted to me his struggles before establishing himself as an acceptable actor.
I remained in Singapore from 1st January 1981 to 6th December 1986. I became Chief Manager of the Branch in 1984 on my promotion to Scale IV. My sister Radha got married in this year in August. I went to Madras to attend the marriage. I also attended the sacred-thread ceremony of my brother-in-laws!s sons, Anand and Aravind. This was held on the same day as Radha!s marriage. I remember my posting for the following reasons:
1)I set up the Dealing Rooom of the Bank. We started giving two-way quotes. I was the Chief Dealer. We made huge profits in the first two years.
2)We also started financing Indian Industrialists who were opening factories in Indonesia, Malaysia,Thailand and Australia.These were called off-shore advances. This gave me an opportunity to meetsome of the industrialists. I once had lunch with Mr Ashok Birla. I was very nervous sitting next to him.
3)Industrial relations were excellent. I introduced a new promotion policy. As the business was growing fast, there was a need for more officers.Singapore Govt had started putting restrictions on expatriate officers.
4)As my bank balance had swelled to Rs 5 lakhs by 1983, I bought a flat in Eldam Square in Eldams Road,Madras, for Rs three lakhs through Mr Natarajan of Venkatraman and co, a Chartered Accountant firm. I got bank audit for their company M/S . Navamani,Rajan and Associates. I had also become close Mr Somasekhar, partner of this audit firm. Till this day, I am maintaining relationship with Mr Somasekhar.
5) In 1984 one Mr Subramanian of Fraser and Ross, a big Audit Firm in Madras had come and stayed with me for a week. I requested him to get admission for my children in Vidya Mandir, a reputed school. I also asked him to take my brother Nandu for apprentice-ship in their firm.In November I received a call from Subramanian that he could get admission for my son in Vidaya Mandir in 7th standard. I immediately sent Kaushal along with my wife to Madras to get himl admitted in Vidya Mandir. As he joined the school mid-term, he was finding it a little difficult to adjust to the school.My brother Nandu also joined Fraser and Ross. I still believe that he could clear his CA because he joined this firm.
6) I made good money personally. With my friend Mr shah we started speculating in commodities and forein exchange.I began to feel comfortable by end of 1985.
Towards the end of 1985, my friend Subramanian committed a big fraud. This came to light in April 1986. Why he did what he did is still a mystery to me. Unfortunately, as Acting Asst. General Manager, I was asked to sit on judgement on him. I am reminded of the famous words of Thirumoolar, a famous Tamil saint and schlor "Deedhu Nanrum, pirar thara vara". Mr Subramanin was dismissed from service in due course.
All of us visited K.L and Penang for a week along with my mother-in-law who had come to visit us.
I had asked for a transfer back to India in Janauary 1986. As my family was in Madras since June 1985, I was feeling bored staying alone in Singapore. During the eighteen months I stayed alone in Singapore, my neighbour, expatriate colleagues and friends took care of my unches/dinner. To-day in Bangalore, there is no one who is inviting me as my friends are all scattered in different parts of India. Besides, there is a difference between being in power and retirement..I would play cards on holidays with some business-men friends.
As I was expecting transfer, I hadsent my wife and children to Madras to live in our flat in Eldam Square. As KaushaLwas staying with my parents, I wanted him to live with his mother. My wife moved to Madras in June 1985 and remained alone there till December 1986.Before leaving, I had kaken my wife to Indonesia for a holiday
I went to Madras in August 1986 for the sacred-thread ceremony of Kaushal. It was well-attended, with more than 200 people taking lunch. My wife handled all the arrangements alone. I returned to Singapore after five days...
I recived the transfer order in October 1986. I asked my wife to come to Singapore for winding up our establishment.,She came in November. We went to Hong Kong for a holiday before returning to India. We reached Madras on 6th December 1986. We were received by my friend Radhakrishnan, Collector of Customs. He took care of customs clearance.I availed of my three months overseas leave and stayed in Madras till March 1997 .
I received an order in January 1987 posting me as Chief Manager of International Banking Branch to be opened in Red Cross Place, Calcutta. I left for Calcutta in March to start preparations for opening the branch. The branch was opened in June.. This was the only new branch opened with more than 8o staff members. All the industrial accounts of Calcutta main branch with staff handling those accounts were transferred to this new branch. The Bank spent money lavishly to make this branch to look like a prestigious branch. I worked in this branch till March 1988. I set up the Dealing Room for which I trained Mr Uday Naarain Mitra and Chunny Goswamy. Mr Mitra is still in touch with me.There were serious staff problems.Staff would invariably come late and were indisclipned. When I took action again two clerks, our Head Office did not support me. This was the time I made my mind to look elsewhere for opportunities.. At 47 and in Scale IV, I had good growth
opportunities in the Bank. Having worked in Singapore without staff problems,I was sick of the politics in the Bank. The top management lacked the will to enforce discipline. My brother-in-law Balu came to live with me in Alipore Avenue. My wife and children came for December holidays in 1987.. While travelling from Madras to Calcutta,my wife heard the news of MGR!s death. She was afraid that the train would be stopped.
I reported for duty as Chief Officer at the Zonal Office, Madras, in March 1997. I was sent for a senior level training for four months at National Institute of Bank Management in Pune. Mr kuppuswamy also attended the training.,At the conclusion of the training, my wife and children came to Pune. We all went to Goa for a holiday.
I started looking for jobs in the corporate world. My friends in the Bank felt that I had no chance since I had no special experience other than banking.In September, I received a call from Bansal, my good friend, informing me that Mr Abheykumar Oswal wanted to see me. I went to New Delhi early morning one day. I met Mr Oswal. He offered me a position as Vice-President (Admn) in his company, Oswal Agro Mills located in Ludhiana on a good salary-thrice more than what I was drawing in the Bank. He also offered me Rs 3 lakhs as a bonus for taking up the job. The understanding was that for three months I would stay in Ludhiana after which I would be posted to Mumbhai. I came back to Madras and resigned. My friend Mr Ragupathi helped me in getting relieved from the bank within a month.
I was with Oswal from September 1988 to Mar 1989. I stayed in the company guest house. My wife and children visited me in Ludhiana and we went to Simla and other places in Punjab.I remember my experience in this company for the following reasons:
1)I was associated with the biggest rights Issue. The money was raised for acquisition of petro-chemical plants in Chembur and Rishra. The issue was a big success
2)I also gained some experience in Mergers and Acquisition. I was asked to deal with ICICI Ltd (now ICICI Bank), a term lending institution. I was involved in evaluation,bid and offer for LDP Plant in Rishra. Later, I was involved in the revival of this plant. I superv ised the re-commisioning of this Project under one Mr Hazra.
3)I got a job for Nandu as Manager (Accounts) in the Rishra Plant.He was working in a audit firm in Mumbhai and was looking for a good job.
I attended my brother-in-law Balu!s marriage in Coimbatore in May 1989. The marriage was initiated, organised and planned by my wife alone. I was proud of her.On my return to Ludhiana,an unfortunate incident happened in Ludhiana.
As Mr Oswal did not keep his promise of posting me in Mumbhai, I started looking for jobs. I never used to lock my drawers in the Office. When I was away, one subordinate, had taken out my application for a job and had handed over the same to Mr Oswal. The next day, Mr Oswal called me and asked me whether I was looking for an outside job. Before I could reply, he took out my application and started shouting at me, I told him that since he had not kept his promise of posting me at Mumbhai, I had to look elsewhere. My wife also did not want me to continue in Punjabo at the height of Kalistan Movement. My driver, a sardarji, was just then killed by some kalistanis.I also tod Mr Oswal that his management was not professional.He kept on abusing me and I felt he was acting like a scorned lover. He believed that he had treated me well and expected some loyalty from me,When I told that his management was not profesional, he got infuriated very badly. He asked
me to give the reasons why his management was not professional, I told him that other than him, nobody could take any decision and that no-body had any signing powers. He asked me to resign. I did so immediately on coming to my room. He also obtained a letter from me that I would return Rs. 3 lakhs within a week of reaching Madras. While leaving, I asked Mr Bhalla, waho was close to Mr Oswal, not to do anything with Nandu!s job. He promised he would help. When I reached the guest house, ny belongings were kept outside the room and I was asked to vacate the room. I took a rickshha and stayed overnight with Mr Sivaswamy, my subordinate, before leaving for New delhi the next morning. I was told later on that Mr Sivaswamy was also treated badly for permitting me to stay with him. I could not get air tickets to Madras for two days. On the third day, I left for Chennai and reached my flat in the middle of the night when my children were sleeping..The
next day, I sent a draft for Rs. 3 laksh to Oswal and forgot about my night-marish experience.
I did not loose courage. I was confident that I would get some job within three months. I went to Tirupathi with familhy. I then started my preparations to become a broker in Madras Stock Exchange under "professional" category. Early morning one day, I received a letter from Reliance Industries ltd asking me to appear for an interview in their finance company. I left for Bombay and at the Sholapur railway station, I bought Business Standard. While going through the pages, I found out that Mr S.V.Venkatesan, who was close to me in Singapore, had joined ESSAR. He had left his senior position in State Bank of India and joined the Ruias as Financial Advisor.After the interview with Reliancein Maker Chambers 3, Nariman Point,I was going through. the name plates in the ground floor. Essar was occupying offices in 13th and 14th floor. I went to meet Mr venkatesan. When he came to know that I had just attended an interview in Reliance, he told me to wait
in Mumbhai for
three days. He told me that Shashi Ruia would be returning to Mumbhai in two days time. and that after meeting Mr Ruia, he would appoint me as General manager.My experience of handling rights Issue in Oswal helped me. Essar was at that time planning a very big equity issue. I met Mr Shashi Ruia. He was impressed with me. Thus I landed a job in Essar within 45 days of loosing my job with Oswal. I was also given an accommodation in J.B.Nagar,Andheri,(three bed-room flat)Mumbhai. My daughter Meena came to Mumbhai and through IIT Raju. I got her admitted in B.SC (Mathematics) in Bhavans College, Andheri. Thus began my life in Mumbhai
- Masquer le texte des messages précédents -
I arranged for the sale of my flat in Eldam!s Square. My wife, after finalising the sale,joined me at Mumbhai. My other two children, Kaushal and Neema were studying in Madras. They were staying with my parents.
I worked in Essar Steel from July 1989 to January 1994. It was an unforgettable experience. Even to-day ,sometimes I wonder whether I had made a mistake in resigning from this company. I consider my experience as very enriching for the following reasons:
1)For the first time I was a member of a three-member team that handled a very big equity issue.I involved smaller banks in different parts of India-such as Karur Vaiysa Bank, Lakshmivilas Bank and banks of this size in other parts-- in marketing the issue.. I travelled all over India. I attended Press Conferences along with Shashi Ruia. When we attended a Press Conference held at Chola Hotel, Madras, I practically answered all questions. Mr Shashi Ruia was greatly impressed.While staying in the hotel, I invited my parents, Kaushal and Neema for a dinner at Chola. I remember my father eating only "thayir satham" in this hotel.The issue was a tremendous success. The money was raised to acquire a sponge iron plant from Emden in Germany.I learnt a lot from Mr Ruia during the travels.
2)I gained experience in Project fund raising and Project Implementation. After the public issue, I was leading a team with Seshagiri Rao for negotiations with IDBI Bank for term loan-both rupee loans and foreign exchange loan. We used to meet IDBI officials very regularly. I used to met Mr Jitender, who was then a Senior Manager. To-day. he is number two in the bank.We were able to obtain the necessary loans in a month!s time.
3)The plant was located in Hazira,Surat. I was made the Head of the Team based in Mumbhai leading Project Implementation. I travelled to Surat a number of times, sometimes working till midnight. I gained the respect and admiration of the Ruia brothers. This created envy among others in the company. They were waiting for an opportunity to bring me down.I learnt as to how to set stiff targets and how to enforce such targets from Mr Shashi Ruia..I have never met a more humane and dynamic industrilist like Ruia before. Even under extremely difficult situations, he remained calm. I thought I should emulate him.
4)I was given the responsibility of signing the GAS Agreement with ONGC. Earlier two other Officers were given this job and they had failed.ONGC Office in New Gelhi was next to Hyatt Hotel.. I went to Delhi and stayed at Hyatt for ten days. I met the ONGC Officials every-day. going through documentation.With the connection of Ruia in necessary places, we signed the Agreement. I was the signatory to the first GAS Agreement with ONGC
5)I was transferred to Surat in January 1992. I stayed in the Guest House and was provided free break-fast, ,lunch and dinner. I stayed for five days in a week in Surat. I looked after all Project payments and sign all cheques. Without my clearance no payment would be made. Here, I helped Ramani to get an over-due payment for a job done by his company. I became the object of envy.
6)Mr Ruia took me to all meetings where he met very big people-people who mattered in business and politics. One one occassion, he took me in a two-seater plane to meet Mr N.T.Rama Rao. After this, ,my friends in ESSAR began to call me "Raja Veettu Kantrukutti".
7) I gained friendship of good peole like Waugh,Fatherpaker,Dhariwal,Venkatachalam,Sehagiri Rao and others.
No comments:
Post a Comment