My Life Story Part 6

In 1990, I bought a flat in Shere-Punjab Society-a two bed-room flat of 900 sq.ft. We moved into the flat in April. My son Kaushal had just finished his Plus two exams. We were trying for admission into an engineering College. As our initial attempts were not successful, I got him admitted into B.Sc(Maths) in a college near my house. I wanted my son to become a Chartered Accountant, while my wife insisted that he should become an engineer. Suddenly, one Mr Krishna Rao, who was working in Essar along with me as an Engineering Advisor helped me.With his help, I was able to get admission for Kaushal into Manipal Institute of Technology in Mangalore.I had to give a donation of Rs 50,000/- to the Employee Welfare Fund of the Company which had a one seat quota for emplyees! children.They had earlier given donation for construction of a building in the College.. I went to Mangalore along with Kaushal and got him admitted into MIT in July 1990.When within
fifteen days, Kaushal came back from Mangalore, we were all surprised and shocked. He assured us that he had come only because he was feeling home-sick. After five days, he left for Mangalore.
The information regarding availabity of a seat was given to me by Ramani.He got this information from Mr Jayaraman, his neighbour.The sea was reserved for Jayaraman!s son and when the boy got admissioon in Mumbhai, it became available for outsiders.
Between August 1989 and December 1989, my wife underwent two operations-one for removing uterus and the other for hernia. Both the operations were performed in a hospital in Ghatkopar. My brother!s wife Revathi helped my wife a lot during hospitalistion. Susequently, she underwent another operation in a hospital in Shere-Punjab,Andheri for hernia.
In that year,my brother-in-law Vaidyanathan came to Mumbhai with his daughter Revathi and asked for financial help for his daughter!s marriage. I helped him with Rs 50,000/ which even after nearly twenty yearts is not repaid.
In 1990, I went to a village near Tirunelveli to attend Nadu!s marriage
We started looking for alliances for Meena from January 1992. We were told by an astrologer that if she did not get married in that year, she would never get maried for another seven years. She was in final year B.Sc. When Venkat came and saw her, his parents wanted to have betrothal on the same day. I was not very keen as my parents were in Calcutta with Nandu. Finally, after discussions with my wife, we agreed to have betrothal funcation at Venkat!s place on the same evening.To-day, I feel now that it was one of the biggest mistakes made by me in my life. I made extensive enquiries about Venkat from Malaysia. The marriage was celebrated on 18th october 1992 in the Murugan Temple at Garodianagar . It was well-attended

My friend Pasupathy attended the marriage with his wife. It was at this time I bought a flat in T.Nagar from Appaswamy Estates through Pasupathy.. I sent my draft for purchase through Pasupathy when he was returning to Madras after marriage.

Venkat looked like me when I got married (lean and thin).I thought, like me, he would take care of his wife.Venkat and Meena left for K.L. after marriage. My wife accompanied them.
Towards the end of the year I got some bad news. I was told that Mr Shah, a friend in Singapore, had become bankrupt. I had left sixty thousand dollars with him when I left Singapore, thinking I could use this money when Kaushal went abroad for study. This was a shocking news. After my departure, Mr shah led a life of luxury , borrowing more and taking more risks. Though he was talking to me once in a month, he never revealed his correct state of affairs. It is said that "trust begets trust". This was not true in my case.
Staying alone in Surat was very frustrating. I asked my Shashi Ruia to transfer me to Mumbhai. He said he would do so in six months. He also added that he would give me a "wonderful" posting.Besides, my cabin in Mumbhai was not occupied by anyone as I used to work from there on Saturdays.
As Mr Ruia did not keep his promise, I started looking for opportunities in Mumbhai. I spoke to Mr. Ganguly whos war formerly Director (Personnel) of Hindustan Lever and now a Placement Consultant. He arranged for an interview with Hrishikesh Mafatlal. Apart from Mr Mafatlal, the Interview Committee consisted of two former Chairmen of Hindustan Lever. I was interviewed for an hour. This happened in September.
My brother Ramani was sufferring from intermittent fever. On Deepavali day in 1993, I went to his residence. I found him very weak sufferring from very high fever. I advised him to consult a Specialist.
By end of October I went to KL to see Meena and Venkat. I spent five days with them. On my way, I spent two days with Bansal in Singapore.
I received an appointment letter from Mafatlal Industries Ltd offerring me the post of Senior Vice-President (Finance) on good terms. They asked me to report for duty on 2nd January 1994. I submitted my resignation to Essar. Immediately, they increased my cash salary by Rs 10,000/- thinking that I was changing the job for money. I got arrears of Rs 1,20,000/ in cah for twelve months.
Towards the end of November, I received a call from Nandu informing me of the death of my father. All of us--me, my wife, Ramani and Revathi-left by air for Calcutta. Ramani was sufferring from high fever thoughout the period of travel. We performed the final rites of my father on the banks of Ganges in Calcuttta. Nandu!s office friends helped us a lot. My father died on a "kirthikai" day. I have used harsh words to my father only once in my life and that oo when he was becoming senile. I sought my Father!s and God!s pardon on the day we were taking his body to the Ghat.From Calcutta, all of us went to Madras by train and performed all the rituals for my father including the 13th day.
On return to Bombay,I insisted on being relieved from Essar. Though they gave me an increase in pay, they did not offer any posting in Mumbhai. Even to-day I sometimes feel I should not have left ESSAR. Mr Shashi Ruia was extreme;ly kind to me and in my dreams these days, I get his image.

I reported for duty at Mafatlal Industries ltd on 12th January 1994. My immediate boss was Mr Praful Amin who was with the company for nearly 35 years.The Office was in Mafatlal House in back-bay reclamation. Within a week, I attended the farewell given by the company to Mr Nari Contractor, former cricket captain of India. He had worked in the company for 32 years. I also met Jayanthilal who was working in the company He had played as a opening batsman in a test in West Indies
In January, I went to Hinduja Hospital along with my brother Ramani. He was diagnosed as sufferring from Hodgins disease by Dr Asha Kapadia. She took me aside and told me that the cancer was in an advanced stage and there were only twenty percent chances of survival. Unfortunately, my brother also heard this. I asked my brother "why should you assume you will be in the 80 percent.. Give me one reason why you cannot be in the twenty percent". I thought my brother was comfortable after hearing this. We started with kemotherapy immediately. I prayed to God to spare him for atleast another five years taking away five years from my life.Within five years, I feltl he could marry off al his three daughters. I used to meeet him regularly. Besides, I also arranged for a special Puja for him in Kerala spending Rs 10,000/- We were extremely happy when in August , he was diagnosed as free from the disease.
I worked in Mafatlat from 12th January 1994 to 30th September 1998. I also worked as an Advisor for six months, on a part-time basis till May 1999.When I joined ,,the company had five textile mills employing 13,000 people and two chemical plants in Surat. The turn-over was Rs 1,200 crores. My experience in the company was not as enriching as in Essar. Mr Ruia had a fire in the belly, being a first generation promoter. Mr Hrishikesh Mafatlal was born with a silver spoon and hence had very little ambition .I remember my experience for the following reasons:

1)In the first year, I raised money by placing Mafatlal Shares with Financial Institutions. I asked Mr Parag Parekh to prepare a Research Report on Mafatlal Industries Ltd (MIL) and on the basis of this report, I approached financial instituions.This was done in one moth time. The money raised (Rs 120 crores) was used to acquire PIL shares from Shell. When this was achieved, I earned the respect of Mr Aravind Mafatlal. He would come and sit in my cabin for a long time twice every week. The Group was ranked third in India after Tatas and Birlas in early sixties. Mr Aravind Mafatlal opened the first petro-chemical plant in India in 1963 (NOCIL). This NOCIL Plant was inagurated by Jawaharlal Nehru. Because of in-fighting among the brothers, the Group could not raise any money through equity for nearly twenty years.There was resentment too about the importance being given to me. Staff members like Mr P.R.Gandhi gave me lot of troubles. More about him in
detail in susbsequent paragraphs.
2)I was involved in the attempted acquisition of a textile plant in Germany. This gave me opportunities to visit Germany,Switzerland and London on three different occassions.
3)I handled disinvestment of loss making divisions. Most of the negotiations were done by me.Mr Hrishikesh Mafatlal was a very humane person. He continued the loss making companies for an unduly long period thinking only about the future of the emplyees. He was reluctant to take action even against corrupt emplyees.
4)I obtained a letter from Hrishikesh Maftal in July 1994 stating that MIL would sponsor Kaushal! education abroad. This letter helped us in getting US Student Visa for Kaushal. He was keen on joining Maryland University. Unfortunately their I 20 form was not received by us in time. He went to Clemson University, in South Carolina,instead.
5) I lived in two beautiful flats- one in Churchgate near Eros Theatre and the other one in Prabhadevi, near Sidhivinayak temple.
6)Once I raised Rs 4 crores in cash in one day to pay to the Gujarat Chief Minister for disinvest of governent shares in Gujarat Gas.
..
I was made the Fianace Director in 1996 with enormous powers. Mr Gandhi was opposed to me, was asked to report to me . When he refused, the company asked him to resign.When I came to know about this I called Gandhi to my cabin and assured him I would treat him with dignity and that I would not keep in mind whatever had happened in the past. In fact when my brother Nandu was interviewed by him for a job in MIL, he did not recommend the candidature of Nandu. I had to speak to N.K.Parekh, Chief of Mafatlal Finance, to get Nandu a job in his company.Till this day, Gandhi speaks to me regularly and has become a good friend.

In June that year we took Meena and Venkat to Rameswaram. Venkat!s parents accompaied us. After the visit to the temple, Meena left for Maryland along with Venkat. We also went to US in Agust 1996. I was there for three weeks, while Anu stayed for a longer period. We went to Pitsburg first and along with Kaushal went to New York,New Jeresy,Florida and Nashvile.Kaushal had taken up a job in Pitsburgh with Fore System. His room-mate in the house was Kiran Pappu.On the way to US, we went to London. We stayed in YWCA guest house and went around London.

In Septmber 1997,my mother died in Ghatkopar at Ramani!s residence.Though I knew her physical condition, I was shocked. My wife was away in US.My mother!s contribution to my success is very great.She shaped my thinking and outlook on life. I imbibed her never-say-die attitude and this helped me in difficult situations.Even to-day I think of my parents before going to sleep every day.

MILwas loosing money very heavily. There were three CEOS tried for textile operations and all of them failed.The company had not modernised, Besides, there was very heavy interest burden on the money borrowed for buying PIL shares. I strongly opposed the policy of acquing companies through borrowed funds. Mr Mafatlal would not listen to me. He had soft ears and people around him advised him that I was introducing ESSAR way of operations.
With all this, he gave me cash of Rs 1,5 lakhs for Deepavali 1996. I used this money to buy a diamond necklace for my wife from M/s Tribhuvandas, famous jewellers in Mumbhai.
Early in January in 1998, Neema told us she was in love with Bala. I was reluctant because I was not happy with Bala!s qualification. I consulted Meena in Maryland and Kaushal in Pitsburg. Kaushal told me that even without my consent, Neema would marry Bala and therefore I should preserve my honour by giving my consent for the marriage.We had the engagement ceremony in a temple in Goregaon in May. Now I realise how wrong I was about Bala. He is very smart. He has good qualities of head and heart. He knows what is happenning around him and in the world. By his genial nature, he has acquired many good firiends, I am sure this will stand him in good stead in times to come.

Meena and Venkat visited us in Feb. from Maryland. Meena insisted on adopting a child. Earlier I had been introduced to Mrs Akhtar, who was running an orphanage. I met her twice. Venkat and Meena adoped a child. His original name was Swanand.. We named him Harihar. I got the adoption regularised through Court. Through Mrs Akhtar, I was also able to arrange for adoptioon for Nandu, Ramani!s brother-in-law.Hari was left behind with us.

In August that year, we again visited USA.Kaushal took us to West Coast this time. I received a phone call from Mafatlal asking me to cut short my stay and return to India. We were negotiating for dis-investment of Gujarat Gas then.After the visit, I started putting pressue on Kaushal to move to West-Coast.Hari came along with us and we handed over Hari to Meena and Venkat at New York air-port We also visited them at Atlanta. Kaushal took us to Clemson and showed his rooms, college etc.
The position of the company had become very bad, Maftlal would not listen to me.Even Mr Amin, my senior, would not raise his his voice. I became the black-sheep.On one day, Mr Mafatlal belittled my suggestions in front of some senior staff members.In August, I resigned my job. Along with resignation letter, I gave a 16 page letter giving my suggestions for improvement. Mr Atul Srivatsava was recruited by me two months before and I thought he was an able successor.I was requested to continue as Advisor for some time. I agreed. Inability to take crucial and hard decisions, diverting short-term funds for long term purposes (just like buying a flat with temporary overdraft),obsolete machinery, old and reluctant staff,low productivity, lack of quality awareness,corrupt officials at the factory level and lack of professional management were responsible for the poor state of the company and the group. In my letter, I gave very good suggestions for improvement.My
letter was a hand-written letter as I did not want anyone to know about what I had suggested.
In August I had bought a flat in Takshila by disposing off my three bed-room flat in Chembur. I also sold my Adayar house this year. We moved into our flat in Takshila in November 1998.
Within a week, my wife received a phone call from Madras informing her that my mother-in-law was critically ill in Madras. She left for Madras immediately. On reaching, she found her mother in coma, following an operation in Ramachandra Hospital. My wife asked me to go over to Madras immediately. When I went to Madras, my mother-in-law was still in coma. She died the next day. We waited for my brother-in-law Ramanathan to come from USA.. We performed the last rites. It was during this period Sujatha,my brother Ramani!s daughter, got married in Madras. My wife could not attend the marriage because of the death of her mother. She,however, attended the receptionnn held in Bombay subsequently. My mother-in-law was an exemplary woman.She remained for 32 years after her husband!s death. She was staying alone, most of the time in Madras.I admired her courage and will-power.She helped me when I needed help most. She would never see me directly
My wife felt miserable for some time.I have always considered my wife!s relationship with her mother as an ideal mother-daughter relationship .

We celebrated Neema!s marriage in Madras on 12th February 1999. This year was very important to me.We also arranged for Kaushal to see some girls with a view to matrimony before Neema!s marriage.The marriage was celebrated on a grand scale. Many of my friends attended the marriage, two of whom told me that Neema and Bala looked like "made-for-each other" couple.I took the couple to Tirupathi.

Kaushal saw some girls for marriage. He also saw a girl in Bombay. He left without taking any decision. On the day he left for Pitsburg, my eldest daughter Meena explained to him that Vidya was the best choice. Before his departure, I convinced Kaushal that he should move to West Coast immediately.Whenever he called me, I would ask him to go to Silicon Valley.
Kaushal give his consent on reaching USA. I conveyed the same to Vidya!s parents in Madras .We performed the betrothal ceremony in Bombay in May and after that we left for Nepal for a holiday.We flew over Mount Everest. Kaushal and Vidya got married on 29th October of this year.
Here I must say a few words about my daughter-in-law. She is very inteligent,confident and talented.She is very realistic and practical in her approach.. Her respect for elders and her values impressed us a lot.I am sure that with a confident wife by his side, Kaushal will do well in life in times to come.
Kaushal and Vidya left for San Jose immediately after marriage. Before the marriage, he had secured an emplyment with Juniper Networks and as per my desire, had moved to west coast.
We went to san Jose after my 59th birth-day and after performing the annual ceremony of my mother-in-law.. We stayed with Kaushal for nearly six months. I thought it would be better for Kaushal to own a house. My cousin, Krishnan, had come to our place for lunch. He informed me that his sister-in-law Nellie and her husband Ram were in real estate business. I had know Ram!s father as a client of UCO Bank, Mylapore. I had helped him in the sale of a flat in Purasaiwalkam,Madras in 1976.. I convinced another customer of my branch to buy this property from Ram!s father for Rs 28,000/- When we met, I told Ram about this back-ground and wanted him to help us find a house for purchase. We were invited by Nellie and Ram for a Christmas party where I again I reiterated my request.
We started going around every saturday and sunday looking for houses. Ultimately, Kaushal bough a house in Savannah Drive. After the purchase, we went to Atlanta for a month and stayed with Meena.We were shocked to find how uncomfortable Meena was with Venkat. On return to San Jose, we performed the Grahapravesam and hosted a dinner party. The party was attended by about 100 guests, including Lalitha and Sunil.
During this visit, Anu develped a serious infection on the outerside of the stomach. She was bleeding almost every-day. We showed her to a doctor who informed us that the virus was a bad virus. We decided to take care of this problem on our return to India.
During this visit, we also came to know about Vidya!s and Neema!s pregnancy. We were very happy and pleased that we would be becoming grand-parents for two children in the year 2000.
On return in June, I was informed of the death of my Chittappa at Madras over phone. I flew immediately the next morning to Madras .and was able to see his body. I was very close to him and was naturally upset. I did not find enoug words to console my Chithi
On return from Madras,I acted as a Consultant to Gujarat Spinners for a brief period. When we went to show Neema to a doctor, we also asked the lady doctor to examine Anu for the virus problem. We were advised that an operation had to be permormed immediately as otherwise the virus would spread and get mixed with blood. We were told that the condition was serious. Anu was operated upon for three hours the very next day. Doctors told us that she was saved in the nick of time.In times of crisis, God had always shown me the way.
We were glad to know about the birth of a boy to Kaushal and Vidya on 9th September. We named him Vishal. Neema and Bala were blessed with a girl on 23rd September.While Vishal was born in San Jose, Srinidhi was born in a hospital in Andheri. Immediately on birth she suffered from severe jaundice and required blood transfusion. My wife went and procured the necessary blood ,travelling in an auto-ricksha in the middle of the night.

I am leading a peaceful retired life for the last ten years. In 2001, we celebrated Vishal!s first birth-day in Madras. We also celebrated Srinidhi!s first birth-day in Madras.Kaushal and Vidya were blessed with a daughter,Kavya, on 10th March 2004. Earlier, Neema and Bala were blessed with a second daughter,Shriya,on 15th August 2002..Meena also returned from USA in that year and started staying with us
.Neema was able to get a job for Meena through a friend.
During my visit to Bangalore in 2002, I had paid an advance for purchase of a flat in Bangalore.We moved to Bangalore in 2004 after a stay of ten years
in Mumbhai. The city has provided me with wealth.Though I earned a lot of money in Singapore in commodity speculation, I lost most of it. Bombay provided me with stability and wealth.It is believed that whoever comes to Mumbhai is blessed by Mahalakshmi. It is true in my case. I had bought eight properties and retained four. My investments will take care of me and my wife for the rest of our life, though I hardly spend any money after the return of Kaushal to Bangalore from USA.The fact that my son is staying with me has given me courage and happiness.I also bought two commercial properties for my son in 2004/2005.. He sent money from abroad for these purchases. Except for very bad times, these investments should provide him with enough money.

I have loved my brothers and sisters. I have helped all of them , when they needed help. Unfortunately, I am not on speaking terms with Chandru because of a stupid remark made by him.However, I do not want to carry this grievance to the grave. I will make it up with him in due course.

In 2006, Mr Mafatlal called me and asked me to become a Member on the Board of Mafatlal Industries Ltd. (MIL). He informed me that most of the suggestions given by me in my hand-written note were accepted by Mckenzies and implemented.I realised it requires a brand name to be accepted. I was happy that both MIL and Mafatlal Finance had repaid all the depsoits with interest.Facing a very difficult financial situation, they have repaid customer!s deposits. In view of this, I accepted the request of Shir Hrishikesh Mafatlal. Among the top industrialists I worked with, he is genuinely humane I still continue on the Board of Mil and visit Bombay once in three months.
I am lucky to be blessed with three good children.They never created any trouble for me and my wife. Though not outstandingly brilliant, they are good children who know what they want and who definitely know what is correct and what is not.. I am sure God will be kind to them and my grand-children. Meena will require the emotional support of her brother and sister. I am confident that they will provide the same
In retirement, I have been visiting USA and London with my wife almost every year. I am spending a very enjoyable time with my grand-children in Bangalore.I believe my mother is re-born as Kavya and consequently my affection for her knows no bounds.
With good health,enough money,loving children, what more can anyone aspire? I fall asleep instantly and have never used a sleeping tablet to sleep.
I believe in the efficacy of prayers and Ispend atleast 30 minutes every day on prayers.My blessings will always be with my children, whether I am physically alive or not.
Life, no dout, is beautiful.

My Life Story Part 5

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
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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.

My Life Story Part 4

My Wife and kids:

Early in 1968, I informed my parents about my readiness to get married. They started looking for an alliance. Towards September of that year I went to Madras to "see" a girl. My father had come along from Tiruchi. She was just a matriculate and had a rural background. I gave my consent, though I did not like the girl directly looking at me. As I did not hear from my parents for sometime, I spoke to them. I came to know that the proposal had been dropped because my mother had insisted on a "silver Kudam". I felt bad. After some months, I also went to Calcutta to "see" agirl. Her father Rajan was a steel merchant. Here also I liked the girl, but as Mr Rajan wanted me to be a "Veettu Mappillai" to look after his business, I asked my parents not to proceed.

In 1969, Banks were nationalised. United Commercial Bank, being the fifth largest bank then, was also nationalised. We received directive to in crease our lending to priority sectors-agriculture,export,small-nusiness,small-scale industry etc. My Manager Mr Sonalker started lending to Andhra agriculturists located in Ramtek, forty miles away from the Branch.In no time, he built up a portfolio of Rs 1 crore.(Big then). I disagreed with his approach and recorded my note of dissent. I was considered by our Regional Office as an Officer not tuned to the new times and emerging situation. Though we personally disagreed, Mr Sonalkar liked me. He gave me an "exemplary rating" and I was promoted to the next grade. There was also an increase in salary from Rs 850/ to Rs 1400/- as a result of implementation of a wage award. I was now more determined to get married.

I went to Tiruchi for Deepavali. At that time, we had received the horoscope of my wife from Ashok Nagar,Madras. As the height mentioned was 5 feet 5 inches, I requested my parents not to proceed. My father told me that the horoscopes had matched perfectly. I left Tiruchi for Nagpur. When I was in Madras, I learnt that all the trains to Nagpur were cancelled for the next two days because of excessive floods in Vijayawada. I did not know what to do in Madras. I telephoned my father at our neighbour!s place and asked him to come to Madras to see the Ashok Nagar girl. My mother came and we went to "see" my wife on a rainy day. Her elder brother was not there.My wife played Veena. She did not even look at me. I immediately liked her and gave my consent to my mother through "sign". I left for Nagpur and there was no news from Tiruchi. There were some problems on dowry. I sent a telegram to my father stating that "If at all I marry, I will marry only that Ashok Nagar girl". My parents realised that I was serious and went ahead with the proposal.The marriage, initially fixed in January, had to be postponed due to the death of my Periappa (father's elder brother) in New Delhi. I got married to Anu on 18th February 1970. How I wish I had enough money to prevent my parents from asking for dowry. I could not blame them as there was an expenditure estimate of Rs 5,000/ for the marriage from our side.. I did not have that kind of money to give it to them. I decided then I will not demand or give dowry when my children got married in future. I remain eternally thankful to the floods for giving me a wonderful wife.

Here, I want to say a few words about my wife.She has been my guardian angel for past 39 years. She has provided stability,love and disicipline to my life.We do not converse much, but we do no know that we love each other.The disagreements, if any, could be counted on hands.She would exactly know what I though about a particular issue.She never demanded anything from me, except love and affection. She is very sensitive and emotional . The values imbibed by my children are all given to them by her.Her cleanliness and excellent personal hygene impressed me a lot during the early years of our marrigae. She knew how to run the family within a given income. Her religious nature ebbed one me and we began to visit temples regularly.Indeed, I consider myself blessed. There is a Tamil song "Manaivi Amaivathellam Iraivan Kodutha Varam". This is true. There is also a French Proverb that says "A man deserves the wife he gets". Perhaps, I also deserved such a good wife. We have led a blissful life for 39 years. We will be completing forty years of marriage on 18th February 2010.
After marriage, we went to Palani and Madurai for honeymoon. I could not afford to take my wife elsewhere. Early March in 1970, we left for Nagpur in Grand Trunk Express (GT) with the marriage bed on the upper berth. My mother accompanied us .
Before the marriage , I had fixed a one-bedroom flat in "Karvartkar Nivas" in a good locality in Nagpur. I had also bought basic furniture and a gas connection. We moved into the flat in March 1970. In the first week I invited all the members of staff for break-fast. My mother and wife cooked the food. All the staff member (35 of them including Officers) liked the food. My mother left Nagpur after fifteen days. I was alone with my wife.
There were no adjustment problems between me and my wife. I used to take my wife to a Hindi Movie every week. Before the movie, we would go to Shere-Punjap to get milk-shake. One big glass of milk-shake was costing only Re one at that time.One day when we were going to see "Aradhana", our Vicky Moped was chased by a group of young men. I dorve the slow vehicle as fast as I could. We did not realise that it was HOLI and it was not advisable to get out.Though we left only in the evening, we were still chased. The movie was good.
I just want to give one example of how I loved my wife. Our landlord at the Branch was one Mr Ranchoddas. He owned a big textile shop called "Bharat Stores", very near the Branch. An illiterate man, who could not read or write, he had acquired immense wealth. Whenever new sarees came, he would inform me. I would collect ten sarees on approval and bring them home. I would then ask my wife to wear them, one by one. We would finally select the one to be bought. After selection, I would return the remaining saree to Bharat Stores.
My carry-home pay was Rs 1,200/ per month. This was devided into three parts-one part to be sent to my parents at Tiruchi, one part for us and the last part to be sent to my Narayan Chittappa (mother's sister's husband) to repay the debt taken by may parents. I wanted my parents to live debt-free life. I also asked my brother Ramani to send Rs 200/ every month to Chittappa. Together, we repaid a debt of Rs 8,000/ in eighteen months with interest. We could lead a very happy life wihtin Rs 400/-, though the rent was high at Rs 135/ per month.

In june, we were happy to know that my wife was pregnant. I gave lot of calcium, vitamin C and Kumkuma Powder to my wife so that the child could be strong and fair. have never really fought in 39 years of married life, though there were very occasional misunderstandings. Even on those very rare occassions, I was at fault.
At the time of Deepavali 1970, we went to Tiruchi and Madras. We first went to Tiruchi. While there, we bought two golden bangales for three sovereigns and a gas connection for my mother - all at a cost of Rs 1,000/- I had received a bonus of Rs 900/ before we left for our trip. We used the entire money to keep my mother happy. She was very delighted.
We went to Tiruchi again in December of that year for "Seemantham". It was performed in our house at No 5, Tanjore Tank Street. My friends Pasupathy and Raju (later know as IIT Raju) attended the Seemantham function with their respective wives. All the three couples took a photograph at Venus Studios in Tiruchi. For a long time, I had kept this photograph. After the function, my wife stayed back in Madras for delivery.

A girl child was born on 16th March 1971 at Maruda Nayagam Hospital in T.Nagar. I could not go to Madras to see the child immediately as there were serious labour problems at the branch. There were three unions and they were fighting with each other constantly.
We named the child Meenakshi. My wife felt bad that I did not go over to Madras immediately to see them. She even felt that because it was a girl child, I did not go to Madras immediately. This was not true. She stayed in Madras for four months. I went to Madras after one month to see my wife and new-born girl child on one week's leave. I was received at the Central Railway Station by my wife wearing the same pink colour saree I had bought for her in Bharat Stores. I was very pleased to see her after four months. She looked like an angel to me. I also went to Tiruchi to see my parents. My wife returned to Nagpur in July. My friends and colleagues in the Office visited us to see the child. By this time, we had shifted our residence to a better accommodation in Ravi Nagar Chowke. As usual with first-time parents, we bought lot of dresses, toys etc for Meena.
Early in 1972, I was promoted as Manager of the Branch. It was a difficult Branch, but as I had already worked as an Accountant there, I was familiar with the environment. Without any efforts from my side, the deposits of the branch grew to Rs 80/ lakhs, thanks to post-oil boom. In those days, the performance of a branch was judged by the deposit growth, and not by profitability of the branch. Together with advances, the business of the branch came to Rs 2.5 crores.(1972).
I was considered a rising star. There was a Credit Management Programme conducted by the Indian Institute of Manager at Mafatlal Centre, Mumbhai, by the Bank. Only twelve Officers were selected for this one month course by the Bank from all over India and I was one among them. I never imagined that one day at a future date I will work for Mafatlal Industries ltd and that I would occupy one of the offices of this magnificent building.It was located in the newly reclaimed Nariman Point area.
I must mention here two very important incidents. One day a very young girl of twenty came to me and wanted to open a Savings Account. I told her she must maintain a minum balance of Rs 100/ if she wanted cheque-book facilities. She deposited Rs 300/ and opened the account. She would come to the Bank and deposit Rs 50/ every day. It was obvious she was a call girl. This continued for eighteen months. During this period, she would occassionally say "hallo" to me. After some time, she stopped coming to the Branch and the balance in the account had swollen to more than Rs 20,000/. This was a big amount then. After three months, a big Sardarji came to the bank and wanted payment of his dead wife!s account. Surprisingly, this was the account of the girl. I asked him to produce death certificate and succession certificate. He went away. Subsequently, he would bother me twice every week and put pressure on me to pay the amount. I refused. One day, he came with five hefty people and threatened me that if I did not pay, I would not go home alive. Just as a precaution, I used my land-lord's car on that day to go home, instead of using my vicky-moped. The next day, I complained to the police.
After a month, Police came to the Branch and wanted me to be a witness. They alleged that the Sardar had killed his wife ensuring that kerosene stove burst into flames when she went to the kitchen. I gave my statement at the Court. To a question by the Defense Lawyer as to whether I had seen the girl and the Sardar together at any time, I said "No". When I was a witenss, the Sardar gave me a very threatening look. I came to know after a few months that the Court had awarded life sentence for the Sardar.
I was gheroed for forty days for two hours after office-hours by staff of other banks. One day, a clerk belonging to AIBEA and a peon belonging to NOBW were both bleeding when I went to the branch, each claiming that the other had beat him first. This was sometime in the evening when both were woking over-time. Both the Unions were demanding that the member of the other union should be suspended. I did not relent . I maintained that if I suspended, I would suspend them both.Graudally, the number of peole gheroing me dwindled after a month and at atime when they decided to call off,the number came to five. I used to stand for two hours when pins and other small items would be directed at me just to provoke me.
During this period, I graduated to Lambretta from Vicky-moped.
I was sent to Korba in Madya pradesh in 1972 for a week in March to handle a difficult assignement. On my return, my wife informed me that she was pregnant again. I was happy as I believed in having two children, close to each other in age. I wanted a son this time. Surprisingly for me, one Sadhu came to the Branch. He was from Punjab. When I told him how much I yearned for a son, he gave me some white powder (something like vibuthi) and told me that if my wife consumed the powder with milk within sixty days of pregnancy, I would get a boy. Such a boy, would be very lucky and blessed, he said. I asked my wife to take the white powder after prayer. She did so without asking me any question. Our faith in the Punjabi Sadhu was vindicated when a son was born to me on 20th October at Marudanayagam Hospital in Madras . On both occasions, the lady in the next room was actor AVM Rajan!s wife, Pushpalatha, who also was blessed with
girls. The same Sadhu also told me, after examining my horoscope, that I would get an overseas assignment in due course. We named the child as Narayan as decided already. We also decided to call him Kaushal-both names having seven letters.

With two kids, my wife was very busy. At this time, the Bank was expanding rapidly in Maharashtra and we required lot of staff. There was no Banking Services Recruitment Board then. The Regional Office had powers to appoint clerks and peons. I have helped atleast fifty peole in life to get employment, either with the Bank or elsewhere, including my two brothers and brother-in-law.Many times, people would approach me with a request for jobs and I would appoint them after a few questions . I was given this job by the Regional Office. Among the appointees, I still remember TVS Rao and Harish Sahani. They are still in touch with me greeting me on every New Year.. A complaint was made to Head Office that I was preferring South Indians. This was investigated and I was not proved wrong.

In May 1973, my younger brother Ramani got married in Madras. While in Madras, my wife developed a problem on her left thumb. We went to Dr. Jagadeesan in Mylapore, While waiting for the doctor, I looked at the real estate column of the HINDU. I was keen to buy a house. My Housing Loan limit was Rs 45,000/
There in the paper, I saw the name "Raju Estates". He had advertised for houses within my range. On return to the Mandapam, I asked my cousin Visu whether it was the same Raju who had studied with us in Board High school, Ayyampet. He was not sure, but told me that Raju was working as Conveyancing Clerk in a Lawywer's office after S.S.L.C. After lunch on that day, we went to meet Raju Estates in Balaji Avenue, T.Nagar. We were surprised to see that it was the same Raju who was close to us in School. He had become a real estate tycoon. When I told him about my desire to buy a house, he took us to five different places and showed us houses. I liked the one in Kamaraj Avenue,, Adayar and another one in Mahabalingapuram. The house in Adayar was quoted at Rs 45,000/ and that other in Mahalinga Puram at Rs 60,000/. (beyond my reach).When I told Raju I had only Rs 500/- he agreed to show the price as Rs 50,000/ for the Adayar house so that margin
requirements would be met. We were required to pay ten percent margin for housing loans. As the house was being sold by one Mr D.S.S.Manian, who was an Associate of Raju, it was easy to convince him to mention Rs 50,000/ in the document, but accepot only Rs 45,000/. When this was agreed, I took my wife and parents to show the house. On return, I applied for Housing Loan of Rs 45,000/ to Head Office in June. Raju had provided me with all documents. The Housing Loan Section in Head Office was headed by Mr J.N.Pathak, who was Principal when I attended the Training College during my Probation.. I spoke to him. He cleared the loan in two weeks time. I got the house registered in August 1973. With just Rs 500/ in my pocket, I had bought a house (one ground with 850 sq.ft), within three months. Everything looked like a dream. I was happy that I had fulfilled my earlier dream of constructing a house for my parents. I named the house "Matru Chaya". We performed the Grahapravesam in August. My mother-in-law Lakshmi Ammal helped me with Rs 2,500/ towards registration expenses.At that time the registration and stamp duty expenses came to five percent. Raju did not collect any commission. He was the man who drafted the sale deed. For a matriculate, he dictated very stylishly to his stenographer. I was amazed.
I had asked my parents to shift to Madras from Tiruchi in June. My mother acted fast and by end of June, my parents had fixed a small portion in Mandaveli. My brother Chandran was not quite keen on this shift. My parents moved into the new house in August after a stay of two months in Mandaveli. With this, they have acquired a status in life. Our relatives began to look upto us with respect. I also got a job in UCO Bank for Chandru after speaking to Officers in Divisional Office. After completing his M.Sc in 1972, he went to Bombay looking for a job. As he did not get any, he was frustrated. I felt bad asking him to take up a clerical position in spite of his brilliant academic record.
We returned to Nagpur after Grahapravesam. One Mr Ramkaran Rajeshkumar gave me some books on Sathya Sai-baba. He also gave me a framed photographs of the Baba. I am still having that picture in my Pooja room. I was transferred to Pimpri, Pune Branch as Manager in May 1974. This was a prestigious assignment. My transfer was with a mandate that I should set up Foreign Exchange Desk at Pimpri. More than 40 people came to the Railway Station to bid fare-well to me. I was happy.
I reported for duty at Pimpri in May 1974. The branch, located in Hindustan Antibiotics premises, was in the ground floor. The residence was in the first floor.There were absolutely no labour problems. The staff was geared to give service to customers. As our Bank was the first to open in Pimpri, we were having all accounts of big companies in that industrial belt. I became a member of the Lions Club. The staff liked me and vice-versa. I opened the Forex Desk. I would obtain quotes from Mumbhai every morning and display the same on the Board. We also started negotiating export documents from Pimpri instead of sending them to Mumbhai. I spent a very useful and peaceful two years in Pimpri. With my residence on the first floor, I had more time on hand. My wife conceived again. We were blessed with a girl child on 18th April 1975. We named her Nirupama. On the day I went to the Hospital to see my wife and the new-born child, I moved into a running bus on return with my first two children on my hands. Fortunately, we were thrown into the bus. It was nightmarish experience. There was another incident when we spotted a big snake standing very near Meena in the garden in ground floor. My wife shouted from first-floor and Meena moved away.
I also befriended Mr.Marimuthu and Mr.Rajendran, both engineers from Hidustan Anti-biotics Ltd. Mr T.V.Ramachandran of Mahindra and Mahindra also became my good friend. Through his influence, I was able to get a job for my brother-in-law Balu in Vulcan Laval ltd in Calcutta. Marimuthu died two years ago, I am still in touch with Ramachandran.

My Life Story Part 3

Post-College Life:

I started trying for jobs immediately after the final examination. I faced a frustrating few months. I used to go Madras for interviews and by the time I returned to Tiruchi, a regret card would be waiting for me. I almost got selected in Burma Shell. In the mean-time, I was preparing for my I.A.S. Examinations.After four months, I got a job as District Organiser in Bharat Sevak Samaj, which was sponsored by the Ministry of Social welfare. I had obtained a Diploma in Social Sciences while studying in the College. The posting for this job was at Tiruchi and the first salary Rs 150/ per month.In this job, I had to work as interpreter to an American Journalist writing a book on Indian slums.The journalist paid me Rs 15/ per day from his packet. This was a princely sum and we could buy our enire month!s requirement of oil with this money. When the journalist left, I was asked to teach in a Blind School and Old Age Home in the nights. These night schools were located in Tennur, near Ramakrishna Talkies. I used to walk from home to these places.

Early in 1961, my sister Vasantha got married. My father went from pillar to post to raise money for the marriage. No one helped us, including those who were in a position to help. Fortunately, two weeks before the marriage, we sold some agricultural lands at a lower price than the market price and the money came to our hands only ten days before the marriage. The marriage was held in the Medical Association Bldg and we spent nearly Rs 18,000/ on the marriage. My brother-in-law was a very tight-lipped and stiff-necked individual then, though we are close now.

After spending six months in my first job, I applied for the post of Apprentice Sub-Editor with the Indian Express, Madurai. I was called for interview, but there was no interview. The process of selection was through an essay to be written within a specified time on any given subject. After my written paper was examined, I was offered the job. Few of my friends were already working there. The salary was again Rs 150/ per month. We were given free accommodation (Six of us in one hall) and free transport to Pankajam Gardens, where the offices were located. I learnt a lot in this job. As I was also preparing for IAS examination, this experience helped me in a big way.Two experiences still remain in my memory.. There was a Meeting of the All India Congress Commitee held at Madurai, presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru. Along with four others and with "Press Badge", I covered the proceedings. Editor Frank Mores, father of Dom Mores, guided us. I was also asked to write reviews of Hindi/Tamils films. Among the films reviewed, the film "Pachai Vilakku" had a deep influence on me., A song from that film "Oli Mayamana Ethirkalam" inspired me and I felt very optimistic about the future. Who says films do not have any influence?

After one year as a journalist. I got a job in Reserve Bank of India as Field Investigator. This was a one year job. RBI was conducting All-India Rural Debt and Investment survey and as a Field Investigator, I had to compile data of rural indebtedness in three districts -Musiri, Kulithalai and a third one I do no remember now.- We were given specific questionnaire for eliciting response from agriculturists. While on tour in this job, I used to sleep on the wooden benches of the Panchayat Office. I also liked the early morning break-fast in rural areas. I changed the job, as journalism was a poorly paid profession then. (Not Now). RBI job gave me Rs 250/ per month- an increase of Rs 100 per month with a posting at Tiruchi. Financially, this posting helped my family .

The job came to an end on 31st January 1962. Immediately I took up a job as Upper Division Clerk with Bharat Heavy Electricals, Tiruchi, which had just then been set up. I was the the first clerk assigned to Mr Achuthan Niar, Chief engineer. He used to make me stand before him giving instructions. When he came to know that I had passed the written Examination for IAS selection, he not only offered me a seat, but also started calling me "Neenga". I lasted in this job for five months.

In May 1963, I took up a job as Sales Executive with Addison Company Ltd, Madras. This was a company manufacturing cutting tools and was located in Smiths Lane in Mount Road. This was an Officer!s post on a salary of Rs 275/. I was offered coffee on tray with biscuts . I used to stay with my Chittappa in Ice-house, Triplicane. I used to go to Office by walk. My chitti woulld give me packed lunch. Both Chittappa and Chithi were very very kind to me. It was at this time that I began to consider them as next to my parents. Even to-day, I keep my relationship with Chithi. Whenever I go to Madras, I invariably see my Chithi. When my Chittappa died in 2000, I flew from Mumbhai to see him for the last time. I became blank when I saw his body. I remained in this job till 30th March 1964 when I got a job as Probationary Officer in UCO Bank,Calcutta, on a higher salary. Besides, I preferred Banking as a Profession. I joined the bank on 1st April 1964. While proceeding to Calcutta from Madras, I met Ragupathi in the train. He became my mentor, friend and guru in future years.

Here, I must mention about my experiences in Competitive Examinations. I passed the written examination for IAS twice and was interviewed by UPSC Selection Committee in New Delhi. In the first attempt, I got poor marks in the Interview. I went for the interview in half-sleeve shirt and tie and when I saw all six candidates in UPSC Hall wearing suits, I was taken aback I did well in the first part of the interview. In the second attempt,(this time I went in a suit) I got good marks in the Interview, but poor marks in two advanced subjects. This rejection affected me. However, on the basis of my second attempt, I got a job as Class II Officer in Delhi and Himachal Pradesh Civil Service. I rejected this as many of my friends, who were lower to me in the University, were in IAS/IFS. I cleared IPS, but for want of just one inch in height, I was not considered for selection. My getting a job in UCO Bank on a higher salary had something to do with my rejecting UPSC Offer for Class II post.

I joined UCO Bank on 1st April 1964 at Calcutta as Probationary Officer. It was then a private sector bank (owned by G.D.Birla) and was called United Commercial Bank Ltd. The Bank would recruit 16 candidates every year as Probationary Officers. and after training in Calcutta for three months, would post them to different branches in India. The probation period was three years and there was a condition in the Appointment Letter that the Officer should pass CAIIB Examination within the probationary period. Those who failed to clear CAIIB got their probation extended.

The training at Calcutta lasted three months. It was a very good training. We were all treated like royals by the Bank. At the end of the training, I gave vote of thanks to the Management. All senior exevutives ,including the General Manager, Mr Ramanbhai Shah, were present. In my speech, I mentioned that all the trainees came like Sir Winston Churchill and at the end of the training we were like Ramanujam. I repeated Churchill's famous words "I am more afraid of a pageful of figures than a field full of soldiers". The speech was appreciated by Mr Shah who kindly enquired me about my background. We were all given two choices for posting. I gave Tiruchi and Coimbatore. As Tiruchi was my home-town, I was not given Tiruchi but posted to Coimbatore Branch located in Oppannakara street. We were told that we would be retained in our place for three years at the end of which we would be posted in the North. When I heard this, I asked my parents to shift to Coimbatore from Tiruchi. My mother and Periamma fixed up a house within a week and by the third week of June, my parents had shifted to Coimbatre. My brothers Chandru and Nandu were immediately admitted into a good school in the neighborhood. When I returned from Calcutta, I went directly to Coimbatore, instead of Tiruchi. Thus we began our life there. My father stopped borrowing, starting with our stay in Coimbatore. My take-home pay of Rs 420/ was enough to maintain the family and send money for my brother Ramani, who was studying engineering in Surathkal Regional Engineering College. He was admitted into this College, after his Pre-University, in the year 1961.

Mr Alladi Natesan was the Manager of Coimbatore Branch. He gave me every opportunity to improve my knowledge. In the first year, we were asked to do only clerical work. One Mr Bhaskaran, a Senior Clerk,taught me all the procedures, We became close friends. We went to a movie every Saturday.. We also went to Guruvayur in a group once in three months. In 1965, I appeared for CAIIB examination. Senior Officers at the Branch told me that no one had cleared Part I at the first attempt.They discouraged me. However, I not only passed the Part I and Part II in the first attempt, but got distinction in "Monetary Theory and Practice. I also won the Calcutta Banks Association prize for topping the list of successful candidates. My image at the branch improved substantially after the CAIIB results. At this time, I used to write lot of articles in the House Journal of the Bank.

In 1965, I befriended Mr T.R.Radhakrishnan at a bus stop. We used to go to office together No 11 bus. He was a clerk in State Bank of India. We became very close and would play Chess for long hours on Saturdays. At my insistence and coaching, he appeared for IAS and cleared the examinations. I gave him all my old notes. He retired in a top position in Indian Customs. To this day, we have retained friendship.
My friend Pasupathy, who had become an Income-tax Officer, also got a transfer to Coimbatore because I was there. He occupied a house in Saibaba Colony near our house. He stayed in Coimbatore for 18 months.
During the period we were in Saibaba Colony, my sister Vasantha was blessed with a daughter. As we had bought a USHA fan, the previous day, we named her USHA
In 1966, my brother Ramani passed his engineering exams with first class. He started sharing my burden in a big way once he settled into a good job. I was glad he was as responsible as I was. Later on when he got a good job in Blue Star in 1968 I thought of marriage after two years.We enjoyed our stay in Coimbatore. I stayed there from June 1964 to January 1967 and my parents till June 1967. They moved to Tiruchi in June 1967 and my brother Chandran joined a College for higher education.
In January, I was transferred to Thambu Chetty Branch in Madras for training in Foreign Exchange. I acquired knowledge in Foreign Exchange under the guidance of Mr N.V.Srinivasan, from whom I took charge when I was transferred to Singapore. In September 1967, I was transferred to Nagpur as Accountant of Itwari Branch - a Branch where the previous Manager, Accountant and Chief Cashier had been summarily dismissed.

I was received at Nagpur by my friend Parthasarathy Rao. He had married by then. I stayed with him for a day. I moved to Agrawal Lodge in Sitabaldi area the next day. I took a room on twin-sharing basis with one Mr R.V. Sastry, who was to remain my partner for the next two years. The room rent was Rs 40 per month shared by the two of us. The Lodge had good common bathroom facilities. I used to go to Andhra Club on Sundays along with Sastri to play RUMMY. After a few months, our next room was occupied by Bhaskaran and Srinivasan, both of whom had been transferred from Madras on promotion as Officers.

I reported for duty as Accountant. The Branch was located in a dilapidated building in Itwari, a business area. As I did not know Marathi, I was finding it difficult to manage for a few weeks as all the cheques and pay-in-slips were written in Marathi. There was a fraud perpetrated before I dad joined and I was advised to be cautious. The staff of this branch were very cordial, though the branch was in very bad shape, with books not having been balanced for previous two years. I worked very hard during the first year---almost 12 hours a day--and balanced the books. We also shifted the branch to a spacious and modern premises. There was a Balaji temple near the Branch and I visited this temple every Saturday and prayed.

I can never forget one incident that happened within six months of my posting at Itwari Branch. One Burman Medical Stores had their shop in front of the branch. The owner would issue cheques without providing funds into the account. When his cheques were received through clearing, someone from the branch would inform him and after this Mr Burman would provide funds into the account so that his cheques could be honoured. I wanted to discontinue this practice of a branch official informig him. I returned his cheques one day. As no one from the Branch had informed him, Mr Burman did not provide funds. When he came to know about his cheques being dishonoured, he came shouting into the Branch. He stood before me shouting and abusing me. He was a tall man with a permanent beard and big booming voice. No one in the Branch came to my rescue as they were all afraid of his reputation, size and stinging words. I told Mr Burman that "IZZAT" (word used by him) lay in his providing funds before issuing cheques.and that in future, he would not be informed. He left shouting till he reached the doors of the Branch.. Other customers present were bemused and shocked. Mr Burman wrote a letter to our Regional Office complaining about me. His exact words were "Your new Madrasi Accountant is an upstart in life and he pretends to be bigger than his size". There was an enquiry in which our Regional Office supported me. Mr Burman closed his account and went to Bank of Baroda. After six months, he came to me in a friendly manner and told me that his experience with the other bank was worse and that if I opened the account again, he would provide funds before issuing cheques. I agreed. Mr Burman kept his promise and in the next three years, there was not an occassion in which I returned his cheque. We became friends. I was surprised when he came to the Nagpur Railway Station to bid farewell to me when I was transferrred to Pune from Nagpur .

My Life Story Part 2

Move to Tiruchi and College Education:

We moved to Tiruchi in April 1955 to pursue my college education..For some time, my father had thought of admitting me into Sarafoji College, Tanjore. It was only at my mother!s insistence, we moved to Tiruchi. The previous year, my maternal grand-father had died of sudden heart-attack. He was a noted Criminal Lawyer and was called "Kodaiyidi Sharma" by his clients and admirers. He had just then returned from Court and while he was eating "Adai", he suffered a massive heart attack and died. My maternal grand-mother was looking for a tenant for the ground floor portion. My father went to Tiruchi and finalized the arrangement with her. The monthly rent was fixed at Rs 25/ by my grandmother. Being strict in money matters, she collected Rs 75/ from my father as three months deposit.. Thus,my parents moved into 24,Chinnakadai Street,with five children - me, Vasantha, Ramani, Chandru and Mythili.. I became close to my parents only in Tiruchi. Earlier, there were too many people in the joint family. While in Tiruchi, my parents were blessed with two more children - a son (Nandu) in 1958 and a girl(radha) in 1961. I also lost one of my sisters, Mythili, in 1957 due to small-pox epidemic in Tiruchi. In that epidemic, almost all the families in the street lost one or two children.

My father tried for admission into a College. Through some friends, we went to National College, Tiruchi. I was admitted into Third Group. The subjects were History,Economics and Logic. I belonged to the last batch of Intermediate students-(1955-57). In those days, there were three groups - First group consisting of Mathematics,Physics and Chemistry. Students aspiring to become engineers joined this group, Only students with very good marks in Mathematics were admitted into this Group. The Second Group, consisted of physical sciences. Students pursuing this group were eligible for admission into M..B.B.S. The third Group was reserved for just pass- candidates and these students were expected to become clerks either in AGS Office or Railways.
After admission and paying fees of Rs 41/, I was asked not to attend the College on the first day by my father. My maternal Periappa had some influence in St Joseph!s College and he arranged for an interview for me with Fr.. Erhart,a German and Principal of the College.I attend the interview. Fr Erhart asked me what I wanted and I told him that I wanted admission in the First Group. He immediately asked me whether I was aware of my total marks and more particularly in Mathematics. I told him confidently that past bad performance did not necessarily indicate future bad performance. He just laughed. I also showed him the article I had written for the School Magazine. After reading the article, he clearly told me that he would offer only Third Group and if I was interested, I should pay the fees within twenty-four hours.. I returned home to consult my father. He was more worried about refund of fees already paid to National College.It was in the corridors of St Joseph College, I first met Pasupathy. He did not reveal his marks to me, He however got admission into First Group. Later on I realised he had got the same marks as me, but as he was already a student of St Joseph High School, he got the preference. We became friends from that day. and close friends after two years. We used to go to together for College.
l took my studies seriously in the College. As I had seen how much my parents had struggled to set up family at Tiruchi, I became more responsible. When half-yearly results were announced, I had obtained 3rd rank out of 70 students. Throughout Intermediate, my College rank was either second or third. The first rank was always reserved for a Jesuit Priest, who was also a student along with us. My father used to keep the rank cards with him till I completed my College education.I was happy when I passed the Intermediate with the highest marks in the College, leaving the Jesuit Priest way behind. At College, I befriended Mr Rufus Charles. We became very close by the time the results were announced. We used to argue about Christianity and Hindu religions without either of us knowing much about both the religions. Mr Charles introduced me to Hindi Films. He used to take me to matinee shows at Gaiety Theater, which was showing only Hindi films. He funded the
cost and explained to me the meaning of words, as his second language was Hindi. I saw films like C.I.D,Pyassa,Mother India and Do Anken Bara Hath. I liked all the films and felt that Hindi films were better than Tamil films, which were loud. I felt very bad when Gaiety Theater was partially destroyed at the height of anti-Hindi agitation by students. I was convinced that one-language for the country was very necessary, particularly when job opportunities in Madras were limited.

We had bought a Radio after Intermediate. examination. I used to listen to Radio Commentaries on Cricket Matches.At this time,, I went to Madras to see a Test Cricket Match between India and West Indies at Corporation Stadium. My Chittappa was staying in Big Street, Triplicane and Mr Ramanathan, land-lord for my Chittappa, took me to the ground. In those days the Captain of West Indies Cricket Team was a white man. This west Indian Team was led by Geoff Alexander. In this math, Coolie Smith batted and bowled superbly. As an all-rounder,he was being compared to Gary Sobers. I kept on thinking about Coolie Smith on my return to Tiruchi. Within two weeks, Coolie Smith was killed in a motorcar accident in London in which the driver of the car was Sobers. There was a speculation among our college students that Sobers had killed Smith. Though I did not subscribe to this, I cried on hearing the news of Smith!s death.

In June 1957,I applied for obtain admission into B.A.Hons course (Economics) in St Joesph!s college. I also applied for B.Com Hons course in Loyola College, Madras.. I got admission in both the colleges. As I kenw the family condition and as I did not want to put pressure on my father, I chose to study in the same college for B.A.Hons (Economics). Only students with very high marks in Intermediate were admitted into Hons course. This was a three year course and the final examination by the University was the same as that for M.A.. We were allowed to get M.A. Degree by paying a fee of Rs 50 to the University after completing Hons Course. I did very well again in this course, securing either second or third rank.My friend Pasupathy would get 6th or 7th rank and Rufus Charles 20th rank.I also participated in the college debates in the Literary and Debating Society of the College which was headed by Pasupathy.When Russia sent a dog to the moon, both of us argued for and against this experiment. Our debates were very much appreciated by the College Principal. I used the college library extensively reading most of the works of 19th century English Prose.I passed the final examination with a very high second class, again securing the first position in the College and third position in the University.

While in Tiruchi, I had seen the suffering and troubles undergone by my parents to maintain and support the family. My father would get Rs 2000/ every year from agricultural lands. He would also borrow additional Rs 2,000/ every year to support the family. I used to accompany him whenever he went to sell the family silver and jewelery to repay these debts. We also visited the Sub-Registrar!s Office in Ayyampet every year to sell some agricultural land. Life was very difficult

My father was a gentle person with a great sense of humor.I do not remember any occasion on which he beat any one of his kids. He was absolutely free from jealousy and envy. Although he had nothing, he would never envy others who were better placed than him. He lived his life almost like a saint with only three dhoties and a couple of shirts. My mother was a tough person. She would never loose faith in God. Her never-say-die spirit pulled us through in times of adversity. Like all mothers, she wanted the best for her children. She was very hospitable. Sometimes, village friends of my father would come to meet him around 9 in the evening. My mother would immediately cook food for them. Sometimes, I resented her shouting at my father. Later on I realized she was only showing her frustration. Our grievance was my father never made an attempt to earn something for the children.. These experiences made me determined that I should do something for my parents. I also dreamt that I should build a house where my parents could live for a long time without any financial worries.

I remember one incident where I tried my hand at smoking.. I went to a movied called "Gulebhakavali" along with my friend Ammami Appalam Raju for the Matinee Show in Prabhat Talkies. He told me that I should start smoking as that is a sign of manliness. During the interval, I went to the balcony and lighted a cigarette. Coughing and puffing when I looked down I saw my father. He also saw me with a cigarette in my hand.I was scared and could not concentrate on the film after the interval. I quietly went home ,took early food and began to sleep. By the time my parents came home after the second show, they did not wake me up. The next day my father called me and told me that I should not smoke again as smoking was bad for health. Fortunately, he had not informed about what he saw to my mother.This created some responsibility in me - his trying to correct me without publicity. Had he told my mother, all my brothers and sisters would have come to know aboutwhat I did. I never touched cigarette again.

During this period, I also acted as an emissary for a lover boy. My friend Pasupathy fell in love with a girl called Pushpathurai Nirmala. She was fair, beautiful and had long hair.One day Pasupathy asked me to speak to my cousin sister Nirmala about his love for the other Nirmala. He requested me to express his love through my sister. Both the Nirmalas were good friends. After a lot of persuasion, my cousin agreed to speak to Puspathurai Nirmala. When the girl heard this, she was shocked. She reacted with the words "Who will marry this Karuppu Gundan. I want a Mapillai like Kesha Gopaldas". Gopaldas was a jeweller in the same street and all his children were tall, fair and good looking.When my cousin told me about what had happened, I did not have the courage to tell Pasupathy the exact words used by the girl. I simply told him that the girl was not interested. For my friend Pasupathy, all fair girls were beautiful. In his family, all were very dark. Eventually, he ended up marrying a fair girl and lived a happy life. When he died in January this year, I was shocked beyond words.

My maternal grand-mother died during this period. She was suffering from chest congestion. When I was listening to a radio commentary where Hanif Mohamed was nearing triple century, I was asked to go and fetch Dr Raghava Rao. When I came back with the doctor and when he was examining her, she died on the hands of the doctor. This was my first direct experience with death. My grand-mother used to stay in the ground floor with us most of the time, though she was supposed to stay in the first floor. She was alone and did not feel like cooking every-day. Most of the days, her lunch and dinner were with us.Ironically, just a day before her death an astrologer had predicted that she would live for another twelve years.I was convinced after this that no one can predit death. and an astrologer cannot predict his own death.
After the death, I went to Teppakulam Post Office and made phone calls to relatives. When I telephoned my eldest uncle in Tirunelveli, he asked me "what to do now". I replied that "the best thing for you to do is to catch any immediate transport and come here".He did not like my response and for a long time used to chide me quoting my words.While she was alive, my grand-mother also used me as a money-collector. My grand-father had lent some money to some small businessmen and my grand-mother used to ask me to go their houses and collect the dues. I had tough time collecting the dues. Perhaps, this experience helped me when I became a Banker and went to villages to collect over-due loans.My grand-mother's death affected my mother in a big way. She had to be treated medically for a year after the death. When she became normal. we all heaved a sign of relief.

Here, I must mention about the financial support given to us by our Chittappa (maternal). His name was R.V.Narayan. He paid my college fees for Inter-mediate as well as for Hons course.He encouraged me in a big way. In his memory, I have named my son as Narayan.
I used to see almost 20 films every quarter. Films and books were my pastime.. I remember two books which I had read duing this period that had a deep impact on me. They are "East of Eden" and "Wuthering Heights" by Miss Emily Bronte.

My Life Story Part 1

Prologue:
During the last few months, I had lost four dear friends. Three of them died of heart problem and the other of liver ailment. All of them were close to me and were two/three years elder or younger to me. I knew Pasupathy from 1955, Ragupathi from 1964, Kuppuswamy from 1966 and Marimuthu from 1975. Their deaths did not shatter me,but caused immense grief.. I kept on thinking about them and what I have learnt from them.. I have always rated Raghupathi as the best among the various human beings I have interacted with. Whenever, I was down, I used to talk to him, be it from Singapore or elsewhere..I consider his death as the biggest loss to me. I went to Mumbhai in April to attend the Board Meeting of Mafatlal Industries ltd..There, during the course of conversation, my friend Ghia used the following words " Bala, every day after 65 years of age is a bonus given to you by God. Relax and enjoy. Lead a life free from worries". I was already following this line of thinking. My son-in-law Bala told me while in London, that I should write my life story. That set me thinking that I should share my experiences with my children. Vidya was always urging me to write something in my blog..
At the end of my story, I have included a paragraph about my expectations from my children after me. I hope at least six of them will read this story. Here is my Life Story.
Early Years:
I do not remember much about my early years.All I know is that I spent larger part of my time with my maternal grandfather in Tiruchirapalli, a place where I was born.I was a sick child sufferring from dysentry twice every week.As I came from the womb of my mother in the seventh month ( so I was told), I was quite weak. I did not go to school till I had completed seven. I was educated at home by my mother. I vividly remember her hitting me with a hurricane-light lamp when my responses were very poor when she was teaching me. Even at that age, I realized that whatever she was doing was for my good.. The only difference was that I made no efforts to improve my standards.
The first school I went to was Aryan Secondary School in Pathaikadai sandhu in Tiruchirapalli. My uncle Balachandran, who was ten years older to me, took me to the school. When he said that he wanted to admit me into fourth standard, the Head Master asked for the age. My uncle gave the age as 19th March 1939, which was the required age for admission into fourth standard.. In those days, age certificates were not insisted upon by schools. Whatever was declared by the parents was the age on record. Besides, as I was born at home and as there was no practice of registering the birth with the Municipality, I had no age certificate. This was the case with most of the children at that time. Eventually when I was admitted, my age at school was 21 months more than my real age. My actual date of birth was 29th November 1940. I was staying with my maternal grand-parents at Tiruchy when I was studying in this school. As a boy of ten, I had once traveled alone
from Tiruchy to Ayyampet by train, though at the station in Ayyampet, my father received me.


My parents moved to Ayyampet when I was about to start VI th standard. I also moved from Tiruchy to this place.We were all admitted into Board Hiigh School, which was a State Government run School. There were atleast twelve children staying with us---children of my Periappa, maternal grand-uncles, children of father!s cousins. All of them were two or three years older or younger to me. My mother was the only lady at the household cooking for all of us. All the day, she was busy feeding us. It was a happy joint-family.At this time of my life, I had never seen my mother with more than three saris. I studied in Board High School, Ayyampet from standard 6th to standard 9th. It was a Tamil medium school. Here in the school, I acquired friendship with three good people which has lasted a long time. -Raju (Raju Real Estates), Markandeyan (a retired school teacher staying in Tanjore) and Sunderraman, who subsequently became co-brother to my
brother-in-law. All of us (me included) were average students, excepting Sunderraman.
My cousin Visu was very close to me. Though he was older to me by one year, he was studying in the same class.
My remembrances about this school were:
1) A strike was organized by Raju against the transfer of a Head Master during mid-term.
2) I acted as Cheran Senkuttuvan in a school play.
3)Actor Muthuraman, who was a young stage actor then, came to our school and performed. I disliked him instantly as he was chewing "pan" continuously.

The academics at this school was deplorably bad. Only five out of 80 students used to pass the S.S.L.C. examination. In those days, we had eleven years of school and four years of College for a Degree, as against 12 plu three now. The School Leaving Examination at the conclusion of eleventh standard was called S.S.L.C. (Secondary School Leaving Certificate). In view of the poor standards at the school, my parents decided to shift us from Ayyampet to Thiruvaiyaru.
I was admitted into Srinivasa Rao High School in Thiruvaiyaru for my tenth standard. This was considered a good school.
At examinations, I used to score very good marks in English and very poor marks in Mathematics (like 81 and 18)...My mother was very disappointed with me.On 2nd January 1955, she took me to Mahalingam Vathiar for tuition in Mathematics. Seeing my pathetic record, he refusted to take me as a pupil.While we were returning dejected, he called my mother and told her that as only three months were left before final examination, he woud teach me only algebra. He also said that as 65 percents marks in Mathematics paper were reserved for algebra, I could at best expect to score pass marks in this subject. The minimum required for a pass was 35 marks. As my marks in English were high, he recognized that my problem with regard to Mathematics,was one of concentration and attention.The fees agreed for the tuition was Rs 15 per month. I attended the class every morning without fail. The teacher had just then got married and many times, I used to wake him up
before 6
a.m.
I began to like the subject and the teacher.Around March that year, he was quite happy with me and blessed me.Before the final examination for Mathematics, I went to Mahalinga Vathiar and prostrated before him. When the results were out, I had secured 65 percent in Maths, the maximum marks reserved for Algebra.. I secured the first marks in English in the school. I had total aggregate marks of 330 out of 600.
I remember our stay in Thiruvaiyaru for the following reasons:

1)The School introduced me to Cricket. We used to play Street Cricket with Tennis Balls. There were matches every Sunday between the streets . We used to stay in Mettu theru first and then Vadakku Veedhi. There were quite a few matches between the two streets. As I was the proud owner of a cricket bat brought from Tiruchi, I was always included in the playing eleven. It did not me take me long to realise that it was the ownership of the bat that assured me a place and not my cricketing abilities. I never represented the School, but I was always taken along with the team to various places.. I remember one match between our School and Kalyanasundaram High School, Tanjore, held at Tanjore. Almost all of the players were at least one foot taller than me. (like Hari and Sabareesh now).

2)During eleventh, one Srinivasan joined our class. He stayed in the same street. He introduced me to books,starting with Kalki's "Ponniyin Selvan". I finished reading all the volumes within a week.Srinivasan!s mother had arranged for binding of this book, taking pages from the weekly issues.This novel had tremendous impact on me. I kept on thinking about the various characters for a long time. With interest in reading historical novel, I began reading Sir Walter Scott at the age of fourteen. I borrowed his works from the School Library.Within a week of my finishing "Ponniyin Selvan", the author "Kalki" died in Chennai. I shed tears on hearing the news. This was the first time I shed tears for anyone.

3)While studying in eleventh standard, I saw a film, where the leading lady was Kusala Kumari. She was a beautiful girl. My first interest in the opposite sex was aroused by Kusalakumari. I also began to realize the influence and need for women at this age. However my knowledge of sex was very poor, I had seen a film, "Manithan" where T.K.shanmugam was the hero. In this film, they showed a man and woman touching each other and running around trees. The next scene showed the heroine crying and pleading to the hero that she was pregnant. I was afraid that when even touching a girl can lead to pregnancy, I should avoid touching girls. For a long time, I avoided seeing girls -eye-to-eye- and was very shy when introduced to girls.This was the level of my knowledge in sex at the age of fourteen, We had co-education in our school and the girls would sit in a different corner.. I used to like one Padma, a tall girl. I used to glance at her whenver she was not
looking at me. I also observed that she was surreptitiously looking at me whenever I was pretending that I was not looking in that direction. We never exchanged words and I never saw her again after we left Thiruvaiyaru. My fascination for tall girls started with Padma.

4)During the year 1954, Meenakshi Ammal, my paternal grand-mother, had come to stay with us for two months. Normally, she was residing in Delhi. She was extremely kind to me. She would call me by her side and say that I should study well and take care of my parents, particularly when my father did not study well. She would bless me with the word " You will do it". This was the first time an elderly person ,other than my parents, had shown some love to me. In fond memory of her, I decided to name my first girl child as Meenakshi at a later date.. When I explained the reason, my wife did not object to it.

5)I gave an article in English with the title "Superstition" to be published in anuual school magazine. I gave my own personal example in that article. Once when I was about to go to school to write an examination, my mother stopped me from starting as a cat had crossed me on the way. I respected my mother and left home after the cat had left..My performance in the exam was very bad and did not support this superstitious belief. I mentioned sarcastically that if I had shown my disbelief in superstition, I would have done better. I concluded the article by exhorting the students not to believe in superstitions and instead have more self-belief, supported by hard work. Our Head-Master, Mr Soundrraja Iyengar called me and asked me whether I had written the article or my parents. I told him I had not shown the article to my parents. He was impressed and said he would publish the article without deleting anything.He asked for some clarification as my
hand-writing was not clear to him. He also exhorted that I should improve my hand-writing. I had kept a copy of the magazine for a long time, but in the melee of transfers in official career, it got lost somewhere. After the School Magazine was released, my mother had shown the same to all people in our locality. Later,the same article was published in the House Journal of UCO BANK with some modifications. In the year 1997, after the death of my mother, I gave Rs 10,000/- to the School and asked them to institute "Jayalakshmi Ammal Memorial Prize" and give the interest moeny to the student securing highest marks in English in Class 12 examination.

6)One day ,me and my cousisns decided to visit Ayyampet to see old friends like Raju- a distance of six miles. We did not want to inform our parents as they would not agree. We left for school as usual and after leaving the bags with a friend at his house, took two bicycles on hire and wnet to Ayyampet.On the way, unfortunately we noticed our Sastrigal also traveling on cycle towards Thiruvaiyaru from Ayyampet. My cousin Visu assured me that though we had seen him, the Sastrigal had not seen us. We returned home in the evening after seeing close friends in Ayyampet. We were stopped in front of the gate, which was quite unusual. My parents asked me whether there was any home- work to be done. When I said "yes", they asked us to do the home-work from outside and closed the door. We had to wait for three hours outside and it was only after some tongue-lashing and whip lashing ("azha,azha soolluvar thamar, sirikka, sirikka solluvar pirar"-my mother!s famous
words), we were allowed entry into the house. This was my first and last adventure without the knowledge of my parents. This happened when I was fourteen.
While in Thiruvaiyaru, I used to visit the magnificent temple almost every day. We moved to Tiruchi in 1955.