BLURRED VISION

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

GRATITUDE: Letters from a Grandfather to his future generations. Newsletter 2.

FOR TEXT N PIX.

September 2, 2015

My dear Family and Friends:

I am back!

It has been a long hiatus in my golfing outings. Rains and sickness have conspired to keep me at home. I took Simran out to the Golf course in May. But I was strong enough only to drive the buggy whilst he hit the balls out of the park; long hitter that he is. He has now got the Golf Club membership in his own right. Then came Hark and I was in better shape. We played nine holes together. I would have been beat, if we had kept score; but not too badly. It was a mixed blessing that rains had taken a long break in July; so buggies were allowed on the Course. Both the boys are now ready to go back to School: Simran to his graduate year at Wharton and Harkirat to his first year at Queens University Kingston Canada. Their parents are right now with them. Good luck and God Bless boys.

The rain Gods have been less than generous. Mumbai region has had decent rainfall; but not the countryside. The cloud seeding in Nashik did not quite bring down the much needed water supply. It is always a story of drought n floods in India. And this year is no exception.

My golfing friend Tara Chand had lost a grown Daughter and is making valiant attempts to get over the grief. His younger daughter is proving a great bulwark of support to him. She organised a family trip to Kashmir and onwards to Kedar Nath. Daughters' love for their father is something very special. No offence meant, Mickey, Vicky or Simran n Hark; Nor to the many Nieces or D in laws.

Just a few days ago, we heard of the passing away of another colleague of mine: VG Mulloth. He was Director Technical and Manufacturing and retired as part of my Team. A solid Technical expert he would resolve complicated problems without much fuss. RIP my respected colleague.

We took possession of our apartment in Ashiana Lavasa on 12 August. The Management there did the handing over with a lot of pomp n show. We revelled in the attention.

Having got to this point, focus shifted to fit out and furnishing. We are still not savvy enough to depend on the mail order suppliers and buying durables sight unseen. So we have been doing the rounds of showrooms. Also our choice is narrowed by the remote location to be serviced. We selected Godrej Interio for modular kitchen and the big items of furniture. Smaller items are being procured from Ekbote of Pune who were warmly recommended by our friend Sanjiv Sain. In view of heavy rainfall in that area, we have tried to get wooden furniture and avoided MDF etc.

We shall get the electrical equipment from Samsung or LG in Baner so that we have a better chance of after sales service. So we are well on our way to have the apartment functional Come September.

One thing led to another, and the structural repairs to the rest of the Mumbai apartment have been getting pushed further n further. We are now hoping to get the repairs started soon after Ganpati and be done before Diwali.

I had changed my Chest Specialist a few months ago. The new doctor is quite accessible. However all this has not reduced the frequency of my infection episodes. In fact in some respect these are more acute. He had hinted that he may have to resort to Bronchoscopy to get a better idea of what we are up against. I am ready n willing.

Our sister Jasbir returned to India after over five months stay with her son Mintoo in Melbourne. This was just in time for the Rakhi gathering at our home last Saturday. The whole clan turned up to celebrate her 75^th landmark birthday which went by whilst she was in Melbourne. Both Sukhjit n I were a bit under the weather; but our younger sister Guljit took charge n the younger brigade pitched in. It was good to have a gang of small kids doing what kids do. They were excited to connect with each other. Good time was had by all. It is such a blessing to have a large extended family and a united one at that. It is the biggest blessing from the Gods on High.

To round off: a Twitter friend decided to visit us the other day and we were happy to have another friend in real life. Ahmed, you were most welcome. It is good to connect with young people who are starting out on making a life for themselves… entrepreneurs at that.

It was heartening that another Twitter friend, an Indian, in far away USA heeded my advice and gave up smoking. Well done! Kumail.

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

GRATITUDE: Letters from a Grandfather to his Future Generations.

I have now shared with you the story of 37 years of my working life i.e.1951 to 1988. The story saw a lower division temporary clerk in a military office poised to join the board of a public limited company.

The job at the Military office taught me basic office routines. Just as well, it was a military office, for it taught me discipline right in my first job.

Then luck in the shape of pen friend Ramdas Iyer took me to Stanvac-Esso. This was my real life Management School. My business writing came of age. I learned the Fundamentals of Management as well as Best Practices, which I did not see replicated in the decades thereafter.

It meant a huge scope for me to make a difference in my subsequent stints at Crompton n Forbes Group. I succeeded in that task thanks to the support of the Top Managements and their willingness to accept new ideas.

So what I learnt at Esso, I put in practice in my subsequent jobs.

I am grateful to so many people who have been instrumental in nudging my destiny forward and supporting me in my journey.

During these near four decades, I got married; raised a family. So did all my siblings and many of their children. By a stroke of luck, all of us remained in the Maximum City of Mumbai. We are therefore, today, a large clan closely knit, thanks to the strong family spirit imbibed by three generations. A few of our Gen Next have gone overseas and given a good account of themselves.

In the same four decades, Sukhjit and I lost our grandparents n then parents. She also lost a brother, a sister n a nephew. On our side we have lost two dear Jeejas.

So is life. It gives n it takes.

What remains of my work life is 9 years in Goodlass Nerolac, 6 years with Thakral Bros in Viet Name and 12 years of retirement. Much has happened in these years too. I shall continue to pen the story of these years and share it with you once it is all done.

I shall continue to write to you to share the happenings in our Clan, in the world at large. Do let me know if there is anything you wish to share with ‘Blurred Vision”.

The last couple of years I have become a bit more active in Social media, especially Twitter. I have a few ‘flocks’ of Tweeps that are constantly in touch with each other. I have a fair sprinkling of people from India, Europe and the Americas.

It is an educative medium. The ritual ‘good mornings’ apart, important news come to me in Social media first. Then I look up the web or the newspapers to fill myself up. Jehangir Bisney is one of the first providers of news. He has mentioned lifting of the Maggi Ban, though I have not yet seen it in print.

This exposure to Social Media has led me to take minimal interest in the morning papers.

As most of you know, a sad highlight of my post retirement decade has been my lungs ailment: an asthmatic condition known as Bronchiectasis. I have been prone to serial lung infections and prolonged usage of antibiotics. The moist, pollutant laden air of Mumbai city is an aggravation.

I have been on the look out for a place where I can escape the pollution. I have finally bought an apartment at Lavasa, a hill station in-the-making 220 kms from Mumbai. We plan to spend a week each month over there. Maybe more in winter, when Mumbai air becomes intolerably smoke laden. We should be getting possession during this month. Ideas of fitting out n furnishing the apartment are a major preoccupation. We should have it going in a couple of months. You folks are welcome to join us, the times we are in residence. There are a few pictures below.

Later this month, we are expecting my sister Jasbir to return after a long stay in Melbourne with her son, Mintoo. While she was away, she crossed the landmark 75^th birthday. End of this month is Rakhi and that is one occasion when the Clan assembles in one place. We have suggested that this time let it be at our place. We are so looking forward to a reunion.

That should be enough for now. More later. I will be in touch.

Au revoir! Phir Milenge!

Photo Gallery

Promotion Picture of Lake City Lavasa

Manjari 2 at Ashiana Lavasa Utsav
2nd floor on right is our apartment

More clear

Full Moon rises above the Hills of Lavasa

Our first night out at Lavasa

Hills - the view from our Balcony

At a month end get together of residents
Games, Hot coffee n pakoras!

Green Hills opposite

Street of Villas opposite our apartment

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

GRATITUDE: Letters from a Grandfather to his Future Generations. Chapter 27

BOTH FOR TEXT N PIX.

Chapter 27

Dear Family n Friends:

I am sitting down to write this while history is being made:
People's President APJ Kalam passed away.

Sad happenings in our parent district of Gurdaspur.

Today was the birth anniversary of the late JRD Tata. He had passed away in the year 1993, the self same year of bomb attacks in Mumbai. Just as well that, today, the Supreme Court has not stayed the hanging of the perpetrator.

Uncle of our Bhabi, Sweety, has passed away in Burhanpur.

Pray to God to grant peace to the souls of the departed.
Also pray to God to spare the Nation more agony at the hands of Terrorists.

..........................................................................................................................

Let us get back to the Eureka Forbes Story.

In 1987 Akhil Marfatia, President of EFL, introduced his former colleague from J&J, Suresh Goklaney to be hired as his deputy. Suresh was a personable young man and came thru as an upright Manager. We had no hesitation in supporting his recruitment as VP Sales n Marketing. More of this later in this chapter.

In the post Khandwala era, the educational conferences had given way to Group Conferences, hosted by different companies, by turn. At these Conferences, heads of various Group Companies or heads of Major Divisions made presentations on the state of their business and strategies. These were interesting venues for senior Managers of different companies to interact with each other and to get the larger picture of the Group’s businesses.

By virtue of my long standing in the Human Resource n Industrial Relations field in Bombay. I was elected Chairman of the Human Resource Committee of the Bombay Chamber of Commerce n Industry. This was a gathering of HR/IR practitioners of the Member companies. Some of them were IR luminaries in their own right. This continued right thru my early years in GNP. However with my ultimate elevation as Managing Director of GNP, I was nominated member of the General Committee of BCCI and relinquished my role in the HR Sub Committee. Somewhere along the way, I had also relinquished my association with the Indo Swedish Business Sub Committee.

As years went by the company was out of its difficult days and was on a steady growth trend. I sensed that, and there was no need of some one like me to do hand holding.

I was, therefore, in a receptive frame of mind when the proposal for my joining the Board of Goodlass Nerolac Paints resurfaced in 1988.

At this juncture, I might as well wrap up the Forbes story before I pick up the threads of my time in GNP.

Around 1992, Forbes Forbes Campbell and Gokak Patel Volkart were merged to form: Gokak Patel Volkart Limited.

In the years 1990-92, all was not well between the Top Team of EFL. As a result, the Vice President was seconded to the Lense Division. In course of time, it appeared that the President’s management of the Company left a lot to be desired. The company was in a big mess on all counts. I don’t quite know why it happened. The net result was that the President had to leave Eureka Forbes in 1993.

Suresh Goklaney, was summoned back to Eureka Forbes to steer the company. I was drafted into an Emergency care-taking Committee along with couple of Forbes Directors to resolve the difficulties and enable Suresh Goklaney to operate the Company.

He was appointed President and the company got back to even keel. The Company has done well under his management. He was appointed Managing Director couple of years later.

As for Akhil Marfatia, early 1995, I ran into him on a flight. He was managing a company marketing Pagers. Those were the days of infancy of Mobile Phones; but pagers were the precursors. I was the Convener of the Indian Paint Conference 1995 and was keen to have a device to keep communications with all the volunteers. Hiring Mobile phones seemed very cost prohibitive. So we worked out a deal with Akhil to provide Pagers to all the volunteers. That worked well.

The next that I heard of Akhil was via a newspaper notice that he had passed away. The notice said that he was on the Board of another Company, albeit as an outside director. Thru that company, I got his family’s contacts and condoled with his son, by his second marriage. RIP.

Years went by. Mr. Madan retired as Managing Director in 1997, the same year that I retired from GNP. His position was taken by Mr. Mehra from Tata Steel.

Forbes did not figure in the strategic plan of Ratan Tata for the Tata Group. In line with that, Tatas and Forbes had divested their holding in GNP in favour of Kansai of Japan. So did the UK shareholders.

Tata’s ultimately divested the Forbes Group to the Shapoorjee Pallonjee Mistry Group in 2000. They undid the merger of Forbes and Gokak in 2008.

The new Management seemed to appreciate Suresh’s stewardship and elevated him to Vice Chairman and Managing Director.

That just about sums up the Eureka Forbes and Forbes Group story. They had been kind to me. In the post Khandwala era, my career trajectory changed, in hindsight, for the better

So, my dear Family, whatever happens, do keep faith and remember that:

whatever happens, happens for the good.

Back to my work life:

Some time in 1988 Devoo again mooted the idea of my joining the Board of GNP. He was looking to me to provide 4-5 years of stewardship as Managing Director after his n Bal Gokhale’s retirement.

I believe that Dilip Madan had joined forces with Devoo to ‘sell’ my candidature to the UK directors. The latter were familiar with me through my visits to them in the UK. Also we had had repeated interaction on the role conflict between the MD and Dy MD in years gone by.

One thing led to another, and the idea of my joining the GNP Board took shape. Based on my credentials in HR n Industrial Relations, it was proposed that I join as head of Manufacturing n HR. It was just as well that things panned out this way since I could make signal contribution in an area critical to GN’s future success. .

More of ‘why’… later.

Photo Gallery follows:

Please excuse any caption errors.

Do please point out the errors.

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