Corporate citizen 6th issue by Corporate Citizen

Corporate Citizen T he Co ol Side Of Bu sine ss

cc Survey: aspirations of engineering students after graduation

Volume 1, Issue No. 6 / March 1-15, 2015 / `50

Cradle of Leadership: Prof R K Shevgaonkar, Director, IIT Delhi

An in-depth interview with

R Thyagarajan, Chairman, Shriram Group

Chip off the old block:

How scions of prominent business families are venturing into new zones

Star Attraction Dynamic Duo 6

Schauna and Bikram Saluja

From the desk of Editor-In-Chief

he popular phrase, ‘every dog has his day’ dates back to the literary days of William Shakespeare, who used it in his famous play, Hamlet. In literal terms, it means that everyone gets a chance eventually, or that everyone is successful at some period in his or her life. My day came through adversities that seemed impregnable, but in retrospect, I feel a sense of triumph and would like to attribute it to the favourable twist of destiny. I was 18 years old when I had failed in my Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) exams. I got only 8 marks in mathematics in the public examination. Since then, I never dared cross the street of mathematics. Restlessness engulfed my mind. I then decided to try my luck at becoming a cinema star and so decided to run away from home. I must confess that I stole about ` 200 from my grandmother’s pot and headed for Chennai ( Madras). The first few days went in searching for opportunities in the film industry. During the day I used to make futile attempts at meeting the directors in vain and at nights I used to sleep at the Egmore railway station. As is the slippery nature of money, it soon dried up. So I took shelter in the verandah of an almost abandoned temple in Vadapalani in Kodambakkam, where all the film studios – such as Vijaya Vahini, AVM, Bharani, Vikram and Majestic were located. It was considered a useless remote place within Madras. Of course there was and is a bus stand there, owing to the presence of a temple of the powerful Lord Murugan. My money vanished in six days. With not a single paisa left in my pocket for food, I went to stay and sleep on the verandah for three days and nights at a stretch. Another person also used to come there to stay. But I used to see him there only at night. We never used to talk to each other. But he might have been observing me. On the fourth day, he asked me, “Who are you? I have been observing you….. Any prob-

Every dog has his day!

lem?” I told him my story. I was not even able to speak as I was very hungry. My mouth had completely dried up. “So you are hungry? Get up.” he commanded, and murmured to himself, “Don’t know why God created us to suffer like this.’’ He took me to a small tea stall on the road side, and took out the money. I could see three one rupee coins. He bought three parathas for two rupees for me, which I ate heartily. He bought one more paratha for himself, paying the balance one rupee left with him. I looked at him, askance. He looked at me affectionately and said, “Sufficient for me. I ate something for lunch. I will get my cooli (wages) for tomorrow evening. Till such time……” I was very touched by his magnanimous gesture. Who was he? Why should he bother about an unknown person, that too, when he himself was starving? He was God to me! As we were lying down to sleep in the verandah under the moonlight, he introduced himself as Mahadevan. He was a Harijan. He was educated up to SSLC. He had also completed a Teacher’s Training Course. Since he did not get a job he came to Madras in search of a job. He also had some domestic squabbles. He informed me that he worked as a coolie at the renowned Majestic Film Studio where films are regularly shot and he earned a princely sum of seven rupees per week. He asked me to come along with him so that he could get me the same job too. ”If we both start working we will get 14 rupees in a week. That is more than sufficient for both of us. I will request the Supervisor tomorrow,” he said. So my dream of becoming a star got shattered. I settled for the next available opportunity – the job of a coolie, a daily wage earner. A film studio is a highly restricted area ordinarily spread over a few acres of land with lots of trees, gardens, artificial waterfalls and so on. I had stood in front of many studios with a lot of curiosity. The watchmen always shooed me out. Yet, standing on some corner and watching the cars going ‘in’ and ‘out’ and getting a glimpse of

the stars used to give me a lot of thrill. Thanks to Mahadevan, I finally entered Majestic Studio. He bowed before Mr. Michael and pleaded for a casual labourer’s job for me. Michael looked at me, was very happy to see a decent looking SSLC failed boy. He was more impressed with my ‘gora’ looks by Madras standards. “I need a boy for the makeup room. He will be okay for it. He should always be dressed well. I will give ` 20 to buy the clothes. I will increase his wage also to ` 10 per week instead of ` seven. Someone will explain the job to him.” Mahadevan was very happy. Mind you, he was equally young and better educated than me. It was he who took me to the studio. It was he who pleaded for a job for me. But, alas! He was ‘kala’ and I was ‘gora’. That made all the difference. Working as a boy (peon) in the makeup room of a film studio was considered a prestigious job amongst the labour class. There I had to run to the calls of famous actors and actresses and had the chance to eat their leftovers. Mahadevan had a big heart and celebrated the day like a true elder brother. What a promotion….from gate watching to the makeup room of stars. My job was to keep the three rooms clean and offer tea, coffee and juice, personally. Renowned stars including the legendary MGR used to come to do their makeup. I used to attend to their personal needs. Initially, I was very excited, but got bored after a month. Mahadevan took care of me. But my worries as to whether I would get my next meal or not were not over. After all, it was a casual labourer’s job. Even Mahadevan was not called for work all the seven days. It was an irony though, that I had come with a dream of becoming a hero, but ended up a poor makeup room boy attending to their sundry calls. Slowly the worry of settling down started to trouble me. How could I go back? What could I say to my parents? My maternal uncle who married my only sister was like the devil for me. The stars used to have their own makeup men. These makeup men used to wait in the

March March 1-15,1-15, 20152015 / Corporate / Corporate Citizen Citizen / 1 / 1

From the desk of Editor-In-Chief

S Gnanasundaram, my cousin was MLA

Legendary M G Ramachandran popularly called MGR

R M Veerappan was MGR’s right hand man

room when the stars went to give their ‘shot’. Peethambaram was MGR’s makeup man and he used to speak to me very softly. (His son Vasu is the famous film director of the super hit Rajnikant film, Chandramukhi.). I used to casually share my worries about settling in life and requested him to help me. One day MGR came to shoot for a historical film, Kanchi Thalaivan, produced by Mekala Productions, a company owned by M Karunanidhi (the DMK chief) and Murasoli Maran. I was star-struck at the thought of meeting MGR in flesh and blood. Peethambaram provided me more hope by telling me that he was a very generous person, a real Robin Hood, and had helped people in need. I asked him whether I could get a job at MGR Productions Pvt. Ltd or MGR’s garden. Peethambaram said I should go and talk to him after his shooting was over. In those days, MGR used to come in a Plymouth car. I picked up courage as he was walking out of the makeup room after finishing his shooting and was getting into the car. I bowed before him and said `Vanakam’. MGR looked at me asked me, “Yes……?” I told him, “Theivame (oh God), I am SSLC fail. I can speak a little English. I am struggling here with a ten rupee a week job. Please help me with a job.” He promptly said `okay’ and directed me to go to his office and asked me to tell them that he had sent me and that I should be given a job. I had stars in my eyes and could not believe my fortune. I was flying high above the ground and promptly told Michael that I was leaving the job and settled my accounts with him. Mahadevan congratulated me, hugged me with tears rolling out of his eyes. Like a real brother he asked me, “Where will you stay?” I had no answer…In fact, I had never thought about that. “Anna, let me get there first. Then I will try for you too. We will get a good salary and we will hire a rented accommodation,” I assured him. I proceeded to MGR’s office in T-Nagar but when I reached there, no one allowed me to en-

ter in. With great difficulty, I finally managed to meet his secretary, R M Veerappan who looked after MGR Productions Pvt. Ltd. He also had his own production company. The moment I began speaking, he interrupted and asked me curtly `Enna venum?’’ (What do you want?) I confidently told him that MGR had sent me. He promptly replied, “Woh bola hoga naukri dega’’ (he must have told you he would give you a job). I nodded. To that he said,”Neither does he have work, nor do you people have work. We ourselves have work. He keeps on sending people. Is this a factory? Get lost.” I was thrown out mercilessly. As I walked out, shocked, a peon there told me, “This is the normal practice. He sends people here. His secretary shoots them down. You are a young boy. Go. Study. Stand on your feet.” My world came crashing down, more so because I had so confidently and promptly walked out of my earlier job. I went back to Mahadevan but he told me there was no way Michael would employ me again at the Majestic Studio. However, he took me to a restaurant where I was offered the job of a cleaner, to clean tables. It’s worth noting that I thoroughly enjoyed my tenure there. The best part of the job was that my salary was ` 10 per week and I could eat to my heart’s content. Besides, I would pack the leftover food of the night to feed Mahadevan. Anyway, prosperity showed at least on my physique as I began gaining weight and put on 15 kgs. One day,the waiter - whose name was Mani Aiyar sincerely counselled me to go back home to my village. He also paid the rail fare of `9.50 for the journey from Madras to Thanjavur. He was a poor soul and the money came out of his collection from the tips he got at Vega Restaurant. Mani Aiyar was the other person who brought a twist into my life. By a stroke of luck, some army personnel

had arrived at my village for recruitment. Out of sheer curiosity to see how these army men looked, I went to the venue where they were recruiting people. One of them saw me and said I looked a tough youngster (thanks to the hearty meals I had when I worked as a cleaner boy). They straightaway asked me to join the Army for a handsome salary of ` 79.50. I thought to myself that a good social status and the opportunity to see the whole of India would be added benefits. My joy knew no bounds and I agreed. I was so delighted that I would be earning much more than what I earned in my last job. When I reached my home there was jubilation. My mother and sister were the happiest people. It was they who were most worried as to where I was and about my well-being. From Madras I had sent a postal card informing them that I was working and that they should not worry about me. After reading that I had got settled in life, my mother and sister had decided to get me married. I had two maternal uncles. The elder one worked as a labourer at the Singapore Race Course and the younger one who had married my sister was 8th standard pass and was working at the Tamil Nadu Fire Service(TNFC). My mother was fonder of her younger brother. But the elder one was comparatively rich. So, his wife ensured that the brothers never united. Nevertheless, my sister took a marriage proposal to our elder uncle who had two daughters of marriageable age. According to the village tradition I had the first right of marriage with his daughters, so other people don’t go to them with marriage proposals. All my relatives thought that the marriage should take place. But my elder uncle said,”Neither does he have a job nor a big landed property. So, forget about the alliance.” The fact is, he loved me, the only son of his only sister (my mother). The climate was against me. I had to blame myself for it. Firstly, I had run away to join an orphanage after passing my 8th standard.

2 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

My cousin told R M Veerappan that I was his cousin and an Army man. The minister looked at me deeply and asked,”Would you like to join me as a PRO? A gazette post, jeep provided; you would be my PRO with a salary of ` 10,000 plus perks.” My excited cousin promptly responded,”Saheb, if you say, he will come.” I interrupted,”Thank you sir. But, I am happy in the Army.’’ Again, I had run away after failing my SSLC. So what next? - Humiliation, rejection, uncertainty and ineligibility to join any good job. There is a Tamil proverb, ‘‘kettavanukkum muttalukkum pattalam”. Which means, for those who are spoiled and for those who are fools, the military is the best option. The 1962 war was over. India had faced the worst massacre of troops. The Indian army was hunting for people. One such team had come to Mannargudi for the first time. We, the people from Thanjavur district have seen the army only in films. How do they look in real life? Curious, I had gone to see them live. Very few people had come there for enrolment. The recruiting team was giving a motivational talk. I still have a question – who wants to join the army to serve the nation? The Subedar Major from the army singled me out and called me. When I went to him he said,”You are fit to be in the Army. You will get `79.50 per month. Three days mutton; three days rum at the border; two months annual leave; one month casual leave; free rail travel. You can travel the entire country. You also get status.” I must say, he did not wait for my consent. He prepared my papers, gave me ` thirty in hand, and dumped me on the train to Nashik. This time too I did not inform anyone in the family. I joined the Army with only my trouser and shirt. No other personal belonging. That changed my life. I thought that life in the Army with its harsh postings across the frontiers would mean a complete disconnect from my previous misadventures. But it was not to be, and herein lies the twist in my tale. MGR who was an active and most popular politician of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) resigned from the party to form his own AIADMK party. My cousin sister’s son S Gnanasundaram joined his party and was appointed as the first taluka secretary of the AIADMK. The official organ of AIADMK was ‘Saama

Neethi(Equal Justice). I wrote lots and lots of articles and got them published under the name of ‘Gnanasundaramas’. I had a major problem with the local DMK MLA. He also contested the election and became an MLA in the assembly elections when AIADMK came to power. Mr RM Veerappan had become the most powerful No 2 minister in MGR’s cabinet. It was time for my annual leave. I got down in Madras and went to the MLA hostel to see my cousin. He wanted to accompany me to the village. Enroute he wanted to meet the minister. I agreed, but was surprised to see the minister being none other than RM Veerappan, who had once thrown me out of his office. There was a stream of people trying to greet him with folded hands. Amidst the motley crowd, I was the only one to shake hands with him. The moment I did that Veerappan, whose film production company was producing a Tamil film, Ranuva Veeran (Military Hero), looked at me and observed that he had never seen me before and wanted to know about me. My cousin told him that I was his cousin, that writing was my hobby and that I was an Army man. The minister looked at me deeply and asked,”Would you like to join me as a PRO? A gazette post, jeep provided and above all you would be my own PRO with a salary of ` 10,000 plus perks.” My excited cousin promptly responded,”Saheb, if you say, he will come.” But I interrupted,”Thank you sir. But, I am happy in the Army.’’ The Minister was surprised and asked ,”But why? It is such a good post -- good salary, growth. What is your problem?” To wriggle out of the situation I said,”Sir, I have signed a contract for 20 years.” “No..No. That is not a problem. I will speak to RV (R Venkataraman was the then Defence Minister of India) I will get you out of the army,” the Minister tried cajoling me.

Dr (Col.) A. Balasubramanian’s life in the Army

“Grateful to you sir…The salary does not matter to me…I am enjoying military life.” That was my moment; that was my day. We left the hall and were about to board the taxi. A police officer came rushing and took my cousin back to the minister. The minister told him,”I want him. He is great. Hundreds of people are making my life miserable by asking for jobs, the PRO’s post in particular. Somehow get him.” But I did not agree. However, the tale does not end there. Time passed by. I completed a long innings of nearly 28 years in the army and retired as Subedar. I made history by being the first honorary Colonel from the ranks (I am the last till date), got into management education and many things happened thereafter. There was this one felicitation function (one of many for me) in Madras. Again, it was Mr. RM Veerappan, in his nineties, who had lost all political clout, who was the chief guest. Other guests on the stage included two former High Court judges. In my speech, I recalled the entire story with all the hilarious anecdotes as narrated in this editorial. Veerappan listened deeply amidst the thunderous applause I received, time and again, during my speech. After my speech, the aged RMV shook hands with me, expressed his happiness and said, ``I don’t recall those events. So many such things happened. So, I was the first one to see the spark in you. Yours is a real film story.’’ RMV then quickly added, ``why don’t you come for a discussion for a film on your colourful life; I will ask my son in law to produce it.’’ I smiled and said to myself, oh, this filmi duniya continues to haunt me!

Dr (Col.) A. Balasubramanian editor-in-chief March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 3

Contents Volume 1 Issue No. 6 March 1-15, 2015

then and now How Netas and Celebrities somersault on their own statements and are not the least embarrassed!

collywood Chatpata Chatter from the Corporate World

wax eloquent Who said what and why

Stalwart Corporate Leaders An interview with R Thyagarajan, who heads a ` 60,000 crore empire, but has no car, office or mobile phone to flaunt!

Chip off the old block Success stories of scions from prominent business families who are now venturing into unknown territories and exploring new zones

be my valentine A love story of 94-year old Sadashiv Kulkarni and his wife Shanta, who recently celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary

Corporate Citizen survey An in-depth survey on candidates who appeared for GATE 2015

cradle of leadership An interview with Prof. R K Shevgaonkar, Director, IIT Delhi

Dynamic Duo 6

4 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

Cover story

star attraction

Schauna Chauhan Saluja is CEO of the ` 2,500 crore Parle Agro; her husband Bikram Saluja is a noted model and film actor. Corporate Citizen finds out what makes them click

corporate trends PriceWaterhouse Coopers’ 18th Annual Global CEO Survey on why CEOs are less optimistic about global economy for 2015

cricket fever An insight into the unfortunate lot of cricketers who achieved everything in the game but were eluded from being part of any winning World Cup team

my campus placement experience-6 Srividya Ramakrishnan on her first break

startups Crafting the perfect brew at Pune’s Independence Brewing Company Pvt. Ltd. (IBC)

health Be informed, be alert: Guidelines by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India on Swine Flu

bollywood biz Age no bar for Bollywood Heroes

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delhi belly Broom is Delhi’s New Groom

pearls of wisdom Dada J P Vaswani on, ‘You are your own greatest asset’

Pulling a fast one How Cobrapost fell into the publicity pit

Beyond the bottomline A research study on how colours can significantly influence employee moods and thereby productivity

corrigendum The photograph of Deepak Nathani, COO and Executive Director, Cybage Software Pvt. Ltd and Trustee of CybageAsha, was inadvertently referred to as Arun Nathani, CEO, Cybage, in the story ‘Cybage ‘Asha’ adopts villages’ which appeared on page 40 of the February 16, 2015 issue of Corporate Citizen. The error is regretted.

23 March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 5

Editor-In-Chief Dr (Col.) A. Balasubramanian Editor Dr Suresh Chandra Padhy Consulting Editor Vinita Deshmukh Assistant Editor Joe Williams

44 61

Chief Marketing Officer Subash Krishnan

manage money Anil Lamba, a practising chartered accountant on Good Financial Management-I

featherlite Tweets from the Corporate World

Design & Art Direction Kiyan Gupta, The Purple Stroke Graphic Designer Anil Walunj Senior Business Writer Mahalakshmi Hariharan

mobile apps Five Best Cricket Apps for the ICC Cricket World Cup

Senior Sub-Editor Neeraj Varty

Writers Delhi Bureau Anuradha Shukla Pradeep Mathur / Swati Kumari

Pune Bureau Suchismita Pai Sangeeta Ghosh Dastidar Kalyani Sardesai

astroturf Fortune favours the bold and the lucky citizen claps & slaps Our bouquets and brickbats for the fortnight!

Be A Corporate Citizen

Photographers B Vijay Kumar Yusuf Khan Ahmed Sheikh / Prithviraj Mallick

How do you like this issue of Corporate Citizen - The Cool Side of Business?

For Advertising and Marketing queries Email: subash.krishnan@corporatecitizen.in

Send in your views, news, suggestions and contributions to corporatecitizenwriters@gmail.com We would love to hear from you!

(Corporate Citizen does not accept responsibility for returning unsolicited manuscripts and photographs. All unsolicited material should be accompanied by self-addressed envelopes and sufficient postage) Tel. (020) 30631075 / 30631076

6 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

Then and now

How Netas and celebrities somersault on their own statements and are not the least embarrassed! PM Narendra Modi on ShaRAD Pawar

Then: NCP is `Naturally Corrupt Party.’ Since the time the party was born nothing has changed, their leaders have remained the same. Do you know what their clock (party symbol) means? The clock shows 10 minutes past 10 which means in 10 years they have increased their corrupt activities 10 times October 12, 2014, at an election rally in Pandharpur Now: Sharadrao has years of experience and he knows more than I do. It’s my responsibility to seek his guidance when I am faced with an issue February 15, 2015, in Baramati

Anna Hazare on Arvind Kejriwal

Then: “Those who favour politics have been saying that if Anna says, then they will not form a political party. But despite that, they have decided to go ahead with the plan against my decision. This is not right. September 29, Times of India Now: “I congratulate Arvind Kejriwal. I am happy one of my activists will be the chief minister. On the eve of the Delhi Election results

Time of budget announcement

Then: Until the year 2000, the Union Budget was announced at 5 pm on the last working day of the month of February. This practice was inherited from the Colonial Era, when the British Parliament would pass the budget in the noon followed by India in the evening of the day. Now: It was Yashwant Sinha, the then Finance Minister of India in the NDA government (led by BJP) of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who changed the ritual by announcing the 2001 Union Budget at 11 am.

Then: 2013 Land Acquisition act. now: 2014 ordinance Particulars

2013 Act

2014 Ordinance

Consent from affected people

Mandatory consent of owners of the land-70 Not required for defense, seper cent for Private Public Participation (PPP) curity, rural infrastructure and projects and 80 per cent for private projects, industrial corridors which could be raised to 100 per cent by State Governments

Social Impact Assessment (SIA)

Compulsory SIA for every acquisition

Not required for defense, security, rural infrastructure, social infrastructure and industrial corridors

Multi Crop Land

Only in extreme situations, with an upper cap of 5 per cent acquisition of multi crop land per district

Not required for defense, security, rural infrastructure, social infrastructure and industrial corridors

Return of land if left unused for 5 years

Clause Present

No Provision

Consideration of Food Security

Clause Present

No Provision

Role of Panchayat

Required public hearing and Gram Sabha

No Provision

Pubic Sector and Private Companies Land Acquisitition can be done by

Public Sector, Private Companies and Private Entities (including proprietorship, partnership & NGOs)

Role of Authorities

If any clause if over ruled, concerned authorities will not fall within the jurisdiction of proceedings. Without permission they cannot be legally prosecuted.

Throughout the procedure of Land Acquisition if any clause or limit is not followed concerned person can be legally prosecuted

Coast Guard Deputy Inspector General (DIG) BK Loshali on the suspicious boat that sank in the Arabian Sea, 365 km off Porbandar in Gujarat on December 31, 2014.

Then: Let me tell you, I hope you remember December 31 night…we blew off that Pakistan…We have blown them off…I was there at Gandhinagar and I told at night, blow the boat off. We don’t want to serve them biryani…” - At the occasion of the launch of Coast Guard ICGS C-421 in Surat, Now: My remarks are out of context. They have been blown out of proportion. I did not make that statement. I said that national security is our prime concern and during an international event like this we will not treat them as guest and serve biryani.

March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 7

collywood

People in the news

Paparazzi scores a ‘duck’

Anushka Sharma may have starred in PK, the most successful Bollywood movie in recent times, but unfortunately, of late, she is more in the news for her association with cricket prodigy Virat Kohli than for her acting chops. Now that the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 is on in full swing, Anushka is being hounded with questions less related to her upcoming projects, and more related to team India’s future prospects. At a recent press conference where Anushka was all set to promote NH10, her upcoming venture as a producer, Anushka was asked if she would travel to watch India’s matches. While it’s nice that the paparazzi is so interested in the couple’s itinerary, we think it’s time they give their idle curiosity a rest and move on to more relevant things: Like analysing team India’s spectacular performance against Pakistan in the World cup opener, or Anushka’s nearly perfect track record of delivering hit after hit. Wouldn’t you agree?

On top of a ‘Big Four’ audit firm Did you know that India-born Punit Renjen has been appointed as the next CEO of US based accounting giant Deloitte’s global operations, thereby becoming the first Indian-origin person to head a ‘Big-Four’ audit firm? With this, Renjen joins a growing list of persons of Indian origin like Indra Nooyi, Satya Nadela and Anshu Jain, who have made it to the top posts at multi-billion dollar global corporations such as PepsiCo, Microsoft and Deutsche Bank, respectively. Hailing from Rohtak, Haryana, Renjen will assume his new role as Deloitte Global Chief Executive Officer from June 1 and will succeed Barry Salzberg in this role. He is now serving as US business Chairman and CEO of the group. Renjen has been with Deloitte for over 27 years, grew up in India and holds a bachelor’s degree with honours and a master’s degree in management from Willamette University, US. Hats off to you, Sir...We wish you all the very best for your future endeavours. 8 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

Musical Chairs

21 years of sweet grilling sessions

His life started in a 100 square feet room shared with nine family members in a grimy Delhi locality, but today, editor-in-chief and chairman of India TV, Rajat Sharma (58) is arguably India’s most powerful editor. Interestingly, India TV’s newsbreaks have inspired talk shows on rival channels, Bollywood films and BBC documentaries as well. Sharma is said to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP’s Amit Shah and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. He counts many Congress heavyweights and Bollywood’s big stars as friends. Some of India’s savviest investors, including group companies and companies associated with billionaires Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani, have put money in his company. The buzz about him is that he has access to VVIPs and occasionally advises or counsels important politicians. Not just that, he recently received the Padma Bhushan award this year for his work. In a short period, India TV has created benchmarks in innovation, impact, ratings, time spends, and viewer-support. Hats off to this gentleman for all his achievements and great work.

New roles: Adi Godrej-led Godrej Group’s top deck sees movement within three of its publicly listed entities. Now, P Ganesh, chief financial officer (CFO), Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) will take charge as the chief financial officer and company secretary for Godrej Industries Ltd (GIL). V Srinivasan, executive director of Godrej Properties Ltd (GPL) will move to GCPL as the chief financial officer and company secretary and will step down from the GPL board of

directors. Mohit Malhotra, who currently heads the business development function and the NCR region for Godrej Properties, will be inducted as an executive director on the board of directors of the company. All these changes will be effective from 1 April, 2015. Adi Godrej said he wants to have a robust in-house talent pipeline and the diversity of the Godrej Group will enable them to periodically expose key talent to different business opportunities. All the best for your new roles.

Awesome acquisition! Vishal Sikka proved it once again—with Infosys’ first acquisition after Sikka took over as the CEO in August last year. Infosys has announced the acquisition of US-based software automation technology firm Panaya for about `1260 crore in an all-cash deal. Panaya is being seen as a fit for Sikka’s strategy of “renew and new” aimed at enhancing competitiveness and productivity by leveraging technologies of automation, innovation and artificial intelligence. Sikka said the acquisition of Panaya would help differentiate the firm’s ser-

vice lines. “This will amplify the potential of our people, freeing us from the drudgery of many repetitive tasks, so we may focus more on the important, strategic challenges faced by our clients,” Sikka said.Way to go.

March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 9

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Changing track India’s youth icon and top journalist,Barkha Dutt has stepped down as NDTV’s Group Editor to set up her own media company, after almost two decades of joining the news channel. Dutt made her mark with her coverage of the Kargil war and her reporting for NDTV made her a household name. She was under fire for her alleged attempt to block a part of a political news, the proof of which manifested in the controversial Radia tapes. Barkha credits her journalistic skills to her mother, Prabha Dutt who was a well-known journalist with Hindustan Times and a pioneer among women journalists in India. Barkha Dutt has received several awards including the Indian Television Academy award for Best Talk Show five years in a row and the Padma Shri. Here’s wishing you all the very best for your future endeavours.

Arnab’s 27-second Super Silence

‘Selfie Queen’ is here

Remember the line “Main apni favourite hoon” from Kareena Kapoor’s blockbuster “Jab we met”? Well, actress Lakshmi Rai can totally relate to this line… Interestingly, Ms Rai has been continuously putting up selfies on the social media platform that too on a daily basis! Check out some of the selfies put up by the actor on social media in the last few days! No wonder, she’s now been termed the ‘Selfie Queen’…

To think of it, can you recollect the last time when Arnab Goswami (no introduction needed), stayed silent for 27 seconds? Well, it happened, and it probably would not have happened with anyone other than superstar Amitabh Bachchan. Two voices that probably the entire nation with access to a television would recognise without seeing where it was originating from would be - Amitabh Bachchan’s rich baritone and Arnab Goswami’s insistent riling. But what happens when Goswami meets Bachchan? Goswami plus Bachchan resulted in a man who is known never to be silent, for anybody. Here’s the story of Shamitabh that revolves around two men, one an ageing star and another young man yearning for success. And how Bachchan’s voice plays a pivotal role taking the story forward… Go ahead, watch it. 10 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

Government gets literary conscious Well, the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry is once again taking another step in the right direction to encourage more and more people to read books. Smriti Irani, HRD Minister will get in touch with the Railway and the Civil Aviation ministries to enable National Book Trust (NBT) to set up book stalls at all railway stations and airports. Not just that, books of all languages

A Diwali US Postal Stamp?

would be available at these stalls. Ideally, with higher footfalls in these areas, it is indeed a good idea to open book stalls in these regions. Ms Irani has also suggested NBT to publish books of budding and young writers in regional languages and setting up of book clubs in every district of the country to inculcate the habit of reading books among the masses. Good job, we must say!

Adieu Ferrero

In India, most of us love to have Ferrero Rocher truffles, Nutella, Kinder brand chocolates and tiny breath mints known as Tic Tacs. But ever thought about who is the man behind them? It’s none other than Michele Ferrero, fondly known as the Nutella Tycoon who passed away on February 14, 2015. He was 89. Michele Ferrero built the business founded by his parents in the 1940s into one of the world’s biggest confectionery companies and had a net worth of $22.3 billion at the time of his death, said a Bloomberg news report. The news agency even titled him as the richest person in Italy. Sir, thank you for the jar of bliss! RIP!

Before the memory of Obama’s state visit to India fades into distant memory, it is time to ramp up the effort in introducing the Diwali stamp in the US as a sign of stronger ties between America and India. The postal service has issued stamps for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Eid. Now it’s time for one to honour Diwali too. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D) of New York, in a recently held press conference in the Consulate General of India in New York implored her colleagues and all Indian-diaspora and media to join her in raising awareness for the stamp. .Diwali, the festival of lights is celebrated by millions of people in America, and by over a billion people across the globe, but the United States Post Service (USPS) still possesses no stamp commemorating the holiday. Why not have a stamp commemorating a major holiday that’s been celebrated at the White House since 2007? Why not grant more recognition to Diwali, especially when there are numerous designs ready to be used? Why not add an easy source of additional revenue into the hands of an ailing organisation? A few members of Congress have already begun the push to convince the USPS to begin production of a Diwali stamp: (Courtesy:www.nripulse.com) (Compiled by Mahalakshmi Hariharan) March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 11

wax eloquent

Renewing Clean Energy Resources The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has invited comments on its Draft Solar Policy outlining the government’s thoughts on renewable energy resources that evokes ideas on building suitable models and proposals on Solar Policy. Besides, PM Narendra Modi’s and India’s first ever ‘Renewable Energy Global Investors Meet and Expo’ (RE-Invest), February 2015, gathered enough steam to attract large scale investments for solar and wind power generation in India. This programme has witnessed 293 companies committing to generate 266 GW of renewable energy in the next five years. Hear it from experts and stalwarts in the industry for potential harnessing of clean energy resources Compiled by Sangeeta Ghosh Dastidar “There may be no large country in the world that is better positioned to capitalise on solar power than India is. Just think about it: India gets about 70 per cent more solar radiation than Europe. And one of the benefits of solar energy is that it is decentralised. It doesn’t rely on expensive transmission lines. … Imagine the signal it would send to the world if India were able to achieve its goal of bringing electricity to every household that lacks it, largely using clean solar power - at a fraction of the cost of the conventional grid. It would be a success story told - and copied - around the world.”

“What we inherited is a mere six per cent share of renewable energy in the India energy basket... And we are looking to expand the frontiers of renewable energy in the energy basket of India to over 15 per cent in the next 10 or 12 years.” Piyush Goyal, Minister of State with Independent Charge for Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy. Credit: Business Standard and http://www.firstpost.com

Michael R. Bloomberg, UN secretary-general’s special envoy for cities and climate change and Founder of media company Bloomberg LP. Credit:The Times Of India

‘‘Despite having the fifth largest generation capacity in the world, a third of our population has no access to electricity. We hope to be a key component in India’s solar powered future through our solutions spanning the entire solar value chain…The ambitious target set for solar power generation capacity in the country – 100GW by 2022 – makes it imperative to leverage all avenues available, be it 300 days of sunshine or opting for efficient and quality components deployed across solar projects.” Bazmi Husain, Managing Director, ABB India.

“Clean and renewable energy is going to be a growing share of India’s energy mix in the coming years and decades. In addition to contributing to energy access and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, there is a clear third benefit: jobs.’’ Dr. Arunabha Ghosh, CEO of CEEW (Council on Energy, Environment and Water).

“India will struggle to hit its “hugely ambitious” renewable energy target if it fails to make more land available for plants and ensure utilities have the means to buy in clean energy.” Jim A. Hughes, CEO of U.S.-based Company, First Solar.

Credit: http://businesswireindia.com

Credit: http://news.webindia123.com

Credit: Reuters

12 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

“We have always spoken of energy in terms of megawatt. It is the first time we’re talking of gigawatt. …We have no option but to make a quantum leap in energy production and connectivity.” Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India. Credit: Economic Times and http://ens-newswire.com

“This is a great business opportunity for solar companies from world over. The US solar industry would also like to be part of the growth story.” “I am personally confident that in the public-private sector, we will be able to achieve the targets as envisaged. RE-Invest will help India in leap-frogging the next level. Multi stakeholders that are coming together at RE. Invest will help in driving the vision together of renewable energy based power into the Indian grid networks over the next five years.” Rakesh Bakshi, CMD, RRB Energy Ltd and Member of FICCI National Executive Committee.

“Given the growth in the electricity sector the country is looking at, 650 Gw in 15 years, the need for cheap power makes India’s renewable energy sector one of the most attractive investment options…India has a critical need to add capacity to its grid as it continues to experience strong economic growth and growing demand for energy.” Pashupathy Gopalan, President (Asia-Pacific), SunEdison Energy – the US solar power major. Credit: Business Standard

Credit: moneycontrol.com

“Solar rooftops, diesel genset solar hybrids, telecom tower solutions are areas we have been working on for places where there is no

electricity available.” Basant Jain, CEO of Mahindra Susten, the renewable energy arm of the Mahindra Group. Credit: Hindu Businessline

“By looking at means to transfer technology to boost renewable energy, India has got the approach right. The logical next step is to attract global investments and provide the right operational infrastructure to realise our renewable energy targets.’’

Niranjan Nadkarni, CEO, TÜV SÜD South Asia, an international service corporation focusing on consulting, testing, certification and training. Credit: http://www.solarserver.com

Vinay Rustogi, Managing Director, Bridge to India, a leading consultancy firm monitoring foreign investment in Indian renewable energy space. He was commenting on the Central government’s solar power capacity addition that has been revised to 1,00,000 Mw and on wind power generation targeted at 60,000 Mw, both by 2022. Credit: Business Standard

“We started off by winning a project of 5 MW and in last three to four years we have progressed. Our expectation is to have 350 MW of EPC and another 80 MW of our own assets by the end of the year. … We are now looking at owning assets on our own and to have a total of 1 GW capacity in next two to three years. …Currently, we are at the US $ 150-200 million level and our target is for the renewable arm of the group to become a USD 1 billion entity in the next two to three years.” Parag Shah, Managing Partner of Mahindra Partners, the private equity arm of the Mahindra Group. Credit: Economic Times

sangeetagd2010@gmail.com March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 13

Padma Bhushan R Thyagarajan

14 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

Stalwart Corporate Leaders

R Thyagarajan heads a ` 60,000 crore empire, but has no office or mobile phone to flaunt!

adma Bhushan R Thyagarajan, Chairman of the ` 60,000 crore, Chennai based Shriram Group, does not own a mobile phone; moves around in a small car; does not have an office of his own or a personal secretary. What he possesses is a wealth of ideas to support and salvage entrepreneurs whose businesses are sinking, or to make the healthy ones perform better. He has scripted unparalleled success in transport finance. His credibility is so high that stalwart entrepreneur Ajay Piramal invested ` 4 ,000 crore in his enterprise. Thyagarajan sees wealth as a means to serve the community than to build luxury around oneself. Corporate Citizen speaks to the humble man who lives by Gandhian thought and is the pillar of strength behind the financial services conglomerate, the Shriram Group

Pic: G. pon prabakaran

By Vinita Deshmukh March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 15

Stalwart Corporate Leaders Corporate Citizen: Despite being a successful business magnate with a ` 60,000 crore business empire, you move around in a small car... Ramamurthy Thyagarajan: When you want to go from Place A to Place B, whether you go in a Mercedes-Benz or an autorickshaw your aim is to reach your destination. I am indifferent to the vehicle in which I travel. The objective is to reach the destination safely – and with minimum hassle. From that point of view, I would say, in Chennai, the autorickshaw is the best mode of transportation. You will be able to weave your way through the complex traffic and reach your destination much quicker. My wife strongly disapproves of my taking an autorickshaw, so I travel in a small car.

You don’t even own an office or use a mobile phone?

This is a personality trait or problem, depending on how you look at it. I am a hard core socialist. I believe that everything belongs to everybody and not to any one individual. Whenever I find a distinction made over ownership of this or that, I feel it is not fair. I come from a fairly well-todo agricultural family. We used to have servants and I used to feel quite uncomfortable, in a way guilty, that someone else should be ministering to your needs. We did not have electricity for a very long time. There would be this servant who would manually operate the fan and my father and siblings would enjoy the comfort, but I was uncomfortable.

That is such a contradiction. As a Chairman of the Shriram Group, you would be seen as the perfect capitalist!

` 60,000 crore empire is the Shriram Group– that has nothing to do with Mr.Thyagarajan. Shriram is a public institution. It has got shareholders, depositors, employees and citizens – eventually we are responsible for the citizens of this country.

Not many people think like that…

are totally indifferent and are unaware about themselves. You have the whole spectrum. Maybe I am one for whom the ego is not significant.

Could you tell us about your educational background?

I did my MA in Mathematics from Madras University and then pursued post-graduate studies in Statistics at the Indian Statistical Institute. The influence these institutions had on me was significant. There were people from all over India including professors; also some foreigners. One of my professors was JBS Haldane. I studied human genetics and genetics of plants under him. Otherwise, M A in Mathematics was a very tough course – you don’t enjoy it, but because you were reasonably okay in mathematics, you came out of it successfully. Then I joined New India Assurance Company as a management trainee because it had a good salary. As a statistician I would not have got the salary that New India Assurance gave to its management trainees.

What was your idea of pursuing a career as a youngster?

I never wanted to do anything particular in my life. I wanted to get into government service which would not make demands on my time or emotional energy so would get leisure time to pursue music and literature. Between 10 a m to 5 p m, I would be pushing files and reach home by 5.30 p m and listen to Western and Indian classical music and maybe study Bernard Shaw and things like that. That was my life’s ambition. When I joined New India Assurance, I came into contact with my boss, B K Shah. Normally that would not happen because he was the managing director of a fairly large company and I was at the level of a branch manager then. He had a meeting with branch managers – we were about 25-30 of us. He spoke to us for three hours. He put forth a constructive way of looking at the world, whereas I was concerned about my own need, my job that would give me money to indulge my own likes and dislikes. He was also on the board of the Food Corporation of India (FCI)

Many people perhaps do think likewise and act on that basis, but they may not be articulating it. I have heard about Kasturbhai Lalbhai for example – a person who created a lot of wealth but he considered it belonged to the community. Gandhiji’s concept of the rich man or the man who created wealth was that he should treat that wealth as a responsibility – he is the trustee of that wealth on behalf of the people around him – not necessarily only Indian people – on behalf of all living beings. Even J D Birla’s personal life was spartan. I am told that Kasturbhai went to the khadi exhibition every year and bought huge quantities of khadi, to meet the whole family’s need for clothes for the next one year.

You don’t even have an office?

I do not believe in an office because a place should be available for others if they need it. You can say mine is a personality which does not have much of an ego -- something you find in varying degrees in human beings. Some have egos making them megalomaniacs. There are others who

“I am not euphoric when things are successful and don’t get depressed when things do not move. I did not lose sleep when we faced crisis. When Ajay Piramal invested ` 4,000 crore, we were not excited, we considered it a greater responsibility” 16 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

Ajay Piramal, Chairman Piramal Group with R Thyagarajan

and the way he spelt out his vision for it during the one-to-one interaction that happened later, amazed me. We looked at him as an Insurance man but for him to have thought of the nation, what FCI was expected to do – all that was a different way of looking at the world and your place in it. In retrospect I feel that changed my approach.

What made you think ‘business’?

I did not get into business to make money but to play a useful role in making an idea someone had, better, and what I could offer him. The first time I was engaged in such a pursuit was with a pharmaceutical firm which was started by my friend. He was my customer at New India Assurance. He acquired a pharmaceutical company and wasn’t able to move forward. He was struggling for two years and he hadn’t even started production. I used to keep asking him as to when he would give me insurance premium for his pharmaceutical company. He kept postponing it, but nothing happened. Then I started looking into the problem. I told him I would look into it for some time although I was employed with New India. I would see how his company could be salvaged, but in any case, I wouldn’t bungle any further than he already had. After office hours, sometimes even during office hours, I would go there. I learnt the business and created that enterprise as a small scale unit producing 1,000 to 2,000 bottles of IV fluid per day. I got to know the pharmaceutical industry well because of this. That helped me turn around a major pharmaceutical company in Chennai called Mount Mettur later. That enterprise had 250-300 employees. The earlier one hardly had 20-30. Since I had become familiar with the set up, I decided to run it as it was in distress. I was concerned about 250-300 people losing their jobs. More importantly, I thought it could be saved. Since it was a difficult proposition, there was no competition to run it. In fact, people were running away from it. So, I took charge without investing a rupee in the company, without owning a single share. I began managing it, taking all decisions like a CEO. There was a CEO alright, but I was managing it from outside. In less than a year, we turned it around. We convinced the State Bank of India to give it some time and everything happened in a positive manner. That enterprise survived, and I left it for various reasons, but when I left, it was a reasonably well run institution and I had created a platform for significant growth. My approach is like that of a doctor’s – when the patient becomes well, the doctor can move to another patient. .

“We are very much in the business of financial inclusion of which the government talks a great deal today. We have 15 lakh truck operators borrowing money from us and are comfortable doing so, which is almost 20 per cent of the population of truck owners in this country”

So, you have the Midas touch…

I describe myself as a person with a talent for clear thinking, not necessarily intelligent thinking. Every enterprise goes through difficult times – it does not mean it is sinking. With some clear thinking plus finance, you may see a way out for a troubled enterprise. The next challenge is to convince people. In the case of the pharmaceutical company I was able to convince the bank. I could clearly see there was a case for a comeback.

The credibility factor also matters…

Clear thinking helps, and articulation skills are important. You need to be able to convey your conviction that it is going to do well. The level of conviction you bring in has an impact on people. If you yourself are not convinced it does not work. Once you know you can turn it around, you take support from, let’s say banks, though of course these days banks don’t listen much to an argument of this kind – they will ask where your

Pic: Shriram Group

securities are. But in those days, banks, at least for small enterprises – the SBI used to take a positive view. So if someone had a good idea and the conviction that the enterprise could do better, banks were willing to go along with them. This, is not the case now..

What made you start Shriram Enterprise?

When we started our company in 1974, the capital was only one lakh rupees each, contributed by ten people, which made it a handsome `10 lakh. From the year 1980, we started building the enterprise. We scaled up business, mainly through other peoples’ money. We went for IPOs, but all the time we were looking for people who had financial resources with whom we could partner. That is one thing we continued to factor in throughout the growth and development of the Shriram Group .

What has your role been in the high profile Shriram Group that you created? I have been involved in many things. Even today when Shriram Group companies in non-financial services go through difficult times, I am with them. I try to influence decision making and contribute to the extent I can. I think I am a very involved and committed consultant. A consultant is generally very detached. I advocate solutions that occur to me in a very spirited manner even to the extent of annoying people who are running the show. We like to have people run enterprises who see it as a responsibility they owe to the community. It has nothing to do with ownership. You don’t have to be a part owner; you don’t have to be a shareholder. You don’t have to be partner to run an enterprise with the highest level of responsibility. When I was working with New India Insurance Company, I used to lose sleep when things went wrong.

March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 17

Stalwart Corporate Leaders So you have found the right recipe for success...

Yes, if you look at our commercial vehicle financing business. When we started, it was hardly ` 10 lakh or 15 lakh– today it is a ` 50,000 crore company. There has been contribution by me along with others, but I believe that an individual is a part of the whole. Some people are good in doing things; some are good at conceptualising things; some are good in articulating the concept. People may say the man who combines all of them is the key man, but I always talk about badam halwa. When you eat very high quality badam halwa, the ingredients are good quality almonds, very good quality ghee and saffron, and above all you need a chef who combines all these things, but he also needs a bit of luck. You don’t give credit to just the chef. Without good ingredients, he would be unable to churn out a tasty dish. It needs a combination of inputs in the right proportion, done in the right manner. That is where probability comes in. It is like tossing a coin. Even when running enterprises do extremely well, your team is good, you can only say there is a high chance of things turning out to be successful. There is also a small probability of things going wrong but if experimentation continues, and if the team is good, it will succeed.

“In the 1990s we organised an independent audit of our portfolio by PriceWaterhouse Coopers India to show that our business of financing commercial vehicles was very safe and gave good return“

Could you give some examples of how you salvaged some enterprises?

There are two entities here – one is the Shriram group, the other is me and one or two of my colleagues as individuals. We also try to assist in our personal capacity with our personal money to smaller enterprises. Not for the sake of the return but to help an entrepreneur make and run an enterprise. At the Shriram group, we have allocated some resources to develop non-financial services, since the 1980s. Though we are known in the market-place as a financial services company, we earmark a small portion of the resources to set up or support non-financial entities. In the process, we have had a whole range of experiences. In some cases, we created world class, non-financial companies. One of them is Hi Tech Arai making rubber components for the automobile industry – today it is a ` 1, 000 crore company. It was an enterprise struggling to find its feet. When the promoters came to us, and said they would like us to get rid of their troublesome partner and put in some more money, we accepted the challenge. We struggled for three to four years; we had to invest much more than originally envisaged, but at the end of four to five years, it started making good profit and today it is an excellent enterprise. We do not own it anymore but we have the satisfaction of turning it around. There are many such examples.

Shriram Transport has pioneered commercial vehicle financing in India as well as commercial driver training. How?

By and large, the group evolved as a team of people who felt a sense of responsibility towards the country. It is not uppermost on their minds, but many of my colleagues do not look at business as mere money making enterprises, but which have a relevance to the community. We saw a shortage of commercial drivers. It is a very demanding profession. You have to take your vehicle from Chennai to Panipat; the next day from Panipat to Kolhapur and then to the Bangladesh border. It is a very difficult job to be in, and therefore you don’t get people to become commercial vehicle drivers. But vehicles have to run, and the person who is appointed may not be good at it, so accidents increase, fatalities increase. The driver gets killed and he kills other people too – not because he wants to, but because he is not properly trained. So, besides financing commercial vehicles we also set up this training institute in association with a group of youngsters from IIT, to create commercial vehicle drivers. They have developed a methodology to train drivers. We finance and work with them.. Skill development is our focus here. We also try to assist truck drivers’ children through scholarship schemes. We have set aside some of our profits to improve the lot of the people associated with the trucking business. We allocate nearly ` 10 18 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

crore per year currently. As our profits grow, our commitment to this fraternity will also grow. We try to focus on the community we are serving and the small businessman community. Shriram Citi Union Finance and Shriram Transport Finance are two of our publicly listed companies. Citi finance looks after financing small traders and individuals as well. We are very much in the business of financial inclusion of which the government talks a great deal today. We have 15 lakh truck operators borrowing money from us and are comfortable doing so, which is almost 20 per cent of the population of truck owners in this country. In the small business segment too thousands are dealing with us; could be a few lakhs – we don’t count.

When you are financing, the interest rate is higher…

This question bothered me: Are we exploiting by charging a higher interest rate? Then I told myself, we are engaged in the task of bringing in more money into the system. If we operated a small window of reasonably priced loans, it may solve the problem for some hundred people, but not for lakhs of people who are in business. The only way was to bring in more money into the system. So we focused on demonstrating that financing commercial vehicles was a highly profitable and absolutely safe proposition. We propagated the idea to banks, financial institutions – to everybody who could chip in. We were looking for partners all the time. First, a small bank, Citi Union Bank, took 25 per cent equity in our company – that strengthened us. Later on, we convinced Citibank, a multinational bank. We told them you put money in this business and you will make money and it will help our truck operators – it will help us also. They came in with a substantial equity. We went to the Tatas (Telco then) and Ashok Leyland – they too put in equity and became our partners. That is how we grew our business. I went to Telco and met Mr. Talaulikar who liked the idea and supported us. He began by giving 5 per cent equity and ended up giving 20 per cent, which was extremely encouraging and motivating. We did not focus on financing new vehicles as there were other entities that did it at a reasonably lower rate. We predominantly financed those who owned older trucks. At that time people had 20 to 25-year old trucks.

that I have been able to convey this philosophy to our 15,000-odd employees, but it has been conveyed to the key people. It is a culture we have succeeded in creating, to some extent.

Tell us about your CSR activity through Shriram Foundation

Even before CSR came in, as early as in1985-86, I said at the AGM of our Shriram group of companies, that 1 per cent of our profit should be spent on community service by assisting the poor people from our own business, and focus on educating the disadvantaged segment of the community. So we started setting up educational enterprises, catering to the very poor in areas where there were no schools. Over the years we spent money on building schools – by partnering with those that already existed, working along with them. We provide certain strengths they may not have access to. This is driven by one or two people – we run about five to six schools – the target is 100 schools throughout the country. We are told some states are not supportive, as they are highly bureaucratic.

What was your glorious moment?

I am not euphoric when things are successful and don’t get depressed when things do not move. I did not lose sleep when we faced crisis. When Ajay Piramal invested ` 4,000 crore, we were not excited, we considered it a greater responsibility.

Your definition of money?

They did not have the money or credit option to upgrade. We helped, since our financing was directed at owners of very old vehicles who wanted to upgrade to better vehicles, scrapping the old ones. We helped create the demand for new vehicles by enabling people to scrap their old vehicles, helping the nation’s commercial vehicle fleet get younger. When we started this business in 1980 the prevailing interest rate for new vehicles was 22 per cent to 23 per cent in the South and around 30 per cent in the North. For replacing old vehicles to slightly new vehicles, it was around 35 per cent to 40 per cent. Rates were lower in the South because there was a good financing company – Sundaram Finance. People were generally afraid to finance as you cannot see the assets – commercial vehicles are on the roads, and even the owner may see them only once a fortnight. So, there was nervousness on the part of banks and financial institutions to finance assets not under their control. A house won’t vanish, but with a commercial vehicle, it is difficult to keep track, unless it is a car moving within a particular geography. We eliminated that nervousness. We continuously communicated our experience to the market-place that a truck owner is a businessman and he too would like to get rid of his debt. In the 1990s we organised an independent audit of our portfolio by PriceWaterhouse Coopers India to show that our business was safe and gave good return. We communicated the report to banks and prospective partners. In the process, lots of money came into financing commercial vehicles. . Banks are also financing, earlier they never used to. We triggered off confidence among lenders that this was a segment that needed credit and could manage the credit so well that you could also make money. We had an important role to play in the transformation. So from our initial capital of ` 5 lakhs, which probably would have enabled us to do a business of ` 70 to 80 lakhs, we have now come to ` 50,000 crore. A vehicle owner is our partner and we are his financial partners, not moneylenders – we have been drilling this concept into the psyche of our executives and employees. We manage the finance; the vehicle owner manages his business. So it is a partnership – if he prospers, we prosper. If he does not prosper, there is no way we can prosper. The relationship between the financer and borrower should be symbiotic. I cannot claim

Being a mathematical statistician we always quantify our concept. Wealth is a fairly vague term. Wealth has to be measured by something or the other – you have to express it in quantitative language. Money is the quantitative yardstick of wealth. It could be market capitalisation, if it is share price; it could be market value if it is a house or a building. So money is wealth. My personal attitude is defined by my genetic makeup – a practical view of wealth is in the instruction manual of my genomic make-up. That determines everything – it responds to the external stimuli but how it will respond is already determined. In my case the stimulus was Mr B K Shah’s interaction. But my reaction to it was predetermined.

What about your personal wealth and inheritance to the family?

There is a one-third partnership which is Shriram group’s wealth. This is being shared by about 45 people. We have created a trust in which the employees are beneficiaries; select executives who have had a major role in this enterprise over the years are beneficial interest holders – I am one of them. 1 per cent goes to the junior level, 2.5 per cent to senior leaders and initiative makers. At the age of 60, they would get this amount – 25 per cent less or more, depending on their performance record. I will take 2.5 per cent, not more or less. Two of my colleagues would perhaps get more. I have two sons and both of them are aware of the fact that I am what I am and they are comfortable.

What is your advice to youngsters?

My advice would be to read Gandhiji’s `My Experiments With Truth.’ There has been no greater manager of human affairs and no greater influential leader in the history of mankind. What Gandhiji did not understand or know of the management of people or crisis is not worth knowing. The essence of good sensible management of a country, enterprise or community is there in Gandhiji’s life. You do not need IIMs – all these QTs which they teach are irrelevant. I would not say he had influenced me, but I see in him, a lot of sense, a lot of wisdom, very practical wisdom. It is much more practical than even the Bhagwad Gita. They should make Gandhiji’s teachings a compulsory subject – that is one way of redeeming these IIMs. Because they are perceived to be great institutions, the most talented people get into them. It is not because of the institutes that they perform. vinita.deshmukh@corporatecitizen.in March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 19

Chip off the old block

A Boardroom

of their own

Many young business heirs are opting for new challenges rather than harbour in the safety of the family business. A clutch of scions from prominent business families are venturing into unknown territory and exploring new zones. What drives these young men and women to forge out and try to carve their own new niches? And how successful are they? Corporate Citizen finds out By Anuradha Shukla

wo years back when I met Vasudha Munjal, the owner of chocolate boutique Choko La, my first impression was of a girl next door, passionate about street food and chocolates. That impression was quick to melt just like the chocolate delicacies that she designs. In just thirty minutes, she came across as a sharp business woman with a strong passion for what she was doing. Apart from her surname, it is difficult to believe she is the daughter of Pawan Munjal, Chairman and Managing Director of the Hero Group, one of the most high profile business families of India. But rather than choosing the comfort of joining the family business like a rich heiress, Vasudha went ahead to start her own venture, a chocolate chain under the brand name Choko La. She has already established herself as “the chocolate queen” in the elite business circle of Delhi and Mumbai.

“I am proud of being part of my family legacy but it is important to create your own identity and follow your own passion. My family always supported me in what I was doing and there was no pressure to join the family business,” Vasudha Munjal told, when asked about her decision of not joining the family business. And her passion is reflected in the refreshing and mouth watering menu of Choko La. Be it chocolate rose, hot drinking chocolate, a chocolate pizza or a chocolate rose, you are spoilt for choices with all sorts of premium chocolates you can think of! Currently, Choko La has 12 outlets in Delhi, Mumbai and Chandigarh and she is currently on an expansion drive with a target of setting shop in the top 20 cities of India in the next one to two years. Vasudha is among a clutch of scions from prominent business families venturing into unknown territory and exploring their own zone.

“I am proud of being part of my family legacy but it is important to create your own identity and follow your own passion. My family always supported me in what I was doing”

Vasudha Munjal, daughter of Pawan Munjal, Chairman and Managing Director of the Hero Group 20 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

Pic Credit: India today images

Other examples are present within her own family. Her younger sister Supriya, a fashion designer also decided to give up the family business and started her own line of clothing. Another cousin Akshay Munjal, son of Suman Kant Munjal, managing director of Rockman Industries Ltd, decided to venture into the education sector by opening a university in Dharuhera, Rajasthan rather than joining the family business. It is always a privilege to be born in a business family with a silver spoon in their mouths. But many second and third generation businessmen are ready to give up the comfort of the family business and are venturing into their own avenues and looking for their own identity. “The second and third generations always face the pressure of tough competition. In a joint family business it is easy to be lost in a crowd. So many young people are eager to establish their separate identities. No wonder many young

You must do what you strongly believe in. Success and satisfaction follows Roshni Nadar, Executive Director and CEO of HCL Corporation

business heirs are trying different things and taking up new challenges rather than enjoying the comfort of their family business,” said K. Ramachandran, Thomas Schmidheiny chair professor of family business and wealth management at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. “Also, with such a competitive business environment it is important to consider new growth industries and diversifying the overall portfolio. That is what most of the leading business families have done in the past,” said Ramachandran. Another example is Ramit Mittal, son of Rakeysh Bharti Mittal, Vice chairman and managing director of Bharti Enterprises. Ramit quit his job at International

Business Machines to lead PizzaExpress’s India entry in India while his cousins are being groomed to join the boardroom of the Bharti Group. Ramit has already worked in an ad agency and with Bharti Retail on the ‘easyday’ brand before starting his own venture. “Food has been a passion for me. It’s something I want to do for the long term and there is a huge opportunity for growth in this field. I am proud of my family business which you get in inheritance but it always brings greater satisfaction to follow your own dream and establish your independent identity,” young Mittal said in a recent interview. Like Ramit, Vikramjit Singh, grandson of late Ranbaxy family patriarch Bhai Mohan Singh was

also attracted by the burgeoning food business in India and decided to follow his passion for food than settling into the health care and pharma business. Vikramjit is the master franchise partner of US chain Fatburger and already has big plans to promote the brand in the country. “It is always easy to join the family business, but where is the challenge? I loved the brand since my college days and I always wanted to do it. This is not a regular brand like McDonalds or KFC but at a higher end. My

CC Tadka

Losing something can earn Dirums Dubai has devised a rather unorthodox plan to incentivize its citizens to lose weight: Shed pounds, and we’ll give you some gold. Participants will be awarded one gram of gold, worth just under $42, for every kilogram (2.2 pounds) in weight lost.

March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 21

Chip off the old block family supported my decision but all my investments are my own,” Singh added. Another example is Akshata Murthy, daughter of Narayan Murthy, founder of Infosys. An alumnus of the Stanford Graduate School of Business Akshata decided to go ahead with her own venture Akshata Design, that produces contemporary women’s clothing rather than join the family business like her brother. But change is not always welcome and sometimes it is difficult to convince the family, explains Rishabh Oswal, scion of the textiles conglomerate Oswal group. When Rishabh ventured out to set up a chain of dessert lounges his family was not happy with his decision. However he took the plunge and launched the store under the brand name Hug. Finally the family extended its support. At present there are about 70 Hug stores in Punjab and Delhi, and next on the card is to expand the brand across north India. However, the youngster believes that this is the best way to learn rather than taking the more comfortable route. When Bhairavi Jani returned from the US in 2000 after a year of working as a supply-chain consultant in KPMG’s Washington DC office, his father Tushar Jani, owner of Blue Dart asked her to set up her own venture. “People from family-owned businesses tend to take a lot of things for granted and never realize the pain of setting up a venture. It taught me a lot of things,” said Bhairavi. She set up i3pl, to provide end-to-end logistics services to corporate clients. It was only when she successfully established and exited the business was she allowed to join her family venture. “You must do what you strongly believe in. Success and satisfaction follows,” said Roshni Nadar, Executive Director and CEO of HCL Corporation, and the daughter of Shiv Nadar, the founder of the company. Even when she joined her family business, her focus was philanthropy through education. She started the Shiv Nadar

Akshata Murthy

“Food has been a passion for me. I am proud of my family business, but it always brings greater satisfaction to follow your own dream,” Ramit Mittal, son of Rakeysh Bharti Mittal, Vice chairman, managing director of Bharti Enterprises

22 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

Foundation that runs the not-forprofit Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering in Chennai, set up the Shiv Nadar University in the national capital region and is also providing better education to the rural children of U.P through the VidyaGyan School initiation. Roshni is also on an active path of reviving the brand name throughout the country. anu1122@gmail.com

be my valentine

1945 A Love Story Corporate Citizen salutes former bureaucrat Sadashiv Kulkarni who at the young-hearted age of 94 years is much in love with his 93-year-old wife, Shanta. They recently celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. By Kalyani Sardesai bhatt Pic: sunny

When the Panditji asked him to take my hand in his, he took it very seriously indeed. He relived that moment over and over again - Shantatai Kulkarni

ong before ‘space’ became a fashionable word, they practiced its nuances in every sense. Long before it was considered evolved to ‘celebrate differences’, husband and wife did their own things—sans guilt. And long before high-falutin relationship gurus pontificated on romance, they made it a point to hug each other good morning and good night. Every single day of a marriage that took place more than seventy years ago. Sadashiv Kulkarni (94) and his significant half Shanta (93)---say it was an effortless union. So what if it was arranged? “I knew he was a brainy fellow. And I have a fascination for intelligent people. We met at a formal do—featuring family and friends—and neither of us hesitated to say yes,” reminisces Shantatai. Both were well-educated. He, an MA in Mathematics, she a BA in English and Marathi. Shantatai is elder sister to scientist Vasant Gowarikar, and aunt to the celebrity photographer and director siblings—Avinash and Ashutosh. Sadashiv ‘dada’ Kulkarni, in the course of a long and illustrious career in the civil services has served as the District Collector, Municipal Commissioner and Divisional Commissioner of Pune. Shantatai busied herself in activities revolving around women’s empowerment and other socially relevant activities. “He is a romantic man in the significance he attaches to little things,” says Shantatai. “When the Panditji asked him to take my hand in his, he took it very seriously indeed. He relived that moment over and over again.” He is a plain-speaking, no-nonsense rationalist, she, talkative and friendly. She believes in God, he doesn’t. He is a man of few words, she makes friends easily and quickly. They don’t even go for walks together, as each one has a different pace.

Despite all these varying notes, none of them jar. As dada says, “You make good music when both the singer and accompanying instrument are in harmony.” “Respect and tolerance are basic to everything,” says Shantatai, gently persuading him to change into a nicer T-shirt for the photo shoot. He listens for a moment—none too pleased---but agrees, nevertheless. Sheel, one of their three children, reminisces the time when her mother travelled alone to London. When Shantatai expressed her wish to visit her brother in London—despite having young kids to look after—her father was all for it. Taking the kids along wasn’t feasible, so she organised child-care instead. Not once did he oppose any of this---and let her have her time with her brother, where she could explore, shop and meet with people to her heart’s content. “She even managed to get a job as a seamstress there—just for kicks, of course,” smiles Sheel. “Which led dada to remark: she is a survivor, who can land on her feet, in any situation.” He travelled a lot, she ran the home and entertained his colleagues and family as she saw fit. But nothing tested her organisational skills more than the Panshet deluge of 1961—which had the city of Pune going under, almost. As wife of the serving PMC Commissioner, Shantatai played a key role in ensuring free and fair distribution of food, clothing and other essentials. Given that each was brought up in different homes, disparity of thought was inevitable. “But then, even siblings brought up in the same home don’t look at life the same way, so why should partners?” wonders Shantatai. Why indeed---you think---as she gently leads him hand in hand inside the house post the photo shoot. Seventy years hence, the Kulkarnis are still living out the seven promises they made each other in 1945! kalyanisardesai@gmail.com

March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 23

Cover Story Dynamic Duo 6

Schauna and Bikram Saluja

Star Attraction Schauna Chauhan Saluja is the CEO of the ` 2,500 crore Parle Agro that produces some of the most popular and leading soft drink brands of India. Her husband Bikram Saluja is famously known as the first ever Beauty King of India when he won the prestigious Graviera Model contest in 1994. He is also popular as a film actor and an international tennis player. Corporate Citizen interacted with this charming Mumbai based celebrity couple to find out what makes them click.

By Vinita Deshmukh

he Parle Agro website proudly announces, “We are the largest Indian food and beverage company. With brands that have won the hearts of consumers everywhere, we are in almost every home across the length and breadth of India. Be it Frooti, India’s first mango drink in a tetra pack, or Appy, India’s first ever apple drink, or Appy Fizz, the country’s first sparkling apple drink, our beverages have, over the decades, acquired iconic stature in one of the most competitive markets in the world.” Admirably steering this Rs. 2,500 crore company is petite and polite Schauna Chauhan Saluja, CEO, who began her tryst with her father’s company since the age of 22 as a Board member, after procuring an MBA degree from Switzerland. Bikram Saluja, the famous hunk, whose good looks hit the public eye after he won the Graviera Modelling Contest to become India’s first Beauty King in 1994, is also well known as a Bollywood actor for his role in Page3, Fiza and Umrao Jaan. His passion though, is tennis, in which he had his limelight in junior international tournaments such as the US Open. 24 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

Jab we met in 2001

While girls merely drooled over model Bikram’s looks, it was one girl who went beyond just dreaming and ensured she captured him for herself and forever. That was none other than Schauna who quite literally used her influential corporate position to hook Bikram, who was caught unawares. Schauna candidly confesses how she laid the trap. Says she, “One weekend I happened to seen him at one of the night clubs in Mumbai and as soon as I had a first glance of him, I told myself `he is the one who I’m going to marry’.” With a twinkle in her eyes, she narrates how she pursued him after that: “I said to myself that I had to get in touch with him because I knew he was not going to do so. I don’t think he even noticed me. So I got his number and I left a message to call back. He didn’t do so, and I thought I had to move on. And so when he called me back later, even though I was there I didn’t answer the phone. Anyway, I answered when he called me up again and I said, “You know, why don’t we meet up?” He obviously thought it was work related, but I had a different agenda in my mind (chuckles).’’ Bikram says, “She asked me to meet her over a cup of coffee at Taj Lands End. I thought she was calling me over to model for Parle. I wasn’t taking any modelling assignments at that time because I was focused on my acting career but decided to meet her anyway. I pushed it from coffee to dinner much to her annoyance.” The reason was this gym freak hadn’t had enough of his workout, and so could not be in time for the coffee appointment!

March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 25

Cover Story

Many a time, the new managers we recruit start talking about what we should do, soon after induction. I tell them that every company runs very differently and one must try and first understand that - Shauna Chauhan Saluja Schauna quips in, “Yeah, I like watching movies for entertainment and he looks at it more from a work point of view. He will analyse and dissect that movie whereas I go to enjoy it.” The other difference, adds Bikram quickly, “She likes posing for pictures at events, I don’t.” But isn’t that a contradiction in his glamorous profession? “Yes,’’ he quips, ``that is an occupational hazard – I can’t do without it, but wherever there is a choice, I prefer to walk in from behind; she’ll be the person who’ll walk in from the front. She is an extrovert; I am an introvert.’’ Between the two, the third element – their lively little son Jahaan, all of 18 months old, with a million dollar smile, effuses the added warmth in their home. Now and then, he would come into the living room to be a part of the story and Schauna would tactfully distract him.

Work and parenthood

Adds Schauna, “I was upset because I wanted it to be a sweet and simple coffee meeting. We didn’t have to go through a dinner in case the conversation didn’t go anywhere and then he came late, so I said okay, fine, we will have dinner now. We chatted and things just happened.” Bikram adds, “I realised the reason for this maiden meeting was purely personal and had nothing to do with work. However, we became friends instantly and incidentally we got married too at Taj Lands End in December 2004.” Says Schauna, “We really established a good friendship during those two years, getting to know each other. Also, we had very different likes and dislikes so the time helped us in understanding those…We became best friends, we were always there for each other, for anything and everything. We both decided two years was a long enough period because we had also reached a certain age, I was already 28 when I got married.”

Love marriage that clicked

Sometimes, a love marriage isn’t as rosy as it is during courtship. What went into making this marital relationship a smooth sailing one? Schauna, the more extrovert of the two says, “After marriage things never changed – that’s because we had already established such a great relationship. So when people ask me how I feel now that I am married, I always say, what I felt yesterday is what I feel today.” Schauna further elaborates, “The common factor is that we both are very humble and simple people; we are very honest and have good values. As for the differences, the most visible one is that he is very particular about a lot of things. He is much more organised and I am extremely messy.” Bikram adds more spice and says, “Also, she likes masala films and I don’t.’’ 26 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

chauna who was involved in the family business since the age of 22, works along with her other two sisters, Alisha and Nadia. Bikram works mostly from their luxurious apartment as he is busy producing a television series on India. Bikram says he would not like to reveal the details as yet but says he is very excited with the way it is shaping up and that “It’s a very personal journey of mine through India.” His earlier TV serial on the icons of the sports world had won public appreciation. So what has been her value addition to Parle Agro? Schauna states in all humility, “That’s actually such a difficult question. I think just watching an organisation grow from what we were let’s say 12 or 15 years back, it cannot have been an individual thing; it’s a team effort. It is a whole organisation working together to achieve a common goal and our goal is to be the largest beverage company in India. Frooti has become synonymous with a mango drink and we are also the 10 top trusted brands as per the Economic Times survey. Schauna reveals that her working hours are between 8.30 am and 6.30 pm. Says she, “My sister looks after the marketing and branding strategy of the company, whereas I look more into the operational part, which could include the legal, the financial or the manufacturing locations and quality control.” The admirable part is that her motherhood responsibility goes hand-in-hand at her office, as she takes little Jahaan along with her. “I could not leave him at home with the maids. We have an apartment there which is exclusively for the kids. Jahaan has a room there and he is looked after very well. At 1 p.m. I take a break to feed him lunch and that’s when I have my lunch too.” Schauna has resisted going out of station for work due to Jahaan, but she says “I would have to start travelling soon and of course Jahaan will also accompany me with a maid in tow.” Bikram is very pleasantly surprised to see Schauna so dedicated in her role as mother. Says Bikram, “She is a very hands-on mother -- that’s surprising, because I didn’t think she would be. She gives him a bath every day, takes him for an evening walk, for swimming and to children’s parks on holidays or on her day offs… it is indeed admirable.”

Jahaan has made the family complete, says Schauna proudly. “I think the good thing is that now the family feels very complete. Before he was born I remember saying I don’t know if I am going to change his diapers or not and that my work will continue to remain a priority. But the day he was born it changed, and life was a completely different thing altogether, because he is so dependent on you and so you need to be there for him at any point of time in order that he does not feel insecure.” As a father, Bikram says “For me, fatherhood began earlier. We had a dog and that was like my first son. But unfortunately he passed away last year. He was a bullmastiff and his name was Brando. I work out at home so I used to spend a lot of time with him; he had his own language which he expressed through gestures.”

Advice to young corporate managers

Schauna believes, “The most important thing is that one must be confident but not overconfident. Without learning or understanding the business, one must not start trying to make changes. Many a time, the new managers we recruit start talking about what we should do and why we shouldn’t do it in this way or that, soon after induction. My question to them is how long have you been in this company, because every company runs very differently and one must try and understand that. The same applies to senior managers who join us. I suggest to them to make a list of the things that they can do but to start looking at them once they have spent two to three months understanding how this organisation works. What is the culture here? What is our end goal? What are we expecting? You have to learn the business first and that’s exactly what I did - I learned the business before taking any decisions on it.” Schauna had an edge as a corporate leader as she was born into this business family, but decided to begin working from the ground. Says she, “I got inducted normally and worked in different departments for two to three years. I started figuring out where my strength lay, what I wanted to do, what I could do, and where I could add value. After this experience, I

started with increasing the number of our manufacturing locations.” Now, Parle Agro has seven manufacturing units across the country and two franchises. They have 50 franchisees for their mineral water section. While Schauna is a true breed corporate person who works in a structured environment and schedule, Bikram, the Indore boy who chased his tennis dream has a routine that is flexible, sometimes unpredictable, depending on what he is doing at the moment. Bikram who started playing tennis at a very young age, shifted to Pune when he was 15 years old, for better exposure and to get training from professional coaches. It was rare for parents to give priority to sports for their children but says Bikram, “My dad was into iron and steel and had his own rolling mill. He was very supportive and even took me to camps when I was 12 years. At the age of 13, I had gone to USA for training for two and a half months. I started living by myself since I was 15 years old.” Bikram started playing ITF tournaments and started doing well – he was in the top 15 in the world juniors, but soon suffered bad losses. He rues, “I think I jumped in too early into the men’s circuit. I should have given myself more time to develop my game after my training in the US. Somewhere down the road, I lost confidence and decided to pursue my B.Com from Symbiosis. What is his advice to youngsters who want to pursue tennis as a ca-

Modelling gave me financial independence, confidence, interaction with people and an identity apart from the tennis world - Bikram Saluja

in Moscow Making merry

Taking a break in Venice

Happy times in New York

March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 27

Unlike a sportsman when you are out on the court and in charge of your destiny, in this world of glamour, you are not in charge and that’s something I have not come to terms with- Bikram Saluja reer? Says Bikram candidly, “Youngsters should go out and pursue tennis as there are enough opportunities now. Education is very important for sure, but if you are good enough and believe in yourself, you should go out and give it your best. At the same time, at every stage you reach as a player you need to go back to the drawing board and very pragmatically analyse what are your next goals and how to get there. That was one thing that was missing in my tennis career because I had all the support of my parents but somewhere down the line I was not guided properly by professional coaches like they do in the West. If I would go back in time, I would have gone to the USA, pursued my game further and then plunged into the professional men’s circuit. I mean nobody was there to counsel me and I am not pinning the blame on the coaches because the times then were different. So one needs to approach everything with meticulous professionalism.” 28 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

Bikram’s plunge into the glamour world

With his tennis career not doing so well and disappointment having filled his life, Bikram’s mother stumbled upon a newspaper advertisement calling for applications for the Grasim Man of the Year contest and asked Bikram to apply for it. Says he, “I didn’t know anything about modelling as I was cocooned in the world of tennis, but decided to apply for it. I got selected in the regionals and reached the finals. I won the Grasim Man Of The Year contest in 1994. I was surprised to win it and suddenly I found that I had the attention of the media. Everybody from the modelling world too took notice. I again went back to tennis briefly but decided to give this glamour world a shot and moved to Mumbai to endorse myself.” Says Bikram, “I had to come to terms with erratic timings and as against tennis where every minute of my life was preplanned and I was chasing a goal to achieve, it was a lot of hard work here too, but the schedule was in someone else’s hands and you could do nothing much.” So Bikram completely shifted his work from the floodlights of the tennis courts to the flashlights of the cameras as he had to shoot with photographers, work on auditions and so on. He adds, “In this world, work does not necessarily happen every day and you know you can’t dictate the work. There is also a lot of struggle in terms of work like getting your pictures clicked, shooting with your photographers, meeting people and touching base with advertising agencies…Unlike a sportsman when you are out on the court and you are the one who is in charge of your destiny, in this world of glamour, you are not in charge and that’s something I have not come to terms with...However, modelling gave me financial independence,

After marriage things never changed – that’s because we had already established such a great relationship. So when people ask me how I feel now that I am married, I always say, what I felt yesterday is what I feel today - Schauna The dashing couple on their wedding day

confidence, interaction with people and an identity apart from the tennis world.” Bikram Saluja became a heart-throb as the model for Gillette, Nokia, Allen Solly. For Sheetal Wear, he modelled with Aishwarya Rai and for Siyarams Suitings, he modelled with Lara Dutta. He also rendered music videos and worked for a lot of designers.

ikram, still not satisfied with his success, also pursued a part time management 1992 Junior US Open Rohit Reddy and Bikram course, then dabbled with theatre for some time and then decided to pursue a career in films in 1999. Says he, “After having had enough of theatre, I worked on myself a lot to get into the film industry. I started meeting producers and directors and coincidentally Fiza happened, so I started shooting for it. It was directed by Khalid Mohammad and I was playing the role of Karishma Kapoor’s boy-friend. It also had Jaya Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan in it.” However, he was disappointed with the final outcome of the film, as his role was heavily edited. Says he, “I don’t want to seem like a cribber, but a lot of my part had got edited during the shoot and I just felt that they did not present me in the light I ought to have been presented. There is no guarantee in this film world and for me, things did not start off on a good note. You are just thrown into the situation and you have got to take in the flow -- the good with the bad and bad with the good. So I keep my head down and keep working. Unfortunately the films I was working on somehow got postponed. After a not-so-successful film career, Bikram says, “I decided to do a coffee table book. I chanced upon an idea with my photographer friends to interpret some movies that have inspired me as an actor. The book was called `Actors’ Inspiration’ in which two characters were adapted from two iconic films -`The Godfather’ and `The Raging Bulls.’ He chose the character of Michael Corleone which Al Pacino had played and adapted Jake Lamotta’s which Robert De Nero had played in Raging Bulls. He adapted these characters to the Indian milieu and shot it like a film. On completion, says Bikram, “The copyright of these films are held by Hollywood studios - Paramount owns the `Godfather’ rights and MGM owns `The Raging Bulls’. Because I was interpreting these two films and culled out dialogues from them. The studios in Hollywood gave me permission to release it, but only in their studios, due to the copyright held by them. I got sponsors to make this into a coffee table book which was called “Actors Inspiration”. That’s how my journey

Mahesh Bhupathi, Bikram Saluja and Nitten Kirrtane at Wimbledon in 1992

began as an independent artist and I began expressing myself through my own work. After that I did a documentary series called `Sporting Legends’ for ESPN Sports, which documented the lives of seven iconic Indian sportspersons – Saina Nehwal, Abhinav Bindra, Sushil Kumar, Mahesh Bhupati, Narayan Kartikeyan, Jeev Milkha Singh and Pankaj Advani.

Spending time together

Bikram says they haven’t had holidays since four years or so because of the book that he was scripting. Says he, “The last one was in 2010 in the USA and Moscow where I had gone for shooting and Schauna joined in. I love working holidays. Before that we had a holiday in Bangkok in 2008.” Music and restaurants are their other interests. At home, it is each to his own as far as work is concerned. Reveals Bikram, “I am into editing so my days are very flexible, so we sometimes go out for lunch. I work a lot at night -- she wakes up at 6.30 a m and sometimes my day ends at 6.30 a m.”

What does marriage mean?

Schauna: Marriage is the trust and understanding you have with each other. If you can be with each other knowing the pitfalls and negatives and looking beyond them and have trust in each other which leads to security in your marriage, then it can click. Bikram: Married life is not a red carpet. It is about making it work in which sometimes you give – you can’t expect the other person to dole out stuff for you. You have to be sensitive for the other person’s needs and have to work on your marriage, each day. vinita.deshmukh@corporatecitizen.in (transcription of the interview by Aakash Arun) March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 29

Corporate Citizen Survey

GATEway to Success! The Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) exam is one of the toughest and most attempted entrance exams in India. A good score in GATE gives candidates the chance to join the prestigious IIT institutes for their Masters. Corporate Citizen, along with Leadcap Ventures, conducted an in depth survey on candidates appearing for GATE 2015 at a prestigious exam center in Pune, to find out their motivations, aspirations, and plans for the future

By Neeraj Varty

ATE is not just one of the toughest entrance exams in India, but also one of the toughest in the world. Out of the lakhs of candidates appearing for it, only about 15 per cent manage to clear it every year. Those who do, are almost guaranteed campus placement after completion of the course. The urge to attempt GATE is so profound that most candidates attempt it even before completing their graduation, in the the final year. Out of over 200 candidates we surveyed, over 58 per cent of the candidates are still under-graduates. When asked why they were attempting GATE even before their final year results, most of them said that they expected to have to attempt the exam more than once, in order to be successful, so the earlier they start, the better. GATE is possibly the most attempted exam by engineering graduates. Our numbers show that an overwhelming 91 per cent of the candidates who attempted GATE were Bachelor of Engineering (BE) students. When asked why they preferred to pursue post-graduation despite being engineering graduates, most of them replied that such is the state of Engineering in India, that being a graduate by itself is no longer viable. Infact, among the age 18-22 years age group, an astounding 75 per cent of the candidates received no placement support from their respective colleges. The placement record for candidates in the 2329 age group is far worse, with over 84 per cent not receiving any jobs through their respective campuses. Considering the huge amounts of money these students spend on their graduate education from expensive colleges, this statistic is truly appalling. India has one of the highest numbers of technical graduates; however, it seems that enough support isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t provided to them by financial institutions. In the west, the most widely adopted mode of financing higher education is through affordable student loans, where students are given loans by bank at affordable interest rates. In India, high interest rates keep students at bay, and most of them have to depend upon their parents for financial assistance. An overwhelming 73 pre cent of students depend upon their parents to put them through college, while a relatively low 23 per cent opt for bank loans. Most of the students interviewed expressed a desire to finance their own education, if only bank loans were easy to procure, and available at a reasonable rate. Contrary to widespread belief, a higher salary is not the No 1 reason for students to opt for higher education. Over 46 per cent of students said that they planned to study further to become experts in their field. A desire to earn more salary is, however, the No 2 reason for attempting GATE. Corporate Citizen has compiled some interesting statistics about GATE aspirants. Read on 30 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

The placement record for candidates in the 23-29 age group is far worse, with over 84 per cent not receiving any jobs through their respective campuses. Pic: prithviraj mallick

Educational Qualification Qualification

Year of Completion of graduate

42% 58%

Although GATE is a post graduate examination, a whopping 58 per cent of them are still undergraduates. Also worth noting, is that among the graduates appearing for GATE, over 60 per cent completed graduation in 2014-15

7% 8% 31%

14% 29%

n Graduate n Non Garduate

Course Pursuing

11%

n Prior 2010 n 2011 n 2012 n 2013 n 2014 n 2015

Placement Support 1%

3% 6%

75%

84%

n Cant Say n No n Yes 91%

24% 16%

n BE n BTech n Others

91per cent of candidates, who are pursuing graduation, have enrolled for Bachelor of Engineering. The maximum preference for GATE is shown by BE students, as compared to 6 per cent by Btech students and 3 per cent by others

18-22 Years

23-29+ Years

84 per cent of the candidates 2329+ year age group do not receive placement support from their college. The numbers for the 18-22 age group are not much rosier. Over 75 per cent of them do not get placed from their college March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 31

Corporate Citizen Survey

Finance For Graduation Studies Parent support

73% 21%

Bank loan Govt. scholarships / concessions Relative support Scholarship from private bodies / NGOs Others

The majority of candidates rely on parental support for studies (As high as 73 per cent). In the West, the most common mode of educational finance is student loans. In India, due to high interest rates, more family dependent culture, student loans form only 21 per cent of the financial sources

14% 6% 5% 1%

Reason For Pursuing Higher Education 46%

To become expert in my field 33%

To earn more salary To explore better opportunities

29%

To get reputation and recognition

15%

To settle abroad It is mandatory to get job Others

6% 5% 4%

Contrary to most presumptions, the No 1 reason for pursuing higher education is not to earn more salary, but to gain expertise in that field . Salary, however, is the second most priority for the candidates, with over 33 per cent pursuing higher education for monetary purposes

Top Reasons For Choosing Iit Better Opportunities and Salaries

Good Campus Placement

Better Future

32 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

Brand of the Institutions

Good exposure to get expertise

It is no secret that IIT is the preferred institute for technical studies. Most of the candidates opted for GATE because they expect good campus placements, better salaries, and a secure future

Desired Field Of Employment Employed in industry

49%

Research / PhD

18%

Entrepreneur/ self employed

17%

12%

Teaching /education Consulting Placements

Others

Only 49 per cent of the candidates planned to pursue employment in the industry, whereas the rest either planned to continue their education, or move on to jobs outside the industry

Salary Expectations

Salary Expectation after Graduation

Salary Expectation after Post-Graduation

11%

12%

16%

20% 27%

44%

29%

n 3-5 lakhs per annum n 5 – 7 lakhs per annum n 7-10 lakhs per annum n 10-15 lakhs per annum n 15 lakhs & above per annum

After graduation, most of the candidates expect a salary of at least ` 3-5 lakhs per annum. A small percentage of candidates had rather lofty salary expectations of over ` 15 lakhs per annum.

30%

n 3-5 lakhs per annum n 5 – 7 lakhs per annum n 7-10 lakhs per annum n 10-15 lakhs per annum n 15 lakhs & above per annum

If they manage to clear GATE and complete their post graduation, most candidates expect a salary of at least ` 7-10 lakhs per annum neeraj.varty@corporatecitizen.com March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 33

Cradle of Leadership-5 Interview with IIT Delhi Director Prof R K Shevgaonkar

Making India an Intellectual Capital A rich family background and good education in a top school is generally considered a sure shot recipe for success. But there are a few who stand exception to the rule. One such is the present Director of IIT Delhi, Prof. R K Shevgaonkar. With very humble beginnings but through sheer determination, grit and a bit of luck, he has proven that anyone can overcome circumstances and show extraordinary results. In a candid interaction with Corporate Citizen, he talks about his journey, shares his views on several flagship programmes of PM Narendra Modi, new trends among IITians and his Pune experiments in bringing industry and academia together. Excerpts from this free-wheeling interview: By Pradeep Mathur Give us a brief account of your early years. How did you become an engineer?

I come from a lower-middle class family. My father was in the Railways. We’re a joint family based in Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh. I studied in a private, Marathi-medium school. I was good in studies and liked physics and mathematics but engineering was not on my radar. When I topped my XI Board exams, I tried and got admission in engineering at Gwalior’s Jiwaji University.

Why did you get into electrical engineering?

I had a friend. We always had an intense competition, academically. Sometimes I would be first, sometimes he. So, when the time of branch selection came, he said, he’ll take electrical. So, I thought I’ll go for mechanical. But it so happened that at the eleventh hour, he chose to take mechanical. I therefore opted for electrical. That’s how I chose the branch. No great thinking at that stage. But then I developed a liking for electrical because, at that time, my institute was starting a new branch in electronics. So mine was the first batch in electronics at MITS. I did well and won the gold medal in electrical engineering. That’s how my journey started. 34 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

Pics:

Many IITians are also going for non-technical global jobs such as finance. It is surely a loss to technology but after you have studied at an IIT, you can do what you want to do. Many IITians are switching over to careers in banking and finance these days March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 35

Cradle of Leadership-5 How did you reach IIT Kanpur? Were you really inclined towards research and academics?

At that stage, I had no intention of going for research or academics. But it so happened that our BE results got delayed. So, some job opportunities had already gone. We were five friends; two from mechanical, three from electrical. Somebody said why don’t you apply to IIT for masters? We had three to four months’ time in between. At that time, I had absolutely no idea what IITs really were. But we had four months’ spare time, so we friends just started preparing together for IIT Kanpur and interestingly we all got selected in IITK. That was a turning point in my life. There, at IITK, I realised what academics really meant. I had never seen such seriousness in academics -- how seriously teachers would take their classes. Not a single class was to be missed. Every class was so rich in content that I really developed a liking for academics. Exciting things were happening.

After M Tech from IIT Kanpur, was there no pressure from your parents to take up a job?

No. Both my parents were very supportive. My father said, “I’m in service and can take care of the family. So, if you want to go for higher studies, you better do that.” My mother gave me an even higher support. She said, “If you want to go into academics, go, but try for the ultimate degree.” She was herself very good in her studies but could not continue for various reasons. So, when I went for M Tech, I got scholarship and it was self-supporting. It was a wonderful time. However, after completing M Tech, I had thought I would go for a job. I had no intention to go into research. I got a couple of public sector job offers too. But somehow I did not feel like joining them. All my friends were applying for GRE, wanting to go abroad. But I had a nationalistic feeling. I felt I must stay in India only and so I joined PhD at IIT Kanpur itself. My guide at IIT Kanpur was also relocating himself to the US. He said why don’t you come with me to America for PhD? I said, “No thanks, it’s fine, but I want to stay in India.”

Then what brought you IIT Bombay?

I was happily working in Bangalore but for research, the minimum qualification was a PhD and I had to register for it. But Raman Institute did not give degrees. Since my background was still engineering, I had to register with either IIT Madras or IIT Bombay. It so happened that I decided to go to IIT Bombay. There was no specific reason.

How did you get into the University of Maryland?

Before I got my PhD degree in Image Processing, I met a professor in IIT Bombay who was from the University of Maryland in America. He said he was looking for a person exactly with my qualifications. The IIT Bombay Director told him, “You won’t find a better person than Shevgaonkar.” But I declined as I hadn’t completed my PhD as yet. He said, “Doesn’t matter. You keep working on your PhD.” He also offered me a faculty position, equivalent to a Post Doctoral Fellowship. So, I went to the University of Maryland. The only condition was that whatever research I did there, I could not submit for my PhD. He said, he could not support my PhD. I said, fair enough. So, I used to do my PhD work separately from his work in Maryland. I got the maximum number of papers published from there in top astrophysics journals while simultaneously doing separate work in Image Processing. This I later submitted at IIT Bombay for my PhD. These were two parallel things I was working on, though both were not connected at all. But it was OK. I thought I could do it. I finished that.

But then how did you do your PhD from IIT Bombay?

That’s another story. After four to five months at IIT Kanpur, something interesting happened. One of my most respected professors at IITK, Prof. Mathur got a letter from Bangalore’s Raman Research Institute (RRI) that they were building a large radio telescope for which they needed an antenna engineer. Now, I was an antenna engineer because my M Tech degree was in antenna and electromagnetics. So, he asked me if I was interested in going over there. I said no, because astronomy was not my cup of tea. He asked, had I ever been to Bangalore. I said, no. He then said since they were giving me TA/DA, why don’t I go and see Bangalore. If I didn’t like Raman Institute, I could always come back. So, that’s how I went to Bangalore and saw this place called RRI. It was such a beautiful institute, very small but with excellent, high-quality scientists always engrossed in research and discussion. They took me to the site of the telescope, 80 kms from Bangalore, where they were building an antenna of 1.5 kms in size. When I saw that, I said, this is something exciting. I should go for it. I felt I could do my PhD later too. So, from there itself, I wrote to Prof. Mathur that I was not coming back to Kanpur, as I wanted to continue at Bangalore.

So you gave up your research at IIT Kanpur?

Yes, I got so excited that I stayed back. We built a telescope which took almost three years. Electronic systems were installed and they started working too. That time, the director of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Prof Venu Bapu, a very eminent scientist, called me and said, “Look, Shevgaonkar, you’ve two choices. Either you remain a maintenance engineer here or convert yourself into a researcher in radio astronomy. Study physics. Use these instruments and create something new.” I felt this sounded interesting. So, I started doing research in radio astronomy. 36 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

Professor Shevgaonkar heading for the Republic Day (2014) function with the NCC cadets at IIT Delhi

How did you take up teaching at IIT Bombay?

In this long journey, who were your role models?

What was your initial experience at IIT Bombay?

You spent over two decades in IIT Bombay. You also held many administrative positions over there. Did it not clash with your academic and research work?

When I was in Maryland, my wife applied for me at IIT Bombay and then, of course, IIT Bombay offered me the position of Assistant Professor in 1986. At that time, I was working at the Raman Institute. Before joining IIT Bombay, I wanted to finish my astrophysics work. So, I wrote to my professor in Maryland that since I was changing my job, could I go over for some time and finish the half-done work. He said, by all means. So, again, for one year, I went back to Maryland. After that I came back and joined IIT Bombay. After coming here, I realised that there was no astrophysics, no astronomy activity in IIT Bombay. Even the physics department had no subject like astronomy. So I had to redefine myself because in the electrical department, nobody was interested in astrophysics. But since I had my PhD in Image Processing and my M Tech project in Optical Communication, I started working in these areas again. But in those ten years of my stint in astrophysics, things had drastically changed in electromagnetics. So I had to start working in these areas all over again where I still work. But, now, it’s more on Optical Communication.

Actually, there were not many. I was tremendously impressed by my school teachers at Parvati Bai Gokhale Vidyalaya, in Gwalior. They had very high ethical standards. My mother was a very strong follower of Mahatma Gandhi. She also shaped my thinking. In science and technology, I was really inspired by Dr. Homi Bhabha and Prof. MGK Menon. On the social side, it was Gandhi. Many of his ideas are such that I work on them even today!

Yes, I worked for practically all positions, except that of the director, IIT Bombay. But my thinking is, when you are working for an institution, you should work for its priorities. No personal agenda should define you. So when I joined IIT Bombay, they said, they needed a warden. So, I took up that responsibility. When that got over, the director felt I should become the chief coordinating warden. Before that got over, I was made Dean of Students’ Welfare. So, before I could complete any tenure, I was always pulled

I worked for practically all positions, except that of the director, IIT Bombay. But my thinking is, when you are working for an institution, you should work for its priorities. No personal agenda should define you. So when I joined IIT Bombay, they said, they needed a warden. So, I took up that responsibility up to the next position. That’s how it happened. Actually there was a time in between, when IIT Bombay registrar’s term got over and the next registrar was not appointed for almost six to seven months. So, the director made me the registrar also for six months. At that time, I was holding three positions: head of the electrical engineering, head of distance education and registrar of IIT Bombay, all rolled into one. But that was not all. I also established the CDE or Centre for Distance Education at IIT Bombay. I prepared two courses for it which you now see on U-Tube. One is on the electromagnetic waves and transmission lines and the other is on Optical Communication. Electromagnetics has 60 lectures. These are part of the distance education programme. I also wrote a book on electromagnetics which is an undergraduate textbook. So, my academic activities continued with my administrative responsibilities. Research work also continued. I published some 160-170 research papers and guided almost 18 PhDs. So, academically what other people were doing, I was almost on par with them.

Before your IIT Delhi stint, you were the Vice Chancellor of the Savitribai Phule, Pune University. How did that happen?

The Pune story too is very interesting. When I was deputy director at IIT Bombay, I used to go to Savitribai Phule, Pune University to conduct vivas for PhD and M Tech students. Whenever I went to Pune, I would find several things wrong. But if I made a suggestion, the standard reply I got was, Sir, this is not IIT. This is a university and you can never do it that way. So I used to think, how could I take the ethos of IITs to our universities? In fact, this same question was asked by Governor Shankar Narain in my interview: Why did I want to come to Savitribai Phule, Pune University? I said I wanted to bring the good working ethos of the IIT system into the university. I thought I wouldn’t get selected, but to my utter surprise, he said ‘My full support is with you. Do whatever is good for academics.’ I said, fine, and that’s exactly what I did in Pune. Purely for academic reasons, I made changes in the university system. Lots of digital electronics was incorporated so that transparency could actually come into the system. March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 37

Cradle of Leadership-5

With President Pranab Mukherjee at the inauguration of an exhibition on techonology development which was on Convocation day of IIT Delhi

There was no astrophysics, no astronomy activity in IIT Bombay. Even the physics department had no subject like astronomy. So I had to redefine myself because in the electrical department, nobody was interested in astrophysics. But since I had my PhD in Image Processing, I started working in these areas again You also believe in forging closer bond between the industry and academia. How did you do it in Pune?

I always used to ponder as to how to bring these two together. But, in most conferences and discussions, they would only point out the shortcomings. So, when I joined Savitribai Phule Pune University, I went to the Chamber of Commerce. I said, look, we both have something missing. But rather than concentrating on what is missing, if we could focus on each others’ strengths and then leverage it, things might work. I made a presentation and they liked it. They said what do you want? I said, I want to start a programme which is purely industry-sponsored aimed at solving industry’s problems. My suggestion was, you hire people with a competitive salary, and my university will register them for PhD. So it will be win-win for us both. We’ll get bright people who work on your problems, and ultimately get a PhD. They liked the concept and it worked. Here, I must thank all industry people in Pune: especially Dr. Ganesh Natarajan of Zensar Technologies, Dr Naushad Forbes, Pramod Chaudhari from Praj Industries and Dr. Baba Kalyani of Bharat Forge amongst others.

Then why did you leave Savitribai Phule, Pune University?

I did not want to, but it so happened that the directorship of IIT Delhi got vacant. When the advertisement came, one of my ex-colleagues from IIT Bombay sent my nomination. I had no intention to go to Delhi. I was reluctant to even go for the interview. I never had any intention to move away from Mumbai because my family is in Mumbai. Pune - Mumbai was still okay. Delhi was too far. But when I came here, I got selected. I could not say no, perhaps because it gave me a chance to once again come back to my IIT-fold. 38 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

Tell us something about your family.

My wife Sarita is a PhD in electronics from IIT Bombay. Ours was an arranged marriage. She was a research scientist at IIT Bombay for some time. And then she left it because of the family and children. But when I was doing my sabbatical at the US, she taught in the US as a faculty for a year. She is now at home but she is far more talented than me. She is a great painter and portrait artist. Her father was a professor at the JJ School of Arts. She’s also a classical vocalist. In fact, we both share interest in music. I’ve learnt sitar. When I was doing engineering in Gwalior, I used to attend music school in the evening. We’ve two children. My daughter Kamini is elder to my son. She did electronics engineering from Bombay University. Then she did her MBA and worked for corporates for some time. But then she is also very creative. She is a trained Bharatnatyam dancer. She gave her Arangetram performance when she was just 14! So because of her creative passion, she left her corporate job and now she’s in films. She has acted in some Marathi films and was an assistant director in two Marathi films. She had done a small course at the New York Film Academy. She has decided to concentrate on creative things—acting, dancing and direction. She also acted in Ashiyana. My son Chaitanya is a computer engineer. He now works for Accenture in Mumbai. Three years back, he was also a faculty. He’s now exploring what to do next. Go abroad for higher qualifications, or do something else. He also plays the guitar. Actually, music is in our blood…May be this is due to Gwalior, though nobody in my family had learnt music formally.

What’s the new trend among IITians?

Fifteen years back, almost 50 per cent of the students would go abroad for higher studies. Today, it has come down to less than 10 per cent. They’re not going for higher studies but getting globally placed just after completing their B Tech. Many IITians are also going for non-technical global jobs such as finance. It is surely a loss to technology but after you studied at an IIT, you can do what you want and at that age it is very difficult to convince a young

Is there a way out?

Yes, there could be. For example, if we know somebody is bright at the undergrad level and wants to become a researcher and teacher, we must go out of our way, mentor and support him. Give him fellowship so that financially he doesn’t think of going anywhere else. Then we’ve to groom him so that he becomes a great, dedicated teacher and researcher. Right now teaching is looked down upon. In fact, it’s the last option for many because financially, it’s not very lucrative. Now, of course, after the Sixth Pay Commission, things are much better. But many colleges don’t pay that much. They pay very less. So we’ve to look into it all. There is no short cut on that. It is a process that will take ten years and we’ve to wait till ten years. We can’t do it overnight. Research has its own discipline. In fact, PhDs are required in all areas.

But reports suggest that the government is cutting down funding for IITs?

Yes, I’ve also heard that but how much is being cut, I don’t know. There is definitely some reduction in the funding. But I would say that the education sector should get the highest priority from the government. We’ve got a lot of talented children and if you can really mentor them, give them proper education, India can really become the world guru as the PM keeps talking about. We need good teachers even in humanities, social sciences and liberal arts. We have to produce people who are thinkers, who can rationally analyse social problems. I don’t think children are taught that in our regular colleges.

What is your take on the new IITs that are coming up? Professor Shevgaonkar inspecting the solar panels along with others

man not to accept a salary which is four times that of an engineer. IITians have very good analytical skills and they’re used to solving problems they had never faced. So, many IITians are switching over to careers in banking and finance these days.

How good is the research scenario at IITs?

Though the numbers are not very encouraging, things are changing. Out of the 15 per cent who go abroad for research and higher studies, a few stay there. But if we go by recent trends, many top researchers are now coming back to India and joining as faculty at IITs. It’s a welcome trend. They get the freedom to do what they like. Nobody dictates to them. They are judged only by their peers. They love it because research is on priority at IITs. Though experimental facilities are far better abroad and infrastructure is still an issue even at IITs, they are happy because IITs are a happening place. Lots of new initiatives are happening. The quality of life too is much better now. Salaries have also become quite competitive. So they’re happy. They say, why not work in our own country? Many of them create their own research facility. This way, things are multiplying. On the other hand, IITs are also constantly improving things. For instance, our Nano technology Centre at IIT Delhi has a world-class, state-of-the-art lab.

There is a mushrooming growth of engineering colleges with poor quality teachers in the recent past. What should be done to check such institutions?

That’s absolutely correct. The problem with all these colleges is that they do not have proper faculty. It’s the biggest bottleneck there. Out of 600 colleges attached to it, Savitribai Phule Pune University itself has 100 engineering colleges! Today if you look at the need for qualified faculty in our country, we need to produce at least 10,000 PhDs, that too quality PhDs in engineering every year for the next ten years. Then only will we be able to meet the demand. That will bridge the gap. At the moment we produce, all IITs and institutions put together, only 2000 PhDs.

Again, the biggest challenge they face is that of faculty. They can’t get enough top level people they need. Both new and old IITs are facing the same crunch. How to attract qualified faculty and retain them is a big challenge. IITs are now expanding and we’ll now have some 22 IITs. Sixteen are already there. Five more are announced. One Banaras Hindu University (BHU) is converted. So, there are 22 in all. And some IITs are coming up at very small places. So, there is the problem of logistics and connectivity and that also affects faculty recruitment. Another problem is, many a times, the spouses of such qualified faculty are also equally qualified. They also want good jobs. But that can happen only in big cities. In small cities, such opportunities don’t exist. They have a disadvantage. There is always reluctance. But there is no fixed solution. Once you have top-class faculty, things start happening. You don’t have to worry as they take care of everything. But finding good faculty is the biggest problem.

What is your message for those who wish to join IITs to realize their dreams?

To such students, I would say, don’t come to IIT just because of the brand name. Come here as it provides you a beautiful, flexible system. Come here with very high ambitions and work hard. When you’re in an IIT, make the best use of it. Do what you want to do. Don’t look for what you will get after getting out of IIT. The system helps you develop a holistic personality. It offers you so many things to learn. When you go to the world, you can really make a difference.

Is the quality of IIT entrants going down?

The quality of students has changed a little bit. The selection process has changed. The mindset of most students is: we’ve come to IIT, now we’ll get great jobs. That’s not good. They must think, now we’re in IIT, we’ll give our very best. They should not go by the herd mentality. Many a times, students get into a branch and then they realize this is not what they wanted to do. Then they somehow drag it. So, I would say, when you’re going through this system where everybody gets an equal opportunity, do at least something you are passionate about. mathurpradeep1@gmail.com March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 39

corporate trends Global Economy CEOs are less optimistic about global growth prospects than a year ago, with 37% of CEOs thinking global economic growth will improve in 2015. This is down from 44% last year. Significantly, 17% of CEOs believe global economic growth will decline, more than twice as many as a year ago (7 %). The remaining 44% expect economic conditions to remain steady. Regionally, the results show wide variations. CEOs in Asia Pacific are the most optimistic about the global economy with 45% anticipating improvement, followed by the Middle East (44%) and North America (37%). On the other hand, only 16% of CEOs in Central and Eastern Europe expect economic improvement. CEOs in emerging economies like India (59%), China (46%) and Mexico (42%) are more optimistic about the economy than those in developed economies like the US (29%) and Germany (33%). Revenue Growth Despite the overall declining outlook for the global economy, CEOs remain confident about prospects for their own company; 39% worldwide said they are ‘very confident’ their company’s revenues will grow in the next 12 months. That’s the same as last year; though up slightly from 36 per cent in 2013. CEOs in the Asia Pacific region (45 per cent) are most confident of revenue growth, about the same as last year. The Middle East is still one of the most optimistic regions with 44% of CEOs very confident of revenue growth, although this is down markedly from last year’s 69%. CEO confidence in growth is higher in North America, rising to 43% from 33%. CEOs in Western Europe (31%) and Central and Eastern Europe (30%) are least optimistic about their company’s growth prospects. Looking country by country, India’s CEOs top the list, with 62% very confident in their short-term growth prospects. Other leading countries include Mexico (50%), the US (46%), Australia (43%) the UK and South Africa (39%), China (36%), Germany (35%) and Brazil (30%). Among the least confident countries are France (23%), Venezuela (22%), Italy (20%), Argentina (17%) and, at the bottom of the list, Russia, with only 16% of CEOs very confident of revenue growth for 2015. This is down from

CEOs Less Optimistic about Global Economy for 2015

Fewer CEOs than last year think global economic growth will improve over the next 12 months, though confidence in their ability to achieve revenue growth in their own companies remains stable, say the more than 1,300 CEOs interviewed in PriceWaterhouse Coopers’ 18th Annual Global CEO Survey. Results of the survey was recently released at the opening of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland 53% last year when Russia’s CEOs were the most confident in the world. Commenting on the survey results, Dennis M. Nally, Chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers International, says: “The world is facing significant challenges: economically, politically and socially. CEOs overall remain cautious in their near-term outlook for the worldwide economy, as well as for growth prospects for their own companies. While some mature markets like the US appear to be rebounding, others like the Eurozone continue to struggle. And while some emerging economies continue to expand rapidly, others are slowing. Finding the right strategic balance to sustain growth in this changing marketplace remains a challenge.

CEO confidence is down notably in oil-producing nations around the world as a result of plummeting crude oil prices. Russia CEOs, for example, were the most confident in last year’s survey, but are the least confident this year. Confidence also slipped among CEOs in the Middle East, Venezuela, and Nigeria 40 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

“CEO confidence is down notably in oil-producing nations around the world as a result of plummeting crude oil prices. Russia CEOs, for example, were the most confident in last year’s survey, but are the least confident this year. Confidence also slipped among CEOs in the Middle East, Venezuela, and Nigeria”. Commenting on the India findings, Deepak Kapoor, Chairman, PwC India, says:“This clear and significant spike in CEO confidence in India is encouraging. There has been a palpable uplift in sentiments among Indian corporates and the survey strengthens the belief that corporate India is on the growth path and engaging in the nation building process.” What worries CEOs most? Over-regulation again tops the list of concerns, named by 78% of CEOs worldwide. This is up six points from last year and is now at the highest level ever seen in the survey. Countries where concern about over-regulation is particularly high include Argentina (98%), Venezuela (96%), the US (90%), Germany (90%), the UK (87%), and China (85%). Other top concerns cited by CEOs are availability of key skills

List of country/ regional CEO saying they are very confident of 12 month growth Very confident of short-term revenue growth (all in per centage) 2015 2014 2013

Working with Government

CEOs say the top priority of government should be maintaining a competitive and efficient tax system, cited by 67 per cent of survey respondents. But only 20 per cent of CEOs said their country is successful in creating such a system. Likewise, access to a skilled workforce is highly valued by 60 per cent of CEOs, but just 21 per cent say enough skilled workers are available in their country. Other government priorities for CEOs include physical infrastructure (49 per cent), affordable capital (29 per cent), and digital infrastructure (28 pre cent). One notable issue, reducing the risk of climate change, is given priority by only 6 per cent. (73%), fiscal deficits and debt burdens (72%), geopolitical uncertainty (72%), increasing taxes (70%), cyber threats and the lack of data security (61%) - going up rapidly from 48% last year – as well as social instability (60%), shifting consumer patterns (60%) and the speed of technological change (58%). CEOs concerns are up in all areas compared to last year with the exception of energy costs where they are slightly down at 59%. The Digital Age The emergence of digital technology has completely changed how companies do business; 58% of CEOs are concerned about the speed of technological change compared with 47%

last year. Mobile technologies are seen by 81% of CEOs as most important to their company, followed by data mining and analysis (80%), cybersecurity (78%), socially enabled business processes (61%) and cloud computing (60%). Companies get the most benefit from digital technologies in the areas of operating efficiency (88%), data and data analytics (84%) and customer experience (77%). Talent Diversity and Adaptability Half of CEOs around the world say they will increase their headcount over the next 12 months, while 21% expect a decrease (this remains about the same as last year). As CEOs seek to meet the challenge of finding the right people, 81% say

India

Mexico

ASEAN*

Romania

Australia

Global

South Africa

China/Hong Kong

Canada

Germany

Spain

Denmark

Brazil

Japan

Switzerland

France

Venezuela

Italy

Argentina

Russia

they are looking for a broader range of skills. Nearly two-thirds of CEOs’ organisations (64%) have a diversity and inclusiveness strategy – but nearly a third don’t. Or those who have such strategies, 85% say it has improved their bottom line. Survey Methodology For PwC’s 18th Annual Global CEO Survey, 1,322 interviews were conducted in 77 countries during the last quarter of 2014. By region, 459 interviews were conducted in Asia Pacific, 455 in Europe, 147 in North America, 167 in Latin America, 49 in Africa and 45 in the Middle East. The full survey report with supporting graphics can be downloaded at www.pwc.com/ceosurvey

CC Tadka

Who says India is poor? India is home to the eighth largest group of super rich people in the world, as there are as many as 14,800 crorepatis in the county. Mumbai is home to the highest number of them — 2,700, as many as that in Munich.

March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 41

Cricket World Cup

The Unfortunate Lot

These are top world cricketers who achieved everything in the game, but the only thing that eluded them was being part of any winning World Cup team. Did that leave a vacuum in their achievements? Corporate Citizen looks beyond the 22-yard strip

By Joe Williams

here are countless talented cricketers who worked tirelessly throughout their careers. They made their cut into the record books a number of times, but there are a few who still feel they are not complete cricketers, as they have not been able to lay their hands on the ICC World Cup. There are many, but these twelve players, deserved to be part of the winning World Cup sides at least once in their careers, unfortunately couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do so. Greats in the likes of Sir Richard Hadlee, Zaheer Abbas, Abdul Qadir and Dennis Lillee, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble -- to name

a few -- quit the game without winning the World Cup. The leggie, Kumble, who mesmerised many great cricketers on the 22-yards strip has kept the batsmen thinking with his superb line and length, and turned the tables on the opponents, is the only spinner who was not shy of showing the aggression of a fast bowler. Before openers like Matthew Hayden and Virender Sehwag took the world by storm, if one had to pick an opener in one-day cricket, it was Saeed Anwar; he was the man for the slot. There werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t many players during his playing days who had batted at a strike-rate of 80 plus with so much elegance and power. His team came agonis-

42 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

Jacques Kallis is the only all-rounder who could walk into any playing XI, either as a specialist batsman or a specialist bowler. Only Sachin Tendulkar comes ahead of the South African Kallis

ingly close to the World Cup title in 1999, but lost to Australia in the finals at Lord’s, despite the fact that Saeed was in ominous form and had smashed a century against New Zealand in the semi-finals. Lady luck didn’t smile on Sourav Ganguly either, when in 2003 India lost to Australia in the finals. India progressed in one-day cricket during the captaincy of this gifted cricketer from Bengal. He was one of those who played beautifully on the off-side of the

wicket. Most of the time he scored, India won. However, maybe the World Cup was not in his fate. The man with fan following throughout the world, Brian Lara has been pencilled first whenever a World XI is made - be it limited overs’ or Test cricket. There hasn’t

seen a better left-hander than Brian Lara, who, without doubt, was a match-winner. The best about Brian came out when the West Indies chased in one-day cricket. For him to score at an average of seven or eight runs per over was not a herculean task against any type of bowling. There has not been a better batsman who could play shots to all parts of the field. In 1996 West Indies had the best chance to win the World Cup but the they lost to Australia from a winning position in the semi-final. His record speaks for itself. Jacques Kallis is the only all-rounder who could walk into any playing XI, either as a specialist batsman or a specialist bowler. Only Sachin Tendulkar comes ahead of Jacques. There have been players like Sir Gary Sobers, who used to be good at both bowling and batting, but Jacques is for sure at par with him. He is known for reversing the old ball, but he can also bowl with the new ball. The World Cup eluded him too. Martin Crowe is one of my alltime favourite cricketers. There are

few cricketers as good against both spin and fast bowlers as Martin. Martin’s batting technique was far better than most others during his era. He anchored New Zealand to qualify for the semi-final in a World Cup in the year 1992, but he did not come to be part of a winning team. Ian Botham, the English skipper is one more of the unfortunates. An aggressive all-rounder he played during the era when one-day cricket was not very aggressive and most nations concentrated on Test cricket. He is better known as the cornerstone of Indian batting and labelled as the Wall. Rahul Dravid carried the Indian team with his wide range of stroke-selection. Along with Sourav, Sachin and Virender, he formed one of the strongest batting line-ups. Unfortunately, the foursome couldn’t win the World Cup together. Waqar Younis, Allan Donald, Curtly Ambrose and Jonty Rhodes are some of the other cricketers who were denied the chance of holding the silverware at least once in their careers. Waqar Younis the former

Pakistani right-arm fast bowler in cricket and widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time.[4] Waqar is current coach of Pakistan Cricket team.[5] As of 2012, he holds the record for the youngest Pakistani Test captain and the third youngest Test captain in history (22 years 15 days).[6] He played 87 Tests and 262 One Day International (ODI) matches for Pakistan during his international cricket career from 1989 to 2003. But, has never been able to lay his hans on World Cup. joe78662@gmail.com CC Tadka

The Silent Killer As many as 8 to 10 lakh people in India are diagnosed with cancer every year and 5 lakh succumb to the dreaded disease, which is one of the worst mortality rates in the world. Whats worse, As per WHO report 2005, the estimated cancer deaths in India are projected to increase to 7 lakh by 2015.

March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 43

My campus placement experience-6

I owe it to my family Srividya Ramakrishnan who did her post graduation from a leading B-school is today successfully placed with a leading IT firm. She talks to Corporate Citizen about her first break

“My family didn’t tie me down after marriage instead honoured my passion and aspirations and provided unconditional love and support to chase my dreams”

44 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

here is an old saying –‘A man is the foreleg of the elephant and the woman the hind leg’ -- which means that behind every successful man is a woman. We have been hearing this forever now. But what about a successful woman? Who backs up a successful woman? In my case, it was my family. A family which didn’t tie me down after marriage instead honored my passion and aspirations and provided unconditional love and support to chase my dreams. It is a well known fact that, excelling at work meant giving up on personal priorities. But I was able to strike a comfortable balance between both. Behind every successful woman there is an

ecosystem of family, friends and mentors who firmly believe, “Yes, she will do it!” This was in my case too. I was born and raised in Chennai but moved to Pune after wedding. When I decided to do my post-graduation, my family willingly agreed. I completely owe it to my husband and in-laws who have stood by me in thick and thin and supported me in every way possible. Whenever someone asks me about my B-school and the things I’ve got from this place, my answer is that I’ve lost more than I’ve gained: firstly my notions and stereotypes, second, my inhibitions and finally my boundaries. Some places mould you, some places force you to reflect on yourself and gain self awareness, some places help you gain a richer and broader

ishra Pic: Ankur M

perspective and some places invoke insatiable curiosity to learn. A place which does all this to you ends up defining you and your most amazing years. This is the place where the teachers teach because they have so much they love to offer and passion in their subjects to pass on. It’s amazing how every student who sets foot in this B-school invariably refers to it as home away from home. My college helped me realise that with passion, courage of conviction and true sense of self, one can unveil the VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous). Most of all, I found balance and clarity. All this is not by accident. It is an attitude nurtured within every student. I didn’t realise this when I walked in here, but when I look back I see a very different person standing behind me. “Tough times are only a phase. They last a few years, but pass. And you can’t let those few years overtake your life’s ambitions”– my Dean always said. At the age of 68, he lit up a fire in every mediocre soul that nothing was impossible for the determined and strong willed person, the only thing required being perseverance and eagerness to learn continuously, what Stephen Covey refers to as ‘sharpening the saw’. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” – I am all set to begin my corporate career with one of the leading IT giants of the country. My campus placement experience was truly challenging and memorable. The first round was an online automated interview.

There were questions such as :

1) Introduce yourself 2) Why HR in this company? 3) How would you handle criticism at the workplace? 4) How would you define success? 5) Where do you see yourself five years down the line in this company? 6) Tell us about the importance of orientation in any company

Srividya with her friends

My college helped me realise that with passion, courage of conviction and true sense of self, one can unveil the VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) Srividya with her husband

Then there were four rounds of video conference interviews, three rounds of technical interviews, questions were asked on every facet of HR. The last round was the best and most memorable, when, as I entered the room, the HR person greeted me with the words “Welcome to the family!!”

Tips to juniors:

• Prepare well. • In the GD round, try not taking an extreme stand unless required • Listen to others and then respond • Be confident • Try and calm down, don’t be too nervous This is my first step towards the journey of a thousand miles. Here I go chasing my dreams! (As told to Mahalakshmi Hariharan) CC Tadka

Drive Carefully! India witnesses one road accident every minute in which claims one life every 3.7 minutes, one of the highest in the world. In 2014, Maharashtra topped the list with the highest number of road accidents at 68,438 followed by Tamil Nadu (65,873), Madhya Pradesh (49,406), Karnataka (44,731) and Andhra Pradesh (44,165).

March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 45

startups

Crafting the Perfect Brew The gradual easing of the ‘Manufacture of Beer and Wine rules, 1966’ in the past few years paved the way for microbreweries or ‘brewpubs’. Bringing home the ‘beer on tap’ concept, most microbreweries now tout their own ‘artisan’ brews that whet palates of snob seekers of the famed Hefeweizen (wheat beer) while also cajoling newbies to associate beer with everyday beverage drink. A ‘hop-in’ at Pune’s Independence Brewing Company Pvt. Ltd. (IBC), reveals the passion and creativity of engineer-turned expert brew master, Shailendra Bist, Co-founder and CEO ---a believer in amalgamating the art and science of crafting class ales meticulously. By Sangeeta Ghosh Dastidar

porting the “Freedom From Boring Beers”printed on his T-shirt, Shailendra Bist, Cofounder and CEO of Independence Brewing Company Pvt. Ltd. (IBC), conveys his ‘stout’ pursuit of ‘bringing home the ale’ to all. Paying obeisance to the ancient ‘Hymn to Ninkasi’– in praise of the Sumerian goddess of beer, and an ancient recipe for brewing, Shailly (Bist) as he is fondly known in the circle, acknowledges his thirst for tweaking beer recipes for home blends. The result is a wide variety going beyond his classic offerings of Belgian styled wit beer, Pale Ale, American Pale Ale, Saison, Brown Porter, and the flagship Indian Pale Ale. Expressing his strong appetite for ancient beer history, Bist draws in a link to the probable existence of an Indian beer variant as he mulls over “Yav”, which refers to barley in Sanskrit. Hoping to entice and connect connoisseurs, start-ups and business circles – Shailly’s young professional guests are treated to savour at least two new house speciality blends, added each month to IBCs repertoire. A walk around the ‘open brewery’ instils a feeling of youthful synergy, with young professionals mingling business strategies with a pint of their favourite ale and delectable food platter. Shailly has

attempted to capture this youthful enthusiasm through special informal events in the past that aim to connect first-generation entrepreneurs via a social community in the backdrop of a resto-pub. ‘Eastward Ho’ From L.A. Bist, a Mechanical Engineer from Purdue University got hooked on to creating his first beer blend in his kitchen at Los Angeles some seven years ago, with a kit he landed while milling around at beer clubs. What began as a hobby led to more serious notes as he interned with a small brewery, attended a Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) and eventually gained around six years of craft brewing experience while also winning multiple craft brewing competition awards in the U.S. The trained brew master had by now decided to romance and develop the craft of brewing distinct Indian potions and styles; and in 2012 road mapped his journey to Pune. With the brewery licence in place since October 2014, Bist is hopeful of replicating the fervour of beer clubs and community camaraderie with IBC. “The antiquity, cult and the history that revolves around it is what initially attracted me to brewing in the first place”, says Bist. Perfect Partnering As providence could have it, Bist’s

46 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

passion for craft beer echoed well with Co-founder and Chairman of the IBC Board Avanish Vellanki, a Biotechnology Stock Analyst, and a former Investment Banker on Wall Street. Currently, Avanish is Chief Business Officer for Aptose Biosciences, heading Business Development and Corporate Strategy in North America. Bist says “Avanish appreciated that in the best of times and the worst of times great

Shailendra Bist, Co-founder and CEO (L) and Avanish Vellanki, Co-founder & Chairman

The Restaurant - Outdoor Ambience

beers brought people together to either rejoice, or find solace for one another. Avanish hoped to share this love of beers with his family and friends in the country where he was born.” What started as two separate visions became a joint dream when Shailly and Avanish got

together in 2010 through common connections within the Indian brewing community in the U.S. they realised that both had been working independently to bring craft beer to India. With their common penchant for ale variants, the investment banker in Avinash and the crafts-

makeovers in Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana, Kerala, Goa and West Bengal have now given wings to licensing policies for microbreweries in other states. Of Notes and Blends Creating the right ‘note’ in the final brew is an extremely delicate and complex process. Shailly explains that the process starts with the choice of hops, the malt variant, consistency of yeast deployed for the fermentation process, storage conditions, the brewing technique itself and the equipment quality as key factors in creating finer blends of ale. IBC uses brews that primarily utilise liquid yeast (stored at 20 to 40 degree C), a first of its kind in India for striking the perfect palate note, colour and brew texture. “Sourcing hops, basic malt base or speciality malts locally is a challenge which have to be imported, which raises operating costs especially for breweries that produce an average 7000 litres/ month”, observed Shailly.

...With no specific cultural preference for taste in brews, there is more room to convert newbies and offer adequate exposure to Indian patrons on world brews with a twist of home grown indigenous recipes man in Shailly set forth to perfect the art of crafting beers. The two roped in stalwart brew master Greg Koch, CEO and co-founder of the famed California-based Stone Brewing Co. as chief advisor for IBC who is “largely responsible in an advisory capacity on operational parameters”, explains Bist.

major stakeholder in IBC. In a unique modus operandi, IBC also kick-started a campaign at the inception stage in 2012 to yield financial support from their well-wishers for possible bridging of any financial gaps to fuel their dream of bringing authentic craft beer to India.

Factoring Funds The seed fund for the brewery was raised through equity funding primarily from US private investors via the parent company, Indus Brew LLC [US registration], a

Treading Hard Ground The microbrewery saga in India rode a rough tide even as late as three –four years ago with no clarity in policy which is largely centred on high yield manufac-

turers (around 1000 cases/week) - with tight licensing protocols for production and retail units adding to complexities for producers of low volume brews. “The second model of microbreweries proved worthwhile for low volume players (approx. 1000 litres/batch) that could work around the stipulated fixed excise duty conditions”, explains Bist. “With no local manufacturers or experienced hands available to construct the brewing plant, the challenge lay in importing the plant at an approximate equipment cost of Rs 1to 1.5 crore for a 5 HL (hectolitre) plant,” notes Bist. (1 barrel = 1.17 hectolitres) Earnest lobbying by microbrewers in and around Pune in 2009 paved the way for others to follow as Maharashtra became the first state to amend its liquor policy in favour of a microbrewery licensing status. Similar policy

Future Pitch Braving up to future challenges, Shailly quips that his aim is to tickle the Indian palate for the finest ale. “With no specific cultural preference for taste in brews, there is more room to convert newbies and offer adequate exposure to Indian patrons on world brews with a twist of home grown indigenous recipes.” Akin to the confident gait of the ‘bull born on the barley field’ with its symbolic ‘barley tail’ depicted on the company’s logo, IBC seeks to signify a state of ‘liberty’ and positive dynamism in the making of its brews – a respite perhaps from “boring mass-produced fizzy yellow bottled beers”! sangeetagd2010@gmail.com CC Tadka

Bandra Worli Sealink trivia It took a total of 2,57,00,000 man hours for completion and also weighs as much as 50,000 African elephants. A true engineering and architectural marvel.

March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 47

health

All you need to know about Swine Flu

Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India provides guidelines on Swine Flu. Be informed; be aware; be alert

Pic Credit: Indian Express Archive

inistry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India has already prepared guidelines for categorisation of patients during screening (available on the website –mohfw.nic.in). The present Pandemic Influenza A H1N1 is of moderate severity. Check out the guidelines here

Guiding Principles: Patient should:  Be informed about the illness during screening.  Stay home for seven days, preferably isolate himself/ herself in a well-ventilated room.  Avoid common areas frequented by other members of the family.  If the living space is small and more than one person need to sleep in a room, ensure that the head end of patient and others sleeping in that room are in opposite direction (head to toe).  Wear mask all the time. Three layered surgical mask should be provided by the hospital/community health worker. If mask is not readily available, mouth and nose should be covered with a piece of cloth/handkerchief.  Avoid smoking.

 Avoid close contact with others. If inevitable, they should always maintain an arm’s length.  Avoid having visitors.  Wash hands frequently.  Self-monitor health and report to identified health facility in case of worsening of symptoms Treatment  Mild influenza illness does not require specific anti-viral medicine.  Paracetamol for fever and ibuprofen for myalgia can be taken as per the advice of health care provider.  Oseltamivir to be taken, if prescribed/advised by the doctor only.  Children need to be given paediatric preparation and dosage of the above drugs.  Aspirin should not be given

48 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

for fever or body ache. Medicines (other than paracetamol) available for fever, headache, body ache in general groceries, pan shops etc should not be taken as they may contain aspirin. Early Warning signs  Fever remains high and not responding  There is difficulty in breathing or pain in the chest while breathing,  Coughing of blood tinged sputum  Sensorium gets altered with change in behavior (confusion, incoherent speech etc), loss of consciousness  In particular, patients with co-morbid condition (hypertension, diabetes, bronchial asthma, chronic bronchitis or Obstructive airway diseases etc) need to be observed for worsening of symptoms.  In young children, irritability, not accepting feeds, vomiting, fast breathing rate and seizures are signs that needs immediate attention and doctor’s consultation. Chemoprophylaxis (prevention of disease

using drugs) to the contacts:  All the contacts need to selfmonitor their health.  Chemoprophylaxis to house hold contacts would be as per the policy decision taken by the Government which would be based on the severity of disease and stage of the pandemic.  If there is community spread, then chemoprophylaxis of family and social contacts is not recommended. However, house hold contacts having co morbid conditions would be put on chemoprophylaxis. Infection Control  The contact surfaces would be disinfected by wiping, with sodium hypochlorite solution or with house hold bleach (5%) solution.  Masks, tissue papers should be disposed of in dustbins. Hands should be washed after handling these wastes. In case of need:  Contact NICD outbreak Monitoring Cell at : O11-23921401  Look for updates at www. mohfw.nic.in.

EDITOR’S CHOICE

Modi’s ‘Barack’ bug bites Barack

By Charu Sudan Kasturi

arack Obama has drawn a mix of mirth and criticism by doing to German Chancellor Angela Merkel what Narendra Modi did to him. The American President’s repeated references to “Angela” at a media interaction in Washington recently were as much a protocol gaffe, etiquette experts say, as the Indian Prime Minister’s serial “Barack-ing” during Obama’s India trip. To the pundits of propriety, one world leader referring in public to another by their first name is usually ill advised... “Even leaders of the European Union, who speak with each other almost daily, should not in public refer to each other by their first names,” Ines Pires, founder of the Brusselsbased International School of Protocol and Diplomacy, told The Telegraph. “It’s not just about the levels of familiarity between the two leaders; it’s about perceptions in the two countries they represent.” Obama mentioned “Angela” 13 times at the White House on February 9, with the Chancellor standing a few feet away. “It may be good PR to tell your people that you’re so familiar that you can call the other

leader by her first name,” Dusha Vidanovich, MD of the European School of Protocol, said over the phone from London. “But leaders need to remember they are bound by diplomatic protocol too. Conflating diplomacy and PR doesn’t always work.” Such censure of Obama could provide some relief to Modi, who had referred to “Barack” twice at a media interaction on January 25, and then 19 times during a joint radio broadcast on January 27. Modi’s repeated mentions of “Barack”, particularly in the face of the asymmetry in Obama’s levels of informality, had triggered a series of memes tinged with snide humour on social media platforms and evoked criticism from some public relations experts. Now,Obama faces a similar glare, especially since Merkel referred to him throughout as “Mr President” barring a single, hesitant, mention of “Barack”. “Barack and I have forged a friendship,” Modi had said on January 25, before detailing the “chemistry” between them that he said had brought their two nations “closer”. But given the similar levels of formality in the diplomatic and social cultures of Germany and India, for Obama to be so liberal with “Angela” while avoiding “Narendra” altogether might suggest he feels more comfortable dem-

onstrating familiarity with the Chancellor. “Even though I strictly advise against the use of first names, some of the occasions when it can happen are when leaders are genuinely very familiar with each other,” Pires said. “When I started my career as a diplomat, leaders would speak maybe once a year or twice unless they were in the midst of a crisis,” a west European ambassador posted in New Delhi said. “Today, the major leaders speak perhaps once a fortnight. This breeds a familiarity that can backfire at times in public.” A hot-mic moment when George W. Bush called out to Tony Blair as “yo” at the peak of the Iraq War fed into allegations that the British Prime Minister had effectively become the US President’s “poodle”. A disclosure by current British Prime Minister David Cameron that Obama at times refers to him as “bro” - slang for “brother” - has also attracted criticism in Britain. Another circumstance that may allow the use of a first name, the experts said, is a wide enough gap in age and seniority between the two leaders involved. “If an emperor or President has been in power for, say, 40 years and is old (while) the other leader is much younger and relatively newer to power, it may be acceptable for the elder (leader) to refer to the younger by (his or her) first name in public,” Pires said. But for a younger leader to do so can ruffle feathers. In 2009, then British foreign secretary David Miliband’s repeated references to Pranab Mukherjee, India’s external affairs minister at the time, by his first name had left South Block seething. Merkel, aged 60 and Chancellor since November 2005, is senior both in age and stint in office to Obama, 53 and US President since January 2009. Cultural sensitivities are the most important reason why leaders should stick to traditional ways of referring to each other in public, Pires said. “It is foolproof and works in any culture,” she said. Even in the US, where informality in official work is more common than in Europe or Asia, the diplomatic protocol is clearly laid out. The US state department’s Foreign Service Institute -the training school for all American diplomats - is particular that officers retain an element of formality in their dealings with foreign counterparts. Michael Strain, a resident scholar at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, wrote in The Washington Post today that he was “horrified” by Obama’s show of over-familiarity with Merkel. (This article was originally published in The Telegraph on Feb 20,2015, this is an abridged version)

March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 49

Bollywood biz

Age no bar for Bollywood Heroes Cinema transcends reality. Nowhere is this more astutely obvious than in our timedefying Bollywood heroes. At an age where average men start preparing their retirement plans, these stars are busy punching goons and romancing heroines half their age on screen. Corporate Citizen explores the phenomenon of the ageless Bollywood hero By Neeraj Varty

here is perhaps no other Bollywood hero that epitomises charm than Shahrukh Khan. For almost three decades, Shahrukh Khan, or SRK as he is popularly called, has been wooing heroines on screen and sweeping the audiences of their feet. From the bad boy NRI of Dilwaale Dulhania le Jayenge, all the way to the brooding hockey coach of Chak de India, SRK has proved his versatility as an actor many times over. His latest caper Happy New Year has grossed over ` 385 crore worldwide, proving that at 49, SRK’s charm is still going strong. Speaking of the Khans, how can one forget the eternal bad boy of Bollywood – Salman Khan. Salman made his acting debut with Maine Pyaar kiya in 1989, winning the Filmfare Award for best male debut for that year. Since then, Salman has starred in one successful film after another, being one of the most sought after names in Bollywood. He was the first actor to take up body building, and at age 49, he can boast of a physique that would give youngsters a run for their money. Even at his age, the Dabangg khan is the most eligible bachelor in Bollywood, and that’s not likely to change anytime soon. 50 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

A still from Happy New Year

Shahrukh’s latest caper Happy New Year has grossed over ` 385 crore worldwide, proving that at 49, SRK’s charm is still going strong

Salman made his acting debut with Maine Pyaar kiya in 1989, winning the Filmfare Award for best male debut that year. Since then, he is one of the most sought after names in Bollywood

Capping off the Khan trio is the current King of Bollywood is Amir Khan. He is fresh off the success of PK, the highest grossing Bollywood movie in history, but Amir is not one to be swayed by box office success. He is called by many names, including the thinking man’s actor, a perfectionist, and India’s most popular method actor. Despite being a bonafide box office draw, Amir has acted in many unconventional movies like Lagan, Tare Zameen Pe, and Mangal Pandey – The rising. In fact, Lagaan was the first film in decades which actually stood a chance at the Oscars. At age 49, Amir is perhaps the only actor with the widest body of work in Bollywood. Amir still looks as young as he did over 25 years ago, when he made his debut with Qayamat se Qayamat tak in 1988. Even now, pushing 50, Amir’s days as a leading man are far from over.

Aamir Khan

ooking at Akshay Kumar, one would not believe that the Khiladi Kumar has acted in over 100 films till date. Akshay is one of the few actors who has made it in Bollywood all on his own, without the help of any godfather. He debuted as an action hero in the 90s, then moved onto romance in the early 2000s and then made the shift to comedy in late 2000s. He tasted success in almost every genre he dappled at, and most recently he is gaining acclaim with critically acclaimed roles, most recently with the anti-terrorism movie Baby. Akshay is a Black belt in Taekwondo, and attempts most of the stunts in his films on his own. Unlike his contemprories, he wakes up at 4 AM, and is on set at dawn for shooting. He maintains a strict diet and exercises regularly. At age 47, he is in the prime shape of his life, and is a certified box office draw. Here’s hoping Akki rules the roost as a leading man for many more years to come. Last but not the least, one of the most prominent leading men for decades, has been been none other than Sanjay Dutt. He made his debut with the action packed Rocky in 1981, and ever since then, Dutt has been a staple in mainstream Bollywood movies. He has acted as a romantic lead in Saajan, as a reluctant ganster in Vaastav, and as a Roadside Romeo turned activist in the critically acclaimed Munnabhai series. Although Sanjay was convicted under the arms act and is currently serving his sentence in Pune’s Yerawada jail, he was last seen in PK, the biggest Bollywood hit in history. Even now in Jail, Dutt is busy reading scripts, and has a long list of directors lined up just waiting for him to get out of jail for a chance to to work with him. Dutt’s innings as a leading man still continues at age 55, and it seems there’s no stopping him, not even a jail sentence. Akshay Kumar These ageless actors have been the face of Bollywood cinema for decades, and by the looks of it, they aren’t CC Tadka going anywhere soon. After Next it is Voting all, the eternal young man rights for Cows Dev Anand was starring in Till now you might have heard of Photo ID cards for movies even in his late 70s.. humans but have you ever heard of Photo ID cards and we didn’t hear anyone being issued for cows or other cattle? Yes, to prevent complaining either!

neeraj.varty@corporatecitizen.com

Indian cattle being smuggled along India’s border into Bangladesh, authorities have come up with a solution to issue Photo ID cards for the cattle.

March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 51

mumbai heritage

Of Culture, Colour and Creativity

Mumbai’s favourite cultural festival, the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival offers a rich and diverse experience to lakhs who visit it every year. It is a community celebration of the arts within one of the most beautiful and historic precincts of Mumbai, the Kala Ghoda Art District

What is Kala Ghoda? The Kala Ghoda precinct can be roughly defined as the area that stretches from the Regal Circle Southern end of Mahatma Gandhi Road, up to the Mumbai University on the northern end, flanked by the Oval Maidan to the west and the Lion Gate to the east. The name Kala Ghoda can be traced to the old equestrian statue of King Edward VII, which was placed at the centre of the large node on the old Esplanade Road. The statue, a vestige of the colonial era, has since been removed from the site, but the name persists regardless an assertive confirmation of a compelling public memory

By Shehnaz Chawla very year for the last 16 years, the Kala Ghoda Festival draws visitors in lakhs, not just from the city but from all over the country, and, indeed, the world. Artists, performers and craft persons from all over India gather here every February. It is an experience, a kaleidoscope of music, dance, theatre, literature, street stalls, films, workshops for adults and children, visual arts and heritage walks. The nine joyful days refresh your mind, inspire your senses and leave you feeling exhilarated! This year the festival was held from February 7

to February 15. The theme of the festival this year was Sparsh (Hindi for ‘touch’) The 350 events, 25 stalls selling unique items, and 100 different creative structures mesmerised the crowd that visited the festival this year. A structure showing a giant crow depicting the disappearance of birds from urban areas, a huge cricket jersey made out 3500 cycle gears, celebrity kiosks, the dabbawala cart modified with wings,

a cube depicting the overuse of technology were some of the best creative works on display. A fridge and wardrobe creatively repainted attracted many children and youngsters. People from different parts of the country gather here and take back rich memories. Says Puneite Chanchala Seth, who has been visiting the festival every year since the last five years, “I wait for this festival every year. It’s a pleasure

The 350 events, 25 stalls selling unique items, and 100 different creative structures mesmerised the crowd

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to see the different art on display, shop for unique items from all over the country and also enjoy the best of theatre and cinema. I also take my kids along because there is so much creativity out there and so many interesting workshops for them. Kala Ghoda is one of its kind.” The sub-festivals feature visual art, dance, music, theatre, cinema, literature, lectures, seminars and workshops, heritage walks, special events for children, and a vibrant street festival. Entry to all events is free (only restricted by the size of the venues) and costs are met through corporate sponsorship. shehnazchawla@gmail.com

Delhi Belly

Broom is Delhi’s New Groom

Elections are always a source of great insight, interest and entertainment. Delhi ‘s just-concluded polls were no exception. By Pradeep Mathur

cartoon courtesy: Dna

n one of the most stunning comebacks in Indian electoral history, Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) scored a landslide victory in the recently concluded Delhi Assembly elections, delivering to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi his first, truly shocking electoral defeats since his Lok Sabha triumph last year. It also brought AAP’s poll symbol jhaadu in true political limelight. The nature and extent of the AAP’s victory (67 out of 70 seats!) shocked and awed many. So much so that it provided plenty of material to cartoonists, satirists and copy writers to explode their creative potential to the fullest. In fact, headlines in most Hindi dailies, in particular, spoke of this element in abundance; the day (that was, 10th February) results came out. Some such were: Dilli main jhaadu hi jhaadu (It’s broom everywhere in Delhi); Kejri ne poori Dilli pe pheri jhaadu ( Kejriwal made clean sweep of Delhi polls); Abki baar jhaadu sarkar, to name a few. Those on the social media including twitter and facebook were also very active. They too explored the funnier side of AAP’s broom amid the cacophony of the heated 24x7 television debates analysing how Kejriwal’s tsunami swept away the Modi wave. Twitter was, in particular, flooded with congratulatory messages for AAP Here are some funny, tongue-in-cheek ones: Congratulating Kejriwal, Shubhashish tweeted, “Arrey Arvind, Tera Jhaadu chul gaya.” Adding some flavor to the completely one-sided election results, Satbir Singh commented, “The only other place where you can get ’67 out of ’70 kind of result is CBSE.” However, it was a picture showing an angry Baba Ramdev that captured the mood in the BJP-camp. Tweeted by IPS Mohd Mustafa, it said, “Kejriwal ne abhi se dhoka de diya, jhaadu bol ke vacuum cleaner chalaa diya (Kejriwal has ditched everyone right from the start, he used vacuum cleaner in place of broom). Echoing similar sentiments, one Chamtakari Baba on twitter said, “Breaking News: AK-47 donated his Wagon R to opposition; all can fit in.” As if that was not enough, one Prabhash K Dutta said, “Toyota Innova has more seats than BJP in Vidhan Sabha. Now the entire opposition in Delhi can travel in a Nano.” Another one by eminent writer Chetan Bhagat was equally

One Chamtakari Baba on twitter said, “Breaking News: AK-47 donated his Wagon R to opposition; all can fit in.” hard hitting on Congress. He tweeted, “Congress at zero. Now this is what you call zero loss.” The fact that the Congress could not open even its account in these historic polls led Sandeep Unnithan to comment, “India invented the zero. It was our first big Maken India project.” Incidentally, Makan faced another punch on twitter which said: “Makan: Sir account kholna hai. SBI Employee: Lunch time, baad main aao,*Looks up*Oh tum, Yeh lo form, kahin to khaata kholo bhai.” Similarly, taking a sweet jibe at Bedi, one twitterer commented, “Later today, Amit Shah will tow away Kiran Bedi’s car.” The Times of India also carried a cartoon by Jug Surraiya and Partho Sengupta which showed Kiran Bedi and Ajay Maken, the chief ministerial candidates of the BJP and Congress respectively, welcoming Arvind Kejriwal to the throne of Delhi, saying “Pehle AAP” (please you be the first) in true Lucknowi style. Another equally catchy cartoon was that of Amul’s where a jubilant Kejriwal was

shown on an open safari, being run by the Amul girl, wielding a broom in one hand and a butter toast in another, having a headline on top saying, “Clean Sweep!” with a tagline which said, “ Amul: Always AAPrajit.” No wonder, with AAP’s graph having gone up after its sweeping Delhi victory, prices of its humble jhaadu had also sky-rocketed to fame. The prices of broom’ had escalated from ` 80 to ` 250 from the result day itself as every AAP volunteer, donning his party’s cap and posters, wanted a jhaadu of his own to wave at the various victory rallies that were held in different parts of Delhi. Result: “There is acute shortage of jhaadu in the markets and demand is so high that even wholesalers have increased their prices,” said a 43-year-vendor Sant Ram, a popular face with his backpack of AAP’s designer jhaadus at every venue. While Chief Minister Kejriwal is obviously going ecstatic at every public meeting, poor Delhi-ites are wondering, “Will his jhaadu now sweep their pockets also?” mathurpradeep1@gmail.com

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Pearls of Wisdom

You are your own greatest asset Within every one of you, lie locked up infinite powers of the spirit, immense energies of the eternal. If only you will release but one fraction of those powers, you will find there is nothing that you will not be able to achieve Dada J. P. Vaswani

54 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

o you ever have the feeling that your life is not as satisfying as it could be? Do you have longheld hopes and dreams that have not been fulfilled? No matter how far away you think you are from the life you desire, the change you long for can happen. I recall the words of a great one, Henry Ford who brought about a revolution in the industrial system of America by inventing the automobile. And it was Henry Ford who said on one occasion, “There is not a man who is not capable of doing very much greater than what he thinks he can.” There is not a living soul on earth who does not have the capacity to do very much greater than what he thinks he can. Within every one of you, lie locked up infinite powers of the spirit, immense energies of the eternal. If only you will release but one fraction of those powers, you will find there is nothing that you will not be able to achieve. My friends I read concerning a man. His name is Fredrick. At one time he worked as the manager of a private TV and radio station in America. He took to drinking heavily and one night he took a woman with himself away from the town to a distant restaurant and there both of them got pretty drunk. And on their way back this man smashed his car into a telephone pole. The woman was very badly injured. She was removed to a hospital. The man was arrested and jailed overnight. The affair got into the newspaper. Fredrick’s boss, his employer read concerning the entire incident. He called Fredrick to his office and said to him, “I am deeply disappointed in you, but none the less I have not lost hope in you. I have not lost my faith in you. It is true a man with your way of life cannot continue to be in charge of my TV and radio station, I have to fire you but as I said I believe in you. I have faith in you and I want you to become a success in life. I don’t want you to run away from this community. I want you to rehabilitate yourself amidst people who know you. I want you to start a new business, and now let us see what your assets are?” And this man Fredrick, with trembling voice said to his boss, “Sir I feel deeply grateful to you for your kindness. You are a great man, but let me tell you I have no assets whatsoever, I have

no money. All that I had has been spent through. I have no job, now that you have fired me. And I have no property. Whatever I own, is already mortgaged. I have no assets.” Then it is that his boss speaks up. His employer says to Fredrick, “You have one great asset and that is yourself, for you have a bright brain, you have health, you have potentialities of character. You are intelligent and remember you are your greatest asset.” Fredrick says to his boss, “But sir, so far I don’t seem to have made anything of that asset.” And the boss says to him, “That is true but now I can put you in touch with someone who can take up your assets and make something of them, that someone to whom I refer is your heavenly father - God himself. The reason why you have messed up your life is that so long you have bypassed God, you have taken God out of your life, even now if you will repent for what you have done so far and if you will submit yourself to the Lord, I know you are sure to become a success, with me as your friend and with God as your saviour.” Fredrick was deeply moved by those words. Indeed he was astonished to hear those words coming out of the lips of a big businessman and Fredrick said to his boss, “Sir, I am prepared to do all that you will ask me to do.” And in the office of Fredrick’s boss both of them knelt down to pray. The prayer came out of the very depths of Fredrick’s hearts. He prayed “O Lord, I come to Thee as I am with all my faults and frailties, with all my weaknesses and imperfections. Accept me as I am, make me what you will. Make me Thine and make my life Divine. I surrender myself to Thee.” And he said to himself within me is that great potential, why must I not release it now. This man Fredrick today is a successful business man in his town and to all who come to him for advice and guidance Fredrick says, “Surrender yourself to the Lord and never forget that you are your own greatest asset.” My friend, within every one of us, is this hidden power of the spirit, the hidden power of God, within every human being is this treasure of the eternal. Realise that you belong to inﬁnity, that God’s power and grace sustain you – and that you are essentially Divine! This realisation releases a tremendous energy of the spirit within you that can transform your life and your personality completely! March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 55

book review

Black Roses: In protest of love These letters violence from acid attack, incest, abuse victims to their tormentors will move you. They are compiled into a book by Stop Acid Attacks (SAA), an NGO that campaigns against acid attack The News Minute Team “I don’t have an eyeball. Gazing at me, many people feel blessed or awful. Now I am used to these gazes which make me realise my fate again and again. So now I have started going out without covering my face, those who want to look at me are invited (to do so)”, writes Ritu Saini, and acid addict survivor, in a letter addressing her attacker. Ritu’s letter, along with letters from several other acid-attack survivors, and even volunteers, to the people who attacked or hurt them, has been compiled into a book by Stop Acid Attacks, an NGO that campaigns against acid attack violence. Titled A Black Rose: In Protest of Love, the book was released on Valentine’s Day- a symbolic day of love. It was in 2008 that Rupa’s step-mother poured acid on her, snatching away from her more than just her face. Writing to her, Rupa says, “I don’t blame you, I was not your blood, even my father did not protect me, and every time I told him my problem, he told me to compromise.” Sonia, another acid-attack survivor, was scarred for life when her neighbour threw acid on her. “I was quite pretty then, I too had some dreams”, she writes in her letter. She goes on to ask her attacker, “Don’t you think what you did to me was wrong? Don’t you realise because of your actions my dreams were shattered? I am living with the wounds you gave me, but they made me stronger”. Aarti Thakur was all set to get married

when her best friend’s brother doused her with acid. He said he was in love with her. “I will never let you feel that you have won. I just want to ask did you get me by doing this? A really man can accept NO with dignity. Those who can’t have to think before they call themselves men. And you are not a man”, she addresses her attacker in her letter. The book, which at present is available only in the digital format, also includes poems from survivors and letters from other people who were hurt in different ways. In a letter in which she addresses her chacha (uncle), Samrina Ashraf says, “I choose to write this letter to you, because there is no one in the world who has made me feel as guilty, dirty and disgusting as you have… you were my favourite chacha in the world… I will never forget what you did to me those two nights at bhaiya’s (brother) wedding… You tried to

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Black Roses: In protest of love authors

victims of acid attacks publishers

Stop Acid Attacks, NGO price

`99

make me believe I was an equal partner in the act…I shifted to another city as I don’t have the strength to tell anyone of what you did to me… I hate you chacha ji”. Ayushi Koul, writes to her grandmother, who wanted her father to abandon her just because she was a girl. “You were out of town when I was born and without even taking a glimpse you asked my father to abandon me. Did I do anything wrong grandma? When my father took my sister and me in his arms, you announced ‘they are your daughters and not sons’”. The Black Rose Campaign started by SAA is trying to spread the message of ‘peaceful disagreement’ instead of letting our burning anger and hatred, towards a person, drive us. A Black Rose signifies ‘that you are hurt with the actions of the other. A Black Rose is to let the other know that you are suffering. And suffering does not entitle you to take revenge from the one who causes it. Our own actions and thoughts lead us to our suffering, which eventually plays an important part in our own growth as a person’, says SAA . (Courtesy: www.thenewsminute.com)

Pulling a fast one

How Cobrapost fell into the publicity pit The Cobrapost invite for the “biggest story of all time” turned sour as the event unfolded into a mere publicity gimmick. Reporters who turned up for the briefing felt badly used. Didn’t the editor realise repercussions could ripple into future forays? A report... By Pradeep Mathur

t was neither the first of April nor the festival of Holi where you can fool your friends with colours and jokes. The invite for the February 17 press briefing from India’s top investigative portal, Cobrapost, promised the ‘biggest story of all time’. They were about to reveal their ‘biggest expose’ of ‘politicians, terrorists and intelligence agencies’. The email promised details of “Operation R”— after a year-long Cobrapost investigation exposing the ‘network of an international terrorist group in India’. The portal’s sensational teaser raised curiosity levels further, with questions like, “Why did the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) not reveal the emergency situation to the National Security Advisor (NSA) initially?” to name just one. No wonder, Delhi’s Press Club was jammed with reporters. Senior TV and print

journalists, national and international, covering the Home ministry, internal security, intelligence agencies and crime beats jostled for seats. Nearly a dozen OB vans also lined up, planning ‘live coverage’. In nearby North Block, senior Home ministry officials were pretty nervous, as they had no clue what the ‘new, explosive expose’ Cobrapost would come out with. The stage was set and everything looked perfect as editor Aniruddh Bahal started addressing the packed house. Soon white smoke filled the stage. A screen lit up and a sound show began with the front-page of a comic book titled “The Adventures of Rhea—The Cobrapost Affair” appearing on the screen. Bahal, author of the comic book, emerged out of the smoke with the enlarged cover page of the first edition in his hands. Thereafter, for a few moments, there was complete silence. By this time, most reporters realised they had been taken for a ride by a marketing prank by Bahal. Rather than releasing his book at the ongoing World Book Fair at Delhi’s Pragati Maidan, as the norm was, he chose to launch his 64-page comic book, priced Rs 199, at the Press Club. Reporters got restless as Bahal kept talking about Cobrapost’s fearless reporter and the comic book heroine Rhea. Sensing annoyed shrugs and angry, disappointed whispers, Bahal apologised to the reporters, saying he had “pulled a fast one on them,” as “all of us have a sense of humour and if we don’t have, we need to develop one.” But nobody was convinced. He added, “This comic strip is also a celebration of the media, and journalists must take it in their stride.” Rhea’s adventures, he said, would serve as “an inspiration to our youth to take up journalism.” He then said it took him almost three years to create something that his “daughters could relate to” and how Neelabh, his colleague, with his “extraordinary verve and illustrating talent, breathed extraordinary energy into each frame of the comic strip.” But nobody in the audience could take it anymore. In five minutes, most peeved journalists packed up. Finally, one asked, “Why did you do it? Didn’t you realise that next time even if you’ve some real sting operation, nobody will turn up?” Bahal was unfazed. “Don’t worry, everybody will come,” he said, saying he was soon coming out with “many big revelations.” Another equally shocked reporter asked, “Why did you lie in your press invite?” Bahal said, “I didn’t lie. Everything I said is true, though in fiction. Just read the comic, you’ll love it.” To assuage the hurt feelings, V K Karthika, publisher and chief editor of HarperCollins said, “In the Western world, there is a long tradition of comic book adventures with crossover appeal for children and adults alike. In India, we rarely see such work. With Rhea, we’re hoping to build an iconic brand that will develop into a longstanding series.” Maybe so, but for now, an otherwise brilliantly conceptualised product had got into unnecessary controversy by Bahal’s desperate attempt for attention. But he looked undaunted. Maybe he believed, “badnaam hue to kya hua, naam to hua?” (So what if I got bad publicity. At least I got some!) mathurpradeep1@gmail.com March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 57

Beyond the bottomline

Work your way with colours

Colours significantly influence employee moods and thereby productivity, says a research study. Some can calm, some can ruffle, so it’s wise to colour code your workplace....

By Suchismita Pai

ou want to turn your competition green with envy? Just colour your desk top and work areas green and then watch your productivity zoom. In 1998 a study at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, conducted to determine whether colour influenced workers’ moods and productivity found that colours significantly influence employee moods and the urgency with which they tackle their work. So, seeing red may not be just about anger, it may in fact cause the irritation and loss of focus at work. According to research by The University of British Columbia, blue and green helps employees feel calm, relaxed and tranquil. Since stress is a major downer when it comes to putting your most productive foot forward, colours may help develop some degree of stress relief which in turn impacts productivity positively. Need to work long hours? Go green. It is a great colour for the walls or desk tops because it does not cause

The use of colour as a new and relatively easy way of motivating employees in the office space is gaining ground eye fatigue. Hear of a “green room” back stage on sets where people are getting ready to perform? It is because of green’s ability to bring on a sense of calm while still instilling confidence. It has the most shades visible to the human eye when compared with other colours. While it reminds us of the calming effects of nature, it also brings feelings that are associated with spring, activity and growth, a great combination for spurring growth. White can be used in hallways and small offices to give them an enhanced look of space as the colour reflects light quite well and is regarded as a symbol of tidiness and sterility. But be warned say researchers, it may also cause boredom and dullness. While pink calms down people, they may lose their tempers in rooms with yellow walls. The use of colour as a new and relatively easy way of motivating employees in the office space is gaining ground. According to the Wall Street Journal, big firms are using colours to combat stress in the work place, to increase productivity in the long run. So if you are ever in the red, it may be almost as simple as just taking buckets of paint and slathering it on and then watching those graphs go through the roof! paisuchi@gmail.com 58 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

manage money In the previous issue we had discussed what a Profit & Loss Account is, what it contains. In this article let me dwell a bit on the Balance Sheet. By Dr Anil Lamba

Good Financial Management – Rule 1 ...continued from previous issue In the previous issue I had started explaining rule number 1 of good finance management which stipulates that one should never invest money without ensuring that the investment can generate returns that are equal to, preferably greater than the cost of capital. It is therefore imperative that all business persons know what the cost of their capital is. And then we had done some calculation and arrived at a cost of 4.8%. And I had signed off saying that this is a flawed perception and that in the next issue I will run you through a more appropriate approach. Let’s now, once again, take a closer look at all the sources of capital and understand which of them has a cost. Balance Sheet Capital 300 Fixed Assets Reserves 200 12% Loan 400 Creditors 100 Current Assets 1,000

750 250 1,000

The first figure, capital, represents owners’ contribution. Owners, as opposed to lenders, are not assured any returns. As there is no compulsion on the organization to reward the owners, it is often perceived that owners’ money is free. On the other hand, loans have a cost, a commitment to pay a stipulated rate. The lender has also made it clear, at the time of lending the money, that the promised return will be due regardless of whether the organization makes a profit or a loss. And to ensure compliance, assets worth far more than the value of the loan have been assigned to the lender as security. It’s clear that loan funds definitely carry a cost. Calculated at 12 percent in this case, it works out to 48. So we conclude that owners’ money is free and loans carry a cost. But wait a minute. Aren’t we forgetting something? Stop for a minute and think. Why would anyone want to start a business? Businesses are started with the primary objective of making profits for the owner. If the lender has invested with the objective of earning money – so has the owner! And if the lender expects to earn 12 percent with all the assurances and security of assets to fall back on, in case things don’t work out, doesn’t the owner, for whose benefit the business is really being run, and who carries all the risks of losses, deserve a substantially higher return? Owners’ money definitely has a cost. In fact the entire purpose of starting a business enterprise is for the owners to make profits.

The return that the owner would expect will vary from situation to situation, and person to person, but, in my opinion, it should in no case be lower than twice of what the lender is charging; which, in this case, would be 24 percent. In this example loans cost 12 percent. So let us consider the cost of owners’ money to be 24 percent. Now what about reserves? Reserves represent undistributed profits. If a Balance Sheet has reserves as one of the items on the Liabilities’ side it means, to that extent, the shareholders of the organization have been deprived of dividends. Who has taken the decision to distribute the profits or retain them in the organization? In a proprietary concern this would be the proprietor, in a partnership firm it is the partners, and in a joint stock company, it is the shareholders (via their elected representatives, the directors). On what basis can the board tell its shareholders, “We have made profits, but we are not going to give them to you?” The only way in which a decision not to give money to the shareholders can be justified is when the board of directors carries the conviction that, given the reinvestment opportunities available with the company, it is possible to earn higher returns for the shareholders by keeping the money within the company than it is for the shareholders to earn for themselves by taking the money out of the company. What I am trying to get at is that whenever an organization transfers profits to reserves, thereby depriving the shareholder of dividends, it has also deprived them of the opportunity to multiply the amount by reinvesting the dividends. The corporation is under a moral obligation to generate a return on the retained profits which is at least equal to the opportunity denied. There is a strong case to attribute the same cost to reserves as that applied to share capital, since reserves are also owners’ contribution. Although this is subjective, let us consider the opportunity cost to be 15 percent. We have seen that every item considered so far has a cost. ...to be continued

Owners’ money definitely has a cost. In fact the entire purpose of starting a business enterprise is for the owners to make profits

Dr Anil Lamba is a practising chartered accountant, a financial literacy activist, and a corporate trainer of international repute on finance management. He is the author of the bestselling book Romancing the Balance Sheet. He can be contacted at anil@lamconschool.com March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 59

Featherlite

Corporate Twitterati Twitterati’s reaction on Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury allegedly delaying an Air India flight for a shopping spree and on Mother Teresa Pramod Srivastava@pksrivastava6 Powerless yet powerful ! AI flight delayed by 45 minutes as Cong MP Renuka Chowdhury goes shopping Jaganniwas Iyer@jaganniwas The antics of the Congi MP Renuka Chowdhury show why disinvestment of white elephants like Air-India is imperative.

Lucky you!

Ravinder Singh@_RavinderSingh Lucky you Renuka Chowdhury! You did to AI passengers what Rehman Mailk did to PIA passengers. But you were not shown the door!

Twitterati’s reaction on RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s unflattering remarks on Mother Teresa Ramachandra Guha @Ram_Guha What unites Mother Teresa and Mohan Bhagwat is the conviction that their own ancestral faith is superior to all others.... Arvind Kejriwal @ArvindKejriwal I worked wid Mother Teresa for a few months at Nirmal Hriday ashram in Kolkata. She was a noble soul. Pl spare her. Vinod Kambli @vinodkambli349 I have converted to Christianity. Nobody forced me it was my free will.Was deeply hurt when Mr Bhagwat spoke about Mother Teresa

Laugh Aloud An American manufacturer is showing his machine factory to a potential customer from Albania. At noon, when the lunch whistle blows, two thousand men and women immediately stop work and leave the building. “Your workers, they’re escaping!” cries the visitor. “You’ve got to stop them.” “Don’t worry, they’ll be back,” says the American. And indeed, at exactly one o’clock the whistle blows again, and all the workers return from their break. When the tour is over, the manufacturer turns to his guest and says, “Well, now, which of these machines would you like to order?” “Forget the machines,” says the visitor. “How much do you want for that whistle?” The boss was complaining in our staff meeting the other day that he wasn’t getting any respect. Later that morning he went to a local sign shop and bought a small sign that read: “I’m the Boss!” He then taped it to his office door. Later he found that someone had taped a note to the sign that said: “Your wife called, she wants her sign back!” One day in New York City, a banker was driving his new Jaguar down the streets. He parked it and opened the door to get out. Suddenly a taxi went by and ripped the door off. The driver reported this to a nearby police officer. The officer saw the whole thing and said “You bankers are so involved in your possessions. You didn’t even notice that your arm was ripped off as well” The banker stared at where his arm used to be and said “OH NO! My new Rolex is gone too! Employer: “In this job we need someone who is responsible.” Applicant: “I’m the one you want. On my last job, every time anything went wrong, they said I was responsible.” A young businessman had just started his own firm. He rented a beautiful office and had it furnished with antiques. Sitting there, he saw a man come into the outer office. Wishing to appear the hot shot, the businessman picked up the phone and started to pretend he had a big deal working. He threw huge figures around and made giant commitments. Finally he hung up and asked the visitor, “Can I help you?” The man said, “Yeah, I’ve come to activate your phone lines.”

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Mobile Apps

five Best Cricket Apps for the ICC Cricket World Cup

The ICC Cricket World Cup is here. Fans have been waiting for four long years for this momentous event, and now that it’s here, we can’t have enough of the action. India is off to a smashing start with a decisive victory over arch rivals Pakistan, and this is just the beginning. Corporate Citizen brings you the five best apps you can use to get your constant dose of cricketing action! By Neeraj Varty ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 (iOS & Android)

Let’s start with the official app for the World Cup. This app gives you round the clock coverage including ball-by-ball updates and statistics. There is a video highlight section, interviews, statistics and exclusive columns from various cricket legends. You can also interact with likeminded fans through the app on social media via a social hub feature. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 is definitely a must have app for any cricket lover.

StarSports Cricket Scores (Android, iOS, Windows Phone)

Getting ball-by-ball updates is great, but even that can’t match the thrill of watching the action as it unfolds live. For all of you who want to watch the match live, this is the official app that allows you to stream of the World Cup matches on your smartphone on the go. The app also lets you watch highlights videos and full match replays, also allowing you to choose various camera angles. Apart from the live stream, the app also provides ball-by-ball updates, comparisons and statistics, along with team analysis and projections.

ESPN CricInfo (Android, iOS, Windows Phone)

This is the internet age, and podcasts are all the rage. For podcasts lovers, whether audio or video – ESPN Cricinfo has both audio and video pod-

casts on their app. Additional perks include players and team details, detailed analyses of matches as well as records and rankings. You can also share content with friends. If you want to get updates for specific teams, you can select individual teams for a tailor made curated content experience.

Cricbuzz (iOS, Android, Windows Phone)

Cricbuzz is the best place to view interactive live scores for ongoing matches along with push notification for match alerts. The app shows you the entire match schedule in a very visually rich interface. What makes Cricbuzz stand apart from other cricket apps is the fact that you can view content in any regional language of your choice, along with the default English option.

Cricket World Cup Fever (iOS, Android, Windows Phone)

The next time you have time to kill while waiting for the bus or at the dentist’s office, kick back with one of the most popular cricket games on Smartphones - Cricket World Cup Fever. This action packed game allows you to play with your favourite cricket team in four exciting modes of play - “Quick Match”, “PowerPlay” “World Cup” and the turn based styled “Pass-N-Play” modes. The game features ‘Full HD graphics and action packed gameplay and leaves you begging for more. Cricket World Cup fever is the ideal for die hard Cricket fans and casual gamers, who just can’t have enough of cricketing action.

neeraj.varty@corporatecitizen.com

March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 61

astroturf ers to your goals are slowly being eliminated and success would be at hand directly in proportion to the hard work put in.

Fortune favours the bold and the lucky

Your attitude is your altitude says Dolly Mangat our renowned Astrological Expert and believes she helps people create their own prophecies rather than live predictions

Aries

Mar 21- April 20 The next two months are crucial for your internal and external growth as you would be entering a period of personal power. You need to look into your personal and professional interests. Anything that can enhance your lifestyle should be manifested now. Being selfish is not bad, you need to look into your own internal needs and work accordingly.

TAURUS

April 21 - May 20 You have entered a period of maximum independence and personal power now, and this continues for the next two months. You need to concentrate on what is good for you, no matter what others think, its their problem you need to be selfish and work on what is good for you. You have the power to create conditions as you desire them to be.

GEMINI

May 21 - June 21 Health and energy needs carefully monitoring, in case of any surgical requirements do not hesitate and take precaution and expert help if need be. Temper needs to be controlled and you need to avoid

any kind of confrontations or any risk taking activities. While focus on career is necessary, yet a balance between work and rest is important. It would be a good idea for you to go about your work and communications in a more defensive manner than aggressive.

CANCER

Jun 22 - July 23 Career has been the focal point ever since the beginning of the year and continues to remain so for the next six months. Focus and down play your home front. Career is a long term project and in your case never ending. Good progress is seen as success in the coming months. You are slowly and steadily are progressing towards your ultimate goals. Those wishing to have a change of career by all means start working now.

LEO

July 24 - Aug 23 Â Your loved ones are redefining themselves and will start to project a new image to the world. This could also mean altercations with your belief system, you need to be calm either go with the flow or make your point of view clearly without any force. Even though this month seems a bit volatile, yet the plus point is that career shows an upswing. Barri-

62 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

VIRGO

Aug 24 - Sept 23 You are in a period of maximum power and independence, you could perhaps utilize this month to make those changes you have been thinking for long. You can indulge yourself into creating the world you want. People around you will co-operate with your plans and there is a smooth progress seen. Avoid stressful activities, spend time with yourself.

LIBRA

Sept 24 - Oct 22 Love surrounds you the entire year around, some of you may extend those bonds and bind them forever. In between you may face some obstacles and love could be tested, just remember confidence and understanding becomes stronger when love gets weathered. Be prepared for some financial disturbances and you may be forced to change some of your plans. Just learn to go with the flow, and by the end of the month you will be happier person.

SCORPIO

Oct 23 - Nov 22 The month ahead is affected by all the happenings in your personal life. There can be shakeups in love or marriage, its actually a testing time when circumstances test your relationships. Unresolved issues come up for cleansing. You need to be honest, which actually comes with clarity of mind and heart. Speaking clearly will help you over come half your problems, a patient hearing and calm response sorts the other half out. You could even experience technical glitches, your equipment may need an overhaul or servicing so back up your important files.

SAGITTARIUS

Nov 23 - Dec 22 The health scene spills over this month too, you need to build a strict regime for your diet and exercise. Career will demand your energies so a fit mind in a fit body is important. Do not be tensed, avoid all kinds of stressful activities, this is best dome when you actually do your best and leave the rest. Good rewards come when you work hard with conviction.

CAPRICORN

Dec 23 - Jan 20 Even though your own needs and interests are important, its time to think of others in your sphere. Your ability to get on with others and gain their cooperation will be important this month. Any weird happenings in your life will be like omens, the cosmos is trying to explain something important to you. Listen carefully, absorb all that you feel hear and see before taking any step.

AQUARIUS

Jan 21 - Feb19 Spirituality takes precedence over other matters in your life. New awakenings helps you alter your practice, attitude, and perhaps beliefs in life. Avoid any kind of risky deals or activities. Your current relationships have been undergoing a kind of testing all through the past year, dramatic events continue and now you need to take some appropriate decisions and actions.

PISCES

Feb 20 - Mar 20 Its time to redefine your personality both mentally and physically. Present a new look to the world, there are bound to be dramatic financial changes happening around you. Use your intelligence, your strategies will be impressive. You will be a winner only if you use your alertness and intuition. Be more realistic, make adjustments and you will fare exceedingly well.

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March 1-15, 2015 / Corporate Citizen / 63

Corporate Citizen gives a thunderous applause to the crime branch of the Delhi police for laying a trap and arresting five people, including two officials of the Petroleum Ministry for leaking government documents to energy consultants and corporates and thereby plugging espionage that was apparently existing in this sensitive ministry for quite sometime The Delhi Police released a press note providing an insight into the modus operandi it adopted to trap the culprits. Following is the text: ‘‘There was information that two persons alongwith their associates are involved in procuring/obtaining/stealing the official documents by trespassing into the offices of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) at Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi and on 17.02.2015, they would intrude in the night. A trap was laid and three persons came in an Indigo car near Shastri Bhawan. Two persons alighted and went inside while, the third remained sitting in the car. After around two hours, when the two persons entered the car, all three persons were apprehended. They were identified as Lalta Prasad (36 yrs) r/o Khichdipur, Delhi, Rakesh Kumar (30 yrs) r/o Nauroji Nagar, Delhi and Raj Kumar Chaubey (39 yrs) r/o Vaishali, Ghaziabad. Official documents were recovered. Recently CCTV cameras had been installed at Shastri Bhawan. In order to evade the surveillance of CCTV cameras, they got disabled CCTV cameras during the time they entered Shastri Bhawan. Asharam (58 yrs) r/o Nouraoji Nagar, Delhi and Ishwar Singh (56 yrs) r/o Nangloi, Delhi have been arrested. ‘‘Investigations further revealed that the stolen documents were being sold to some individual of private energy consultancy companies as well as to those in the Petrochemical/Energy industry. ‘‘The team that has busted this case was led by ACP KPS Malhotra consisting of Insprs. Sunil Kumar, Arvind Kumar, Kulbir Singhunder the guidance of DCP Bhisham Singh and overall supervision of Addl. CP Ashok Chand. Further investigation is in progress. (DELHI POLICE - CRIME BRANCH)

Corporate Citizen slaps at the attempt of Fazal Shaik, a Hyderabad based youth who smiled as he posed for a picture atop a 120 year old Galapagos tortoise in the Nehru Zoological Park, in Hyderabad in order to get maximum Facebook ‘likes’

As the photograph started circulating on social media, the joy became short lived. Fazal Shaik was arrested recently by the Hyderabad police for the offense. Fazal Shaik (24) who had got the photo clicked last May, told a gathering of reporters that he took the photo with the intention of putting it on Facebook for more ‘likes.’. “The man jumped over the enclosure and though this cannot be considered as a security lapse, it should prove as a lesson to others who want to try such misadventures” Ramakrishna Rao, Curator of the Nehru Zoological Park told The News Minute. When asked if similar incidents had taken place earlier, Ramakrishna added that “Thousands of people visit the zoo during weekends and holidays but I don’t think anything like this has happened before. As a precaution, however, security has been increased after the arrest.” The police have booked Fazal - who works for a local garage, under the Wildlife Protection Act. If convicted, he could be jailed for six months or made to pay a fine of Rs. 2000. This move has not gone down well with animal rights activists as well. Bhuvaneshwari Gupta, who works with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) told TNM “What Galapagos turtles would “like” is to just be left along to graze and bask in the sun. The zoo is already an unnatural setting for a turtle who doesn’t get to live with his family. Turning him into a photo op can be traumatic and possibly spread diseases. It’s not being done for the welfare of the tortoise.” The Galapagos tortoise is the largest living species of tortoise and the 13th-heaviest living reptile. Modern giant tortoises can weigh up to 250 kg and are now considered an endangered species. Earlier in September, a man was mauled by a white tiger in Delhi zoo after he had jumped inside the enclosure. Reports suggest that five similar incidents have occurred over the last eight years in various zoos across India. (Courtesy: www.thenewsminute.com)

Printed and published by Suresh Chandra Padhy on behalf of Sri Balaji Society. Editor : Suresh Chandra Padhy. Published from : 925/5, Mujumdar Apt, F.C. Road, Pune - 411004, Maharashtra. Printed at Magna Graphics (I) Ltd., 101-C&D Govt. Industrial Estate, Hindustan Naka, Kandivali (W), Mumbai - 400067.

64 / Corporate Citizen / March 1-15, 2015

illustration by: Deepak Sankpal

Pic Credit: Indian Express Archive

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