The Exchanges

Q Closest to your grandfather and then your father?

A Uh, difficult to say, actually, Nikhil. Very different equations with all of them. Um, My great grandfather at that time, when I was growing up, I spent a couple of hours every Sunday with him. So for me, he was just my best friend. I'd drag him for a movie, and, um, he'd take me to the aquarium. That was pretty much the only thing you could do in Bombay at the time. Uh, my grandfather was doting. He just loved me immensely, uh, you know, just an ocean of love. Both of them. My father was, uh, Tough task master. So when I started going to work, I saw an avatar of him that I really hadn't experienced before, um, which was different. Um, you know, I think when in our company, people come to me and complain about being under a tough boss, I'm thinking in my mind, you know, they have no idea what a tough boss can be all about.

AI assessment note: “difficult to say, actually, Nikhil. Very different equations with all of them.”

Q And when you say dreamer, what did you dream of doing? What does the alternate life look like?

A Nothing. I had no other plan. I always wanted to join him at work. Um, I didn't have an alternative to be honest, but luckily for me, I had no other, you know, sort of burning desire to do something else or some great talent. Uh, this was something that I'd grown up seeing around me. I always been fascinated by. And, uh, so it was pretty much taken for granted. Uh, and that's what I actually wanted to do as well. I just found that the conversations, uh, that the three of them had quite, uh, interesting always. Uh, you know, the way they spoke about a business situation, setting up a new business about Their people, they also had their own teams, all three of them, and their teams were also quite different from each other. In some way, the reflection of, you know, the leader, the three of them. Uh, so business always fascinated me, you know, so I, I don't think I had, there was no issue there about, I want to do this, but they want me to do that. Or, you know, I have a great talent, which I'm not able to pursue because I have to join the family, um, In business. That, that phase luckily didn't happen with me at all.

AI assessment note: “Nothing. I had no other plan. I always wanted to join him at work.”

Q Okay, so we were at You started interning, uh, you go back there, and then what happened next? Uh, we're in the year, 86, 87, something like that.

A Yeah, I think, yeah, so I'm working with my father, um, complete my graduation and my CA, um, Uh, you know, it's, it's, it's a lot of work. Um, but good work. I mean, it's good. You get wrapped on the knuckles once in a way, but you learn to sort of accept that as a way of life. Also, you know, the intent, uh, is right. I also started looking at some of the units independently, and I feel a great sense of almost like gratitude because All my friends, I mean, their fathers treated them like they were nothing on earth. Um, and if I got, uh, the opportunity to have independent charge of fertilizer unit and a cement unit, uh, that really meant a lot. That was huge learning. Um, different time. I mean, my father and I would sit at the end of every month and He would analyze or want me to analyze all the breakdowns that happened in the three, four cement plants that we had. It was quite painful, but it was relevant because at that time you sold what you made, right? There wasn't anything, any other variable that was important, but, uh, it just be very boring and nice to think to myself, you know, I want to have so many kilns that Baba Khan asked me to be doing this every month. It was just such a boring thing to do. Um, but yeah, it was, I, like I said, steep learning curve. Um, I got married in 89. Um, went off to my MBA after that at, at London Business School, which was, uh, Again…

AI assessment note: “I'm working with my father, um, complete my graduation and my CA”

Q So grew up in Cal, Calcutta and then Mumbai, which school did you go to? Do you remember anything from those times?

A I went to Campion. Um, I remember school quite well, very tough and very strict, uh, environment. So a little different, uh, not too much of fun for a better part of it. I think we all enjoyed, uh, You know, class nine and 10, because then you grow up and you have your own sort of, um, uh, you know, you're really independent of school authority. Uh, but, um, good fun. Very simple, very cosmopolitan. Uh, you know, I mean, at our time, at that time, it was all very simple stuff. Excited to run and get, get an ice cream, uh, during recess, that kind of thing. Getting back for not getting the right book and not wearing the right kind of shoe. Uh, that was the kind of school that it was.

AI assessment note: “I went to Campion. Um, I remember school quite well, very tough and very strict”

Q I feel like I have a lot to learn from you in this. Is there something you look for in people when you're doing this pivot from the people you're hiring? Is there something?

A So there's two kinds of people, those who've grown up in the organization. So I have about, uh, 4000 people who've been with me for 20 plus years. With people like that, you know them pretty much. I mean, I don't, I may not know all of them, but HR would, other people in the system would. So that's, that's, you know, being a meritocracy. You have a track record within the company. And meritocracy means that you're pretty much getting ahead. This is the merit that you want for yourself. For people from outside, it's, it's a gut feel. You look at their track record, you speak to them, you, you do sound referencing. It's a gut feel. I mean, do you think I look at people, uh, and I ask myself, can they handle complexity? Um, are they agile learners? Uh, and would they be able to lead large and diverse teams of people? And that, that sense you can only get with, uh, talking to them, right? There's no other way. Uh, so I think more than just, uh, rest referencing, it's, it's about your own instinct, right? And your own, own, uh, uh, experience, uh, with, uh, different kinds of profiles of people. Um, so it is a leap of faith at the end of the day. Right.

AI assessment note: “can they handle complexity? Um, are they agile learners?”

Q Would you say that order is state, church, corporates? Church, I'm adding like all religions.

A I think even if that were to be the case, I mean, that's always up for debate, but the point remains that corporates still are a very important and a growing part of society, and The expectation or the desire to give back is a responsibility, and it's not really something that, ah, unusual or something that's altruistic. I mean, it's just something that should be done. Because you're just giving back to society from which the business, forget about the individual part of it, that of course also, but when you're getting so much, ah, for business to play a role in impacting society positively is just part of a charter of business. I don't think that it needs to be, ah, called out as philanthropy necessarily. Um, that, that's how we would view it, which is why also we wouldn't talk about it, not for any other reason, but, you know, a lot of people have asked as to why there's no documentation on the work the family has done over the years, over generations. Um, and I did ask this to some of the family elders a few years ago, and obviously no one was interested in doing that. I don't think there's anyone in the family today who knows about all the charities that have been done over the years in terms of contribution, you know, community asset building. Uh, and I, I think it would be great to document it just as an archival thing for the family, for our children and grandchildren. O…

AI assessment note: “even if that were to be the case, I mean, that's always up for debate”