Alec Walker

An unforgettable character:

                                            Alec Walker

This is the story about an unforgettable character in my life.  About an Anglo Indian Manager I had  worked with almost five decades ago.  A man who recognized  my leadership potential, very early in my life, and  helped me get onto the  fast track of growth in the advertising profession. His name was Alec Walker.

Though I do not have details about his early life, I know that he was a retired Major from the Army who was working in Dunlop India Ltd at  their Headquarters in Calcutta, in charge of administration. Dunlop was a client of Clarion Advertising,  which was the second largest advertising agency during mid sixties and early seventies, where I was working then. When Clarion heard that Walker was planning to quit Dunlop, they promptly hired him as the Chief Administration Manager to sort out the administration problems of the company. In 1965 Clarion had entered into a tie up with McCann Erickson to become Clarion McCann resulting in big business coming its way. 

Based out of Calcutta, Walker was supposed to look after the administration of all the branches of the company. Since he was directly reporting to the Chairman of Clarion he had a lot of clout which he utilized to take quick and effective decisions in the interest of the company.

I had joined Clarion as a Management trainee in 1964, in their Bombay office, which was the biggest beneficiary of the tie-up in terms of getting many   blue chip clients. To handle the booming new business, staff at all levels was being hired without any proper administrative systems in place. I remember during the first year of my stint with clarion, I had no fixed table. I used to occupy any table, which was unoccupied because of the absence of some executive or the other. There was total confusion as all the senior managers were very busy dealing with the slew of new clients and  had no time to look at the admin problems.

It was in this chaotic situation that we heard the good news that the H.O was sending Mr. Walker to Bombay office to set things right. Walker`s reputation preceded him. We had been already told that he was a very upright man (both in character and his physique) who brooked no nonsense from anybody. While he had a tough exterior, he had a humane approach in dealing with people and problems. The entire staff, including me, was eagerly awaiting the arrival of Walker.

When Walker walked into the office on a Monday morning along with a couple of Managers, he did not disappoint me. He was of medium height, fair and stocky with a majestic disposition. He exuded a feeling of friendly authority. After the mandatory introduction to all staff members, Walker got into business without wasting any time. His first act was to ensure that people came to office on time. He himself walked into office five minutes before time every day and left office exactly at the closing time. He was a strict disciplinarian. He believed in practicing what he preached. It was said that while he was in the HO at Calcutta, he would not hesitate in `marking` even  the MD if he came late to office. He did not believe in empty rhetoric’s and false promises. Within a few weeks of his coming to Bombay,  the staff could feel a subtle change for the better in the atmosphere of the office. But he still had a long way to go and address a lot of other issues which were craving for his attention.

It was at this stage that I decided to make my presence felt as a `self starter` with Walker. Even before Walker had come to Bombay, the confusion prevailing in the office had prompted me to prepare a detailed note to the Management, analyzing the problems being faced by the office and outlining the solutions that I had to offer. With some trepidation I decided to hand over the note to Walker.  As he was busy, he took it from me and kept it aside. He did not even ask me what the note was about. I came out of his cabin wondering if I had done the right thing. Will he appreciate my initiative or pull me up for my impertinence in doing something which was not expected of me as a junior account executive in the company. I went home with a tinge of apprehension.

The next morning, as soon as I reached office, I was told that Walker wanted to see me.  Even before I could dump my brief case near my table, he walked across to where I was standing and gave me a bear hug. He then lifted me off of my feet, turned around a full circle before dropping me on the floor. I will never forget his words, “You will go places young man, God Bless You`. He then took me to his cabin to discuss my note. There were a few staff members who were a witness to this scene.

Naturally, the word got around the office. This episode couple with my growing reputation as an excellent client service man helped in enhancing my stature in the eyes of the rest of the staff.  So much so that the Management would have no hesitation in handing over all troublesome clients to me to handle, earning me a nick name `Crisis Rajan`. Not a trouble maker but a trouble shooter! I believe Walker`s open acknowledgement of my initiative surely helped me gain more confidence to take on greater challenges that came my way. 

I left Clarion after my bond with the company expired. He was very happy when he heard that I had rejoined the group after two years, and became a CEO of ACIL (Advertising Consultants India Limited) a sister company of Clarion at the age of 31 within 8 years of joining the advertising profession.

After spending some more years In Clarion streamlining the administration of the company Walker decided to finally retire and settle down in a small independent house in Whitefield in Bangalore with his wife Margaret. His only daughter Sylvia, a spinster was well settled in London. I visited him a couple of times in the early years to pay my respects but lost contact with him later. 

I understand from a good friend who had worked very closely with Walker for several years, that after his wife pre-diseased him,  he sold his house and moved to a small guest house close to the Church to which he was attached. He spent his last days lonely but maintaining his trade mark cheerful front to people who came visiting.  I can never forget Walker for the important break he gave  me early  in my life as an advertising professional.

Single Parent

From Adyar Times issue dt. 0ctober11-17,2015   

    

My first article published under a  new fortnightly column  titled `Rajan`s Random Reflections` . Adyar Times is a free  community paper popular in South Madras  reaching about 50,000 households.

                                                        SINGLE PARENT

                                     

I had gone to stay with my daughter in Bangalore for a couple of days. I was moved to see the extremely busy schedule that she maintains, looking after her home and the two school going kids  besides some creative activities she is pursuing as a hobby. After the school hours, driving the children to special classes or some sports/cultural activity in the maddening traffic of Bangalore can be quite nerve wracking by itself.  The task has become even more daunting because of the absence of her husband who is away in Delhi on a short transfer depriving her of his support during the children’s growing years. I must say that like millions of Indian Housewives, she is coping with the challenge  very well, albeit with some impact on her health & moods!

While my daughter has the moral support of her husband who regularly calls & keeps in touch with the happenings at home, I was wondering what happens to the growing number of single parents, in our country. How do they cope without the active support of a life partner? Their  single status could be because of a broken marriage, or loss of a husband due to illness/accidents. And of course there are young women, very successful in their careers  and financially  independent, deciding  not to get hooked on to any one through marriage but still deciding   to bring up a child. Such women go for adoption and are willing to take on the challenging task of performing a dual role – that of a mother and father.

I met a lady recently,  who,  after two broken marriages ,  decided to bring up her two  children on her own. Talking to her, I realized that our  society can be very cruel to women who choose to be single parents.

She was narrating some unpleasant incidents she encountered while dealing with the teachers and the management of the school where her kids were studying. Besides  the children too  had to face the jibes, taunts and insensitive comments of their peers as well as teachers.  Making them feel very insecure,  leading to psychological problems, affecting their lives.

Though I have not come across  a single parent who has adopted a child, I am sure such women also must be facing similar problems. The adopted children  must be facing more humiliation than the biological children of single parents because they don`t know who their father is.

In the West it is common to find children of single parents- could be either the father or the mother, studying in schools coping well with their lives, because Western society has accepted such situations as normal.  In our country we still have a long way to go in addressing this growing problem,  resulting from increasing cases of divorces. Apart from developing counseling  for such parents and schools,  the society must also consider providing support systems to enable the hapless women to manage their lives with dignity.

Feedback welcome on rvrajan42@gmail.com.

You are welcome to share this with your friends

Over - Smart phones

                                 I have at last joined the legion of `smart` people. Yes I am now a ‘not so’ proud owner of a smart phone presented to me by my son. I am yet to get used to it’s `over smart - super fast` response to my hard touch, resulting in many frustrating moments that I face with the phone every day.

A major problem which I face is in keying the name to go with a new number or store a caller`s number. I keyed the name Ashok Dey and after carefully checking the spelling when I tried to store the name it became `A shot Dey`.  Similarly Madhu became ``Madhuri` and Nanayam Kumar became `Narayan Kumar`. Since I have not yet mastered the art of editing/correcting the matter, it is quite frustrating when I have to retrieve the number of a person. My son tells me it is because of the `auto correct` feature of the phone which decides what should be the spelling of whatever name I am typing, irrespective of what I have keyed in! I thought that is stretching the smartness of the phone too far.

Another problem has to do with WhatsApp. As the senior most `don` of the `Matunga Mafia` (as my family WhatsApp group is called) I have very frustrating moments. Since the keypad for typing WhatsApp messages is even smaller than the keypad for keying in caller`s  names, my problem is compounded. It takes a lot of time to compose even a simple message correctly. With the result I often do not respond.

What  `got my goat` recently was a message I saw flashing on my mobile which said that I had already used up  `XXX` MB space in my mobile and that the system was getting hot and slowing down the operation. I was aghast.  I had hardly used the phone  for 10 days and  had not even downloaded any programmes.  How could I have used up so much space?  Is somebody hacking my phone? I got worried. My son solved the problem by deleting a whole lot of Apps,  which I was not likely to use. 

Irritated by the frequent `beeps` I get,  informing me about some message or the other, I keep putting the instrument on silent mode.  Invariably I forget to return to the normal mode resulting in many near and dear ones complaining that I am not picking up the phone when it rings. Forgetting to end a call or inadvertently calling wrong numbers leading to people whom I have called cursing me has also become a regular feature.

With so much frustration piling on me am I planning to give up my smart phone? It looks unlikely.  But I do hope I don’t become a smart phone addict like the younger generation of today.

As a frustrated mother complained the other day` I can never get my daughter on the phone. But whatever message I send her on WhatsApp gets replied instantly`

Feedback on rvrajan42@gmail.com

Funding the small transporter

Rivers themselves do not drink of the water they carry

Trees do not eat of the fruits they bear
Clouds do not partake of the rains they produce
For, the riches of the good are utilised for the welfare of others.

Sriram V, the author of the  book on Sundaram Finance Limited (SFL), brought out on the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee of the Company, quotes the above translation of a Sanskrit verse to describe the manner in which T.S. Santhanam led his life and steered Sundaram Finance Ltd. of the TVS Group.

The book is in many ways the history of growth and development of the road transport industry in India and the efforts of T.S. Santhanam and SFL to make affordable finance available to a vital but vulnerable section of a newly independent nation. It is also a story of entrepreneurship, innovation and pioneering spirit, says T.T. Srinivasaraghavan, the present MD of SFL in his Foreword.

The story begins with several businesses being carried forward in the name of T.V.Sundaram Iyengar, the founder of the Group. These were related to auto component manufacture and the retailing of automobiles and spares. Venturing into the area of automobile finance was left to his fourth son, T S Santhanam.

As early as 1948 Madras Motor Insurance Company (MMI) came into existence with Santhanam as its MD. The Company branched into other areas of general insurance, fire and marine in 1960, when it changed its name to Madras Motor and General Insurance Company (MMGI). While this business was doing well, Santhanam was already looking at growing his pet project, Sundaram Finance.

Thanks to his involvement with the Motor Vehicle & Allied Industries Association, he was aware of the non-availability of easy finance for operators and fleet owners. While banks dealt only with large commercial establishments, the small fleet owners were left high and dry. According to Santhanam, it was these transporters who persuaded him to get into the finance business. Till the end of his life he would always maintain that Sundaram Finance was established for the welfare of truck and bus operators.
Sundaram Finance came into existence on August 11, 1954 as a subsidiary of MMGI. Among the first loans from the company was one to a VIP customer, M. G. Ramachandran, who received a loan of Rs. 66,000 at 7.5 per cent interest for the purchase of a new Fiat car.

 “Due to Sundaram Finance loaning money at reasonable rates, cleaners and drivers could realise their dreams of becoming vehicle owners. Single vehicle operators began to aim at maintaining a fleet. To every one of them, Santhanam became an icon to be looked up to. And as he studied the business with increased focus, he was to see that both the road transport industry and its financing were to go hand in hand,” says Sriram. He adds, “Santhanam envisaged SFL to be a bank in everything but name and that meant welcoming depositors. At SFL, depositors were handled with kid gloves. There were all kinds of things SFL did for its depositors, long before customer delight became a buzzword. As for the face of SFL, Santhanam was to be it. Cheques sometimes arrived simply addressed to ‘Santhanam Company’!”
The South India Hire Purchase Association (SIHPA) came into existence in 1967, with the Sundaram Finance office as its registered address. It was an organisation that was very close to Santhanam’s heart. In 1975, with the country having over a dozen regional hire purchase associations, there was born the Federation of Indian Hire Purchase Associations (FIHPA) with its headquarters in Delhi.
This was also the time when the TVS Group entered the manufacturing field, with SFL,  in particular, providing financial support during the setting up of the various companies.
In order to run the business on professional lines, right from the beginning Santhanam focussed on systems. To cut down on delays occurring from unnecessary paper work, SFL was computerised way back in 1968. According to an IIMB case study done at the time, the backbone of SFL was its personalised intelligence network.
It was in the 1980s that SFL began venturing north of the Vindhyas for the first time. As SFL spread its network in the North, its business methods were to give rise to slogans like Sundaram ka paisa Balaji ka paisa (meaning money loaned by SFL was God’s money). The other popular expression was Sundaram ka paisa phulta hai – borrowing money from SFL brought prosperity. By early 2000 SFL had spread across the length and breadth of the country. SFL, today, has over 500 branches and 2 lakh depositors and borrowers. Apart from vehicle finance, the Company now offers loans through its subsidiaries to finance homes, tractors, etc.
Quoting Srinivasaraghavan, who joined the company in 1983, Sriram says, “The reason for the success of SFL is that the organisation functioned as a kind of gurukulam – the traditional Indian way of learning, where the student is a disciple-in-residence with the Guru and imbibes what he has to teach through a kind of mental osmosis. The teacher in question was Santhanam. Others ensured that his philosophy and way of doing business were kept intact and continued forward. Not that Santhanam ever really took a back seat. Almost till the  very end, and he was to live well into his nineties, he was very much a presence at the office.”

While SFL has been known since its inception for the best practices it follows like knowing the customer, not compromising on principles, remaining close to core strength, another constant is one of support to organisations connected with art and culture, healthcare and heritage. Apart from major institutions, SFL encourages children’s participation in art and craft, music and personality development, through year-round programmes. Chief of these is the ‘Concert at the Park‘ series wherein young children who are proficient in Carnatic music are encouraged to perform at the Nageswara Rao Pantulu Park in Mylapore on Sunday mornings.
Perhaps a more visible sign of the Company’s involvement with culture and local traditions is the Sundaram Finance Mylapore Festival, started by the weekly tabloid, Mylapore Times. Celebrated every January, it is a people’s festival that is marked by the enthusiastic participation of the community.
SFL began its journey chiefly as Santhanam’s dream. The naysayers were plenty, but he alone saw what others did not – that there existed a space for a company that would handle vehicle finance on professional and ethical terms. He also envisioned it as a safe investment opportunity for countless people of India who brought all their little to him and his company. He considered himself answerable to each of them and it was this trust and goodwill that enabled the Company to grow. That the banks and financial institutions came forward to fund the growth of SFL is really an outcome of the way SFL stood by its depositors and customers. It was the value system of the Company that enabled its growth and which has remained constant over time. Today, Viji Santhanam, the youngest son of Santhanam, heads the Company.

From Madras Musings issue dt. 1-15th Sep.2015. based on the book `Sixty Years of Trust- The Sundaram Finance Story by V.Sriram

To Be Hospitable…

To be hospitable comes naturally to some people. It is a trait which my mother possessed in abundance. The love and affection with which she would welcome any friend/relative visiting our small home in Bombay, is still talked about in our family circles . Though our family was struggling to make both ends meet during my student days,  no guest ever left our home  without partaking a simple meal that she would specially cook and serve  with genuine affection.  Proving the old saying that your economic status has nothing to do with being hospitable.  It’s a matter of attitude which needs to be cultivated.

The other day I was visiting the wedding reception of a friend`s son at a prestigious marriage hall.  It was a society wedding with the who`s who of Chennai in attendance. The reception table had a couple of ladies in uniform ( employed by the event management firm)  welcoming the guests with the mandatory  sprinkling of Rosewater and a ‘put on’ smile! There was no member of the family, who were teeming all over the place, to say a word of welcome to the invitees.

Even when I went on stage to wish the couple, my friend just shook my hands as a routine without any recognition and let me go. I felt miserable like an unwanted guest. I made a quick exit without having the dinner. Later I learnt a few other common friends also had similar experiences at the wedding. It was an excellent event, efficiently managed by the event managers without the personal touch of the hosts. The spirit of true hospitality was missing.

On the other hand, at another society wedding, there was a big reception committee consisting of friends and relatives standing at the entrance.  There was  someone or the other  standing at all vantage points welcoming the guests  with  a smile and guiding them  to a chair. On the stage, my friend - the father of the bride, was so happy to see me that he hugged me , introduced me to the newly weds and requested me to have  dinner without fail before leaving. Though I found that he was giving this treatment to every guest, I still felt like a VIP.  He made every one feel like a special guest. That was hospitality at its best.

We Indians are generally known all over the world for our hospitality.  But there are  always exceptions. You can feel it in the air when somebody is not being hospitable to you.  The plastic smile on their faces or their body language or the tone of their conversation  will clearly indicate  their unfriendliness. In many homes that I have visited, the husband may be very hospitable but the wife would be cold or vice versa. Even if one of them is inhospitable, you feel very uncomfortable staying in that house.

Hospitality  can be communicated  through  small  acts, gestures, and nice words. It reflects  genuine affection for others, a quality that a truly hospitable person displays, is worth emulating by all.

Feedback welcome on rvrajan42@gmail.com or 9840392082