The words of wisdom that transformed me

 I come from a lower middle class family. I spent the first 26 years of my life in a chawl in Mumbai. In view of the stringent financial situation at home I had to look after my college education myself. This I did by giving tuitions to a few school students in my building complex and also by taking up temporary jobs during summer vacations.

Mr.Palekar,  the Principal of the R.A Podar College of Commerce where I studied,  used to  help me by   ringing  up some old student of the college and request him to give me a temporary job. I worked as a Sales Assistant one year, a Bank Clerk another year. My last summer job as Accounts Assistant at Dharamsi MorarjeeChemicals, which was otherwise routine, was memorable because of a meeting I had with the sales manager — I remember his name was Shukla —on the last day of my stint at the company, which was to transform my life

As a temporary Accounts Assistant, my seat at a corner table was not far from the cabin of Mr.Shukla.  He  was  a smart young man always impeccably dressed, Sitting in the corner and watching him in action, I became his ardent fan. I decided that I must meet him before I leave the company to find out the secret of his success!

I am a pushy person by nature. On the last day of my job, I barged into his cabin and requested him to spare me a few minutes. Though he was initially annoyed at my insolence, when I told him who I was and that I was one of his admirers, he immediately relaxed and asked me to take my seat.

After giving him a brief background about myself, I told him about my plans to become an adman and sought his advice in the matter. Much to my surprise, he was categorical that advertising might not suit me and explained why. He felt that at that point of time  advertising was meant for people with social standing. My lower middle class background would keep me down in the ad world, even if I found a job.

He however, gave me two pieces of advice, the words of wisdom,  that  not only transformed my life but also gave a clear direction to where I was heading in my life.

Advice No. 1: Since you will be starting  a career in a couple of years, you must introspect and prepare a balance sheet of your plus points and minus points. Show this balance sheet to a few of your near and dear ones to add or eliminate some points. Having got a final list, you must make a sincere attempt to convert each one of the minus point to a plus point. It will take you a whole lifetime to do this but the efforts will be worthwhile.

Advice No. 2: Do not judge the success of a person based on how he lives or the amount of money he makes. He may have all the money in the world but in the process of accumulating that wealth and enjoying the pleasures that such wealth can provide, he would have missed out on important values in life — values pertaining to relationship with people.

To become a really successful person in life, start at being a good son, a good brother, a good friend, a good student, a good spouse, a good father, a good employee and eventually a good boss. In other words, you must be successful in every role that you are called upon to play in life.

He said that this also  would take a whole life time to achieve. But the goodwill that  you would have created will guarantee  greater happiness than all the money in the world could  buy. `Money can help you buy pleasures of life  but not happiness`, .he said.

Much against Mr.Shukla`s advice, I took up advertising as a career and made a name for myself as a Rural Marketing Specialist. To get over the negative point of my not having a social standing, I joined a social service organisation through which I not only made a legion of friends across the country but also became somebody  in my society- respected and loved by people who crossed my path. Though I did not accumulate big wealth, my bank of good will has been always overflowing. This has helped me experience the `joy of giving`- not just sharing my limited wealth but my talent, my time and my other resources in the service of the society.

I am happy to say that at 75  when I look back, I feel that I have led a very successful and  fulfilling life! .Celebrating my life all the way!

 (This article appeared in the January,2017 issue of `INFINITHOUGHTS` published by Ra..Ra..Mahatira

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A Special Programme in memory of a Special Person

 It is time again to celebrate the memory of a dear departed soul. Exactly four years ago on 5^th Januray 2013, Prabha my wife of forty years was snatched away by the dreaded crab disease at a very young age. She was only 61.  She was a multi talented person who started blossoming in life after the age of 40. Apart from being a wonderful housewife and a good mother she was interested in music, gardening. She was also active in social work. Above all she had created an identity for herself as an accomplished writer of stories in Tamil with two books of short stories to her credit. Though I was a dutiful husband for the first half of our married life it was in the second half that I truly fell in love with her. I had a ringside view of her evolution from a shy, introverted individual with low self esteem into a confident individual willing to take on any challenge coming her way and excelling in many fields of activities she was involved in. She was a keen learner and a good sport. She became the dream girl that I wanted to marry. I was really proud of her.

When she passed away many well meaning friends consoled me telling me that time is a great healer and that I will soon learn to forget and live without her. Living without her had become a reality but I decided not to forget her but celebrate her memory by undertaking activities which will keep her memory alive every moment of my life.  Apart from the decision to have my own space in running the home she loved so much, I started Prabha Rajan Talent Foundation (PRTF) to undertake activities to encourage women in the creative art of writing and also support talented girls in their creative pursuits.

PRTF which started four years ago has been encouraging talented women by conducting writing contests in association with leading Tamil magazines like Managayar Malar, Kalaimagal & Ladies Special and sponsoring books by budding women Tamil writers, published by Manimekalai Prasuram a leading publishing house based in Chennai. It has also been supporting young girls by sponsoring their school fees and offering them talent scholarships to pursue creative courses of their choice. Another PRTF project is the sponsorship of a Bala Gurukul in Prabha`s name managed by the Bombay based India Development Foundation at the Corporation school in Damodarapuram, Adyar.  The residents of the school are mostly street children who are given special tuitions in the evenings by qualified teachers under the programme.

This year PRTF decided to have a special programme to celebrate her memory. The function held on 31^st December at Tag Centre and started with my 15 year old  granddaughter (and daughter of my second daughter Sowmya & Srinivasan), Uthara performing an hour of scintillating Carnatic music. The delighted audience had no doubts that the child will go places in the world of music.

This was followed by screening of two short films based on Prabha`s short stories which PRTF had commissioned. The first film was a 10 minute film based on a short story titled Nalu Parukkaikaha (For a Morsel of food),  with an all women cast and directed by young Shruthy Murthy, who passed out of Loyola college with a degree in Viscom last year. The second was a 45 minute film based on a novella (long story) titled ` Thayumanaval` the title story from  Prabha`s second book, was directed by experienced filmmaker Rajeshwari Anand; a Gold Medallist from Film Institute in Chennai and an old associate of Anugrah Madison Advertising.  Both the films were brilliantly executed by the two talented women.  I sincerely hope the films will help them realize their dream of getting an entry into the feature film industry in a big way. The audience simply loved both the films. It is a pity that Prabha was not there to see characters from her two stories coming alive on the screen. 

The grand finale for the evening was the distribution of prizes to winners of a novella contest in Tamil conducted by the popular women centric Tamil monthly called “Ladies Special”.

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Though I am continuing to live with Prabha in my virtual world, I do miss her physical presence. I miss her admonishing  me for the things I did or didn`t do, miss the shouting matches that we used to have on silly issues, miss the enthusiasm and energy she displayed during festival days. Most important of all I miss her presence in the bed room where I could take for granted the minute to minute care that only a  life partner can provide when one is unwell . However the projects that I am involved with in her memory through PRTF help me continue to celebrate life, trying to spread happiness around to the best of my abilities- Hope that keeps my dear Prabha`s soul happy!

A tribute to a veteran writer/adman - S.Krishna

My  good friend S.Krishna is no more. Also known as Pertinax Krishna, 85 year old Krishna passed away recently after a brief struggle with cancer. He had never fully recovered from the irreparable loss of his dear wife more than a year ago. She had  died a day after their 58^th wedding  anniversary. Inspite of him being old with health issues, the way he looked after his wife during her last days could be a lesson in loving care for the youngsters of today.

He was 55 when he decided to pursue his passion for advertising by starting his own advertising  agency called Pertinax. He had started his working career earlier with Post & Telegraphs Department , where he spent 10 years after which he had a long stint with Lucas TVS in their marketing dept. It was in Lucas TVS that his interests in advertising took roots when  he was dealing with R.K.Swamy Advertising Associates who were the advertising  agency for his company. 

A voracious reader and a bilingual writer in English & Tamil,  Krishna was regularly contributing articles and stories to the leading dailies and magazines of the time. His stories were published by The Hindu, Indian Express, Caravan, Kalki etc. A collection of his Tamil stories was published by Vanathi Padhippagam. He was known for his excellent command of English which was  reflected in his writings. A perfectionist in whatever he did, he would not hesitate to pull up people for their slackness . He was brutally frank to the extent that he could sometimes hurt people with his comments.

He was an active member of the Advertising Club, Madras right from its early years. The office bearers of the Club used to dread his presence in Annual General Meetings of the Club because he would not hesitate to ask probing  questions on the affairs of the Club and expect an answer. It is this very quality of Krishna which brought me close to him. When I got actively involved with the Adclub, I realised that Krishna was genuinely interested in the Club and had no malice towards anyone. Nor was he aspiring for any posts. When I found out that he was a creative writer, I decided, as  the President of the Club between  1993-95,  to request  him to take up the job of editing the Club Magazine `Headline` which used to be an annual publication. He not only  helped  in converting   the magazine  into  a quarterly   but also  brought out excellent issues of the magazine,  rich in content and  quality with total dedication and commitment . He did this  for seven years  in a row until a misunderstanding with one of the Presidents made him give up the responsibility. It is sad that the magazine was never revived after he quit the post.

I cannot forget Krishna for playing an important  role in helping me bring out the Golden Jubilee Commemoration Volume of the Adclub, Madras, one of  my dream projects,  when I became  the club`s  Golden jubilee Committee Chairman in 2005-6. In spite of his advancing age ( he was 75) he would run around using available transport looking for materials and photos for the book. I remember an instance when he walked the streets of Kodambakkam trying to locate a photo studio, which had a photo  of the founders of the Adclub, Madras in 1956. Not only did he help in collecting information but he also wrote the main story in the book tracing the 50 year history of the Adclub, Madras. I was all admiration for his enthusiasm and the  physical energy that he displayed at  that time. Though I faded into  the background after the event  , he continued to attend  Club Meetings until health issues prevented him. He had already handed over the running of his agency to his second son.

The last big writing assignment  that he did was  the chapter on the history of advertising for a book called `Madras ( Chennai)- A Four Hundred Year history of the First City of India`, a project of the Association of British Scholar Programme consisting of 50 articles on a variety of topics, edited by the well known historian /Journalist S.Muthiah. He was eagerly looking forward to the release of the book. Pity that he passed away without seeing his effort in print.

Post my retirement from my business, I was a regular visitor to his home.  I always looked forward to his critical comments on my writings. I am going to miss a well wisher – a frank , outspoken person who may not have made many friends in the advertising business but  was a good human being with good intentions. May his Soul rest in peace!

He transformed medicare in India

This article, published in the `Madras Musings` issue dt. November 16-30,2016 is based on the Biography of Dr.P.C. Reddy,  titled `HEALER`, written  by Pranay Gupte

`At the age of fifty, when most people start planning to retire Dr.Prathap Chandra Reddy  decided that he was going to revolutionize  healthcare in India. In 1983, the renowned cardiologist launched the country`s first professionally run private sector hospital system. Thirty years later Apollo Hospitals has become one of the world`s largest provider of high technology healthcare.  Apollo today is an industry pioneer and a world leader in areas like Heart, Liver, Bone morrow transplant and robotic surgery`

How this happened is the story   titled ` Healer- Dr.Prathap Chandra Reddy by , Pranay Gupte,(Portfolio Penguin). Pranay Gupte,the author of several books and a columnist for Newsweek, tells the story based on interviews with  hundreds of Dr.Reddy`s  friends, relatives, colleagues and others who crossed his path during the course of his illustrious career as a top cardiologist  and as a visionary who built the Apollo group. `Healer` is a blend of  anecdote, reportage, analysis and narrative` The book  has interesting  information about how Dr.Reddy had to manoeuvre through difficult bureaucratic and complex medical systems to realize his dream of establishing the first corporate hospital in India.

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Dr.Reddy hails from a rich agricultural family in Aragonda in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, where his father was the village chief. Born as the fifth  child among seven siblings Dr.Reddy was the first in the family  to move out of the village. He came  to study  medicine in Chennai. He received his M.B.B.S from Stanley Medical College in Chennai in 1957.  In 1963 he went to Britain and later to U.S.A where he worked in hospitals in Worcester, Massachusetes & Boston before settling down in Springfield, Missourie, gaining a reputation as a heart specialist. Seven years later , he and his family returned to India after receiving a letter from his father `reminding him to come back to India to do his duty to his Desam and Samajam` . He joined HM hospital in Madras as the head of its cardiac division. 

Soon after his return in 1970 he lost both his father and mother and was disturbed  that he could not do anything to save their lives. But the real trigger to start a world class hospital happened when he lost a thirty eight year old patient because the man could not mobilize the resources for a heart bypass operation in the US.

What started as a single 150 bed hospital in Chennai,  inaugurated on 18^th September, 1983  Apollo has now grown into one of the largest healthcare provider in Asia with over 8500 beds at more than 50 hospitals in India and abroad.    Giani Zail Singh the then President of India who inaugurated the hospital called it ` An American hospital in India`

Among the many firsts that the group can claim,  here are a few:

Apollo was the first corporate hospital in India  to list its equity shares in Madras & Bombay stock  exchanges and later the National Stock Exchange; First to have a multi-organ transplant in the country; a  dedicated Linac based stereotactic radio surgery unit outside the  USA ;  telemedicine facility in the country using  satellite technology and  a PET CT, the 124-slice CT scan.

Medvarsity Online Limited was the first medical e-learning venture established in India;

 Apollo Hospitals New Delhi became  the first hospital in the group ( later to be followed by other units) to receive accreditation from  Joint Commission International (JCI), USA considered a `Gold Standard` in healthcare accreditation.

Other firsts include,  Introduction of Master Health Check up as a preventive and disease control measure,.   `Hospital on Wheels` and  `Reach` hospital concept leveraging technology to make available quality and affordable tertiary health care accessible to BOP individuals in rural areas .

 Dr.Reddy,  comes across as a visionary, a risk taker, a strict disciplinarian, a transformational character and above all as a good,  friendly soul who sincerely believed in the `healing touch` of the doctor with his  patients. Whenever he meets a patient in his consulting room or during his Rounds of the Wards he will never fail to put his arm around the patient giving the reassurance to the patient that the doctor really cares for him. This `Making one feel good` experience has been echoed by not only patients  but by many others  who have crossed his path. Any guest visiting Dr.Reddy`s home would have to have something to eat and drink. Even their drivers would receive the same hospitality.

Dr. Reddy always  emphasized that the  key ingredient in health care is the personal attention and qualifications of  persons who attend to the patients. Medical colleges and hospitals around the world are taking note of the fact that technology isn`t the only thing that drives success in  health care. `Dr.Reddy and Apollo have practiced `the high-tech/high touch` philosophy since Apollo opened in 1983`. Other characteristics of  of Dr.Reddy which wins people over are his ever smiling face, his self assurance and self confidence. According to B.A Kothandaraman,( of Viveks fame) one of Dr.Reddy`s oldest friends, ` the important thing is that his success hasn`t gone into his head.`

Dr. Reddy also highlighted that while practice of medicine is at the heart of any hospital, administration and management  are key components as well. He often takes time to meet Apollo`s management team and never fails  to felicitate them on special occasions such as birthdays.

One of the biggest  achievements of Dr.Reddy has been his ability to persuade hundreds of highly qualified NRI doctors, each a specialist in his field,  having very successful practices abroad to come back to India. He did this by promising them the best technology support, equal to the best available in the world and a congenial atmosphere with the freedom to pursue their practice without interferences from the management. And of course a good remuneration package. No wonder many of them have continued to be associated with the hospital since its inception. Considered the  `pillars` of the system or `Tigers` as Dr.Reddy would like to refer to them, are  big names like Dr M.R. Girinath,  Dr. Mathew Kalarickal, Dr. I. Sathyamurthy- all well known heart specialists -  Dr. M.K.Mani,  the Nephrologist , the late Dr. N.Rangabashyam  a gastrointestinal surgeon & Dr. Joseph V.Thachil,  an  Urologist.

Dr.Reddy is a very spiritual man with implicit  faith in God. His favourite deity is Hanuman. He never  fails to spend time every day in his Puja Room and also makes it a point to regularly  visit the Krishna,  Mariamman temples located inside the  Apollo Hospital premises. According to his daughter Preetha, `Daddy gets a lot of strength from the Veda and the Mahabharata. He meditates for an hour every morning. Daddy has the ability to focus on his goal. His goal was better health care for India. There are other characteristics that daddy exemplifies: leadership, integrity, strength and wisdom`

Dr.Girinath, who has worked closely with Dr.Reddy for over three decades says,` I`ve watched Dr.Reddy  develop from a struggling businessman to a corporate giant. It is a story to be studied by anyone who wants to know how knowledge, will power, determination and foresight and intuition can be put to work in the pursuit of an ideal.`

Dr.Reddy has also won several Awards for his enduring  contribution to  the health care scene in India including the `Padma Bhushan` in 1991.

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When questioned by Gupte, if  he  considered himself a visionary, Reddy replied,` Being a `visionary` simply  means observing your environment and thinking how you can make a difference…. I believe that each one of us has it within us to become transformational figures. As I look at my life, I can say truthfully that I did the best that I could do. But that is not enough for me. There is more to be done – much, much more. I feel blessed by the continuity that my four daughters and their children and the Apollo family offer for Apollo. They are the standard bearers of our brand. They are the keepers of my legacy and they will all become leaders in their own right. Can a man in my place expect anything more of his family?`

`Healer` tells Dr.Reddy`s inspirational story like it has never been told before.

Footnote:

Outside the Apollo world, horse racing and card games are Reddy`s passion

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