Memoirs.....Musings of a sales guy at heart.....

Episode 32...

It took some time for the 'redundancy' factor to sink in.....my guys at the HO and Roland were all taken by surprise as they expected major rebellion from me, considering my 14 years of 'top notch' performance and also the results in Gulf....but as mentioned earlier, divine power showered me with all the 'redundancy' package and I felt relieved....I was asked to work till June 30th, the year end of Diageo and continue with all my visa and home till Sep end....So that gave me the breather and I started mulling over the options.

There was one on my hand though which was to be part of Flemingo international, a trading house in DxB with DF operations across India....but completely run by a family....and there were some other options but I didnt want to disclose to anyone on my 'status'......One day while on a casual chat my wife told me to speak to Dugar who was my boss during my HL time and later on as CEO of Balaji Distilleries....I nodded my head but VJM during that period put a ban on recruiting back those who had left UB with Deepak Roy.....Anyway, I spoke to Mr Dugar and he asked me to send my CV which he told me he would forward it to Samy Lala the CEO of Herbertsons....for your info a little bit of what was happening with UB those days....VJM acquired Shaw Wallace and merged it with McD. (Herbertsons and Carew Phipsons were already merged with McD). The problem with McD as a company was their premium brands never performed to the expectations of the management ...somewhere McD has failed to create a huge premium brand like Royal Challenge or Blenders Pride....So the acquisition of SW has helped them in creating a portfolio, envy of competition. The new entity was named United Spirts Ltd (USL)...Also they have created Regional Profit Centres....

Diageo India formed a JV with Radico Khaitan-Stuart Fletcher was instrumental and he was overawed by the wealth displayed by Sr Khaitan and with Asif Adil pushing hard this JV, it happened. They launched Masterstroke a premium whiskey on par with Blenders Pride and roped in Shah Ruck Khan as their brand ambassador....huge money was spent....But the product failed on day one.....and after some bitter fights the JV was closed down....

My HR person, I understood, spoke to Asif Adil CEO of Diageo India exploring possibilities of my return to India....And Asif made this public (what a professional)....And people in India came to know of my redundancy before I announced it to the world....This happened on a day I was on my way to Bangkok to attend a conference organised by my region-I came to know of this when I boarded the flight in DxB...I sent a mail to Ron, HR and Roland expressing my utter displeasure and also anguish....The moment I landed in Bangkok there were around 20 calls from Ron n others.....They were very apologetic of what had happened and assured me that they would not let this happen again.....Anyway damage has been done....I met Mahesh at Bangkok (he was looking after Thailand then-Bacardi) and hinted him but he didnt do any....

Came back to DxB and started the hunt...As mentioned earlier, Flemingo offer was there but I wanted to explore more...

I had mentioned about Gaurav Sabharwal who was my colleague in Diageo.....He was not happy with Diageo and was considering joining PRG India (joined)....He told me during our conversation that his wife, Gopi, having mentioned about an opening in World Diamond council....Spoke to Gopi to find out how to go about it.......she struggled a lot, took some time and finally got the e mail id of the CEO of the company. ( talking about 2007 and google search was either not there or in the nascent stage)..I shot him a mail with my CV.....Got the response the very next day saying that the CV has been forwarded to the HR but in the same breath he also mentioned probably I missed the bus.....nevertheless, got a call from the HR for an interview in their HO if London....I think I did fairly well in the interview...didnt know anything about the industry and they also didnt ask me much about the industry but the person who interviewed me said they had offered this to someone else and if he doesn't accept the offer within the specified time, the job would be mine....I didnt get it thought but the moral of the story here is that one should not give up till it reaches the logical conclusion....but was happy that I attended an interview outside my industry and thanked Gopi profusely for the trouble she had taken in getting me the lead.....

Meanwhile Samy Lalla called me and told me that he shared my CV with VJM but was not certain on the possibilities. 

The hunt was on and along with my son's IIT and BITS entrances.....Travelled with him to different places in India....Once I went to Blr to attend a wedding and upon reaching DxB (was still with Diageo and purpose of the trip was official)...there were few missed calls and one of them from Bangalore. Missed call from my wife too....She told me there was a call from VJMs office asking for me....to cut the long story short, got a call from VJMs secretary and she connected me to VJM....after the 1994 exit, spoke to VJM....the moment he came on the line I told him 'that I flew KF airlines and heard his welcome address on flight'...he was so happy hearing that and told me that he bought Whyte n Mackay and wanted me to come down to Glasgow the very next day and his office in DxB would organise the tickets and the rest....I could not travel the very next day as I had visitors from Diageo UK but travelled the day after and landed in Glasgow....I was booked at the Hilton and as I entered the hotel, VJM was standing outside and having a smoke along with someone...went and introduced myself to him and he asked me to speak to his secretary.....the press conference got just over where he announced his take over of W&M how he fulfilled his fathers dream....the press in Glasgow liked him and for the first time an Indian buying a Scottish (scotch) company!!!! Bravo....

Met Rekhi, Samy Lala, Ravi Nedungadi and all VJMs leadership team. Many of them were not even aware of my coming....Alok Gupta a very young and energetic guy who was looking after marketing in USL was transferred to W&M and he kind of spoke to me....that night was some dinner with the top guys and next day I was told that VJM would meet me....My flight from Glasgow to DxB was around 4pm and I had to be in DxB next day as I had to accompany my son for some entrance in India....I told Alok that I cant extend my stay due to the prior commitments and hence requested him to push my meeting hard with VJM....Waited till 1400hrs....nothing happened....was getting restless....Alok called me and asked me to come to W&M office and wait....Finally around 245 I was called in and met VJM for a few minutes....he told me that I have to focus on their premium range and make it big....the job was a regional one....Middle East, Africa and South Asia....Regional Director....big designation...he told me I fit the profile and Alok would contact me to take it forward....so job pakka.....

Rushed to the airport and got in to the flight satisfied with the turn of events. 

Reached DxB with some nice feelings....VJM also told me that he was breaking the rule for me (not taking anyone who left)....I was obligated....I also know that they needed someone whom they could trust and also knew the way of working of UB.....

But the wait was long as the HR lady was on leave....W&M has never done any overseas appointment and it took some time for them to figure out the terms and conditions...Alok was also busy and very difficult to get hold of....

Finally sometime last week of June 2005 when I was in Blr to attend friends daughters wedding the appointment letter was received. I asked my son in DxB to open the attachment and read it out....every thing was fine except that instead of mentioning the total remuneration p.m it was mentioned per annum....again a bit of wait and finally the package was delivered.....I told them I would join only on 10th Sep as I want to take a break for around 2 months.

Meanwhile Flemingo was preparing to welcome me on board but I told them that I could not say no to my ex boss....

Also I got couple of more offers but decided to continue in the same industry (alcohol wanted to stick with me)....

Whole lots of things to do in DxB...change of home...fortunately got one across the road....this is another story....we saw one day someone vacating the opposite villa and I approached them and took the number of the owner...when I approached the owner, I was told that was promised to some one else...didnt give up...impressed upon them and got the villa....I had to also take care of my care taken and drivers visa and also get my visa changed.

Since W&M didnt have an office in DxB...I have to either be part of their UB office visa or AnE, their distributors or get an office.....

Didnt want to be part of UB and also AnE....so started working on the own office in one of the free zones....

Rest and more later......