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

Village Life and what it teaches you....

Guys, I had touched up on this in my earlier blog but want delve more in to this...

I was born in Perumal Koil a small village with probably a population of around 500 at the time of my birth. This village is around 7 KMs from Thiruvaiyaru on the way to Kumbakonam.

This village also boasts of Sri Jegathrakashaga Perumal Koil, where Thirumangai Azhwar visit is recorded and he had penned a poem in praise of the presiding deity. This temple is one amongst the 108 abodes of Lord Vishnu in India....And I was born in my ancestral home which is facing the temple wall.

The front side of our home is the temple and back side river Cauvery flows...can't ask for a better place, right?

I studied my LKG and 1st std at my village primary school and shifted to Dalmiapuram where all 4 of us did our schooling at Dalmia Higher Secondary School. I was there till my 7th std. We were raised by our maternal uncle who was working with Dalmia Cements in their distribution division. Few things about this place which are still enshrined in my heart. This place was built for all those who were employees of Dalmia Cements. It was a residential colony of sort. And the factory was also with in the colony. The Colony had different types of homes....for lower level employees, middle level managers, factory workers and the senior executives. The GM had a huge bungalow. The senior level had some sort of independent villas with shared compound walls.  The middle level had apartments. My uncle was given a home which had thatched roof. Decent space with a bathroom and a toilet. The walls were not fully covered and one can climb the wall and peep in to the neighbors...You can hear whatever is spoken in others house...so no privacy at all (but still my uncle produced 3 kids in that environment!!)....this has led to great bonding with fellow residents. In our uncles home (thatched) we were around 8 in total. Four of us school going. Just 5 minutes of walk...come back home for lunch and then return around 4.30...we never starved for food but the food was limited as the family had to be run with the income of my uncle...8 to be fed....And my uncle was a character...very handsome and with a short fuse temperament...had this huge craze for radios...those days it was valve based radios...and used to come in big sizes too...there was no FM...you have to keep toying with the knob till you get your favourite stations..and it was limited too. Trichy Akashwani and Radio Ceylon...and Radio Ceylon was the choice of almost all the Tamils...he used to change the Radios at will. And he had a very big weakness for cards-gambling. Used to travel to Trichy only to gamble at the City Club and if it was his day he would come home with a big smile and bag full of sweets from the Lala shop - their dhood pedas was just out of the world...during my Trichy days in DIL I used to frequent this shop and enjoy the pedas...but my uncle was also very partial...he was in total unconditional love mode with my elder brother and elder sister...more than the love he showered on his children...but there were days when he returned losing all his money at the club, gambling....and it used to be awful at home with screaming and shouting...and I became his punching bag....dont know why but probably he wanted to take out his anger on someone and I was his choice.

In Dalmiapuram, the school was a great place. The school was not only great for academics but also for cultural events. R.Jambunathan, our neighbor, (he became my brother's father in law later) staged Sri Shankaram, the story of Adi Shankara, and it was still etched in my memory. My brother did the role of Sahasrawani (Saraswathi) in that and my uncle acted as Kabali....both did very well...My uncle stole the show. Also Jambu mama formed a light music band called 'Sweet Seven' with my brother as their lead guitarist and his son Muthu Kumar as the drummer. My sister fell in love with Muthukumar and my brother to Muthukumar's sister despite huge protests from our grandmother (Maternal). This band was a huge success...My uncle was a great guy at heart but the gambling was his undoing. The management of Dalmia decided to do away with the 'thatched roof' houses and built apartments called 'Silver Jubilee Colony' and moved all those who were in the 'thatched roof'. My uncle and all of us moved to this new place and it was just awesome those days. We were given corner flat on the second floor with two rooms, kitchen, bathroom and toilet. And my uncle by then had 3 kids of his own with the boy as the eldest followed by two lovely baby girls. Still myself and my younger sister continued there for another two years. 

Meanwhile, the PT master, was given the task of staging a play in the school and he picked me up along with my classmate Ganapathi Raman aka Dorai brother of Kalyan...I had a very good role and dont know why, my uncle completely against my acting. I remember, when I had to go for the rehearsal he bashed me up and stopped me going...dont remember finally what happened but I acted in the play and did a good job. 

In Dalmia the faculty were great. I remember, one teacher, Nataraja Iyer, who used to teach us Social science, used us to go to his home and get his coffee and snacks...Couple of occasions I drank some portion of the coffee and filled it with water and with a straight face handed over the flask to him. Probably after a couple of days he would have realised the foul play and stopped sending me...fortunately didnt get caught.

There was one Ambi's cafe in Dalmiapuram and adjacent to that is Solai's shop selling cigarettes, tobacco, toffees, bananas (in TN every single petty shop used to sell banana) et al. My uncle used to send me to this cafe to get doas to be delivered to him in his office. Ambi's Dosa was yummy and divine...but I never got to taste it as there was no 'paise' with me...and the hotel guys used to roll the Dosa in a plantain leaf, and cover it with news paper and put in a plastic bag to carry. I would take out the roll, open the top portion, peel of some dosa and happily eat that and fold it back and hand over to my uncle...again fortunately it was never noticed by my uncle.

My uncle used to fast on Saturdays and my grandma, his mother, used to make special kheer made from moong dal and jaggery and just for him. We children used to keep looking at our uncle enjoying that with a smile and chatting with our grandma and eagerly hoping some small portion would be left for us to taste...yes, there were days we used to get some portion of that and wah, it used to taste like Amrit....my maternal grandma was also a great cook. Strangely my uncle used to address her by her name and not as Amma....and he always held her responsible for his sister-my mother's death....my uncle was so fond of my mother and not so much of his another sister...and losing his beloved sister made him to vent his ire on people like me and his mother. As my elder sister and brother resembled our mother, my uncle was so attached to them and would not say a word against them.

Diwali was a great festival in Dalmia. As money was always tight, just a day before Diwali we used to get our new clothes but the preparation of sweets and savouries would start a couple of days before in every home in the colony...the whole colony would be engulfed with the aroma of ghee, sugar, oil, what not..even in our home...my aunt and grandma, would be at it and whatever comes out of the kitchen-no comparison. In Dalmia there was a company canteen and a company run stores too....and in the canteen they had a chef who would come home during Diwali to make this particular sweet called 'Jhangri'....another delicacy of Dalmia. 

On the day of Diwali, we visit all the elders at their homes looking forward to their home delicacies and along with that some paisa as 'Ashirward' by the elders. It would be around 10 to 25 paise... enough to buy some local stuff....and would last for few days and probably one dosa at Ambi's cafe...And all the kids joined by the seniors boys go on a yatra to the main road near Raja Talkies bursting crackers....Diwali was never the same after Dalmia....

As kids, myself and my classmate Dorai would always be sent by our folks to buy some stuff from the grocery shop. And outside the colony there were few shops selling groceries n veggies and every family had a running account there. Some time we would be given cash to get some veggies too...one occasion - etched in memory....Dorai and self wanted to see the movie running in Ambal talkies and didnt have the money for the tickets and we decided to do some naughty stuff...we went to this Raja stores and gave our list...Dorai had the big bag and he kept the bag open and I pushed some potato in to that without the knowledge of the store keeper (shoplifting)...the idea was that we would split the income from the potato later. But unfortunately someone in the shop noticed - after getting a mouth full and some 'ear pull' we were let go...but it was so embarrassing as it happened in the presence of some known guys...but nothing major happened.

During my 6th standard, a new GM took charge of Dalmia Cements and his daughter, Mahalakshmi, joined my class....it was my first love...love at first sight....such a sweet looking face...but I left Dalmia after my 7th as my uncle was unable to manage with so many of us...left Dalmia with my younger sister to pursue our studies from our village. Mahalakshmi, are you on FB?

My brother did a 'katha kalakshepam' with his dear friend Venkatesan in one of the cultural events there. People still remember that for its humor spiked with film songs.

Dalmia's gift to our family is my sister and brother in laws....such sweet souls and also lots of friends. My brother, since he studied till his school final there and also worked in Dalmias in their ceramic division after his graduation from St. Joseph's acquainted lots of excellent friends and some of them he is still in touch. My take from Dalmia is one very dear friend Kalyan...Though he was senior to me in school, he became a close friend to me at a later stage. His second younger brother Dorai was my classmate. 

I can write huge volumes on Kalyan but later. Like Sriram said to Guhan in Ramayana, Kalyan became the 5th sibling to us. He was part of our family....its difficult to find such souls...

Kalyans family was huge. His dad, probably, was getting similar income like my uncle and he has to manage a huge number at home...but Kalyan's mom, wah....ever smiling and full of love...

The learning from Dalmia, when I look back, is all about relationships, openness and sharing....great attitude....It was like the proverbial 'Vasudeva Kudumbam'. Some of the faculty members of the school were like family members...

I am still unable to figure out why the name of Dalmiapuram station was forcefully changed to Kallakudi Palanganatham? Dalmia, the owner of the cement factory provided jobs to 1000s....of course he got the work done from them and also made money but not every businessman was so generous. If someone had lived that life, they would vouch for the kindness of this great soul Dalmia!!!

Earlier we used to visit our village only during summer holidays and have a gala of a time, playing with all the friends there and eating the summer fruits...Jackfruit was our favourite and the one from our temple was the one we used to look forward to....Summer holidays used to fly off in no time. Like us there were other kids used to come to village to their grandparents/relatives home. There was this guy Sridhar who was studying in Pandanallur and his sister Malathy. From another family, Jegath and his sisters from Chennai used to come there for holidays. The Chennai guys were different and well protected but we were typical villagers....the break fast used to be 'Pazhaya Sadam-previous nights rice soaked in water-fermented and mixed with butter milk with some pickle)....this is very filling...go out play around come back, have a bath with the water from the well at home and have lunch...again go out and play....we used to play 'gilli danda' and it used to be such fierce battle with the elders being part of the play...my dad and his age group used to be part of the teams....wah, what game it used to be....another game was volleyball and at home 'pallanguzi' -mancala-bean hole-very popular in villages...We used to get some small rolls of movie films and run it by projecting thru some glasses and sunlight-lots of singing and dancing....we left our village and shifted to Trichy around 72-73 and till then our home had no electrical connection...it was manged with kerosene lamps only. But we had a huge house...

But life became different when we went back to the village to pursue our studies....I got the admission in Government Secondary School, Ayyampet. From my village there were two routes to go to the school. From January to June the rivers would be devoid of water and we used to cross the river and take that route....through the fields...slightly shorter. The other route is via Ganapathy Agraharam, probably a KM longer but a proper bus route but we never had busses to Ayyampet those days and some used to go by cycle and people like us walk it up and down. It was around 5 KMs one way to the school and return also. 10kms of walking every day. But we never felt it. We would be around 10 from our village and as we keep moving from each village en route, few would join the walkathon to the school. By the time we reach the school we would be roughly around 50 to 60. The school was co-ed but both the boys and girls used to feel shy developing any kind of conversations with the other. I was special there as I had the pedigree of coming from slightly superior school (Dalmia)...So when we come back from school it would be around 530 in the evening. Wash, pray and finish all the homework, eat and sleep. No time to play...and we had a lovely lady as our neighbor in the village. Kamalam Mami, who was blind but lived all alone. She would come to our place, sit on the 'thinnai' - steps leading to our home, we would surround her and she would start telling us stories from all the epics. We grew up listening to the stories of Mahabharat and Ramayan from this fine elderly blind lady. She was of my grandmother's contemporary. I have already written about the tough time we had in the village and am not going to repeat it but share some other stories.

This neighbor lady had a son and few daughters but all of them lived away in different places..married and settled...her son used to live with her but left her to live with his daughter who was working as a nurse in another village. the son was not a great guy and some fight between them and she decided to manage herself. She used to get the support from her daughters and managed her life quite well. All by herself. Salutes...but we as kids didnt understand and many a times played pranks with her but come evening we would surround her and listen to her lovely stories. And around 730 she would say good night and leave for her home. Never realised those days how her life would be all by herself being completely blind...

In my village Pongal was the festival we always looked forward to...1) The schools would be closed almost for a week so no walking to and fro and 2) our favourite black sugar cane which is available only during this time, would be available in abundance...all our family members were crazy on sugarcane....can keep munching on it whole day....

In our street, which used to be the only agraharam from one end to the other end, during my time, cut down to half the size as many had left the village for greener pastures. So the street starts with our house, followed by Kamalam Mami's, Bhagavatam Mami's, Dhadi Iyengar's (he had beard and was the 'baricharahar' - cook- in our temple and hence the prefix-dhadi means beard), Kannamma Mami's (richest in our village), Saraswathi mami's (all alone with both her daughters in different places) then a small road leading to the river, and the house of our village Munsif Santhanam Ayyangar and the last house being that of Kannan...(this guy lost all his money fighting court cases against the Munsif). Only these many families. 

The otherside, parallel road was the main road for the buses to ply and we had around 25 houses on that side.

Kannamma mami used to live all by herself but she had good income from her agriculture lands. The village Munsifs family was a huge one with around a dozen children of him....

Kamalam Mami was all alone, Bhagavatam Mami sold their house to a guy from the neighbouring village who kept his concubine, in that house ( first time an outsider in to the Agraharam!!), Dhadi Ayyangar and his wife as their children were settled in nearby villages, Kannamma Mami, all alone and Saraswathi Mami also all alone. Munsif house was like a mini school with more than dozen members and Kannan's lived with his mom. Kannan's mom was a very enterprising woman and used to grow vegetables in their backyards and sell it at a very low price to people like us. This Kannan was probably in his 30s when we were kids, but we used to address him by his pet name Kanni. Once he took us to the river for our bath and the river was not in full flow...it had only small pool of water but stagnant. We selected one such pool, myself and my two sisters, and suddenly I started getting drowned---just shouted his name and he somehow grabbed my hand and pulled me out...once I came out, he game a big slap on my face and more than us he was the one who was perplexed-god knows why?

He is such a great soul...once my grandma was all alone and went to the river for her morning bath. Again it was the time when the river had only small pool of water bodies and after her dip when she came back home she realised one of Diamond ear stud was missing. As none of us were available, she caught hold of Kannan and this guy immediately rushed to the river with one fisherman and his fishing net, and managed to retrieve the Diamond stud....My grandma's only prized possession... Am saying this here as during that period Kannan was just managing his living without any regular income...The diamond studs were finally given to her four sons, who in return sold it and shared the spoils....sad... 

My family were the trustees of the temple. One of the job of our home is to hand over tokens to 'Yatris' who come from other places for darshan at the temple. The token would entitle them for a 'undakatti' means curd rice. Our temple chef Dhadi Ayyangar, was a great cook. The 'undakatti' made by him was nothing but steamed rice with the starch fully present mixed with probably a small cut of curd, cooked with the rice together. The moment this is made, he would make few 'undakatties' and keep it ready for distribution. On top of that he would make a small impression and pour some, chilli powder, made specially by him. Guys it should be eaten hot and when one does, he would go crazy as the taste of this simple food is mind blowing. Also during the Margazhi month, there would be morning special pujas. They would offer 'pongal' to the lord and that also is a Dhadi Ayyangar special. We used to get up early during this period, just brush the teeth and run to the temple to get this prasad....oh, it was just divine...on special occasions, Dhadi ayyangar also made 'puliyodharai' (tamarind rice). All Ayyangar specials at the temple...he was lean with a hunched back, but when it came to cooking, he was all energy and best in his class!! The 'madapalli' (kitchen) in the temple is a full fledged one but no gas stoves, no mixer grinder et al. Just the traditional way of making batter and fire wood for cooking. The water is always from the temple well. Dhaadi for making the prasad and Bhattacharyar for doing the puja at the sanctum sanctorum. The two of them are inseparable....twice a year the temple used to conduct their annual festivals with concerts in the evening and three time free food for all the devotees. I also remember 'kumbabishekam' conducted in the temple which was a major festival for not only our village but the entire surroundings...our village was, to my knowledge, very crowded with devotees from all over and it was fun for kids like us. Dhadi's grandson Raghu became my very close friend but he used to come only during festivals and holidays...But lost touch with many of them.

My gang consisted of around 4 to 5 guys of which Udhay kumar used to come only during holidays to our village as he was studying in another town.

Myself, Murugesh, Sundar aka soosai (dont know why he was called in that name) and Gokka aka Govardhan....I still keep in touch with these guys and especially Muruganandam...We were so close those days and they literally used to feed me. Kumar was a sprinter...every family used to be known by their profession in the village. 

Our local saloon is where all political news used to be discussed. I have taken lots of interest in politics from a very young age. Our postmaster Narayanan used to buy tamil weekly Kumudam and our saloon owner Govindan, used to get tamil news paper, Kalkandu, Dina Malar and Ananda Vikatan weeklies. I would visit the saloon every day to read the newspaper and weeklies. But can't be open about this to my grandma as she would not allow us to enter home without a bath.

During my school days I was a strong supporter of Kamaraj Congress and also Shivaji and Shivaji was a staunch Kamaraj supporter and star campaigner for Kamaraj Congress-but my village was full of DMK and MGR...Not a single friend of mine was a Shivaji fan...oh, I had very tough times with these guys fighting who was superior but that fight never became personal, unlike these days. When I was doing my 10th or 11th, I was in the forefront, campaigning for Kamaraj Congress.

Those days, when you enter 10th standard, you have to choose electives. One of the electives was  diversified engineering and that division was managed by 3 lovely teachers...Ilangovan who owned a theater also in the nearby town, Gopalakrishnan who owned a lathe factory and Rao. They came to our class, and hand picked students as many would not opt for this course due to its manual work involving carpentry and machines.  Ilangovan spotted me, Arivumani, Jaffer Ali and Malik and told us that we should join this course. And it turned out to be excellent for all of us as this department was in a separate block opposite to the main building. We were given special treatment by these three...Also I joined the NCC not for the love of it but to get the Poori bhaji which used to get served on the days of NCC training. 

I was also part of the boys scout---once we were taken to the Thiruvaiyaru Thyagaraja Aradhana, a  festival to celebrate Saint Thyagaraja's anniversary where carnatic musicians from all over, would congregate and perform, lasting for 3 to 4 days. Samadhanam sir was our PT teacher and he was the incharge of this trip. First day we manned the pandal and that night few of us, without informing our teacher, went for a movie..An MGR movie (thedi vandha mappillai)--me despite being a Shivaji fan-and were caught red handed on return...we pleaded..prostrated at his feet but he packed us off...we were all part of this scout and were looking for the excellent food which is normally reserved for the day of the Aradhana, especially the 'payasam' (kheer), and felt so bad that we were thrown out...another lesson.... 

We never used to get new movies in the near by theaters but have to travel either to Tanjore or Kumbakonam for the same.

 

We had some gem of characters in our village. Postmaster Narayanan and the temple priest (bhattacharya) Ranganathan.

Ranganathan was a very young guy and though he was the Priest at the temple, once his daily rituals at the temple get over, he would come out with us to roam around and also for movies to the neighboring town.

once our neighbor Kamalam Mami fell ill and I was on the other side of the road hanging out with my friends and the moment I heard this news, borrowed the dhoti from my friend, draped it, got some money from the postmaster, and boarded the bus to bring her daughter in law from her place of residence, which was around 20 kms from our village. I had never been to that place earlier...but somehow managed to reach that place and brought her to our village and by the time we reached it was almost 10pm but the old lady was still awake and the moment she realised her daughter in law had arrived she got her life back.

Sbe blessed me so much for bringing her DIL and with in a couple of days she left with her DIL to her sons place.

I finished my 11th in Ayyampet school...during my 10th and 11th two guys, Ramakrishnan and Sundarraman, joined our school from the nearby town Thiruvaiyaru...we became very close....I also remember few teachers...one our own Engineering class as mentioned earlier and the others are Narayanan (English), BR (Maths) and Aranganathan (Tamil). This Tamil teacher was so good in his subject and we used to enjoy his class. And he was made incharge of one cultural event in our school and he picked me to perform. I acted as Ashoka and did a kathakalakshepam with a guy called Kaka, this is the same thing my brother had done in Dalmia and I justed cut and pasted it fto suit Ayyampet. Also when I did the Ashoka role, my classmate, who was a special child that time, did the role of a woman whose character made Ashoka to convert to Buddhism. He also did a great job...In our school, almost 30 to 40% were Muslim students and they were allowed to come in their lungis. Once there was a elocution competition conducted by a cooperative bank in Kumbakonam and I was sent by my Head Master to represent our school. I asked my dad to give me some meat on the subject and my dad obliged and wrote down a two page speech...I went to Kumbakonam by bus from our village and with a relative went to the auditorium. I was the last one to speak and after a couple of minutes I forgot what I byhearted. I took a deep breath and started spinning on something....but the speech was well received. I didnt get any prizes but one member of the jury, called me separately and asked me whether I follow politics and when I said yes, he patted me and gave me a beautiful pen. Next day in the school assembly my HM called me and appreciated my efforts, took out the pen and with pride showed it to the entire assembly. Proud moment. Also I stood first in the final exam of SSLC in our division scoring 501/600. So Ayyampet was good to me.

So after my 11th I left my village to pursue my PUC in Trichy but came back to my village later and went to Ayyampet again to do my Typewriting and shorthand course. I appeared for Typewriting higher cutting short the lower grade exam and passed too. By did not pursue my shorthand. 

Till next time....

Yours forever lovingly

 

 Memoir...Musings of a Sales guy at heart!! (2)

This post is all about the typical 'never say die attitude' of a born salesman!

My Diageo days-based at Bombay looking after the entire South Asia. One of the key market for Diageo is Sri Lanka especially for Duty Free. The contribution from the Colombo airport DF shops both arrival and departure were huge for Diageo brands. And the operator at that time was Alpha International, an UK based company. Diageo in terms of value and volume numero uno at the DF. Another operator is Sri Lankan airways where we JW Red, Black, Smirnoff were listed for inflight serving. And for inflight Duty Free, JW Black was listed but sadly JW Red was never ever listed. This I came to know when I took charge of this market and when I approached the officials of SL Airways procurement team, we were told to wait till they call for applications which came out in the next couple of months. It was very clear in our mind that we have to get JW Red listed as a competing brand was ruling this segment in inflight DF sales and the passengers never had an option but to buy that brand. We submitted our application and one day in Bombay, Arun Kumar who was looking after this account, came running to me, with tension written all over his face, and informed that JW Red didn't go thru the process. And when I asked him for the reason, there was none...just rejected. This is unacceptable and I told Arun we have to fight it out. Arun was helpless as he felt that we cant fight with the airlines. My point was that we have to escalate and meet the top guy in the airlines and represent our case.

Arun, through our stalwart, Rahul who was based at Colombo, fixed up an appointment and we flew down to Colombo immediately to meet up with this person. And we prepared well with the sales numbers of all our brands in departure and arrival at the DF shops in Colombo airport and also our market shares. Also we carried with us the competition numbers and their market share including the domestic numbers.

Guys I need to tell you the Sri Lankans are great guys to do business and lovely people. You should only to know how to talk to them as they dont like to be bossed over.

So we go to their office at Colombo and meet up with this senior guy. After all the pleasantries we put forward our agenda and pat came the reply that nothing can be done. I asked him how that competition brand got approved and Red was rejected...whats the logic. He didn't want to divulge but finally after lots of persuasion he said it was consumers preference. Thats what I was waiting for. Now the conversation went somewhat like this.

Diageo...Sir, you said the consumers choice is this particular brand, right?

SL Airlines...Yes, they prefer  and hence we are selling only this brand.

Diageo...Sir, who are your consumers?

SL...What exactly your question?

Diageo...Sir, nationality...

Sl air......Majority Sri Lankans.

Diageo.... Fine sir, if thats the case, they also shop at the duty free at the airport?

SL...could be....

Diageo...sir in that case, this is the numbers at the DF of Colombo airport both for arrival and departure where in you would find JW Red is X number and the brand you are promoting in your airlines is a very poor No2...that is not even 25% of JW Red....

The officer was slightly taken aback as he didn't expect this...

SL...I can see the numbers but how authentic are these? 

As we expected this, we got our friend in Alpha connected and made him to speak to this person.

He found the numbers are genuine.

SL...but in arrival shop it could be different.....

We showed him the arrival figures of DF also where JW was almost 90% market share....

He took lots of time and asked us what about domestic.

Diageo...Sir, you know domestic is too small but we are enjoying similar market share and showed the numbers to him.

We also showed him the performance of all our other brands in the DF, domestic, ports shops, ship chandlers, in other airports in Mumbai, Chennai et al.

He started realising that we have a strong case. He told me that he needs time and asked me to come back after a couple of months.

We said, sir 2 months is a long period and hence we want to start this asap. We were very determined not to leave till they accept that some one in their team has not done their home work.

But as he has to protect his team, he started talking about space availability. He said since aircraft cant carry multiple brands due to space constraints and the competition is already listed it would be difficult to accommodate us. Fair point though but we were so clear in our goal we realised that we need to give him some solutions instead of just harping on our point. So we suggested that on a trial basis, he should make available both the brands in equal quantities and give the choice to the consumer/passenger. And mind it we were $2 higher than the brand they were selling, per bottle of lit.

He told us that he cant take that call himself as he needs his bosses permission too....So he took some time off from us and came back and led us to his boss....

To cut the long story short, we got our listing and we ensured by working with the logistics team handling the movement of stocks-Rahul was great in that-that we never run out of stocks and JW Red is made available in all the flights for sale. We also took a two page advertisement in their inflight magazine (the front back and page 1) announcing the availability of JW Red. In 3 months time we captured 75% of the share of this segment and as they say, rest is history.

And its not small business guys....We then developed huge promos for the inflight staff and consumer packs and made JW Red 'numero uno' with the Sri Lankan Airways....

I should really thank my team for believing in me and also the SL Airways bog bosses on the fact sheet and logic we provided.

The lesson:  Perseverance Pays. 

Never ever give up...Diageo HO never ever bothered about this as they must have thought it was too small a business to bother. 

If you say, you are Johnnie Walker, the most popular brand and hence easier! Yes, true, but my predecessors didn't think like that...they never realised inflight duty free in SL Airways would provide so much of value and volumes...thats where we succeeded. If you are a leader you should do everything under your command and even outside, to remain in that position. Never ever give up. And as a boss, you set very high standards for the team.

This episode of SL Airways is something which I always cherish. Arun and Rahul, if you guys are reading this, it would invoke lots of excellent memories and a big smile....yes, we truly made the lips smile!!

Memoir.....Musings of a Sales guy at heart!!

Memoir....Musings of a Sales guy at heart!!
Everything from personal to professional. What life had mirrored and the learning from that....
For a start, I don't agree with the saying 'Salesmen are not born but are made'. 
I would say salesmen are born and their skills are polished by constant learning and from inspirational bosses. I think many of us who others recognise as successful (highly subjective though), would have the traits of a street smart salesman in them...whether you are in sales, marketing, finance or general management. If you are not a salesman at heart, you cant be successful in anything. Even a story teller has to be good at selling his story to a prospective producer or director...
This is the 'prologue' of what I gonna share with you thru my blogs.
For someone from a very humble background and becoming the COO of Diageo India and to move as General Manager Gulf Operations, a post held for the first time by an Indian in Diageo in the Gulf region to Regional Director of Middle East, Africa and South Asia with Whyte & Mackay and floating Geoscope with Sudeep, Krithi and Vishal....its a journey, I thought, worth sharing. The incidents and the learnings....
It will not be confined to just the career but also some random stuff....
Also guys pl note that am a therapist by choice....run Heal n Hale spiritual healing center in Chennai...
Where do I start....the unconditional love!!!
Yes, the first time I experienced this utterly divine 'unconditional love'.
We are a four member siblings and mostly brought up by the maternal uncle and paternal grand ma.
This is about my grand mother...in Tamil its PATTI...Nani....What a gem of a soul...there was a phase in our life where we were engulfed with utter poverty...we were in our village and lived in a huge ancestral house but a bit dilapidated without electricity connections... My grand fathers time our family was highly respected and revered by the villagers but after he attained the lotus feet, something had gone wrong and the properties just disappeared.. With my fathers brothers moving out of the village to Chennai, Neyveli and Tata Nagar, my father, who was so attached to our village, decided to stay put there. Its not that he was unemployed but he could not stick to any job....he was with the defence accounts in Pune and later with REC-Trichy as librarian...but our village was his priority as he was also respected and revered by the fellow villagers-and that probably gave him all the high...We lost our mother when I was 4 and my younger sister was 2...I studied till 7th at Dalmiapuram where my maternal uncle was working with Dalmia cements and all four of us were under his care. Plus he had to take care of his mom, his wife and his first kid....My Mami really took care of us but with a salary of around 150 or 200 it was impossible for my uncle to manage all four of us....and he truly cared and loved only my elder brother and elder sister and was indifferent to me and to my younger sister. When I finished my 7th standard, self and my younger sister were shifted to my village to continue our studies and I completed till my school final there and my younger sister, after an year at school in the village, gone back to Dalmia.

Few years later we all shifted back (3 of us and not my brother). Young and raw....My father was jobless and my brother was trying to get a job....My father's brother who was working in Tata Nagar used to send some amount to my grand ma for her expenses but it turned out that all of us have to manage with in that....and thats the time we experienced extreme poverty....It was such a horrific scene on few days we didnt know where the next meal would come from.
Our grand ma, somehow used to manage the kitchen fire going to feed us but as children we only bothered about filling our own tommy and never bothered to look at whether anything left over for grand ma. But as a kind hearted soul with unconditional love for her grand children - one look at us-she would realise, our tommies are not filled and without any hesitation she would empty the pots to feed us without keeping anything for her. Most of the days a glass of water is what would quell her hunger. She never ever complained. She used to cook in those old, dark kitchen using fire wood emitting thick smoke and thats how she lived her life. And she was a great cook and added to that is the mix of Pure unconditional love in it!!
Most of the time, our meal used to be Jack Fruit as that was one thing which was available to us from ours and neighbours gardens....she would cut it patiently and distribute to all of us equally. She would also keep one portion for her. But we would finish off our portions in a jiffy and she would, with a big smile and a gentle pat, take out whats kept for her and distribute to us....I dont remember her ever complaining of 'hunger' where as we always used to feel the ever burning appetite...may be as we didn't know where the next meal was going to come from.
When guests come home unannounced, she would go crazy as she has to feed them too....so, she would call us and tell us to wait till the guests finish their meal. Whatever is left over, would be served to us without keeping anything for her.
I had grown seeing this and when I reminisce now, I see how this great soul has lived her life. Selfless and for the grand children. 
This is not a sob story but from my heart....Whatever we are today, it's her blessings and also the blessings of my maternal grand mother, my maternal uncle and his wife. Every one of them had contributed immensely in making us whatever we are today....a big THANKS GIVING....and my friends in my village. They used to bring food without the knowledge of their folks and feed me. Also the temple in our village and the priest there...They all had a great liking for us and most of the days the temple prasadam used to be our life saver. 
Whats the learning....when you are filled with love in your heart, your stomach keeps quiet and your systems get satisfied with just water as it is busy digesting the omnipresent LOVE!!

That phase of our life was something which probably had helped us to learn the art of 'never say die' attitude....

My trip to Coimbatore

Hi Folks,

Disclaimer:

Am posting this as a commoner, my personal experience and also what others felt and this is nothing against the administration or any particular party!

I was in Coimbatore for two days and wanted to share with you the pain I underwent commuting by road/Car/Taxi in those two days.

Yesterday we visited a couple, close family friends, who are currently living in Nana Nani - a retirement home closer to Marudhamali, Coimbatore. This trip is not about them.

It was a round trip from Sreerosh Freedom apartment, GV Residency to Nana Nani Phase IV to Tatabad and back to GV residency. It was around 40 KMs both ways.

Before I start putting down my complaints, let me tell you that I used to enjoy going around CBE as I always found the road users of CBE humble, nice, friendly and disciplined. But for the first time, I saw changes in the characteristics of the road users. Some DNA of the Chennai road users have rubbed off on them. 

Now coming back to my road trip, it was a night mare driving in CBE. Apart from the potholes its the speed breakers which are the major dampener for any one driving in CBE whether 4 or 2 wheelers. In the round trip of 40 KMs there are around 80 speed breakers and thats my personal count give or take 5. 

The pity is, on almost all the inner streets and roads, there are speed breakers in every few yards which makes driving impossible. On enquiring with the taxi/auto and fellow car owners, I figured out that these are illegally done with the assistance of the department workers. Many speed breakers are just outside some building or apartment and they have done this without any permission. The net result is that I had a severe back pain and my brother in law who was driving me around, had a severe low back pain and had to take two pain killers that day. 

I remember, few years ago, the court candidly pronounced the judgement on some PIL that speed breakers have to be done away with except on high traffic high ways which are closer to school or hospital. 

This has obviously been flouted and people are just erecting speed breakers according to their whims and fancies. 

On 20th I left Sreerosh apartment for airport in the morning and till we touched Avinashi Road, which is just 3 km's stretch, I counted 13 speed breakers...out of this not even one was warranted. 

The traffic police and the administration has to work closely on penalising the abusers of road safety and speed limits and fine them and not the commoner. 

If you are reading this and if you know any officials or law makers, pl forward or personally appraise them. This is not only causing health issues but also resulting in huge wastage of precious fuel which we are importing. 

I will have to think few times whether to travel to Coimbatore again. Believe me its a back breaking experience.

I seriously pity my fellow Coimbatorens..... 

Pl help our brothers and sisters in Coimbatore, to lead a healthy and peaceful commuting in the city.

Jai Hind and Jai Tamil Nadu!!

!Travel Blog.

Folks, recently we made a holiday trip to Swiss and Italy and thought of sharing the joyful experience with you and also some learning. If you are planning a trip to Europe and looking for some tips......

We took a conscious decision to just focus on two countries ie Switzerland and Italy. Switzerland land because my wonderful friend Debashish and his lovely wife Veena are based at Basel and we wanted to spend some time with them and also make their home as our base.

Once this is finalised I started looking around for the best route and also the cost of flying by a well known airlines.

We have to fly out of Chennai, ie me and Jeyanthi as our son wanted to fly out of Singapore.

I looked at Lufthansa first as that’s the easiest and fastest to reach Zurich. Chennai to Frankfurt and with an hours halt to Zurich but the seats were not available.

I looked at Emirates as it is one airline I love to travel. Also they fly A 380 from Dubai. But the fare was high.

I requested our travel agent Travel Optionz, a Chennai based company (they are really good) and they came out with the option of Oman air.

Though I had flown by Oman Air many times but short hauls only, I was not clear how that airline would be on long hauls...Did enquire with some Gulf friends and they were all pushing me to go for Oman Air the primary reason being their safety record and the world class terminal they had built a couple of years ago.

I found the fare was the most economical compared to any other airlines and without any hesitation advices my travel agent to go for it. My son also decided to fly via Chennai.

The MAA-Muscat was Boeing 737-800. Smaller aircraft but the cabin crew made it up with their wonderful services.

The flight was dot on time and once we reached Muscat and checked in to the lounge, it was a different world. The buffet spread was awesome and the ambience was excellent. It’s as good as Emirates lounge in DxB. 

The flight to Zurich was Airbus 330-200 and with very comfortable flat bed. The flight again was dot on time. The cabin crew and the choice of food was also great-am a vegetarian and thoroughly enjoyed their offerings. 

The spirit selection was okay.

The cabin comfort and the linens were great.

They served raw dates this time which was just delicious. In the return the flight was on time up to Chennai.

The inflight entertainment was very good with choices of movies, music et al. The cabin crew were just great!!!

Accommodations!

Guys, pl book your rooms well in advance for you to get the best of rates. AirBnB, if you don’t have an account, start one right now.

As mentioned, we kept Basel as our base so that we can travel light out of Basel.

Rithvic took care of the hotel booking in Venice using his points and we stayed at Four Points Sheraton in Venice. Great stay!!!

In Rome, I booked through AirBnB. The entire apartment was ours. Two bedroom, hall, Kitchen with utensils...complete apartment....and the host-Patrizia was just great. It’s centrally located with 7 minutes walking to the Metro and a supermarket in the neighbourhood and lots of eateries. 

We stayed at a hotel in Zermatt and AirBnB accommodation in St. Martinez.

There are plenty of options available with AirBnB and if you plan well you can really get great deals.

Euro Rail pass.

Another important thing before you embark on your journey. Euro Rail covers almost the entire region. The trains are the best/effective and most economic ways of transportation. They have different schemes. For example you can take a 7 days pass in 30 days or 10 days pass in 30 days. Each day means, you can travel as much as you want in a day!!!! So planning is vital here. The trains are 99% punctual. Swiss trains are 99.99% and Traintalia is probably 99%. We didn’t experience any delays. The first class compartments are very comfortable....even their second classes are good. For long distance just a day before you can reserve your seats as sometimes, if the trains are running full, you may not get a seat. So for journeys beyond 3 to 4 hours pl book your seats in advance. You have to pay extra for reservation but that’s worth doing it. There are also stop overs where you have to change the train but that’s quite easy. For example, when we travelled from Basel to Venice, it went like this....Basel to Zurich-Lugano-Milan-Venice. But the wait in each station would be a max of 15 to 20 minutes only.

There are lockers available in many of the train stations and suppose your final destination is Milan but you want to spend some time in Lugano, you can keep the baggage’s in their lockers go around the city, come back, take your baggage’s and take the train. In many of the stations, the lockers are quick to access especially in Swiss side. In one station we used the clock room and in other places mostly the lockers. In Pisa town within around 5 minutes walk from the station we found one locker facility and used the same...but all these would cost you some money but not in expensive. You need to ensure the keys or the token are kept safe with you as without that you would end up wasting lots of your precious time. Almost all the restaurants and cafes have WiFi and you get free access. If you are travelling from India, pl go for a Jio sim where the cost of call to India and from India and with in the EU country is just Rs.2 per minute. I topped up 1200 but could only use 850 in 15 days!!! A big thanks to Jio!!!

You have to walk a lot so be aware of that. Public transport like trams, buses, taxis are there too but you would enjoy walking as you can see around the lovely city and its lovely cafes.....

Scintillating Swiss.

What a country...my friend picked us up from Zurich Airport (Debashish and Veena-my ex Diageo colleague who is currently with Colgate based at Basel-wonderful hosts and great couple) and we drove down to Basel.....A shot of Japanese Single Malt (another great whiskey)-i broke my non drinking after almost 330 days-that’s how the day went.

First day we all drove down to Brunen....stunning views but constant drizzle dampened our enthusiasm. But it was a good drive.

Second day....by Euro rail-Basel to Zurich to Lugano-Milano-Venice. Spent a few hours in Lugano.....what a spectacular sight....the lake was so beautiful with the backdrop of the mountains and the lovely cathedral....

Am not going to talk about the lovely places we have visited which you can google and get better perspectives.

Few things first.

In Venice pl understand how the boat rides work and also if you ever want the Gandola ride where to take it from. IF you enquire at the main jetty opposite to the Rail Station, they charge you more....so just go interior and you would get it for 80Euros for around 30 minutes. It’s a great experience but the water is smelly....its not as bad as Coovum but not clean....don’t know why the government is doing nothing.

The cathedrals are great to see for its architecture.

In Venice pl walk around to get a feel of the place. The place is awesome with its lovely cafes and ristorante. Generally the food is good and I was pleasantly surprised to see the veg choices offered by them. Soups are great and so as salads and also the typical pizzas and pastas. 

Burano and Murano-unless you have extra time pl don’t bother....glass wares and laces are done even in India....I wasn’t much impressed.

Rome.....I had written about the AirBnB acco in Rome in the beginning.

There are plenty of eateries and vegetarian is available everywhere. Gelato ice cream across everywhere....i saw almost everyone eating ice creams....

If you are staying two or three or four days, pl buy the metro pass.....for two days we paid 12.5 total and you can have any number of trips by metro and the buses.....

You would be visiting Colosseum and Vatican. Pl buy your entry tickets on line in advance to avoid wasting time in the queues....This is a must.

You have to walk around a lot so be prepared.....the area in and around Spanish Steps—-you can spend a whole day there....many places to see.....and every single place is beautiful and the architecture with the sculptures are just mind boggling.

The fountains....WAH....

c

Vatican: Of course, Vatican’s prime objective is to promote Christianity and you would feel that every where. We Indians especially the Hindus have to learn a lot from them....

The St Marks Bascilica in Vatican is something one has to soak in to....what a marvel so as the 16th Chappel in the museum.

The Vatican museum is only for art lovers....too many people and too much of time....I didn’t enjoy....If you are not a museum and arts person, just hit the Bascilica straight after visiting the 16th Chappel—you have to spend a minimum of 2 hours in the Bascilica....

Linen shirts are excellent...if you want to shop.....

The train services including the reservation counter are well manned and world class services....

We have better places to show case in India but the political apathy and lack of interest has not taken us anyway forward.

We need to Promote Tanjore Big Temple, Madurai Meenakshi, Rameswaram, Kashi temples in a big way which would attract millions across the globe. We need to build infra around these places and the government has to do a lot and put a minister in charge for tourism alone with clear KRAs.

Back at Basel on 14th night. Couple of drinks, great food and rested.

15th.

As it was a Sunday we took it easy and left Basel around noon and drove down to Grindelwald....on the way was the spectacular Interloken....where two lakes are separated with a bridge. We didn’t go inside but drove past one of the lakes and it was just spectacular. Spread over probably a few miles, it was a sight to behold.

We reached Grindelwald and took the cable car to the top....cable car was expensive but the sight from the top was another spectacle. We trekked a bit and just soaked in to the lovely mountains and the crisp air.....it was awesome....If you are fond of trekking, reach the top around 11ish and keep a couple of hours for trekking to Bachalpsee Lake.....We could not undertake as we reached the top late but we met those who trekked the one hour long route-one hour- and they were very ecstatic about their experience.

Grindelwald is a small town but like the other towns in Switzerland, its so beautiful. 

16th....

Took the train to Zermatt and then to Gornergrat.....the train journey from Zermatt to Gornergrat was, though just half an hour, just awesome with mind boggling views of the mountains and the valleys....Gornergrat was 10000ft MSL and it gives a 360 degree view of the mountains around....You feel that you can just touch the glaciers...The view is just spectacular....you need to just move around, do some small treks, soak in, and enjoy the offerings of the nature....don’t be in rush....feel the inner self and also the oneness with the nature....soak in.....just feel it...

Words cant express ones feelings....this is something one has to experience. From Gornergrat you can view the Matterhorn mountain which looks like Mount Kailash....standing tall and alone covered with snow top....this is whats featured on the Tablorone cover.

We spent quite sometime just soaking in to the surreal spectacles and in the restaurant had lunch and came down. 

Evening we walked around Zermatt.....little town but clean and beautiful.....world travellers and trekkers. Pollution free...no vehicles allowed except e vehicles...

If you are adventurous, you can go for para gliding too. I met a pilot who is running a paragliding business for the past 30 years....it would cost around 270 Swiss Franks + the train journey to the point.

Generally things are quite expensive in Switzerland.....

You need to plan well, book the rooms in advance and also google a lot on the kind of food joints and transportation.

One has to be prepared to walk a lot.

This day was so memorable for one of the best experiences of my life.

Also it happened to be my father’s DA.

17/9.

Took the Glacier Express from Zermatt to St. Martinez.

The Glacier Express from Zermatt to St Martinez is a great journey and takes around 7 and half hours.

The train has a panoramic view with huge glass windows and has a great kitchen and service. When you book in advance you can also opt for a 3 course lunch both veg and non veg and staff of the train are amazing. For Euro Rail pass holders, they offer 50% discounts.

The first couple of hours of the journey is great but after some time, I started getting bored as the train almost stops in all the stations en route and for long too. 

Some views are breath taking but that’s all....

Ideally, one should travel in this train for some experience, get down after a couple of hours in a nice picturesque location, stay put for a day or two and continue.

The final stop of this train is St. Martinez. The town has a nice lake but the town is a bit quite and boring. 

If you are a trekker, you can go to the mountain from St. Martinez by spending another 100 to 200 Euros and trek. Otherwise my advice is to 1) take the Glacier express for the experience, get down at Chur and take a train from there to a town called Luzern.....it takes around 2 hours from Chur to Luzern....One can stay at Luzern and enjoy the beauty of the town and the lovely lake there.

We stayed that evening at St. Martinez and next day morning took the train around 730 and reached Luzern around1130hrs.

18the Sep.

Reached Luzern around 1130 hours.....

What a beautiful town full of tourists and a Great Lake.....

Lovely views from the lake....few places to see.....small town but beautifully laid.

If you are a shopper, branded stores to offer everything and anything.

Great restaurants including some Indian.

We just spent some time around the lake, strolled around the town, ate some nice Italian food, came back to the lake again and spent some more time soaking in,and boarded the train to Basel straight.

Reached Basel around 7 and spent the evening with Debashish and Veena with some Karaoke singing and great food.

19th Sept.

Left around 11 to a place called Titisee....German town....took around an hour and fifteen minutes to reach. This is Black Forest area with lovely trekking on the mountain and a beautiful lake. This town is known for its Cookoo clocks and also for Black Forest Cake and pure honey and home made jams. Lots of German tourists and nice places to stay. But you should spend some good time soaking in to the beauty of the lake and mountain, nice German drinks and beer and lots of walking and trekking. Just for a full day its a great place to visit if you love nature.

Reached Basel around 540 and went straight to the stadium to watch Basel FC vs a leading Russian team match which is the inagural match of the European league. Great and electrifying atmosphere.

One of my old colleagues from IDV days joined me that evening for the match. HE is from TN and managing a huge production company assisting producers who want to shoot in Europe. Felt good to see how people grow in their life in stature and wealth.

Dinner with Roy’s. Again great food and lovely time chatting.

20th Sep.

Time to say Chio.....

Drove down with the Roy’s to the neighbouring German town to get a feel of the shopping experience. Lots of Baselians Tavel to this small town for their shopping as things are much cheaper compared to Basel. Nice little town with huge shopping area....nice experience.

Lunch with the Roy’s and Debashish and Veena drove us to Zurich....spent some quality time moving around the Zurich lake (another spectacular lake). Had some nice chocolates.

Zurich airport and terminal is so clean and beautiful. Spent some time chatting with the Roy’s at the airport terminal and with all our lovely experience boarded the flight of Oman Air back to Chennai.

The flight was dot on time and reached Chennai on 21st around 1330hrs....

What a lovely holiday....One has to spend at least 10 days in Swiss to get enough of this lovely, God’s own country!!!!

 I take this opportunity to wish you and all your family members a very happy Diwali and a very prosperous new year. We will be performing, in our office, Lakshmi Puja tomorrow in the evening at 1800hrs to invoke the blessings of the wealth Goddess. This Puja is performed on behalf of all you guys and am sure and confident that the coming days would bring in lots of happiness and prosperity for all of us. I want to share with you, something which I read recently on Diwali and Goddess Lakshmi.
It goes like this:
" During Diwali, we worship Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, but although we use the word 'Lakshmi' almost as a synonym for money, they are not the same. Lakshmi is wealth accumulated through honest and fair means. Money can be stolen as well, but Lakshmi brings peace and happiness to the person who earns it. Stolen money only brings emptiness to the soul. If you notice Lakshmi's idol, she has gold coins around her, signifying wealth. However, she is also seated on a lotus flower, and holds lotuses in her hands. The lotus is a symbol of purity and peace, signifying spiritual well being; a symbol of purity and beauty even in the muddy waters of the world. Without this peace, wealth has no meaning."
So when you pray tomorrow evening ask not for money but for Lakshmi-wealth attained through pure means that keeps the mind as peaceful and beautiful as the lotus. Lakshmi only come to those who are pure at heart.

Happy Diwali!!!