Spent my childhood in Chennai till the age of 12. Schooling at St Patricks, on the cricket field on most days, playing marbles during class breaks. That was the best part of childhood. 

Moved to Kolkata in 1963. Got into the whirl wind of exams, late nights, college admissions, competing with peers, how time flies. 

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After passing out from Jadavpur University in 1972, my first job was as an Engineer trainee in Gramophone Company of India (presently RPG music). There I had my first look inside a recording studio where musical legends had recorded some of the most memorable songs ever. 

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In 1974 took a chance at cracking CAT and got through to IIMA at the first attempt. My first experience of Hostel life, making friends, slogging for grades, late night movies, an experience of a lifetime. 

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My first job from Campus placements was with BHEL. We were a group of 6, went visiting to all the units before being posted in Haridwar. 

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Moved on to ABB and later Dunlop. A pressure cooker assignment in Dunlop as Distribution Manager supplying 300 line items from 2 factories to over 30 depots, without the help of computers in those days. 

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In 1980 got married to Bandana. Had a daughter, Devdutta and later a son Rahul. 

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Moved to Delhi in 1985 to do frontline selling in Eicher Motors and then Shriram Honda. In Honda, selling portable gensets in winter was a big challenge. We were expected to sell fridges to Eskimos, a Japanese Director once summed up. 

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The years in Eicher and Shriram Honda was a great learning experience. During this period managed large sales teams and a huge network of dealers. Got hands on experience in HRD, selling skills, working under tremendous pressure to achieve targets, managing the environment, balancing work and family and what not.

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Decided to move to Oman in 1993. Interesting assignment working in a different cultural environment. When meeting an Arab client, you are expected to chit chat for quite a while and bring up business talk only at the fag end. It is bad manners to talk business from the word go. 

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Returned to India in 1999 to face a country in recession. Was involved in launching a Call taxi service in Kolkata called BLUE ARROW. The concept was ahead of its time. We faced resistance from the 30,000 strong Taxi unions. My first experience in dealing with Politicians and Union leaders. 

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Moved over to Mumbai and launched MERU, the first large scale call taxi service in India. A very big challenge, successfully executed. The MERU service was launched by the CM and got wide press coverage. 

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Decided to return to Kolkata and joined McNally Bharat in Strategy and New Business Development.

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Key takeaways in a 42 year career.

It has not been smooth sailing all throughout. Had probably taken a couple of wrong career decisions. But during this period was fortunate to have gained a rich variety of experiences in different industries and cultures. Made many friends whose company I still cherish. 

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My family has been a great support and I am fortunate to have a loving wife and wonderful children.

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My daughter is currently an Asst. Professor in Microbiology in Connecticut State University. My son is with Infosys in Pune.

 

My son-in-law is in R&D with IBM. My wife is a homemaker for 36 years.