I graduated in 1974 somehow with a first class in Mech Engineering. I had got placed with Tata Motors (Telco that time), Pune and also with Batliboi Mumbai. Since Telco’s offer was effective August 2nd, 1974, I joined Batliboi in July and was sent to Udhna, Surat for training. It was fun and Mr. Davar, who was handling us, was a great guy. My father and brother-in-law insisted I join Telco as at that time Tata’s were known to be a great organisation. I left Batliboi about a week after joining but Mr. Davar persuaded me to come back. I went back to Batliboi but somehow my brother-in-law convinced my father that Telco was the better choice. I left Batliboi again, with a heavy heart but that was my last job change
I joined Telco as a graduate trainee and was initially overawed by the machinery. I became the favourite boy of Mr. Raval who was a Divisional Manager at that time. After a year of initiation in a few divisions, I was placed by Mr. Raval in the crankshaft machining line which was being set up at Pune.
I fell in love with the machines in the crankshaft line and the machines reciprocated. I worked sometimes for 36 hours at a stretch. Those were really fantastic formative years for me. I got so obsessed with the line that it became quite stressful for me
I asked Mr. Raval for a change from Manufacturing but he just laughed and asked me to work in vehicle assembly instead. I started work in vehicle assembly around 1982 and got along famously with the workmen.
In 1988 we had the terrible strike which, as usual, had the vehicle assembly as the hotspot. However, this incident taught me life’s important lesson.
I was entrusted with issuing chargesheets to five of the most militant workmen during the strike. On March 14th, 1989, a group of militant workmen stopped the staff bus at the company gate and started assaulting the staff. When I got down from the bus, I was petrified to see one of the workmen who I had issued the chargesheet a few weeks ago. To my pleasant surprise, he shielded me from the ruckus and escorted me to the gate and told others not to harm me as I am a fair guy. I realized then that if you are genuinely fair, people accept and respect you.
Tata Motors and I were somehow made for each other, and I superannuated from Tata Motors in 2012. During that time, I had the good fortune of interacting with the late Mr. Ratan Tata.
My Experience with Mr. Ratan Tata
My first meeting with Mr Ratan Tata was in 1989 when Mr. Ratan Tata got associated with Tata Motors (Telco then) after the demise of Shri Sumant Moolgaonkar. It was a period of great stress for the organisation due to the ongoing strike lead by Rajan Nair. There was a meeting in the apprentice hostel after the March 14 incident when some militant workers assaulted the staff. As I mentioned, I fortunately was safely escorted by one of the workers, Mr. Katate. This was the first time Mr. Ratan Tata interacted with the Telco Staff along with Mr Vinod Raval (who was heading the Pune plant). Mr. Raval suddenly asked the audience whether management should discuss with Rajan Nair.
There was silence for some time. Then I got up and said, “If, in spite of all the violence on the 14th, the management still wants to talk, then I and, I am sure, many more will seek employment somewhere else.” This prompted many to applaud and endorse my view.
Around 1994, Mr. Y Nath asked me to bring a Tata Sumo for Mr. Tata to view behind the I building
parking lot. I drove the Sumo and sat inside it when Mr. Nath introduced me to Mr. Tata. Mr. Tata said, “Bhaskar, come out. You will fry inside(as it was sometime in April).” This really showed Mr. Tata’s empathy for others.
In 2006 I was asked my Mr. Rajarao to present our cost reduction initiative to Mr. Tata. Later in 2009, when I was heading the CVBU plant, I was tasked with accompanying Mr. Tata from the Airport to the Lake House a few times.
On one such occasion I had the good fortune of talking one on one with the great man. He conversed as if I was his friend and talked about many things ranging from Tata’s Indica to the JLR acquisition.
It so happened that my Birthday also was on his – December 28th. He jokingly said, “I am getting flowers and not you.” He could be childlike for such a great person.
I also recall on one occasion Mr. Venkat (his assistant) mentioned something about someone that upset Mr. Tata. But in a moment, he was back to his genial self and continued to inaugurate the living quarters for lake house staff.
His love and caring for his dogs (Tito and Tango at that time) was something I hadn’t imagined was possible. He even missed one of his usual year-end visits to Pune to take his dog Tito to US for treatment. Maybe that’s why he was so keen to establish an animal care hospital in India
It was my great fortune to wish him for his birthday at the Pune plant when he turned 75.
I will forever cherish the moments.
Working with Mr. Ravi Kant, CEO and Vice Chair, Tata Motors.
During my tenure at Tata Motors, I also had the good fortune of working with Mr. Ravi Kant who was CEO and later Vice Chairman. My earliest interaction was when we were relaunching the 697 engines. Mr. Ravi Kant challenged us to make significant improvements to the engine as we had to compete with Cummins. This resulted in my working together as a team with Mr. Petkar from ERC and Mr. S.P. Joshi from Quality to share our experiences, something which had not happened before. Together we were able to make the 697 engines much more efficient.
As CEO, he brought together Sales, Marketing and Service functions together to work collaboratively. He engineered the change at Tata Motors from being an internally focused organization to a customer focused one. He also had a great ability to identify young talents and nurture them. Later we introduced a cost reduction approach that helped me find my hidden negotiating potential that helped us get significant concessions from the MD of Bosch, a major multinational.
On the penultimate day of my regular engagement with Tata Motors, Mr. Ravi Kant, by then Vice Chairman of Tata Motors, was in Pune. I mentioned to him that I was superannuating shortly, and he graciously invited me for the first January function at the Pune Lake house. I realized that even though he came across as tough he really cared about people.
Mr. Ravi Kant believed in collaborative work and later went on to write a book “Leading from the Back”. I was tremendously influenced by the book, rather late in life, and started applying the concepts in a small way in my post-retirement activities. It has led to a sea change in the outcomes of events, no matter how small.
This year, after many years from my Tata days, I met with Uday Mehta, EE 74, who has established a foundation in memory of his son who was physically challenged and passed away at a young age. Uday was looking for support for some of the work at the foundation and knew I had helped an NGO aiding hearing impaired kids during my Tata Motor days. Uday had become aware of the work Mr. Ravi Kant was doing to help visually challenged people and wondered if we could set up a meeting with him. I somehow managed to get Mr. Ravi Kant’s contact and was able to set up what was meant to be a short meeting before lunch with him in a hotel in Mumbai. Little did we know that that short meeting would go on for three hours. We were famished but he offered to host us at the hotel restaurant and jokingly said, “I will host you lunch at the hotel restaurant but as usual there is no free lunch. You and Chandra (fellow colleague from Tata) should revert to me about your experiences with me at Tata Motors.” That has opened a new dialogue with him where we hope to document stories from our colleagues at Tata Motors.
My Great Escape at IIT
1973 December, I was staying back in the hostel for inter-IIT badminton training camp. One of my Iranian classmates was appearing for a reexam of some subject in 3rd year.
He told me to borrow two books from the library under my library card and wait in the washroom with them. He planned to come there after the question paper was distributed in the exam room and refer them.
I was waiting in the washroom with a couple of guys in a similar fashion. Somehow the examiner got wind of this and walked into the washroom. I panicked and left the books there and ran for my life. Then I realised that they could trace me from the library cards I had submitted to borrow these books. I really cried that afternoon imagining my future in the final year. Somehow my classmate was a daring guy. He climbed into the library that evening and retrieved my pocket cards.
It was a Great Escape for me
IIT Bombay 1974 Reunion 