Rahul Bajaj Gave the Word
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Kamalnayan Bajaj Architect of the Bajaj Group Gita Piramal Kamalnayan Bajaj Charitable Trust ISBN No. 978-81-922892-3-6 January 2015 © Kamalnayan Bajaj Charitable Trust Compilation and Writing Gita Piramal Content Research Support Mukul Upadhyaya Image Research Touchstone Design Indi Design Publisher Kamalnayan Bajaj Charitable Trust Printing Pragati Press, Hydrabad All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher. For Private Circulation Only Diya A tiny word of two syllables, ‘diya’ is one of those special Nitin Kochar, Mohan Keyyath, R Satyanarayan and words that immediately resonate in us. A diya, as noun, J Sridhar – I owe you a huge debt of gratitude for your is a small clay bowl with a delicate flickering flame. patience, persistence and putting me back on the right Metaphorically it represents big emotions such as hope track whenever I veered off it. I do not know the names and passion, courage and respect. Diya, as verb, can be of the many, many executives who contributed to this interpreted as ‘given’. effort. I request you to thank, on my behalf, each and every Bajaj executive who put in those extra hours. That Dear reader, the book in your hand is a result of both this book exists is not only because the family wanted the noun and the verb. a biography. It exists as much because of the respect Kamalnayan aroused in the descendants of those who Let me explain. worked for him, and today are either employed in the Bajaj group or are associates. The writing of business history is not for the faint of heart. To illustrate this point, let me share with you In Mumbai, Mukul Upadhyaya, custodian of the just one of many herculean chores that have to be Bajaj family history, not only helped me navigate the undertaken. Companies have to maintain annual wonderful archive of photographs maintained by the reports. But as the years pass, they move from office Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation, but also unlocked the cabins to a back office before eventually reaching their secrets of old Hindi texts, some of them long forgotten resting place in a trunk or a Godrej cupboard in a – but never by him. Over in Pune, Sudhir Sharma warehouse of some kind. I asked for the annual reports masterminded the book’s design. of all the companies in the Bajaj group from 1938 to 1972: the year Kamalnayan Bajaj effectively joined the While this hectic activity was going on in Bajaj offices family business, until his death. And when I could not across India, the Bajaj family jumped whole-heartedly find a specific piece of data, I started asking for minutes into the project. Suman Jain, Kiran and Kumud shared of the meetings of the boards of directors. not just their photographs and letters, but also their memories. Minal, Rajiv, Sanjiv and Sunaina, I hope, Not once did I hear a moan. had fun remembering childhood days. Relatives-by- marriage such as Chitra Pamnani, Rupa Bajaj’s sister, Rahul Bajaj gave the word. Shekhar, Madhur and were willy-nilly drawn into the quest. As was Dhirubhai Niraj readily hunted out documents in the companies Mehta, who married Nanda, Radhakrishna Bajaj’s under their charge. It requires real dedication and daughter – read all about them inside the book! passion to dig into dusty, long-forgotten archives. In addition to their normal duties, group executives Diya, the noun, came into action. worked extra hours to collect the information. As one of them exhorted a colleague, “Please help Of much greater importance than the data collection her. This is about us.” effort is the Bajaj commitment to truth – a Gandhian Kamalnayan Bajaj – Architect of the Bajaj Group 3 value that continues into the fourth generation. They Had Kamalnayan not depended on managers, he could would not stop digging until they had uncovered every not have built sixteen factories and acquired five more. discoverable fact surrounding a specific event. Gradually Was it sharp speech or did he prefer to say the truth as a treasure trove of information emerged. Knowledge is? Even those who advised him to use softer language do that had lain hidden for decades emerged from darkness not deny his well-meaning nature and willingness to go into the light. out of his way to help those in need. Now Diya the verb played its role. For a business historian, few experiences can match the excitement of working with primary data in an I was given knowledge. Without strings, caveats or unfettered environment. That too primary data never restrictions. This is most unusual. I had complete used by anyone else. I was in virgin territory. Raw freedom. The only other occasion of such delight was primary data, however, carries with it the responsibility when I was granted unlimited access to the Kasturbhai of capturing history responsibly, accurately and Lalbhai letters. When a researcher is trying to figure truthfully. One discovers so many interesting facts out what makes an extraordinary person tick, such and insights. Inevitably I wanted to share everything I transparency is invaluable. discovered. But a reader doesn’t want a PhD. Biography is as much as helping a reader discover himself or herself And by any yardstick Kamalnayan was an extraordinary as about the subject of the biography. I have to admit, man. His many detractors – while he was alive and later curbing myself was difficult. – point to his impatience with detail, his dependence on managers, his sharp speech. In this biography, I Writing this book was an amazing ride. Thank you believe you will find that Kamalnayan was able to build Rahul for providing me with this opportunity. an impressive business group during one of the most tumultuous periods in Indian history, precisely because of these traits. – Gita Piramal Had he bogged himself down with detail, Kamalnayan Mumbai and Oxford could not have dreamt big. In 1942, the family bank December 25, 2014 account held barely Rs. 3.5 lakh, group sales were less than Rs. 1 crore, and about 200 people worked in ginning and pressing mills. By 1972 when he died, sales were Rs. 76.24 crore and profits Rs. 8.41 crore. 4 Kamalnayan Bajaj – Architect of the Bajaj Group Contents Foreword 06 1. A Different Heart Beat 09 2. Making the Future 13 3. 10 Secrets of Success 19 4. Conscious Marketing 23 5. Enrico Piaggio 27 6. IPO 31 7. 100,000 Indian Vespas 35 8. Chetak 39 9. Frits Philips 43 10. Lighthouse 49 11. Partition 55 12. Mukand Makeover 61 13. Satyagrahi 67 14. Three Grandfathers 71 15. Do or Die 75 16. Lok Sabha 79 17. Shishya 87 18. Cambridge 91 19. Purab Paschim 97 20. Padma Vibhushan Jankidevi 101 21. Match-Maker 105 22. After I Die 113 Foreword Filial reverence is the corner stone of enduring human an avid humanitarian, social reformer and philanthropist civilisations, the very basis of continuity in society. Even and got involved in industry as a happenstance. Our as we inherit our legacies, we need to keep them alive first venture Mukand, occurred because a friend needed and take them forward. some capital. This collage of images and words, which for want of a Kakaji transformed us from a successful and reputed better description can be called a book, is a tribute to cotton trading group to an industrial group. This Kamalnayanji (Kakaji), not only as the head of the Bajaj he did purposefully. Even as he carried forward the family in his generation family tradition of but also as a person contributing to public and as an architect of life, be it in political, the Bajaj group as we socio-cultural or now know it. In his life philanthropic fields. time he transformed After Pujya Kakaji a trading group to passed away on 1st amongst the top twenty May 1972, I wrote a industrial houses of the piece titled ‘My father country. The group – a son’s perspective’. today has a market It is difficult for a son cap of approximately to write something Rs. 130,000 crore and about his father. I had a profit before tax of stated then, that by over Rs. 8,000 crore. their very nature, most Bajaj Auto is the third of the memories are largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world. The two of a personal kind and one is reluctant to put them into Bajaj Allianz Insurance Companies and Bajaj Finance as a words. Inspite of this, I had put down some of my views consumer finance company are leaders in their respective about him to shed some light on his personality and the fields. All built on the foundation laid by Kakaji. kind of person he was. Parts of the piece have found their way into this book. It is the changing of course that matters in the lives of individuals and more so in the trajectory of institutions. Apart from the influence of his father, Pujya Jamnalalji, Once the new course is set, it is relatively easy to it was the environment and his ‘education’ in the progress. Jamnalalji was the founder of the group. But Paunar and Sevagram Ashrams and the family’s and he was almost an accidental industrialist. Business and his involvement with the freedom struggle, which made industry were incidental to his interests. He was however Kakaji both an unusual and an outstanding human 6 Kamalnayan Bajaj – Architect of the Bajaj Group being.