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I have recently 

discovered thatattributes andqualities which I

strongly react to inothers are the ones

which I have withinme – and either Iam not aware of 

them or I am not in

touch with them.

M y friend, Ahmed, invited me towrite an article forHaving just been to South Africa,

I wrote one on apartheid but Ahmed wasnot too happy with it, saying it was toomuch from my head and sounded veryacademic and could I write a piece from my

heart.

Since Ahmed is retiring end December andthis will be the last issue he will beediting, I readily switched to a morecontemplative subject and I hope it meetswith his strict editorial requirements!

So here it goes. Life continues to teach all of us and the tragedy in life is not whensomeone dies but when we stop investing inourselves and stop challenging ourselves.

Once I read that since we all belong to the

human race, any human being is capable of committing a good or bad deed. Myimmediate reaction was that I was certainlynot capable of killing a human being. Onreflection, I find these words very profound.We glibly judge people but do not knowanything about the background they comefrom and what karmic force pushes themtowards a heinous act. Similarly, all of us arecapable of stretching our limits and doingexcellent work which we admire in others.I have learnt that while I do not accept orcondone what a “criminal” has done, I donot have the right to pass harsh judgmentand write him off. Similarly, when I admiresomeone I have to remind myself that I havethe potential to emulate that person.Mahatma Gandhi is one of them. NelsonMandela is another.

A corollary of this learning is that we tend toequate human beings with the act of cleaning rice. We want to keep the goodgrains and discard the stones and chaff.A human being is a composite whole andwe have to accept them as they are. If arelationship is meaningful, we can offer somesuggestions for change but we cannotdemand that they should be accepted. I have

been coaxing Ahmed to give up smoking fora long time but with no success!

I have recently discovered that attributesand qualities which I strongly react to inothers are the ones which I have within me– and either I am not aware of them or I am

not in touch with them. Deceit andhypocrisy in others makes my blood boil andit is just recently that I have accepted thesequalities within me and as soon as thathappened, my harsh judgment towardsothers has got tempered.

There is a lot of hype about corporategovernance and numerous books and articleshave been written on the subject. It is also afavourite subject at conferences and cocktailparties. There are cerebral questions raisedwhether what is legally wrong is alwaysmorally wrong or can the two differ.Recently, I watched an interview withWarren Buffett and someone asked himabout morality and governance. He saidthere is a very simple test you can follow.If what you have done were to be reportedin the media, would you be proud or happyif your family, friends and employees readabout it? I thought there was a lot of wisdom in this simple formula to find out if 

 you are on the right path or not.

One of Meher's favourite poems is called the“Man in the Glass” and I would like to quotethe last stanza:

As I end this piece on my random thoughts,I would like to bid farewell to my dear friendAhmed and wish him all the best.

Fireside.

Fireside

“You may fool the whole world down the pathway of life

 And get pats on your back as you pass

But your final reward will be heartachesand tears

If you've cheated the man in the glass.”

– Anu Aga

VOICES

24

Random thoughts

on my recent learnings

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Thermax not only builds equipment but

also developsemployees into real professionals and

human beings. Here you get respect,

irrespective of your designation or socialstatus. Everybody gets

the scope and freedom to display their potential and

the sky is the limit togrow.

Recently we had our 25 years dialogueand felicitation ceremony, whereover 80 employees shared their good

and bad experiences about Thermax withAnu Aga, Meher Pudumjee and

Unnikrishnan. Ahmed Bunglowala and Iwere in one of the dialogue groups and helater encouraged me to share my experiencein

Four years ago, on December 4, 2005, amajor tragedy hit my family and me. Theincident uprooted my family life – psycho-logically, physically and financially. My wife,little son and I were involved in an accidentdue to the sudden collapse of the terrace of our relatives' flat, where we were visitingthem. My 6-year old son lost his life on the

spot while my wife succumbed to her injuriesduring medical treatment at the hospital.I was also at death's door due to multipleinjuries on various parts of the body and wasadmitted to Poona Hospital.

Fortunately my elder daughter, Neha,survived as she was not accompanying usand was alone at our home, studying for herexams. My other family members werementally blocked and were not able tounderstand what they were doing. Everybodywas under tremendous tension and pressure.

I was operated on several times and wasalmost bed-ridden for six months in hospitaland three months at home.

During my hospitalisation, under theguidance of Anup Gandhi and Tamal Dutta,my colleagues drew up a schedule to be withme in the ICU, in 12-hour shifts, for onemonth. Anu Aga, Meher and PherozPudumjee visited the hospital and gave anassurance to my family for necessary supportfor medical treatment and any other kind of assistance. Mrs. Dravid, who is a medicaland social welfare consultant to Thermax,gave me immense psychological support andboosted my willpower to come out from theexisting crisis. She emphasised that if you

make up your mind only then can youovercome the situation.

I was very worried about my daughter'sfuture and ultimately my inner voice gaveme momentum. I developed the will to stay

alive for her future. God must have savedme to take care of her. Slowly I startedimproving day by day with a lot of effortsfrom the doctors' team. Ultimately afterseven surgeries and nine months of treatment the doctors advised me to joinwork to speed up my remaining recovery.I discussed this with the divisional head, HR and my colleagues. They all welcomed mydecision of joining duty and promised to

Fireside.

provide full support for my recovery.

The company gave me permission to work

with a concession in office hours. In thebeginning they also assigned me suitableoffice work considering my limitations of movement to attend shop floor related work.I am happy that over a period of nine to 10months I started my regular duties and todayI am almost as fit as I was before theaccident.

I strongly feel that I have recovered to thepresent stage because of the personalinvolvement of the management and mycolleagues which strengthened my family's

willpower and morale, day by day. Thefinancial help extended to me by Thermaxresulted into very good medical treatment forme in a good hospital. And lastly, I thinkGod wanted me to survive but that wasconverted into reality by the efforts of all theThermax people, all the doctors and nursingstaff and my family members. I can't thankall of them enough.

I have experienced Thermax as a companywith a difference. Thermax not only buildsequipment but also develops employees into

real professionals and human beings. Here you get respect, irrespective of yourdesignation or social status. Everybody getsthe scope and freedom to display his

25

H ro r k  w uI e i t y e b   l   m nb   o

L   I   F  E

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potential and the sky is the limit to grow. Itis one of the few companies where a trainee

engineer becomes an MD. The companybelieves in you and has full trust in yourwork. It is a company where there is a majorthrust on customer delight, values, integrity,overall social responsibility, and the highestpriority to safety.

Mere words are insufficient to express mygratitude towards Thermax and all Thermaxpeople. My family members and I are reallythankful to Thermax for pulling me out fromdeath's jaws and giving me a rebirth. I haveshared my experience not to glorify myself orto get sympathy for me but to illustrate

Thermax's unique culture to a newgeneration.

During the 25 year felicitation function mydaughter Neha – who is studying to be acommercial artist – was with me. TheChairperson, MD and EC members sharedtheir views about Thermax's future. She wasvery inspired and has tried to convert theirmessages into a pictorial format which I wantto share with all of you as it shows that weare on the right path to becoming a world-class organisation.

– Vaibhav R Bhalerao

[C & H–Heating (QAC)]

26

The Stink in the Reception

There are a number of stories aboutRohinton Aga, Thermax's deeplyloved and admired leader for many

 years. Probably everyone who worked inThermax during his time remembers some

incident, which says something about hisunique personality: his extraordinary drive,his sense of values, his astounding humility,razor-sharp intelligence, sophisticated wit.To that khazana of memories, I would like toadd a few more…

In the late 1980s I was a journalist with anEnglish monthly in Pune. It was the heydayof economic liberalisation. The 'socialist'notion that all business people were crookswas giving way to the idea that some of them could be seen as nation-builders.

I decided to interview some of the leadinglights of business and industry in Pune.R.D. Aga was on top of my list.

I had heard him speak on a few occasions, atpublic events and press conferences, and likemany other people who receivedI always read his thoughtful piece in themagazine. Without ever having spoken to

him, I had come to like him. I wanted toknow him better.

An interview time was fixed. For somereason my boss – a tall and handsomesocialite woman, who didn't do much editingor writing – decided to accompany me.Along with our photographer, we reachedThermax House in her Maruti – a prizedpossession those days. We had to wait for afew minutes in the reception. It was afteroffice hours and I remember the area waspoorly lit. I didn't notice anything else.

We were told Mr. Aga was ready to meet us.He rushed out of his office and greeted uswarmly. I was sure the interview would go

Fireside,

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very well. Then my boss dropped a bomb.Not a woman known for being diplomatic,she blurted before we were through with thepreliminaries: “Mr. Aga, there is a horriblesmell in your reception.”

I saw the blood drain from his cheeks. Hands

shaking, he reached for the phone. He spoketo someone. I heard the word “odour”. Hethen apologised to my boss, who said thesmell was no big deal, just something thathad struck her.

I looked down at my prepared notes andstarted asking questions. But clearly Aga'smind was not on the interview. No doubt,the odour of stale, air-conditioned air in thereception had not only embarrassed him butalso greatly angered him. It was only afterpersistent questioning of around half an

hour, when I got around to asking whathe valued most that Aga forgot about thesmell and started enjoying the interview.I distinctly remember him saying he lovedthe spirit of Jonathan Livingstone Seagull.

Of course, when we stepped out of ThermaxHouse an hour or so later, there was noodour in the reception. And no doubt,someone had received a firing of a lifetime –in Aga's characteristic soft-spokenmanner.

Some years later I left full-time journalism

and took up Ahmed's offer of working forA few weeks after I started coming

to Thermax House regularly, one palemorning, Ahmed told me in a shaking voice,“Aga is dead.” For days people in Thermaxwere speechless. Condolence letters startedpouring in, in heaps.

Ahmed and I thought of producinga book of recollections of RDA. We

interviewed many people in the company,and people who had worked for Thermax inits early years. Ahmed asked for

contributions. We talked to Anu, Meher,Kurush and Pheroz, collected family photosand interesting nuggets of personal

information. We sieved through Aga'swritings and compiled a list of quotablequotes. One of my favourites is Aga'sdefinition of quality with a big Q. It was todo with his Honda Accord. Three years afteracquiring the Japanese sedan, he wrote,“I am still thrilled with it; not by the

performance, which continues to make it adelight to drive, but by an attribute thatmakes it stand out. In the three years, it hasbeen completely trouble-free…You can useany jargon you like – fitness for use, meantimes between failures, availability factor…as far as I am concerned, this is Quality. MyHonda Accord will never let me down.”

After weeks of relentless but untiring work,was published. Anu invited

Ahmed and me to her Boat Club Roadresidence for a “thank you” dinner. There

was a fabulous Parsi spread: tongue, meatballs, and dhansak. Meher was there withher (first) baby, who latched on to my wife,and Ahmed inadvertently occupied Aga'sfavourite place at the dining table – with adrink in his hand. Pheroz, who joined later,regaled us with accounts of how,notwithstanding his love for his HondaAccord, “RDA was a lousy driver.” Andthen, when it was close to midnight, werecalled what is probably the mostmemorable of Aga stories, one my wife

remembered the other day when I told herI was writing this piece.

In case you don't know, it's the story about anew watchman at Sai Chambers whostopped the Chairman and ManagingDirector of Thermax at the entrance andasked him brusquely who he was and whatbusiness he had in the building. While thebig bosses who were with Aga turned red,Aga politely told the watchman, “Main…main idhar kaam karta hoon.”

)

Fireside.

Living aMission,

Living a Mission

– Ashok Gopal(Former Consulting

Editor of Fireside

27 

He rushed out of hisoffice and greeted us warmly. I was surethe interview would

go very well. Thenmy boss dropped a bomb. Not a woman

known for beingdiplomatic, she

blurted before we were through withthe preliminaries:"Mr. Aga, there is a 

horrible smell in your reception".

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Each time I had a 

new car, I was very reluctant to letanyone else driveit, including my 

grown updaughters, lest they 

scratch itsomewhere. It took 

great internal

struggle to let themdrive my new car.

One of the sights I love to behold is

a big bird floating gracefully and

effortlessly high up against the blue

sky, riding the wind. After flapping its wings

for a while to gain height, the bird

completely lets go. It appears to enjoy what

it is doing but is simultaneously very alert,

ready to swoop down when a prey is spotted.

By letting go and not flapping its wings, itconserves its energy for the right moment.

And when it wants to dive, it only slightly

turns its wings and lets gravity do most of 

the work. By letting go and trusting its

natural instincts, it achieves its objective

with the least effort.

In contrast, I realise how difficult letting go is

for us human beings. We feel the only way

we can achieve our goals is by constant

action and trying to control every situation

with our minds. In the process, unlike thebird, we expend more physical and mental

energy than necessary, and are neither fully

effective nor happy. I think we need to learn

the art of letting go from nature.

The opposite of to let go is to hold on.

Starting with material things like money or

property, we also tend to hold on to our

children, our team members, our functional

associations, our opinions, our theories, and

our concept of who we are. I have

understood that behind everything I hold on

to, there is some fear or a search for identity.

Each time I had a new car, I was very

reluctant to let anyone else drive it,

including my grown up daughters, lest they

scratch it somewhere. It took great internal

struggle to let them drive my new car. I was

aware that by not letting them do so, a

barrier was creeping in between us. They felt

that my car had become more important

to me than them. Once, after one such

internal struggle I had allowed my youngest

daughter to take the car out and it got a

minor scratch. She could see it on my face

that I was upset. For a long time after that

she never asked me to borrow the car.

We find several examples around us of 

people who are so obsessively attached to

material things that these things have

become more important to them than

relationships, causing breakdowns in families

and quarrels between friends or neighbours.

In our own extended family we have

examples of great bitterness and tragedy

arising out of holding on to wealth and

property, even when there was plenty to go

around.

The other thing we tend to stick to is our

opinions and judgments – my way or no way.

28

 Let Go and Ride the Wind 

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Iam a Parsi and I like being one.

“So what's so great about being a Parsi?”

 you may ask.

Everything, believe me. The beauty of 

Zoroastrianism lies in its simplicity and

positive outlook. We Parsis are full of joie de

vivre…we love life, the very act of living!

Life is a celebration for us. Be happy and

make others around you happy.

The moment you say Parsi, you think of 

someone with a long nose, fair complexion,

fun-loving person often chatting nineteen to

the dozen in a language full of expletives

(those of you who know my brother Zubin

will know what I am talking about).

We celebrate our birthdays twice every year

– one is as per our Parsi calendar 'roj nu'

birthday and the other is as per the English

calendar 'tareek nu'. And the same goes for

anniversaries too. We simply double our joy

– and the accompanying gifts, too!

Go to any Parsi wedding or navjote (thread

ceremony) celebration to experience the

gaiety, the fun, the laughter and when you

hear dinner being announced – 'jamva chalo

jee' – you better make it quickly to the

dinner tables or ten to one, we Parsis will

beat you to it. Believe me, Parsis can run likethe wind, beating Carl Lewis' record, when

they hear the magical words, 'jamva chalo

In organisations huge barriers to teamwork

and collaboration are created when people

hold on to their opinions and act from them.In Thermax, many years ago, when we

initiated cross-functional teambuilding we

had to deal with many such rigid opinions

and learn to dissolve them in the glare of 

objective reality. It was not easy for many of 

them to back off from their impressions of 

each other, formed over a period of time.

However, there were some amazing

turnarounds in performance when people did

let go of past images and worked together.

One more thing I have realised is when weare stuck with our identities and start

believing that “my identity is superior to

 yours” then matters start getting

complicated. A lot of the religious and

regional intolerance in the world is nothing

but a clash of identities, arising from how we

define ourselves, and the sense of superiorityor inferiority we attach to it. How can we get

out of this? To my mind the solution lies in

letting go of our narrowly defined identities,

and not confusing these identities for what

we really are – human beings.

I have, over the years, tried to reduce the

“hold-ons” in my personal life. It is not easy

but it is very liberating. And in those

fleeting moments I have felt like the bird in

the sky.

– Kiran Gandhi

(former General Manager 

HR of Thermax)

29

IN GOODHUMOUR WEREJOICE

Humour is our 

staple diet and wethrive on it. Parsis

are the life andsoul of a party,

exchanging jokes,laughing heartily 

and, when thejoke is aimed at

themselves,laughing theloudest of all!

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jee'. Yes, we Parsis are very fond of good

food. Delicious, sumptuous Parsi delicacies

like saas ni machhi, sali murgi, bharuchiakoori, lagan nu custard, mutton pullao dal

and malai ni kulfi are irresistible to us.

No Parsi meal is complete without eggs. We

Parsis are the biggest egg eaters and have it

on any and every vegetable – be it lady

finger, potato or tomato.

The traditional chaato-paani (liquor) is

virtually mandatory at the end of a long day,

as also during weddings and other auspicious

occasions.

“Laugh, and the world laughs with you…” is

quite apt as far as Parsis are concerned. For

we are pretty jovial and good hearted.

Humour is our staple diet and we thrive on

it. Parsis are the life and soul of a party,

exchanging jokes, laughing heartily and,

when the joke is aimed at themselves,

laughing the loudest of all! For, you see, we

Parsis, who are good at a number of things,

are also good at laughing at ourselves. Whyelse would I be writing this article for

But there is one thing we are very serious

about and that is our Zoroastrian religion.

The ever relevant message of our prophet

Asho Zarathushtra is, “Always walk on the

path of truth and righteousness, and you will

have nothing to fear”. We are expected to

live our life on the three principles of 

humata, hukhata and huvarashta – good

thoughts, words and deeds.

So while we may ape the west and its

current fashions and fads and appear more

westernized than the westerners themselves,

 yet when it comes to our religion, we are

dedicated, devoted and sincere and we

tolerate no deviation. Most of us are

conservative and staunch and our religion

occupies a very special place in our heart,

mind and soul.

Speaking of western influence, many of the

oldies of my community are walking-talking

relics of the British Raj they grew up in. Pay

a visit to their house and they will show you

beautifully framed ornate photographs of 

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip and theywill talk, in impeccable BBC English, about

aapri rani and aapro Phillip.

Talk in Hindi to these soft-spoken, gentle

souls and they will reply in such a delightful

lilting blend of Parsi-Gujarati and Hindi, that

 you will end up being totally flummoxed.

 Just hearing us talk in our broken Hindi with

the bhajiwalla and the doodhwalla is enough

to make anyone double up with laughter.

You may have heard the oft-quoted phrase,

“Parsi thy name is charity.” Parsis and charity

are synonymous. Their numerous trusts and

foundations lend a quick, helping hand to

those in need. They extend their largesse to

all, be it human beings or animals. And

when it comes to dogs, some Parsis have

willed their entire fortunes to their dogs!

And now, since all good things have to come

to an end, it's time to say “goodbye”. But let

me caution you beforehand. For us saying“goodbye” and actually making an exit are

two entirely different things altogether. At

the end of a get-together, when we all have

to go our separate ways, we may hug each

other fondly and say “goodbye” a dozen

times and yet still keep on talking about this

or that… “Oh, I forgot to tell you this” or

“Did you know…..”, “And what about….”

and so on and so forth. And, oh, that

reminds me, I forgot to mention the Parsi

trait of honesty which is an integral part of 

our character and for which we bawajis (as

we are affectionately called) by the other

communities, are respected for. A Parsi's

word is good enough.

Oh, by the way, did I say I like being a Parsi?

Then let me correct myself. I love being one.

Fireside?

– (Internal Audit)Binaifer Gagrat

30

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If you dabble inshares, you get to

receive annualreports of 

companies fromdifferent sectors and

cultures. In thesereports almost

everyone is outdoingthe other in

explaining thebusiness they do inthe most baffling prose, liberally garnished with

jargon.

M

any of us have one helluva time

thinking how it would feel to

have one helluva time.I sometimes wonder how I would have faredpursuing a very different career or way of life.Suppose I had been an actor, presenting thedilemmas of life in powerful roles? Or aneasy rider, experiencing the open road on abike? Or a barefoot doctor traveling toremote parts providing some medical comfortto our poor populace.

But then, I have always worked for anorganisation and naturally my thoughtsturned to the complex links betweencompanies and people – how companies helpin creating communities of people; how life isfinite while a company is a perpetual entitytill such time it is extinguished through theliquidation of its assets. Companies andpeople are similar in anatomy (they bothhave structure – bones, hierarchy) andphysiology (embedded processes – respiratoryand circulatory processes in people; decisionmaking and innovation processes incompanies). So, companies are as complexand unpredictable as humans.

Then there is the stock market linkingpeople and companies. If you dabble inshares, you get to receive annual reports of companies from different sectors andcultures. In these reports almost everyone isoutdoing the other in explaining the businessthey do in the most baffling prose, liberallygarnished with jargon.

This discovery made my retirement plansmuch clearer.

I could offer to write out parts of the annual

report for the CEO, COO, CFO, CMO,CIO, CTO, or for that matter any otherUFO. Subtle disclaimers built into thequalification of the accounts for the benefitof auditors shall be written free of charge. Adiscount will be thrown in if all the aboveluminaries of the company retain me.

Over several weekends, drawing inspirationfrom various annual reports, I began creating“forward looking” statements. Some wereobviously sector specific, and others weresufficiently grandiose for any business. And Ifound it is a fine line that divides plagiarismfrom research.

Here are a few samples for yoursanctimonious approval:

We help you purify your soul by helping yourenovate your home. Your home gives you asense of identity, defines who you are,creating a sense of inexplicable well being.For every segment we provide flexiblehousing solutions including the latest loanproduct where interest rates are linked to theambient temperature.

Our multidimensional customer partnership,combined with our global deliverycapabilities offer an unmatched sustainablevalue proposition supported by a robustbusiness model unparalleled in the chosenniche markets that we operate in.

Our innovation engine is now firing on allfour cylinders, aided by the automatictransmission of all our inventions into aclutch of value added products which weanticipate shall fuel our future growth,

steering your company out of recession aidedby air bags to cushion your losses.

The world witnessed the worst globalrecession, crumbling of establishedinstitutions, bankruptcy of banks, closure of companies, and liquidity crunch. Yet ourassessment of the future continues to remainpositive in the medium term with a bouncingback of our fortunes no sooner the economyrecovers.

While we continue to make tough choiceson long term objectives to optimise shortterm gains, our continued efforts are toremain environmentally friendly and sociallyresponsible.

So, dear reader, if you are engaged in asimple business driven by supply anddemand, and you have succeeded by keeping

 your employees and customers happy, well,for a small fee you could engage me forclothing it in complexity !

 Housing finance

IT sector

Auto sector

Any sector

– L. Venkateswaran (Power)

31

My fantasy career as an annual report writer