CITADEL – A FORTRESS REVISITED

Recently I posted an old group photograph of my ex-colleagues on Facebook and tagged a few friends.  They in turn tagged a few more and many of my old associates commented on the post.   This brought back many old memories; many good, some bad and a few ugly. Many faces, names, events and episodes flashed before my eyes.  Most of the comments posted on the Facebook wall were by those who operated from the field.  Their perspective and their experiences were very different from mine and I decided to share mine on my next blogpost and here they are:

Soon after I graduated from college, I started applying for jobs randomly.  I received a call letter in response to one such application and I attended the interview at the Citadel factory in Velachery.  Though Mr.Ranjan Rao, who interviewed was very impressed, I declined the offer since the factory was very far away from my home and not well connected. The next day, I received another call letter from their marketing office in the city and I attended that too.  Though there was no vacancy at that time, they created one and appointed me. That was the main secret behind my loyalty towards them.

The office was very spacious, well lit and ventilated.  Managers and Directors occupied the glass cabins that faced the entrance and all clerks, typists, stenographers, secretaries, the Administrative Manager and the office boys sat in the main hall.  The tables were arranged in a “class room” style and there was pin drop silence.   There was no induction or introductory session.  Mr.Prasad, the Admin Manager, led me into Mr.Jayaraman’s room and introduced me to Mr.Jayaraman and Mr.Appa Rao and left the room.  To initiate me into the work, Mr.Jayaraman dictated a few lines.  Soon after I settled in my seat, Mr.P.N.Krishna Kumar, came to me with a box of toffees and introduced himself.  He was blessed with a baby girl either that morning or the previous night and so he distributed sweets.  

 Mr.Ganapathi, who occupied the cabin diagonally opposite to the main door, pressed the buzzer hard.  When I did not respond, he signaled Jayanthi, who was seated before me to prompt me.  That’s how we were all summoned into the rooms for a very long time.  He dictated a congratulatory message and directed me to send telegram greetings to Mr.Prakash Nair and Mr.Roshan Paul, who were Area Sales Managers for Pune and Solapur respectively.  Both had completed their annual targets in advance and hence the greetings.   I took help from Kalyani to type and dispatch the telegrams.  Next, he dictated a letter to Mr.Krishnakumar.  I typed it without any errors and got it signed.  The addresses of all staff were typed on the reverse of waste visiting cards and preserved in a visiting card holder.  I collected Mr.Krishnakumar’s address from a senior and gave the envelope for dispatch.  Next evening, Mr.Krishnakumar landed in the office fuming, holding the letter in his hand.  Mr.Ganapathi pressed the buzzer more vigorously than before and signaled me to come.  I was not aware that there was another Krishnakumar somewhere in Kerala and posted it to P.N.Krishnakumar in Chennai.  Mr.Ganapathi was very angry with me and gave me a long lecture.  I apologized and left the room cursing myself.  

Our office started at 9 am.  Since late-coming and permissions were not allowed even occasionally, the ladies reached office exactly at 9 am.  Those who reached early waited at a nearby temple and stepped into the office only at 9 am.  Mr.Murali, who got dropped by a friend, waited in a nearby petrol bunk and stepped in at 9 am. Everyone worked in a synchronized manner and it was indeed a pleasure.  Soon after meetings of a Campaign concluded, dates for the next meetings were fixed. Conference halls and rooms at hotels and train tickets for the participants were booked well in advance. Samples, stationery, detailing folders, detailing stories and gifts for the next session too were organized and the functioning was very smooth.  There was just one computer and an electronic typewriter and all letters, circulars and envelopes were typed manually.  Dispatch schedule of bonus offer and incentive circulars and pricelists were intimated in advance and envelopes for all the preferred dealers and field staff kept ready for the date.  I knew all the addresses by heart and enjoyed typing hundreds of envelopes in a day.  I stopped typing from my memory after a letter landed in a wrong address and of course after a session with Mr.Ganapathi.    

Soon after I joined, I got familiarized with all the activities and by the time of my confirmation, I started reporting to Mr.Rajiv and Dr.Ramesh.  Dr.Ramesh’s friends too took my assistance once in a while and one such friend came to the office with just two letterheads and requested me to type a letter to an embassy requesting for a visa.  He warned me, “I have just two letterheads.  Please be careful while typing.”  I typed the letter with great care and took it to him. But there was a change in his programme and so he requested me to change just the dates and retype the letter and I did it.  As I handed over the letter and returned to my place, Dr.Ramesh followed me and asked “Do you think he will get a visa?  Read out his name” he demanded.  I read out “Jindas”.  The gentleman’s name was “Jinadas” and because I omitted an “a” it became “Jindas” (read Gin).  They had a hearty laugh and sent someone to his office and got another letterhead.  

Mr.Rajiv and Mr.Prasad ensured that there was strict discipline in office and the office always resembled an examination hall.  Still we all had fun.  Mr.Indramohan’s absent mindedness and forgetfulness caused amusement to us.  Poor man!  He visited office only four or five days in a month and we looked forward to his presence. I once reserved a room for him at Ramanashree comforts in Bangalore and he landed in Ramanamaharshi Ashram.  His ticket was reserved to Samalkot (Kakinada) and he got down at Rajahmundry and waited for hours together for Krishnachandran at the station.  He used to bring lunch from home and also buy from outside. Any given time there were two or three lunch boxes in his draw.  One day he walked into the office with a ladies’ handbag on his shoulder.  He dropped his sister somewhere and she had forgotten to take her bag with her.  Neither she had his number, nor did he have hers. After he left, Mr.Balasubramaniam filled the vacuum.

We had separate lunch sessions for women and men.  By 12.30, we girls got into the conference hall.  It was our lunch hall and had lot of fun.  Every now and then we laughed loudly and all the men in the office wondered “appadi ennathan pesuvangalo?” (What is that they discuss?)  Unable to sustain curiosity, Murali sneaked into the room very often, only to be chased out immediately by me and Jayanthi.  We used to come back to our seats exactly by 1.00 with fingers on our lips.  But that changed after Mr.Mani joined and many times he would dial the conference hall extension number, just to remind us that it was time for us to get out.  His BP shot up by noon every day.  We enjoyed his cribbing.

One of Citadel’s policies was to settle DEG on time.  Jayanthi handled it and in our spare times, we too helped her in valuation and preparation of cheques.  After the DEG was settled, the date expired goods were sent to factory for discarding.  But there was also a great demand for some of the DEGs.  Mr.Rajiv loved eating Lactonil and he stocked all broken and damaged tins in his room.  While Raghothaman chased Jayanthi for DEG stocks of Enerjase, Seetharaman loved Expectrol.  He loved gulping bottles of Expectrol every day. (Please note, he was a pious man and a teetotaler) 

After office, we never went home straight.  There were many exhibition halls around our office and we were regulars there.  We also visited all restaurants, small and big in the vicinity.  Ice cream parlours, cold drink bars, road side eateries, bakeries, you name it and we have visited them.  In between, we also drank tender coconut water from the roadside.  There were 2 or 3 hawkers and they fought with each other to serve us.  If for some reason I did not join my friends, the shopkeepers asked my friends “gundu paapaa engey?” (Where is the chubby girl?).  We were very popular in the locality. Our territory comprised of Mylapore, Alwarpet, Teynampet and T.Nagar. 

Packing of gifts for the Doctors was a big exercise.  The gifts never arrived on time and Mr.Jayaraman roped in the entire office to check, pack and dispatch gifts to various territories on time.  Though laborious, it was a very enjoyable work.  If we had to work after office hours to complete packing, he ensured that we were all dropped in his car safely.  Once, we had kept aside a cover to be sent to Kottayam, as a few gifts allocated were missing. For easy identification, I wrote, “Mr.K.T.Mathew, Kottayam” on the envelope and Bhavani had given it for dispatch inadvertently.  When we found the envelope missing, we were very worried, but to our surprise, the cover got delivered to Mr.Mathew.  He was so popular in Kottayam, that an envelope which had just his name and Citadel’s logo, got delivered.  Recently, I came to know that Mr.Mathew passed away and I recollected this incident.

Mr. Rajiv always insisted that incentive cheques to all executives have to be released on the same day.  Mr.Jayaraman wanted a personalized covering letter to be sent with the cheques.  Every campaign, almost 200 people qualified for different incentives, which meant, I had to type 200 different letters and vouchers and post cheques.  Long distance cheques were always sent on a priority and to save on postage, we clubbed letters.  I don’t remember the year, but during one campaign, I could dispatch only 80% of the cheques by the evening and thought I would dispatch the balance the next day.  The next day was a postal holiday and the third a holiday for our office.  This was followed by a brief postal strike and so the dispatch was delayed.  By the time the cheques were sent, one of the executives who qualified for the incentive, Mr.Vimal Sedani died in an accident.  If I am not mistaken, he had earned the highest incentive that campaign and it had not reached him.  The cheque was later returned as his wife and parents disputed and the incentive included in his final settlement.  After this incident, I don’t retain any bills or cheques with me.  Any day could be the last day.

Ayudha Pooja was a great annual affair.  The office was thoroughly cleaned, decorated and Saraswati pooja performed in the evening.  The de facto priest was Iyer the Great - Natarajan.  Raghothaman stood next to him with folded hands and soon after the pooja was over, looked for somebody to request him to sing.  His standard reply when he was asked to sing was “I can sing only Kannada songs” and year after year he sang “Bhagyada Lakshmi Baaramma”.  The moment he would start singing, Gopi would start giggling and within a few minutes, there would be a leakage of Nitrogen oxide and those who were unable to remain serious, got into the toilets. 

Every year, during August, the Accounts team organized a tour and colleagues from factory too joined us.  We visited several tourist spots in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Goa. The respective field executives guided us and helped us with lodging and boarding.  When we planned a trip to South Karnataka, Veerappan Kidnapped Rajkumar and we had to cancel the tickets.  When we planned a trip to Sri Lanka, the war intensified.   

We were very much like a family.  We shared a love-hate relationship. We all thanked God when the flight in which Mr.Ganapathi and Mr.Natarajan were travelling crash landed in paddy fields near Tirupati.  We were shocked when there was a bomb blast in the hotel Mr.Ramkumar, KSG and Roshan stayed before Bombay launch.  We were anxious when Sundar was kidnapped by terrorists in Kashmir.  We were hurt when Swaminathan was attacked by Union members at a Railway station.  When there was an earth quake in Latur, we were worried about only one person on earth – Kishore Govindpurkar.  When Arun Vyas was stabbed and Abhijit Sarkar was diagnosed with cancer, we created benevolent funds for them.  

For most of us, it was love at first sight.  The infatuation continued for long.  But it was no fairy tale.  We didn’t live happily ever after.  There were changes.  Tremendous changes.  Changes that could not be handled.

During the fag end, the organization was plagued by lack of leadership, lack of vision, sense of direction, petty politics and dirty alliances, lack of systems, unhealthy competition, cheap behavior and mudslinging.   Those who played “Divide and rule” politics at a lower level till then, played the same game at a higher level and the fortress crumbled. It was so painful to see the deterioration from up-close.    

Not a single day passes without me thinking or discussing something about Citadel.  I miss my dear bosses Mr.Rajiv and Mr.Ram Kumar very much. 

I have moved on.  So have many others.  But life will never be the same again.

Jeena isi ka naam hai.

MOMMIES ARE NOT DUMMIES

A lot has been written about negative portrayal of women in media and I on the occasion of the Mother’s day, restrict my observation to the portrayal of mothers in media and I dedicate this post to all mothers.

Indians are strange.  They are seldom neutral.  There is always extremism and contradiction. So are the expressions and the portrayal; be it in advertisements, TV serials and films.

“Mere paas maa hai” is an outdated sentiment. Women, particularly elderly women are just props now.  If at all they have a role, they are portrayed as task masters and manipulators.  While women are excelling in many fields, women in all advertisements are dumb.  They either cook, wash, clean, reprimand children and henpecked husbands, ill-treat daughters-in-law or at the most add a little glamour quotient to any product, be it a perfume or an after-shave lotion, a razor, a bike or even a tractor.  It is all the more horrible in films and TV serials.  Women are shown as control freaks, gaudily dressed and manipulating and creating trouble throughout. 

When are they going to be portrayed as themselves?

Just imagine if anthropologists/social scientists/historians in future take the present day films/serials/advertisements as basis for their study of the attitude/status of women of this period, will they be able to capture the correct picture?  Forget future, aren’t men getting a preconceived notion about women because of this clichéd portrayal?

In olden times, a mothers’ role was restricted to that of a bread-maker, but the role of the present day mother is very demanding.  Most of the women, though employed, are not relieved of any of the domestic responsibilities.  They are also forced to learn to ride and drive vehicles to facilitate shuttling of children between schools, tuition centres and other coaching classes.  They also eventually become personal secretaries of their husbands and handle all their work.  While some enjoy economic and social independence, there are many more, who don’t.

The older generation women too are not spared.  They too cannot afford to sit and while away their time, chanting prayers and telling stories to kids. They are forced to offer support to their working daughters/daughters-in-law in managing their homes and raising children. 

While all of them are indispensable, they certainly are taken for granted and their contribution is very rarely acknowledged or appreciated.  Poor things, they are left to blow their own trumpets and we often find those who click “like” or “share” of related newsfeed on social networking sites, are just the cohort members.  Really sad .

The concept for this blog is my friend Uma Ranganathan’s.

After Uma read my previous post, she sent a mail requesting me to write about the portrayal of women, particularly mothers in advertisements. When I read the contents, I could completely empathize with her and appreciate her concern. Her statement “Mommies are dummies” impressed me very much.

 

I can claim, I am the surrogate mother of Uma’s baby as she has conceived and I have delivered, I mean the blog.

 

It’s not a SHE, but a HE!

Recently when I visited a friend, my friend and my friend’s spouse, gave me a lot of gifts. 

My eight year old nephew, pointing to the gifts asked me; “who gave these to you?”

I replied; “my friend”. 

“What’s her name?” he asked.

“His name is __” I replied.

Assuming that, I made a grammatical mistake, he asked; “not his, her”.

I patiently replied once again and he sheepishly asked; “it’s not a she, but a he?”

 I said “Yes”. 

My reply evoked a naughty smile on his face and he said, “whenever I talk to girls in my class know, my friends tease me by asking if that girl I am talking to is my girlfriend” and with both sarcasm and envy he asked; “is he your boyfriend?” to which I replied; “he is a friend being a boy and not a boyfriend.” My nephew is of course too young to understand the difference, but sadly even adults don’t understand it.

In a recent talk show in a popular Tamil TV channel, the topic for discussion was “male friends”. 

My nephew’s inquisitiveness and the talk show made me introspect.

My best friends are all boys or rather men.  Why men? 

Right from my childhood, I spent more time with my Dad than my mother.  Like the pug in the hutch (vodaphone) advertisement, I literally followed my Dad, wherever he went.  This exposure during my formative years helped me in shedding inhibitions about the opposite gender.  In a way I am gender- blind.    I perceive every person I meet as a human being.

While I was growing up, there were too many restrictions at home.  My brothers were very protective and there were strict “dos and don’ts”.  I and my sister were not allowed to play outside our home, not allowed to speak to any boys or men and were never allowed to leave home alone.  After our 5^th standard, we were sent to an all girls’ school and subsequently to a women’s college.  I was honestly very sad about this.  But my brothers were very scared of our security and we could not do much about it. 

When I started working, the office scenario was no different from my home. There was a Janana and a Mardana in office too.  (Sounds unbelievable, but true!) I hated the harem kind of atmosphere, but slowly things changed and I met my best friends there.

Though my family members were familiar with many of my colleagues’ names, they were not aware of my friendships for a long time.  Once I fell sick and didn’t go for work and there were several phone calls from my office.  I didn’t have a mobile, so all calls landed on our landline.  When the seventh or eighth call was from our operator, my brother remarked; “for a change there is a lady on the line”. 

One main reason for my association with men was the fact that, I was not happy with the women around me and could not relate to them.  The topics they discussed irritated me very much.  Irrespective of the educational qualifications and the posts they held in office, they gossiped non-stop.  I am certainly not a saint, but I was not finding their gossip interesting.  The topics of discussion were always mother-in-law, sister-in-law, jewels, manipulations and controls.  There was no rationality or logic in their beliefs and I could not associate with them at all.  On the contrary, the men around me were more learned and their behavior was refined and discussions with them were more gratifying. 

I had a colleague, who, like me, continued with his studies simultaneously while working.  The difference was; he was focused.  If not for him, I would not have done my MBA.  He not only got the application for the course, but guided me completely about the course, including the permutation and combination of the subjects I had to choose and the order.  He designed it in such a way that, if at some point, I discontinued, I would still have finished a diploma or two.  He also lent me several books and also helped me while doing the assignments.  He went abroad by the time I had to do my project and I missed him very badly.

When I started working, I was very sensitive and disapproval from anybody caused pain.  I have always been a good performer and my appraisals and increments are always good.  There was more jealousy than professionalism at workplace and it resulted in harassment; directly and in disguise.  I could not handle it at all.  My friend counseled me and helped me to overcome the crisis.  I started looking at the world from a totally different perspective, thanks to him.   He is a very religious person and I am agnostic.  But I should acknowledge that my association with him has enriched me spiritually too.  When I decided to remain single and declared it to the people around me, each person reacted in a different manner.  Many advised me, but the best advice I have ever received is from my friend who said something like this; “By refusing to marry, you are denying yourself certain pleasures in life, but don’t deny yourself all other pleasures of life.  Irrespective of your marital status, you should remain the centre of your universe and never forget this.  Also, you may not be a welcome guest in many homes, so please don’t impose yourself on anybody and feel rejected.”  What an honest and timely advice?  My friend whom I refer to as my Friend, Philosopher and Guide has been guiding me for years and without consulting him, I don’t take any major decisions.

My parents have taught me to save, but I did not know much about investments.  A friend of mine, a chartered accountant by profession, initiated me into safe investments.  He taught me the nuances of income tax and savings to minimize tax.  Not many people are aware of tax planning and thanks to my friend I too have started guiding people around me.

There was one guy who worked with me very briefly.  He was the one who gave me the idea of investing in real estate.  Till I met him, I never thought of buying a house and was happy investing in liquid assets.  He took details of my income and expenditure and arrived at an amount I could save every month, if I would cut down on expenditure, and detailed the different loan facilities and the procedure to avail them.  When I was apprehensive, he motivated me by saying that borrowing is nothing but converting a present liability into a future asset.   Motivated by his advice, after a few years, I bought a flat, the value of which within a span of five years has almost doubled. When I bought the house, I thought of him very much, but I didn’t have his contact, so could not personally acknowledge.

I have a friend, who is very genuinely affectionate.  We are chalk and cheese and everyone known to us wonders as to what is common between us and how we manage to continue being friends.  He too, like many of my other friends, was a colleague.  Though I never reported to him or worked under him, I consider him my mentor. He too, influenced my perspective on many things in life.   Primarily, he helped me to become assertive.  He got me out of my shell and taught me to take charge of my life and handle tough situations.    If not for my friend, I would never have learnt it. He not only initiated me into serious reading, but also writing. My communication too improved. I have become more sophisticated after we became friends and I attribute my broad-mindedness to him.  My dear friend continues to be a guiding force.

There are so many other friends who regularly keep in touch and offer help in times of need. When my dad underwent a surgery and needed blood, many of my friends donated blood. When I was looking for a change in my job, many of my friends tried to get me a job through their contacts.  My parents, who were initially skeptical about my male friends, are now convinced that they are harmless and are genuinely affectionate. 

Though because of the age gap and out of respect, I address some friends as “Anna” or “Bhai”, I honestly don’t like to address every male friend as a brother, just to prove to the world that I share a platonic relationship with them.  Friends are friends and they have their own special slot. 

My friends are scattered across the globe and once in a while call me.  I make it a point to call my friends on their birthdays and anniversaries and if by chance I fail, they call to check if all is well at my end. Despite all the independent thinking and a progressive attitude, I am still a conservative and I don’t party or hangout with my male friends.  Technology has helped us to maintain our friendship.  I don’t know if I have added any value to my friends’ lives, but they have all and they will remain special to me, forever.