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The very first time I noticed him was at a buffet after a press convention in one of many 7-star motels in Central Delhi. Wearing an informal T-shirt and denims, not a hair on his head, Chanchal Pal Chauhan was busy tackling a chunk of mutton. I’m not a lot of a foodie myself however I discovered that amusing. Once I recall that second now, I recognise there was a childlike innocence in it.
The subsequent time, Chanchal–CPC to some, Chanchal San to most, and easily Maalik to me, was going full tilt in a small automotive that wasn’t meant for racing. That was a typical note–all automotive journalists go a tad psychological behind a steering wheel. I knew then, there was no different approach we would not be associates. Probabilities had been very excessive we’d develop into the very best of associates however that’s extra right down to his power of character and generosity than anything.
All of 46, Covid snatched Chanchal from us in April, on the peak of the second wave. It left us numb and shattered part of me–forever. Six months have passed by and but it feels too uncooked. The thoughts has not been in a position to course of his departure. Possibly it will not ever. A stop-start 12 months that this has been, automotive events–press conferences, interviews, conferences and launches–have not been as frequent. In a approach that has been a blessing as a result of each time an occasion has occurred, Chanchal’s identify all the time got here up. Fellow journalists would attain out to your’s actually and Pankaj Doval from Instances of India to inform us how badly he’s missed. Or how a lot poorer the business is now. No one is aware of this as a lot as we at ETAuto the place Malik gave the final two of a glittering 20-year profession.
As knowledgeable, he performed exhausting however honest. There’s not one firm that he wouldn’t have given grief to in his profession. But everyone counts him as a buddy. I take advantage of the current tense right here intentionally. As journalists we meet some folks many instances and many individuals a couple of instances. Chanchal all the time left an impression even on these whom he met just a few instances. It’s a uncommon high quality.
The flexibility to mill round with folks of all types gave him an edge over the others. Working example was the story he broke on how union leaders of Maruti Suzuki’s manufacturing facility in Manesar quietly retreated to the shadows after accepting beneficiant pay outs. It was a results of his sturdy join with the employees. By that point, we had all spent days outdoors the manufacturing facility constructing sources inside the workforce however Chanchal had managed to forge the strongest of bonds.
With expertise, he developed the power to foresee what’s in retailer within the future–another essential high quality in a journalist. At ETAuto, considered one of his most profitable tales was when he predicted that Harley Davidson would quickly wind up in India. He had again then additionally hinted that Ford would comply with the identical route. It got here true too, barely 5 months after his dying.
The final time I noticed Chanchal, it was in Goa in February 2021. We had been collectively for yet one more of the various media take a look at drives we now have shared over time. Anyone who knew him personally, would know he was a person who lived life to the fullest–cliche as it could sound. He had an enviable urge for food for all good issues in life and liked occasion. That night he was on fireplace. Nearly as if he knew one way or the other that the occasion was quickly coming to an finish.
Maruti Man
This 12 months the business additionally misplaced one of many most interesting executives we now have ever seen or shall ever see–Jagdish Khattar. Barely 72 hours after Chanchal in April, Khattar san succumbed to a cardiac arrest. Shock shouldn’t be a phrase one would usually use for the demise of a septuagenarian however it’s nonetheless apt in his case. In his 78 12 months previous physique, he nonetheless had the mind as sharp as that of a 40 12 months previous.
An arts graduate from the distinguished St Stephen’s School in Delhi, Khattar san went on to amass a level in legislation and joined the IAS. Within the authorities he excelled at no matter he did rising by means of the ranks to develop into a joint secretary within the ministry of metal however his crowning glory was within the personal sector. Beneath his stewardship, India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki made the graceful transition from a PSU to a personal agency as the federal government bowed out in 2007.
With its first mover benefit that dates again to the early Eighties, Maruti all the time had a bonus over the others. However to retain its vice-like maintain in a market that has attracted the very best within the enterprise the world over wasnt a straightforward activity. It didn’t assist that quickly after he took over the nook workplace at what was then known as Maruti Udyog Ltd, the corporate confronted a debilitating 90 day staff’ strike on the Gurgaon manufacturing facility. They had been demanding increased wages.
At a time when multinational corporations had been coming into India in droves, this may have raised prices and made the corporate much more inefficient. With the assist from Suzuki, which was then a minority shareholder, Khattar dug his heels in and handled the employees with an iron hand. It was a pivotal time for the corporate the place the connection of its two major shareholders –Suzuki in Japan and authorities of India, had soured. Khattar san not solely rebuilt the corporate in order that it may well maintain its personal towards the challengers, he additionally helped bridge the belief deficit between the federal government and Suzuki.
“The 2001 strike was one of many hardest durations that I got here throughout in Maruti Suzuki. It was really the turning level,” he reminisced in 2007 when he was leaving the agency. “If we had given in, we’d not be the place we’re immediately. Salaries would have gone up and we’d have develop into inefficient. Our competitiveness available in the market would have been blunted.”
The strike impacted the corporate’s place available in the market as its share fell from a commanding 79 per cent in January 1999 to simply 51 per cent a 12 months later and a brand new low of 42 per cent in June 2000. Khattar nursed the corporate again to well being earlier than hitting again on the competitors with a flurry of launches that included Wagon R, Alto 800, the unique Baleno sedan and Altura station wagon as additionally a revamped M800, which was at the moment the very best promoting automotive within the nation. By June 2001, Maruti had clawed again to 60 per cent share.
Within the course of Khattar san earned himself the moniker of being the Lee Iacocca of motown in India. The fortress that Maruti is immediately has lots to do with Khattar san’s enterprise acumen. After his retirement from Maruti in 2008, he gave in to his entrepreneurial zeal to launch Carnation–an revolutionary multi model service community for vehicles. The thought was simple–he knew the inefficiencies of the normal automotive retail community and wished to disrupt it with extra inexpensive and high quality service for patrons.
Sadly, it didn’t take off and Khattar san spent the previous couple of years of his life keeping off lenders. However he had not given in and that razor sharp mind was nonetheless churning out new concepts. These eyes had been nonetheless stuffed with desires. A few of them would absolutely have taken off within the new enterprise capital funded economic system. If solely that coronary heart had cooperated a bit extra.
Wherever they’re, Maalik and Khattar san should nonetheless be having a tug of battle up there. Chanchal nibbling away together with his questions, ready for Khattar-san to let his guard down.
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Adieu to a warrior of phrases!!
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