Table Of ContentANIL RAI GUPTA
HAVELLS
The Untold Story of Qimat Rai Gupta
PENGUIN BOOKS
CONTENTS
1. Introduction: Business with Conviction and Empathy
2. Get Me a Japanese Memsahib
3. Baby Steps in Business
4. The Trader from Bhagirath Palace
5. The Calcutta Connection
6. Buying Havells
7. Lesson from Kanpur
8. A Well-oiled Channel
9. Sibling Rivalry
10. Shah Bina Pat Nahi
11. Change of Guard
12. Rebooting Havells
13. Jallandhar King
14. Nothing but the Best
15. The Sylvania Files
16. CEO Has to Go
17. Tough Talk
18. Securing the Homeland
19. Brand Sutra
20. Fans Forever
21. Deal-making from the ICU
22. Epilogue: The Legend Lives On . . .
Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Follow Penguin
Copyright
To my mother, Vinod Gupta, who was the real force behind QRG’s success and
who emotionally moulded me
‘If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it—then I can achieve it.’
Muhammad Ali
ONE
Introduction: Business with Conviction and Empathy
S
ometime in November 2014, I moved into the corner office at QRG Towers—
a large office complex located near the expressway that runs from Noida to
Greater Noida. The office was big and could comfortably accommodate over ten
people. Until recently, the occupant of this room was my father, Qimat Rai
Gupta, chairman and managing director of Havells and chairman of Sylvania. He
was Bhaisahib to older employees and QRG to the rest of the world.
He had recently passed away after a brief illness. It was now my job to helm
the business he had built from scratch. We had operations across continents and
products across various categories, including electrical goods—consumer
durables, switchgear, cable and wires, and lighting and fixtures. Then there were
business associates, employees, vendors, dealers, bankers and investors to
manage.
As I sat on the swivel chair behind the heavy wooden desk and looked over
the busy highway to Greater Noida, memories of QRG’s extraordinary life and
sterling character flashed through my mind. I had very big shoes to fill.
He was not trained as an engineer but was a master in human engineering. He
had no MBA degree but he knew what it took for a business to succeed. He may
not have been a numerical wizard but he was one of the best wealth creators I
have known. He may not have understood the whims and fancies of the stock
market but he sure knew how to take care of shareholders.
Born into a household of modest means, QRG left his family with a net worth
of $2 billion. Yet, he always remained humble and grounded. He could have
afforded all the luxuries money can buy but chose to live simply. Our house was
comfortable, never ostentatious. His cars were never extravagant. It was almost
comfortable, never ostentatious. His cars were never extravagant. It was almost
as if he knew that fortune can be fickle. That is why he chose to stay away from
the limelight, and always focused on the job at hand.
QRG was not highly educated but his sharp and incisive intellect was second
to no one’s. He was not beholden to any guru and seldom found time for
management books, yet he understood the value of brands, carried out several
financial innovations and made stellar strategic acquisitions. He never took notes
at meetings but could rattle off all the details without missing a single fact.
Business, he often used to say, is done with conviction and not with a calculator.
He conducted business the old-fashioned way—with trust and empowerment.
He detested corruption and unfair trade practices. He was flexible in his
approach and was always open to new ideas. He had a childlike enthusiasm for
innovation. Not once did he let his ego get the better of his business instincts.
Perhaps QRG’s greatest skill was in man-management. There was some
innate wisdom that gave him great insights into human behaviour. He was fond
of films and soaps, and the morning after watching them, he would relate those
stories to management practices.
His enthusiasm and confidence were contagious. Once, Naresh Gupta, his
younger sister Sarla’s husband, came with an acquaintance who wanted to start a
business. QRG promised to help, only if Nareshji would also take the plunge.
The meeting had a profound effect on Nareshji—both he and his friend quit their
jobs and became business partners in no time!
To the world outside, he embodied every quality Dale Carnegie recommended
in his path-breaking 1936 book, How to Win Friends and Influence People. He
was lavish in his praise and slow to blame. Even if he did not like a person—and
his instincts were mostly correct—he wouldn’t be rude to him. ‘What do I gain
by being blunt with him?’ he would ask. ‘Criticism is futile.’
His empathy for the weak was evident. On his fiftieth wedding anniversary, he
got fifty poor couples married—without any pomp or show. Human values were
important for him. QRG would often tell our engineers to be ‘good human
engineers’.
Once, when he was a trader in old Delhi’s cramped Bhagirath Palace, QRG
had sent a worker to another trader on an errand. I don’t know what got into the
other trader’s head and he slapped the worker. QRG marched up to him and told
him sternly that in insulting his employee, he had insulted him, which was
unacceptable.
unacceptable.
On another occasion, Baba Ramdev had come to our home. His popularity
was at its peak those days, so all our acquaintances and the entire neighbourhood
had come for his darshan. QRG saw a chauffeur craning his neck from the
verandah to get a glimpse of the high-profile visitor. He asked him to come
forward and have his moment with Baba Ramdev.
There were times when QRG let somebody in need use his car while he was
happy to travel in an autorickshaw himself. All visitors to our household would
be received and seen off by him, whatever unearthly hour they chose to come
and go. Small courtesies, like asking people if they had partaken of a meal, never
escaped him.
At work, he took on a different persona. He would never hesitate to speak the
truth, even if it made someone uncomfortable. And he would do so in public. For
those who were new to the organization, this would come as a culture shock.
Many would come and complain to me. ‘He does the same to me,’ I would tell
them in all truthfulness.
What else would you expect from a man who would talk to his wife on the
speakerphone in the presence of half a dozen people? He was that open and
transparent. He expected the same from others.
Once people realized that he spoke plainly not to make them uncomfortable
but to get the work done and to help them improve themselves, they accepted
him as he was. That is why the attrition among employees who spend more than
a year in Havells has always been low and the senior team is extremely stable.
In spite of his perceived bluntness, QRG was a great motivator. He could get
ordinary people to deliver extraordinary results. His motto was: if a six-foot-tall
man comes to you, make sure he feels seven feet tall when he leaves. He
believed that people needed to be made aware of their latent strengths.
People would come out of meetings with him fully charged. He would stretch
their imagination and motivate them to give more than they felt they were
capable of—much like when Ram got Hanuman to deliver extraordinary results
in the Ramayana. He would empower them to take decisions, though he would
discuss the progress of the work with them frequently.
He would often address people as dost, or friend, when he wanted to
encourage them to do something. That simple word used to have a magical
