PART 2: THE RENAISSANCE -----> Chapter 7

On Monday, we got the cost figures we had anxiously been waiting for. On analyzing them, we discovered that we could operate at much lower costs than what we were presently incurring. It implied that we could sell at lower prices and still get higher margins than in the recent past. Our efforts were beginning to pay off.

We had now found an immediate solution to the problem. The fire-fighting was over. I decided it was time to address the basic issues faced by a business. In order to run a business successfully, we must essentially focus on four aspects—the product, the people, the marketing effort and finance.

As far as the product was concerned, it was being created as per the specifications of our client. Radha had found the design to be quite simple and satisfactory. It wasn’t a highly sophisticated product. It wasn’t something which had to be highly differentiated from that of products of competitors.

The people aspect was the most difficult one to consider. What happens in most organizations is that workers watch managers wearing ties and shoes walking in and out of air-conditioned offices, while they sweat themselves out in factories. Some of them find it demoralizing to see owners driving to their workplaces in fancy cars, rather than feeling grateful for being employed by them. They then develop a negative attitude towards work.

We had to train such workers and show them how they fit into the scheme of things. We had to acknowledge their hard work and address their diverse personal needs. We had to develop relationships with each worker. Their loyalty could be secured by undertaking initiatives that do not involve direct money payment to them, like supplying furniture and electronic items to their homes during the festive season.

We also had to constantly articulate our values to them. We could always remind them of the importance of setting and achieving goals, being ambitious and adhering to ethics. This would help create a suitable organization culture. We would help to improve their productivity and continuously find better ways of getting things done to keep control on costs.

Thirdly, we had to go for an aggressive marketing campaign. With our economy booming, infrastructural development was taking place at a quick pace. The result was a sudden increase in the demand for industrial products like machines. So a huge market potential lay untapped for us. With lower costs, we could reduce prices. With that, we literally had to just meet customers, give our quotations to them and receive orders from them. I foresaw many bulk orders for the firm.

Fourthly, our financial position was in bad shape, to say the least. The short-term loan did solve some very short-term liquidity problems. But if we had our way, things would soon improve.

Lok uncle accepted my ideas. So, we planned to focus on marketing and on our people, which would solve our financial problems. We made new price lists. There was the possibility of a sudden rise in the prices of raw materials. But we decided to take a chance. We had to generate orders to repay our loan. We made up our mind to launch the Training Programme for the workers after dispatching Capt. Ironman’s goods.

I told Radha about the favorable cost figures. I owed her a big treat.

We met at the usual spot in the evening.

“Madam,” I teased her, “I owe you a big treat. Tell me, where do you want me to take you?”

“A treat? For me?” she asked. “Hmm…” she began to think, stroking her chin in a playful manner. “Aha!” she exclaimed, snapping her fingers. “Come with me to a place and we’ll celebrate there.”

This time, she had come in an autorickshaw like me. Had she come on her scooter, I could have taken her for a ride. I rued the lost chance.

As the autorickshaw negotiated the traffic, I caught her staring at me. Since I was coming to meet her, I had just had a clean shave. I had to get rid of those five o’clock shadows. So she might have observed that I still remained well-shaven despite the fact it was evening.

“Mach 3,” I told her.

“Huh? Ma what?” she asked, somewhat startled.

“Mach 3,” I repeated. “That’s the brand I use to shave.”

“No! Not that,” she said, gesturing with her hands. “I just noticed you’ve got grey hair.”

I felt abashed.

“Anyway, don’t pluck it. Otherwise it’ll spread to neighboring areas,” she advised me.

“Actually, it’s not a case of premature graying,” I said, trying to hide my embarrassment. “I dyed it grey so that I look more mature in front of our workers.”

“Oh! If that’s the case, you can paint all your hair white. It’ll also suit the shape of your face,” she joked loudly. Radha could be mean at times. I consoled myself. Besides, what’s the relation between the shape of a man’s face and his hair color?

On reaching the destination, I realized it was an orphanage. We got off the auto rickshaw and Radha told the driver to wait until we got back. We then began to walk towards the office of the institution. “There’s an incident which led to my association with this orphanage,” Radha said, and began to narrate it.

“About five years ago, my sister’s engagement ceremony was being held at our home. My uncles had different ideas on decorating the place in a showy manner. A verbal spat ensued between the two of them, and the dispute was finally settled by deciding to do away with the showy decoration itself. My parents then donated a sum of money, covering the cost of the glossy decoration, to this orphanage. We’ve been coming here regularly, ever since.”

We could hear the children play. “There are fifteen children here,” Radha said, as we reached the office. Upon seeing us, a man bade us in. He seemed to be the manager of the orphanage.

“Radha, how are you?” he enquired with a smile.

“Fine. Thank you,” Radha replied. “How are things here?”

“Things are going fine. The children’s needs are being met. Their studies are also going well. The miracle is that whenever we are in need of money, somebody always comes forward to help us. Indeed, God is great!

“We’ve just started a library for them. They are now reading books written by our freedom-fighters. It will also make them realize that freedom comes at the price of sacrifice.”

“That’s great! These days, even children staying with their parents don’t read such books,” Radha said. “Well, this is my friend Abhinav. We’ve come to make a contribution.” The manager nodded his approval.

I looked around the place while the manager took out the Receipt Book. The building looked old, but the surroundings were clean. Pictures of Hindu Gods adorned the walls of the room.

“May I see them?” Radha asked after we had made our contributions.

“Sure. Go ahead,” the manager said, handing out the receipts.

The noises of the children grew louder and louder as we walked through the corridor, then the verandah and out onto the playground. A few children were playing football and some others were seated on the steps nearby.

On seeing Radha, they rushed towards her in jubilation. The joy on their faces knew no bounds. All of them looked less than fifteen years of age. We hadn’t brought any sweets for them. I didn’t know that we were coming here in the first place. Thinking about it, I realized that these children didn’t need sweets. They needed love. They needed…a future.

There was so much noise I couldn’t make out what they were saying to Radha. She and I sat down on the steps, and all of them surrounded us. She hushed them up with a smile. I didn’t check my wrist watch, but I knew that time flew by.

Radha spoke to each of them, one by one. Some of them spoke about their academic performances, while others spoke about their performances in sports. They spoke about the books they read recently from the library. Radha congratulated them and then encouraged each one of them to do even better. At that point, I realized what Radha was to them. She was their Chechi .

The emotion I experienced there was unprecedented. I felt as if peace and pain had met each other in my heart. But it created something more in me: an awareness of a greater sense of responsibility. The events in my life were beginning to unfold like pieces of a jig-saw puzzle coming together to create a clear picture. My decision to quit my job and come back to Kerala, Lok uncle accepting my offer to help him and my visit to this place all seemed to be a series of coincidences to me.

“This is Abhi Anna,” Radha introduced me to them. I got to know each one of them.

It was beginning to grow dark when we decided to leave. On the way back to the auto rickshaw, Radha asked me, “Abhinav, when I spoke to you about active patriotism, there was this question I said I would ask again. Do you remember it?”

I thought for a second. ‘Will you die for your country?’ That was probably it. “Ask me,” I said to her.

“Will you die for your country?”

“No. I won’t die for my country,” I said. Radha listened to me attentively. “I will live for my country. My country needs me,” I said.

We stopped walking and looked into each other’s eyes for a few seconds. Then I looked around. I could feel some kind of energy flow through my entire body. I felt charged up. “I’ve been made for India!” I declared. “I’ve been created to serve my country!”

Radha looked at me and said, “Welcome to the show!”

We then walked up to her auto rickshaw, got in and sped off.

***