The Clerk Who Could

From selling mangoes door to door to becoming the owner of a Rs 50 crore microsystem company, Shivaji Adhalrao, 47, has come a long way.

Dynalog India Limited, his company, supplies microsystems and industrial computers to the Defence Research and Development Organisation, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and the Indian Space Research Organisation, besides companies like Tata Steel, Reliance and Bajaj Auto. Though he has no formal education, Adhalrao is proud of the fact that he is abreast of the latest developments in the electronic world.

I was born in a village in Pune district, Maharashtra. My father, a farmer, had a couple of acres of ancestral land on which vegetables were grown. With four brothers and one sister, making ends meet was difficult.

So my father would come to Mumbai in summers, purchase Alphonso mangoes from the wholesale market and sell in the far-flung suburbs of Mumbai. We would come with him during our two-month school break and sell mangoes door to door.

Things got extremely difficult financially after my ninth standard. My father decided that it would be better for me to look for work in Mumbai.

So I shifted to Mumbai in 1973, on the condition that I would study in a night school. I stayed in a small hutment and did odd jobs like becoming a doorkeeper at a cinema hall and delivering newspapers.

After a year of struggle, my elder brother helped me get work as a peon in Zenith Electronics (now Zenith Computers).

After four years I was earning Rs 250 per month. The team was small, so I learnt a lot and played multiple roles. One minute I was dictating a letter to a stenographer regarding a tender, the next minute I was cleaning tables and serving tea.

Despite contributions to marketing, purchase and other functions, my designation did not change. So I decided to quit. During my time at Zenith, I had completed my education till the 11th by enrolling in a night school.

Studying further was not possibile, so I took short courses like typing and English-speaking, thinking it would help me become a clerk.

I applied to the Maharashtra State Electricity Board, Canara Bank and Indian Railways for clerical posts.

While awaiting the results, I saw an ad by a similar electronic component trading company, Mayan Industrial Corporation, which needed executives. I gave it a shot.

I was called for the interview and was asked lots of technical questions, which I could answer only because of the knowledge I had gained at Zenith. I was offered the job immediately with a salary of Rs 1,250 a month even though I pointed out that I had applied for the post of a clerk.

Soon I realised the business was running on my contacts. People were giving me credit and goods because they knew me. I realised I could be my own boss.

When I told my superior I was going to quit, he offered to double my salary and even make me a partner, but I had made up my mind. Then I got offers from all the three places I had applied to