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I had been forewarned that a strictly-vegetarian lunch would be on offer. But I was pleasantly surprised, as I waited for Sanjiv Bajaj in his recently-spruced up dinning room in Bajaj's headquarters in Akurdi, when the cook told me he had made egg curry as well. Akurdi, on the outskirts of Pune, has become legendary because this is where Rahul Bajaj (Sanjiv's father) started manufacturing those rickety Bajaj Auto scooters. Lined with trees and fountains swirling water, the factory is now being converted into an R&D centre; the old office building has been swankily re-done — the Bajajs steadfastly refuse to move out of where they first began, at Akurdi, writes Surajeet Das Gupta | |||
This was, of course, not the first time I was meeting Rahul Bajaj's youngest son Sanjiv but it was surely the first time I was having lunch with him after he assumed responsibility of the group's financial services business through the newly-floated Bajaj Finserv (that controls insurance and auto finance). As we warmed ourselves with some vegetable soup, the startling contrast between Sanjiv and his elder brother Rajiv, who is the managing director of Bajaj Auto, the group's flagship company is immediately visible.
Rajiv hates mobile phones and barely uses computers, copying his appointments copiously into a small diary. While eating, Sanjiv busily checks his mail on a Blackberry — he says he likes flexible work timings and never misses out on an opportunity to tell a bedtime story to his kids. Sanjiv, who was responsible for two-wheeler exports, is a globe-trotter. Rajiv prefers to get back to Pune on the same day if he can help it — he prefers spending more time on designing vehicles.
How have the 16 years since he passed out with a mechanical engineering degree been? Not many know this, but Sanjiv didn't start his career in the family firm. He got his first apprenticeship in a Tata Motors shopfloor, located a few kilometres away from the Bajaj home and factory. His first project was to design a new mechanism to deliver fuel to the fuel-piping system of a vehicle.
Sanjiv says it was his time in Warwick Engineering in the UK and then at Harvard that transformed his thinking. Dal and piping-hot rotis are served; I ask for some rice.
"In Warwick, we were taught 12 subjects between 9 am and 9 pm without any break and then were given a project that we had to complete in six weeks," he says. It was all about solving real problems, not just about theory.
The Harvard MBA program was different: In two years, Sanjiv ran through 700 case studies based on situations that global companies faced. What made it particularly tough was that he had to come up with solutions to three case studies every day, forcing him to take quick decisions. And there were 89 other students in class out to demolish his solution; it took everything to create an impression.
The coveted egg curry and the mixed vegetable are now on the table and I waste no time in serving myself two eggs. To my surprise, Sanjiv does the same — so he is not a total vegetarian! The egg curry is very different from what I am used to but it's tasty and I am hungry after a two-hour long drive from Mumbai.
Sanjiv recalls a major crisis Bajaj Auto faced in 2001-02 — scooters were just not selling, profits fell to a record low and something drastic needed to be done. "We realised the quality of our scooters was not up to the mark. We did not know how to make mobikes and our scooter engines were outdated. The family took its most drastic decision — it closed down the Aurangabad plant. The decision sent shock waves among employees. Nobody could have ever imagined we could shut down a plant" says Sanjiv.
The egg curry is over. Sanjiv asks for more as we switch to the present. I ask him about his experience selling two wheelers in the export market dominated by the Japanese and the Chinese. In Indonesia, the CEO of Honda politely told him that Bajaj would be destroyed and stood no chance against them. But Bajaj has now become a brand to reckon with. At the Colombia airport, where all bags are physically checked for any drugs, Sanjiv was surprised when a young officer saluted him and let him pass without going through mandatory routine. The reason: the bags he was carrying had a Bajaj logo and the young man swore by the Pulsar that has acquired a cult status among the youth in the country.
We are offered ice cream for dessert. I have some as does Sanjiv — till a knee injury put him out of business, Sanjiv, who now hits the gym regularly at 9 each morning, played basketball at the national level.
I try to steer the conversation to his father who built the business and is now fighting a bitter court battle with his brother Khushagra Bajaj over control of certain group companies. "It's really unfortunate this is happening," is all that he says about the issue, but laments that his brother and he see very little of their father as he has to be in Delhi for over four months because he is an MP.
"He gives us advice but lets us run the show. We might discuss alternatives with him, and he might suggest what he thinks is right, but the final decision is left to us" he says.
I move on to even more sensitive issues: was the formation of Bajaj Finserve and a holding company a way to split the business between the two brothers? Can financial services become as big as Bajaj Auto? Has he got a smaller share of the pie?
Sanjiv points out that the turnover of the financial service company, and its market capitalisation, is already more than that of Bajaj Auto, though profits are made by the flagship company. "In the next five years, both the companies will be equally profitable" he says.
He also makes it clear that the areas of responsibility are clearly demarcated for the brothers. While he looks after the financial services business, he is also responsible for the finances of Bajaj Auto as its executive director. But the small car project with Renault is completely Rajiv's baby and Sanjiv refuses to talk about it. He also says that only his elder brother can tell me which two wheeler will hit the market.
We've overshot the time allotted before the next meeting, Sanjiv's secretary calls to say. I ask him what he is currently reading and Sanjiv says he does not have the patience to read a lot. But, of course he's read Inside the mind of Toyota and The World is Flat.
He loves movies and goes multiplex- hopping to catch a Tom Cruise or Bachchan film. He also loves going on a holiday with his family to his favourite destinations like Goa and Boston.
As I say goodbye, another thing that strikes me about the two brothers is how they are so relaxed in their working styles. By 6 pm, Bajaj Auto's corporate office is virtually empty; you will never catch either Sanjiv or Rajiv burning the midnight oil.
Perhaps the philosophy that the two brothers imbibe is reflected in what Rajiv had once told me: "I don't think anything so important happens after office hours that cannot wait till tomorrow... If it does, we just stay in office".
