Chairman and a Gentleman

Over twelve years ago, while handling the business of Haryana for Asian Paints, one fine day I received a call stating our chairman Mr. Ashwin Choksi wanted to visit Haryana and I need to prepare and share a travel plan for his visit.

I had the privilege of travelling extensively across North Karnataka with our then President Mr. PM Murthy, in my first stint itself. This was however the chairman and one of the promoters of the company, himself.

Morning of the day I went along with my manager, to Maurya Sheraton in Delhi to pick him up. There he was, very simply dressed with a jute bag in his hand. He was carrying some medicines, water, a towel and a newspaper in it.

For next two days, three of us were on the road, travelling across Haryana. While travelling, I got a chance to engage in various discussions with Ashwin Bhai and got to listen to his views on different aspects of business and life.

That was my first and in fact only long interaction with Ashwin Bhai, out of which I came a lot more enlightened. I still remember verbatim, the wisdom that got shared. It was one of those instances where my respect for him and the organisation increased tremendously.

At one point, Ashwin Bhai mentioned Mr. Dhingra (promoter of Berger Paints) asking him, “How can you say NO to business?” He went on to say, "God has been kind, for us to be in a place where we do business with our ethics and value system, else refuse. We are fortunate to have this privilege and we should follow our value system and be ethical in all transactions with all humility."

In another discussion he happened to mention, "You know, I have my own views on profitability of certain products, however I never impose my views, as we have highly competent and professional leaders, looking at all aspects of business and taking decisions in the interest of the company. I respect their decisions."

He shared his fear with us, saying, "We are like HUL for our industry, in fact consistently with over 50% market share, we may be stronger. My fear is, it shouldn't bring any arrogance in our managers. I always advise all our managers to be as humble as possible".

During our market visit, one of our dealers who had been closely working with the company for decades and helped the company grow in his city, mentioned about interactions with the company changing over time. Ashwin Bhai shared his own experience with his son and made him understand, at different stages of life their interactions have been quite different, while the love and affection always remained the same. It is similar in any relationship he said, indicating to the dealer’s relationship with the organisation.

I am proud to have worked under such a leader. As I saw the industry closely in India and abroad, my respect for him kept increasing.

It was sad to read the news of his demise last week. We lost a great soul and the kind of leader we need more of.

While reading about him, I came across a Wikipedia page dedicated to him and became aware of his being in the list of 100 richest Indians with a personal wealth of over a billion USD. Facts people working with him, never really registered. All they knew was his humbleness and gentle nature. A value he lived and instilled in his organisation, building Asian Paints into an institution it is.