Etched in Cement - The Ambuja Story

You read a book, you forget most of it by the turn of an year. But this book strikes me as an outlier. A year passes by, but I still remember the twists and turns of a cement tycoon and also his enmity towards his nemesis. I will come back to that later. Here is how it unfolds.

As I was reading one of the articles by mint, a mention of an autobiography "The Ambuja Story" caught my eye. The Ambuja cements shot up to fame after Adani group gobbled it up. Out of curiosity I immediately purchased it and started reading it in my Kindle. My impusive book buys follows a well predictable cycle you buy a book flip through few pages; leave it in cold; come back again and read few more pages and leave it in cold again and the cycle continues. Unlike the usual grind I read the entire book under a week's time. It was a transformative experience to say the least.

Narotam seksaria, has he not written his autobiography the name would have passed past us as yet another foreign name. I don't remember the exact flow of the book. My mental model of the timeline is apt suited for this write-up. Narotam was a fine young marwari boy who grew up in opulence and a sort of child prodigy. His mention of him getting into a college at very young age and acing it paints a subtle picture of his intelligence. Like every other marwari descendent he picks up his dad's business and he excels at it. So far so good. The story takes a wild turn when Narotam wants to get into cement business as someone talks him into it. That changes everything.

A child prodigy to an astute marwari businessman to a gritty individual who fought all odds and excels in cement business without having any background at it at all. There are many things that would open everyone's eyes. I will touch upon the few that made me to think and connect. Him willing to start the factory in UP and ended up in Gujarat. There is no need for explanation. It also proves a point how Gujarat is investor friendly. I want to quickly digress here.

The case in point here is that Narotam met a banker named Pai and he changed his course for good. The whole book is sprinkled with networks and connections to important individuals that sling shots Narotam into opportunistic territories. For an average individual this is not impossible, but an arduous risky task that one in a million succeed in India.

Here is one of the eureka moments. Even though I like responsible capitalism, I did drift towards the socialistic inclusion principle. This made me think that mandatory reservation is a necessary tool to make a level paying field for the unprivileged. Without which only people with connections get ahead. What if a hard working individual with no respectable surname wants to succeed. Will she/he get the capital? Will she/he be pushed out because she/he does not belong to a social group? Or she/he gets sidelined because of the stereotypes that sidelines certain sectoral social groups? Fortunately our country has a constitution that does have checks and measures to protect the less privileged.

That said Narotam's grit and perseverance and his socialistic inclination blew my mind. The way he took his company to an IPO. How he resolved land acquisition issues. His commitment to the environment. His commitment to the employees and all the stakeholders; all spell his foundation characters of integrity, grit, honesty and social inclusion. I would like to point here is that my rant about social inclusion in the previous paragraph is about the system and not about Narotam. He is an exemplary rare businessman with a socialistic attitude.

As I promised upfront, here is the spice. But every successful businessman has a rivalry to speak off. Narotam and India Cements Srinivasan were at odds in several occasions. His rather sarcastic friendly remarks about Srinivasan lays it bare. But here is the twist. At the time of writing this, both sold their factories.

Narotam was opportunistic and sold it out when he was flying high. We should rightly attribute his Marwari roots here. On the other hand Srinivasan's destiny could be attributed to his love for cricket and trying to hit a century at one's fag end of their career. Nevertheless it is an wonderful book to read. Narotam proved his mettle with a book that would speak to generations to come. A true legend. A story to be read and relished.

Narotam. A true Indian Business Icon.

PS: I just wrote the entire stuff in one go. Yes I did use the backspace. But that is about it. No proof reading and blah, blah... If you disagree with me that is your choice. I respect it. I will not change my stand. So feel free to comment. But please don't expect any replies from me.