Friends we make

Way back in the mid- 2000s, bitten by a sense of youthful adventure, I had left the consumer durables space & taken a three-year detour into the financial services industry . My region was defined as greater Maharashtra?based out of Pune and I had just finished revamping my organization by churning and restructuring?a large team of ineffective sales managers - guys who had the attitude of idle pensioners without any drive that's so badly needed in that intensely competitive industry.

Whenever you lead a change acceleration process, your business undergoes spikes till it settles down. The initial few months were turbulent as I handpicked my new team – my kinda boys and girls, the “do-ers” , rather than the “sitters” and “cribbers” ( Among my new team of youngsters,?I had also actually hired a tough Agra girl who would come to office on a motorbike , and who was a bigger badass than any man around. Incidentally a few years later, she migrated to the UK and did extremely well for herself . She then came back & has made a huge dent in the universe with her NGO that provides end-to-end residential education for underprivileged kids, someone who was featured on my podcast recently – Meenakshi Singh - I hope you are reading this).

Back to 2005 - In a couple of months, we started sensing an excellent camaraderie in the office , and I could see a see a strong kinship growing between my team members. The office was getting noisier ( a good sign), people were sitting late without grumbling and business was picking up slowly in one of the most difficult markets of India (any city overflowing with well-read skeptics and intellectuals is tough for the financial services industry).

But I was getting restless. It was time for new trophies and for taking the business to the next level, now that the consolidation phase was over . The problem was, in a city like Pune and for a market like Maharashtra (where your major clients are mostly salaried people and not millionaires owning big businesses ), the average ticket size of our business was stuck at a ceiling. I was unable to figure out how to break that ceiling. My boys and girls were doing their best. But I needed a game changer – someone who could THINK three times as big as the others.

One July afternoon, I was sitting in my cabin when Meghna (our front office executive,, a girl I had hired out of college , and who later went off to settle down in China and do very well for herself) called me and informed that a gentleman was there to see me. A very sharply dressed Sikh guy walked in. He spoke well with confidence, polish & impeccable manners?. I took a liking to him instantly. He said that he used to work for a Japanese network marketing company and had been very successful there till the company wound up their global business. He asked me if I could hire him, and added that if I would, he could bring in his whole team with him. Something about this guy appealed to me – maybe his confidence, or maybe his smile. I hired him. His name was Bhupinder Singh ( Bhupi - Hope you are reading this !)

The next day, Bhupinder came to see me with another Sikh gentleman named Narender Singh Bakshi – a tall, strapping Sardarji with a warm smile. Narender used to be Bhupinder’s team mate in their erstwhile venture.

I asked Narender what he aspired to accomplish in the insurance business. Without batting an eyelid, Narender replied – “ I shall crack MDRT in the first year" ( ‘MDRT’ means a member of the prestigious ‘Million Dollar Round Table”, a club of high performers in the Insurance industry from all over the world). I was amused at his confidence, considering the fact that he knew nothing about the insurance business as yet . But we took him on board.

The next day was the month closing. As we were about to close the business for the day, Bhupinder and Narender walked in with a cheque for the highest premium that the branch had ever collected, and they had also brought their client along with them in their car to the office to sign the documents, as both my Sardar pals were not yet trained enough to know what they have actually sold (Imagine !) .

But such was their customer control. Especially Narender’s.

In a few months, Narender had zoomed to become the best performer of the office. As he went on gaining confidence, his quality of business improved. I always remember how customer-focused he was. For him, the benefit of the customer always came first. No wonder his clients loved him.

The next year, I left the organization, and also the industry . I moved base and went back to my core industry. But Narender stayed in touch. Rarely do I recall any morning when I would not receive some inspirational SMS from my Pune friend that would unfailingly leave me with a smile & motivate me enough to face my new tough days in my new life.

Every year, during the last week of December, I receive this message from Narender –

“Season's Greetings to my Insurance Guru!!!. Picked up MFYP Rs "xxxxxxxxxx" today and again cleared the MDRT . Thank you .”

While I am younger to Narender in terms of age, my heart swells like a parent when I read this.

As working class people, we go through a life that comprises of a series of scattered experiences and episodes in our journey. There are junctures where we meet some people and they stay on board our lives even after we part. They live on along with us in a corner of our hearts as we all grow older and reach our finale. This is where the boundaries of professional and personal ties get blurred, and when our work mates become our friends for life.

Congratulations Narender Paaji. I continue to feel proud of you for all that you accomplish – whether when you are opening charitable hospitals, leading flood-relief campaigns or simply delivering your speeches at international forums and inspiring hundreds of people from all over the world with your words , or when you post an update that your daughter has won a scholarship ( that little girl is now a married lady ? Gosh !!) & Harshpreet B. , the smiling young boy is today an award-winning scholar, making waves in Houston. You are a true star and deservedly so. You are awesome. God bless you !

Likewise, all team members of mine who are in my LinkedIn list, especially Shibi Panicker , someone who was the backbone of the team, and then - Veena & Unmesh - One weekend, I shall do a post on you guys too ! . I fondly remember each of your exploits and am proud to have known you and worked with you during that thankful indiscretion of my career that taught me so much about human beings and gave me so many friends for life.?

( PS - The third guy in the cover pic is Saurabh Haldule, my then office administrator who had walked in for an interview sporting a goatee and who made me dislike him instantly. It took me a week to reverse my opinion about him as I saw him work. He used to actually happily sit in office all night when needed , without complaining even once. This pic was taken during one of my visits to Pune in 2016 when my team literally ' kidnapped' me after work and took me out for a treat ! )

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( Pic below - With B N P SINGH PHULL Paaji in 2025. 20 years on, our bond keeps getting stronger).