Tipu Sultan, the Ruler of Mysore. / The Hindu Photo Archives
A new mani mandapam will be constructed in memory of Tipu Sultan in Dindigul.
Though the father-son duo Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan, in whose memory the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa, has announced construction of a mani mandapam in Dindigul, were the rulers of Mysore, they had close links to Tamil Nadu, fighting and winning several battles across the State.
Their association with Tamil Nadu could be gauged from naming of Tipu Sultan after Hazrath Tipu Mastan Aulia, a renowned Sufi saint, whose tomb is in Arcot town, Vellore district. When Hyder Ali and Fakhr-un-Nisa did not have children for many years, the couple visited the tomb of Tipu Mastan Aulia frequently to pray for a child.
The Sufi saint assured that the Almighty would bless them with sons, provided they came forward to deliver the first born to God’s service. Though they agreed to do so, the couple did not keep their promise as Tipu Sultan turned a warrior at the age of 15.
Hyder Ali had even selected Raushan Begum, daughter of Imam Saheb Bakshi of Arcot, Vellore district, as the worthy bride of Tipu Sultan. Raushan Begum was one of the three wives of Tipu Sultan.
Of all the places where they fought battles against the British forces and camped in the state, it was in Dindigul where both Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan stayed for many years. The Mysore ruler posted Hyder Ali as the commandant of Dindigul, in recognition of the pivotal role that he played in many battles. The main task given to Hyder Ali at Dindigul was to put an end to the menace of the refractory elements and he accomplished the job effectively.
Thanks to the special initiatives taken by Hyder Ali, the volume of tax collection rose remarkably. He gave a portion of the collection towards the construction and renovation of temples and mosques and also allotted considerable share for starting factories with the help of French engineers in the town. Soon he won the hearts of the people in Dindigul and the entire society extended unstinted support to his endeavours.
The most famous historical landmark of Dindigul is the Rock Fort, which is located atop a hill. King Muthukrishna Naicker of Madurai constructed the Fort. In 1755, Hyder Ali, his wife and son Tipu Sultan came to Dindigul. Tipu Sultan ruled the fort from 1784 to 1790. The English defeated Tipu Sultan in the Mysore War of 1790, and annexed the Fort.
It was at a mosque in Dindigul, constructed by Hyder Ali, that the body of his younger sister Ameerunnisa Begum was buried. The Begumpur mosque was named after her.
Ammerunisa Begam’s dharga at Begampur in Dindigul, Tamilnadu. / Photo: G. Karthikeyan / The Hindu
Battle against the British
The battles that Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan fought included those at Arcot, Ambur, Cuddalore, Porto Novo (Parangipettai), Thanjavur, Erode, Dharapuram, Tiruppattur, Vaniyambadi, Sholingur, Vandavasi and Kanchipuram. In a majority of these battles, the English force could not match the speed of Tipu’s cavalry. In the battles that took place in Tiruppattur and Vaniyambadi, the father and his brave son fought side by side, which helped them capture both the Forts with much ease.
In some of the battles, Tipu Sultan used war rocket. This earned him universal fame as ‘innovator of the world’s first war rocket.’ It was his victories against the British forces that ranked Tipu Sultan among the few Indian rulers who have defeated the British.
One of the wars involving Tipu Sultan, which badly affected the local economy, was the battle held at Annagudi near Thanjavur in 1782. It took a few decades for the administrators to restore the devastated economy and that period was named as the ‘Era of Hyder Ali’ (Hyder Kaalam) in history. After Tipu Sultan was killed, the British shifted his family members to Vellore,where they were interred.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Friday Review> History & Culture / by Syed Muthahar Saqaf / June 13th, 2013
The grandson of southern acting legends Gemini Ganesan and Savitri will play math genius Srinivasa Ramanujan in a film being shot in Tamil and English.
Abhinay Vaddi, whose mother Vijaya is the daughter of Gemini Ganesan and Savitri, will star as the young mathematician in the film that traces his life from his native Kumbakonam, 400km from here, to Chennai and then to Cambridge before his premature death from pneumonia.
“It is an honour to portray an icon like Ramanujan. At the same time, there is considerable pressure that I must do it right. Then there is the added expectation because of my lineage,” said Abhinay, 29, a former international table tennis player.
The film is being directed by retired IAS officer Gnana Rajasekaran, who has two biopics — Bharati and Periyar — to his credit.
Abhinay said he had little to fall back on when it came to Ramanujan’s physical appearance as only three good photographs were available. “None of us knew how he walked or spoke, so I was coached by the director on how Iyengar Tamil was spoken in those times. Being a Telugu, mastering the dialect was difficult,” recalled Abhinay, who has one Telugu and one Tamil film to his credit.
The first schedule of the film at Kumbakonam is complete, and the story now shifts to Chennai. London-based theatre actor Kevin McGowan plays Professor Hardy, the man who discovered Ramanujan’s genius and relayed it to the world.
Sindhu Rajasekaran, one of the co-producers and Rajasekaran’s daughter, said the director believed in showcasing the lives of real-life heroes.
Abhinay Vaddi
“When Camphor Productions, promoted by my husband Sushant Desai, Srivatsan Nandathur and Sharanyan Nadathur, wanted to produce a good film, my father showed us the script of Ramanujan and we fell for it,” she disclosed.
Rajasekaran had assimilated information on Ramanujan’s life before finalising the script.
Abhinay familiarised himself with Ramanujan by reading The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan by Robert Kanigel.
Asked why the director picked him, Abhinay said Rajasekaran felt his piercing eyes resembled those of Ramanujan. “I learnt later that he had considered Madhavan and Prashanth before choosing me,” said Abhinay, who had to wear a special wig to portray Ramanujan the boy with a half-tonsured head and a tuft of hair — the traditional Iyengar look.In the past, Rajasekaran had ignored the claims of many Tamil actors and picked Marathi actor Shayaji Shinde to play Tamil poet Bharatiyar in his film In the past, Rajasekaran had ignored the claims of many Tamil actors and picked Marathi actor Shayaji Shinde to play Tamil poet Bharatiyar in his film Bharati.In the past, Rajasekaran had ignored the claims of many Tamil actors and picked Marathi actor Shayaji Shinde to play Tamil poet Bharatiyar in his film Bharati. Shinde captured the restless rebel in Bharati very evocatively in spite of his language handicap.
Rajasekaran has chosen to shoot the film on celluloid rather than on digital medium. Scheduled for a December release, the film also has acclaimed technicians on board — national award-winning editor B. Lenin, cinematographer Sunny Joseph and music composer Ramesh Vinayagam.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta / Front Page> Nation> Story / by G. C. Shekhar / Chennai – June 11th, 2013
As a 14-year-old during the anti-Hindi agitation, he walked alongside Periyar as E V Ramasamy was called, with a spring in his step and vigour in his heart. Breaking away from a traditional family of temple musicians, he made politics his domain.
His fledgling party formed as a breakaway faction from the original DK in 1949, soon went on to shape national politics in the post-emergency era. Today, 10 years short of his centenary, Muthuvel Karunanidhi is the oldest surviving active political leader of stature hi n the country with lakhs of party functionaries under his command for the past 44 years. Only his party general secretary K Anbazhagan is older than him. Karunanidhi enters his 90th year on Monday.
(Karunanidhi enters his…)
Facing a succession war, 2G scam charges and political isolation after the recent pullout from the UPA II regime, the DMK veteran is still a fighter strategizing at party conclaves. A five-time chief minister of Tamil Nadu taking over the reins of CM at a relatively young age of 44 years succeeding C N Annadurai, and 12- time MLA, Karunanidhi has been meeting party cadres and writing for them in the party organ almost every day.
Karunanidhi is the first Dravidian leader to set his sight on national politics, say analysts. “Till his mentor Anna’s period, the DMK had focussed on state politics. But Karunanidhi adopted a different strategy. He has been concentrating on national politics since 1971. He was planning to get more projects and funds for the state with the support of the Centre. Though, there was a strong anti-Congress mood in the party, he aligned with the Indira Gandhi-led Congress in the 1971 Lok Sabha elections,” Dravidian writer and historian ‘Sangoli’ K Thirunavukkarasu told TOI.
The DMK was the first party to pass a strong resolution against the Emergency. The Karunanidhi-led government was dissolved in 1976 following the Emergency. “He played a vital role in the formation of the National Front in 1988. He had organised a big event for the National Front and leaders like V P Singh, N T Rama Rao and others participated. DMK became a constituent of the Union government for the first time when V P Singh formed the government in 1989. The DMK has had a strong hold at the Centre for the past 15 years with its representatives a part of the Centre,” he said.
Commentators say that Karunanidhi never gave up his basic ideologies like justice and the interest of Tamil language. “Karunanidhi has been following his ideologies from the time of the Justice Party,” Thirunavukkarasu said.
Though Karunanidhi dropped out of schools unlike his colleagues in the party, R Nedunchezhian and EVK Sampath, he managed to succeed Anna. “Others acted like leaders. But, Karunanidhi acted as a party worker. When he was a treasurer of the party during the Anna years, he had travelled across the state and consolidated his support base,” party seniors recalled.
Karunanidhi not only attracted the cadres but also impressed his mentors Anna and Periyar. “The other leaders in the party only knew about me, but Karunanidhi was the only one who knew the real me,” Anna once said. In fact, it was Periyar who proposed Karunanidhi’s name for DMK’s top post.
Political observers say that Karunanidhi’s hard work is the key factor for his consistent success. “He is still reacting to all the important issues. He has been writing letters and statements on a daily basis. Once he had said he would feel bad if he was not writing anything on any given day,” writer and politician D Ravikumar said. The Karunanidhi government had initiated many schemes and projects for the marginalised people like beggars, transgenders and the disabled.
The big challenge for the patriarch is to regain power in the state and and his ‘World Tamil Leader’ title. “Pulling out from the UPA government after enjoying nine years of power at the Centre, DMK has no allies now except the VCK. With not in power in the state, the party has been facing a serious crisis,” said a senior leader.
But, they are confident that their leader can come back to power with his commitment. “We were not in power for 13 years during the MGR period. We got only two seats in the 1991 assembly elections in the wake of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. But we bounced back with Kalaignar’s efforts and strategies,” said another leader.
source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> India / by Karthick S, TNN / June 03rd, 2013
When freedom fighter Valliappan Olaganathan Chidambaram Pillai, popularly known as Kappalottia Tamizhan VOC, was yoked to an oil press like a bullock during the freedom struggle, he would not have imagined that a brilliant but poor scion of his family would be knocking on every possible door in Independent India seeking help to continue her higher studies after scoring good marks in Plus Two examinations.
The face of the frail-looking V.Muthu Bramma Nayagi, which should glow in pride in view of her performance in the Plus Two examinations — she scored 1,130 out of 1,200 and stood first in Ottapidaram taluk — has lost all the natural happiness as poverty had cast a shadow on her ambition to continue her studies. Ms.Nayagi is the granddaughter of VOC’s niece, her family members say.
“My father E.Venkatachalam is a labourer, who gets some money only when he is engaged for work by someone and my mother Arumugavalli is a housewife. So I cannot think of continuing my studies beyond Plus Two,” Ms.Nayagi says.
Since Ms.Nayagi, a student of TMB Mcavoy Rural Higher Secondary School at Ottapidaram, has scored 197 in mathematics, 193 in physics, 199 in chemistry and 173 in biology, she has an aggregate of 196.50 for engineering. Her teachers helped her get application for engineering and medicine courses. However, the girl does not know whether she can participate in engineering counselling and get admission to a college.
Whenever functions are organised at VOC Memorial at Ottapidaram to commemorate the birth or death anniversaries of the martyr, Ms.Arumugavalli is asked to clean the entire premises, sprinkle water and draw a ‘kolam’ in front of the monument. “Though the government officials offer some money for this work, I never accepted it as I am doing this with pride,” Ms.Arumugavalli says.
Though the family is reluctant to seek help from others, Ms.Nayagi’s desire to continue her studies has forced her to approach some philanthropists in this regard. The girl can be contacted through Ms. Arumugavalli at 96005 67640.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Tamil Nadu / by P. Sudhakar / Tirunelveli – May 30th, 2013
Mayor P Karthiyayini interacting with workers at the during her visit to the Amma Unavagam canteen in Kasba on Thursday | Express Photo
Women attached to a Self-Help Group cooked food on a trial basis at two centres identified for ‘Amma Unavagam’, on Thursday.
As many as 120 women belonging to 10 self-help groups would be involved at the 10 low budget canteens across the city. Mayor P Karthiyayini said the women had prior experience in running canteens and hotels on a small scale. They were taken to ‘Amma Unavagam’ canteens in Chennai and given training on how to behave with customers and serve the public.
The women were also trained in cooking in large quantities in Vellore last week, she said and added that the government had already specified the quantity of ingredients that needed to be used for preparing food for 300 to 500 persons.
On Thursday, officials attached to the Corporation visited the two canteens at Neduntheru in Kasba and Gandhi Nagar in Katpadi, where sambar and curd rice were cooked. The cost estimation for preparing food by 10 canteens for a year was arrived at Rs 2.70 crore and the revenue was estimated at Rs 1.31 crore. The deficit amount of Rs 1.39 crore would be met from the General Fund of the Vellore Corporation. A resolution in this connection was passed at the Corporation council meeting held on Thursday. Vessels for the canteens were also purchased at a cost of Rs 14.40 lakh. Karthiyayini said the dates for the inauguration of the canteens would be announced soon.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by Express News Service – Vellore / May 31st, 2013
The recent interest in mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan has just grown deeper, with many Hollywood studios interested in chronicling his life on the big screen. Many actors are keen to play the world-renowned mathematician, who was born in Erode and grew up in Kumbakonam and, what was then, Madras. TOI lists a few actors who are in race to play the genius…
WHO: Madhavan WHAT: Titled The Man Who Knew Infinity, the film was announced in late 2011. It was to be based on Robert Kanigel’s book of the same name and directed by Matt Brown. Oscarwinner Colin Firth was apparently approached to play Ramanujan’s mentor-friend Thomas Hardy. STATUS: Madhavan has now been replaced by Dev Patel
WHO: Siddharth WHAT: James Bond director Roger Spottiswoode announced that he will make A First Class Man, a The King’s Speech-like film, based on the friendship between Ramanujan and Hardy. The script had been completed in 2011 and shooting was supposed to begin in 2012. STATUS: On hold at the moment.
WHO: Dev Patel WHAT: The actor, who rose to fame with Slumdog Millionaire, is the latest to be approached to play the mathematical genius. The film is being produced by Prashita Chaudhary, who is one of the producers of Danis Tanovic’s film that stars Emraan Hashmi. Chaudhary will produce the film that’s based on the book The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life Of The Genius Ramanujan, with H’wood producer Edward R Pressman. STATUS: The shooting for the film is expected to start in September, and it’ll be shot in parts of India and London.
WHO: Abhinay WHAT: This young actor, who is the grandson of Kadhal Mannan Gemini Ganesan, is playing Ramanujan in a Tamil-English bilingual. The movie is being directed by National Award winning director Gnana Rajasekaran, who earlier worked on Bharathi, which chronicled the life of the famous poet Bharatiyar, and Periyar, which told the story of the social reformer. STATUS: Currently being shot in Kumbakonam, where the mathematician studied and grew up in. Suhasini Mani Ratnam has been roped in to play Ramanujan’s mom in this project.
source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Entertainment> Regional / by Srinivas Ramanujam & M Suganth, TNN / May 21st, 2013
The Hindu Super Mom 2013 is here. The contest, in its fifth edition too, celebrates motherhood. The contest is designed to find the city’s Super Mom based on intelligence, communication skills, personality, creativity, multitasking skills and presence of mind. The rounds are inspired by the day- to-day activities of a mother.
The contest is divided into three phases — prelims, semi finals and finals. The prelims will be conducted at Hotel Savera on May 12, and includes a written test and a group discussion to gauge the knowledge of the participants. Top 50 scorers qualify for the semi-finals, from whom the finalists will be chosen. It will be conducted on May 19 at Express Avenue atrium.
The last date of registration is May 11. A special workshop for expecting mothers too will be conducted by LifeCell, as part of the contest. Prizes worth Rs. 1 lakh await the winners and there are prizes for the participants too. Mothers of any age group can participate. Registration form can be downloaded at www.thehindu.com/supermom2013 and mailed to thehindusupermom2013@gmail.com. For details, call 99406-15300 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus> Events / May 09th, 2013
Most of the elected women representatives in local bodies are usually prevented from acting on their own by their male family members. Though the officials have issued warning against such practice, it still persists in many parts of Trichy and neighbouring districts. Nevertheless, some of the women break such barriers and act on their own. A group of elected women representatives from six districts of Dharmapuri, Tirupur, Madurai, Cuddalore, Erode and Pudukkottai converged at an event in Trichy on Thursday to share their successful stride in public life. Surprisingly, no woman representative from Trichy turned up for the meet. The women expressed satisfaction in serving the people on their own by not depending on their male family members.
T Pasupathi, the president of Pullaneri village panchayat in Madurai district told TOI, “The encouragement from my family was a key to contest in election and to succeed. But I never depend on my family members to execute my work as a president. I want the women to shine in their life equal to men. In my career as a president, I stopped four child marriages in our area. Further, my service for the welfare of the women would continue.”
The aim of Dhanuskodi Saivarasu, the president of Mangathevanpatti village panchayat in Pudukkottai district is to strive hard towards getting 50% reservation for women. She said, “After creating awareness, most of the elected women representatives are prevented by husbands, children and fathers. In my case, my husband is helpful and does not interfere in my work.”
The story of C Nagalakshmi is an example for many women how to strive hard in life without support from others. Nagalakshami, a deserted woman, having two children won the election for ward member in Uppiliyakudi village panchayat. She said, “Though my husband separated from me, I hope that I would succeed in my life. With support from our people, I won the election. Despite many hurdles from men, I still want to serve for the people.”
Even though some of the women are brave enough to struggle in public life, there are many cases in Trichy where the male family members of the elected local body women representatives take care of the official duties of the women. District collector Jayashree Muralidharan last year issued a circular to all local bodies warning against the practice. Nevertheless, it continues in Trichy, told an official of the panchayat department in Trichy.
It can be mentioned in the context that the Trichy district administration cancelled the cheque signing power of 13 village panchayat presidents under Section 203 of Tamil Nadu Panchayat Act 1994 on charges of alleged irregularities.
Surprisingly, most of the ‘punished’ presidents in Trichy are women. The officials say that the irregularities were done by their husbands or other members of their family.
source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai / by R. Gokul, TNN / April 19th, 2013
Scores of leaders of political parties and artistes paid their homage to media baron and sports administrator B. Sivanthi Adityan, who passed away on Friday. The body of 76-year-old owner of popular Tamil daily “Dina Thanthi,” was taken in a procession from his Poes Garden residence to the electric crematorium at Besant Nagar where it was consigned to flames.
Earlier, a steady stream of mourners paid their last respects to the Padmashri recipient who was also an industrialist, educationist, philanthropist besides being associated with Indian Olympic Association and various other sport bodies.
President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Governor K. Rosaiah and chief minister J. Jayalalithaa were among those who condoled the demise of Adityan.
DMK chief M Karunanidhi, Union ministers G.K. Vasan and Jayanthi Natarajan, MDMK chief Vaiko, DMDK Leader Vijayakant, CPI state secretary D. Pandian, CPI (M) state secretary G. Ramakrishnan, TNCC president B. Gnanadesikan and BJP president Pon Radhakrishnan were among those who paid floral tributes to Adityan at his residence.
Members of film fraternity including superstar Rajni, actor-politician R. Sarathkumar, Sivakumar, director Bharatirajaa and music director Illaiaraja also paid their last respects.
In his message to Malathi Adityan, wife of Sivanthi Adityan, Mukherjee said his contribution to society as a philanthropist and educationist would always be remembered.
Expressing profound grief, Manmohan Singh said the country had lost a true champion of the media, who believed that journalism was meant to serve the common man’s need for information.
Rosaiah said, “I am deeply shocked and grieved to hear about the demise of B. Sivanthi Adityan…his death is an irreparable loss to media and to sports in particular.”
In her message, Ms. Jayalalithaa said Adityan’s demise was a huge loss to journalism and sports. The Indian Newspaper Society too paid rich tributes to B. S. Adityan who was one of its past presidents.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / DC / April 2qst, 2013
Kal Raman , Chief Operating Officer of Groupon./ The Hindu
Hailing from small-town Tamil Nadu, Groupon COO Kal Raman has taken many a risk in his dream career — all ‘for the learning and not the money’.
I am mad at Kal Raman — he’s kept me waiting for 45 minutes. I threaten to leave, but don’t because he has a great story to tell — a textbook rags-to-riches tale. When he finally arrives, I mention punctuality, but he is sufficiently, and smartly, contrite. He isn’t feeling too well, and so on.
In two minutes, I can see why the man who couldn’t “even say ‘My name is Kalyan Raman in English without shivering’” when he joined Anna University’s electrical engineering course in 1984, has today become the Chief Operating Officer of American company Groupon, with an annual billing of $5.5 billion.
Raman is disarming, can talk his way through tough spots and, in his dream career, has taken huge risks — but more for learning, he says, than money.
EARLY YEARS
The son of a tahsildar from a village in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, a 15-year-old Raman, his mother and four siblings were literally thrown out on the streets after his father died of a heart attack. “From a nice house, three servants and a jeep, we were on the road.”
With a pension of Rs 420, and the Rs 100 she earned through reading palms, his mother raised the five children with a single goal — they’d have the best of education. “She became an expert at pawning; pay the interest for a piece of jewellery or kodam (utensil) by pawning another.”
After high school, he qualified for both a medical course in Tirunelveli and an engineering course at Anna University, Chennai. He opted for the latter; “I took the first risk of my life because I didn’t want my life to begin and end in Tirunelveli, so I chose Madras.” He didn’t even know about the existence of Anna University — “a friend’s dad applied and picked my courses. There was nobody to help or guide.”
One of the toppers in his batch, Raman cruised into Tata Consulting Engineers (TCE). We now have the famous story of how he landed at 4 a.m. at Dadar East in Bombay, slept on the platform, and left his bag with a vegetable vendor from Tirunelveli. Reporting to the office in chappals, he got ticked off by his boss, who soon turned sympathetic after hearing his story and gave him a month’s advance… and shoes!
AC, NOT COMPUTERS, IMPORTANT!
After nine months at TCE, when Tata Consulting Services wanted staff, he volunteered, “because the computer guys worked in AC rooms”. At TCE, he had done very well, and was offered a jump from Rs 2,350 to Rs 3,600, but he turned it down, quit, and applied to TCS. “Maybe I was naïve, crazy or audacious, but I enjoyed the power of computers and wanted it as a full-time job.”
He stayed at TCS for six months, his last stint in India. The highlight of it was his trip to Singapore as a “glorified courier” to deliver a software tape to IBM — but it crashed, robbing him of the opportunity to shop at Mustafa! After fixing the problem over two days, he whined to a senior about his bad luck. “He extended my trip, gave me an extra $1,000, and a car and driver. And I returned to India like a king, with a new suitcase, two gold chains for my mother and sister, shoes for my brother, TDK cassettes, Tiger Balm, etc.”
AUDACITY PAYS
TCS next sent him to work for a Scottish insurance company. It was launching five new policies, and Raman found the statistical fundamentals of one model flawed. When he pointed that out to his TCS boss in Bombay, he was asked to mind his business and stick to software writing! But when a director of the company, Chris Nicolty, stopped to chat with him, “I told him, ‘Please educate me, I am trying to understand how this will work.’ He listened and said ‘You might have a point’… but nothing more, and walked on.”
Two weeks later, the Scotsman came back to him and said, “Good job, I’m proud of you.” The project was stalled, Raman was given a bonus, and even offered a job at that company, hiking his salary from £500 to £2,500. “My life was made; in my mind I could see a house for my family, sister’s marriage, etc.”
But, interestingly, Nicolty advised him not to take the job because his biggest strength was the ability to take risks. In the UK he would soon hit a glass ceiling, so he should go to the US. “He said ‘don’t make your strength your weakness’.”
US CALLING
It was 1992. Fighting the urge to grab the opportunity, with his Scottish friend’s help, Raman soon had an offer for a contracting job with Walmart at an annual salary of $34,000. “But by the time they processed my visa, within a month the offer had gone up to $60,000,” he says.
By then he was married; he met his wife at TCS. “So with a Prestige cooker, two suitcases, and $100, we landed in Atlanta.” He joined as a Cobol programmer.
Raman’s dream run continued, with a helping hand from his ability to take risks. Walmart was making some of its contractors permanent employees, but the catch was reduced income — from $60,000 to $34,000. “Many others refused, but I took the job. By now my wife was also working, and we were comfortably sending $1,000 home every month,” he says.
FAIRYTALE RUN
Unbelievably, Raman says he got 18 promotions within just 18 months, and his salary jumped from $34,000 to $96,000.
Fascinated, I ask Raman how much more time he has for the interview. “I came late, so I don’t get to decide on the time; you do,” he says.
So, is he really good, or is it his gift of the gab that got him so far, I ask cheekily. Or does the US really recognise and reward talent? “I happened to be lucky; just like Forrest Gump, I was at the right place at the right time. God was disproportionately unkind to me when I was young, and disproportionately kind to me later.” He believes the US is “the most meritocracy country in the world… there is no question about it. You can take shots at America for so many things, but for honesty, work ethics and meritocracy, there is no country like it.”
So, was Nicolty right about the UK? “I think so… experience, tenure, that s**t works there. But in the US, I became a director so soon. At 24, I was negotiating $100 million deals with AT&T, without knowing the zeroes in one million.”
By 1993, he had shifted to retail, and when Walmart bought Pace Club the day before Thanksgiving, his challenge was to “integrate everything by Christmas — only six weeks. At this time, about 90 per cent of the people are on vacation. I wrote a bunch of codes and the system went live the day after Christmas.”
This is the day of heaviest returns, but everything worked without glitches. “So my boss introduced me to Rob Walton (the Chairman), saying, ‘he is the guy who did it’.”
Next, he moved to Walmart’s international division; “I moved away from technology to marketing and sales, and in the six years I spent in Walmart, I played every single role you can in retail business.” That laid the seed for his present role in Groupon.
So why did he leave?
“Because my boss, Doyle Graham, a father figure to me, died at 45 — just like my father. After he died, I lost the spark.” He next went to Blockbuster (a home movie rental provider) as a senior director running international technology for 26 countries. Here, too, he found the business model was flawed, and wrote a white paper detailing why it would go bust. But the Chief Executive Officer didn’t care for his views. So he left for Drugstore.com. “It was 1998 and the Internet was becoming big.” He joined as Chief Information Officer, became COO, and then CEO — all within two years.
Then the dotcom bust happened; everybody wrote the company off, but “I said the company would be profitable in two years. We got there a quarter earlier… and then I got bored.”
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was on the board of Drugstore; “and I made another weird call. I became CEO when I was 31, and when I left I was 34, I said I’ve got promotions too fast in my career, so for the next two years I won’t be CEO and will undo all the bad habits I’ve learnt.” Bezos “invited me to solve a complicated technology problem at Amazon. I said I’ll work for a couple of years, but I want to start my own company in education.”
“I DON’T WORK FOR MONEY”
In 2007, he started Global Scholar to “help teachers give differentiated education to kids using technology. It was a fantastic experience. I raised $50 million in the toughest economy since the Depression. In 30 months, I gave four times returns to my investors and then sold the company in 2010-11.” On why he did so, he quips, “The moment you start a company, it is for sale… at the right price. You can’t have emotions…”
Also, by then he must have made enough money, I prompt. “I don’t work for money; every penny I make in Groupon, I’ve pledged to charities…”
To my sceptical look and arched eyebrows he responds: “I don’t need money; I work hard because I want to work hard. Why do I need money? My daughter (studying computer science at Carnegie Mellon) says she won’t take a penny from me. My son, too, is the same, and my wife is cool with it. I still take care of my siblings… I play cricket, watch Tamil movies, read books, that’s it.”
No fancy yachts? “I can’t even swim. I have the same car, a Lexus, since 2001.”
Groupon’s Chief Financial Officer, Jason Child, a colleague in Amazon, got him on the board of the company, which has 14,000 people and 500 offices in 46 countries.
But isn’t Groupon doing badly?
“It is under pressure, true, but not doing badly. That is a distorted reality. I like it this way, though. I want everybody to think we are doing badly, so that all of a sudden you guys will call me a magician. We’re not going to do anything different, but will look like winners.”
On the speculation that he might be named Groupon CEO, he says, “Why should anybody care? Let’s get the stuff going in the right direction.”
During his last visit to India, Raman adopted 24,000 physically challenged kids in a village in Tenkasi — he’ll help with their education, healthcare, vocational training, and employment. “My goal is to give them both dignity and hope… and the ultimate goal is to create one million jobs in Tirunelveli district.” And to own an IPL team!
On India’s future, he says nobody can stop the country from becoming a superpower — “We will work hard to mess it up, but India will prevail because of our intellectual talent and the average age of Indians.”
source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Home> Features> Weekend Life / by Rasheeda Bhagat rasheeda.bhagat@thehindu.co.in / 2013
