I arrived at Harvard Business School (HBS) straight out of the University of Michigan in the fall of 1962. I was in my early twenties. As I began to organize my belongings, a tall, dark Indian entered the room from our adjoining bathroom (the dorms were organized with four double-occupancy suites around a ‘head’, as bathrooms are referred to in nautical jargon). We chatted a few minutes, and my initial impression was what a friendly, articulate yet proud and commanding person it was that stood before me.
This was, of course, Rahul. We walked around our dormitory building, and soon our friendship was kindled by a funny incident. Somehow, it came out that I had played tournament ping-pong. Rahul suggested that as a poor Indian he had no time or money to indulge in trivial games, but that – since we had nothing better to do at the moment – he would play me for $10 if I would sport him 15 points (of the 21 needed to win a game). Naively I accepted, feeling secure that I could easily dispatch this poor fellow. Of course, he beat me badly. When I produced the $10, he revealed that he had been a ping-pong champion at his high school and that I was a stupid American! With this disarming prank, a friendship began, which continued for sixty years. I learned a business lesson that day, as valuable as any I received in the classroom.
Before long, his new room-mate came along, a wonderful Yale graduate by the name of Howie Whitmore. They shared fun-loving personalities and made for most enjoyable ‘headmates’. Howie called Rahul, ‘Hul’, which seemed fine with Rahul, but he could not capture Howie’s pronunciation of his own name and proceeded to refer to him as Harvey for the entire first semester.
Rahul and Rupa together
After Rahul’s dear wife, Rupa, followed him to Boston, they took a small apartment in Cambridge. When asked to join them for dinner, I of course accepted. It was a great opportunity to spend some time getting to know Rupa. She was just perfect. Intelligent, perceptive and insightful, yet firm and composed, she complemented Rahul, and whenever appropriate, her retorts, interjections and good humour served as a light-hearted foil to Rahul’s carrying on about whatever subject surfaced.
On one occasion, when we were in Istanbul together, my wife was purchasing a bracelet, and a long bargaining process ensued, with Rahul taking the lead from our side. As the deal was about to be struck, Rupa interjected from the back of the room, where she had been quietly observing us, that the price must go lower because the negotiation had stopped on a number which she said was most unlucky in her family. A lower price was soon agreed on.
Late that afternoon, we were purchasing a rug, but this time Rupa was unable to intervene as the conversation became heated between Rahul and the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper became so exasperated by Rahul’s speech on the superiority of Indian carpets over those made in Turkey (better dyes, more threads per inch, etc.) that he rolled up all his offerings, gave up completely and concluded that we were impossible to deal with. Rupa, my wife and I could barely contain our laughter. Rahul took satisfaction in the outcome and indicated that when we got to India we could find a superior rug at a sensible price. Lesson: A Turkish rug salesman was no match for Rahul.
A visit to Squam Lake in New Hampshire
Rahul was awarded the Alumni Achievement Award at HBS in 2005. This is given to the graduate who represents the best traditions and highest aspirations of the school. Few receive this honour, and so a large contingent of the Bajaj family made the
trip from India to attend the award ceremony. The speeches at that ceremony beautifully captured Rahul’s contributions to Bajaj Auto and the Indian business community.
Following the event, Rahul suggested we take his family to visit our New Hampshire home. Rahul and Rupa had previously visited, and they decided it would be worth the two-hour drive from Boston for other family members to see the New England countryside and hopefully take a brief ‘cruise’ on the lake.
We rented three or four cars, and our caravan headed north out of Boston, with Rahul and I in the lead vehicle. He and I were assigned the task of stopping to procure snacks. Upon arriving at the supermarket, I pointed Rahul towards the vegetable display, since many of the family members were vegetarian. He was aghast, gave me a tongue lashing and redirected our efforts towards cheese, donuts, bread, rolls, butter, potato chips and then, finally, all the cakes and related sweets we could lay our hands on. We moved on to our camp and Rahul triumphantly displayed our purchases and then described them in detail to anyone who would pay attention.
At that point the Bajaj ladies took over. They organized a lovely high-carb spread and took it down to our ‘barge’, a rustic swim float with a 10-horsepower engine. As we made our way to open water and the party got well underway, the wind picked up and I realized that we could soon find ourselves in a precarious situation and possibly be in serious trouble as the waves came over the side.
By that time Rahul had taken over the helm and captaincy. I intervened and struggled to get our ungainly craft to come around. Despite being overcrowded and old, the ‘barge’ eventually made it to land, where the party continued on our patio in the
lovely environs of the Squam Range and Red Hill. Later, the Bajaj women showed the versatility of their talents by cleaning up and insisting on returning all the serving dishes to their proper storage locations. We headed back to Boston and then on to our far-flung homes. Most of us carried back pleasant memories, but I remain haunted to this day by the thought of how terribly things might have gone wrong if the old barge had floundered 50 yards from shore.
Perhaps a few additional, very brief stories might be revealing and help illustrate the character and range of traits and capabilities that define who Rahul Bajaj really was. My dear room-mate and friend Mickey Alpert is preparing material on our several cruises with Rahul, his family and friends, so I will relate a few other experiences.
There is one cruise story that deserves brief mention. Dr Dilip Kittur was a close friend of Rahul’s and was involved in all our outings over the years. Educated in India and then at Johns Hopkins, he became a renowned transplant surgeon and then even
more well known for other, more complex surgeries.
Dilip and I decided to take Rahul to the ship’s doctor/trainer for an examination and then ask him to design an exercise routine for him. Our initiative failed completely as Rahul lectured the trainer regarding his physical prowess and what incompetent and
presumptuous fools Dilip and I were. Clad only in a bathrobe and slippers, he then proceeded to walk on a treadmill for three minutes to demonstrate his endurance. Eventually, the doctor/trainer declared Rahul was an unusual but, in some ways, remarkable physical specimen. Dilip and I were summarily dismissed, and the
doctor/trainer and Rahul became fast friends!
One Saturday during a visit by us to Paris, Rahul and I took a train out to Fontainebleau to the well-known French business school, INSEAD, to meet two Indian professors. They came prepared to lecture Rahul, aggressively and relentlessly, about his managing Bajaj Auto too conservatively, carrying too much cash, etc. Knowing the success the company had enjoyed over the years, I was quite taken aback. What was even more surprising was Rahul’s equanimity throughout the whole harangue. He only responded to say that he had his reasons and plans for the situation his company was in, and that time would tell if he was correct.
Rahul was perhaps more well known and famous in India than those of us in the West realized. One evening, we visited a night club in Pune where a party was held for a business friend who, that day, had received an important award. There were some twenty of us inside for the celebration, but outside in the front courtyard there were hundreds of what appeared to be young professionals enjoying a night out after work. As we were preparing to leave, Rahul indicated that we best go by a side door and that a car would be waiting there for us. Word had already spread that he was there and the young professionals swarmed our small group – one young man exclaimed to Rahul that this was a life-changing moment for him, and Rahul told him briefly that if he worked hard he would have a successful life. Eventually, the throng parted and a path was opened up so we could make our way through to the car. Many reached out and indicated their respect for him as we passed.
I must confess that I ate a delicacy at the party which Rahul said I should avoid at all costs but which our hostess insisted was absolutely safe. Rahul was right, and on the way to his house I yelled, with great urgency, to have the car stopped immediately. I ran behind some paving equipment in what looked like a dangerous location and returned possibly 10 pounds lighter. At that point, and seeing I was okay, Rahul erupted in laughter and told me I was foolish to disregard his warnings. The episode was complicated by the military jeeps in front and behind our vehicle containing troops with machine guns, including one soldier standing with an enormous gun on a swivel. This was during a troubled period between India and Pakistan, when threats were made to the lives of Rahul and four other leading Indian businessmen. One thing I came to observe about Rahul over time was that he was fearless.
Once, when Rahul visited Naples in Florida, we organized a dinner party in his honour. He charmed all the guests, putting everyone at ease as only he could. But when he realized we had located a chef who was in the kitchen attempting to prepare an Indian dinner, he decided that his culinary skills (ha! ha!) were indispensable and he stepped in to support her efforts. He lectured her and many of the others on the choice of spices, how they had to be properly blended together, on cooking techniques and in which order the dishes should be served. In the end, the meal actually turned out fine and everyone had a great time.
During another visit to our home in Florida, Rahul asked to see a copy of the letter my firm sent to clients annually. He read it on the way to the Miami airport and immediately called to ask if he could show it to a few people in India for the list of characteristics that we looked for in prospective investments. I think to some extent they reminded him of the principles he had developed with respect to Bajaj Auto. As such, they are worth listing here.
• A history of stable earnings growth under the present management
• A degree of insulation from competition
• Accounting transparency and integrity with respect to pensions, revenue recognition, restructuring charges, stock options and the like
• An uncomplicated business that is easily understood and unlikely to change substantially in the foreseeable future
• High inherent profitability, measured by returns on assets and equity
• Management that is honest in the fullest sense of the word and that views shareholders as partners
• A revenue stream generated by recurring purchases by present customers
• A transparent and conservative balance sheet, along with strong fixed charge coverage for the type of business in which it operates
• Generation of free cash flow based on high returns and limited capital spending requirements
• A management having most of their net worth in their company’s stock and intending to stay with the company and maintain ownership of its stock
A few concluding words
Mickey Alpert and I were extremely fortunate to be assigned rooms next to Rahul’s in our first year at HBS, and thus we enjoyed an extraordinary lifelong friendship with him. What a great man he was! He embodied a unique combination of caring love for family, friends and country. These pillars of his life were combined with his unique ability to muster his intellect and judgement to deal with issues and situations fearlessly and in an appropriate, clear and compelling manner. He approached the powerful and the lowly with the same disarming humour and honesty. He directly addressed whatever matter came along . . . from the needs of a friend to the overreach of a minister.
I am not current on the political landscape of India today, but my sense is that Rahul’s voice will be sorely missed in the years ahead. Few are able to speak truth to power with the moral authority that he embodied.
Thomas E. Beach, Managing Director, Beach Investment Counsel, Inc.
This excerpt from Hamara Rahul edited by Tarun Das and Kiran Pasricha has been published with permission from Juggernaut Books.