Beacons of Business - 6

May 11, 2005

"I don't own a car. I have a company car with a driver; I can use it wherever I

want to go. Normally Saturdays and Sundays are the driver's day off. Other

company officers use their driver even then. But in our house there is always

concern for people - that driver also has a family. My son once asked, "Why do

you disturb him on a holiday and call him up to serve you? Just because you

want him to drive all of us somewhere, why would you spoil his family life? If

you're a principled man then don't drive the company car; take a 3-wheeler. The

three of us can sit in it, give the fellow 15 rupees, no parking, no headache,

nothing. He'll drop us where we want. Take another 3-wheeler, come back home."

This is the concern for people that I also try to have.

Now there are many times when we will bump into a friend or an employee who will

see us getting out of the 3-wheeler. Back comes the question, "Sir, you are

Executive Director, why are you not in your car? Why are you coming in this

manner?" I respond, "When I retire, I will have to go by public transport. Why

not take it now?"

That driver of mine is such a loyal person. Without asking he will come to serve

me, because he knows that sometimes it is very, very necessary that I have to go

for an official program or something on a holiday or weekend, and then I

definitely call him. But I take care that he is comfortable. Sometimes you know

we go for dinners and the drivers are left high and dry. Before I get into the

car at my house I give him a 50 rupee note saying, "Look I am going inside and

having a 5-star lunch; you will be sitting and sleeping in the car. Take this

note and have a good lunch."

--- S. K. Welling, Executive Director, HMT International Ltd., Bangalore, India.

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