Ravi J Mathai and Verghese Kurien
Ravi Mathai was the first full time director of IIM Ahmedabad. The IRMA library carries his name. Verghese Kurien (founder of IRMA) and Ravi Mathai are cousins. Both are a study in contrast. Kurien is as much a showman, as much as he is a relentless, resilient maverick with a cause who is unambiguously credited for establishing AMUL, NDDB and IRMA and ushering in milk revolution in India. Mathai, on the other hand, was almost an ascetic, principled, equally passionate intellectual who established the foundations of IIMA and rapidly took it to great heights.
The Economic Times carried an article on Mathai in December 2007, which is worth a read. While the author rightly suggests that people such as Mathai, Sarabhai and Talwar were great institution builders, he forgets Verghese Kurien. To quote the author's blog (ttrammohan.blogspot.com) - "In relinquishing his job, Mathai lived up to the highest traditions of self-abnegation so greatly revered in this country. In many other ways, he set almost impossible standards of conduct. He instituted a rule (since waived) that the director should not be involved in consulting. He declined to seek reimbursement of his travel and medical bills. He never projected himself, it was always the Institute that got projected. I have heard that he was rather reclusive, locking himself in his house at the end of the day and mentally reviewing the events of the day.
The great thing about people like Mathai is that not only do they create the foundations for durable success, they also set standards for those who follow. It is impossible for anybody sitting in the director's chair to escape comparison with Mathai."
This is in sharp contrast to Verghese Kurien, who never wanted to relinquish his position at IRMA. The case that dragged to courts made a public spectacle as news channels carried live coverage of the then IIMA director Bakul Dholakia protesting outside IRMA gate because he was denied entry in the Institute's campus for an important board meeting. The full story is available in a Business Line article published on April 15, 2005. Part of the article is reproduced below:
"Minutes before the IRMA board met today to confirm the award of degrees on graduating students, the security staff at the gate prevented the entry of eminent personalities whose candidature as members of the IRMA board has become the subject of an intense court battle. Prof. Bakul Dholakia (Director of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad), Mr Hasmukh Shah (Chairman of the National Institute of Design) and Mr Vijay Mahajan (Chief of Basix, a Hyderabad-based non-government organisation) were prevented from entering the IRMA campus on instructions from the acting Director of the Institute, Dr L.K. Vaswani. The IRMA Director, Prof. K. Prathap Reddy, who had been sacked by Dr Kurien earlier this week, was also prevented from attending the board meeting and was seen walking out of the campus.
Prof. Dholakia, Mr Shah and Mr Mahajan tried to force their way in but had to retreat as they ran into a bunch of private security guards who were determined not to let them in even as the National Dairy Development Board Chairperson (NDDB), Dr Amrita Patel, drove in.
After the board meeting and the convocation ceremony, Dr Kurien, who at 83 is still actively involved with IRMA and Amul, repeated his standard responses about a "conspiracy" to take control of the "beautiful institute" and said that he was not willing to be pushed out of IRMA. Asked why three board members were stopped at the gates, he said: "I must manage the function. If that requires stopping somebody at the gate, I will do it."
The Business Line had carried another article, published February,26 2004, when the IIMs had taken a stand against the government to safeguard their autonomy. This article carries an interesting dialogue Ravi Mathai and Verghese Kurien apparently had once:
Then, (Verghese) Kurien went on to build IRMA, the Institute of Rural Management Anand, with inputs from his cousin Ravi Mathai, who was the Director in IIM, Ahmedabad.
Avoid mistakes that happened in IIM, Mathai instructed: "So cousin, when you build IRMA, please build a bigger house for the director than for the professors so that they will know that there is a boss."
Next, don't give too much powers to professors; this is not Harvard. For this, Kurien recounts Mathai told him: "I told a professor whom I had appointed, `You are free to go ahead and fill all the lower posts in your department.' That person went to his village, brought all his relations and appointed them. That was a terrible mistake which I made."
And, there's one more: "The third point cousin, is that you should cut down on the number of people you employ. We have so many people, and therefore, labour union problems, courts, and so on. I am tired of it all. You are a dictator, so run it as a dictator. If anyone steps out of line, sack him. I can't do that; I am not made that way.'"
Now, this is Kurienspeak: "I said, `Ravi Mathai, neither you nor any of your professors have ever managed anything."
The positive aspect of Kurien's personality is that he never bowed to the bureaucracy. His last days at IRMA were not glorious, however, this does not belittle his achievements.
The Economic Times carried an article on Mathai in December 2007, which is worth a read. While the author rightly suggests that people such as Mathai, Sarabhai and Talwar were great institution builders, he forgets Verghese Kurien. To quote the author's blog (ttrammohan.blogspot.com) - "In relinquishing his job, Mathai lived up to the highest traditions of self-abnegation so greatly revered in this country. In many other ways, he set almost impossible standards of conduct. He instituted a rule (since waived) that the director should not be involved in consulting. He declined to seek reimbursement of his travel and medical bills. He never projected himself, it was always the Institute that got projected. I have heard that he was rather reclusive, locking himself in his house at the end of the day and mentally reviewing the events of the day.
The great thing about people like Mathai is that not only do they create the foundations for durable success, they also set standards for those who follow. It is impossible for anybody sitting in the director's chair to escape comparison with Mathai."
This is in sharp contrast to Verghese Kurien, who never wanted to relinquish his position at IRMA. The case that dragged to courts made a public spectacle as news channels carried live coverage of the then IIMA director Bakul Dholakia protesting outside IRMA gate because he was denied entry in the Institute's campus for an important board meeting. The full story is available in a Business Line article published on April 15, 2005. Part of the article is reproduced below:
"Minutes before the IRMA board met today to confirm the award of degrees on graduating students, the security staff at the gate prevented the entry of eminent personalities whose candidature as members of the IRMA board has become the subject of an intense court battle. Prof. Bakul Dholakia (Director of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad), Mr Hasmukh Shah (Chairman of the National Institute of Design) and Mr Vijay Mahajan (Chief of Basix, a Hyderabad-based non-government organisation) were prevented from entering the IRMA campus on instructions from the acting Director of the Institute, Dr L.K. Vaswani. The IRMA Director, Prof. K. Prathap Reddy, who had been sacked by Dr Kurien earlier this week, was also prevented from attending the board meeting and was seen walking out of the campus.
Prof. Dholakia, Mr Shah and Mr Mahajan tried to force their way in but had to retreat as they ran into a bunch of private security guards who were determined not to let them in even as the National Dairy Development Board Chairperson (NDDB), Dr Amrita Patel, drove in.
After the board meeting and the convocation ceremony, Dr Kurien, who at 83 is still actively involved with IRMA and Amul, repeated his standard responses about a "conspiracy" to take control of the "beautiful institute" and said that he was not willing to be pushed out of IRMA. Asked why three board members were stopped at the gates, he said: "I must manage the function. If that requires stopping somebody at the gate, I will do it."
The Business Line had carried another article, published February,26 2004, when the IIMs had taken a stand against the government to safeguard their autonomy. This article carries an interesting dialogue Ravi Mathai and Verghese Kurien apparently had once:
Then, (Verghese) Kurien went on to build IRMA, the Institute of Rural Management Anand, with inputs from his cousin Ravi Mathai, who was the Director in IIM, Ahmedabad.
Avoid mistakes that happened in IIM, Mathai instructed: "So cousin, when you build IRMA, please build a bigger house for the director than for the professors so that they will know that there is a boss."
Next, don't give too much powers to professors; this is not Harvard. For this, Kurien recounts Mathai told him: "I told a professor whom I had appointed, `You are free to go ahead and fill all the lower posts in your department.' That person went to his village, brought all his relations and appointed them. That was a terrible mistake which I made."
And, there's one more: "The third point cousin, is that you should cut down on the number of people you employ. We have so many people, and therefore, labour union problems, courts, and so on. I am tired of it all. You are a dictator, so run it as a dictator. If anyone steps out of line, sack him. I can't do that; I am not made that way.'"
Now, this is Kurienspeak: "I said, `Ravi Mathai, neither you nor any of your professors have ever managed anything."
The positive aspect of Kurien's personality is that he never bowed to the bureaucracy. His last days at IRMA were not glorious, however, this does not belittle his achievements.
posted by atul at 10:09 PM
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