Whenever we attended a major IATA Conference, our team usually took single rooms with one exception and that, I believe, was in 1969 at Cannes when we rented two apartments; an experiment which was not very successful and was abandoned.

When I took over as C.M. Planning and led our delegation for Pool meetings with BA, Qantas, SIA and others, we needed a separate Meeting room and it was Pheroze Balaporia, our Dy. Financial Controller who suggested that as the leader of the team, I should take a suite and that the sitting room could be used as a Conference room.  He also stated that Mr. A.F. Dubash who led the team before me always took a suite for that very purpose.

I mentioned this arrangement to Mr. Kooka who had no objection, provided the hotel bill showed two separate rooms as he did not want an objection to be raised by Audit.

I, therefore, spoke to various Regional Directors and this arrangement became routine whenever rooms were booked for the delegation.   When I moved back to the Commercial Department, as C.M. Marketing & Sales, we reverted to single rooms.  This arrangement continued until I became Commercial Director at which time, a suite was arranged for me whenever I traveled to Geneva, London or the USA . 

On one trip, I accompanied Mr. Appusamy to Montreal and New York and our offices had arranged suites for both of us.  Over drinks in his suite one evening, Mr. Appusamy remarked that he did not feel comfortable in AI spending so much money and said that we should revert to single rooms.  I agreed but requested an exception when we traveled as a delegation and needed a Conference room for discussions.  He readily agreed.

In 1978, the Pacific Area Travel Association (PATA), held its annual meeting in New Delhi and we had a large delegation which included the R.D.s from North America and Australasia.  A suite was booked for me at the Maurya Sheraton and I used it not only for meetings with members of the AI delegation, but also for my colleagues on the PATA Board, of which I was a member.

The Maurya Sheraton was part of the hotel chain owned and operated by ITC and Prem Kapur was head of its Hotel Division.  He met me at check-in and told me ITC was complimenting my accommodation.  I tried to talk him out of it, but he would not take no for an answer stating that over the years, we had built a very good friendship and that this gesture was his personal gift to me as he was shortly leaving ITC for an assignment overseas.

I accepted the offer little realizing that I would be inheriting a major headache which was raised by Jyotiromu Bosu during his inquisition of Air-India.  I need to elaborate on this issue.

Air-India’s outstation allowances were pitiful in those days and I don’t doubt if even today, they remain the same.  Many a time, the cost of the hotel room took up almost all of the daily allowance leaving very little for meals and sundries.  It was no surprise, therefore, that on many occasions, our overseas colleagues “took pity” on us and invited us for meals.  

Eventually, the outstation allowance regulations were amended so that whenever our accommodation was arranged and paid for by Air-India, we were entitled to claim only 50% of our normal outstation allowance.  I was not aware of how my other colleagues interpreted this regulation, but my interpretation was that if AI did not pay for my accommodation, I was entitled to claim 100% of my outstation allowance.

For example, very often I traveled to Delhi for meetings and stayed with at my uncle’s house and claimed my full allowance - a measly sum of Rs. 150 per day. I will give two more examples.  We once traveled to Bahrain for a meeting with Gulf Air.  Our GSA extend hospitality by offering us accommodation in his luxurious guest house.  Our Manager in Bahrain paid all of us full outstation allowance.  Interestingly, a senior member of our team was none other than our Dy. Financial Controller.

Similarly, when I accompanied Mr. K.K. Unni to Mauritius, we stayed at the Trou Aux Biches hotel as guests of our GSA, Rogers and Co.  Here again, we received 100% of our outstation allowance, a fact confirmed to me by our then Manager when he learnt of my problem with COPU.

Bosu raised one hell of a stink stating that I had cheated on my outstation allowance and went on to imply that I had pocketed the full cost of the suite - I still remember that at that time, the suite at the Maurya Sheraton cost Rs. 900 per day - by billing AI for this amount.

It became obvious to Air Chief Marshal Lal and to Mr. Appusamy that this was yet another instance of Bosu acting on an anonymous tip which according to ACM Lal, could only have come from a member of our Accounts Department.

In my submission to Bosu, I told him that firstly, I had not billed AI for Rs. 900 per day and secondly, I was entitled to 100% of my allowance as the cost of the suite was not paid by Air-India.  Nonetheless, he continued to rant and rave until finally, ACM Lal threw up his hands in disgust.  Even then, Bosu in his Press Release mentioned the daily cost of the suite and, without actually saying so, insinuated that I had billed AI for this amount and in addition, pocketed 100% of my daily allowance.

The matter was then taken up by the Aviation Ministry with our Head Office and to prove my point, I called my friend Rattan Malhotra, the then Head of ITC’s Travel Division and requested him to send me a copy of the hotel bill which would prove once and for all, that ITC had not charged even a penny for the suite.  Guess who came to deliver the bill to me - Rajan Jetley - who was then a middle level marketing executive with ITC. 

I sent this bill to the 22nd floor and here I must confess that while Mr. Appusamy was willing to send this bill on to the Ministry, there were other forces on the 22nd floor who dissuaded him from doing so.

To end this long drawn out issue, I even offered to pay back Rs. 75 (1/2 of my D.A.) for each day that I had occupied the suite.  Mr. Appusamy refused my offer and stated that he was satisfied that I had not violated any regulation and that no mention of this would be reflected in my personnel file.

Sometime in 1977 or 1978, our masters in Delhi decreed that we could not spend or claim more than Rs. 65 per person for entertaining a client(s). This created an uproar among our Indian sales staff as this measly amount would not cover the cost of a decent dinner.  However, our ingenious minds found solutions and by word of mouth we told all our sales personnel how to get around this obstacle.

Mr. Appusamy put in his retirement papers in 1979 and I invited him out for a farewell lunch at the Oberoi.  I also invited C.L. Sharma and Santosh Oberoi, our M.D. at the Centaur who happened to be in Narinam Point at that time.

We all ordered a couple of drinks before the meal after which the waiter asked each one of us what we would like for a starter.  Once this was being served, the waiter asked for our preference for an entree.  C.L. indicated his desire at which time, while winking at Mr. Appusamy, I put up my hand and told him that he could not order any main course as he had reached the limit of Rs. 65.  I reminded C.L. of the Government Order limiting the price of his meal to Rs. 65 limit; an Order which he himself, had sent down to me for implementation.

He was dumbstruck until I smiled and told the waiter to go ahead and take everyone’s order.  C.L. asked me how I was getting around the Government Order and I told him that I could not reply to this question.  In fact, I told him that we were violating our own rules by having this meal at the Company’s expense since I was not entertaining clients.   Further, with so many anonymous references to various persons in Delhi, I was not going to open our bag of tricks.  He asked if I suspected him of being one of the anonymous sources to which I smiled and said - just enjoy your meal and let sleeping dogs lie.