Has anyone missed a flight on which his/her boss was also booked to travel to a meeting both of you were to attend?  I have and it is a very low sinking feeling in the stomach.

The year was 1964 and I was accompanying Mr. A.F. Dubash to an IATA meeting in Bermuda.  We were booked to travel on a British Airways flight from NYC to Bermuda and I had arrived in NYC the previous day and stayed overnight with Manchi Engineer.  Manchi, who was working in the NYC Sales Office, and I had known each other while he was a Flight Purser and we had spent quite a few memorable times in Bombay before he was transferred to the USA.

Manchi was going to drop me at the airport for the afternoon flight and suggested that we spend the morning at the World’s Fair in Queens.  We saw quite a few exhibits and left in good time for Idlewild (now JFK) airport.  Unfortunately, Manchi took a wrong exit and we ended up at the British Airways terminal just in time to see the aircraft taxiing to the runway.

Fortunately, there was a later PanAm flight on which I was able to find a seat and I got to the Castle Harbor Hotel late that evening.  However, unfortunately for me, dinner had already been served and I ended up without anything to eat.  When I met Mr. Dubash the next morning at breakfast, he was quite amused and said that the lack of dinner served me right.

At the meeting, Mr. Dubash introduced me to J. Ross Stainton the Commercial Director of British Airways who had also taken the same BA flight the previous day.  Ross was very solicitous and invited me to drinks that evening at the residence of their local Manager.  It was a very impressive house and we had a pleasant evening which ended with a quiet dinner for the three of us, at a restaurant in town.  For me, the whole series of events on that trip were quite fortuitous as Ross Stainton and I became quite good friends over the next 10 to 15 years.  Not only did we spend many days and evenings together at IATA meetings, but we also played some golf, of which I will speak at a later time.

Missing the flight was a wake up call for me.  Since then, I have made it a point to leave for a flight well ahead of time and so far, I have not missed any more flights.  I now believe that getting to the airport well ahead of time removes any tension if one is stuck in traffic or gets into very long Security lines.

I accompanied Mr. Dubash many times in the years 1964 through 1967.  We attended meetings in London, Nassau in the Bahamas, Rome, Honolulu among other cities and for me, it was a great learning experience.  It ended when Mr. Dubash left in 1967 to join IATA.  Our last meeting together was the IATA Cargo Conference in Puerto Rico in 1967.

1964 was also a year when I discovered that I could not stand heights.  It happened in Rome where I was attending a meeting of the IATA Traffic Handling & Accountancy Working Group (THWG).  This Group designed the IATA Passenger tickets, Exchange Orders, Miscellaneous Charges Orders and Air Waybills.  We had a free Sunday and three of us (Ray from Qantas, Lena from IATA and myself) decided to explore Rome by walking which, incidentally, is the best way to see the great sites of this wonderful city.

After many sights, we arrived at Saint Peter’s where the consensus was to walk to the top of the church by using the catwalk outside the dome.  A bad decision as I soon discovered.  Half way up, my legs started to wobble and I ended by holding on to the side of the dome with both hands and looking up at the sky.  Ever since that day, I have stayed as far away as possible from high places.  I found this to be quite odd as I had had no problem walking up and looking down from the Qutab Minar in Delhi, in my childhood days, or for that matter, looking down from the Empire State Building in 1960 and the Eiffel Tower in 1962.

The 1964 Fall IATA Conference was held in Athens and this would be Mr. Malani’s last attendance at such meetings.  BK Mangaokar and I assisted him at Athens and I recall two remarkable events that took place.  One was when I received a call from my Uncle (my mother’s younger brother) from London to say that he and his wife were on their way back to Bombay and “how about a couple of days with you in Greece?”  I said sure and would they like to stay in my Hotel room while I moved in with BK?  He agreed and they arrived the next day.

The next evening my uncle wanted to “follow his nose” and eat at any restaurant where the aroma attracted it.  We went to the center of the town of Athens and found a small hole in the wall restaurant not quite different from an Irani shop in Bombay and ordered lamb chops, whose aroma had attracted my uncle’s nose.  

He asked for scotch and the owner produced a bottle from under the counter and ice which he sent his staff to get from his refrigerator in his house above the restaurant.  The lamb chops were excellent and for many years after, my uncle could not stop talking about the best meal he had eaten in a very long time.

Before leaving Athens for Bombay, my uncle gave me a large sum of money in UK Pounds as a gift for my honeymoon.  Manju and I were scheduled to marry two months later in New Delhi and had planned to spend our honeymoon in Switzerland and the U.K.  I could not have been more thankful as the gift was very timely and plentiful for our needs.  I arranged with a Swissair colleague to send the money to Mr. Balendu Shah, our Manager - Switzerland to hold for me until our arrival.

I got married to the most wonderful person in the world, on December 05, 1964 and among the guests were my roommates - Ashok Vaish, BL Nichani and Saroj Datta.  Also present were Jim Callery, the Commercial Manager of the Irish airline - Aer Lingus, accompanied by his wife Nora and one of my colleagues from the Tariffs Division Coover Patel.  I am saddened to say that all five, Ashok, Nichi, Saroj,Jim and Coover are no longer with us today.  Ashok and his wife Lalita did attend our Silver Wedding Anniversary in New York in 1989.

I am also very happy to say that Manju and I celebrated our Golden Anniversary last December with our children and grandchildren.

1965 was a great year.  Air-India sanctioned a housing allowance for me and we moved to a two bedroom apartment on Napean Sea Road which had previously been occupied by Sandy Sundaram who resigned as Asst. Sales Manager to join ICAO in Montreal.  I also received my promotion as Tariffs Manager, but not the grade of Senior Station Manager due to a rather interesting episode; the genesis of which eludes my memory.  

Apparently, the Officers (including myself) working on the 4th Floor of the Bank of India went on an agitation and decided not to wear a tie to work.  For the life of me, I cannot remember the reason.  As a matter of fact, Mr. Jitender Bhargava asked me this question while he was writing his book “The Descent of Air India” and I could not enlighten him.

What happened was that one of the group informed management that I was the instigator when actually, all I did was to agree to join the group.  Nonetheless, I suffered because of this incorrect and malicious statement and my promotion to the SSM grade was deferred by one year.

Manju and I were blessed with our first born.  Akhil came into this world on October 19, 1965 and he and his lovely wife Sunanda live in New Jersey with our two wonderful grandsons, Viraj and Tarun.  Viraj is a great baseball player and his room is festooned with many trophies while Tarun is a great artist and we have some wonderful paintings done by him.  I depend upon both the boys to help me out with the problems that I constantly have with my iPhone, iPad and my iMac.

I also got a telephone in 1966.  For those who have lived in India through the decades of 1950 through 1980 in India, having a residential phone was not only a luxury but a great status symbol.  The waitlist was as long as one can imagine and even those on a “priority” list had to wait for years.  Well, Sandy Sundaram was entitled to a phone in his job as Asst. Sales Manager and was on such a priority list.  However, he left AI before the phone could be installed (he had resigned more than a year earlier) and when the technician rang the bell and announced that he had a phone for me, I was overjoyed.

I spoke with Mr. Kooka the next day and he agreed to my request to leave the phone in the house.  I still recall is words when he said - OK, you have earned this perk.  MOTIVATION - where did this word disappear in Air-India after 1980?

I don’t recall anything of great importance happening in my life until 1968 when some changes occurred.  Air-India allowed me a two bedroom apartment in Jupiter on Anstey Road.  It was a new building almost next door to JRD Tata’s residence.  Sometime during this year, I noticed a new and young face walking in the large room in which  a number of us had desks. On raising an enquiry, I was informed that this new employee was Michael Mascarenhas who had just joined us after graduating from Cambridge University.

I promptly walked into Mr. Kooka’s office (yes, some of us could “walk in” after a knock on his door).  He looked up and said “Yes, you can have Mascarenhas”.  I was astonished that he knew why I had come to see him and he told me that he had been expecting my visit and that his only request was that I groom him like I myself had been groomed by my bosses.

I could see the potential in this young lad right from the day he came to work in Tariffs and I made it one of my missions to ensure that not only did he have the grounding that I had received but also, the opportunities of foreign postings; something that I lacked. This would greatly assist in rounding off his experience.  I was a very proud person the day I learnt that Michael had taken over as Managing Director.  Young Michael (I still call him by that name) justified my faith and interest in him.

An interesting turn of events took place with the addition of Michael to the Tariffs Division.  It had been our practice to meet the RD and the Sales Manager in New York just before an IATA Conference on passenger fares and our brief would take shape only after getting their views.

It was Michael who questioned the practice.  He recommended that we do our own independent studies and conduct market surveys not only in North America but also in other parts of the world which would and should be the basis of our brief on fares and rates.  It just shows that you need a fresh and independent mind to “tweak” and “update” age old philosophies and practices.

A major change is taking place in Air-India.  A change of guard at the top with another new CMD taking charge; another one who has absolutely no experience of the highly competitive commercial world.

The old CMD, who will stay for another month handing over to his successor, spoke with Anjuli Bhargava on August 22, 2015 and “tooted his own horn” of his achievements during the four years that he had been at the helm of the airline.  Did he speak of his failure to complete the merger which is now in its 8th year?  A BIG RESOUNDING “NO”. We still have many loose ends.  The integration of Pilots’ salaries is a major case in point.

Did he speak of the losses incurred during the past 3 years. Again, a BIG RESOUNDING “NO”. The NET loss during these years has been:

2012-13 5,490 crores

2013-14 5,380 crores

2014-15 5,547 crores

Did he achieve a reduction in expenditure?  Since losses have not decreased, one can only surmise that there has been no decrease in expenses.  At the same time, it is interesting to note that the loss in in 2014-15 increased by 3.1% over the previous year, while revenues were almost static (0.6%).

In other words, AI’s expenditure has risen which must raise eyebrows since Fuel costs, which represent a major portion of expenses have come down substantially due to the drop in oil prices.

To cap it all, a recent Air-India Press release states in its last paragraph that “There has been, however, a nominal increase in the aircraft maintenance cost, which during 2014-15 stood at Rs.1145 crore as compared to Rs.830.81 crore on 2011-12.

The actual increase is 37.95% and I question who in his sane mind would consider this as “a nominal increase”.  Who are you kidding, Mr. Nandan?

Mr. Nandan also listed as one of his achievements the discontinuance of the flights to Canada which were operating at a loss.  Then, how does he justify the Australian operations which have been losing millions of dollars from the get go?  These flights were started during his tenure.

So, my parting words to Mr. Nandan are - You did a great job in following orders of your superiors in the Ministry.   Your annual appraisals must have reflected how good you are in following orders and instructions and hence, have been rewarded by a promotion.  Congratulations and I hope you will continue the same “Ji Hazoori” wherever you are posted.

Promod Gupta sent me a Blog written on August 28, 2015 by the incoming CMD and I was delighted to read how highly he speaks of the teamwork and the great efforts put in by his staff in ITDC and the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Department during his stewardship of these Organizations.

I have always maintained that Air-India’s biggest asset was its staff.  To be quite factual, that was the case while I was still with the airline.  Morale took a steep decline during the 1980s and thereafter.  

If I can take the liberty of making any suggestions to the new CMD, it would be that his first task would be to raise morale and motivate the staff.  

Here, I would like to quote an extract from the Blog of the incoming incumbent:

QUOTE

I often remember with great pride, the rise from abyss of men during the days ITDC was being hived off. The tremendous zeal that my men then displayed to pull the organization out of the red and compete with the best in the private sector often make my eyes swell with tear and pride.

UNQUOTE 

I hope the new CMD can say the same when it comes time to relinquish the reins at Air-India.  

Hopefully, the new CMD will exercise independent judgement and not succumb to the orders and instructions from politicians and bureaucrats, or am I wishing for too much?

The new CMD faces many major issues and some of these will be (not necessarily in order of priority):

1. Interference and orders from politicians and bureaucrats.

2. Morale - this is so low that one wonders if ever it will reach bottom.

3. The Merger - it has been almost 8 years and till now there are many loose ends.  For example, the parity of salaries of pilots.  Medical benefits for spouses of retired staff has been equalized only last month.

4. Quality of service. It is at an all time low.  Flights have taken off without TOILET PAPER. 

5. On time performance - Air-India is at the bottom or very close to it of all the Indian airlines.

6. Decision making - no one wants to take any decisions because:

A. He or she does not get any credit for doing so

B. Initiative is not rewarded 

C. Lack of motivation

  7. Utilization of aircraft - the turnaround time must be cut down to get better     utilization and hence, lower breakeven load factors.

  8. Operating aircraft on routes for which they have been designed.  For   example, the new 787 aircraft is being operated on short haul domestic routes.  This aircraft was designed to operate long haul flights for better economics, not short haul.

  9. Discipline - the cabin crew are “showing the finger” to Management.  They either do not show up for flights or report sick.  Now we hear that they will be paid an “INCENTIVE” to operate Hajj flights on time.  Shades of the old PLI given to all staff to do what their job functions require.

The new CMD has a very unenviable task and I hope he has the stomach and the guts to stand up to the demands of the politicians and bureaucrats. 

I accompanied Mr. J.C. Malani, Tariffs Manager to Paris in early 1962 for a meeting prior to the IATA Spring Conference in Cannes.  Malcolm (Mali) Gomez had declined to attend this Conference for personal reasons and so I was asked to assist Mr. Malani.  I had no free time as Mr. Malani required that I spend every evening poring over the Minutes and Situation Reports to ensure that Air-India’s position was correctly reflected in the proceedings.

Even after assuring Mr. Malani after two weeks into the Conference, that we had been correctly reported , he insisted that this exercise be carried out every evening.  When I returned to Bombay, I learnt from Mali Gomez that this was the main reason why he had declined to go to Cannes.  He had “suffered” enough during his previous trips with Mr. Malani.  Being the Low Man on the Totem Pole in the Tariffs Division, I had no choice but to accompany Mr. Malani.

Little did I know what was in store for me at the IATA Fall Conference later that year.

Many top airline executives were under the impression that we delegates to IATA meetings had a great time at these meetings since they were held at exotic locales such as Cannes, Honolulu, Mexico City etc., etc.  Therefore, the 1962 Fall Conference was held at Chandler, Arizona.

Chandler was a “one horse town”.  In the middle of the Arizona desert, it boasted one Lodge and one main street.  The Lodge had a main building which, in addition to individual rooms for delegates also housed the Conference Hall.  There were a few cottages and several small Junior Suites located about 500 yards from the main Building.  The town had one Chinese restaurant, one Mexican restaurant, one Bar and one Deli.  The only Cinema house showed movies that I had seen two year earlier in Bombay, not that I had any time to go to a movie.

In those years, India was going through a foreign exchange crisis.  The Government had introduced the “P” Form and every extended overseas trip had to be approved by the Ministry of Finance.  AI had submitted a proposal for four delegates to attend the 5 week long Conference.  Mr. Malani would be the Chief delegate, Mr. Balendu Shah and Mr. Coover Patel were designated to handle Cargo matters and yours truly, Passenger matters.   As indicated above, Mali Gomez had clearly indicated that he would not attend any more IATA Conferences.   

On the very last day prior to our scheduled departure, we received approval for ONE delegate and an assurance that another may be approved in a few days.  Mr. Malani informed Mr. B.R. Patel and Mr. Khote that he could not possibly handle the Conference single handedly. Mr. Shah said that he had very little knowledge of passenger fares and Mr. Patel said that he was a new addition to Cargo Tariffs and hence both declined to go on their own. Mr. Khote asked me if I was comfortable in going by myself and I replied in the affirmative.

I left Bombay that night and fortunately Mr. Malani joined me after a couple of days.  Mr. Shah and Mr. Patel arrived a week later but had approval for only 10 days.

Mr. Malani was housed in a Junior Suite while the rest of us were accommodated in the Main building.  On arrival, Mr. Malani informed me that his ulcers were acting up and as such, it would be my responsibility to attend EVERY morning, afternoon and evening meeting.  At the same time, I was to see him in his Suite for briefing and debriefing prior to and after every meeting.

While most cargo matters were taken care of by Mr. Shah and Coover Patel, all their loose ends had to be taken care of by me once they left.

Chandler was for me the absolute worst Conference that I have ever attended.  The only respite I had was on Sunday mornings when no meetings were scheduled as many delegates attended Church.  Another redeeming feature was late evenings spent in the company of good friends in the hotel bar.

The Bar at the Lodge closed at midnight but Len Rashbrook, BOAC’s General Manager - Tariffs managed to get it reopened around 12:30 and invited a few close friends; a term which included me.  So every night, a few of us gathered there in the darkness with candles.  Then one night, we saw the local Sheriff trying to peek in using a flashlight which resulted in our having to move downstairs into the basement for our gatherings.

An interesting episode took place one evening when a “well oiled” Australian group decided to make merry at midnight outside the cottage housing the PanAm delegation.  The next night, the PanAm delegates took their revenge by singing Waltzing Matilda outside the Qantas cottage.

The red faces of the Qantas delegates at breakfast were a sight to see as Tom Roff, their Chief delegate read them the riot act.

The last evening of the Conference was scheduled for delegates to vote on all the Resolutions that been finalized during individual meetings.  Mr. Malani finally decided to make an appearance (the only time in five weeks that he attended a meeting) and the irony of it all was that half way during the proceedings, yours truly passed out.  Yes, I could not keep my eyes open.  Fortunately, members of the Qantas delegation sitting across from us saw me drop from my chair and promptly came over, picked me up and deposited me in my bedroom.  They even changed me into my pajamas.

We left Arizona the next day and returned to Bombay.  Interestingly, reports of what transpired at Chandler reached the powers to be in Head Office with repercussions; the results of which were to be seen in the coming years.

While we had reached unanimous agreements at Chandler, the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board did not approve the transatlantic fares that had been agreed.  Hence, the meetings in Bermuda and Montreal in February 1963 of which I have spoken in my Post of July 17, 2015.

Mr. N.V. Khote our Planning Controller left Air-India in the Spring of 1963 and Mr. A.F. Dubash came back as Planning Director.  He asked me to accompany him to a number of meetings in the years 1963 through 1967, with the exception of the 1964 IATA Fall Conference held in Athens, which also happened to be Mr. Malani’s farewell to IATA.

I enjoyed accompanying Mr. Dubash to all of these meetings.  He treated me with great respect as a colleague and valued my advice.  On my part, I learnt a great deal from him and hold him in great admiration.  His vision and skills in negotiation left an indelible mark on me and I owe a great debt of gratitude to him.  I made it a point to call on him on my visits to Geneva after he left AI and joined IATA as Compliance Director.  He asked me for dinner on occasion and I happily went to his home.

One Conference will always stand out in my memory.  The transatlantic agreement reached in Montreal in early 1963 was conditioned on the airlines having to meet once again in the Fall of that year to negotiate fares for effectiveness from January 1, 2014.  We met in Salzburg, Austria in September 1963.  At the outset, it was agreed that only the Chief delegates would be allowed to attend the sessions and so, I along with all advisers, sat outside the main hall.  

I literally had no work to do - what a major difference compared to Chandler 1962. I managed to see the beautiful sights of the city of Salzburg, attended some concerts and by the kind courtesy of Yahuda Attir of ELAL, learnt something about wines.

The two week meeting failed to reach any agreement and another meeting was scheduled once again in Salzburg in October.  Mr. Dubash told me that since I had had a two week paid holiday at Air-India’s expense, I would be representing the airline at the next meeting.  I was delighted and honored.  At the very young age of 28 as a mere Station Superintendent, I would be negotiating with Senior VPs of major transatlantic airlines.  What more motivation could a young employee ask for?

On our last evening in Salzburg, Mr. Dubash invited me to dinner.  At the dinner, he said that he had heard about what had happened at Chandler, including that fact that I had passed out on the last evening.  In addition to the Qantas Chief delegate, many other senior VPs had commented and in fact praised my performance at Chandler and the subsequent Bermuda and Montreal meetings.

Mr. Dubash then asked me if I had received an offer from IATA to join that Organisation.  I admitted that an offer had been made but that I had declined.  He asked me “Why” and I told him that while the offer was very attractive, I saw a future for myself in Air-India and the honor of representing the airline at high level negotiations played a major contributing factor in my decision.

He made no comment but his actions after this dinner convinced me that I made the right choice of staying in Air-India.

In January 1965, I was nominated by Mr. Dubash to attend a 5 week Executive Management course conducted by the Ahmedabad Indian Institute of Management at Agra.  In April the same year, I was promoted to the grade of Station Manager and my designation was Acting Deputy Tariffs Manager; Balendu Shah having already left for Geneva as Manager - Switzerland. 

A month later, I was given a housing allowance which allowed me to move from a very confining one bedroom apartment among the inner streets of Colaba, to a fairly comfortable two bedroom apartment on Napean Sea Road.

I could not have asked for greater motivation.

It is an interesting coincidence that while I was taking a break from writing the above, I received a call from my former colleague and good friend, Firoze Dordi.  Firoze said that he had just finished reading parts of my Blog for the past 45 minutes and found them very interesting.  He enquired when I would be writing about the time when (and remarkably, he remembered the year) I had volunteered to attend a major IATA Conference single-handedly after everyone in the Tariffs Division had backed out since only one delegate had been approved by the Finance Ministry.

I mentioned to Firoze that he must have a sixth sense as I had just finished writing about it.  He replied that the incident had left a big impression on his mind and he wanted me to write about it.

However, I must clarify here that Firoze being Firoze and a good friend, gives me more credit than I deserve.  The fact of the matter is that I did not “volunteer”.  It is like when 4 soldiers  are asked “who would volunteer” for an assignment and to take a step forward.  Three of them take a step backward and one gets left standing in front.  That one soldier was yours truly.  At that stage, I was asked if I would go and I did say Yes. 

My initial bachelor days in Air-India were quite hand to mouth.  I started at a monthly salary of Rs. 250 plus a Dearness Allowance of Rs. 108, totaling Rs. 358.  After my first month in the Tariffs Division, I received a Specialization amount of Rs. 75 which gave me a total of Rs. 433 per month.  From 1957 till early 1960, I stayed with a cousin of mine and life was quite comfortable, even though money was tight.

My cousin was transferred to Delhi in 1960 and after moving around, I finally entered the bachelor apartment on A Road in Churchgate.  It was a 2 bedroom apartment and my roommates were Harish Malik, B.L. Nichani (a Flight Purser) and Rajani who worked in the MES. It was a carefree existence even though I was broke by the end of the third week of each month.

My one savior was Pesi Guard who was the Station Accountant.  Pesi came to my rescue whenever I was truly desperate.  He would give me my salary a couple of days before the due date.

Until December 1964 when I got married, I was able to spend freely and indulge on whatever my mind and heart wanted.  I traveled quite a bit on business, attending IATA and airline meetings and was able to purchase clothing and personal articles abroad.  The problem was that my per diem barely covered my expenses overseas.  A daily allowance of UK Pounds 5 or US Dollars 15 did not go very far.  So, I used up all my Indian Rupees which I could “smuggle out”.

My immediate boss, Derek Menezes who was Deputy Tariffs Manager and I spent quite a few evenings together.  He introduced me to an “Aunty” who maintained a beer parlor at Cooperage.  In turn, I took him to one of the Indian Navy ships whenever one of my naval friends was in town.  Both Derek and I were smokers and I was surprised when one morning, he came to my desk and dropped his cigarette pack on it saying that he had decided to quit.  I told him that I would not be following suit.

However, once I was engaged to be married, I took stock of my finances.  In future, I would now have another person(s) dependent upon me and the first item of expenditure that took a beating was smoking.  I had smoked since the age of 19 while in college and continued when I joined Air-India.  I used to smoke Pall Malls, an American cigarette and as much as two and a half packs a day.

This was one item that I needed to delete from my budget and so, I went “cold turkey” one day.  I carried a packet in my shirt front pocket and dared myself to light up.  Fortunately, my will power held and I quit smoking as from that date.

Let me digress and go back to the days when I stayed with my cousin on Altamount Road.  One weekend, the bell rang and I opened the front door to find a well dressed young man who asked for my cousin by name .  I seated him in the living room and asked for his name.  Balraj was his answer and I told my cousin that a gentleman named Balraj had come to visit him.  I left them and soon heard voices and laughter emanating from the living room.  After the gentleman left, I asked my cousin who he was since his face looked quite familiar.  My cousin smiled and asked “So, you did not recognize him.  He is Sunil Dutt, the film actor”.  I said “But he said his name was Balraj” to which my cousin replied “Yes, that is true, but his screen name is Sunil Dutt”.

It was many years later, almost 20 years to the day, when I next met Sunil Dutt and reminded him of his visit to my cousin’s house.  He remembered since they had been good friends.  More on this later.

During my carefree bachelor days, one of my college friends came to visit.  He had always wanted to act in Indian films and hence, came to Bombay to try his luck.  He had some valuable contacts and on a weekend, he asked me to accompany him to Juhu where we met  someone who took us to the house of Goldie Anand, the younger brother of Dev Anand.  Goldie was the Director of Dev Anand’s films.  I did meet Goldie and through him, met someone who would become one of my closest friends in years to come - Yash Johar.  

Yash was an asst. cameraman in those days and later went on to produce his own films.  Unfortunately for him, he had little success in his venture and he dropped out of the film business and decided to export Indian handicrafts where he had better success.  Then one day, out of the blue, he came to our home and said - “Inder, I have decided to get back into the film business”.  However, he was unsure of what to do with his thriving export business and wanted my advice.

I told Yash Johar that Manju, my wife, was getting bored as a part time teacher and perhaps, she may be interested in helping him out.  Yash and Manju talked and soon thereafter, she managed his office at Mahalaxmi working half a day while the children were at school.  Yash once again went into the film industry and this time, he hit the jackpot.

My younger son, Sarat, always wanted to see Amitabh Bachhan’s movies and Yash used to arrange a private showing for Sarat and his friends on his birthdays with cakes, pastries and soft drinks.  

Yash’s movies were now a great success and his son, Karan whom we had seen growing up as a small child became a very famous Director of Yash’s films.  

Manju’s association with Yash Johar’s export Company came to an end when I decided to leave Air-India and move to the USA.  However, our friendship continued and I will never forget when at a farewell dinner, Yash broke down and cried.  He said that he had lost his brother, which was the term he always used when he addressed me.

Through my association with Yash Johar, we met many interesting film personalities and I would like to relate one incident which occurred in London when we all happened to be in that city at the same time.  Yash Johar was accompanied by film star Sadhana and I invited them for lunch where Raj Vaide, our Sales Manager - UK was also present.  Raj had obviously had a couple of drinks and could not stop looking at Sadhana and he suddenly blurted out “Madam, you are delicious”.  To her great credit, Sadhana smiled and bowed her head and Raj, realizing what he had done, apologized very sincerely.  Both Yash and I never let him forget this incident, of which we reminded him every time an occasion arose. I have never seen Raj Vaide so embarrassed.  

Yash Johar and I maintained contact even while we were separated by thousands of miles.  On one occasion, when I was working with Air Mauritius, Yash called me from Singapore and said that he was planning to go to Mauritius and needed help getting accommodation and airline seats as he planned to shoot a film there.  I arranged everything and the movie that he produced was Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, which was a great success.

The next time when Yash asked for my advice was when he planned his production of Kal Ho Na Ho.  A portion of the movie was shot in New York and we discussed some locations.  It was during this visit that he discovered that the soreness in his throat which had been bothering him for some time, was actually cancer of the esophagus.  Manju and I visited him and Hiroo in Bombay just before he passed away.  He was in great spirits even though all of us knew that this would be the last time that we would be together.

I lost a great and truly genuine friend.  May God bless his soul.

In early February 1980, I accompanied Mr. J.C. Malani to a meeting with BOAC in London prior to our intended transatlantic operations.  At this meeting, it was decided that I should visit New York to file our Tariffs with the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board.  I left for NYC late February and returned after 6 weeks.  The task which should have taken about 3 to 4 weeks was delayed as the Company which did the actual filing was headed by a gentleman who was constantly inebriated and did not attend office every day.  

We met the deadline for filing after he finally “woke up” and enlisted the support of three other individuals.  One of these was John Champion of PanAm who later became VP-Government Affairs of the airline and a very good friend.  

Later that year, I went back to NYC and we made a fresh filing using the services of BOAC where I met and became good friends with David Schneider, who worked in their Tariffs Branch in NYC.  David’s name will come up again in another anecdote when I was working with Kuwait Airways.

In addition to the above three trips, I traveled overseas on four occasions on AI business in the year 1960, including the Fares & Rates Conference held in Cannes, which I have written about earlier.

In 1981, I went overseas only once and that was to attend the IATA Prorate Meeting at the Hague.  I accompanied Mr. F.A. Nentin, Senior Accounts Officer who had the annoying habit of calling me “Laddie”.  While I was waiting at Bombay airport to board our flight to London, I was approached by Stan Pinto, who was then our Manager, Bombay.  Mr. Pinto said that he had arranged for me to sit next to Mr. Jimmy Nagarvala who was the Inspector General of Police and was also traveling on the same flight.  He handed me a bunch of Indian currency notes and asked that I use these funds to purchase any liquor that Mr. Nagarvala would like to drink.

I happily agreed and made acquaintance with Jimmy soon after we were seated and offered him a drink which he accepted.  We spent a memorable time until the aircraft reached Beirut at which time, I was advised by the AI ground staff that they were offloading Mr. Nentin and me due to overbooking of the flight.  I said goodbye to Jimmy Nagarvala and disembarked at Beirut.  Mr. Nentin and I were rebooked to Amsterdam on KLM the next day and we spent a night in Beirut as AI guests.

1992 was an year when I undertook more trips on AI business and I will comment on them in my next Post.

BK Mangaokar and I attended many small IATA meetings in Geneva.  We usually stayed at the Hotel du Rhone.  On one of our stays, my back started to ache due to the very soft mattress.  Mr. NH Dasur, who was the Regional Manager - Europe suggested that I accept the offer made by Asghar Ali Dharamsey, the Asst. Manager - Switzerland to stay in his guest room.  Having known and worked with Asghar since my training days at the Bombay office way back in 1957, I accepted this suggestion.

Poor Asghar.  He ended up by having to cook for me and also to drop and pick me up at IATA’s Headquarters every day.  Full marks to Asghar.  He never complained and even took BK and me to Divonne some evenings for a little flutter at the Casino and fine dining. 

 Asghar had a two door Ford Capri and BK had to climb into the back.  After a few miles, BK complained about the lack of leg space.  He continued to complain all the way to Divonne.  Asghar quietly drove on and on the way back when BK started to complain again, Asghar stopped the car; opened his door and asked BK to get out.  BK did so, at which point Asghar promptly got in and drove off for 100 yards.  It was a sight to see BK running after the car.  On reaching it, he apologized and said that the name of the car should be “El Magnifique”.  He got in the back and never complained again.

In 1966, BR Patel completed his assignment with Air-India as CEO and went back to his parent cadre.  I believe his next assignment was Secretary in the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.  On completing this term, I also believe he was posted as the Indian Ambassador in Belgium.

As indicated in an earlier POST, Mr. Patel’s successor was Air Vice Marshal Chaturvedi.  Nari Dastur wasted no time in cultivating him as he had succeeded with his predecessor. Nari invited the AVM to visit Europe and when the latter accepted, Mr. Dastur prepared a 3 week itinerary visiting various AI offices and GSAs in various cities of Europe.  To his credit, AVM Chaturvedi stated that 3 weeks was far too long and so the itinerary was cut to 2 weeks.  Unfortunately, for all concerned, copies of the itinerary found their way to all and sundry and we all wondered what the AVM was going to achieve by visiting offices of Air-India’s General Sales Agents in Italy, Austria and other countries.  The conclusion reached by many was that this would be a paid holiday for the AVM.

Nonetheless, the trip went through and must have been quite successful as when he returned, the AVM was laden with gifts from every GSA who seemed highly impressed that for the first time ever, the Chief Executive of the airline had come to call on them.  Talk about first impressions; Mr. Dastur had certainly hit the spot.

While he was our CEO, Mr. BR Patel’s office was in the New India Assurance building.  When AVM Chaturvedi took over, he took new premises in the Indian Express building at Norman Point, very close to where the new Air-India building was under construction.  Once the building was ready, he moved into his new office on the 22nd Floor.  I happened to accompany Mr.Kooka when he first visited AVM’s new office.  The astonishment on Mr. Kooka’s office was worth seeing and he muttered a rather rude expression under his breath.  The AVM asked Mr. Kooka what his impression was and the latter quite bluntly told him that the office was way too large.  

As a matter of fact, the room was 2,400 sq. ft. in size and with the AVM sitting in one corner, the other three corners were taken up by sofas and coffee table for small groups.  Mr. Kooka requested Mr. KK Unni to comment who, not wanting to offend his boss, stated that perhaps, the AVM should have a fresh look at the space and achieve better utilization.

Soon, thereafter modifications were made and the room size became about 1,200 sq. ft.  

One of my colleagues who benefitted with the appointment of AVM Chaturvedi was Nani Mital.  Nani was posted as Manager-Thailand in Bangkok in 1964, after his stint in the USA.  He had a rather lackluster tenure in Bangkok and his promotion to the Station Manager (SM) grade was still on probation after three years.  Very soon after we had a new CEO, Nani Mital was promoted to the grade of Senior Station Manager (SSM) and transferred to the very prestigious post of Manager - Western India at Bombay.

Nani Mital and I were close friends and he quite often confided in me.  He had been very unhappy that he was still unconfirmed as an SM in Bangkok, and when he moved to Bombay on a promotion told me that the AVM was a close family friend and this move was the fruit of such a friendship.  Ironically, Nani Mital was still on probation as an SSM for another three years.

However, at a cocktail party when he had had more than a few drinks, Nani told me “Inder, I know you are senior to me but I will make Commercial Director before you”.  I was surprised at this outburst, but wished him good luck.  At that stage, I felt that if I did not move back to the Commercial Department pretty soon, not only was my future growth in AI limited, but I may be reporting to Nani Mital.  So, I requested Mr. Kooka for a change.  I reminded him of his offer to move laterally as Commercial Manager - Sales before Balendu Shah used his family connections to get this post.  

Mr. Kooka took me to see the Air Marshal (he had received his full grade by then) and asked me to make my case to him, which I did.  AM Chaturvedi listened carefully and stated that he was quite impressed with my performance in AI, particularly at such a relatively young age.  However, he was not happy that the careers of “two very promising" Commercial Department staff would be hurt if I were to be transferred back to this Department.  He went on to state that since I was still very young (I was about 35 years old at that point in time), I had plenty of time to rise vertically.

I asked him point blank who the two officers he had in mind and was not unduly surprised when Nani Mital’s name was mentioned as one of the two.  It took a lot of effort on my part to keep calm and then after a few seconds, I told him that I was very disappointed that he would compare Nani Mital to me.  Nani had not been confirmed in the SM grade for 3 years and even now in the SSM grade, he was still on probation after two years.  The other officer he named was more that ten years older than me and was still in the SM grade while I was a Commercial Manager with an outstanding record.

I left the Air Marshal’s office rather dejected and informed Mr. Kooka that he had in me, a very unhappy and dissatisfied member of his team.

Unfortunately for me, the Air Marshal had decided that I would be a major obstacle in his long term plans for Nani Mital.  So, when after a few months, Air Mauritius requested Air-India for a senior member of its staff as an Adviser to their Chairman, he promptly told Mr. Kooka to depute me for this assignment and promote YY Ajila as CM-Planning in my place.

Lickily, Mr. Kooka did not agree and as a compromise, Lal Sikka who was Manager - Africa was sent to Mauritius.

Meanwhile, Nari Dastur visited Bombay and he and Katie had lunch with my wife and me at our apartment.  He asked if this was a furnished apartment provided by AI.  I told him that the apartment was owned by AI, but the furniture was ours, paid for a by a loan from the Bank.  He was surprised as his impression was that as a Commercial Manager, I was entitled to a fully furnished apartment.  I informed him that of all the CMs, only the SM-Sales had been given a furnished apartment.

On my next visit to Geneva, Nari Dastur confided in me that he was slated to become Commercial Director when Mr. Kooka retired and he had made it very clear to Management that he would choose his own team.  He asked if I would be interested in moving laterally as CM-Sales.  I replied in the affirmative.  It so happened that when he did take over as C.D., I did move back to the Commercial Department and my designation was changed to CM - Marketing & Sales. 

Mr. Dastur mentioned to me that as a compromise, he had to agree to the Air Marshal’s request to promote Nani Mital as a Regional Manager.  He asked for my advice where to post him and accepted my suggestion that he be sent as RM-Africa where he could do the least “damage”.

My problems with Air Marshal Chaturvedi continued while I was still in the Planning Division.  I had been a member of the Indian delegation during our negotiations with the British for rights to operate the 747s in place of the 707s, through London to the USA.  The British were opposed to our large capacity increase as, according to them, the majority of our passengers on the trans-Atlantic sector were UK/USA origin/destination and the through India/USA traffic was only a small part of our carriage.

I had opposed any concession to the British as I felt that under the existing Bilateral Agreement, we were entitled to substitute any aircraft for the 707 that we were operating and in this, I was supported by Mr. Narottam Sehgal who was the then Aviation Secretary and leader of the Indian delegation.  I was surprised and disappointed when for the last meeting with the British, the M.D. decided to take YY Ajila and leave me behind in Bombay.  The agreement that was reached would require AI to pay a royalty for every passenger carried on the LON/NYC/LON sectors beyond a certain figure.

This agreement was not, in my opinion, to AI’s benefit and I will elaborate on it in another Post.

In September 1960, I was a member of the Air-India team to the IATA Fares and Rates Conference held in the Martinez Hotel in Cannes.  The other members of the team were Mr. AF Dubash, Mr. JC Malani, Mr. Balendu Shah and Mr. Malcolm Gomez.

I was the most junior member and as such the “Grunt” or “Gofer” and also what my American friends call “Low Man on the Totem Pole”.

Our table at the Main Conference was between Air France and Alitalia (tables were allocated in alphabetic order).  We heard French on our right and Italian on our left.  We, on the other hand, conversed in English as there was no common Indian language spoken by the AI team.

One evening after a rather late session, I was headed to my room and passed the Head of the PIA team, Mr. Afzal Hussain in the corridor.  He casually asked how I was and I may have unconsciously responded in Punjabi, which is my mother tongue.  Mr. Hussain stopped and asked - Hey, are you a Punjabi?  I responded in the affirmative and he asked me to prove it by abusing him in that language.  Having graduated from Government College, Ludhiana, I promptly let go some of the choicest abuses that I had learnt.  

Lo and behold, Mr. Hussain embraced me in a bear hug and said - you know, we are the only two Punjabis at this Conference.  This deserves a drink and so we repaired to the bar, where we spent a couple of hours exchanging our ancestry and background.  It was a truly memorable occasion which left an indelible mark on me forever.

The 1960 Cannes Conference was my first major IATA Conference and it lasted over 5 weeks.  At that time, the airlines were required to vote unanimously for any changes to fares, rates and rules.  The world was divided into 3 major areas - Area 1, 2 &3.  Area 1 comprised North & South America; Area 2 covered Europe, Middle East & Africa and Area 3 covered Asia & Australia.  Fares & rates were negotiated within an Area or between one area and another.  Any airline operating within say Area 1 could veto an agreement reached either within that area or between Area 1 & 2, Area 3 & 1 or Area 1/2/3.  That is why it took as long as 5 weeks to get a unanimous agreement on ALL fares and rates.

The majority of airlines were represented by very senior Marketing & Sales executives and supported by their staff. For example in 1960, the Pan Am World Airways team was led by Willis Lipscombe, their Sr. VP - Marketing & Sales.  The Air France, British Airways and Lufthansa teams were led by their Commercial Directors while the Air-India team was headed by Adi Dubash, Planning Controller.  Looking at records of previous meetings, I did find the names of Mr. SK Kooka and NV Khote as the leaders of the AI team at some conferences.

The Chairman of the Conference was Vic Dubourcq, Sr. VP Sales of KLM.  Because he was away from his office for such a long time, KLM decided to replace him by another senior Sales staff and changed his title to Sr. VP - Industry Affairs.  In time to come, many airlines realized that they could not spare their very senior commercial personnel for such lengthy periods and by 1970, most of them were represented by people who specialized in Industry Affairs.  I think my last major IATA conference was in 1969 or 1970 after which the AI team was led by BK Mangaokar.  I did attend a few smaller meetings where the IATA Director General determined that very senior representation was required to achieve unanimity but such occasions were few and far between.

I recollect some interesting moments at the 1960 Cannes meeting.  First was a Joint Area 1/2 meeting to discuss  North Atlantic fares and it was at this conference that the airlines decided to introduce a 3rd level of classes instead of just First Class and Tourist Class.  The term Economy Class was coined at Cannes.  The major problem was how to distinguish the level of service between Tourist and Economy and someone suggested that we serve a cold meal to Economy class passengers.  This proposal met with the support of all with the exception of one.  Mr. Dubash vetoed it saying “there is no such thing as a cold Indian meal”.

The compromise was to serve sandwiches and herein lay a clever plot by the European airlines.

While the Americans (PanAm and TWA) served a piece of meat between two slices of bread, the European airlines served open sandwiches which meant a slice of bread heaped with meats, cheese and salad leaves, which gave them a competitive advantage.  This agreement did not last very long and at the next Composite Conference in 1962, the airlines dropped Tourist Class leaving only First and Economy and served regular meals.

Because of many meetings taking place simultaneously, there were occasions where each one of us represented AI individually.  I remember my hesitancy in speaking in front of a mike and so went up to Hans Aeppli, the Swissair Sr. VP Sales who was the alternate Chairman and asked for his advice.  His words left an indelible mark in my memory.  If you know your subject, he stated, then assume you are talking to a bunch of fools.  If you are not completely sure, then do not even attempt to speak as these people are veterans and they will eat you alive.

So, my preparations had to be very long and detailed before I spoke into the mike.

Interestingly, at a meeting of Area 1/2/3 where we were discussing fares between India and the USA, I was the lone AI delegate and the Chairman of this session was Kris Kristiansen, a VP of SAS.  I met Kris many years later when he visited Bombay for talks with us.  He was then the Sr. VP - Marketing & Sales for SAS and I was Commercial Director.  He told all present that our first meeting was way back in 1960.  He remembered that session and said that he had seldom come across such a determined young man who wanted, nay insisted that his proposal had to be accepted unanimously.  I must have made a strong impression on him as I did not become C.D. until 1977 which meant a 17 year gap between our meetings.

Mr. Dubash only stayed for a short time at the Cannes meeting and that left 4 of us.  Meetings were held every day except Sunday and Mr. Shah informed Mr. Malani that he must get his long walks while Mali Gomez said that he had to go to church, which left me as the “punching bag” for Mr. Malani who insisted that I spend my Sunday poring over various draft Resolutions to ensure that each comma, semi-colon and period was in the right place.  Herein lay the difference between Mr. Dubash and Mr. Malani; the former was more concerned with policy while the latter concentrated on the detail.  My education, therefore, was complete, but at what cost - no free time.

Being the most junior, I was also told to attend meetings of various working groups and sub-committees.  While this was drudgery, I must admit that looking back many years later, I have to give credit to Mr. Malani for the tremendous grounding that I received, even if much of it was theoretical.

Which brings me to a very important issue brought home to me by a talk given a few decades later by Dr. Sanjiv Chopra, who is not only my younger son’s father-in-law, but also the Dean of Continuing Education at Harvard Medical School.  Sanjiv conducts many Conferences for 5,000 to 6,000 Medical professionals each year and I was fortunate to attend one of his talks at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York.  The main subject of his talk was Leadership by Example and he spoke about The Ten Key Principles of all Great Leaders.  One topic that impressed me most was “Packing Other’s Parachutes”.

Dr. Chopra had as a keynote speaker at one of his Conferences a retired U.S.Naval Captain, Charlie Plumb who, on his 75th mission flying a Phantom Jet was shot down during the Vietnam war and held prisoner.  After his release, Capt. Plumb happened to be sitting at a restaurant having dinner with his wife when he noticed a man sitting nearby, staring at him.  Finally, the man walked over and asked him “Excuse me, but are you Capt. Plumb”.  Plumb nodded and the man said “You were flying off the Kitty Hawk, your plane was shot down, you ejected and were captured and spent 6 years as a prisoner of war and were tortured”.  Capt. Plumb said “That’s true but who are you”  The man smiled and said “I am the guy who packed your parachute.  Obviously, it worked”. The point Capt. Plumb makes is the leadership isn’t a one-way street: at some point every leader will have to depend upon other people, just as the other people will depend upon them.

When Dr. Chopra heard this story, he realized that he had never expressed his appreciation to the people who had packed his parachute - the four or five people who gave him the support and made all the difference in his career.  He then sat down and sent letters of appreciation to five persons who were his mentors.  This, Sanjiv says, was absolutely thrilling and fulfilling for him.

This story had a profound impression on me and I asked Sanjiv to send me his book titled “Leadership by Example” and I would recommend to all those who read this Blog to try and get a copy.

The story made me realize that I had not ever appreciated the many persons whose support and guidance I had received and which helped my not only in the furtherance of my career but even in my retirement.  Unfortunately, by then, all these people had passed away and so, I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to:

1. Mr. N.V. (Bakul) Khote, the then Sales Manager, who brought me into Air-India and had me placed in the Tariffs Division stating “Inder, this is the guts of the business.  If you can master the art of pricing, the sky is your limit” 
2. Mr. S. K. Kooka, our first Commercial Director, who smiled at my interview when in answer to his question “Young man what is your ambition” , I respond “Your chair”.  Mr. Kooka taught me to be ready to answer any question pertaining to my sphere of responsibility; how to express myself, both verbally and in writing and that a good presentation is more than half the battle.  I will always remember his advice - write a letter as if you are speaking to a person. Never use cliches and to try and not have more than two sentences in a paragraph.
3. Mr. A. F. Dubash, our Planning Director, who took me as his assistant to more meetings than I can remember.  I truly learnt at the feet of a master.  He knew his subject and no one across the table could best him. It was because of him that I stayed on in Air-India as I had more than one opportunity to leave for another more lucrative job.
4. Mr. N. H. Dastur, who taught me compassion and his ever lasting words to me - Inder, always keep your door open.  Listen to your people and try and help them.  It was because of Mr. Dastur that I moved back to the Commercial Department and then rose to be Commercial Director and eventually, Deputy Managing Director.
5. Finally, and the one person whom I shall always admire and whose guidance saw me through many difficult situations.  Mr. JRD Tata, our Chairman and my mentor.  He always had time for me even after I had left the airline.  I still have in my files hand written letters from him.  I will talk about this great man at greater length at another time.

To all of the above persons - THANK YOU FOR PACKING MY PARACHUTE.