Unstoppable

by Sonu Bhasin

  Kuldip and Gurbachan, however, lived in New Friends Colony in separate houses not far from each other. By 1981, Gurbachan and Vinu had moved from Golf Links to New Friends Colony. ‘My elder brother had bought a plot of land in New Friends Colony and wanted me to move into my own house. But I thought that Gurbachan needed to have his own house, so I told him to get the house constructed for himself,’ said Kuldip. ‘Both my brothers were living in their own homes but I was in a rented house. But I guess it was okay,’ he continued. His tone belied his assertion, but he insisted that he did not mind staying in a rented accommodation and that he did so at his own choice.

  New Friends Colony was the target of an organized mob on 1 November. Gurbachan moved his family to safety during the night of 31 October, when it was evident that Sikhs were being targeted. Kuldip too moved his family out of their house. The two brothers had decided that they would stay back to protect their property. While many Sikh families had abandoned their homes and opted for personal safety, some refused. Jaspal Sawhney was one such man.

  Jaspal was a contemporary of Kuldip’s at Delhi University. ‘I knew Kuldip in college but we were not close friends. It was more of “hi, hello ji, changaji” kind of thing,’ Jaspal said.

  Jaspal also had built a house in New Friends Colony and was Kuldip’s neighbour. It was here that their friendship grew. The two families had become quite close and the children would spend time in each other’s houses. The families had started holidaying together as well.

  ‘I had always known that Kuldip is a businessman. But I saw him change as his business started doing well. He became even more serious about his business. In fact, I saw the growth of Kuldip the businessman when we had to go for a holiday together once,’ Jaspal continued.

  Jaspal’s and Kuldip’s families were scheduled to go to Kashmir for a mini-vacation. The night before they were to leave, Kuldip called up Jaspal and told him that he was cancelling his vacation.

  ‘I was very surprised as all tickets had been booked and hotels had been paid. I asked him what the matter was,’ said Jaspal.

  Kuldip told him that he had discovered that Rs 3,000 were missing from his office at Ajmeri Gate and he wanted to get to the bottom of it.

  ‘I told him that he could investigate after the holiday, but he was adamant,’ said Jaspal.

  Kuldip cancelled his holiday, stayed behind with Meeta while Jaspal and his wife went to Kashmir. Kuldip carried out a full investigation into the missing amount.

  ‘It showed me for the first time his mettle as a businessman. The amount of theft did not matter. The fact that someone had stolen the money was important and he needed to get to the bottom of it,’ said Jaspal with admiration in his voice.

  Their friendship continued to grow and it was Jaspal whom Kuldip turned to when the Sikh riots started in Delhi. On 1 November Kuldip and Jaspal met to work out their course of action. ‘Both of us were clear that we would not desert our homes. We were also clear that we would not let anyone touch even one brick of our houses,’ said Jaspal passionately.

  Kuldip and Jaspal had licensed guns and they took them out. They did not shy away from letting people know that the guns were loaded and would be fired in case any mob tried to hurt them or their property. ‘We were prepared for any eventuality,’ said Jaspal.

  Kuldip too remembered Jaspal and said, ‘Jaspal was there with me most of the time.’

  Rajkumar, Kuldip’s trusted employee, reached New Friends Colony before mid-morning. He persuaded Kuldip to stay indoors.

  ‘He had his gun and he wanted to test it by firing it in the garden,’ said Rajkumar. He had to use all his persuasive skills to prevent Kuldip him from test-firing it. ‘I told him, finally, that if you fire your gun the sound will carry. The mob will come rushing here,’ said Rajkumar.

  Better sense prevailed and Kuldip went indoors while Rajkumar and Kuldip’s cook stood guard at the gate. A similar scene was being played out at Jaspal’s house. Gurbachan was keeping guard at his house.

  The mob came to New Friends Colony, came to Kuldip’s house but did not harm either the property or the resident. Similarly, Jaspal and Gurbachan were left unscathed. ‘Maybe the mob had got the news that we all had guns and that we were not afraid to use them,’ Kuldip speculated more than thirty years later. ‘The mob burnt quite a few houses in our colony but no one touched our houses,’ he added.

  Even as the mob went away, the danger was not over. There was the danger of another mob coming to attack. Along with Jaspal, Kuldip worked out a plan to patrol the streets of his colony. Jaspal had an open jeep. He and Kuldip got a couple of Sikh youngsters together. Their small group patrolled the roads of their colony through the day and night.

  ‘We were not afraid to pull out our guns every now and then to show people that we meant business if someone attacked us,’ said Jaspal. Those two days were grim. But we survived,’ said Jaspal with a deep sigh.

  The two friends survived the first two days of November 1984 unscathed. Their friendship deepened; they became like blood brothers who fought the enemy together and survived. In the two days of November 1984, Jaspal earned Kuldip’s trust.

  This trust was to enable Kuldip to lean on Jaspal for a business partnership in the late 1980s.

  1984–90

  ‘I worked very hard but enjoyed my time in the Soviet Union’—Kuldip Dhingra.

  Thirty

  ‘No One Ever Asked Me for a Bribe in Russia’

  The year 1984 changed the lives of many Sikhs in Delhi. The lives of Kuldip and his family changed too. After the two horrific days of November 1984 it was as if Lady Luck, once again, wanted to send out a sign that she was standing firmly with Kuldip and his family.

  The 1980s saw Kuldip transform professionally. To start with, he stepped out of his elder brother’s shadow and became the business patriarch of the Dhingra family. He then established a new relationship with his younger brother.

  ‘Gurbachan became the backbone of the operations. He handled the factories and production single-handedly,’ said Kuldip.

  And then there was the business with the Soviet Union. Exports to the USSR transformed the fortunes of Kuldip and his brother.

  The export business started slowly. ‘I got no order in August 1984 when I went to Moscow for the first time. But by the late 1980s I was the biggest exporter from India to the Soviet Union. I started by exporting paint but in a few years, I was exporting paint, detergents, soaps, shampoos, large and diverse range of household chemicals, textiles dyes, pigments, baby detergent powder, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shaving cream, compressors for refrigerators, electric panel parts, sewing machines and what not! Products not even remotely related to paint were being sourced by me. I am sure that the authorities had a full file on me and my activities as they were most professional,’ said Kuldip. ‘But that came later. In 1984, I got no orders from the exhibition.’

  Orders from the Soviet Union Trade Office continued to be sporadic. However, since the orders were direct and without any intermediary, the margins were extremely high. Kuldip explained the way imports into the Soviet Union worked.

  ‘It was an economy based on a system of state ownership of industry, collective farming and centralized administrative planning. The state owned and controlled everything,’ Kuldip said, painting a picture of the Soviet Union in the 1980s. ‘All exports and imports of the country were controlled by state firms. Each category of goods had its own state firm. Sojuzchimexport was the company that was responsible for all export, import and internal trading of the chemical industry. This chemical industry included raw material for paints, for textiles and household chemicals, which then included soaps, shampoos, detergents, toothpaste and scouring powder for washing dishes. Basically, a huge range of products which came under the category of chemicals,’ said Kuldip stretching his arms out wide to indicate the large range of products.

  Once Sojuzchimexport got the products into their godowns at the port, trucks and trains transported the p
roducts to the various regions, factories and industries across the Soviet Union. All of this was ordered by this giant firm, which was headed by the director general.

  ‘The director general controlled so much business! He was ordering from all over the world—America, Japan, Europe, India—the entire globe. Billions and billions of dollars’ worth of business.’ said Kuldip. Everything produced in the Soviet Union that could be classified as part of the chemical industry was exported through Sojuzchimexport; everything that was imported was through this firm and all internal trade in the chemical industry was handled by Sojuzchimexport. ‘They had a stranglehold on all business and it was a virtual monopoly,’ said Kuldip. ‘It was a monolith of an organization that had an insatiable appetite for all chemicals and chemical products.’

  As his initial orders were processed Kuldip figured out the flow of business. The trade office in Delhi would give the inquiries for materials to exporters. Once they received quotations from the Indian exporters, a Russian delegation would travel to India to sign the orders. ‘All the exporters would lie in wait for the delegation to come. Once the delegation reached here, there would be a virtual stampede among the exporters to get to the Russians,’ said Kuldip.

  Exporters would take the visiting delegates to Goa and other such places, for factory visits where wine and food flowed ceaselessly along with business discussions. The Russians would lap it all up.

  Kuldip understood the game but wanted to break away from this crowd. Through his personal and business life he had understood that business is done on the basis of personal rapport and trust. He had discovered this in Amritsar in his early days of sitting at the shop and he had it reconfirmed during his days in Europe.

  The Russians are generally large people with larger personalities. They are also proud people, with an ancient heritage. The country had been shunned by the Western world after the Cold War. In Kuldip they found a large man with a large personality, who was also charming. He was well travelled and a good host. When he dealt with them, the Russians found him sincere, hard-working and with an endearing childlike enthusiasm.

  ‘Anyone who deals with Kuldip knows that he does not lie, he keeps his word and is totally trustworthy,’ said Meeta. The Russians realized that they could trust him and responded to Kuldip’s overtures as he started building a rapport with the officers of Sojuzchimexport.

  Kuldip found the Russians largely honest people. I pointed out that this is counter to the image they have around the world. Kuldip protested vehemently. ‘No, no, not at all. No one ever asked me for a bribe in all my dealings with them. Yes, they liked to come to India as it was an opportunity for them to live the good life, which they could not in their own country. So, what is wrong in wining and dining with the clients?’ he asked firmly.

  Kuldip started his outreach to build a rapport with the Russians at the top. The director general at Sojuzchimexport was someone called Ivanovich. He had senior officers who were heads of departments reporting to him. Each department was staffed according to the quantity of business it handled. As Kuldip described the set-up it was evident that Sojuzchimexport was structured like a giant company anywhere in the world. The only difference was that it was a monopoly and operated in a controlled environment.

  This controlled environment was relaxed when the officers visited India. Kuldip invited the delegations to his home for dinner. Meeta and Kuldip are both generous and gracious hosts and they used their hospitality skills to the maximum to start building a personal relationship with the officers of the company. Meeta was used to organizing business dinners even before Kuldip had started the exports business.

  By now Kuldip had moved to his own house—a sprawling farmhouse not far from his factory. The farmhouse, designed by Meeta, was the ideal venue for business dinners. The Russians would lap up the Dhingra hospitality. It was evident that the dinners at home converted the business relationship to a more personal one.

  The Russians did not ask for cash bribes but they did not say no to the various gifts that exporters showered on them. ‘Gifts were allowed,’ said Kuldip. The gifts would be the usual tea, cashew nuts, Scotch whisky, cognac, cigarettes and Indian artefacts. ‘This is not bribery, is it?’ asked Kuldip and continued, ‘I have seen big multinationals give gifts to their clients. I myself get gifts from my bankers. Is this corruption?’

  Kuldip backed his outreach programme, supplemented by dinners at home and gifts, with quality products delivered on time. ‘There was never an order that was delayed or of inferior quality,’ said Kuldip with pride. The orders started coming with increasing regularity. However, Kuldip could see that the potential for business with the Soviet Union was much larger.

  ‘I had to take a call. I realized that some of my time was still being spent on the domestic Rajdoot Paints business. It was a good business and we were making a name for ourselves. But the money was much more in the exports. There were also less hassles,’ said Kuldip.

  Exports did not have to suffer the excise inspectors, sales tax and other assorted tax inspectors and the plethora of other government officials who thrived in those years of ‘licence raj’. ‘It was a clean business. No number two ka paisa needed,’ said Kuldip. He decided to put most of his focus on the export business. ‘If it had not worked out, I alone would have been responsible,’ he said.

  The recurring theme in Kuldip’s life is that once he decided to achieve something he did whatever it took to achieve it. He decided that Rajdoot Paints would be run almost on autopilot with the professional team he had in place.

  ‘True, I was still not happy with the CEO I had but at least I had one,’ said Kuldip as he reflected on the mid-1980s. At Rajdoot Paints, however, he trusted people like Rajkumar who ensured that business was carried out in line with the guidelines laid down by Kuldip. Gurbachan was managing the factories and the production.

  Thirty-one

  ‘I Gave the Russians the 2 Per Cent Bonus Scheme!’

  Kuldip started visiting Moscow regularly. His visits to Sojuzchimexport centred around one of the business divisions, the Household Chemical Division, which included paints. A Russian lady, Madame Shayk, was head of this division. She decided which order went to which supplier.

  ‘She was an elegant lady, tall and stunningly beautiful. She had red hair and a charming presence. She could speak English very well and was a complete professional,’ said Kuldip. He looked into the distance as if he was seeing her image in his mind’s eye. There was a faint smile on his face as he remembered her. ‘But she was very tough in her dealings with all of us,’ he said, the smile leaving his face.

  The orders to UK Paints had grown from 50 tonnes to nearly 10,000 tonnes. Since Kuldip had decided to focus on the exports business all orders were executed on time. The specifications sent by the Russians were produced by Gurbachan in the factory and the paperwork handled by the team of staff under Neelam.

  ‘Oh God, the paperwork for exports never got over. One form and then three more, and then more and more. Everything had to be tallied as the Russians were very strict,’ said Neelam as she remembered those days.

  Sometimes the orders given to UK Paints were executed even before time. ‘This was something new for the Russians,’ said Kuldip. Before UK Paints came on the scene, the Russians had been used to Indians asking for deadline extensions and telling Sojuzchimexport that because of electricity and other problems like strikes by workers, India could not produce more.

  ‘I said the complete opposite,’ said Kuldip sitting up straighter in his chair. Kuldip told Madame Shayk that he could produce as much as they wanted and within the deadlines they wanted. ‘And I told them that electricity or no electricity, labour or no labour, if an order was given to me, Sojuzchimexport would get it on time!’ he said.

  Kuldip’s words were backed by actual performance. Within a short time, Madame Shayk found herself signing more orders for UK Paints. ‘But it was still not 100 per cent of their requirement,’ said Kuldip with a small p
out. He was not happy with the 30 per cent or even 40 per cent of their total requirement. He wanted more.

  As he visited Moscow more often he would meet Madame Shayk in the office. He told her that he was unable to give her better prices and tighter schedules as he was not sure of the forthcoming orders from Moscow. ‘You have a requirement and I can give you more. But I need to plan better so that I can get better prices for my raw materials,’ Kuldip told Madame Shayk. The solution he offered the head of the department was that if he got 70 per cent of the total orders of Sojuzchimexport, he would not only give them better prices and tighter schedules but also 2 per cent more as bonus at the end of the year. Kuldip smiled broadly and his eyes sparkled as he spoke about the ‘2 per cent bonus scheme’.

  ‘Just like the Delhi scheme!’ he said, beaming with pride at his own ingenuity.

  Dealers of Rajdoot Paints had understood and accepted the 2 per cent bonus deal immediately. But it took the sustained effort of Kuldip before Madame Shayk saw merit in his offer. Ultimately UK Paints got a contract to supply Russia with 70 per cent of the total paint orders of Sojuzchimexport. ‘I was not able to get a commitment for 100 per cent of the orders. But I got there eventually,’ he said.

  The Russians were looking to import large quantities of all kinds of goods from India. Both governments were providing incentives for this trade. One of the reasons for this focus was the Rupee Trade Agreements signed by India and the Soviet Union in 1953. This agreement was billed as the opening of a new chapter in the Indo-Soviet economic cooperation. Under this, the Indian government purchased items like crude petroleum, defence equipment and fertilizers from the Soviet Union and made the payments in Indian rupees instead of in US dollars. Alongside, India exported tea, clothing, consumer goods, paints and spices to the Soviet Union and got paid in rupees. This allowed India to use the scarce US dollars for trade with other countries.