Unstoppable

by Sonu Bhasin

  It was obvious that these paint companies and the other outsourced manufacturers were not happy with this new situation. ‘Yeh UK Paints kithon aa gaya hai? Chhotti jeyi company hai aur saare orders ennoo mil rahe hain [Where has this UK Paints appeared from? It is such a small company and yet it is taking away all the orders],’ said Kuldip, repeating what he had heard in the market. Some of these people complained to the trade office of the Soviet Union. It was alleged that the quality of the products being supplied were not good. ‘I told the trade office, “Check against the specifications given to me,”’ said Kuldip. The trade office checked but could not find fault with any of the materials being supplied by UK Paints.

  ‘I was called by the owner of one of the large paints company in India. He used to get orders for paints from the Russians earlier but now believed, mistakenly of course, that he had to deal only with me if he wanted to export,’ remembered Kuldip.

  He met the business owner at the latter’s residence. ‘Why are you getting all the orders, Mr Dhingra?’ asked the paints business owner aggressively. ‘You know we have stopped getting orders. Why is the Soviet Union doing this?’ he continued, blowing a plume of smoke in the air as he crossed his legs and leaned back in his chair.

  Kuldip said steadily, ‘How should I know? I am not the Soviet Union. It is better you ask them.’

  Another large producer of dyes intermediates who supplied his material to UK Paints for export, Mr Mehta, was also upset about not getting orders directly from the Russians. ‘I was in a meeting at a Soviet State Firm Office in Moscow. One of the officers came to me and said, “Mr Dhingra, will you come into this room with me please,”’ said Kuldip. He was concerned as the tone of the officer suggested some kind of hidden conspiracy.

  ‘My mind immediately went to things like orders not reaching on time, quality not good, paperwork not done,’ continued Kuldip. With these thoughts, he accompanied the Soviet officer to a meeting room. The officer opened the door and gestured for Kuldip to walk in.

  Kuldip was surprised to see Mr Mehta sitting inside the room, along with a couple of the state firm’s officers. But Kuldip’s surprise was nothing when compared to the shocked look on Mr Mehta’s face as he saw the newcomers enter the room.

  One of the dealing officers in the meeting room looked at Kuldip and said, ‘Ah, Mr Dhingra, good you are here. Mr Mehta was asking us about orders of H. acid and gamma acid and we thought it would be best if he spoke to you directly.’ The officer turned to Mr Mehta and added, ‘You do know, Mr Mehta, don’t you, that we are quite satisfied with these supplies of textile dyes and intermediates from UK Paints?’

  ‘That Mr Mehta was trying to go behind my back and get orders directly,’ Kuldip said, evidently still chafing. ‘I had never done that to Mr Jain. But look, he was meeting these Russians and asking for orders,’ he continued. The Russians, however, sent a message to Mr Mehta that they trusted Kuldip and UK Paints.

  Thirty-four

  ‘We Were Given a Diplomatic Status in Moscow’

  The business with the Soviet Union increased to the extent where Kuldip realized that he needed an office in Moscow. The Soviet officials had also started suggesting that it would be better if UK Paints had an office in Moscow. It would help in more efficient business relationships which would be good for growth of business. To his delight, UK Paints was offered the status of an accredited company.

  ‘It was a huge complement and was a prestigious position which signified the importance the Soviet Union was giving to UK Paints. You know we were either the only, or one of the two–three companies from India to be accredited by the Soviet Union?’ said Kuldip with evident pride. ‘We saw it as an honour, a reward and an extremely pleasant surprise,’ he continued.

  The other Indian companies that were given such accreditation were limited to large government organizations like Air India, State Bank of India, Indian Oil, State Trading Corporation (STC) and Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation (MMTC). Being awarded an accreditation is like a certificate by the giver that the company is competent, behaves ethically, is trustworthy and employs suitable quality assurance. Being accredited by the Soviet Union was a signal for all state firms in the country to give priority and preference in doing business to such firms. For a small and relatively unknown company like UK Paints, it was a huge pat on the back.

  Being an accredited company also meant that UK Paints would be accorded a diplomatic status which further meant that the government would provide a suitable place for an office and residence at a reasonable price. The government also provided a distinctive and special number plate, like a diplomatic number plate for the cars.

  ‘We felt like total VIPs there. Almost like diplomats,’ said Kuldip with a huge smile. He did not say it but that he, a shopkeeper from Amritsar, was being treated at par with diplomats and with Indian giants like SBI, MMTC, STC and Air India must have pleased him no end!

  Kuldip was given two apartments with almost diplomatic status. He combined the two and made an office in a part of it. Meeta had already become part of the export business. She had wound down her furniture and interiors business as, again, it made more business sense to focus on exports to the Soviet Union.

  But Kuldip needed more trusted people to deal with the Russian buyers. ‘I did not want to let any outsider deal with my buyers,’ said Kuldip categorically. Gurbachan could not be pulled out of the factory at any cost. Sohan Singh was not part of this business at all because of the unfortunate stroke he suffered from in May 1982. The children were all in school.

  ‘Whom could you depend on?’ I asked, aloud.

  ‘Why do you forget that I also have a sister?’ asked Kuldip with a smile.

  Ashi, Kuldip’s sister, was in Amritsar as her husband had moved there to manage a couple of the yarn factories of his family. But his health was delicate and the business was not doing very well. Kuldip had been worried about his sister and her family for a while but did not want to do anything that seemed patronizing. Kuldip now saw an ideal opportunity to achieve both objectives all at once. Kuldip asked Ashi to help him out in Moscow.

  ‘Kuldip bhapa called me and said, “Ashi, I want you to go to Moscow and manage our office there.” He said it so calmly and with full confidence in me. But I was totally flustered,’ Ashi said. For a young lady whose work experience had been limited to going to the factory and helping out with some books of account it was a huge ask. ‘But Kuldip bhapa had full confidence in me. And the Dhingra spirit in me told me that I had to live up to his expectation,’ said the now-confident Ashi.

  Meeta and Ashi started learning Russian at the Russian Centre in Delhi. Ashi’s husband and children also took the Russian language classes and were enthusiastic about the impending Russian adventure. Within four months they had a vocabulary that could sustain the basic conversation. The two ladies preceded the rest and went to Moscow to set up the house.

  ‘It was so cold,’ was the first impression that Ashi had of Moscow. Their apartments, including the kitchen, needed to be set up. ‘Meeta and I set up the whole house there and I moved bag and baggage, with my children, to Moscow,’ said Ashi. Her husband had to stay back to look after his parents and the work in Amritsar.

  It was a completely new environment for Ashi, who had lived either in Delhi or in Amritsar so far. She was away from her husband. She also had to learn how to deal with the Russian officers in Sojuzchimexport and other companies.

  ‘Kuldip bhapa helped me in each step at Moscow. He taught me how to go for meetings, how to conduct meetings, the nuances of dealing with the Russians, how to talk to people and how to conduct myself . . . everything,’ said Ashi.

  While Kuldip supported her during her stay in Moscow, Meeta provided a home for Ashi’s children in Delhi. ‘My son, Gurpreet, and daughter, Nikita, lived with Meeta in Delhi for quite some time as they had to go back to Delhi for their education. And Meeta never, even once, differentiated between her daughters and my children. She treated everyone
the same. That is why sometimes I feel my children love their mami as much as they love me!’ she said.

  The office in Moscow helped the business grow even more. Kuldip now had a trusted hand in Moscow to deal with the officials. Ashi would go regularly for liaison meetings, for getting inquiries, to show new samples, to get orders.

  ‘I had decided that I would have my own identity in Moscow,’ Ashi said. She decided to take only her silk sarees to Moscow. ‘I had long hair at that time and I would make a tidy bun,’ she remembered. The lady in the sari with a coat and a bun became a familiar figure in the offices and corridors of Sojuzchimexport and other companies in Moscow.

  The small office of the Dhingras in Moscow was staffed with some Indians who had stayed on in Moscow after their studies. There were a couple of locals as well. ‘I am absolutely certain that our apartment and office in Moscow were bugged,’ said Ashi seriously. Her driver was also a local and she suspected that he too was part of the ‘overseeing team’ of the Russians. ‘But I was not worried. Why should I be? I was not doing anything wrong, was I?’ she added.

  From the growth of business after Ashi went to Moscow, it looked like she was doing everything right. The business was growing by leaps and bounds and Kuldip needed to set up another company to take in more orders.

  ‘It would work better if the entire business was split between at least two or more companies,’ said Kuldip. Thus, UK Paints set up a sister company with Meeta, Ashi and Vinu as its owners. This company of empowered women expanded the business footprint of the Dhingras in the Soviet Union.

  ‘The first time I went in for a business negotiation I was quite terrified inside,’ said Meeta. It was a discussion for an order of toilet soap. The Russians wanted tonnes of it. She spent ten days in discussions. ‘I knew the offices as I had been coming with Kuldip but I did not know too many people. The Russians kept asking for details and I had to keep going back and forth to get them the information,’ continued Meeta. Just before Meeta left for India, she had a commitment of Rs 5 crore order in her hand.

  Thirty-five

  ‘Russian Export Business? It Is Only So-So’

  With the women taking care of the Moscow office, Kuldip had more time to look after the delegations when they came to India. ‘By the late 1980s UK Paints was sourcing pretty much everything that we could think of. I was signing orders very frequently and very regularly. They wanted to deal only with me, so there were days that I signed more than three orders in a day,’ said Kuldip.

  Many of the orders were signed by the delegations when they visited India. All signing of the orders was accompanied by cocktails and lunches and dinners as celebratory protocol events. There were days when Kuldip had an early dinner, signed a contract and then went for a later dinner and signed another contract. Since he was dealing with the Russians, he had to keep up with them when it came to drinking. ‘I was leading such a hectic life. Business meetings through the day, then drinking with the Russians and then dinner and then drinking till late,’ said Kuldip with a shudder. He was prone to headaches but could not let his health come in the way of business. And for sure he enjoyed his drinks too! He started popping painkillers. Since in most cases, he had to host his business partners for cocktails and dinner, the painkillers were chased down by alcohol.

  It was not only the health and the too-much-of-the-good-life problem that Kuldip had to deal with. ‘There were many ladies who used to be part of the delegations,’ said Kuldip in a muted voice. The ladies were all officers of either Sojuzchimexport or some other Russian company giving business to Kuldip. His looks and charismatic personality didn’t just help in getting orders but also ended up inviting attention. ‘There were a couple of those women who were sort of trying to get extremely friendly and close to me,’ he said with a little swagger. ‘Or maybe it was just a feeling I had due to their favouring me consistently with big and profitable orders?’ he wondered aloud.

  Trading with the Soviet Union followed a bilateral trade agreement between governments. The suppliers got the money in their bank account against LCs (letters of credit) immediately on submitting documents including proof of delivery. Between the Delhi and the Moscow offices, there came a time when UK Paints was told that the quota of exports under the trade agreement for the year was exhausted. However, the appetite of the Russians was insatiable. They wanted more goods from UK Paints. ‘They were importing for one-sixth of the land mass of the world,’ said Kuldip. All material went to the port of Odessa and from there it was sent by trains, roads or even planes across the vast country. ‘It was such a large country. They had eleven time zones. Wohh khatam hi nahin honda [the country never ended],’ laughed Kuldip. Unable to export more from India Kuldip sought, and received, permission from the Indian government to set up a company overseas. Thus, UK Paints Overseas was set up.

  Kuldip had requested his wife and sister to help out when he could not handle the India business alone. Now that he had to source from overseas, he fell back on his trusted friend, Jean Claude. The Frenchman had kept in touch with Kuldip. He had even visited the Dhingras a couple of times after that initial trip in the minivan. Jean Claude was happy to help out as exports meant good money. The Frenchman started sourcing for UK Paints Overseas from Spain, Portugal, Algeria, France and other countries to export to Russia.

  Those were the heady days for Kuldip and UK Paints. ‘By 1990 the profits from my export business were more than the profits made by Asian Paints,’ said Kuldip. Asian Paints was and continues to be the largest paints company in India. Besides being the largest, Asian Paints is also among the most respected companies in the country. Kuldip was particularly happy about being more profitable than they were at that time. However, the low-key Dhingras kept the financials also low key and did not publicize their profits or their sales volumes.

  ‘People would ask me about the Russian business and I would say, ‘Aisa hi hai, bas theek thaak hai, margin-vargin kuch nahin hai’ [Business is just okay, the margins are nothing],’ laughed Kuldip. He also did not speak about the volumes and the quantum as he preferred to be under the radar of their competitors.

  However, he was very particular about the quality of material being exported under UK Paints. ‘There was a huge reputational risk as I had spent years and years building my credibility,’ said Kuldip. He ensured that UK Paints used its inspectors and quality assurance professionals before each order was exported. Much of the inspections were done at the suppliers’ factories.

  ‘I put the fear of the Russians in all my suppliers,’ said Kuldip simply. He told them that if any order was found wanting in quality or delivery schedule, the suppliers, even if they managed to escape the wrath and claims of the Russians, they would have to deal with Kuldip personally as well.

  Thirty-six

  ‘The Dalai Lama Told Papa Not to Deal in Arms’

  Kuldip’s trustworthiness had grown so much in the eyes of the Russians that he was the go-to person for almost all their requirements, even those other than in the chemical industry. ‘I remember that the Russians sounded out Papa to be involved in everything they did. They trusted him so much,’ said Rishma.

  While Kuldip revelled in this trust, it came to bite him most unexpectedly. The Russians sounded him out to deal, on their behalf, for selling defence equipment to third-party countries.

  ‘Defence equipment?’ I exclaimed! ‘You mean guns and all that?’

  ‘Yeah,’ said Rishma ‘and he was most uncomfortable with this even though it had nothing to do with India.’

  Kuldip did not want to get anywhere close to anything related to defence even though the products being discussed were army tents, uniforms and boots. However, the Russians were trying their best to convince him to get involved. Kuldip, by now, interacted with the big bosses of the Soviet trade. He was also much obliged to the Soviet Union for supporting him in his export business. He was caught between a rock and a hard place.

  ‘Papa was in a real dilemma. He did not want to
do any kind of defence business for sure. But he also did not know how to refuse, diplomatically of course. He did not know what to do,’ said Rishma.

  Kuldip firmly believes that God looks after him and that he sends his people to save him when no one else can. His saviour at this stage came in the form of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

  ‘We had all gone to Manali for a brief holiday. There were two of our guests, one Russian lady and a Turkish businessman, with us as well,’ remembered Rishma. Kuldip and Meeta with their three daughters had planned to take the visiting guests to Manali.

  As luck would have it, the Dalai Lama was in Manali at the same time. The foreign guests saw the hoardings about his discourse and wanted to attend it. Kuldip made inquiries and was told that there was a separate enclosure for foreigners and they could all go there.

  After the discourse the foreign guests wanted a personal meeting with His Holiness. The resourceful Kuldip, once again, ran around and spoke to the protocol officer of the Dalai Lama. ‘Papa told the protocol officer that our guests are extremely keen to meet with His Holiness,’ said Rishma.

  ‘Sure, come tomorrow at 4 p.m.,’ was the immediate reply of the protocol officer.

  The next day all of them trooped in for a private meeting with His Holiness. They met with the officers of the Dalai Lama and were escorted into a room. ‘We had a face-to-face meeting with His Holiness!’ said Rishma.

  The group sat on the floor and were given tea. The Dalai Lama walked in with his trademark smile and a twinkle in the eye. He spoke with the group and then told them that each of them could ask questions if they had any. ‘I don’t remember what questions any of us or our guests asked but I remember very clearly what Papa asked,’ said Rishma.