It was the morning of Sun, Apr 10th, 2011 when this news came up to me as the 1st call. Life seemed to have suddenly stopped for the moment. There was umpteen no. of SMS and phone calls exchanged with various people from Sunday morning till the next few days. It was about the passing away of the Retail Doyen — #RaghuPillai who was instrumental in sowing the seeds and also envisioned the #Retail that we see today.
Taking a flight immediately from Mumbai to Chennai to be in his last journey was an instant decision. While I hopped on to the flight with some of the other Mentors and Colleagues, all through we were just poignant of how could something like this happen at just in his 54th year. Various episodes and memories just passed by my mind. I had known him for more than 5 years. Those days were just blessed and truly instrumental in shaping me to become what I am today in so many ways.
It was really an extremely tough moment to go from the Ground to the 4th floor of Shangrila Apartment in his Besant Nagar residence to watch the ‘Tiger’ (as he used to be known by many) in a standstill mode. The aura which this great man carried with him was truly awesome. Every moment was difficult to believe that he was no more with us. My mind was, again and again, taking me to all the time I had spent with him. Looking at him and his family along with the large crowd of people who had come to pay their last respects to this great soul was, by all means, a challenging moment.
Although, he’s no more however the values which he made me imbibe are running very strong within me…
His personality was ‘Humane’ — this trait in him was outstanding in all areas. Respect for people was a trait he used to follow until the last word. He used to look at people as human beings and not with designations and thus, his respect for the office boy and any CEO was the same. He exhibited his Simplicity in every activity both personal and professional
His passion for ‘Reading’ — he was never appreciative of reading the long story and was simply amazing in picking the big picture in an incredibly short amount of time. He always used to tell me to read and learn from the knowledge and experience of other people.
He was truly a ‘Visionary’– he had the skill to look and explore beyond the obvious. In my journey alongwith Sriram, we had the opportunity to prepare multiple presentations for him and what used to come out exceptionally was the future of retail. He was indeed the favorite of the B-schools and Retail Media with his plethora of articles and thought-provoking write-ups.
Lover of ‘Innovation’ — being an out-of-the-box thinker himself, he always encouraged me to think and move in the quest for creative ideas. I always saw him driving people to come up with ideas that are not run of the mill types.
Great sense of ‘Humour’ — there have been innumerable instances where he would alter a tough moment into an easy-going one with his terrific sense of humour. Moreover, even during regular occasions, he used to create situations for people to enjoy and simply have fun. This also made stressful situations very easy going with his leadership skills.
Leader of ‘Solution Center’ — his focus was always on the solution to the problem and never on just the problem. He had a discerning ability in this area. His approach would always remain a benchmark in corporate circles.
His unparalleled ‘Detail Orientation’ — his ability to identify the key aspects in any written document or in the actual presentation was comparable to none. He used to love hearing only crisp and summary of any aspect rather than getting into the complete detail. The biggest learning here was his flagship comment…no work is complicated, it is we who actually complicate…
His ‘One-Liners’ and witty comments were his true hallmark of excellence since that used to make the toughest situations go extremely easy. A quick example shared by Sriram is when someone used to do an average job…he used to say…’my golden retriever can do a better job than this’
A Perfect ‘Family Man’ — I always saw him so deeply involved in his family despite being a leader par excellence with such a huge responsibility.
Just quoting the comments of 2 amongst his many closest aides,
Retail Specialist and Best Selling Author — V.Rajesh shared: His comment “English jhadna band kar” (Stop spouting English) has been the guiding light to making crisp and meaningful presentations for many…
…The customer is always right was not mere words and he walked the talk by briefing the cashiers during any store launch to not argue about promotions with the customers.
FMCG, Retail, Telecom, and Real Estate Expert — Sriram Mahadevan shared: Mere ko tu Sirf Ek panne ka executive summary dikha. Baaki angrezi baki sab ko padhne ke liye de dena …(Just show me a 1-page Executive Summary. Rest of the English, you can show to others)
Incase of any personal problem that one discusses with him, he would as…‘Let me apply my Mind on it’
I am glad that I am following all the values that he taught me and several others like me which has led me to be the better version of myself every single day.
To end this note, I would like to share that even if you had not known him personally…you could still pick up ONE quality from this story which you have connected most with…
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