A tribute to dad

A single conversation across the table with a wise man is worth a month’s study of books._ a Chinese proverb. That is what I felt when I conversed casually with Dr. K.R Menon, the managing director of Hariharathmaja Chemicals, based at Ernakulam, Kochi.

Into his early eighties, he is still the enthusiastic entrepreneur he has always been. An ever questing scientist at heart, he has a doctorate in zoology from the prestigious Wilson College in Mumbai.

Dr Menon was enjoying a leisurely evening at his daughter’s plush residence at Ernakulam when I met him. He was warm and genial. He has an air of quiet authority about him, which immediately commands respect. Despite being an octogenarian, he still retains the enthusiasm and zest for life. He seemed to literally come alive, vibrantly so, when he commenced to talk about his pet topic, his endeavour, to which he had put in his life and soul to building up. He ran his fingers through his salt and pepper hair and settled down comfortably to travel back in time to the days when he had struggled to set up his chemical industry.
DR. K.R.Menon, set up the factory manufacturing sodium alginate and related chemicals in the year 1979, with financial help from Kerala Financial Corporation. He named it Hariharathmaja Chemicals, in dedication to his favorite deity, Lord Ayyappa.

Sodium alginate is extracted from brown algae or sea weeds. There are two varieties of brown algae available in India._ sargassum and turbenaria. Hariharathmaja chemicals procures its raw materials from the eastern coast, precisely, Ramnad district in Tamil nadu. Sodium alginate is a versatile product and is used in various industries. As a printing medium, as a lubricant in welding electrode manufacture, as a thickening medium in various food products, as an antacid in the pharmaceutical industry.
Hariharathmaja Chemicals caters to the demand of well known names in varied industries mentioned previously. The textile industries in Tirupur and Erode districts of Tamil Nadu use sodium alginate as their printing medium.Ador Welding, previously Advani Oerlikon in Chennai and Esab are just two of their clientele in the welding industry. Their vast clientele is spread all over northern India.
Initially only textile grade Alginate was manufactured. In the year 1984, the nation wide strike in the textile industry almost forced the closure of the unit but it survived by diversifying into manufacture of electrode grade sodium alginate thereby emerged the electrode grade chemicals – Calcium Alginate and Potassium Alginate.Esab as mentioned earlier is one of their clients.
Another hurdle the unit had to face was, when in the year 1996 the Kerala Government imposed hundred percent power cut in the industrial sector. This too was overcome by working entirely on Genset alone and won the confidence and accolade of their clientele all over India. In the year 2005, the unit started catering to the Pharma industry by manufacturing Alginic acid. Yet another product they diversified into was the manufacture of waterproofing compound Plastiseal.
The saga continues….. They have further projects of opening units in Tamil Nadu. A few years back Dr.K.R Menon passed on the mantel to his very able and level headed son Mr.Balachandran Krishnan who is now in charge of running the show and elevating it to greater heights and unexplored terrains.
Dr.Menon still wakes up at the break of dawn and gets ready each day to visit his factory, forever the enthusiastic enterprising entrepreneur.
As I took leave, I was reminded of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s quote “a feeble man can see the farms that are fenced and tilled, the houses that are built …..The strong man sees the possible houses and farms, his eye makes estates as fast as the sun breeds clouds” I mentally saluted Dr. Menon, the high performance entrepreneur for his indomitable spirit…..

This too shall pass

Tough times do not last, but tough people do. This is not just a quote or a random phrase. It means exactly what it implies. That problems and tough situations are blessings in disguise. They arrive to wake us up to our inner strengths, hither to untapped potential or undiscovered mental acumen. The tougher a situation, the more resilient the person facing it becomes as she harnesses inner strengths and becomes more centered, aware and focused.
My thoughts race back to a terrifying night ten years ago when I was woken up in the dead of night by the incessantly ringing telephone. Maybe the phone call in retrospect was divine intervention to wake us up and save us from a horrendous end. When I woke up, I found bright flames licking at the front porch of our house. We had sublet the front portion of our house to a garment dealer who had set up shop during Onam, the harvest festival of Kerala. The electric wires passing overhead had short circuited and the whole shop had gone up in flames and the fire was slowly licking its way towards the rest of the house. I ran out with my daughter and my husband watched the scene, terrified and unable to act.
I called out to my brother who stayed right behind our house, to summon the fire brigade. By the time they arrived, the entire garment shop was in cinders and the front portion of our beautiful home was charred beyond recognition. Telephone and electric wires needed to be reinstated and the flames had also singed another business complex that belonged to my sister. But luckily the damage was restricted to just the side portion and not the interiors. Our neighbor’s plush French windows were shattered as well.
I was too numb to even cry! I had banked heavily on the rent from the small garment shop to tide over a financial crunch and now not only that source of income had been destroyed but I also had to repair the damage done to my home.
The neighbors were magnanimous enough not to ask for compensation but there was the media to face, the electricity board to chase, the officials from the Fire Department to answer, the police to explain the accident to.
I needed money desperately to put things right and asked a close relative for help and even promised to repay each month from the meager teacher’s salary I earned but to no avail.
But God helps those who help themselves. After I had done everything possible to raise some money, help came from a totally unexpected source. My father-in-law lent me or rather sent across some much needed funds. My pride had not allowed me to ask him but the money came when I needed it most.
I began to set my house in order by employing people who would repaint, refurbish the house and clean out the charred remnants of the accident from the grounds. An inch by inch walk to your goal is usually a cinch and surely but surely I managed to divert my salary and other savings towards renovation. My brother- in- law, a hardware businessman was magnanimous enough to slash prices on cans of paint.
I braved the relentless reconstruction all alone but I am proud to say that I learnt to trust myself and I realized that I am strong and not the shrinking violet I had assumed myself to be.
I discovered wellsprings of confidence, inner strength, peace and calm that I had not known earlier. And soon my house looked even more beautiful than ever and the charred tree in the yard started growing green leaves all over again. A new lease of life ! Yes, a new lease of life for me too and an awakening of sorts.
If it had not been for that unfortunate incident, I would never have realized that I have a strong heart and a spirit that refuses to give up.
Today years later I still think of that horrendous night but not with regret. It was a hard nudge from Divinity, asking me to wake up and be aware that when life throws me a ball, I had better be ready to catch it. I have leased the house since then and have gone to another city in search of new and varied experiences. I now face every situation with the awareness that God does not give us any situation that we cannot handle. The tough times did not last afterall. I did.