ET Awards' sideshow: The lighter side of otherwise serious businessmen
The woman, who Rajiv Bajaj felt deserved a bigger award than the one he received, Ruparani Bajaj, provided an even-handed view of the father-son relationship.
By ET Bureau | Updated:
When the Hero was Bajaj...
Rajiv Bajaj, MD of Bajaj Auto, began his award acceptance speech by saying how the line 'you just can't beat a Bajaj' should now be tweaked to 'you just can't miss a Bajaj.' Reason: There were at least 25 Bajajs in the audience. He didn't stop there. The mother of all awards, he carried on, should go to his mother Ruparani "for completing all of 50 years of managing my father ( Rahul Bajaj)."
Rajiv Bajaj, MD of Bajaj Auto, began his award acceptance speech by saying how the line 'you just can't beat a Bajaj' should now be tweaked to 'you just can't miss a Bajaj.' Reason: There were at least 25 Bajajs in the audience. He didn't stop there. The mother of all awards, he carried on, should go to his mother Ruparani "for completing all of 50 years of managing my father ( Rahul Bajaj)."
...the Father Rode Pillion...
Rajiv then went on to make the point that his strategy for Bajaj, of moving beyond scooters and even beyond the Bajaj brand itself, has worked. Never mind that his father doesn't think much about it. "But is that (success) enough to put an end to the father-son debate on the Bajaj scooter? I doubt it. Even the FM’s conflict resolution skills will fall short here," concluded Rajiv.
... and Mother Spoke Out
The woman, who Rajiv Bajaj felt deserved a bigger award than the one he received, Ruparani Bajaj, provided an even-handed view of the father-son relationship. “Every generation has its own way of doing things, which is why Rajiv has not always agreed with his father. But he still has the integrity and sense of responsibility that his father has," she said.
Mistry Man
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One of the few honchos who flew beneath the radar at the ET Awards nite was Kekoo Colah. Colah is head of real estate at SP Group, promoted by Pallonji Mistry, father of Cyrus Mistry. So will the group miss Cyrus? Colah's answer: "When Shapoor, the elder son who will take charge at the SP Group, is there, why should we worry?"Mum's the Word
At the panel discussion, when Kapil Sibal threw the gauntlet by asking "who in the private sector raises their voice and takes a stand," heads turned towards RIL's Mukesh Ambani hoping that he would oblige. But the RIL chairman was in no mood to ask a question or mutter a comment to the panel.
KVK, UID & IT
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When Infosys chairman KV Kamath and Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, who is also UID Authority chairman, meet, you would expect some Infosys talk. The duo instead chose to discuss how IT can change the world of payments. Kamath says, like ATMs, electronic payments will soon become ubiquitous.Birds of a Feather
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First Global co-founder Shankar Sharma and MCX CEO Jignesh Shah have both had their run-ins with Sebi. Sharma congratulated Shah on his apparent victory in his dispute with the regulator. "No compromise," said Shah. "Why should there be one," asked Sharma. "Compromises are for those who do wrong."Ministers in Flight
HRD minister Kapil Sibal left the capital an hour earlier than law minister Salman Khurshid to make it to the ET Awards. However, Sibal reached Mumbai an hour and 40 minutes after Khurshid did. Reason: a delayed flight. Khurshid flew Jet whilst Sibal was on Air India. But, as one wag put it, at least Air India, unlike another high-profile airline, wasn't cancelling flights.
Missing the King
The man who was most missed at the event was UB group chief Vijay Mallya. We heard at least 10 honchos mutter that they were missing the King of, er, Good Times. An industrialist was heard saying: "I hope Mallya wins the 'Businessman of the Year' award next year!" If he does, will more ministers fly Kingfisher?
Royal Delay
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Also at the mercy of the Maharaja was Rahul Bhatia, co-promoter of no-frills airline IndiGo, which prides itself for its on-time performance. After meeting the PM to outline the industry’s woes, Bhatia, along with CEO Aditya Ghosh, flew Air India to make it in time for the ET Awards, yes the same flight that was delayed by over an hour.Horse Sense
Perhaps it's time for Bhatia to deploy more aircraft on the Delhi-Mumbai route. That day may not be far away, what with IndiGo placing two big orders for 100 Airbus aircraft each. CEO Aditya Ghosh was overheard telling legal eagle Zia Mody: "Every time we add a new aircraft, it is internally called another baggi (horse cart)!"
Jet, Set, Go
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Whilst still on the subject of jets and jet-setters, top Tata group executive S Ramadorai was another who landed in Mumbai and rushed to the venue, making it in the nick of time before the ET Awards got underway. His evening didn’t end there, though. His next destination was an event of TCS, where Ramadorai is now vice chairman. Life seems to have got busier since he retired as CEO a couple of years ago.Download
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