Flip side with Dinanath Dubhashi, CEO, L&T Finance Holdings

Childhood Dream:
When I was a kid, I wanted to become a bus conductor. It was for the simple reason that bus conductors had lots of money. When I got older, I wanted to join Armed forces.

Memorable Day:
Getting into IIM Bangalore. That changed me as a person, the way I think.


First Day at Work:
Orientation. I took the toughest job — in projects. Choice was easy – `450 allowance in that department.

Inspiration:
Bhagavad Gita is the best motivational speech. My interpretation of Gita: How by putting things in perspective, you can get the most difficult job done. Lord Krishna had to sacrifice Ghatotkach to save Arjun. In chess, you sacrifice pawns to win the game. We get lost if we don’t sacrifice.

Sacrifice in Life:
I have sacrificed personal time with my daughter. I remember her being 5-year-old, and then I blinked and she was 15.

Favourite Things:
Fitness is very important. Reading too is very important. I love Commando Comics and Phantom Comics, we don’t get them now.

Soft Corner:
I picked up a stray dog. I want to establish a shelter for stray dogs somewhere outside Mumbai.

Favourite Sport:
Roadside cricket and hockey, hide and seek. Anything not needing money.

Favourite Sportsman:
Now it is Virat Kohli. He is a great cricketer with amazing work ethics.

Life After Retirement:
Become a professor and teach management lessons from mythology and history.

Worst Day:
When the brokerage where I was an equity analyst decided to shutter post-1997 Asian crisis. It was just six months after my daughter was born.

Tough Call:
When I turned 18, my late father’s employer Bank of Baroda offered me a clerk’s job. I mustered enough courage to turn it down to seek a better paying job.

Ecstatic Moment:
We promised investors, we’d increase market cap. At the last AGM, one shareholder told me he bought our shares for `6 lakh and sold them for `16 lakh, and used money for his daughter’s marriage.