'TTR was an institution by himself at Brakes India '- S Viji, Chairman, Sundaram Finance Ltd.,
In the late 1950s, former MD of Sundaram Finance TT Srinivasaraghavan (TTS) was not yet five and enjoying his early childhood in the Hindi belt – initially for a few years in Delhi and then for a year or so in Bombay. His father TT Rangaswamy (TTR) was working with the Standard Vaccum Oil Company (later ESSO) and had made the trip up North after a transfer from Madras. It was a fairly settled job and at that time TTR was more likely to have continued his stint North of the Vindyas but for a surprise call that came his way in 1960.
Integral Member of the Padi Expansion
It was from the legendary automan TS Santhanam, who having founded Sundaram Finance Ltd., in 1954, was anchoring the setting up of manufacturing plants in Padi. While TTR was happy and contented at ESSO, he just could not say NO when Santhanam wanted him back in Madras to be an integral part of the Padi expansion. And thus quite as a surprise at that time, he quit the job in Bombay and returned to Madras to join Lucas TVS in 1961, that was to be the start of an over five decades long association with the TVS Group.
Having worked at Lucas TVS and Sundaram Clayton through the 1960s, he moved to Brakes India in 1971 and was a key member of the Senior Management team that took the company to the top as India's leading brake system supplier. He officially retired from Brakes India in 1998 as ED – Finance (modern day CFO) and Company Secretary but continued to play an active role over the next decade and a half at Turbo Energy, a company where he was the Founder Promoter. Well into his 80s, he also continued to be engaged in the strategic decision making process at Brakes India.
That's a beautiful kolam
He was so culturally inclined that even into his 90s, just a few years ago, he would walk through the North Mada Street to watch the White Pulli Kolam on a Saturday evening in Margazhi, an event that was a top draw at the Mylapore Festival organised by Sundaram Finance. He would exclaim with delight 'That's a beautiful kolam.'
A few years ago, he had a fall at home and fractured his femur but that did not dampen his spirit and he continued to be engaged with both Turbo Energy as well as Brakes India. Despite the physical injury, that had made him a bit immobile, TTS found his memory to be razor sharp right till the end.
TTR - Never Comprised his values
S Viji, MD, Brakes India and Chairman of Sundaram Finance, who has seen him from close quarters for over five decades says that TTR was a person of the highest integrity “He was an Institution by himself at Brakes India. He was a very religious person in the best sense of the word. In financial and accounting matters, he was very innovative and found solutions and a way forward, always strictly within the law and without compromising his values.”
“He was a person with compassion and an innate sense of justice and fair play. He never spoke ill of anybody.”
A Life message for his son in 1982
It was that sense of fair play with the employees that he initiated into his son TTS (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/08/tt-srinivasaraghavan-tts-sundaram.html) when he started out on a career at Sundaram Finance in the early 1980s. Four decades later, TTS vividly recalls that life message and told this writer in August that his appa always insisted on leading a simple life and wanted me to be approachable to everyone. People Management is the most important skill, TTS remembers his appa telling him at a young age “Even though my appa was in finance, he saw the people connect as important. It was from him that I learnt to put people first.” It was a lesson that stayed with TTS right through his corporate life.
A Patient Hearing to every employee
Viji says that all the employees of Brakes India including the union office bearers had immense respect for him and his words not because of his position, but because of how they perceived him "TTR's qualities as a human being endeared him to all who came in contact with him. On any given day of the year, long after office hours, you would find employees of the company waiting in front of his house and seeking an audience with him, to explain their grievances. He never turned them away; but gave them a patient hearing and tried to find a solution to their problems as best he could. He was a mentor to them.”
Viji recalls that though TTR was a very serious worker, there was a lighter side to him as well “He also had a tremendous sense of humour and was capable of a hearty laugh.”
A Father Figure to all of us - Srinivas Acharya
Former Managing Director of Sundaram Home Finance Srinivas Acharya knew two Rangaswamy’s very closely in his life. One was A Rangaswamy of LGF (who passed away recently during the Pandemic) and TT Rangaswamy. He too remembers the love and affection showered by TTR on his colleagues "TTR connected individually with everyone. I enjoyed his love and affection ever since I got to know him several decades ago. He was a very thorough professional, very kind and encouraging. He had a sharp memory and would quote events from several years gone by. He was a father figure to all of us that knew him."
Navalpakkam S Ranganathan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/02/navalpakkam-ranganathan.html) is a renowned Prabhandham scholar and has released CDs on Nalayira Divya Prabhandham and Desikar Prabhandham. His father was the priest at the Vedantha Desikar Srinivasa Perumal temple in Mylapore (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/01/vedantha-desikar-srinivasa-perumal.html) for several decades.
Made for Each Other Couple
Rangappa as he is called in the temple circles has known TT Rangaswamy for five decades and says that he was a regular at the temple at all the utsavams. “My appa always used to receive him at the temple during the annual utsavams. He would not miss the big utsavams at the temple and both he and his wife, a made for each other couple, were ardent devotees of Srinivasa Perumal.”
A Guiding Force for over three decades
Ranganathan recalls the days soon after he graduated in commerce "It was TTR who showed me the way in my career and directed me to Turbo Energy where I joined as a steno in 1989. Over the last three decades, he was my guiding force both at work and in my personal life. Though he was a Board level Director, he was always approachable to even those at the mid and junior levels. He had a big heart and was one with a special human touch. He was always sensitive to human issues. I could share any grievance with him and he would always come up with the perfect solution.”
Ranganathan says that the set of human values and friendly engagement with people at all levels has successfully passed on to his sons as well for he can see the same kind heartedness and simplicity in his children as well.
While Rangappa has now grown to become the leader of the Secretarial Department at Turbo Energy, he has a big regret “He always wanted me to do ACS and pushed me a lot over a number of years. Every time I met him he would remind of the need to equip myself with a degree in CS but somehow I could not get down to doing that. That is one wish of his I could not fulfill.”
TTR spent the last 36hours of his life at his home in Kasturi Estates from where he had begun his six decades association with the TVS Group. His life’s journey had a quiet and peaceful end on Wednesday morning at 5.45am at the age of 97, just the way he would have wanted without troubling anyone.
While his contribution as a Financial Controller and a Company Secretary at the various TVS Group companies was commendable over a long period of time, it was his large heartedness, compassion, the innate sense of justice and fair play and the personalized human touch that were standout features of his life.
It was truly a life well lived.