28. Kailash Parbat & Mansarovar Pilgrimage. The initiation & introduction of this trip was a joke! On one Sunday in April 2002, there was a whole day power shut down at Vashi. To get some fresh air , that evening I sat in the central ground of Rohini apartments, where I resided then. Then , my namesake Mr CK Ramanathan joined me and we exchanged pleasantries. Then he asked me whether you are interested in coming to Kailash Parbat. I took that as a party invitation to the hotel at Churchgate and nodded OK. Then he said, let the power come back and we shall meet in his house. Their house was just opposite to mine in the same society. I shared that with my wife Bhuvana and asked her to accompany since his wife Dr Devaki is one of her best friends. Evening around 7.30 PM (after the power resumption) we went to their house with a wine bottle- courtesy visit and fix the date for the party. When the topic started, he began stating that the trip has been initiated by his co-brother Dr Rajagopal of NIA ( a Govt. of India police force ) and he had led Indian delegation to Mansarovar in Tibet 14 times but this trip he proposed exclusively for the family members and close friend & associates only. As per the norms followed, the team strength has to be around 15 personnel and they are looking forward to friends joining to make the strength. Though I was wrong in understanding the evening message, we volunteered to join and made the wonderful but tough pilgrimage. The route was- Mumbai- Delhi- Kathmandu by flight; after preliminary acclimatization at Kathmandu, the arduous journey was undertaken by Toyota land rovers- 4 wheel drive. We all enjoyed the one week strenuous travel in the Tibetan hilly terrain and reached Mansarovar. After a day's stay there we undertook the 3 day parikrama of Mt Kailash and made it. That was a real challenge in one's life. After that taking the same route we came back to Kathmandu. In Nepal we visited several temples including Pasupatinath and returned to Mumbai via Delhi. The trip was between 10th July to 27th July 2002. Everyone in the group enjoyed the whole trip and thanked Dr Rajagopal for organizing the memorable pilgrimage. The Nepalese tour operator Mr Jyoti Adhikari of M/S Eco Trek who also accompanied us said- This is the luckiest team and well disciplined. When we queried him, he responded that invariably some one in any time may die or not complete/ refuse to undertake the parikrama round whereas in our team all 16 have successfully completed ! We all felt very happy hearing that. Year 2002
29. World award/ recognition & Formation of Reliance Digital World Though initially in the year 2000 I was not sure what shall be my role in the telecommunication sector, my intuition and team work gave excellent results and our GIS group was well recognised both within the government as well as abroad. Dr.Jack Dangermond, president of ESRI personally called on Mr MDA at his office to appreciate our GIS development. Reflecting that Reliance was awarded with 2 world awards-one for developing Digital map of India using satellite imagery & the other for developing an application for the cable cut detection , to be presented in the San Diego international annual GIS conference. At that time a funny misunderstanding took place. Mr Sanjay Mashruwala, that time my boss said ' Ramu, let only some juniors go to this conference and receive these awards and you need not go'; after two days Sh MDA phoned me to convey that I represent him also as he was also extended with a personal invitation to attend that award function. When I responded stating that I am not attending the award function, he queried me? When explained he directly phoned SM and instructed him saying Ramu should be personally present and let him lead the team.On return when I personally met him to display the received awards, he questioned me- Do you recollect what you said when I dragged you to the telecommunication? The same day to recognise and reward the entire team, he asked Mr VV Bhat to formulate a dedicated Pvt.Ltd set-up ( M/S Reliance Digital World) and made me the Business Head. The recognition and responsibility came together. Of course my emoluments were enhanced 4 fold. It is a different story that the company became public Ltd later. Year 2003
30. Once again briefcase robbery. In Dec.2004, on suggestion from my first son Raja to make a family trip to Singapore I took the passports of mine, wife and my second son Abhilash in my briefcase and went to ICICI bank in Vashi for some cash withdrawal for filing the visa application. While standing and attending some phone call outside the bank building but within its premises, some thief flicked my briefcase and ran away. Immediately I rushed to Vashi police station and lodged the complaint. The police sincerely turned out and we were taking rounds in probable locations within Vashi.Then a call came in my mobile from the vegetable market stating that a briefcase has been found laying near our shop; pl. come with the police and pick up! When we arrived there and collected the lost briefcase, surprisingly only the passports of mine and my second son were taken out leaving my wife's passport in tact. Then we three ( self, wife and son ) rushed to the passport office at Thane and called on the passport commissioner Mr Mishra. He was so courteous to entertain our case complaint and issued new passports in 3 days flat to ensure our planned trip to Singapore was not postponed/cancelled. That day was Dec 16th ( my son's birthday) the passport commissioner entertained us with birthday cake and handed over our new passports with his blessings. Year 2004.
31.Distress release from Reliance Communication Unfortunately after the demise of Founder Chairman Dhirubhai Ambani, there was family dispute among brothers regarding the inheritance of RIL chairmanship. That ended as a case in the supreme court of India. Finally a settlement deed arrived and the various business domains were split among the two brothers. In the bargain the telecommunications went to the younger brother Mr Anil Ambani. At that time Mr ADA had put several conditions about the communication sector employees and my name fell under 'Must to continue' ! Somehow my mind was not comfortable working under him but at the same time I did not want to leave the service. So I contacted M/S MDA & VV Bhat discreetly- what to do &how to get out of the mess ? They advised, silently you leave the place , come&sit in North block, which was a temporary arrangement allocated to Mukesh's group. But my conscience was not permitting to leave without any notification. I was desperate. During the lunch break of a meeting day with ADA, I went to his secretary's office and asked for a paper. As he did not have any stationary I did scribble something in a paper napkin saying that my age is nearing retirement and I wish that I retire from manufacturing industry for my satisfaction & may be relieved immediately. After handing it over to his secretary I started worrying - If he does not agree what am I to do and how to manage my family living etc. ! My second son Abhilash only convinced me saying "Do not worry; I have started my career & we can manage" Luckily after 2 days break, ADA gave me SMS instructing to hand over the charge to Mr KM Jagdeesh who worked under me in GIS. That relieved me from tension. Year 2005. Contd......
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