In 2004 after I had finished with Tea I got an unusual invitation to lead a website designing company! This was from a Wisconsin-based US company with operations in Chennai. Though I was not a Techie I had management skills that stood the company in good stead. I stepped down as Managing Director in 2020, but continue to be interested in it as a part owner.
This is an unusual hobby for the uninitiated. I have been evaluating the merits of pedigree dogs since 1977! Judging is a process of evaluating and grading to ensure that pedigreed dogs are healthy, and represent the breed well, and are fit for propagating the breed according to the prescribed standard.
Acting seemed to come naturally to me from my childhood but my time at St. Stephen's College was a turning point.
As I look back I am amazed at the situations I have been in and the number of significant people who have passed through my life! A personality I cannot forget is the Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, who was the Chairman of the Tamilnadu Tea Brokers Ltd., the company I promoted in 1987. Working with him for over a decade honed my skills to think strategically and to always look at the larger picture.
I will split my story into two silos – personal and professional.
Education:
Interests in College:
My experiences in life can be life lessons to many. I will be sharing the events in my life through words and pictures.
Recap from Part 1 of the story …. In August 1972 I persuaded my boss T.C. Satyanath to let me have six weeks off for a holiday in the UK and Europe. We were married at the end of 1969 and this was sort of a delayed honeymoon. My friend Vijay Swaminadhan lent me his […]
I sat down with my good friend T K Madhav earlier this year to talk about old times. He had come to Cochin in 1963 to join Carritt Moran & Co (Tea Brokers). He was a Ranji Trophy player representing both Kerala and Madras State (Tamilnadu), and Dick Luff, head of CM Cochin, a cricketing […]
I must apologize to my readers for my long absence from publishing new episodes of these stories.. Before I go on with our life at Icklesham I need to back up a few months to 1972. Our honeymoon in January 1970 was a brief one. We flew to Bangalore and stayed a week at the […]
I was amazed that several people reacted to my last post – Icklesham. This story also got a large number of Likes on Facebook. Many people remembered our Coonoor home fondly. Here are some of the comments: Rachel Varugis Chakola Where, many lasting impressions were made. The introduction to Jimi Hendrix & Lou Reed, memories […]
I had taken a long break from writing but now feel compelled to continue my narrative. My first two years in Coonoor (1971-73) was taken up in establishing the J.Thomas branch office and putting down some roots. It is one thing to rent a place and hang the company’s name board but getting a business […]
If I thought I was going to miss the Cochin social life I was in for a pleasant surprise. Sure, I would miss my friends but most of them were from the tea business in Cochin and I was sure to meet them from time to time. However, Coonoor, Ooty and the plantations in the […]
