Indore’s Man of Steel
Imagine the 21-years-old chap, already tense with his decision and trying to stick to it faced with such a frightening situation. He grew cold feet and conveyed his defeat to the mother of the Jain girl.
When the family found Ramesh compromising on one count, they also respected his wishes and started looking for a girl from a family of modest means ”I had never seen Rajni – my fiancée – even six months after our engagement though we had exchanged a few letters.”
Many claim though Ramesh vehemently denies it, that it was his marriage to Rajni that changed his fortunes. ” I would not say that my wife brought me good luck or anything of that sort. But at the same time, I would definitely give Rajni the complements for being an excellent companion and friend in all my ups and downs. In fact, it was not just that I married her that things changed but her cool temperament, patience and the pleasing relations we share that must have been instrumental in my career.”
After an excellent performance in his post graduate examinations, Ramesh’s interest in academics was aroused. He started delivering lectures on Commerce and allied topics in the local colleges. At the same time, he registered himself for a Ph.D. ”As I had some first-hand knowledge of textile mills as the family business was in textiles, I decided to work on ‘Cotton Textile Industry in India’ as my topic for the doctoral research.”
After a long interval of seven years (probably due to his commitments) Ramesh Baheti was awarded a Ph.D. In 1974. A question creeps up almost immediately ‘Is the doctorate only an ornamental degree or does it really help?’ Dr. Ramesh Baheti clarified, ”The higher you study, the more you acquire the power of analysis and reasoning which can very well be utilised in one’s own sphere of activity. It definitely gives a person better standing. At least, it did help me a lot in my career so one can’t just pass it off as an ornament to show off on the visiting card.”
Although Ramesh had passed his academic examinations with flying colours, but to carve one’s niche in the real harsh world of money and wealth was an altogether different proposition. When in college, Ramesh had started attending to the family business quite seriously. But he had decided that the family business was not going to be his business. One, the scope of growth was definitely limited and did not justify proper utilisation of Ramesh’s talents. Two, even if he were to work hard and make the business grow, it would just be the usual label of ‘carrying on the father’s trade’ and nothing more. ‘My father was aware that if I did not have good option, I would take up some managerial job in a company.” Coincidentally, there was a sick small scale unit in Indore, Steel Tubes of India Pvt. Ltd, manufacturing steel tubes. The unit had incurred heavy losses and was served with various notices and warrants for economic violations. ”My father gave me Rupees One and a half lakhs and Kailash’s father gave him a Lakh of rupees. Blindly, we purchased shares of this company and started looking after it.”
With practically no previous experience in engineering industry, or any theoretical knowledge, Ramesh Baheti was caught plumb on the wrong foot. ”I did not know what we made, what was the technology, where was the market. It was just sheer madness to go into such an industry.”
This was November, 1967, Ramesh recounts that for a month, there was not a single day when he did not cry in his cabin repenting his decision. But, like before, the desire to triumph overcame the feeling of remorse and repentance and operation salvage commenced.
For three gruelling weeks, he read every word in every single file handed over to him by the outgoing management. He wanted to understand the company’s history, its problems and everything connected with it. The process was tiresome but the knowledge that emanated gave him the clue for his future actions.
”I made my first business trip on the 24th of December, 1967 to Hyderabad, Bangalore and Madras. It was, surprisingly, a tremendous success. I got so many orders that the entire scenario changed from despair to hope.”