One a while I write blog posts about my batch mates from Engineering College, under a series titled 'Tribute to my batch mates'. I try to chart their life over the last 30 years or so as a celebration of our friendship. So far I have written about Krishnamuoorthy Rao, Saji P George (Saiper), Saji Mathew Premnath and Hanumant.
One person that I always wanted to write about was Jiji
But I was unable to. I was stymied.
What was there to write about Jiji? I asked myself. He was not flamboyant, was not a poet like Premnath, not a cricketer like Kunjamoo, not a good orator like Tom Alex, not humorous like Rames, not a singer like Habeeb, not a nerd like many dudes in our batch, not reserved like (well you decide), not into technology like Ebby, did not use flowery malayalam like Appi Saji, did not frustrate us with his ever changing menu choices like Valiya Thomman (MRF), was not known for his innocence like George, did not give chala fish in the mess like Saiper, did not frequent Padukkadu like Saju Paul, did not climb the coconut tree in girl's hostel, did not try to steal 3D glasses after watching the film 'My Dear Kuttichathan'....
He did not do anything special and did not make any mark in the conventional engineering college terms, if you see what I mean. He did not do anything memorable.So what will I write about?
Have mercy on me. Give me some material to write about, people...
But here is the irony.
Ask anyone of our batch mates to name five persons from our batch that stood out for them or whom they looked up to during our college days, 90% of people will have Jiji Thomas in their list. Ask them to name five of their batch mates that they are still in touch with, five people who are in their phone contact list, I bet that 90% will have Jiji on that list.
There was something about Jiji that I had to write about, but there was nothing to write about.
This dichotomy frustrated me. What do I write about Jiji?
How can one be so memorable as Jiji obviously is, but a narrator cannot find stuff to write about him?
I struggled with this for more than two years. Every time I talked to Jiji, I reminded myself that I have to write about him but a part of my mind will ask me the question, what will you write about?
Then three thoughts came in my mind the other day while I was having my morning walk in the nearby park.
I remembered my recent visit to Kottayam. There is a huge boulder in front of Thirunnakkara temple. It has been there for ever since I can remember. I doesn't do anything (obviously..), but you cannot imagine a Kottayam without that rock. Without it Kottayam will not be the same.
You could say the same thing about Round in Thrissur or Kovalam Beach in Trivandrum.
Then it stuck me. I realized that Jiji does for us what the rock does to Kottayam Town. He is a strong emotional part of our college life. He defines TEC for us.
I also remembered that some time ago, I had written an article in my blog about 'Bougainvillea Leadership'. Bougainvillea is a steady performer. It rises with the sun every day and does what it does best, makes the universe colourful. It has not airs of superiority. It is not temperamental like a rose, not fragrant like a 'Mullapoo' and is not mysterious like 'Neelakurunji'. Damsels do not wear it on their hair, bees do not line up to have its nectar, pundits do not use the flower to do puja, flower shops do not sell Bougainvillea garlands, Romeo do not use it to demonstrate their affection to Juliet.
But you can't imagine a morning walk without seeing these colourful flowers. These flowers are an inherent part of our daily life. They are steady performers. They colour the universe, with the least amount of fuzz, day in and day out.
Jiji is steady as a Bougainvillea plant. In the four years that we spent in Engineering College, I don't remember him being emotional except for once. That was when Santhosh Mathew was beaten by SFI goons. I remember the frantic, desperate look on Jiji's eyes as we all scrambled around, seething with helpless rage.
Other than those regular 'beating' events, Jiji maintained his poise, equanimity, balance and objectivity (You don't need a Roget's thesaurus to say that these are Synonyms, hey, it is my blog, remember?)
Like Bougainvillea, Jiji was everywhere where he was needed. He is a natural leader and has the itch to solve problems and get things done. He has the rare ability to focus on the task at hand and not to be distracted by irrelevant stuff. You name any event or activity that happened during our four year stint in collage, you will see Jiji, directing, coordinating and rolling up his sleeves to do the heavy work. You take a sports event for example, and Jiji will be there as a referee, player or in the audience cheering his favorite team.
I remember an inter-batch (or inter-hostel?) badminton match that I played wihen we were in the third semester. I was playing Anand Singh of fifth semester. I lost the match from a position of strength. I remember Jiji cheering for me. I remember feeling guilty about letting him down.
"It was disappointing that you lost", he told me later, "don't worry Swamy, it is only a game. You will win next time"
With his oval shaped face and wave of thick black hair, Jiji used to look like young Shahrukh Khan. He used to part his hair in the middle and the flowing locks will move like a wave as he ran. I used to admire his hairstyle and for a couple of years when in college, used to comb my hair like Jiji.
Did not work really. With a face like mine....
Jiji has this rare ability to elevate you to a higher level every time he talks with you. He is non-judgemental and will debate with you fiercely and with respect. He believes that debating with a person on an issue is the best form of respect you can show that individual. You show that you listened to him, you understood and appreciated his point of you and presented another perspective that he may have overlooked. He will be the first person to agree if he is in error. Not only he will agree that he was wrong, but also take action by changing his behaviour.
Jiji is a serious, boring kind of guy. Not for him stupid jokes that I crack once in a while (well, most of the time, I am the 'Kathi' remember?). He remains objective, analytical and factual. He can do it for hours. I have never seen him raise his voice in anger or frustration.
But he is not a bore. He has diverse interests and can talk for hours. I regularly talk to him and every time I call him or vice versa, we tend to talk for at least an hour which increased to two hours or more a few months before 2019 elections.
What did you do after graduation, I ask him.
"After completing Engineering, I went to Ahmadabad where my dad was posted. I joined Batliboi as a maintenance engineer. I worked there for about two years and then joined GMMF (Gujarat Milk Marketing Federation, company that owns Amul brand) and worked under Dr.Varghese Kurian. I learned a lot during that time." he says.
The current religious polarization in the country is not new for Jiji. He told me about his boss in Batliboi, a person named Viren Shah.
"Viren Shah was my manager when I worked in Purchasing department in Batliboi. He had a policy of not purchasing anything from Muslims. He refused to register any Muslim vendor. He rejected them on one pretext or another", he says.
"Later Shah left the company and moved to Gulf. I am sure that he is not rejecting Muslim vendors now.", Jiji allows himself a chuckle.
My blood boils as I hear his talk about this bigotry. I tell him that I would have blasted Shah. Jiji is more sanguine about these things.
"You can't change people. Everyone has their life journey. You can only learn to accept", he tells me.
Just before the recent elections, I used to vociferously argue against the 'Othering' of minorities in this country. "Why are minorities not protesting?", I used to ask him. "After all every tax paying citizen has equal rights in this country. By not protesting against this 'Othering', minorities are implicitly going on the defensive", I tell him.
Jiji tells me about people and their 'Life Journey'. Learning happens only when someone is ready, he tells me. When the time comes, you do not have to tell them anything. They will become aware of their mistakes. By telling them that they are wrong, you do not gain anything, he says.
Well, I am not a saint like him.
We agree to disagree.
Jiji married Anju in 1991. They have a son Neville. He is pursuing Post Graduation in Literature from a leading institution in Hyderabad. Being a liberal, Jiji has allowed his son to choose the path that excites him. He is there to support and guide his son.
After almost ten years in Ahmadabad, Jiji changed the course of his career by moving into the exciting area of Facilities Management. India was in the initial stages of a massive economic expansion and much like our friend Saji Mathew, he was in the right place in the right time.
In 1999, he joined a company called MacLellan Integrated Services, a US based facilities management company. He was initially posted in Chennai and I remember meeting him there when I had visited Chennai in 2002. He moved to Bangalore in 2004 and worked with MacLellan till 2006.
Jiji faced a major crisis in life in 2004. Two days after moving to Bangalore on February 9, 2004, his parents were involved in a major car accident on February 11. His father had his hands severed and had to do Plastic Surgery to get them fixed. His mother spend 50 days in ICU and Ventilator before she, with god's grace, recuperated.
"That incident shook me", says Jiji, "It all happened so fast, I did not even have any time to even unpack my stuff after I moved to Bangalore"
As usual, he handled the incident with grace and dignity.
In 2006 he moved to a Company called Ascendas which was maintaining a 300000 Sq.ft property of ITPL in Whitefield in Bangalore. With just three days into the new company, he faced a major crisis. How he handled the crises tells a lot about Jiji's positive attitude and problem-solving approach to everything.
"Barely three days into my stint in Ascendas, we got the news that a bomb was placed in ITPL. I was instructed to oversee and handle the emergency. I was new to the company and new to the property. To handle such crises, one must have an in-depth understanding of the property, which I did not have. I failed miserably in handling it. Fortunately it turned out to be a hoax call. There was no bomb", he tells me.
I remembered this incident. I was working in TCS at that time and we had offices at and near ITPL.
"Once the dust settled down, I sat down and prepared a detailed 'Emergency Response Manual' and step-by-step procedure to handle different types of crises. I send the same to Ascendas HQ in Singapore and that became the Global emergency response SOP for the company."
"Well, I guess something good came out of it after all", he says modestly.
"I believe every experience is a learning opportunity", he announces in a matter-of-fact tone.
I can't agree more.
He worked with Ascendas for two years before moving to RMZ in Bangalore in 2008. He worked there till 2012. He dabbled as a freelance consultant for about a year and worked on a project based out of Mumbai. I was also working in Mumbai at that time and we used to meet occasionally at Mumbai airport as be boarded our flights for weekend return to Bangalore.
In 2013, he joined workforce back with GSH group a US based Facilities Management Company. He worked there for four years, before returning to RMZ in 2017 to head their Facilities Management Division. Recently RMZ has spun off their Facilities Management division into a company named 'SMART Services', with Jiji as the CEO.
You heard it right. Jiji Thomas, the second CEO from our batch.
It is a huge fucking deal...
Anju, Jiji's better half (she is really better, I can tell you) worked the the field of ERP, same area that I, Mohanan M and Dabbar are working in. For about five years she and I were colleagues in Oracle. Just before I left Oracle in 2012, Anju left the company and joined Infosys. For the last two or three years, she is not working.
That doesn't mean she is idle. She has a wide variety of interests, one of them being investing in Stock Market. Since I am also interested in the market, I ask her about her portfolio. It reads like 'Who is Who' of Indian Corporates. Infosys, ITC, HUL, TCS... you name them and they are in her portfolio. She has purchased them a few years ago and does not want to sell them.
She has also purchased a part ownership in a farm. For an annual payment, they will give you land to cultivate your favorite vegetables. Jiji says that almost all the vegetables they use at home comes from the farm.
Jiji's eyes light up when he talks about his dad. "He was very disciplined and was stubborn as a mule. At the age of 32, he was diagnosed with diabetes and was prescribed 30 minutes of daily walk and was proscribed sweets and sugar of any kind. He has not broken that habit voluntarily even for a single day till he passed away", he tells me.
In 2014, Jiji lost his dad to Blood Cancer. "He did not suffer much", he tells me, "struggled for 6 months before he passed away"
God has given him many crises to test his resilience. So far he has proved his worth. He doesn't want to discuss them.
If Jiji has any quirks, it is his interest in cars. He is fascinated by them and buys and discards them at regular intervals. In the last thirty years, he has bought and sold 8 cars.
I ask him to tell something about his fixation for cars.
"I love long drives and cars are my weakness. I started off with Maruti 800 an moved through Hyundai Santro, Hyundai Accent, Honda City, Ford Fiesta, Hyundai i10, Skoda Laura and Ritz. Currently I own two cars, Skoda Rapid and a BMW that I purchased recently". He says.
I count 10 cars. Jiji is surprised.
At the beginning of this narrative, I spoke about three things I thought about while walking in Jayanagar Park that changed my perspective on writing about Jiji. One of them was the rock in front of Thirunnakkara Temple in Kottayam, another was about Bougainvillea.
The third thing I thought about was Dr.Manmohan Singh. In the last 25 years, Dr.MMS has been there whenever the country needed him. He was always self-evasive and let his colleagues take the credit. 'Maunmohan Singh', his political opponents called him. But if you look at any great achievement of the country in the last 25 years, be it Polio eradication, poverty reduction, Nuclear Deal, double digit GDP growth.. Dr.MMS is there at the background, guiding and directing.
Doctor saab is not known for his Oratory or Charisma or Flamboyance or Humour. But every time there was a crisis, India looked up to him.
That is what typifies Jiji Thomas. Handling crisis comes naturally to him. With his steady, structured and methodical approach, he quickly goes into the root cause and solves them. If you are in any kind of crisis, there is nobody in the world you would want to have nearby than Jiji. In his unobtrusive and understated way he will take charge and ensure that crisis is handled efficiently.
One thing about Jiji always perplexed me. How can one be so balanced, objective and rational?
In one of our recent discussions, Jiji told me about his family. "I have a sister and a younger brother. Throughout our childhood, me and my sister stayed with our grand parents in Kerala, while my brother stayed with our parents."
That could be from where he developed his defining traits. By staying with his grand parents.
I felt sad. Having to spend your childhood away from parents must have been tough on you, I venture my opinion.
"It was not tough. We used to go to Ahmadabad during out vacation. besides, I had an advantage that I could apply for higher studies either in Kerala or Gujarat", he makes light of my concern.
Always practical. Always Positive. That is Jiji Thomas for you.
But I was unable to. I was stymied.
What was there to write about Jiji? I asked myself. He was not flamboyant, was not a poet like Premnath, not a cricketer like Kunjamoo, not a good orator like Tom Alex, not humorous like Rames, not a singer like Habeeb, not a nerd like many dudes in our batch, not reserved like (well you decide), not into technology like Ebby, did not use flowery malayalam like Appi Saji, did not frustrate us with his ever changing menu choices like Valiya Thomman (MRF), was not known for his innocence like George, did not give chala fish in the mess like Saiper, did not frequent Padukkadu like Saju Paul, did not climb the coconut tree in girl's hostel, did not try to steal 3D glasses after watching the film 'My Dear Kuttichathan'....
He did not do anything special and did not make any mark in the conventional engineering college terms, if you see what I mean. He did not do anything memorable.So what will I write about?
Have mercy on me. Give me some material to write about, people...
But here is the irony.
Ask anyone of our batch mates to name five persons from our batch that stood out for them or whom they looked up to during our college days, 90% of people will have Jiji Thomas in their list. Ask them to name five of their batch mates that they are still in touch with, five people who are in their phone contact list, I bet that 90% will have Jiji on that list.
There was something about Jiji that I had to write about, but there was nothing to write about.
This dichotomy frustrated me. What do I write about Jiji?
How can one be so memorable as Jiji obviously is, but a narrator cannot find stuff to write about him?
I struggled with this for more than two years. Every time I talked to Jiji, I reminded myself that I have to write about him but a part of my mind will ask me the question, what will you write about?
Then three thoughts came in my mind the other day while I was having my morning walk in the nearby park.
I remembered my recent visit to Kottayam. There is a huge boulder in front of Thirunnakkara temple. It has been there for ever since I can remember. I doesn't do anything (obviously..), but you cannot imagine a Kottayam without that rock. Without it Kottayam will not be the same.
You could say the same thing about Round in Thrissur or Kovalam Beach in Trivandrum.
Then it stuck me. I realized that Jiji does for us what the rock does to Kottayam Town. He is a strong emotional part of our college life. He defines TEC for us.
I also remembered that some time ago, I had written an article in my blog about 'Bougainvillea Leadership'. Bougainvillea is a steady performer. It rises with the sun every day and does what it does best, makes the universe colourful. It has not airs of superiority. It is not temperamental like a rose, not fragrant like a 'Mullapoo' and is not mysterious like 'Neelakurunji'. Damsels do not wear it on their hair, bees do not line up to have its nectar, pundits do not use the flower to do puja, flower shops do not sell Bougainvillea garlands, Romeo do not use it to demonstrate their affection to Juliet.
But you can't imagine a morning walk without seeing these colourful flowers. These flowers are an inherent part of our daily life. They are steady performers. They colour the universe, with the least amount of fuzz, day in and day out.
Jiji is steady as a Bougainvillea plant. In the four years that we spent in Engineering College, I don't remember him being emotional except for once. That was when Santhosh Mathew was beaten by SFI goons. I remember the frantic, desperate look on Jiji's eyes as we all scrambled around, seething with helpless rage.
Other than those regular 'beating' events, Jiji maintained his poise, equanimity, balance and objectivity (You don't need a Roget's thesaurus to say that these are Synonyms, hey, it is my blog, remember?)
Like Bougainvillea, Jiji was everywhere where he was needed. He is a natural leader and has the itch to solve problems and get things done. He has the rare ability to focus on the task at hand and not to be distracted by irrelevant stuff. You name any event or activity that happened during our four year stint in collage, you will see Jiji, directing, coordinating and rolling up his sleeves to do the heavy work. You take a sports event for example, and Jiji will be there as a referee, player or in the audience cheering his favorite team.
I remember an inter-batch (or inter-hostel?) badminton match that I played wihen we were in the third semester. I was playing Anand Singh of fifth semester. I lost the match from a position of strength. I remember Jiji cheering for me. I remember feeling guilty about letting him down.
"It was disappointing that you lost", he told me later, "don't worry Swamy, it is only a game. You will win next time"
With his oval shaped face and wave of thick black hair, Jiji used to look like young Shahrukh Khan. He used to part his hair in the middle and the flowing locks will move like a wave as he ran. I used to admire his hairstyle and for a couple of years when in college, used to comb my hair like Jiji.
Did not work really. With a face like mine....
Jiji has this rare ability to elevate you to a higher level every time he talks with you. He is non-judgemental and will debate with you fiercely and with respect. He believes that debating with a person on an issue is the best form of respect you can show that individual. You show that you listened to him, you understood and appreciated his point of you and presented another perspective that he may have overlooked. He will be the first person to agree if he is in error. Not only he will agree that he was wrong, but also take action by changing his behaviour.
Jiji is a serious, boring kind of guy. Not for him stupid jokes that I crack once in a while (well, most of the time, I am the 'Kathi' remember?). He remains objective, analytical and factual. He can do it for hours. I have never seen him raise his voice in anger or frustration.
But he is not a bore. He has diverse interests and can talk for hours. I regularly talk to him and every time I call him or vice versa, we tend to talk for at least an hour which increased to two hours or more a few months before 2019 elections.
What did you do after graduation, I ask him.
"After completing Engineering, I went to Ahmadabad where my dad was posted. I joined Batliboi as a maintenance engineer. I worked there for about two years and then joined GMMF (Gujarat Milk Marketing Federation, company that owns Amul brand) and worked under Dr.Varghese Kurian. I learned a lot during that time." he says.
The current religious polarization in the country is not new for Jiji. He told me about his boss in Batliboi, a person named Viren Shah.
"Viren Shah was my manager when I worked in Purchasing department in Batliboi. He had a policy of not purchasing anything from Muslims. He refused to register any Muslim vendor. He rejected them on one pretext or another", he says.
"Later Shah left the company and moved to Gulf. I am sure that he is not rejecting Muslim vendors now.", Jiji allows himself a chuckle.
My blood boils as I hear his talk about this bigotry. I tell him that I would have blasted Shah. Jiji is more sanguine about these things.
"You can't change people. Everyone has their life journey. You can only learn to accept", he tells me.
Just before the recent elections, I used to vociferously argue against the 'Othering' of minorities in this country. "Why are minorities not protesting?", I used to ask him. "After all every tax paying citizen has equal rights in this country. By not protesting against this 'Othering', minorities are implicitly going on the defensive", I tell him.
Jiji tells me about people and their 'Life Journey'. Learning happens only when someone is ready, he tells me. When the time comes, you do not have to tell them anything. They will become aware of their mistakes. By telling them that they are wrong, you do not gain anything, he says.
Well, I am not a saint like him.
We agree to disagree.
Jiji married Anju in 1991. They have a son Neville. He is pursuing Post Graduation in Literature from a leading institution in Hyderabad. Being a liberal, Jiji has allowed his son to choose the path that excites him. He is there to support and guide his son.
After almost ten years in Ahmadabad, Jiji changed the course of his career by moving into the exciting area of Facilities Management. India was in the initial stages of a massive economic expansion and much like our friend Saji Mathew, he was in the right place in the right time.
In 1999, he joined a company called MacLellan Integrated Services, a US based facilities management company. He was initially posted in Chennai and I remember meeting him there when I had visited Chennai in 2002. He moved to Bangalore in 2004 and worked with MacLellan till 2006.
Jiji faced a major crisis in life in 2004. Two days after moving to Bangalore on February 9, 2004, his parents were involved in a major car accident on February 11. His father had his hands severed and had to do Plastic Surgery to get them fixed. His mother spend 50 days in ICU and Ventilator before she, with god's grace, recuperated.
"That incident shook me", says Jiji, "It all happened so fast, I did not even have any time to even unpack my stuff after I moved to Bangalore"
As usual, he handled the incident with grace and dignity.
In 2006 he moved to a Company called Ascendas which was maintaining a 300000 Sq.ft property of ITPL in Whitefield in Bangalore. With just three days into the new company, he faced a major crisis. How he handled the crises tells a lot about Jiji's positive attitude and problem-solving approach to everything.
"Barely three days into my stint in Ascendas, we got the news that a bomb was placed in ITPL. I was instructed to oversee and handle the emergency. I was new to the company and new to the property. To handle such crises, one must have an in-depth understanding of the property, which I did not have. I failed miserably in handling it. Fortunately it turned out to be a hoax call. There was no bomb", he tells me.
I remembered this incident. I was working in TCS at that time and we had offices at and near ITPL.
"Once the dust settled down, I sat down and prepared a detailed 'Emergency Response Manual' and step-by-step procedure to handle different types of crises. I send the same to Ascendas HQ in Singapore and that became the Global emergency response SOP for the company."
"Well, I guess something good came out of it after all", he says modestly.
"I believe every experience is a learning opportunity", he announces in a matter-of-fact tone.
I can't agree more.
He worked with Ascendas for two years before moving to RMZ in Bangalore in 2008. He worked there till 2012. He dabbled as a freelance consultant for about a year and worked on a project based out of Mumbai. I was also working in Mumbai at that time and we used to meet occasionally at Mumbai airport as be boarded our flights for weekend return to Bangalore.
In 2013, he joined workforce back with GSH group a US based Facilities Management Company. He worked there for four years, before returning to RMZ in 2017 to head their Facilities Management Division. Recently RMZ has spun off their Facilities Management division into a company named 'SMART Services', with Jiji as the CEO.
You heard it right. Jiji Thomas, the second CEO from our batch.
It is a huge fucking deal...
Anju, Jiji's better half (she is really better, I can tell you) worked the the field of ERP, same area that I, Mohanan M and Dabbar are working in. For about five years she and I were colleagues in Oracle. Just before I left Oracle in 2012, Anju left the company and joined Infosys. For the last two or three years, she is not working.
That doesn't mean she is idle. She has a wide variety of interests, one of them being investing in Stock Market. Since I am also interested in the market, I ask her about her portfolio. It reads like 'Who is Who' of Indian Corporates. Infosys, ITC, HUL, TCS... you name them and they are in her portfolio. She has purchased them a few years ago and does not want to sell them.
She has also purchased a part ownership in a farm. For an annual payment, they will give you land to cultivate your favorite vegetables. Jiji says that almost all the vegetables they use at home comes from the farm.
Jiji's eyes light up when he talks about his dad. "He was very disciplined and was stubborn as a mule. At the age of 32, he was diagnosed with diabetes and was prescribed 30 minutes of daily walk and was proscribed sweets and sugar of any kind. He has not broken that habit voluntarily even for a single day till he passed away", he tells me.
In 2014, Jiji lost his dad to Blood Cancer. "He did not suffer much", he tells me, "struggled for 6 months before he passed away"
God has given him many crises to test his resilience. So far he has proved his worth. He doesn't want to discuss them.
If Jiji has any quirks, it is his interest in cars. He is fascinated by them and buys and discards them at regular intervals. In the last thirty years, he has bought and sold 8 cars.
I ask him to tell something about his fixation for cars.
"I love long drives and cars are my weakness. I started off with Maruti 800 an moved through Hyundai Santro, Hyundai Accent, Honda City, Ford Fiesta, Hyundai i10, Skoda Laura and Ritz. Currently I own two cars, Skoda Rapid and a BMW that I purchased recently". He says.
I count 10 cars. Jiji is surprised.
At the beginning of this narrative, I spoke about three things I thought about while walking in Jayanagar Park that changed my perspective on writing about Jiji. One of them was the rock in front of Thirunnakkara Temple in Kottayam, another was about Bougainvillea.
The third thing I thought about was Dr.Manmohan Singh. In the last 25 years, Dr.MMS has been there whenever the country needed him. He was always self-evasive and let his colleagues take the credit. 'Maunmohan Singh', his political opponents called him. But if you look at any great achievement of the country in the last 25 years, be it Polio eradication, poverty reduction, Nuclear Deal, double digit GDP growth.. Dr.MMS is there at the background, guiding and directing.
Doctor saab is not known for his Oratory or Charisma or Flamboyance or Humour. But every time there was a crisis, India looked up to him.
That is what typifies Jiji Thomas. Handling crisis comes naturally to him. With his steady, structured and methodical approach, he quickly goes into the root cause and solves them. If you are in any kind of crisis, there is nobody in the world you would want to have nearby than Jiji. In his unobtrusive and understated way he will take charge and ensure that crisis is handled efficiently.
One thing about Jiji always perplexed me. How can one be so balanced, objective and rational?
In one of our recent discussions, Jiji told me about his family. "I have a sister and a younger brother. Throughout our childhood, me and my sister stayed with our grand parents in Kerala, while my brother stayed with our parents."
That could be from where he developed his defining traits. By staying with his grand parents.
I felt sad. Having to spend your childhood away from parents must have been tough on you, I venture my opinion.
"It was not tough. We used to go to Ahmadabad during out vacation. besides, I had an advantage that I could apply for higher studies either in Kerala or Gujarat", he makes light of my concern.
Always practical. Always Positive. That is Jiji Thomas for you.
2 comments:
I fully agree with the description of Rock about Jiji, he wouldn't be moved by small or large winds of troubles, that shows the character normally you get built-up at a young age
I agree with you, had known him while he was heading GSH.
Great personality.
Ii was providing transport services for one of their clients.
He stands by his faith at times of
Turbulence...
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