Obligation is born in success
The vagaries of a successful business career are as mysterious as life itself. To cope with success, you have to relax and not take yourself too seriously. Apart from great qualities of the head and heart, it takes good fortune to get success.
With that fortune and success, you have to do something for others. Obligation is born in success. Vijay Gokhale graduated from Calcutta and studied engineering in UK. He joined Union Carbide as a trainee engineer, and rose rapidly. He was a copybook case of success.
With 25 years’ service and 48 years of age, he was appointed as managing director in January 1984. It was his best New Year. Union Carbide was a blue chip company, having 14 plant locations and employing 10,000 people. Vijay had a lovely family, was a member of the club and was a highly-respected corporate manager.
The year 1984 turned out to be a tumultuous one for the country. In a dark act, a bodyguard assassinated Indira Gandhi; Rajiv took her place, raising the hopes of a besieged nation. A few weeks later, a disaster struck.
In Bhopal, a deadly chemical leaked from Union Carbide’s factory. The matter is sub-judice and is not the subject of this article. What happened to Vijay, the person and manager, is the subject of this article.
Bhopal was the only non-US plant to manufacture this complex chemical. The plant operation was considered a tribute
to Indian engineers’ ability to absorb technology. For several years, the plant operation had been superb, boasting a record 2 million accident-free man-hours. Yet, the ‘impossible’ had happened.
Vijay’s world came crashing around him, mercilessly and relentlessly. Within 48 hours, Vijay and the top company leadership were under house arrest at Bhopal. Law and politics took their own courses.
At the centre of this maelstrom was Vijay, who, until the other day, was envied by his peers as ‘a very competent and lucky manager’. Fate changed Vijay’s and the thousands of poor and affected families’ lives.
The slings of outrageous fortune were arrayed against Vijay. He felt like resigning. First, it seemed an honourable thing to do; later, it was an escape from depressing jibes.
An American colleague (not representing the leadership’s view) said sadly that the Indian company had to be severed like ‘an infected appendix’. Business friends indulged in insensitive humour, eg ‘are you Nathuram Godse?’ When Vijay offered to help with relief work, a senior bureaucrat politely said to him, “Your visits are an embarrassment, please do not come here.”
ARUN MAIRA, ET
The vagaries of a successful business career are as mysterious as life itself. To cope with success, you have to relax and not take yourself too seriously. Apart from great qualities of the head and heart, it takes good fortune to get success.
With that fortune and success, you have to do something for others. Obligation is born in success. Vijay Gokhale graduated from Calcutta and studied engineering in UK. He joined Union Carbide as a trainee engineer, and rose rapidly. He was a copybook case of success.
With 25 years’ service and 48 years of age, he was appointed as managing director in January 1984. It was his best New Year. Union Carbide was a blue chip company, having 14 plant locations and employing 10,000 people. Vijay had a lovely family, was a member of the club and was a highly-respected corporate manager.
The year 1984 turned out to be a tumultuous one for the country. In a dark act, a bodyguard assassinated Indira Gandhi; Rajiv took her place, raising the hopes of a besieged nation. A few weeks later, a disaster struck.
In Bhopal, a deadly chemical leaked from Union Carbide’s factory. The matter is sub-judice and is not the subject of this article. What happened to Vijay, the person and manager, is the subject of this article.
Bhopal was the only non-US plant to manufacture this complex chemical. The plant operation was considered a tribute
to Indian engineers’ ability to absorb technology. For several years, the plant operation had been superb, boasting a record 2 million accident-free man-hours. Yet, the ‘impossible’ had happened.
Vijay’s world came crashing around him, mercilessly and relentlessly. Within 48 hours, Vijay and the top company leadership were under house arrest at Bhopal. Law and politics took their own courses.
At the centre of this maelstrom was Vijay, who, until the other day, was envied by his peers as ‘a very competent and lucky manager’. Fate changed Vijay’s and the thousands of poor and affected families’ lives.
The slings of outrageous fortune were arrayed against Vijay. He felt like resigning. First, it seemed an honourable thing to do; later, it was an escape from depressing jibes.
An American colleague (not representing the leadership’s view) said sadly that the Indian company had to be severed like ‘an infected appendix’. Business friends indulged in insensitive humour, eg ‘are you Nathuram Godse?’ When Vijay offered to help with relief work, a senior bureaucrat politely said to him, “Your visits are an embarrassment, please do not come here.”
ARUN MAIRA, ET