NOBLE MAN

. M.K.RAJAN

Mr.Rajan was  a senior partner in M/S M.S.KRISHNASWAMI  & RAJAN. My association with him was from the day I joined Ashok Leyland in 1973 till his death. I felt really sad and upset on hearing about his death.

He was always a down to earth person.  Always pleasant faced, liberal minded and helpful. I would like to quote a few instances.

1.       When I was in his house , a priest came there to invite him for her daughter’s marriage. The priest appeared to be poor. Mr.Rajan went inside and came back with a blank cheque and asked him to fill up the amount.. The priest was happy and touched by his act .

2.       When I joined Ashok Leyland, I was asked by my boss to give a presentation on Inflation accounting and exchange fluctuations. Since that was my first presentation, I was bit nervous. Mr.Rajan immediately understood my position and took up the presentation himself. I was very much relieved at that point of time.

3.       Mr.Rajan took us for a movie called,” Meendum Kokila”. He was very much attracted by Sridevi, who acted as heroine in that film. Since Mr.Rajan’s initial was MK, I used to make fun of him by calling him Meendum Kokila Rajan. He really liked it and started telling everybody about that .

4.       Our Managing Director wanted to sign an important agreement  on a particular day. On that day,Mr.Rajan was available and he had a new Mont Blanc pen (very costly pen). Our MD saw that pen and asked Mr.Rajan whether he can lend it for signing the agreement. Instead of lending he presented the pen to him.

5.       One of our colleagues  Mr.Saranathan was diagnosed  with kidney failure. He needed immediate dialysis and he was not a wealthy person. We decided  to collect some money for him. At that time Mr.Rajan was doing audit  of our company. He immediately gave a cheque for Rs5000. Mr.Saranathan’s daughter gave one of her kidneys to him and he survived for about 4 years.

6.       Mr.Rajan was very fond of eating food. He used to take us for lunch in various small hotels of his choice and will recommend what should be eaten there. Everywhere he will not allow us to pay

for the bill.

7.       He used encourage his apprentices by suitable monetary gift. While doing  audit, one of the apprentices came out with  a good suggestion on a particular point and he immediately gave Rs3000 to him as a reward.

I can quote number of instances like that .

He became sick during  2012. At that time I was planning to go to USA for about 6 months. I came to know about his sickness just before leaving. So I rang up to his residence and I was told by his wife that  he is not able to recognize people. However she told me to talk to him and see whether he is able to recognize. I was pleasantly surprised when he recognized me. I told him that I am leaving for USA on the next day and therefore not in a position to visit him. He wished me and told me in tamil “pathu poya”.(Meaning go carefully).That was the last voice of him I heard. Within 4 days of reaching USA, I got a message that he passed away. I was very sad and upset.  It is very rare to see such a noble person