Subhash Chandra > Quotes

“When I see someone not performing, I am frank enough to tell the person that it’s not working out. I request him or her to leave or change jobs within the group. But I see many of our senior colleagues, including my brothers, sons and nephews, empathetic towards non-performers. They don’t want to face the issue. They tend to become comfortable with such people and they get protection. They tend to choose people who become personally loyal to them rather than to the company. I think it’s important to be professional about such matters. Protecting a non-performer is not good for the business and also the person being protected. This is unprofessional too. The non-performer may be in the wrong job and thus not doing what he or she is best at doing. Empathy that results in protection would lead to a negative result for the employee as well. He or she might be better off in another job within the group or elsewhere.”
― Subhash Chandra, The Z Factor: My Journey as the Wrong Man at the Right Time

“My role as assistant to Dadaji was almost a given. I was the eldest grandson, so it was natural that I would be supporting his work at the gaddi. I was never ordered to be there. I think I enjoyed learning. It was exciting at a level to see my Dadaji at work. My cousins were also expected to be at the gaddi, but no one spent quality time there. Even their parents did not encourage them to be at the shop. At times, I think this attitude cost them dearly in life. They could not match my success in business. Some ended up working for me or took up other jobs.”
― Subhash Chandra, The Z Factor: My Journey as the Wrong Man at the Right Time

“I enjoyed the movies but did not like the restrictions on watching them. A relative and I devised a clever way to watch movies. If we were away from the shop or home for three hours, there were questions to be answered. How could we stay away and still watch a movie? I collaborated with Satya Narain. He was my age, even though he was my father’s cousin. We would buy one movie ticket and watch one half at a time. I would watch the first half and return home after oneand-a-half hours. He would watch the second half. The next day we would swap the roles and watch the other halves. This way we would not be away long enough to attract suspicion. There were only two cinema halls and both were less than ten minutes’ cycle-ride away. We could return to work quickly since the halls were so close.”
― Subhash Chandra, The Z Factor: My Journey as the Wrong Man at the Right Time

“I remember an interesting example of how flexibility in these rules was offered to loyal munims who had to remain away from their families for months. Once, when a munimji returned, I was asked to take a report on the expenditure from him and submit it to my grandfather. This particular munimji was very meticulous. He started dictating the list of expenses for about two months of his travel. I was dutifully noting these down and tallying the figures. One of the items he listed was Rs 15 for ‘change of oil’. This was a bit perplexing for me, as he did not use any vehicle. So I asked him, ‘Munimji, ye kiska tel badalwaya tha? Koi truck tha kya?’ (What was the oil change for? Was it for some truck?) He looked away and did not reply. But my grandfather heard. He gently but firmly told me to write it down but not question the munimji. The matter ended there for the moment. But the question remained with me. I couldn’t understand why a meticulous person like my grandfather would allow a suspicious-looking expense without questioning. The answer came to me some days later. The munimji had been away from his home and family for more than two months. So this sum of Rs 15 had been spent as entertainment. But this was not the cost of some movie or mela. He had probably visited a kothewali, a lady of the night. Such expenses were allowed as Dadaji was pragmatic about it. The only issue was that such expenses had to be listed under other categories.”
― Subhash Chandra, The Z Factor: My Journey as the Wrong Man at the Right Time