I Faced Down Local Thugs To Help My Friend - Pazhani Raj Thanuj C, InsideIIM’s Best 50

“I am Pazhani Raj Thanuj and I am from Trivandrum. Right from my school days, I was good with academics and extracurricular activities. My dedication and hard work helped me crack AIEEE and join the college of my dreams, NIT Calicut. After my B.Tech in Electrical Engineering, I worked for 2 years at Amec Foster Wheeler before joining SPJIMR for Marketing. From the streets of Mumbai to the streets of New York, the 2 years at SPJIMR have been nothing less than a fantastic ride. I am all excited as I start my corporate life 2.0.”

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Name an instance where you wanted something and went out of your comfort zone to achieve it OR Tell us the biggest risk you have taken so far in your life.

I was working as an Electrical Engineer with Amec Foster Wheeler in Chennai before I joined SPJIMR for PGDM in Marketing. We were engineering consultants in the Oil and Gas Industry and my work involved design and verification for Electrical substations for Oil plants and refineries. As days passed by, the job was getting repetitive and monotonous. I was yearning to do something challenging but the work was very simple and involved nothing new. Hence, I decided I will ask for a project which was one of a kind and which would not be like any of the other conventional projects. I talked to my manager and told him that I wanted to do something new. He promised me he would let me know when he got such different projects. My friends asked why I wanted to take a risk doing something new, but my determination overcame the fear they tried to instil in me. I was ambitious about doing something challenging and sky was the limit.

Soon, I was allotted a part of the US AEGIS Ballistic Missile Defence project which Amec Foster Wheeler US had won. This was a new experience and no one at the office had any clue on how to go about this project. The team from the US had come and we got the briefing from them on how to go about the project. I took the initiative of learning how deliverables were made for this new project and what exactly was the output they expected us to deliver. Soon I was leading the project and I realised there were 350 deliverables to be delivered executing 6000 man-hours. I knew this would be a tough challenge for every person on the team but I never relented or felt over-worked as I was continuously learning something new on this project every single day.

There were times when there were disagreements within the team especially because the project was new to all and the standard operating procedures could not be applied. I acted as the mediator and took responsibility for delivering the project smoothly till the end. It took us 2 months to deliver the part which was allotted to us. There were ups and downs throughout the duration of the project but I learnt a lot in these 2 months – ownership, delegating responsibility, importance of communication while leading, humility, flexibility and finally razor-sharp focus. Post this project, we were appreciated by the CEO from the UK office (head office) for our efforts towards delivering this project on time in an efficient manner. Thus, I successfully went out of my comfort zone to achieve what I wanted – a different and challenging experience that broke the monotony at work.

When was the last time someone relied on you? OR What did you do which was purely for someone else - a truly selfless act.

During my days at Amec Foster Wheeler, I had 2 designers reporting to me. One of them was a good friend to me and he helped me a lot to understand the system there at office during my fledgling days. He was ambitious and very dedicated to his work. He had topped his college and earned a diploma in Electrical Engineering. He was preparing to do part time engineering at Anna University. He was earning very less and his family was also not well off. Amidst this crisis, he yearned to study further and I could see the fire in his eyes. Finally, when the rank list came, he was selected for Electrical Engineering at Anna University. Now, he was worried about how he would meet the expenses for his education. His father had already borrowed a lot of money from a local guy (who lends out money at usury interest rates). After I saw he was in trouble, I decided to lend out a helping hand. I gave him some money and with the help from my manager, he paid his fees.

As his fees had already taken a huge share of their family income, their family could not pay interest for the money borrowed from the local guy. He was dead scared to go and tell him, he would pay the interest next month together. I volunteered to accompany him, though I was very scared of going to the local guy. We set out one evening after office to meet the local guy and tell him that he wanted some time to pay back the dues. The guy lived in a place amongst all the thugs and he had a terrific look. I was totally scared when I saw the look on his face. He had a big mole on his cheek and he was shouting at someone who had defaulted on their payments. We went to him and I gathered all the courage I had to talk to him on my friend’s behalf. Initially he did not budge but finally he agreed when we told it was for his education, we were delaying the payment.

When we came back my heart was beating so hard that I could hear it in the midst of noisy traffic in Chennai. That day, I realised what kind of life, a common man lived in India. As I embark on this journey into this world, I realise how fortunate I am and I always will seek to help someone in need, for, the joy that I bring in a person’s life with my act of selflessness is irreplaceable.

Tell us about a time when you disagreed with an opinion/idea/decision. What did you do about it?

After my B. Tech in Electrical Engineering from NIT Calicut, like all other students, I was also dreaming the Great American dream – to do an MS in Computer Engineering and settle there. I prepared for GRE and had a good score. I was hopeful that I would get into a reputed college, especially because I had a CGPA of 9.5 on a scale of 10. But then came the decision from my parents that I should not go to the US for higher studies. My mother wanted me to stay with her and not leave India. This was a shock to me as I was so close to applying for all the top universities in the USA. My best friend who had a GPA of 9.65 had already started applying for universities. I was heartbroken. I disagreed with my parents’ decision and used to argue a lot and try convincing them.

After a point I knew I could not convince them, so I decided to obey them. But at the back of my mind, I knew I had to do something about it. They wanted me to try GATE but I flunked the exam badly. I was introduced to the concept of Marketing in the final semester as part of my Principles of Management course at NIT Calicut. That was the tipping point in my interest towards an MBA. I put behind all my sadness of not being able to go to the USA and started researching B-Schools in India and what they offered. I was on cloud nine when I saw SPJIMR had a tie up with Cornell and had a 3 weeks program there.

Thus, although I disagreed upon the decision taken by my parents, I did not sit and waste my time brooding about it and feeling unhappy. Rather I converted it to something positive and worked my way through to find the next best alternative and pursued it religiously. I cracked CAT and went to SPJIMR. Rest is history. Right from going to Switzerland on an all expenses paid trip and winning the ‘Leader of Tomorrow’ title to walking through the streets of New York (Times Square) all alone, MBA gave me the best experience of a lifetime. It is okay to disagree, but it is all the more important to come face to face with reality, accept it and find a way through the puzzle posed by life.

What is the one thing you can claim to have some level of expertise or depth of knowledge in - it could be anything - a subject, a sport, a hobby, a venture, an initiative which has led you to do deep work in that field?

I was first introduced to the concept of Circular Economy during the TBLA competition in my first year of MBA at SPJIMR. I was amazed to see how powerful this concept was and how it could be used across different industries. The TATAs had successfully implemented this business model in their companies. I became curious and started researching this concept from back then. I was inspired to work more on the concept from then on.

Though we couldn’t win the competition, I decided that I will continue to do my research on this topic further. I wanted to explore which all businesses had adopted this model. I was surprised to find that many businesses right from the tech giants to the FMCG firms had a small working model of this powerful concept. In November, I was introduced to the St. Gallen Symposium where the topic for the year was ‘Capital for Purpose’. I still don’t know if it was by luck or due to extensive research I did on the concept of ‘Circular Economy’, I felt the underlying link between the topic of ‘Purpose’ and ‘Circular Economy’.

As I started working on the essay for the 49th St. Gallen Symposium, I came across a number of examples of companies and groups like TATA, Mahindra which were working towards one purpose that they had set as a goal. I was on cloud nine when I found the binding thread for successful companies – ‘Purpose’. Be it a powerful brand like Dove or Asian Paints, they have survived the test of time and stayed successful due to this one underlying concept – ‘Purpose’.

I was finally selected for the 49th St. Gallen Symposium to be held in Switzerland. My essay won the Wings of Excellence Award at the Symposium. I attended many sessions there on ‘Business for Purpose’ and the power ‘Purpose’ as a concept had in itself and how businesses and individuals alike had used this secret sauce to succeed. I had done so much research by then that I could write a book or take a session on the topic. This is when I came across the MBA World Summit, 2020. I applied for this conference and I was selected for taking a session on ‘From Smart to Wise: The Art of Business with Purpose’. I look forward to attending the Summit and sharing my research and learnings on ‘Purpose’ as a concept with MBA delegates from across the globe.

If 10 Million Dollars (approximately INR 75 Crores) is given to you to use it any way you deem fit what would you do with this corpus?

I was deeply touched when I saw the plight of the people in Rameswaram during my rural internship. We were interning with Green Rameswaram, an NGO which was working for the upliftment of people in and around the island. I was introduced to the concept of rural banking and how the people of the villages in Rameswaram formed groups (called Kulus), pooled funds from their savings and lent money to those in need. As part of my project I had gone around interacting with a lot of self-help groups to identify any flaws in the existing system of lending and what their expectations were. I realized the pool of funds they collected every month was a meagre amount and did not suffice to help even a single person to start a business or build something like a room or house. I saw the burning desire in many people but I could see the lack of means as a huge impediment to what they wanted to achieve. This was because they did not have help from any co-operative banks or rural credit co-operatives.

With the 10 million dollars at my disposal, I would like to set up a co-operative bank in Rameswaram and lend money for farming, cattle, milk, hatchery and personal finance. Apart from being a profitable business where I would earn a good amount as interest, I will also have the satisfaction of helping the people in and around Rameswaram. Perhaps I wish to invest the returns I get on this corpus, to buy a piece of land and do organic farming, so that I have food free from preservatives and chemicals. During the 4 weeks of stay at Rameswaram, not a single day did I feel the need for medicines as the food there was so pure and free from pesticides and insecticides. There was no junk food and I could find a positive change in my own lifestyle and habits. My mother always tells me that we should do farming and perhaps help as many farmers as possible. At the end of the day, why do we all work and earn? It is to meet the basic needs of hunger and to have a safe and sound sleep. I am sure the corpus of 10 million dollars would give wings to my desires and help me spread happiness in the lives of people.