Annikki and I would like all of you to join us in wishing Vinoo (K. M. Mammen) in Chennai a very very happy 56th birthday.
Vinoo presently heads MRF, carrying on the tradition set by his father, Kochappachen.
It is extremely difficult to keep this company, which is the recognised top of the tyre industry in India and about the 7th or 8th largest one in the world, at the pinnacle position.
I am sure that the next generation of Mammen's that come along will have a tough task keeping this old family created multinational in its leading position, especially since the world tyre industry is undergoing a very radical change in many many respects.
It will need a visionary leader to continue to keep MRF ahead in both technology as well as market image.
I remember well how Kochappachen organised the first MRF brainstorming session in Chennai, way way back in 1970-71, so as to try and determine how to get to this top position. I wonder how many who were present remember the bundle of great ideas that were thrown up?
Vinoo's son, Rahul, a Stephanian, was married about a month ago. Annikki and I take this opportunity to wish the happy couple the very best and a long and happy married life. Rahul heads the corporate planning department in MRF, having taken over from a dear friend who retired last year, S. R. Ratnam (of The Hindu newspaper family).
Ratnam, an engineer, who used to work in procurement, was groomed, like me, by one of the greats who ever worked for MRF, the late Prem Sadanand.
Prem was Staff Assistant to the Managing Director till his early demise. This was the hot seat in MRF which took all the bad vibes and received the least praise for his historic efforts!!
But Prem had broad shoulders and he taught Ratnam and me a lot of things in our short association.
I must also wish, Thambi's (Stephanian Philip Mathew) son (Stephanian) Riyad who was married last week to Stephanian Abraham (Abe) Tharakan's daughter Keya.
Abe was one of the few Malayali's in college at my time.
(Besides Abe, the others I can remember were cousins Suresh and Rajen, second cousin Ranjit Jacob (retired in Madras), George Verghese (Kottayam industrial giant), Thomas Chandy, Ninan, Jose Vellapally (now a Supreme Court star lawyer), Rajen Narayanan (great tennis and table tennis player), outstanding artist Prakash Joseph who gave the original Kooler Talk its real look of professionalism, the late Jacob Eapen for a short while, and myself in the students, Economist Mathew and organic chemist Raphael in the staff, and undoubted the most popular of all - Sebastian in the canteen who produced us some great scrambled eggs).
Here is a picture from my files of the happy parents of the groom, Thambi glancing over his shoulder with a Hollywood movie star look!!
Thambi runs the Cochin Unit of Malayala Manorama and main centre for the publication of The WEEK. Abe has a fishing export industry, reputed to be one of the largest successful ones in India.
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