H Lakshmanan TVS Sundaram Clayton ED

From a typist in a Police Office to Executive Director and the most trusted right hand man of Father – Son Duo of a TVS Group firm for close to seven decades

He is an institution by himself and our 'Rock of Gibraltar' - Venu Srinivasan

"Just in his 20s, he once carried over a 100 files to the Madurai Airport similar to Anjaneya picking up the entire Sanjeevi Hills when he did not know which of the files his boss TS Srinivasan was looking for"- R Srinivasan, TVS Schools, Madurai

In the late 1940s, this teenager despite securing a distinction in SSLC could not pursue his Mathematical interests due to the financial challenges in the family. He joined a typewriting institute but the finances were so bad that he did not have money to pay the exam fees. Facing embarrassment, he stayed away from the institute as well. The scenario almost led him into a depression for everything seemed to be going against him in life in that phase. But through extraordinary hard work and dedication, he overcame the challenges, took a train to Madurai to secure a job in the High Court. Against all odds and despite being scoffed at, he quit the Government job to join a private firm where he rose to the high post of ED and became one of the most respected professionals in the TVS Group. Despite his glorious run, he has remained simple and down to earth and has played the role of a mentor to several top management professionals over generations. He is one of the two longest actively serving professionals in the group. In October last year, this section featured a story on the other six decades serving Octogenarian, R Srinivasan, TVS Schools, Madurai (R Srinivasan TVS Madurai). Here is the story of 88 year old H Lakshmanan (lovingly referred to as HL) who has been the right hand man of TVS's father – son duo for close to seven decades.

A Mylaporean in the making!!!
Born in Shengottai, very near the famous Courtallam falls, in 1933, Lakshmanan was a Mylaporean in his childhood for his ‘Caterer’ father had moved to Madras in search of greener pastures in the city.As a school boy, he spent the evenings at the Kapaleeswarar temple (Kapali Temple) including watching the grand utsavams of the time. It was likely he would become a full fledged Mylaporean for he was shaping up well at the Karpagavalli Vidyalaya school residing in the nearby Nadu Street when the outbreak of World War II and a bomb threat to Madras led his parents to beat a hasty retreat down South to the ‘Nellaiappar’ temple town of Tirunelveli.

Delayed SSLC Results and a Rejected Scholarship

He joined MDT (Madurai Diraviyam Thayumanavar) Hindu school in Class VI. His father offered private catering service in Tirunelveli. Not yet into his teens, Lakshmanan displayed a lot of responsibility understanding the scenario around him in the family and spent a lot of his non school time helping his father in the catering activities. He would himself serve the customers with a lot of love every evening and night. It was probably this early initiation that led him to engage very closely with the work force later in life at the TVS Group. During the five years at MDT, he was also involved with the RSS. He was highly devoted even as a school boy and spent a lot of time at the historical Nellaiappar temple in Tirunelveli town ( Nellaiappar Temple). Lord Muruga was his favourite from childhood and he visited the nearby Saalai Murugan temple (that has become very popular today) every day during his teenage life in Tirunelveli.

All along his schooling days, Mathematics was his favourite subject. More often than not, he secured Centum in the exams through this period. There was no electricity at home in the years of his schooling and he prepared for the exams under the hurricane light. When he wrote the SSLC examination, there was high expectation of him from his teachers. However, when the results were announced, his name was missing from the list. He was in tears. His teachers too were shocked for he was among the top ranked students of the school and everyone enquired if something went wrong leading up to the examination. It was the first of many such events in this phase that was to go terribly against him. As he was underage, the results had actually been held back. A few months later, his name was cleared and he came out trumps with a distinction. Unfortunately, by then, the college admission had started and he was behind time especially on scholarship that was on offer for bright students. 

Financial Challenges ends his academic life at 15!!

His scholarship application was rejected by MDT College and thus he could not pursue his academics despite achieving distinction. He had dreams of graduating in Maths but those were completely shattered. Another college did offer him full scholarship but he, even as a teenager, vehemently opposed the ‘religious condition’ laid out to him and rejected that scholarship. Instead of joining a regular college, he consoled himself and joined the ‘Reporter’s Home’ typewriting institute near Tirunelveli Junction. Life then went from bad to worse. When it was time for him to write the lower examination, there was no money to pay the fees. Everything that could go wrong in life seemed to in that phase of his life. And he was slowly moving into a state of depression.

First Job at 16- A Vessels manufacturer

With no college education in sight, though his father had given him hopes of a possible scholarship the next year, and with typewriting exam too out of hand, Lakshmanan, then 16, joined a brass vessels manufacturer (Venkatachalam) at a monthly salary of Rs. 25 to help out his family financially. He learnt the basics of accounting and banking work in that firm. As an accounts assistant, he was entrusted with the responsibility of going to the bank to deposit cheques, raising customer invoices and following up on payments. He looks at that six month experience with a lot of happiness “It was the vessels manufacturer who handed me my first job. I learnt a lot in those six months especially in finance and customer service."

Life Transforming Financial Support

There were two large life transforming events within a few years of each other, the first one in Tirunelveli. While he was working in the brass vessels firm, Seetharaman, the owner of the typewriting institute spotted him one day and was shocked to know the developments of the previous six months. In what Lakshmanan calls a life changing gesture, his fees was taken care of  and he went on to write the lower (exam). Within the next 12 months, he had come out trumps in lower and higher typewriting as well as short hand. By this time, he was also taking care of the typewriting institute that had twenty machines. Lakshmanan is grateful to the owner brothers, Ramabhadran and Seetharaman, for the life transforming help rendered “It was the typewriting and short hand certificates that opened the doors for me in life and made me what I am today. It was their gesture to pay my fees that turned around my life.”

Typist at Police Admininstrative Office

He wanted to register at the employment exchange in Tirunelveli but his application was rejected as he was still a minor.  When the District Police Administrative Office in Palayamkottai was looking for a typist, he applied and was handed a temporary posting. The Superintendent of Police took a liking for him for he was proficient in taking notes and turning around the requirements within the deadline.  He worked there at a monthly salary of Rs. 90. However, when the Government appointed official typists, he lost his job for he was not a major. Depression in life continued. He wondered if there was ever permanence in life. Every joy seemed so short lived as a teenager.

A Great two years with the Judges in Madurai District Court

As he scouted around for the next job, the employment exchange alerted him on Madurai District Court looking for stenographers. It was not necessarily the norm in those decades, but Lakshmanan boldly boarded the then famous Shengottai passenger to Madurai. It was his classmate and friend Krishnan, who later went on to a Central Government job, who received him at the Madurai Junction. The District Judge was impressed with his confidence, and on the back of a strong performance in academics in SSLC, Lakshmanan was appointed as a Steno at the Madurai Court. 

For two years, he had a great time in Madurai.  Just like the Superintendent of Police in Tirunelveli, the Judges too took to a liking for the young boy and many times directed him to take notes of their open court verdict and hand back the copy to them. So impressed were the senior judges with his work that they even asked him to type the preamble to their judgment orders. He was then part of the Estates Abolishment Tribunal and accompanied the panel comprising of one Judge, a Sub Judge and a Revenue Department Officer to various locations in TN including Trichy, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli and Pudukottai. He spent an enjoyable six months at the Tribunal. 

Working in the Madurai Court for two years under the Learned Judges helped him improve his (English) language skills that was to hold him in good stead during his early years at TVS.

An inspirational moment- R Ramachandran's gesture

One evening in 1953, while he was on his way to watch a movie at the Regal Talkies, near Madurai Junction, he was asked to take a look at The Hindu of that day that had featured an ad of TVS & Sons calling out for application from Stenographers for their Workshop in South Veli Street in Madurai. M.R Kannan, the spare parts chief was to interview the applicants. The gesture of R Ramachandran (TS Rajam's son) on the morning of the interview created an immediate bonding for Lakshmanan with TVS. The interview was at the TVS & Sons headquarters in Madurai. When R Ramachandran, who passed by the interviewees, came to know that they had been waiting for a while, he called out, that very instant, for Kannan and directed the interview to be started immediately “It was an inspirational moment for me and gave me the confidence that I was joining the right company. The owners cared even for the prospective employees at the junior most level and did not like anyone’s time to be taken for granted. It was a great life lesson that I always followed all through my career.”

Lakshmanan had already written the Government Services Examination and long decades of Government service beckoned him. The head of the Tribunal in the Madurai District Court called on Lakshmanan and as it was to happen a few years later in the case of RS, scoffed at his decision to join a private firm. Lakshmanan recalls that conversation from August of 1953 “he called it a foolhardy decision on coming to know about my planned move to a private company.”

An emboldened Statement

When TS Srinivasan (TSS), with whom he was to have a 26 year association - one that he calls as life's greatest blessing, asked him for the salary that he was looking for, pat came a bold reply “I would like it to be at least Rs. 5 more than my Government job.” His uninhibited view was to be a standout feature of his interactions with the founding family of TVS in the coming decades. He also asked his future boss that he was being taken as only a probationary officer (for a period of one year) and what would happen to him if the confirmation did not take place a year later."

Srinivasan had an eye for talent and he immediately spotted the spark in the young man. His sharp questions on that day seemed to impress him and he took him under his ‘care’. The two of them were to engage in a great and hugely successful professional relationship for the next 26 years. Lakshmanan joined as the stenographer at the TVS workshop in August of 1953.

Innovative Spirit of TSS

Lakshmanan recounts the early years of his stint in Madurai under the leadership of TS Srinivasan “He was a visionary. He would himself get down to the workshop and repair buses and cars. His innovative spirit was reflected in his drawings that was usually made on a simple sheet of paper. Once in a 40seater bus, he sketched to show the team how 42 could sit with a little bit of innovation. When he went on inspections rounds to the branches (Tirunelveli, Pudukottai, Trichy and Salem) in the State, he always took me along. These trips gave me a great opportunity to watch his interactions with employees and customers from close quarters.  It was in that phase that he also taught me the art of letter writing.”

The first recognition – An instant reward

Lakshmanan remembers Srinivasan sitting in a corner of his home for many days focusing intensely on the manual for Workshop service. He was clear that the quality of service had to be standardized. On one of the evenings, Srinivasan had placed Rs. 100 on Lakshmanan’s desk in office. HL recalls the conversation from that evening “When I found the note, I went up to him and enquired about the amount. He said it was a reward for my hard work in bringing out the manual and my efforts to type through the night to stick to the deadline. This was the first of several occasions when founding family members instantly showed their appreciation for an employee’s commitment at the work place.”

Unforgettable memory – The  Founder’s Polite enquiry

The high in that first year at TVS was the most unforgettable treatment meted out to him by TVS Iyengar and his wife (Lakshmi Ammal). Every evening, when he visited Srinivasan’s house on work, he would be welcomed politely by TVS Iyengar, with a newspaper in hand “He would enquire about my work and if I was learning and enjoying. His wife was one of the kindest women I have met. Every time I went there, she would feed me delicious dishes. She almost looked at me as another son, given that I was alone in Madurai. She took great care of me. It was my first experience of how the founding family treated the employees as one among them.”

TSS's trust in HL

HL joined TVS when Venu Srinivasan was just six months old. Throughout his childhood, when Venu needed anything, his father would direct him to HL. Venu remembers those days from the 1950s and 60s “As a school boy, I used to see him chatting with my parents at home everyday. He was in and out of the house all the time. My earliest memories of him date back to my childhood days when my appa would repeatedly tell me ‘when in doubt, ask Lakshmanan’. That early advice from my appa has stayed with me for the rest of my life. I also saw right in front of my eyes the trust that my appa had in HL.”

      Venu Srinivasan - CSR Initiative

The 1960s – Exciting Period for The TVS Group

When the Government began handing out licenses to firms for manufacturing in the auto sector in the 1960s, Srinivasan came to Madras and asked HL to join him there. Initially, he continued to be part of TVS & Sons and was posted on deputation to work in Srinivasan’s office in June 1960 by when his salary had doubled to Rs. 450. The two decades starting 1960 was an exciting period for the TVS Group with the setting up of several new manufacturing firms, first in Padi and later outside this new manufacturing belt. The first of the investments was in Wheels India through a JV with Dunlop of UK. 

Carrying the Sanjeevi Hill to the Madurai Airport

In the very early days of the planning for the Padi Project, TS Srinivasan was taking a flight one evening from Madurai to Madras for a discussion on the commissioning of the Plant. When he had missed taking a particular file, he called HL from the airport to quickly hand him the file. 

84 year old R Srinivasan Director on Board TVS Schools Madurai, who joined TVS in 1958 and has now been there for over six decades recalls the amazing feat of HL that evening "In those days, only very few employees stayed back at work after 5pm. The office was almost empty and HL did not know which of the files that his boss was looking for.  Similar to Lord Anjaneya carrying the entire Sanjeevi Hills, HL picked up well over a 100 files from the office. Since I was present that evening in office, he asked me to join as well and the two of us went in a jeep to the Madurai Airport."

                                    

"All the files were spread out in the huge open space in the airport. He picked up five files from the huge lot and appreciated HL for his 'Anjaneya like' thoughts that evening. That was the kind of early commitment and responsiveness that HL showed at TVS even as a youngster in his 20s."

Anchoring the Padi Projects

Through the 1960s, it was Lakshmanan who typed every document, letter, license and JV agreements and quotations for all the TVS Group companies. In January 1965, he was re-designated as Personal Secretary to TS Srinivasan. Five years later, he became assistant to TSS. Venu credits HL for all the early JV agreements in the group and the setting up of new businesses in Padi and Hosur “He anchored all the JVs signed by the TVS group. From taking notes to typing the agreement and letters to the Govt he did it all by himself in the 60s. He was the go to man for everything. For a man, who had studied only up to SSLC, he grasped a great bit of knowledge about Company Law and Taxation."

"My appa built Padi while I built Hosur. In both, HL was the anchor man.”

He helped in starting Wheels India, Sundaram Clayton, Brakes India, Lucas TVS, Sundram Fasteners and Sundaram Brake Lines (including the negotiations with the US JV partner Abex). In later decades, he also played a critical role in the JVs with Suzuki and Whirlpool. During this period, he was also involved in price negotiations with customers, the art of which he says he learnt from TS Krishna (TSK) and TSS.

Backs the TVS Brand - BOLD Statement

When TVS was to sign a JV with Lucas, the foreign partner was keen on a bankruptcy clause “If TVS went bankrupt, you would have to sell the shares to Lucas.” HL who had been an active member of the discussions sprung a surprise by standing up and laying a reciprocal condition on Lucas that stunned and angered the Lucas Management.

HL had prior experience and an in-depth understanding of the clauses in JV agreements for he had been involved in Wheels India's JV and he confidently spoke in that meeting demanding a similar clause if Lucas went bankrupt. When the partner asked how he dared to speak of Lucas in such terms, HL retorted with a hitherto unseen boldness “How dare you associate the TVS group with a possible bankruptcy." 

It was indicative of the strong bonding HL had struck with TVS that he was willing to give his everything for the brand. 

TSK’s Touch - The Family’s Greatness

When the MRTP Act was being enforced in great vigour, he went along with the TVS family members to discuss the issues with the government. It was a high pressure meeting and it was HL who participated actively in the discussions, took notes and prepared the minutes of the meeting that same evening. By the end of the day, he was physically drained and literally fell on the bed. A little later when he felt a hand on his forehead and woke up, he saw TS Krishna pressing his forehead “You had given your best in today’s meeting and this is a small token of appreciation for the hard work you put in over the last few days” remarked TSK to HL in the room in Delhi that evening. It was a remarkable gesture from the member of the founding family that left him dumbfounded yet again. 

Like TSS placing Rs. 100 for his night long typing effort, this unbelievable gesture from TSK was instant. Time and again gestures such as these reiterated the genuine feelings of the founding family towards employees, especially to those who they felt were genuinely committed to the success of the firm. A sincere contribution of an employee was almost always recognized. In the above cases, they did it silently without any open publicity. On another occasion when foreign delegates from Lucas visited Madras, TS Krishna openly announced to them that "HL knew every pillar at all the plants of the TVS firms".

He recalls the bonding of the family members with the workers "Once when TSK found that a staffer’s son had joined elsewhere, he immediately called his father and enquired. Soon after, the youngster joined TVS and stayed for decades."

TS Santhanam's confidence booster - I am SSLC too!!! You will clinch the deal

In the 1960s and 70s, Lakshmanan spent a lot of time at the sprawling house of TS Santhanam on D’Silva Road in Mylapore for Srinivasan directed him to Santhanam on all financial matters "Once when I went to his house to get his inputs on a negotiation that I was going to engage with in Delhi the next day and finding me a bit jittery, he injected a confidence booster – I too studied only till SSLC. You will definitely clinch the deal.”

A Proud Moment - From a Steno to Wearing a Coat

There were occasions when Santhanam raised his self esteem “When he took me for a meeting with bank officials, he insisted that I too wear a coat. For a steno to now wear a coat along with a founding family member was a special moment in my life."

In 1974, he was transferred to Sundaram Clayton as Co-ordination Manager and four years later was re-designated as EA to Chairman. Having originally started off as one who took notes and typed letters, by the end of the 1970s he had made steady progress and had become involved with plant planning, recruitment and process development, in addition to making significant contributions in JV agreements and collaborations. 

Lakshmanan saw TSS’s care for the workers during periods when posters were to be put up within the plant “I would type several times but he would not be happy. He was insistent that the communication be in a manner that the workers understood every single word of the poster. If he was not convinced, he would work on it endlessly till he got the right set of words.”

A Double Blow – First TSK and then TSS

While the 1960s and the early 70s had been an exciting phase for Lakshmanan with his deep involvement in the setting up of various plants in Padi and his integral role in the JVs that the new TVS Group firms registered, the second half of the 70s was one of personal tragedy for him. While he worked with all the founding family members in the TVS Group, he was particularly attached to TS Krishna and TS Srinivasan.

On the day that he passed away, TS Krishna had called up HL to hand over all his confidential files for him to keep in safe custody “Suresh Krishna was on a temple trip to Tiruverkadu. I do not know what prompted him that morning but TS Krishna called me for a meeting and handed over his files and asked me to take care. A few hours later, much to my shock, he passed away.” 

Lakshmanan found it very challenging to overcome the loss. 

And then a few years later came the biggest tragedy in his life. The TVS moped was designed by TS Srinivasan and he was very bullish on its prospects. It was his brainchild. To check if it was good enough, he once, in the test phase, asked two heavy men weighing  to ride up the Chetput bridge. It had to pass that test, else we will not launch the vehicle, he had told HL.

Srinivasan’s death leaves a Permanent Scar

In 1979, he was to participate in the inauguration of the moped plant in Hosur. HL recalls the last two calls he had with TSS “He was all excited at the prospects and believed that the mopeds had a great future in India given its agrarian economy. And then 24 hours prior to the event, he called me to inform that he was unwell. His voice was down. He was saddened that he would not be able to make it to the event for it was it his pet project. Shortly after, he passed away.”

The early demise of TSS left a permanent scar in HL. After the many shocks he had encountered in his teenage years, Lakshmanan had made steady progress in the career and was leading a happy and contended life under the guidance of Srinivasan until his boss’s untimely death almost led him into another depression. He was so much in shock that he decided to leave the company and return to his native town of Shengottai “I had even looked for a house in Shengottai. I simply could not reconcile to the fact that the man who made my life was no more going to be there.” 

It was on Venu’s insistence that HL changed his mind and reversed his decision to quit the corporate world.   

Pillar and Strenght to Venu in the 1980s

Venu was 26 and had just returned to Madras after his Masters in the US. when his appa died. He was thrown into the deep end with huge responsibilities at a fairly young age. He recalls his professional engagement with HL in those early formative years in the 1980s “In the first decade and a half, Lakshmanan was my guide all the way in every big decision I took. He was the pillar and tower of strength for me in that initial phase of my corporate life. His guidance was available to me on all matters. He would prepare Charts and present comparative analysis. All the partners trusted him as much as I trusted him."  

Except direct operations on the ground, he was involved with every aspect of the company. He was involved in policy decisions, senior hires, industrial relations and most importanly wage negotiations with the Union.

The trust that even the JV partners had in HL is seen from the strange condition the JV partner’s Chief Clayton Dewandre laid soon after the passing away of Srinivasan “We would like to confirm that HL would not quit the company for the next few years.” 

The 1980s - His most significant contribution 

The late 1980s was marked by severe troubles on the labour front at TVS Motor. He counts the negotiations with the unions and solving multiple crisis situations as among his biggest achievements at SCL and TVS M.. His favourite engagement in later decades has been handling the issues on the labour front and looking after the welfare of the workers. Rght from the early years, he has always been closely attached to them.  

INTUC leader R Kuppusamy explained to this writer his engagement with Lakshmanan whom he has closely known for 43 years “He himself started from scratch and encountered a number of difficulties in his early phase in life. Despite rising to the very top of TVS, he has remained simplistic in his lifestyle. He understood the feelings of the workers. His words are always soft, his interest in the workers genuine, and he is one of the most compassionate persons I have seen.”

“Very early on, he realized that workers were an integral part for the growth of the company and ensured that their welfare is taken care of. During the challenging period of labour trouble, he slogged day and night for a smooth resolution to the dispute. His work in that phase was extraordinary."

"A highly devoted person, he had a lot of love for the workers. All these came to the fore when he negotiated with us (the TVS Union in the late 1980s). He has a razor sharp memory and came across to all of us as being genuinely concerned for our welfare and was keen to give them a fair deal for their contribution. His involvement in the resolution of the dispute was the turning point in that phase. Even in the most challenging of times, he did not flutter and remained cool. He had a long term vision and it was his role that helped break the political stranglehold (in the Union) that was emerging strongly in that phase. He was the architect of the solution framework that finally proved satisfactory to both the workers and the management."

A Great Mentor

Venu has seen him as a great mentor for generations in the TVS Group "He is one of the very few to have interacted with four generations of the TVS family starting from TVS Iyengar. He is widely respected across the family. After my father’s time, he played a mentoring role to me. It is he who mentored Sudarshan and Lakshmi. He is one of the most extraordinary people I have known in the TVS Group."

The Conscience Keeper 

Labour negotiations was a big deal in those decades. He was the man involved in settling those. Venu says that everyone in the company went to him when in crisis "He would prepare the charts, compile it together and present to my father. After my father’s demise, he played an important role as the ED (HL was appointed as the ED in 1983). I always saw him as the conscience keeper of the company. He has had the capacity and the  emotional quotient combined with IQ to deal with trickly and very complex issues, that he would simplify and offer as a solution. Everyone who dealt with him had complete and implicit trust in him. He was the man who solved all kinds of crisis from small internal difference of opinions within the company to large labour disputes. Often he was the one who would 'pour oil on troubled waters' including with JV partners. "

                         50 Years at TVS

"He was one man from that era who knew,inside out, the TVS culture and was a walking example of it. He inculcated those values into generation after generation."

As neutral as it gets

71 year old R.L. Ravichandran, who earlier last decade played a significant role in the revival of Royal Enfield,  worked for close to a decade at TVS Motors, his last role being as the Head of Sales and Marketing. Ravichandran recalls his first meeting at the Haddows Road office in the late 1980s  "At the time I met HL at Jayalakshmi Estates, TVS Suzuki was into the third month of lockout. He presented the true picture to me. He promised that while the then scenario was not rosy, his career at TVS Motors would be interesting and progressive. It would be a great place  to learn (Ravichandran had until then been in the Consumer Durables sector) and gain knowledge about the auto sector."

"I found him to be extremely passionate about the culture of the company. The TVS brand meant a lot to him and he was keen to initiate the traditional values into every new entrant. He played a huge mentoring role in that phase. While he had already been in the TVS Group for close to four decades at that time, I found him to be extremely neutral in his judgment and analysis. He advised me on my career and played the role of an elder statesman."

As he looks back three decades after his first interaction with HL, Ravichandran says that it gave him great comfort to see him as a neutral in the company. “I would go to him and open up on all issues. He would hear me out patiently and offer fair and reasonable solutions to every issue that I raised during that period.  It was HL who taught me to deal with people at all levels. Typically, one would expect someone at his level and with his decades of experience to be skewed in his views towards the management but he never was. He was unbiased and offered a neutral opinion every single time during my stint there.” 

"He was a father figure to me and the guardian of values and one of the strongest pillars of that group.”

Many years later, when Ravichandran looked for some help on superannuation benefits, it was HL once again who convinced Venu and secured the benefits within a month. 

A Great Learner

Former President and Company Secretary of TVS & Sons 85 year old Ganapathi Sarma attributes HL’s phenomenal rise to the top to his ability to learn “He was a great learner and used every opportunity that came his way to expand his knowledge into fields that were not directly connected with his work profile. He understood the accounting and legal processes and worked closely with HR and chalked out broad policy decisions. All through, he showed an inclination to constantly improve and develop his interests and thus became a multifarious personality in the group where over time everyone looked up to him for resolution in crisis situations.” 

Stays rooted to the ground

He says that for all success in the TVS Group, Lakshmanan remained rooted to the ground and maintained a low profile “When one grows to the top especially from a lower level, there is often a tendency to become arrogant. Lakshmanan has stayed grounded all through his career. Not once did he allow the power to get to his head and has forever remained a simple man. To this day, everyone who has engaged with him in life has the greatest respect for him both as a professional as well as a human being.”

Unassuming and Meticulous

TVS Schools' R Srinivasan has found HL to be an unassuming personality despite his rise to the top “When I joined TVS at the Service Station in South Veli Street (Madurai) in 1958, he had already been working there for a few years.  Even then way back in the late 1950s, he was a very hard working gentleman, fully committed to the organization and a very dependable assistant directly reporting to Sri TSS. An unassuming person, he was very meticulous in his work. I still remember his pleasant manners and soft approach towards all staff members.”

He also remembers the differentiated attire “He used to wear only white pant and white full hand bush shirt.”

Anchors CSR – Treatment for Leprosy

Lakshman's contribution was not restricted to corporate management alone. He was a highly devoted person and cared for the workers and the financially deprived section of the society and wa particularly keen on improving the health care of the downtrodden. When CSR initiatives were launched by Venu Srinivasan, one of the first set of activities undertaken was towards treatment for leprosy in Hosur. Ulaganathan Selvam, VP, Civil ( Temple Restoration), TVS Motor, who has been involved in Temple Restoration and CSR initiatives of Srinivasan Services Trust from the early stages recalls the role of Lakshmanan from the early 1980s “He anchored the CSR initiatives right from the beginning. Leprosy was very high in Hosur in the 1970s. When the moped plant was being planned, Srinivasan had told him to take care of the Leprosy cases. Lakshmanan’s role in CSR started right from there.”

“Much later, in the 1990s and 2000s, he anchored the implementation of primary health services at Erattai Tirupathi and educational initiatives at Thiru Kurungudi. He was an integral part of the restoration exercises in Nava Tirupathi and he made several trips to these remote temples to oversee the activities He was a guide not only on the Corporate Management front but also in CSR activities.” (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/02/erettai-tirupathi-transformation.html)

(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/08/thiru-kurungudi-divya-desam.html)

Like R Srinivasan of TVS Madurai, Lakshmanan too has been actively in the educational space over the last couple of decades overseeing the institutions run by Malini Srinivasan, the younger sister of Venu. He has been the Treasurer of the Educational Trust that runs multiple institutions in Karnataka and TN. 

The Hindu Traditions

Very few know his devotional endeavours. Venu says that not just the corporate expertise, his knowledge of The Hindu Kriyas too is extraordinary "He is a walking encyclopedia of the Hindu traditions and philosophy. Watching him at sacred events, one even gets a feeling that he knows more than the modern age Vaathiyar." 

For decades he has been a devotee of Lord Muruga and has observed day long fast on the day of Shasti every month, one that he continues to this day.

Modern and Traditional, Radical and Orthodox

Venu has found a very unique mix in him. He has had many interesting interactions that looking back provides great insights into the personality of Lakshmanan “When I propose what I think is a novel idea, he would refuse with a strong reasoning. And on other occasions when I  present to him what I felt was too radical and suggested that we should not do, he would give a go ahead and state that it was a very good idea. He was modern and traditional, radical and orthodox. We disagreed terribly on many occasions but he would defend it once we both agreed on a certain decision. He had great loyalty to the family and the larger group.” 

When he joined the vessels making firm in Tirunelveli as a minor boy in the late 1940s, with the financial situation in the family extremely precarious, his parents would have been happy for him to have a job on hand that would have helped him meet the bare monthly expenses. By the mid 1950s, they were in for a great surprise. Soon after his job at TVS was confirmed following his probation, he returned home, one fine morning, to Tirunelveli and asked his parents to ‘pack their bags’ to Madurai. It was an amazing gesture from a son for whom they could not even contribute to the college education. Not only was he a trusted man in the TVS Group, he proved to be a completely responsible son even in his early 20s and remained so all through their lives and took great care of them.

Back again after the Lockdown!!!

Both RS and HL were scoffed at as being a fool to quit a Government Job for TVS. But as seen in both the stories, at TVS it is possible to rise right to the top if you show the inclination to learn and give your best in everything you do, and of course have the patience. Like RS, who is currently recuperating from a serious surgery but continues to serve the TVS Schools in Madurai, HL too has had his share of surgeries but almost seven decades after his first interaction at TVS, he continues to play an active advisory role. He finds himself bonded to Venu Srinivasan and his group of institutions. This year (2021), following the removal of lockdown restrictions, he is back at the weekly review meetings much against the wishes of Venu “I asked him to stay at home and take care of his health. But his passion and commitment is such that he simply cannot detach himself from TVS and has now made it a habit to make it  physically to the office to review work with the management.” 

Always a man in whites, he rose from being a steno in a police office in Palayamkottai to the post of ED at Sundaram Clayton. At 88, he now looks fit as a fiddle, a result of clean habits all his life. When he resided in Baskarapuram off Warren Road in Mylapore, his daily routine included a hourly walk at Nageswara Rao Park, one that has been maintained by Sundaram Finance for close to two decades. For a man whose academic stint lasted just till SSLC, he has surprisingly been a voracious reader all his life and has a home library that comprises well over 300 books. He counts the learning under TSS as his life’s greatest blessing. “He gave me complete freedom, trusted me to the hilt and taught me every aspect of corporate management. I owe all my success to him.”

The FINAL WORD 

Venu Srinivasan, (Venu Srinivasan) who has been associated with him right from the time he was six months old, summarises him best “Lakshmanan was my appa’s right hand for over 25years and then has been my right hand in the organisation for over four decades. He has been a very unique person in the TVS Group. His foundation was very strong. He had an enormous moral conviction, was self effacing and shunned publicity for himself at all times. One had to coerce him into sitting at the head table at company events. He would reach out to the lowest level of the workers and sincerely engage with them for hours. He was simple in his habits and lifestyle - an austere personality with no material desires." 

“From engaging with the family to all the corporate deals, his has been a glorious innings. An extraordinary man full of values, he has been there all the time whenever we have wanted him. Over the last many decades, he understood the TVS culture as well as anyone and is a walking example of the TVS way of life. In his case, thoughts, words and action were congruent. He was a great defender of the values of the company and would boldly point out at the very beginning if he foresaw that something was likely to go against the values.  He had a capacity to store a wealth of knowledge. To all complex issues that we encountered, he would simplify and offer solutions that would leave everyone stunned. He had the undiluted trust of all the people in the TVS Group.” 

He is an institution by himself and our Rock of Gibraltar. He remains one of the great personalities in TVS' history, next only to the founders.