Notes on the meeting on December 22, 2010

Dear Friends, 

President Kurian Abraham spoke about his meeting with V.P. Nandakumar, one of Kerala’s most successful businessmen. He is the chairman of Manappuram Finance. If you had invested in shares worth Rs 10,000 many years ago, it would have been worth Rs 55 lakh now. Kurian said, “Nandakumar realized that in order to be successful, he had to do business differently from his competitors. He provided more services for his customers and gave better quality products.” 

But the most important reason for Nandakumar’s success is because the firm’s accounting system is transparent. “So when he wanted to expand by taking a loan, the bank asked to see his accounts and were happy at the transparency and felt confident enough to give him money,” said Kurian. “In order to be successful, it is important not to fudge the accounts.” Many people show low income in their accounts, just so that they can skim off the money and hence banks will not lend to them. In the long run, it becomes counter-productive.

Table Topics was by me. Subjects included the high rate of divorce in Kerala and the plus and minus points of author Arundhati Roy.

In soapbox, Patrick Xavier, a surprise guest, spoke about his experience in handling the logistics for President Pratibha Patil’s five-day visit to Laos.   

Nirmala spoke about her encounter with Roald Hoffmann, who won the 1981 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. A multi-faceted character, Hoffman has published two collections of poetry. Hoffmann stayed at the Ramada Resort and Nirmala spoke admiringly about his humility and friendliness.  

I spoke about the many theories of success from the Malcolm Gladwell bestseller, ‘The Outliers’.

This time, the lectern and the table had been removed. It led to a marked increase in freedom of movement and vitality in the speeches.

Thanks to Nirmala for bringing a Christmas cake.