Harsh Goenka, the soft-spoken chairman of RPG Enterprises epitomizes all that is Bengali. His love for culture, music , art and food is characteristically linked to his roots in Kolkata, the city where he was born and brought up. Goenka is a self-proclaimed Bengali. ?I dentify myself with Bengali culture and Bengali emotions, I have never ever been to the place in Rajasthan from where my family hails,? says Goenka. Little wonder then that despite being takeover tycoon Ram Prasad Goenka?s son, the quintessential bhadrolok, was fed on ?communist idealism? and spent most of his college days pondering over ways and means of changing the world at adda sessions in the smoke-filled coffee houses.
Goenka studied economics at St Xaviers College, Kolkata, and unlike the other rich kids from business families who studied B.Com in the morning batches, so that they could attend office and pick up the threads of the trade early on he aspired to become an economist or a journalist. ?So B.Com was a strict no, no. I wanted to avoid office,? smiles Goenka.
However, as a CEO at the young age of 24, Goenka had stepped into shoes bigger than his size. ?It was baptism by fire! I didn?t think that I had the required competency. That is precisely what helped me develop the right attitude, I was always open to learning. I gave due respect to the professional managers. Fortunately, they were also very keen teachers. Also, the acceptability of the boss?s son was far greater in those days than it is now.? However, globalization has changed the way family businesses operate. Management systems and processes have evolved, as have corporate governance principles. Goenka?s son, Anant, for instance, who is armed with a management degree from Wharton Business School is going to join group company KEC International as a manager reporting to professional bosses. ?The top slot has to be earned and not inherited,? says Goenka.
Having traded his dreams of becoming an economist for the family business, today there are no regrets. ?My work-life has been a tremendous joyride and there has been nothing mundane about it. I have been able to look at different businesses, contribute to the growth of India Inc and be a part of some of the fun businesses,? he asserts. What has been really challenging is the opportunity to create global businesses, like Zensar Technologies, that derives 90 percent of its revenues from outside India and KEC International, the transmission company focussed on overseas markets.
Goenka starts his day, with an hour of exercise and walking, after which he leaves for work and after that it is a gruelling 12 hours, doing what he enjoys most. On Saturdays, however, he calls it a day much earlier and as a routine checks out art galleries across town in search of new artists and art forms. There is precious little that gives him more happiness than watching young artists doing creative quality work. ?I also visit galleries in other cities when I am travelling. It has its own dividends, satisfying a creative urge within you.? Ask him whether he has dabbled with paints, he candidly admits that he lacks the skills though he has done a few along with some renowned painters purely for charities. The experience has obviously been extremely rich, since it gave him the chance to be part of the creative process right from the conceptualization stage. Goenka has also been one of the biggest patrons of arts and artists in corporate India, supporting artists and helping young talent to blossom.
What intrigues and interests him most about art is somewhere connected to his love for people, explains Goenka, his constant endeavour to understand the minds of the artists makes the journey all the more fascinating. Small wonder then, that his collection of self portraits is over 450. A celebrated connoisseur of art, Goenka says he buys art with which he can connect. For him, art is truly for art?s sake. ?I cannot look at art as an investment and nor can I invest anybody?s money in art. Every piece of art is unique to itself and cannot be compared to shares of a company, where each share is identical to the other,? he says matter-of-factly. ?If you love art, the relationship is one of the heart and not of the mind. I feel proud when I hear that the value of my collection has appreciated, and it ends there,? he smiles.
His love for art transcends form and stretches to other genres like music and theatre. Goenka claims to listen to all kinds of music except for western classical and jazz. Catching the latest theatre on Sunday evenings is again a regular do.
Goenka?s interest in art is matched by his enthusiasm for sports. ?I used to be a reasonably good sportsman, not that it shows,? he laughs. Today his interest in sports has been kept alive through the Ceat Cricket Ratings. ?It has offered me a closer look at the game than as a mere spectator. It has provided me with the opportunity to discuss the game with domestic and international cricketing legends.?
Coming back to his Bong connections, like any typical Bengali, food is a passion. He likes to experiment with food, but is restricted to eating alone and never ever donning the chef?s hat. ?I am a non-fussy eater as long as the food tastes great.? Bengali and Kashmiri cuisine appeals to his taste buds, as does Italian, Mexican and French food. ?I experiment with restaurants, right from dhabas to five stars,? says Harsh.
He insists that he has never quite understood the work-life balance people harp on all the time. ?When you find that work is your life and that is what you enjoy most, then why do you need to strike a balance?? That does not mean that this art aficionado does not take holidays. For someone who starts the day at 9.30 in the morning and winds up by 9.30 at night, holidays are simply opportunities to bond with your family.
Strange as it might seem, despite his Jesuit school background, Goenka?s source of inspiration is the Bhagwad Gita with its lessons of doing your karma, being fair and working with integrity. A Sanskrit tutor at home helping him to read the Ramayana and Mahabharata in his childhood, must have had its effect. ?It is not that I have a profound relationship with the Bhagwad Gita, it is just that those principles have been imbibed within us.?
And, while he has continued with his efforts, his career at RPG has also been rewarding in several ways. The sheer opportunity to deal with people across ranks, cultures and companies tops his list of spoils. ?If you ask me what are the three mantras for any business to succeed, I would say it?s people, people and people. I must be one of the few leaders who spends almost 50% of his time, managing and dealing with people. I believe that the softer side of dealing with people is more crucial than crunching numbers.?
Not just doing the right businesses but doing the businesses right, is the direction that he has brought to the group. He devotes a lot of his time in making RPG Enterprises the most exciting workplace. ?Today, I can?t say with pride that we have done so, but the day we become the most soought-after employer, it will truly be an achievement in the real sense of the word,? he says.