You would hardly expect a young boy from a rich Zamindar?s family in Dera Ismail Khan (now in Pakistan) to grow up to slip flawlessly into a government job or take up the challenge of setting up his own business at the age of 66, but then life is all about the unexpected. And Jagdish Khattar isn?t complaining. He loves picking up challenges.
Instead of revelling in the past glory and counting the goals he has scored, he is busy strategising his next game plan. The former managing director of Maruti Udyog Limited is busy with his latest venture, his own company, a chain of multi-brand auto distribution and services outlets. His swank office in Noida on the outskirts of Delhi has 25 employees. Some of them, he says, have joined from big automobile companies. Khattar ?s website is under construction, a company name that is very unlike a company dealing with cars, a busy looking office and cabin where he is mostly busy with his laptop. ?It?s too early to talk figures and details, but I think there must be something for people to have wanted to leave jobs with big companies and join me. Let?s see, how it goes,? he says stoically.
But behind the stoicism and the calm exterior, you know is a determined man, as determined as he was probably when he was adjusting into the life of a civil servant in the sleepy town of Basti in Uttar Pradesh as a part of his first posting as a young man of 22. Born in Pakistan, Khattar had to move to India with his parents when he was about five. ?I have very faint memories of those days. We were big landlords in Dera Ismail Khan. In fact, in the town, electricity was supplied by Khattar Electrical Company. So, we were a fairly leading family. But when we moved here, we all moved in suitcases. My father began from scratch like most people did after Partition,? he says without trying to sound like a martyr.
Khattar studied in Delhi Public School and graduated in arts from St Stephens College in 1962. Since his father wanted him to be either a lawyer or a journalist, Khattar decided to do his LLB from Delhi University. And since most of his classmates were taking civil service examination, Khattar decided to take it as well, he tells you with a smile that shows up the first time during the interaction.? It was just four months of preparation. I wanted to give it a try,? he says honestly. As luck would have it, Khattar cleared the exam and soon he was in Mussoorie at the IAS academy. Two years of training gave Khattar some skills he still cherishes, the biggest one being adjusting to different situations and jobs.
In 1966 when he was 24, Khattar?s first posting saw him in a district called Basti. Ask him how he adjusted from college life to that of a civil servant and he admits, ?It was a tremendous change. One wasn?t used to it. You just grow up suddenly. Right from staying alone to touring and staying in different guesthouses, it was all different kinds of experiences. But I enjoyed what I was doing. You must enjoy what you do otherwise you won?t last. Everything in life has two sides. You can look at the darker side or the brighter side. I always like seeing the brighter side.?
After Basti, he also served in Lucknow, Chamoli, and Kanpur. And it wasn?t just rural life that he got to see from close quarters. The year 1979 saw him being posted to London as the director of Tea Board of India. He came back four years later to work for a year as the chairman of Tea Board under the ministry of commerce. He must have just gotten used to the brew in his career when he was given the responsibility of chairman and MD of UP State Cement Corporation from 1984-1986. He also led UP Road Transport Corporation for two years as secretary and then as its chairman. Khattar?s last government posting was that of joint secretary in the ministry of steel from 1988-1993. An exhaustive list of portfolios, one that surely didn?t leave Khattar exhausted. Ask him how he adjusted from one city to another and from one kind of job to another and he puts it simply, ?As IAS officers you get used to it. I think this is the best part of service ? the varied experience you get. You don?t feel strained because of the constant challenge.?
He agrees it wasn?t always smooth sailing but it?s about how you deal with a situation, ?If you don?t know something, it?s perfectly fine to ask people who do. I didn?t know all the details of cement or the nitty gritties of transport. I was an administrator and not a technical person, so I wasn?t supposed to know it all. But it?s important to get a hang of it all. You can?t afford to be ignorant all the time. One should try and learn with all the possible effort.?
Khattar surely learnt because when he decided to leave civil services in 1993 to join Maruti Udyog as director, marketing, in July 1993, he was pretty sure he wanted a change. ?The services were becoming politicised and I thought it was time to move on. India was opening up and I thought it?ll be an interesting time to do something new.? So, at 51, when people are already working on their retirement plans seven years in advance, Khattar was living up to a new challenge. ?You have to constantly find challenges for yourself. Otherwise things can get very boring. You create a challenge if there isn?t one. If you are working, you have to find a challenge. The challenge should be one that motivates and charges you. You can?t lead an organisation till people know you know what you are doing. That is when you get the best from everyone.?
So, in 1993, when people were actually using their connections to get dealerships and there was a waiting list for Maruti 800, Khattar took up the challenge of a new field. Six years later, he was appointed as the second MD of Maruti Udyog. A little later in the year, a controversy between the government and Suzuki saw him being appointed the MD and CEO. And thanks to a revised joint venture between the duo that said that the Government of India and Suzuki had to take turns to appoint a new MD and chairman, Khattar resigned but was promptly re-appointed as MD by Suzuki in 2002. Ask him how he handled the duo and he says matter of factly, ?I?d worked with the government and I?d also dealt with private companies, so it wasn?t difficult.?
And keeping the Japanese happy wasn?t as tough as handling Japanese is usually thought to be. Explains Khattar, ?It?s only when you have a personal agenda that problems arise. As long as you are sincere, committed and hardworking and there is transparency, everything gets sorted out. When you do your job with a clear conscience and give it your best, there can be no problems really.?
In the 15 years in Maruti, Khattar saw many ups and down but he dealt with most with his usual stoicism. Take, for example, the three -month strike by workers in 2002. The management decided to link performance to the bonus. Workers resented the move and went on a strike. It was a tough phase, but Khattar stuck to his guns despite the opposition from the government. He adds,? It was a battle of wits. I believed it was a move that would ultimately benefit the workers and the company. And when you really believe in something, you are willing to stand by it.? The management stood by Khattar, as did the Japanese. The issue was finally resolved. From a basic Maruti 800 to the jazzy Sx4 Khattar saw all the launches. From 1993 when there was a waiting list of customers to 2008 when cars have to be sold on discount, Khattar saw the entire growth of the Indian automobile industry.
The journey at Maruti was tough but rewarding. It?s little surprise that J D Power wrote what he did for Khattar in the award certificate that has been given to only 20 people in the last 20 years with only four awards in the automobile category. The certificate reads:? In the years that I?ve been in the automobile industry there have been only a handful of people who I can unhesitatingly say ?This person changed history?. There is no doubt in my mind that you are one of those rare persons of vision and ability who belong to that category.?
The certificate is kept in Khattar?s office as are many others in the passage to his cabin but Khattar is easily not the one to rest on his laurels. So, when people his age are leading a retired life, Khattar doesn?t have time to think about it. ?I don?t believe in retirement. I quite enjoy my work. What will I do at home? How long can you play golf and be busy with gardening? You?ve got to do something constructive, something new. You should always create a challenge and go after it.?
The only occasions Khattar does give himself the luxury of free time is when he goes for his regular morning walks at 5 in the morning or soothes himself with old Hindi music or Indian classical music. ?I enjoy watching movies off and on with my family now that I?m in Noida,? he says with that rare smile of his. His wife Kiran, sons Gautam and Kunal and their families keep him busy.
Fact File
* Born in Dera Ismail Khan, now in Pakistan, to a rich landlord?s family, Jagdish Khattar moved to India during the Partition
* He cleared his civil services exams in 1964 and served for 37 years till he resigned to join Maruti Udyog Ltd in 1993
* Khattar is setting up his auto consultancy firm and hopes to launch it soon