MK
Anand
Business head
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BY
USHA THOMAS
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MK
Anand with his family
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MK
Anand's total lack of pretense is striking,
both in his personality and in the way he
approaches life. He has on his table 'World's
Greatest Boss' engraved on a cup.
Background
My father was in the central government
and regular transfers across the country
were part and parcel of my growing years.
As an infant, I was in Delhi, then Kanpur
where one really did not see the age limit
before being enrolled in school. In all,
I have been to 13 schools, but coped being
a Kendriya Vidyalaya product as their syllabus
is the same all over the country. I studied
in Kerala from the second to the tenth standard.
Soon
after that, my father was transferred to
Mumbai in 1981, and I completed my graduation,
post graduation and MBA in Mumbai. I am
the oldest among three sons. One of my siblings
is in the Central Excise in Bangalore and
the other manages his business of executive
placement consultancy services in Mumbai.
My wife, Smita, was also working in media
till very recently. My father has now retired
and my parents stay with me.
College
days
I loved zoology in college, but then realized
that genetics is what I wanted to study
further. Jawaharlal Nehru University (Delhi)
was the only place to do an MSc in biotechnology
and their admissions was two months before
my results so losing a year was inevitable.
To bridge that year, I applied for MSc and
got selected by Khalsa College, but subjects
like endocrinology were not appealing.
Just
then we heard of MSc in Fisheries Management
from Mumbai University at the Central Institute
of Fisheries at Versova, Mumbai. I took
it up in the sense of a stop gap to study
biotechnology a year later, but it appealed
to me as a long term profession and I ended
up completing the two years course.
My
dad was liberal and gave me the freedom
to pursue my choice of career. The only
time, he showed keenness was for me to do
an MBA. Though at his insistence, I did
appear for the entrance exam at S P Jain
Institute and made it to the second list
but, ended up convincing him that an MBA
was not necessary, and took up a job instead.
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MK
Anand with his wife Smita
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I
met Smita in college when studying for BSc.
My rush to get a job was centered on getting
married as I feared her family would pack
her off somewhere. She hails from a Gujarati
Jain family. We were so very young when
we got married in 1991. I have two children,
my older son Aditya is 14 years and my daughter
Priyanka is a year and three months old.
Smita worked for a magazine for seven years
and was practically handling the business
in the last three years and left, feeling
she could use it in a larger organisation.
When
we got married, Smita tried to converse
in Malayalam with us but my younger brothers
would take off on her and she gave up! We
understand each other's languages but do
not speak it.
Professional
life
My first job was with the pharmaceutical
company Cynamide and it was a sales job.
I did not like it and realised soon enough
that an MBA was necessary. I did an MBA
(Human Resources) from Narsee Monjee in
1989.
I
started working in production as a management
trainee at Rallis India Ltd., but watching
the fish processing was really tiresome
and weird. Someone referred me to an ad
sales position for Delhi Press. I took it
up and just coasted along as, not really
sure if it was my line. But once in, I decided
I may as well go to the best companies in
India.
I
prepared separate resumes for The Times
of India, Business India, Malayalam
Manorama, Readers Digest and
two large agencies. In 1990, I first went
to the Times group and fortunately got the
job and did not have to use the remaining
resumes. I was the first development executive
for classifieds in the Times of India.
I
quit after three years and moved to Citibank
as an assistant manager. They had just launched
Citiphone banking. This job did not suit
my appetite and soon became very mundane
and boring. I started looking for a change.
My boss at Times, Kanta Advani put me on
to Pradeep Guha and I rejoined Times. When
Kanta moved on to television, I was put
in charge of the classifieds department.
From then to now, I have contributed in
my own small way to the group and launched
many properties. My move to television has
had its own learning graph.
I
never take papers home and prefer sitting
up late. Till recently, I have never worked
on Saturdays and Sundays. My father is content
with the way my life has taken its course.
Though he did express a desire for me to
join the IAS; for him The Times is
akin to the Government of India.
I
always consider a role in a company as something
what one defines and not what the company
defines for one. Getting a designation in
an environment is like getting yourself
in a room. It is like getting into a train,
once in, whether you get a seat, keep standing
or get pushed around is entirely up to you.
In any job, one takes calls based on one's
sheer knowledge and guts.
More
degrees to keep up with the times...
As my basic education is not in the field
that I work in, I decided to do a PhD in
Media Economics from Narsee Monjee. This
is not to further my career. It's been a
year now and I have finished the basic course
covering six subjects and now all that remains
is publishing two papers in recognised journals
and a few teaching assignments. People always
mistake me as a professor and always ask,
"How do I sell?" I tell them,
"I really cannot sell, it is my team
that sells."
We
are long living creatures and after some
time, we won't be relevant to commercial
enterprises, so we should keep updating
ourselves for the future. In the future,
I may take up an academic or consultancy
based profession, this will be useful then.
Unlike
earlier times, where 60 was the given age
to be retired, it will be a big thing if
I can keep a job till 45 years of age today.
One can really not predict one's health,
family, adaptation to new media, market,
etc., so in essence we are really underpaid
today and unsure of our future.
Calm
and composed
I am very calm and do not get stressed easily.
My whole agenda is to put everything in
order and let people work. I take off in
the middle of the day, faff around with
friends and mostly start work towards post
lunch. Then working till midnight and beyond
is not a problem. I make up for it by coming
late and that is a huge destresser. I avoid
peak hour traffic and leave from my residence
in Juhu after 9 am. Being called in early
is a sure way to give me stress. I love
to drive. I currently drive a Scorpio and
my dream vehicle is a Mercedes.
This
and that...
Till a few years ago, I did not wear a watch.
But, as I am growing older, I do tend to
make insecure purchases to keep up with
the times. I have become brand conscious
and shop for all my stuff.
I
am a 'one helping' eater unless it is biryani
made by my mother. I love the food at Indigo
and the variety offered at the restaurants
at JW Marriot.
Saying
that reading is a hobby is clichéd
as it is a requirement in any field. I am
famous for buying books and not reading
them. The only books that interest me are
those on History and Philosophy.
If
somebody cares to listen, I sing in Hindi
and Malayalam. My wife sings too and on
occasions we end up singing together. Watching
my father play the bulbul, I have learnt
to play the keyboard.
I
collect cassettes and CDs of sufi qawalis.
I have picked up some excellent songs from
outside mosques at various places. I listen
to Carnatic music and maestros like Lata
Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar, etc. I unfortunately
cannot lip sync on English songs much to
the amusement of my son and my brothers.
It may stem from the fact that at an age
when I had to pick up these, we had no television
at home.
Movies
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MK
Anand with his daughter
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I
am not an avid movie watcher. I recently
went to Forum (Bangalore) and picked up
over 30 Malayalam VCDs. I realise, I watch
Malayalam films because I see Kerala in
them. As long as I see a nice village with
a teashop, I am happy. My wife is fed up
with me as I prefer to stay home on holidays.
She has started going to the theatres with
my son. I usually end up going mostly when
my parents accompany us. I recently saw
Krissh. But, sitting home drinking
chai and eating pakoras is what makes me
most happy.
Once
I reach home, I am a complete homebody and
when I am out, I am totally consumed by
work. It's inertia of motion: Any motion,
which is in motion or at rest, stays there.
I
am the oldest grandchild and the eldest
son on both sides of the family and there
is a major MK Anand iconification in my
family. My son often says that he is fed
up hearing stories about how good I am.
But, I am chilled out as far as his performance
in school goes, much to my wife's dismay.
I was not a topper student and don't expect
the same of him.
Travel
As part of Times Response, I
have traveled to many destinations for their
annual conferences since 1995. Smita has
also traveled extensively on her job and
Aditya and I have joined her on two occasions.
Kerala is a regular haunt and my best holiday
so far has been a drive there with Smita,
Aditya and my brothers - Anish and Ajay.
We drove from Mumbai to Kerala, stopping
at Pune, Kohlapur, Bangalore, Mysore, Vyanad
in to Calicut and back via Mangalore and
Goa. We would take a stop at unknown places
to spend the night. I would love to do it
again.
My
wife does complain that we don't travel
and in fact, since the birth of my daughter
who was 12 weeks premature, we really have
not been out together. Though, my son and
I have just returned from an amazing week
long African safari.
TV
shows
I watch movies on The History Channel, National
Geographic Channel and Discovery. If I ever
happen to see any soap by mistake, my mind
is always keyed up thinking how much unnecessary
expenditure is incurred when the camera
pans without moving for three-four minutes,
the cost of the sets, etc. I also tend to
break in to a sweat each time an ad break
comes on TV and always reach out to SMS
my sales head as to why a particular ad
has not appeared!
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