C V Tikekar, Former Sr. DGM

“Telco taught me to learn”

When we rang the bell of his home, a sprightly man of about 70 years opened the door. He was Mr. C V Tikekar, former Sr. DGM at Tata Motors. Mr. Tikekar is a metallurgist and his eyes shone on being asked about his early days at Tata Motors. “It was Tata Locomotive and Engineering Company Ltd. when I joined in 1955 at Jamshedpur and had been changed to Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company Ltd. when I retired”, he smiled. Reminiscising about the day he had applied for a post in Foundry Heat Treatment, he says, “After my interview, a German - Dr Helmut Villa - came out and said that I was not suitable for a Foundry Heat Treatment job. He said that he was going to issue an advertisement for engineers in automobile manufacturing and I should apply then. When the ad actually came out, all my colleagues from Premier Automobiles (where I was working at the time) and I applied for the job. Even my boss applied. I felt I had no hope. Some of my colleagues had recommendation letters from important people, while some had the experience. I had neither; but Dr Villa recognised me and selected me.”

Mr. Tikekar remembers that he had joined as an assistant engineer but had no place to sit. He says that Dr Villa pointed to the office of the Foundry Chief and said, “The Chief is on leave; you go and take his seat.” For the next ten days, I was sitting on the chair of the Foundry Chief.” He says, “ That was what set Telco apart. Tatas allowed you to grow; they encouraged you, motivated you and then gave you the autonomy and power to prove that you could deliver.”

Mr. Tikekar was close to Mr. Moolgaokar - who shared his dreams for Telco with the young engineers. He says, “I learnt a lot from Mr. Moolgaokar. He has influenced my working. He had a temper and scolded me, punished me, but that never made me angry. I knew that he was a visionary and I could learn a lot from him. Even after my retirement from Telco, when I was working with Kirloskars, his way of working stood me in good stead.”

Mr. Tikekar came to Pune in 1976 at the behest of Mr . Moolgaokar. He was called to look after the Auto Division and Foundry. But he was not interested in general administration. For him the technical side of things was more fascinating and he opted to remain in the technological side of things right through. He remembers, “We were facing a lot of pressure. The government was not allowing us to import the raw material we needed. Mr. Moolgaokar then gave us the responsibility of material testing so that we could get steel for our vehicles. Even when I came to Pune I was in charge of material rationalisation for the entire Company.”

In his 38 years with Tata Motors, Mr. Tikekar was witness to a number of events. The one that stands out in his memory is the communal riots in Jamshedpur that saw 100 people dead. He remembers the terror that gripped the inhabitants of the township, but their refusal to move. He also remembers the shortage of material due to government quotas and the power cuts that brought everything to standstill. He says he saw challenges and in the challenges, he saw growth. “When you look at the scenario as it was then, there was GM, Premier Automobiles, Hindustan Motors. Everyone wondered whether we would be able to sell the 6000 trucks that we were allowed each year. But when we look at where the other companies are today and how Tata Motors has grown, we realise that no one has been able to keep up with our pace.” He believes that the secret lies in the fact that everything was a learning process. “We did not know how to manufacture. We had to learn everything, become self sufficient. So we were forced to learn and learning meant growing. The more we learnt, the better we grew.”

On a closing note he smiles and says, “I can now talk of life. In life one has to identify the right values and objectives that we can live by. We were fortunate to work in a Company where you get these values. The people of the Company live by them. And this changes the quality of life. This treasure from Telco is everlasting .”

( Source: As told to Anagha Wankar, Tata Motors, Pune )