By Savita Bhave Translation Nandu Dange

caught on as a valuable management tool from the eighties, but Varadanstates that Menon was a good couple of decades ahead of his time in terms ofHRD.Varadan went to Kolhapur, planning for a one-day tour; he stayed back a fullthree days. There he noticed an unusual trait of Menon: he did not just lookafter his own interests; he looked to the larger good of industry as a whole.Telex was a new development those days, not known or understood by theKolhapur industrial community. The communications department wasreluctant to provide the facility in Kolhapur unless it got a certain minimumnumber of subscribers. Menon promoted the facility and its advantages andmanaged to collect the necessary numbers. Dr. Patil himself visited Kolhapurlater at Menon’s request. Dr. Patil had remarked to Varadan that this mancould not be just described as a successful industrialist; a more appropriatesobriquet would be ‘visionary.’Pundi Parameswaran recalls Menon’s actions when the HMT contract led to aloss of Rs 56,000, not a small amount in those days. Menon did not waste histime in recriminations: he decided to cut his losses and raised Rs 40,000through the sale of accumulated scrap. The machinery in the factory wasrather old, but the tooling was ultramodern. Menon also started themanufacture of Petter type engines, close on the heels of his alreadysuccessful Lister type.1960 saw the launch of the Peace Corps by American President Kennedy.Their agenda was to send teams of American engineers to provide technicalaid and guidance to developing countries. Rolfe Eastman was one youngsterwho came to India as part of a team of volunteers in 1966. He had graduatedfrom Amherst College in Massachusetts, worked for a time to gather practicalexperience and then went on to complete his MBA in Financial Managementfrom Boston University. His friend Allen Cohen had contributed to theestablishment of the Indian Institute of Management at Ahmedabad while hewas at Harvard. Cohen held the responsibility of training the Peace Corpsteams that were deputed to Maharashtra and Kerala. He perceived Pune as acentre of learning, but shifted his focus to Kolhapur since Pune was not adesignated target area. Five volunteers found gainful employment in hisproject. The Peace Corps was an all-male outfit since local industry onlyemployed men. The group hired a duplex in Ruikar Colony, which wasoccupied on one side by the one married couple and on the other by the fourbachelors.A team deputed before Rolfe Eastman’s had earlier made a survey and filed areport on the industrial scene in Maharashtra, with special emphasis onKolhapur. The remarks therein are enlightening:“Menon and Menon Engineering: this is a medium scale industry situated onthe outskirts of Kolhapur city, sandwiched between the United Casting Co.and the Central Iron Works. We had an interview with the Chief, Mr. T. C. K.Menon (as Chandran Menon was known then) and he impressed us as anambitious and progressive young man. He has recently shifted to more