By Savita Bhave Translation Nandu Dange

5A N E R A O F P R O G R E S SKirloskar Consultants was established as a consultancy arm of the Kirloskargroup in the year 1963. They had sent out letters to several companies togenerate business. Of the replies they got was a nice letter from Menon andMenon, signed by ‘T.C. K. Menon.’ Thus began the acquaintance with D. V.Tikekar of Kirloskar Consultants. They also carried out a survey for Menon.Tikekar was impressed by the fact that an outsider was successful in firmlyestablishing himself in Kolhapur. Menon struck Tikekar as a very civil,ambitious and emotional man. Menon wished to have detailed discussionswith the legendary Shantanurao Kirloskar. Around 1970-71, Tikekar tookMenon to Kirloskar Oil Engines for a meeting with him. Kirloskar and Menonwere both diesel engine manufacturers and therefore competitors, but theyhad no difficulty in having an amicable dialogue. Right at the beginning of themeeting, Shantanurao asked Menon what the initials TCK stood for. Menonexplained that it was a traditional naming system in Kerala where the firstletter stood for the family name (Thotapillil), the next letter the person’s givenname (Chandrashekhar) and the last letter the person’s father’s name(Krishnan). Shantanurao then asked him if he could address him asChandran. Menon was very pleased at this friendliness and informality.Menon developed such a close rapport with S. L. Kirloskar that a few yearslater when SLK became the Chairman of the Indian Diesel EngineManufacturers Association, he requested Menon to be the Vice-Chairman.They maintained this close contact right till the end. Menon also sent a lot ofentrepreneurs to Kirloskar Consultants for help in their new ventures or forsolutions to their difficulties.Around this time, Arun Kirloskar got to know Menon. He had studied inKolhapur and scouting for subcontractors for Cummins. As narrated earlier,he saw the Menon Pistons signboard and met Ram Menon sitting under atree. Ram Menon successfully developed pistons to meet his requirementsfully. Arun Kirloskar recalls that others kept telling him that the necessarytechnology did not exist in the country and so he could never get his needsmet here, but Menon proved them wrong. Cummins, of course gave fulltechnical support, but Menon was able to make proper use of the availablefacility and satisfy the customer’s needs. While others looked at problems, theMenon brothers were able to look at opportunities. Arun Kirloskar asserts thatthe assistance of Ram and Chandran Menon was invaluable in the success ofKirloskar Cummins. He also states that he respects Chandran Menon for hiscapacity for hard work, straightforward nature and respect for commitment.Menon’s efforts at developing new customers were ongoing, and M. S. S.Varadan of HMT remembers making a couple of visits to Kolhapur in theperiod 1970- 72.