Having talked of VG Siddhartha's nicer aspects, it's incumbent upon us to have a peek of the other side of his story. One mustn't talk ill of the dead but it's important to know the complete story. And perhaps, the actual persona of VG Siddhartha must lie somewhere in the middle of the two extremes. Let's read through.
I maintained a dignified silence as the man (VGS) was dead but not found. Now that his body has been laid to rest, it is time to look at the other side of him.
They say, a man who lives by the sword, dies by the sword. VGS ran a mafia in Chikmagalur - Coorg coffee estate, where he came from. Often he would come and sit at the auctions with his goondas and the others would quietly exit the scene, fearing violence. He would set the price. About 139 of his cheques had bounced and the Bank recovery officer was met by VGS at his estate with handmade guns. He was rescued by the CRPF and the matter was hushed up by his powerful father-in-law.
He lived and thrived in the business by speculation and valuation games. He was groomed in the initial years by the ever greedy stock market players. He tasted initial success and made big money with Infosys shares (Of course, there's nothing wrong but that defined his life - highly leveraged and speculative games!). Most of his CCD outlets didn't break even, even after a decade of existence but his game was valuation. Much like our alumnus (IIMA) Subramanian of Subiksha chain of outlets (He's now in jail, almost on identical situations). VGS failed when Starbucks bucked the trend of buying out the home grown entrepreneurs like Ramesh Chauhan of Thumbs Up fame of the '80s. Mindtree was another mindless acquisition, which had no connect with his core business. Though he made a whopping profit, it would have diverted his focus. The IT authorities had every right to extract their pound of flesh, with his known track record of default of IT dues. They had to keep a check, which they did, despite SM Krishna's interventions. That the BJP government stood firm on the tax collection, is not a point to cheer at this point of time.
We get soft when someone takes his life when Mallya-type exit was an option. However, that doesn't take away the fault lines of the individual.
The above are my personal views and not any forward. I have a few Coorgi friends and bankers and one of my colleagues was an ex-CCD finance man. It is unfair to criticise a big entrepreneur on his unfortunate death; it is equally unfair to glorify him.
May his Aatma attain shanti.
Shankar.
Source. What'sApp.
Tailpiece.
1. Lekha had gone to the Mammiyoor Siva kshetram as part of her weekly trysts, in the morning.
2. My phone became active by about a half past 12, this afternoon, after a senior executive of the
service provider had intervened and cut the red tape!
I maintained a dignified silence as the man (VGS) was dead but not found. Now that his body has been laid to rest, it is time to look at the other side of him.
They say, a man who lives by the sword, dies by the sword. VGS ran a mafia in Chikmagalur - Coorg coffee estate, where he came from. Often he would come and sit at the auctions with his goondas and the others would quietly exit the scene, fearing violence. He would set the price. About 139 of his cheques had bounced and the Bank recovery officer was met by VGS at his estate with handmade guns. He was rescued by the CRPF and the matter was hushed up by his powerful father-in-law.
He lived and thrived in the business by speculation and valuation games. He was groomed in the initial years by the ever greedy stock market players. He tasted initial success and made big money with Infosys shares (Of course, there's nothing wrong but that defined his life - highly leveraged and speculative games!). Most of his CCD outlets didn't break even, even after a decade of existence but his game was valuation. Much like our alumnus (IIMA) Subramanian of Subiksha chain of outlets (He's now in jail, almost on identical situations). VGS failed when Starbucks bucked the trend of buying out the home grown entrepreneurs like Ramesh Chauhan of Thumbs Up fame of the '80s. Mindtree was another mindless acquisition, which had no connect with his core business. Though he made a whopping profit, it would have diverted his focus. The IT authorities had every right to extract their pound of flesh, with his known track record of default of IT dues. They had to keep a check, which they did, despite SM Krishna's interventions. That the BJP government stood firm on the tax collection, is not a point to cheer at this point of time.
We get soft when someone takes his life when Mallya-type exit was an option. However, that doesn't take away the fault lines of the individual.
The above are my personal views and not any forward. I have a few Coorgi friends and bankers and one of my colleagues was an ex-CCD finance man. It is unfair to criticise a big entrepreneur on his unfortunate death; it is equally unfair to glorify him.
May his Aatma attain shanti.
Shankar.
Source. What'sApp.
Tailpiece.
1. Lekha had gone to the Mammiyoor Siva kshetram as part of her weekly trysts, in the morning.
2. My phone became active by about a half past 12, this afternoon, after a senior executive of the
service provider had intervened and cut the red tape!
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