Major Arun Phatak (Retd), in his short military service became a veteran of three wars, which he followed up by becoming a veteran of many a business enterprise. His wife Pratibha has been an entrepreneur in her own right. Recently they celebrated 50 years of marriage, which began with a strange twist in the tale, all thanks to the handiwork of a determined soldier…
Major Arun Phatak (Retd.) passed out from the National Defence Academy (NDA), where he carved a niche for himself in various sports like squash, tennis, basketball, fencing, swimming, cross country and particularly boxing. Continuing his unbroken record at the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Major Phatak was commissioned in the Artillery in 1961. During his short span of military service of just 16 years, he actively participated in the three wars of 1962 with China, 1965 and 1971 with Pakistan. After the 1971 war, Major Phatak took voluntary retirement on compassionate grounds.
He had his business education from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management and St Mary’s University from Canada, after which he entered the corporate world. Although he was selected by prestigious Multi-National Companies (MNCs), he chose to join a medium-sized Indian chemical company (Hico), where he could practically apply the management concepts and theories learnt at Business School. Within a short span of time, the company grew exponentially. Thereafter, he joined Brihan Maharashtra’s Canadian operation as President and worked for five years. There he acquired international experience in Marketing. Subsequently, the company requested him to return and take over as CEO of the India operations.
In 2002, he took over as the President & Executive Director of ABG Shipyard Ltd. He was part of the expansion programme of the company to establish additional shipyards. The company manufactured indigenously sophisticated specialised ships for the Defence, Coast Guard and commercial shipping. Presently, he wears many hats, all of which pertain to the sale of various equipment required for the Defence. He is the Chairman of Tonbo Imaging, which manufactures thermal imaging and night vision devices for the Defence. He is also the President of Precision Power Products specialising in power electronics and embedded systems. He is the CMD of Meridian, MD of Filtrex Systems India, and is associated with several other companies such as Sheorey Digital Systems and Garware Wall Ropes. His present mission is to work towards self-reliance and indigenisation in defence production.
His wife Pratibha is a dynamic individual in her own right and has dabbled in various enterprises. They have an unusual story of a love marriage. Corporate Citizen spoke to them at length on their personal and professional success…
"I convinced her that life in the London would not be as exciting as life in the Army. Ultimately the last sentence I said wasremember we are Army officers who ‘for your tomorrow, we sacrifice our today’. Thereafter, I wooed her with Frank Sinatra’s famous number ‘Strangers in the night’”
-Arun
Maj Arun Phatak: Still a bachelor at the age 27-28, everyone around me felt I should get married soon. I would tell them that I would think about it, but something should click.
Pratibha cheekily butts in, “Yes, a happy bachelor with lots of girlfriends.” And sure enough, it clicked when Arun stumbled upon Pratibha, and how! Like in a scene from a Bollywood movie script, he actually snatched her away from a London based suitor whom she was to get engaged to, by the sheer power of his gift of the gab. Says Arun, with pride still writ large on his face, “This girl was about to get engaged. So her family had gone to Kolhapur to seek the blessings of Ambabai. Her future husband being from London, they were all excited that they will get to go to UK.’’
It so happened that it was Pratibha’s cousin who was eyeing him, but Arun’s glance fell on Pratibha and he decided to audaciously cross the Laxman Rekha.
Recalls Arun, “So I went with my friend, Col. Ramesh Pathak. He was playing cupid, as he wanted Pratibha’s cousin, to get hooked to me. We met at Pratibha’s cousin’s place, with no idea of what was in store. Pratibha’s cousin, who I was supposed to ‘see’ and who had shown great interest in me from my earlier encounters, deliberately sat next to me, as she wanted to impress me. In the meanwhile, my friend’s aunt asked Pratibha who had just returned from Kolhapur, “Why don’t you go sit with all the young people?” She reluctantly came out and sat with me on my other side and then the bell rang. I liked her instantly so began talking to her. I had nothing in my mind until then.’’ Arun’s friend was disappointed as he was ignoring Pratibha’s cousin and quietly started kicking him under the table, gesturing that he should take to Pratibha’s cousin. Says Arun cheekily, “I told him to keep his mouth shut as I knew what I was doing. And I kept up the conversation with her. Initially her mind was on the London guy. To cut the long story short, I kept pursuing Pratibha as this was the girl I wanted to marry. She was not convinced initially. However, ultimately there was a hurricane courtship, leading to marriage.’’ So, how did he finally win her over? Recalling an incident, Arun says, “During our courtship, I took her to the Fergusson Hill in Pune. I convinced her that life in London would not be as exciting as life in the Army. Ultimately the last sentence I said was-remember we are Army officers who ‘for your tomorrow, we sacrifice our today’. Thereafter, I wooed her with Frank Sinatra’s famous number ‘Strangers in the night’ in which one of the lines was, ‘Something in your eyes was so exciting.’ Pratibha stopped me, mid-way. I said what happened. She said, “I have always been told by my mother to be truthful. I am wearing contact lenses.’’ I said, “I don’t care. You’ve got beautiful eyes.’’ She was convinced but said, what about the London guy? Arun cheekily told her, “I think we are slated to be married. Forget about everything else. So forget London.’’ She agreed to marry him. Says Pratibha, “We met on 27th May 1967 and got married on 15th July.’’
Pratibha: I did not have many ups and downs in the Army but it taught me to expect the unexpected. The first lesson was immediately after marriage. His first posting was in Ambala; the first time that I went to Punjab.
Arun: We had gone to Shimla for our honeymoon. My leave was for two months. However, like a good soldier, I came back to the regiment, five days in advance. I reached Ambala at 10 pm and reported to my Commanding Officer just as I arrived at the station. His immediate response was, “Excellent! Your battery is going for operation tomorrow at 5 am and I am certain that you would like to lead it. When I broke the news to Pratibha, she was devastated, as she didn’t know anybody there. I assured her that in the Army regiment you have a lot of people to take care of you. I requested my friends’ wives to look after her. So they all gathered and told her, “This is part and parcel of Army life and we are here for you.” One of my friend’s daughters came and stayed with her. So she got assimilated quickly. Separation is a tough thing.’’
Says Pratibha, “He had gone for a good eight days which scared me. The General’s wife, who lived opposite our house, saw me crying when I was seeing off Arun at the gate. She came to me and said, “This happens in every Army wife’s life. But it happened too early for you. Everyone has to go on such duties, but don’t be afraid. We all are there. Don’t cook for seven to eight days. We are going to send you all the meals. My daughter will stay with you.’’
Says Arun, “This is the beauty of comradeship in the Army. Soon she got used to the young officers and captains who were bachelors coming in the middle of the night for food. So she became the quick egg-burji expert. So it works like that. We are a family; the young officers are part of my family too. They have every right to come and say ‘I’m hungry’.’’
Says he, “In the Army, the wives have one rank higher than their husbands. If I’m a Major, she will be treated as Lt. Colonel. There is chivalry and gallantry in this lifestyle. Ladies are given a very important role because they contribute so much to the community in terms of the love, affection and homogeneity that they innately possess. They always have to go hand-in-hand with their husbands. For example, if I’ve joined the regiment as Commanding Officer, she has the default role as the First Lady. She also has to look after the welfare of all the Jawans. That is very essential, as ultimately in the Army, you have to lead the front with the soldiers. The highest sacrifice of life and death is done by them; they treat you like God. Therefore, you don’t only like them, you have to love them like a family. You have to call each one by their name. You cannot say ‘tum idhar aao’. You have to know about their family, their problems. So that’s the cohesion that’s required.”
Pratibha: We do a lot for the Jawans’ wives including teaching them to be literate and training them with skills like knitting and stitching. Many of them pursue adult education very seriously and have become teachers too. Those who learn stitching or knitting, learn to earn during their spare time. There is so much uncertainty in a soldier’s life that such activities empower the wife, when the need arises.
Pratibha had to once again face separation from Arun, when, after three months of marriage, he was posted to Tezpur, which was not a family station. “Separation means unhappiness,’’ says Pratibha, “When Arun got transferred back to Mumbai after six years, one of the Senior Colonel’s wives told me that out of their 35 years of marriage they lived together only for 11 years. This prompted me to force Arun to leave the Army, which he really loved and continues to do so.’’
Arun: Since I had been through three operations, Pratibha felt it was a good idea to see the other side of this life. So, I enrolled at the Jamnalal Bajaj Management Institute while I was posted in Mumbai.
Pratibha: I supported him completely. Although I enjoyed Army life, it was too unpredictable, particularly with our two sons’ education. It was time, I thought, that we should settle in one place and so I urged him to leave the Army.
Arun: I forewarned her that if I left the Army, we would have to begin from scratch and she may have to take up a job too. She was quite ready for that. So I put in my papers at the Army Headquarters. I got the release papers a month before the 1971 war. But then I thought, if I leave just before the war, it will always prick my conscience. I wrote back to the Army headquarters to hold my papers as I wanted to participate in the war and to release them after the war. This was highly appreciated by the then Army Chief, Field Marshal General Sam Maneckshaw. Pratibha was upset though. She said, you have already been in two wars. Why are you doing this? I told her, “I have been groomed to fight the war. To back out of the war at this stage, will be a shame. So I stayed on.’’
Post the war, Arun quit the Army and preferred to work for smaller companies. He reasons “I thought why not join a small company and actually practice what I learnt.’’
As for Pratibha, she started working in the front office at the Taj. Says she, “I worked there for a year and really enjoyed the working there. However, soon Arun got a job in Hico Chemicals in Mahim, so we shifted there and I left the job. We had a two-bedroom apartment but we lived happily, despite the fact that we were used to large houses in the Army. It doesn’t make any difference to my personal thinking.’’
Appreciating the role of her father- in-law, she says, “I didn’t have a mother-in-law but my father-in-law was staying with us. He said, “You’ve done a beauty course so why don’t you do something. I don’t want you to just sit at home. I will look after the children. The boys used to go to Bombay Scottish. I was fond of beauty, doing make up and all, so I pursued an intensive six-month Cosmetology Course.” After that she says, “My father-in-law insisted that I open my own beauty salon. He said don’t take money from your husband. Take a bank loan. He accompanied me to the bank for the same. For six years, I ran my beauty salon in Mahim and trained about four girls. The parlour was very popular in the neighbourhood.”
"Immediately after our wedding, he went for an operation for a good eight days and that was scary for me. The General’s wife, who lived opposite my house, saw me cry. She said, ‘This happens in every Army wife’s life...’”
- Pratibha
Thereafter, the Phataks moved to Canada to establish a distillery in Nova Scotia. Says Arun, “My cousin had been asking me to leave Hico and join him. So I finally quit Hico and joined Brihan Maharashtra to take over the Canadian operation. That’s how we went to Canada where we lived for five years.’’
Says Pratibha, “My younger son was in the second grade and my elder one was in the fifth. I decided to take up a job in Canada too. I took up jobs because I used to feel guilty that, if I hadn’t nagged him to leave the Army, he would have served the mandatory years and earned pension.’’ As for Arun, there has been no repentance. Says he, “Look, I’m a very happy person. It propelled me to do more for my earnings.’’ Adds Pratibha, “Money never bothered us. Both of us came from middle class families and we were content with whatever we had. What was important was that we were happy together.’’
The Phataks lived in Halifax, which is the provincial capital of Nova Scotia, a renowned business district of Canada. Says the enterprising Pratibha, “We stayed in Halifax for two years and then we moved to Edmonton. After we settled down, I hesitantly went to a beauty salon for a job. I showed my certificates and told them about my experience. They insisted on a written and a practical test. For this, they gave me a book to study as they are wary of customers suing them. Hence, any employee has to be adequately qualified to take up a job. I passed the test with good marks. Then I had to go in for a driving test in order to be able to go to work. And then I was given the job of an assistant in the parlour, which was a great and enriching experience for me. There were people of different nationalities, such as Italian, French, Canadian and so on.’’
Appreciating her fiery spirit, Arun says, “She was very supportive and a go-getter despite having come to a strange land. Says Pratibha, commending the role of her young boys: “In this, the boys also played a major role. Ashu was seven and Vinit was ten years old. We hired an apartment next to the school, on the 18th floor, from where we could see them on the playground. That’s where the Army training came in good use. Arun trained them as he would train an NDA cadet. He was tough with them as he wanted them to join the Army. Every day they had to climb 18 floors to reach home, once a day, without using the lift.’’
Says Arun, “Ultimately physical fitness is the most important thing. So initially, we used to take a break on the 4th floor. A few days later it was at the 8th floor. But once a day they had to climb the 18th floor. This was helpful to them.’’ Adds Pratibha, “Every day we used to climb up, and people would say-there go the Phataks.’’
However, soon the enterprising Phataks migrated to Los Angeles in the US. Says Arun, “From Canada, we shifted to America because both my brother and sister lived there. My sister, Asha, sponsored us and got us the green card. That period was very important for our childrens’ education. It would help both my boys if they studied in the American education system. There too Pratibha started a beauty salon, for which she did an advanced course in trichology from Vidal Sassoon. She also did the advanced hair course and earned expertise in that too.’
Adds Phatak, “Both children studied at the University of Pennsylvania, which is an Ivy League college. Vinit studied Philosophy and Entrepreneurial Management and is a successful entrepreneur. Ashutosh did economics and music and is a music entrepreneur who founded an academy in Mumbai called the True School of Music. Both our sons live in Mumbai. Vinit is happily married and his wife Miel (daughter of environmentalist Bittu Sahgal) was educated at Bryn Mawr College. She is the key person who holds our family together along with their wonderful son, our 10-year-old grandson Siddharth, who gives us tremendous happiness and a sense of pride.
"The husband and wife should have a harmonious understanding of each other. Both must gauge the needs of the partner and complement each other accordingly. They should help each other to achieve and I always believe that the wife should have her own career so that she has an opportunity to grow. Also, she should be given the freedom to do what she likes”
- Arun
Pratibha: Understanding and compromise. In my case, Arun was very fond of the good life and wanted me to be with the times. I enjoy living up to his expectations. He gave me freedom to do what I wanted and so I enjoyed starting a small enterprise, Omega, where I manufactured soft luggage. Quips Arun, “I was happy that she ran her business successfully.’’
Arun: The husband and wife should have a harmonious understanding of each other. Both must gauge the needs of the partner and complement each other accordingly. They should help each other to achieve and I always believe that the wife should have her own career so that she has an opportunity to grow. Also, she should be given the freedom to do what she likes. Arun and Pratibha reside in a sprawling bungalow in Pune, surrounded by nature. Every brick is lovingly put in by Pratibha, who takes pride in saying that she referred to several home design books to finalise on the architecture and interior designing of the bungalow. Here, they live amidst peacocks and a variety of birds, flora and fauna. And to add to the melody, Arun’s little orchestra corner springs happiness and joy, for he just loves to take to the mike and croon with the Karaoke. Like Shakespeare said, “If music be the food for love, play on, play on.’’ And it fits aptly to both of them.
Maj Arun Phatak (Retd.), after retirement from the Army, led several corporate organisations to the path of success through innovative strategies in management and marketing. Some glimpses of his army training and corporate life...
While I was in college, I joined the NCC. Before that, I was in the RSS for three years. We used to start with ‘Namaste Sada Vatsale Matrubhumi’-a salutation to the country-which had a great impact on me. We lived spartanly and used to attend camps where we were taught discipline. My elder brother, Mohan, despite being a polio victim, completed his M Com, MSc in Statistics, stood first in Pune University in MA Economics and also pursued law. Thereafter, he received a Fulbright Scholarship which took him to the USA. He was like my friend, philosopher and guide and inspired me to take to sports, as he himself could not.
In college, I joined the NCC and won the best cadet prize. The winners were taken to the National Defence Academy (NDA) for a visit. The academy looked very impressive so I decided to join it. Fortunately, I got through the entrance test. NDA has been the most important influence of my life, because it groomed me physically and mentally. You get to play so many games, even polo, gliding and so on. Where else can you get such facilities? Besides, I played squash and competed at the national level. It was like a dream come true for me. Then I realised that you have to do tremendous amount of studies. NDA brings your educational level up to BSc/BA. All this exposure makes you a comprehensive human being, besides making you patriotic as in the Army training we are taught that the nation comes first always and every time. With the training of the RSS in my childhood and NDA in my adolescence, it was easy for me to take on challenges. It made me upright and tough. To be successful in life, you have to be ethical, honest and have the moral courage to stand up for your conviction, besides being physically fit.
Army is all about teamwork, whereas in the corporate world, it is more about individualistic achievements. After I quit the army, I got offers from MNCs like Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Hindustan Lever and others but I decided to opt for a modest Indian company, Hico Chemicals. They were into import substitution, which at that time was considered a patriotic activity, as it saved foreign exchange. I joined there as a Commercial Manager and instantly realised how the culture here was different from the Army. The organisation was old but it had not grown with the changing times. There was no comprehensive strategy to maximise output of the sales personnel, because of which a lot of time and money was being spent loosely. I decided to pep it up, by instilling the team spirit amongst the employees and successfully reorganising the sales force.
Fabulous! I went to Canada and did an evening programme on marketing management, just to know what they teach, which is different from here. There too, my army experience and culture helped me a lot. My assignment was to set up a plant in the underdeveloped province of Canada in Nova Scotia which had one incentive under DREE (Department of Regional Economic Expansion). The government used to give you $50,000 non-refundable grant, to start off the enterprise. The idea was to create jobs in that area.
While I took up this challenge, I realised that, just as when you fight a war, networking is important here too. I found out that there are 10 provinces in Canada, each with an autonomous liquor control board that controls the buying and selling of liquor. So, we decided to invite all the liquor control commissioners for a visit to India. This would give us an opportunity to establish a rapport with all of them. They accepted the invitation and I took them on a tour of India, spending a fortnight with them. We became very good friends. We also had an excellent relationship with all the Liquor Control Commissioners of all the 10 provinces of Canada and we were interacting on a first name basis.
We had series of events planned in Canada and USA to promote our liquor. When we were launching our product in USA, our launch was planned in the famous New York discotheque, Studio 54, where I thought we should invite Maggie Trudeau, the wife of the then Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau and mother of the present PM Justin Trudeau. She was a very charming and celebrated socialite who happily accepted to be the chief guest for our launch. This turned out to be a very successful event.
There is another famous personality I stumbled upon, who was a patriarch of Camus Cognac. One day I was flying from Paris to Prince Edward Island. Fortunately, the person sitting next to me was Michel Camus, from the famous French liquor manufacturing company, Camus Cognac. We got into conversation and he asked me, what do you do? I said, ‘I have a small distillery’. ‘Where?’ he asked. I said, India and Canada. Showing surprise he said, “Canada? You are distilling there? Very good.’’ I asked him his name and he said he is Michel Camus, the owner. I was amazed. I told him it was an honour and privilege to meet him. Interestingly, Michael Camus was trying to get into the Canadian market since the last four years, but he was not able to break the ice. So he was on his way to meet the Liquor Control Commissioner, with whom he had an appointment at 10:30 am the next day. I also had a dinner appointment with the commissioner on that very day. I asked him, “Would you like to join me at dinner with the Liquor Control Commissioner since I am meeting him this evening?” He was again surprised. However, he hesitantly accepted my offer and to his pleasant surprise, the dinner went off very well. For Camus, the next day’s meeting was a mere formality. That day he walked away with one container load of the order, with his Cognac Company being listed the same day. Thereafter, we became very good friends. I also tied up with his company for Napoleon brandy that we made with their collaboration. We used to import Cognac concentrate for that. So when our company was closing down because of various issues in Canada, he asked me to take up Camus marketing for North America for them. He offered to pay $250,000 salary and an apartment in Manhattan. I was tempted, but my cousin needed me desperately in India to repay the debt, which he had incurred in Canada. I agreed, as indirectly I too was morally responsible. I returned to India and repaid the Canadian debt completely.
I was the President and Executive Director (ED) of ABG Shipyard and served there for a decade. Here, we built 150 ships, 15 of them were interceptor boats and three pollution control vehicles for the Coast Guard. We also won a contract of Rs. 2400 crore from the Indian Navy.
During that time, I used to go to USA frequently as we were strategising a joint venture with Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman Corporation. We were thinking of taking over the American Shipyard as it did not have any more naval orders from America. The American Shipyard people had invited me to consider running the shipyard as ABG’s. At that time, I met four brilliant young Indians, one was working for NASA and the rest were working for the US Department of Defence. I said, “Guys, why don’t you come back and do something for our country.” They said they would love to, but would I mentor them? Would I be their Chairman? I happily accepted so they came back. Now Tonbo Imaging is the result of that. Arvind Lakshmi Kumar is one of the brightest sparks. Along with him are Jagrut Patel, Sumeet Patel and Ankit Kumar, who have amazing knowledge about all our Defence programme where all of us are trying to give our country all indigenously designed, developed and manufactured products in electro-optics, which are of world class standard. The company is exporting these products to developed countries, which is a matter of great pride. They are doing amazingly well, so much so that recently Tonbo got an order for $100 million from the Peruvian Army. American drones, which are carrying their attacks on terrorists, are using Tonbo imaging equipment.
"With the training of the RSS in my childhood and NDA in my adolescence, it was easy for me to take on challenges. To be successful in life, you have to be ethical and have the moral courage to stand up”
We were in the Rendezvous on the 21st floor, which is a banquet hall where we were having a meeting of the Indo-Korean Trade Association. There was a panic when the attack started. Somebody said we have a Major from the Army so why doesn’t Maj. Phatak take charge of the situation? I was given responsibility by the group. I immediately thought of the Army and called General Officer Commanding, Maj Gen. Hudda. He knew me very well, being an old soldier and asked how he can help. There is a fire exit from Rendezvous, which comes out behind the Taj. I suggested he should send a Platoon to secure all the exits of the 21st floor. We secured the exits and by 3:30-4 am, I was able to bring down by staircase, the entire group without any harm, thanks to timely support by Army, as usual.
I will implore young managers that they should always think of our country which should come first, always and every time. They should be truly secular and consider themselves as Indians and without any parochial affiliation. They should never forget their responsibilities to society; always reach out to all the sections of the society and help as many needy people as possible. They should be physically fit, morally upright and stand up to their conviction. Everyone should make an effort to arrest degradation of the environment by following correct environmental practices. We should never forget the Armed Forces personnel who keep vigil 24x7 to keep us safe and secure-in that sense; their contribution to the society is over and above any bureaucrat.
I wake up early at 4 am. I walk for 7-8 kms in the morning along with my dog, Tasha (being an animal lover) and swim for an hour in the evening. I never carry any burden at night when I go to sleep. I am a people’s person and love to meet people. My greatest assets are my comrades and friends in the Army, Navy and Air Force and civil society. They have enriched my life.
I as an individual owe so much to the country, to society, friends and family. I don’t say it is debt, but I say it is my duty to do as much as possible. I now work for the Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre. I am also a Patron of the Red Cross. I am Chairman of the Environmental Cell of the Armed Forces of the Bombay Natural History Society. Renowned environmentalist, Bittu Sahgal inspired me and brought me into nature conservation.
We must care for people and nature for sustainable development. And I believe in doing as much as possible for the downtrodden, under privileged and physically challenged people. Art, literature and music makes a complete human being. You must pursue all these for fulfilment of life.
By Vinita Deshmukh
