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| Mammen Mappillai—A human being first |
A tribute to the founder of MRF Limited, who passed
away on 2nd March 2003 at Chennai,
by N Kumar, Vice Chairman, the Sanmar Group. |
| When we talk about people and the institutions
they built, we always talk about the companies, like Infosys,
Bajaj and many more. For me whenever Sachin Tendulkar raises
the MRF bat, I get reminded of Mammen Mappillai. |
| He was a quiet man, a private man, but a real
human being. His laughter was his strength and his silent kindness
was his forte. For me he was my godfather, as in 1971 when I
was without a job, he gave me a job in Mansfield Tyre and Rubber
and therefore he was always very special to me. But he has done
similar deeds to many, many people and not even uttered a word
about it. The personal stories and intimacies, exchanged on
March 2, 2003 at his home in G N Chetty Road—when he was silent
without laughing for the first time in his life— were innumerable.
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| Sanmar Group Chairman Emeritus K S Narayanan
being greeted by Mammen Mappillai at his 80th birthday celebrations. |
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| He went through many difficulties in life, such
as losing a young son, and a heart ailment, but he stood and came
through it all, not losing the human touch. His friends, particularly
my father K S Narayanan, can tell you stories of what simple fun he
used to have—he would dress like a bearer, serving drinks at home
in a party, or riding a bicycle. Once, when he was working in his
garden, the famous architect, Charles Correa, asked him whether he
could meet Mr Mammen Mappillai and he went in, wore a shirt and presented
himself. This was Mammen Mappillai. |
| MRF, a company he singularly made, has won many
awards but more important, it is ‘successful’ and ‘profitable’. He
has been awarded the Padmashri, the Ernst & Young Lifetime Achievement
Award, MMA’s Businessman of the Year award and many such awards. But
still the award of a “real human” is the best! |
| His joint venture with Mansfield Tyre and Rubber
company was the first at that time among tyre manufacturers. It is
to his credit and to the credit of India, that the Indian company
has stood longer while the US company, unfortunately, had to bite
the dust. |
| He primarily stayed in the background and did not
take a leadership position in any association, though, I am sure,
it has been offered to him by many. |
| An individual vision: It was Mammen Mappillai who
started exports way back and kept it going which has helped the company
in the current period. |
| His immediate family: His wife is another outstanding
soul who has stood with him through every difficulty and happiness.
His children, their spouses and grandchildren are all testimony to
this outstanding human being and his larger family, his brothers and
their families are also very similar, warm people! |
| I will definitely miss Mammen uncle, though his
close friends like my father and his family will miss him even more
but more importantly the world will miss a person who will be remembered
as a human being first and an industrialist later, in spite of being
a successful one. |
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