Easwara Iyer and
Sundaram Iyer
You know, the more I think about it, the more I come to the
conclusion that the founders of the Easun group of Chennai or erstwhile Madras,
owe a lot to Uncle Bob, the irrepressible Scotsman. Before you wonder if I am
off my rockers, let me elucidate my thought process and start from the very
beginning.
Robert Greenhill Cochrane (1899-1985) was a renowned British
leprologist, fondly called Uncle Bob, and he was largely responsible in
bringing the treatment of Leprosy into the mainstream as a treatable condition.
Until his time, it was a dark and untreatable disease, where these ‘dirty ill
people’ got discarded from society and were consigned to asylums.
Some 40-50 miles south west of Madras is Thirumani in the
Chingleput district. From 1935 to 1944, Cochrane was chief medical officer at
the Lady Willingdon Leprosarium there. He went on pioneer the use of the
chemical sulphone (Dapsone, Diamino Diphenyl Sulphone or DDS) to treat leprosy
patients. Later he moved on to become the Principal of CMC Vellore. His work
was seminal, and laid the groundwork for leprosy treatments used even today.
But this is not about Uncle Bob, though he must have been
the one who decided in 1938 that the Leper settlement at Thirumani required
better water supply and perhaps demanded that a bore well be dug. A tender was
floated for what is known as a bore-hole pump. I assume more than one company
bid the tender. One of them, who thought itself a forerunner and who had
prepared the bid carefully, quoting an American Deming model, did not get the
contract. Only an engineering company, the management of the leper settlement
decided, could be entrusted with this important supply and install contract.
So what and who was this company which lost out? It was an organization
headquartered in Madras’s Broadway. The partners, two youngsters with humble
beginnings, were truly miffed and their wounded pride was reason enough to
create one of Madras’s enduring engineering organizations, executing projects
around the world. Though they had opened an engineering wing within either Royal
Cycles or Eswaran and Sons, it was not perceived to be an engineering firm!
To trace the path of these two youngsters, we have to travel
down south and to the eastern side of the Agastya mala of the Western Ghats,
more precisely to a place called Kallidaikurichi in the Tirunelveli district.
Bordering Travancore, and situated on the banks of the Thamirabharni River, this
was once the capital of a Venad king, Kothai Aditya Varman. The various popular
temples occasioned many Brahmin settlements or agraharams in the locality. The town which is more famous for its appalams,
these days, was also home to the doyen of South Indian history Nilakanta Sastri.
Kallidaikurichi is a little north of Marthanda Varma’s
bastion, Kalakkad and it is said that there is a lot of Kerala culture
intermixed in their Tamil Brahmin culture. For example whereas Tamil men
inherit land, women inherit gold and household goods. In this area, women are
also given a plot to grow rice thus ensuring her economic independence even
after marriage. In ancient times, the daughters resided with their parents and
visited husbands at specific times (Sita Ananta Raman Women in India).
A Times of India article linked here provides a good summary
of the township. The Sri Varahapuram Street in Kallidaikurichi was home to the
families of Kulathu Iyer and Sundaram Iyer’s father. Our story covers the saga
of two of the offspring’s from these families, namely K Eswaran Iyer and KR
Sundaram Iyer.
The great global economic depression which started in 1929, affected
South India as well and Tirunelveli too witnessed difficult conditions. This
resulted in a general exodus from villages to towns. Bereft of better ideas, these
two, the uncle and nephew (after early education at Ambasamudram) decided to
seek their fortunes further north and thus they landed up in the great
metropolis of Madras in 1936. For some inexplicable reason they arrived at a
Guajarati’s cycle shop and found gainful employment there as fitters,
assembling and repairing bicycles. It could have been the Best Cycle Importing
Co or it could have been BM Davey, I am not sure. Or perhaps it was the English
Cycle and motor importing Co which Sundaram Iyer later acquired. English Cycles
had been in operation from the turn of the century and dealt with all kinds of
cycles (including Royal Enfield), primus stoves, camp cots, prams and even
footballs!
Within the next three years, they had started their own
company, The Royal Cycle Motors Co, dealing in bicycles, tricycles (Raleigh,
Rudge and Humber and the Hercules, Phillips and BSA brands of TI Cycles of
India) etc. and did well. Growing pains
can be observed, we see that both English Cycles and Royal Cycles and motor Co
were involved in labor disputes and the Ft St George Gazette of 1963 mentions a
settlement on wage related issues. Not wanting to be stuck with just cycle
business (or was it because of labor disputes?), Easwaran started to venture
out into the world of EPC - engineer procure construct or turnkey project work
(sale and installation of small house-hold and agricultural pumps). I don’t
know if the Thirumani bore well was their first attempt, but that rebuff
nettled them made them start what was to become their flagship company named
Easun Engineering, a few years later (The EA stood for Easwaran and SUN for
Sundaram). During the 60’s and through to the 90’s the group was to blaze their
name in the Electrical transmission and distribution domain through a number of
investments, factories and associations , a brief of which we shall soon see. And
for that, I guess you will now agree, they should be thankful to Uncle Bob, for
his having raised the EASUN ire.
You can imagine that having started out as cycle sellers,
their hearts would remain with them. Yes, it did and here is where you will see
their association with motorcycles. I have heard many a myth concerning them,
during my time in Madras, of a cycle shortage in Japan, of the two said Iyer’s
shipping a consignment of cycles to war torn Tokyo and making a good killing,
but these are not verifiable. Nevertheless, through the late 30’s and 40’s
Royal Cycle did well, they were agents for a number of brands. Sundaram’s
eldest son Shankar joined the team and took over that part of the business. Their
cycle marts displayed Gandhiji’s Ten Commandments, as stated in an Industrial
economist article.
In order to give a boost to the motorcycle business, they
formed an independent retail outlet called Madras Motors in Broadway, Madras
(Eswaran and sons also existed as early as 1951, dealing in cycles). Their next
burst of success was in creating Enfield India and the association with Enfield
UK, a story well known in Madras circles, and among bike aficionados.
As I mentioned earlier, Sundaram and Eswaran established The
Madras Motors Pvt Ltd in 1946, to import British motorcycles to India, namely
Norton, Matchless and Royal Enfield. In 1949, Madras Motors bagged the first
order for the supply of (Enfield) motorcycles to the Indian Army. In 1952, a
large order was placed by the Indian Army for 800 numbers of 350cc Bullet
Enfield bikes. A condition was incorporated in the order, to produce these
locally in India and the Redditch Company formed a local JV with Madras Motors,
to make a factory in Thiruvattiyoor for building these bikes.
That was the
beginning of Enfield India in 1955. Licensed manufacture commenced in 1956 with CKD units from England. 163 bikes were built and delivered to the Indian army
that year and the company continued to grow, as a virtual monopoly supplier to
both the armed and police forces in India. By 1957, tooling as also transferred
to India. As all this was looking up, the Royal Enfield group in the UK was
steadily collapsing and by 1962, nothing was left of the parent company.
Thus came about the famous 350cc, 4 stroke, 18bhp, 5746 rpm
Bullet motorcycle, roaring into the Indian market. Its majestic and steady
thump ruled the minds of bike enthusiasts as well as the roads and rough
terrain in India, ever since. With a range of 500km, top speed of 100kmph, 10
sec pick up (0-60kmph), it stood apart, for decades. By 1980 over 200,000 of
them were on the road. Even though competition from Ideal Jawa and Escorts
(Rajdoot) dented the share a bit, it was the 80’s which changed the game with
the arrival of the Japanese bikes. EIL’s (REML) fortune plunged due to many
reasons and by 1990 it had become part of Eicher. So much on the Enfield story.
While all this was going on, Easun diversified into many areas
both trading and manufacturing. HHE Hackbridge Hewettic Easun started around
1958 making large power transformers, Easun Ottermill produced switchgear,
Easun Reyrolle made relays and Easun continued with turnkey electrification
projects and many representations of overseas and Indian manufacturers. The
representations were so diverse, ranging from US Westinghouse instrumentation
to East German machine tools. Contracts were geographically well distributed
all over India and in neighboring Middle Eastern countries, Bangla Desh and Sri
Lanka.
It was into the hallowed offices of Easun on the 5th
floor of the Bombay Mutual buildings at the Parry’s corner, next door to Parry
& Co, that I walked into, as a greenhorn electrical engineer in 1980. Nothing
less than a shock awaited me, an office very much Brahmin by culture, with
Tamil as the accepted Lingua Franca and me, one of the rare non Tamil Iyer’s on
the floor. People ask me even today how I learned to speak reasonably good Tamil,
and now you have the answer. I spent just over a year in the Easun Madras
offices before moving to their western branch office in Nariman Point Bombay.
Fridays were not be complete without an elaborate Pooja replete
with chants followed by prasad distribution. Many of the employees of Easun
were in some way or the other connected to the founders. Nevertheless, I got a
great bit of training as I rotated between all the Easun companies. REML- EIL
was kept separate, though, as an automotive unit. I still recall the days spent at HHE when I
read files covering many court cases on penalties, liquidated damages and
performance clauses, so also the advice on contractual legalities provided by
legendary advocates.
Let’s get back to the stalwarts. Yes, I have seen them. I
would get glimpses of K Eswaran as he wafted into the board room now and then, a
lanky, gaunt dignitary, clad in pure whites and preceded by Prema, his private
secretary as well as Chegavalrayan, his peon or driver (also clad in whites).
The misshapen liftman, a regular in Tamil movies, TV and stage would cordon off
one of the building’s elevators exclusively for the big man. Chengavalrayan
would have with him a wicker basket with Easwaran’s lunch and drinks, and the
business secretary Natarajan, I believe that was his name, who had come some
minutes earlier (I used to sit next to him) would be seen working the phones
and files frantically, as well as welcoming high profile visitors. Once in a
blue moon, the equally tall, but portly Sundaram Iyer would saunter in, to join
a board meeting.
I was always under the impression that KRS was more
connected with EIL and spent his time administering it. What I did not know then,
was that KRS or KR Sundaram Iyer was equally busy with the Madras Music academy
as its treasurer and later, as its 4th president! Today its library
is named after him. To get to know about his time there, I have to quote TT
Vasu who took over from him. Vasu states - As
a boy I used to stand in awe before him, tall and broad, a mighty block of a
man. I then did not understand why his friends called him ‘mighty’. Later on, I
came across the phrase 'high and mighty' and then I understood that he was
appropriately called 'mighty' amongst his friends. 'Mighty', of course, was a
name circulated among a very close circle of his friends. But, generally, he
was respectfully called 'Anna'. Sweet
in manners and pleasant to talk to, he was as much a rasika of music as of excellent
food.
After Independence, many a South Indian entrepreneur burst
on the scene with great vigor. During the 40’s and 50’s the Industrial houses
that grew to prominence included TVS, Tube Investments, India Cements, Indian
Overseas Bank, Indian Bank, United India Insurance, the textile groups of
Coimbatore like the Premier Mills, Madura Mills etc. The Easun Group
represented the electrical sector, going head to head with an established
player in the very same neighborhood, the English Electric company based in
Pallavaram.
Vasu provides an interesting anecdote, Soon after Sri K.R Sundaram Iyer settled down in business and started
manufacturing transformers, my father wanted to find out how he would react if
a rival was allowed to come up in business. My father asked him, "Would
you like a rival in your business to be smothered or allowed the same
facilities which are now allowed to you? Sri Sundaram Iyer said, "Mama -
he always called my father 'Mama' - please allow him to come up. The country
needs more such enterprising industries." My father was really touched.
Normally any other businessman would have exercised all the pressure he could
on the Minister for Industries to stifle the rival. Sri Sundaram Iyer did not
do it.
You know, the more I think of it, the more solid is my own
pet theory that KRS did not modify the Bullet’s thuk thuk sound because it reminded
him of the Mridangam’s ‘Dhi’ beat. Ok,
now! don’t snigger….
Easwara Iyer passed away in 1984 and Sundaram Iyer in 1989.
Hari Eswaran took over the Easun mantle and Shankar who had already been in
charge of EIL had passed it on to S Viswanathan. During their prime, both
Easwaran and Sundaram served on many councils and boards and were well
connected with philanthropic work. The two of them even hosted Jagadguru
Sankaracharya once, taking him on a tour through all their factories! KRS incidentally
was a good friend of the great musician Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and KRS supervised
the building of the MMA as you see it, these days.
Some may wonder what really made these gentlemen succeed in
that bygone era. A couple of anthropologists studied this question many years ago
and in both studies, the Easun duo formed a part of the select group. So it is
perhaps a good idea to look at least one of these studies albeit briefly.
American anthropologist Milton Singer who interviewed them
for his study infers - The results of
that study support the general conclusion that these industrial leaders and
their families were able to make the transitions from village and small town to
a large city, and from agriculture and commerce to modern education and modern
industry, without abandoning their traditional institutions," Singer wrote
in a report in 1988. "Far from being major obstacles to their industrial
careers, these social institutions, beliefs and rites have often proved
adaptive in modern industry”. Milton suggests that industrialists of
Madras, whether Hindu, Muslim or Christian, saw industrial leadership as their
mission and a moral duty, and their performance of their duty itself a
philanthropic act, especially where it was performed without appropriating all
the fruits for themselves. It was considered philanthropic because it provided
vital income to the poor and necessary products to the consumer.
In a way, they also went on to prove that Tambraparani
(Kalliudaikurichi) Iyers were in no way lesser businessmen and bankers compared
to the preeminent Nagarattars, the Nattukottai Chettiars of Tamilakam.
But I cannot leave this story without mentioning the Demonte
colony. De Monte (Later Chennai administrators even managed to misspell it as
Demandi and Demondi colony!!) colony is named after John De Monte, a wealthy
19-century merchant, who at one point owned large areas there. During my time
in Madras, selected senior executives of the Easun group were provided housing
at the Demonte colony in Alwarpet. That was the biggest perk you could get in
the company. The land belonged to the Catholic Church and Eswara Iyer had
leased the entire lot of houses from its trust. Anyway at some point of time,
the fortunes of Easun declined and the lease was not renewed. S Muthiah had
once written about the Demonte colony and a horror movie was later made about
this place, which I understand in the 90’s, was considered a spooky and haunted
locale. By late 2015, all the houses had been demolished and the land is being
redeveloped.
What a journey those two stalwarts led us through, from a
leper settlement to bikes from England, through the disciplines of engineering
and music, anthropology and progressive development, court cases, strikes and
finally to a haunted locale….Whoever said Iyers were not colorful?
References
Beyond Tradition and Modernity in Madras - Milton Singer
Competition in Indian industries (the REML story) Ed N Ravichandran
Madras Music Academy Souvenir Vol 63, 1989
My thanks to V Sriram and M Jagdish for sourcing the MMA
article
Pics Courtesy
- Easwara Iyer (COID1966), Sundaram Iyer (IE1989), English cycles (Southern
India – A wright)
Note
While perusing the Ft St George gazette orders relating to the
case involving Royal and English Cycles, I was bemused to note the titles of
various persons working in the said organizations such as Cartmen, Senior
office boy, junior delivery boy, junior office boy and so on. Basic wages
varied between Rs 20/- and Rs 28/-!! Can you believe it?
