Inder Sethi
I had the honour and privilege of working with Mr. Appusamy when he and I were both with Air-India. I was Deputy Managing Director when he was the Chief Executive. He was not only my boss but also a mentor and guide and I had the utmost admiration for his abilities and the manner in which he worked with his colleagues and subordinates.
I have many happy memories of our association and it is difficult to enumerate all of these. However, I would like to mention a few of them.
My first contact with Mr. Appusamy was during his tenure as Director of Engineering and I was a middle level executive in the Commercial Department. He was extremely pleasant whenever we met and I always came away with happy thoughts.
As the CEO, he was entitled to a very large apartment while as the Commercial Director, I had a slightly smaller, but fairly large apartment. My duties entailed entertaining commercial clients and on one occasion, Mr. Appusamy told me that we should exchange apartments as his would be more suitable for entertaining large gatherings. It showed the character of this great gentleman who never stood on ceremony. Needles to say, I politely refused his offer.
My appointment to the Board of the airline was delayed due to bureaucratic procedures and I was very touched and humbled when Mr. Appusamy decided to delay the appointment of my colleague C. L. Sharma until mine came through, so that we would both have the same seniority.
The last piece of advice this great gentleman gave me was on a flight from Delhi to Bombay after a rather grueling meeting at the Civil Aviation Ministry. I still remember his words “Inder, I think you should look for another job. The culture is changing and I do not believe you will fit into the new one”.
I was, therefore surprised but not shocked when a week later, Mr. Appusamy took early retirement. I stayed another year and then resigned taking his words to heart. The culture indeed was changing and I could see the demise of the airline, as we knew it, just as he had envisaged.
I would like to conclude by saying that with the passing away of this great gentleman, the OLD GUARD has finally disappeared. he was the last of this wonderful and dedicated group that JRD Tata had assembled to make Air-India one of the finest airlines of the world.
May God pray for his soul.
Sincerely,
Inder Sethi