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Sudha Menon

From royal emblems to the front grills of cars and the gold-and-chrome cap of a shampoo bottle... this septuagenarian has thrived in business down the ages.

From making coat of arms for erstwhile maharajas to designing Telco's first logo when it parted ways with partner Mercedes Benz way back in the 1970s, from crafting the first ever Reliance World Cup trophy in the late 1980s to creating logos, embellishments and critical parts for almost every automobile manufacturer today, be it Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Ford India or Ashok Leyland... septuagenarian Dinesh Kothari has been there and done it all. Well, almost.

"Business is growing and changing at such a fast pace and so much new is happening around me that I find it impossible to hang up my boots and say I am not interested anymore," says the Managing Director of the Mumbai-based Dinesh group of industries.

The company that produces brand building products like decoratives and mementos for Tisco, Telco, Phillips India, Larsen & Toubro, Air India and Citibank, is also behind the design and manufacture of the sparkling, brass embossed membership badges that well-known turf clubs give members.

And with India becoming a major manufacturing centre for several global cosmetics companies, Kothari is already onto his next business: in a few months he will launch a spanking new plant for Exotech Plastics, a group company which will manufacture the plastic caps and gold-and-chrome packaging that cosmetics manufacturers use to grab eye-balls.

Talk to his soft-spoken Mumbai businessman if you have the time and an interest in the behind-the-scene action of corporate India, for he is a treasure trove of memories of an era when corporate honchos still had time to touch base with suppliers and channel partners.

One of the most exciting memories that he has is of a call he received one morning in 1964 from his Senior Executive Director, Jaywant Talaulicar. "Mr Talaulicar wanted me to take up a very secret project. Telco was parting ways with Mercedes Benz and I was asked to craft and manufacture a new logo for them! It was a huge challenge but I suggested the rice leaf motif, which went on to become characteristic with the brand till the new logo came in place some years ago.

"From developing the dies to importing the enamel for the new logos, I had to complete the entire project in four weeks and that too with utmost secrecy," Kothari recalls. His company's association with Telco began with the creation of the blue and white emblem for the Telco-Mercedes truck and continues to this day. As an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), it makes a variety of plastic moulded parts for Telco vehicles, including the Indica City Rover that is sold in the UK.

Kothari ventured into manufacturing as he could no longer work for the maharajas whose princely states were merged into the Indian Union after Independence. "The royalty were very proud of their emblems and stationery. The Nawab of Palanpur even carried his stationery, made by me, when he travelled to Paris every year with his family," says Kothari.

A chance meeting of his father, aracing enthusiast, with the authorities of the Royal Western India Turf Club resulted in an order for 10,000 badges for its members and, before they knew it, the company was supplying these to turf clubs in Chennai, Bangalore, Ootacamund, Hyderabad and even the Hong Kong Jockey Club. "What has stood by us through the years has been our ability to adapt, innovate and always say yes to new business opportunities," says Kothari. His company received orders to make meritorious service medals for the Government of India mint, and the prestigious Vikram Sarabhai award for achievement in science, among others.

The company's ability to innovate stood it in good stead in 1987, when it bagged the contract to make the prestigious Reliance Cup for a much-awaited face-off between eight cricketing greats. "On a hunch I asked Mudra, which was handling the event, about the cup. When I was told that it was to be made in India from an artist's impression by UK's Gerard & Co, I decided to make a pitch for the cup," says Kothari's elder son Umesh, who now heads a group company.

The next day, the father-son duo walked into the office of Anil Ambani with a sample of their work andwalked out with the contract under their belt. The 23-inch high, 3.5-kg cup crafted in silver and plated with 24-carat gold grabbed attention with its statuesque appearance; the flags of the eight playing countries are replicated in miniature on the top and the maps of all eight are embossed at the base.

The Kotharis, who were not familiar with cricket, roped in a designer from the JJ School of Arts and loaned the services of master craftsman Chandrakant Wadke for the project. Since the crest of the cup had to be studded with 400 American diamonds, they also roped in their family jeweller from Zaveri Bazaar. For three months, they worked day and night at their tiny workshop to ready the cup in time for the clash.

With changing business demands the group has diversified into the manufacture of auto components like brake booster tubes, air brake tubes and fuel lines. From front grills, wheel and hub covers, and the emblems and monograms in spanking new cars, to the elegant packaging of shampoo and perfume bottles, the company leaves its stylish stamp. "Change is the only constant in life and that is my motto," signs off Dinesh Kothari.

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