It isn’t normal to begin a tribute with a disclaimer. But allow me to say that I cannot claim to be a dear friend, colleague or family member of Mike Khanna.
Yet, I was privileged to interact with him on many fora and I believe I am the richer for it. And so this is the “outsider’s” view of the man who built and ran the biggest advertising agency in India for many decades.
It was probably around 1982, and I was just thinking of starting an advertising agency. I was asked to do an article for a major national daily on the advertising industry and its current leaders. I had decided to interview Mani Iyer of Ogilvy & Mather, Alyque Padamsee of Lintas and Mike Khanna of Hindustan Thompson Associates (as it was called then). I landed up at Laxmi Building on Sir PM Road, in the then-heart of commercial Mumbai and exactly on time, I was ushered in. I saw Mike Khanna for the first time in the flesh. I distinctly recall thinking, “Boy, he could be a model in an advertisement!” Everything was just right. His suit, his shoes, every strand of hair was in place. When he asked me to sit, I remember thinking “Why does he speak so softly?” Somehow I had expected the head of India’s largest advertising agency to have a booming baritone and a larger-than-life personality. Mike was precise, to the point, frank and spoke very softly. We spoke about his education and training in the US where Mohinder Khanna became Mike Khanna. He was very candid about answering questions about the difficult patch HTA had gone through and how there were learnings in everything. That was the first lesson I learned. Mike never needed to shout to be heard.
For about 15 years after that I followed him through trade magazines and during conversations at industry parties. It was clear to me that despite what the competition tried to say, he ran an agency that was clearly No.1, and he conducted himself like the leader and thorough professional he was.
After I began to take interest in industry affairs I had an occasion to meet Mike again. And by the late 1990s I had many opportunities to interact with him. He was unfailingly gracious and I think that is a trait that made him stand out from the others. In the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), on the Advisory Board of the AdAsia 2003 and elsewhere, he was helpful, but never overbearing. I will never forget the way he convinced me to be a Trustee of the Subhas Ghosal Trust, with grace and earnestness. Nor can I forget the last time we met. He invited me to the Harbour Bar at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai. He drove up in his bright red Mercedes and we had two drinks as he sat me down and explained why he had not been giving time to an author who was writing the history of Indian advertising. His honesty was poignant. I was embarrassed that I had pressed him hard to meet with her. I apologised and he shrugged it off. The kindness and graciousness remained through that evening. It will always be with me. If there had to a last meeting there couldn’t have been a better one.
He belonged to an era where giants roamed. One of the last giants is no more. And we are the poorer for it.