Many a times he came across as someone who is very cynical about the country and its future. Those who knew him well understood that the frustration was just a manifestation of the man’s deep love for India.

K Mahesh, Chairman, Sundaram Brake Linings (SBL) and member of the TVS family, who passed away on Saturday at the age of 75, wanted nothing but the best for the country.

Despite his periodic unhappiness with the way the nation is governed, he always felt that as individual citizens, each one of us should contribute to make India a better place.

Quality journey

He showed the way by embracing quality in manufacturing processes. Like his brother, Suresh Krishna (Sundram Fasteners), he started out on the quality journey quite early. SBL was the first friction material manufacturer in the world and just the fifth company outside Japan to win the prestigious Deming Prize — considered an equivalent to the Nobel Prize — for quality. This was something he considered as the high point of his career.

Deming Prize

He once recalled with pride how the expert who had come to validate SBL’s application for the Deming Prize went straight to the gardener at the company’s Padi unit and spoke to him about the greenery and the need for it.

The gardener’s response was as good as that of domain experts in the company and set the stage for the award. It was 2001 and a media-shy Mahesh organised a rare press conference. “I normally do not talk about achievements in the media but everyone must know that it is possible for an Indian company to achieve the highest quality standards,” he said.

An IIT-Madras graduate, Mahesh was an engineer at heart till the end. He spent a lot of time trying new products or modifying existing ones for better workflow.

His recent obsession was the Tata Nano, a product he admired. He bought one and soon started modifying the car to improve it. Mahesh did not stop there. He kept writing to Tata Motors on how the car could be made a bestseller. His suggestions included converting the car into a coupé, with slightly more power. This, he thought, would appeal to younger drivers.

He was shattered when Tata Motors decided to stop production of the Nano. He, however, continued to use the car till the end. An early riser, he would finish reading the news online before 6 am and head to the factory, where he spent much of his time on the shopfloor with his workers.

Focus on quality

When his son Krishna Mahesh took over day-to-day running of the operations a few years ago, he stepped back on the management side but continued his focus on improving quality and productivity on the shopfloor.

His other passion was photography. Mahesh frequented Kodaikanal, as long as his health permitted, to shoot wild bison and other animals there.

He remained simple and apolitical in his work and personal life. Mahesh often said that his job was to create value for all the stakeholders of his company.

Those who knew him well will miss the early-morning calls, the deep baritone and the loud laughter that marked any conversation with him.

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