I forgot to mention another event that took place in the year 2000.
This was an Intra-company competitive event called Sanmartini which was a series of games played between different Sanmar locations.
I was nominated as the leader of the Karapakkam team and the games played were Treasure Hunt, Debate, Presentation, Quiz etc. For the quiz, we were allowed to have family members in our team and Sandeep joined up in my team.
We called our team K-sMART ( K was for Karapakkam) and the tag line was " The one stop shop for Talent". We designed a logo and prepared a banner which was waved by our supporters at all events.
We had a grand time during Sanmartini and our team won the overall championship.Sudha and my mom came for the final event and the prize distribution and it was a proud moment when I received the winning shield from our Chairman in front of my family members.
http://www.sanmargroup.com/matrix/dec-2000/inter-business-group-competition-2000.php
In March 2000, I was asked to go to Australia to train the Fisher Sales Team in Xomox products.
I went to Singapore first and the Asia-Pacific Manager there joined me on the flight to Sydney. This was my first visit to Australia and I was quite excited.
We checked in at the Courtyard Marriott in Sydney and I did my first day of training. That evening, five of us went to an Indian restaurant for dinner. The Australians can drink you under the table when they are in the mood. We must have each had around 4 bottles of beer and the appalams that I ordered were excellent appetizers. Each of us must have had around 80 appalams each by the time dinner got over.
The training got over on a Friday and I had the weekend to myself. I went to Suresh's house. Suresh and Uma looked after me very well. They took me to a casino where I won around 115 Australian dollars ( more about this later). Then we went to a Mexican restaurant where I had my first taste of tacos, nachos and burritos. We then went to Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The locals call it a coat-hanger and it's not hard to see why. Suresh also took me to the SCG ( we couldn't go inside) and to a shoe store where he got me a very excellent and expensive pair of sneakers.
My one regret was that I couldn't go to Bondi Beach.
All too soon it was time to head back to India.When I came back, I told Sandeep about my Australia visit and my casino winnings.
Around 6 months later ( sometime in Sep 2000), I was on a visit to Jamnagar. I had gone to Reliance Refineries and had met some of our Office people there. We had an establishment inside the refinery. While I was having lunch in the Refinery canteen, a Sanmar colleague came running to me. He said that he had received a call from our Baroda Office with a message that I was to call my home immediately.
I feared the worst. Those were the days before mobiles. I went to a refinery official and asked for permission to make an STD call to Chennai in view of an emergency at home. He was most understanding and provided a phone to me immediately.
Sandeep picked up my call. " Dad, dad", he said excitedly " you've received a letter from Australia that you've won 400,000 Australian Dollars immediately and they want to know how to deliver the money to you. They want an immediate reply. What should I answer?"
I immediately knew that this was one of those scams that was so common then ( and even now). So I calmly asked Sandeep :" Has Kala ( our maid servant) come?"
Sandeep: " But dad, I'm talking to you about 400,00 dollars and why are you asking whether Kala has come?"
Me: " Tell mom I'm OK and I'll be home for dinner tomorrow night" and hung up.
Sandeep then contacted Sudha who was at at dubbing and she also asked him whether Kala had come. Sandeep was very angry. " Let the money come" he thought " and I'll show my parents."
Sandep knew about my going to the casino during my Australia visit in March and he thought I must have bought a lottery ticket then. So he first rang up my Office and asked to speak to Ganesh, my secretary. He told Ganesh in his best managerial voice:"I don't care how you do it, but you must contact my dad wherever he is and ask him to contact home because there is an emergency."
Poor Ganesh threw his weight around using my name. He first contacted my Baroda Office and asked them to contact our Jamnagar office and convey the message to me ASAP. Everyone left whatever they were doing and worked to get the message to me.
When I returned home, I had to explain to Sandeep that this was just a scam. He couldn't believe it at first, because the letter even offered to send someone from Australia with a suitcase full of money and hand it over to me at Chennai airport , provided a first sent a "nominal" amount of 400 Dollars towards facilitation charges.
Actually, I did reply. I asked them to deduct the 400 dollars and send the rest of the money, but obviously nothing happened further.
This was an Intra-company competitive event called Sanmartini which was a series of games played between different Sanmar locations.
I was nominated as the leader of the Karapakkam team and the games played were Treasure Hunt, Debate, Presentation, Quiz etc. For the quiz, we were allowed to have family members in our team and Sandeep joined up in my team.
We called our team K-sMART ( K was for Karapakkam) and the tag line was " The one stop shop for Talent". We designed a logo and prepared a banner which was waved by our supporters at all events.
We had a grand time during Sanmartini and our team won the overall championship.Sudha and my mom came for the final event and the prize distribution and it was a proud moment when I received the winning shield from our Chairman in front of my family members.
http://www.sanmargroup.com/matrix/dec-2000/inter-business-group-competition-2000.php
In March 2000, I was asked to go to Australia to train the Fisher Sales Team in Xomox products.
I went to Singapore first and the Asia-Pacific Manager there joined me on the flight to Sydney. This was my first visit to Australia and I was quite excited.
We checked in at the Courtyard Marriott in Sydney and I did my first day of training. That evening, five of us went to an Indian restaurant for dinner. The Australians can drink you under the table when they are in the mood. We must have each had around 4 bottles of beer and the appalams that I ordered were excellent appetizers. Each of us must have had around 80 appalams each by the time dinner got over.
The training got over on a Friday and I had the weekend to myself. I went to Suresh's house. Suresh and Uma looked after me very well. They took me to a casino where I won around 115 Australian dollars ( more about this later). Then we went to a Mexican restaurant where I had my first taste of tacos, nachos and burritos. We then went to Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The locals call it a coat-hanger and it's not hard to see why. Suresh also took me to the SCG ( we couldn't go inside) and to a shoe store where he got me a very excellent and expensive pair of sneakers.
My one regret was that I couldn't go to Bondi Beach.
All too soon it was time to head back to India.When I came back, I told Sandeep about my Australia visit and my casino winnings.
Around 6 months later ( sometime in Sep 2000), I was on a visit to Jamnagar. I had gone to Reliance Refineries and had met some of our Office people there. We had an establishment inside the refinery. While I was having lunch in the Refinery canteen, a Sanmar colleague came running to me. He said that he had received a call from our Baroda Office with a message that I was to call my home immediately.
I feared the worst. Those were the days before mobiles. I went to a refinery official and asked for permission to make an STD call to Chennai in view of an emergency at home. He was most understanding and provided a phone to me immediately.
Sandeep picked up my call. " Dad, dad", he said excitedly " you've received a letter from Australia that you've won 400,000 Australian Dollars immediately and they want to know how to deliver the money to you. They want an immediate reply. What should I answer?"
I immediately knew that this was one of those scams that was so common then ( and even now). So I calmly asked Sandeep :" Has Kala ( our maid servant) come?"
Sandeep: " But dad, I'm talking to you about 400,00 dollars and why are you asking whether Kala has come?"
Me: " Tell mom I'm OK and I'll be home for dinner tomorrow night" and hung up.
Sandeep then contacted Sudha who was at at dubbing and she also asked him whether Kala had come. Sandeep was very angry. " Let the money come" he thought " and I'll show my parents."
Sandep knew about my going to the casino during my Australia visit in March and he thought I must have bought a lottery ticket then. So he first rang up my Office and asked to speak to Ganesh, my secretary. He told Ganesh in his best managerial voice:"I don't care how you do it, but you must contact my dad wherever he is and ask him to contact home because there is an emergency."
Poor Ganesh threw his weight around using my name. He first contacted my Baroda Office and asked them to contact our Jamnagar office and convey the message to me ASAP. Everyone left whatever they were doing and worked to get the message to me.
When I returned home, I had to explain to Sandeep that this was just a scam. He couldn't believe it at first, because the letter even offered to send someone from Australia with a suitcase full of money and hand it over to me at Chennai airport , provided a first sent a "nominal" amount of 400 Dollars towards facilitation charges.
Actually, I did reply. I asked them to deduct the 400 dollars and send the rest of the money, but obviously nothing happened further.
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