A tribute to PM (Suman) Sinha written by my friend and colleague, Shashi Kalathil, who knew him well at Levers and Pepsi
Suman(PM) Sinha was a man’s man. His physicality permeated corporate space. As Sales Director of Hindustan Lever in the early 80’s he systematically downed barriers that differentiated ‘burra saheb’ HQ and senior management from field salesmen. Amongst several initiatives, this he manifestly did through aggressive touring, including into the hinterland, unmindful of the rigours of climate, travel and stay. If his frontline “boys” faced this day in day out, so could he every once in a while and so would the hitherto cosseted senior managers !
At Pepsi India, helmed by him for a decade where he created an organisation that decisively won the ‘cola wars’ of the 90’s, Suman took his passion for the frontline several notches up. He championed the ‘bottom up’ organisation, an inverted pyramid fronted by customer facing sales and production personnel with all other functions supporting, anchored by top management, but at the very bottom. Suman also enjoyed nothing more than a few drinks with the sales guys at the end of a hard day’s field work – so bottoms-up was just right !
Mr. Sinha however made his first mark within the corridors of ‘babudom’ as the quaintly titled Resident Manager based at New Delhi. Representing a multinational Hindustan Lever in the 70’s and 80’s and nudging policy away from the hostility of those times within a framework of ethics quite alien to the prevailing politico-business ethos must have been excruciatingly difficult, yet he pulled it off with persistent doggedness. That his next assignment was with Pepsi which was the first post liberalisation big multinational entry into India was karmic indeed !
That this nephew of Jayaprakash Narayan should have had a vaunted career in multinationals selling soaps and colas is a dichotomy that can perhaps be best resolved by Suman Sinha’s proudest moment – that Capt. Vikram Batra (PVC) should report that first of the Kargil peaks captured with the legendary Pepsi ad tagline “yeh dil maange more” !
Go well Sir, they don’t make ‘em like you no more !
Shashi Kalathil is an ex Hindustan Lever and Pepsi India veteran
