18 February,2010 11:47 AM IST | | Sheena Thomas
He's a man of power. Well literally. R P Singh, the former chairman and managing director of Power Grid Corp, the country's largest power transmission utility seems to be directing his energies towards another powerful project - a book. He recently launched Grids of Change, a memoir that reveals the workings of the Indian public sector and his very eventful journey so far. CS finds out more:
PIC/ SAYED SAMEER ABEDI
All booked
I had several reasons for penning the book. For starters, I wanted to dispel myths associated with the Indian public sector, how it operates and promulgate the lessons that I've learnt here to a wider audience. People keep saying that nothing can happen in India, but I beg to differ. Agreed that there will be road blocks in a vibrant democracy like India, but if you have the will to perform, you'll manage to stay on track. The system might have tried to knock me down, but I mastered the art of holding on. When it wanted me to run away, I stood my ground; and when it got tired and wanted me to stay put, I ran.
A few good men
I feel that at the end of the day, you have to stay true to yourself and to the people around you. These are some of the qualities that I imbibed from my grandfather and my father-in-law. They were my only two role models in life and I learnt so much by just watching them live their lives. They were men with integrity, with strength of character and a deep desire to perform. I learnt true courage from them. I saw four political parties coming to power but I didn't differentiate between any of them. People would tell me, 'R P, you are very blunt,' but I just couldn't be diplomatic. I guess when you are telling the truth, you can't always be politically correct.
Role play
Having grown up in a joint family set-up, I was able to learn corporate governance. Iu00a0 saw my grandfather sacrificing many joys just so that he could provide for the family. That's when I realisedu00a0 that the higher your position, the more you need to give. That's how you command respect. You can't possibly demand it.
