MY BOSSES – Part 3 ( PSP )
Posted byP SHANKAR PRABHU
See PSP on Pg 8 of a Dorr-Oliver Magazine of 1983
PSP was the quintessential School Head Master : The smiling assassin. He had the beaked nose, the glasses, the military stride with hands behind his back, as he came quick stepping, inspecting us at our work. These rounds he performed several times in the day, keeping his pupils on their toes, and the secretaries banging away on their typewriters. The dimly lit archives room on the floor was one spot he never missed : he had caught and severely reprimanded several delinquents who used to seek refuge in that room, pretending to pull out files for reference purposes. I got the distinct impression that even the great TRK and KPMR would think twice before confronting PSP.
PSP was a pulp and paper expert on the technical side. He was a well trained legal eagle when it came to drafting Contracts, Terms and Conditions, Penalty and Bonus clauses, Termination clauses, performance guarantees etc.
From PSP it was that I learnt how to make the preparatory notes and do the necessary homework before sending a Sales Proposal to a client. The procedure and process was put in place by the Head Master himself :
- Take out your ruled Yellow Pad
- Put a Carbon Sheet underneath to make 2 copies of the document
- One copy goes to the Case file and the other to a Master file
- Write the Heading with the Clients Name, address and date of receipt of the enquiry
- Write down the date of your “Problem Analysis” on the right hand top corner
- Start your Analysis with Characterisation of the Waste to be treated
- Sketch out the Flowsheeet of the proposed Treatment Plant
- etc.
- etc.
And the completed homework assignment had to be signed off by PSP. It will not surprise me one bit to learn that he kept a secret Marks card of all these assignments submitted to him by his acolytes.
In Dorr-Oliver, the yearly increment in emoluments to its employees was not automatic : One really had to work hard, demonstrate superior performance and results going beyond the call of duty in order to qualify for that signal honour. Thus it was the proudest moment of my career, when at the end of my first year in the Company, PSP himself got off his chair, came around his table, patted me on my back and said “ Dr., We have decided to increase your salary by a full fifty rupees this year ”
From PSP, I learnt attention to detail, the small print, and even the significance of punctuation marks and capital letters in a legal Contract. I thank him for his role in making me half a lawyer that I am today.
Dr. Ananth S Kodavasal June 22, 2011
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