A True HONCHO

This blog post is about a person who was once a colleague but now a mentor as well a friend and had a great impact on me since i came to Mumbai. In usual cases, i only boast of myself, and my experiences (told with bit of masala’s) but for a change, i have chosen to do otherwise. I had to show my gratitude to him but was not sure how to. So i decided that to write about him. I am not sure how he would take this (i.e. writing about him in a blog).

There was this guy in my office who was designated as Senior Manager for the Graphics dept when i was given a seat near to the Graphics department when I newly joined. A small team that was initially created for the sake of having a graphics dept, which later on started helping the business development department as well as other department to put their things together and now turns out to be one of the best department in the company.

Initially, i thought any one who stayed in a company for a long time was a useless person. He would be struck with whatever ideas he had, when he joined the organization. He would not grow. He would not be apt and was not capable for another company.

But this guy led by examples and had a way of dealing with people at his will. He was respected as well as feared by his colleagues. He made sure the any work he undertook was completed on time with the highest level of quality standards. I have not heard his juniors say ill of him at any point of time. He supported his juniors to the maximum extent but at the same time made them accountable for the work they did. He knew how to get the work done out of any person. He gelled with juniors as if they were family after work hours and a professional during the work hours. His etiquettes were fabulous. My definition of a good boss suddenly had his image.

There were times when i was really disturbed and my spirits were all low. But this guy with his pep talks really helped me realize that it was best to be my normal self. He gave me live examples and incidents wherein he made me think about life. He is a great person to talk to about any issues during my bad / depressing moments. He always had a wonderful answer to the problems.

He put additional work (i.e. being a part of the editorial team for the company newsletter), which i was happy to accept. He believed that i could bring something afresh for the newsletter but i am not sure that i lived to his expectations; the reason being he was more creative and innovative than me.

He was given a great farewell on the day he left by the top management. The graphic department has a different look after he left. And i am sure the organization and his colleagues would love to have him back.

Oh!!! Did i forget to mention his name???

He is Chandra Shekhar Aher……

P.S: I am adding a image he designed post the terror attacks in Mumbai. This can help to highlight him as graphic designer as well a true humanitarian.