Advertisment

The Saffron Clad Techie

author-image
Ranjeeta
Updated On
New Update

Born to a family of priest in Puri, Rabi Rathsharma of Bhubaneshwar is currently spearheading Signature Sales as its MD. Wanting to be an advocate as a kid and then a sage, Rathsharma got into IT after completing his higher education.

Advertisment

EARLY DAYS:

Rathsharma says, "My early days off the job were full of mischief, but I was always sure of my strengths. I remember, out of the blue I became a gold medalist in the state in an Art competition. Again while pursuing my MBA, students from all over the country and were fighting for the top slots, but I took away the competition with the 7th rank." He adds, "On the job, I have been very particular about value centric actions and focused career. This turning point came to me naturally with the sudden demise of my most illustrative father who was one of the most famous man of Odisha."

CAREER GRAPH:

"Jobs were never preferred in our family," says he. "Having faced resistance for taking up employment in some company, some how I got into a job in HCL group which my Father and other family members came to know after 2 months," he adds. After HCL he worked for Modi group and then Sterling Holiday Resort. "All these jobs took away my precious 15 years. All through I have been an achiever and never had a boss to monitor me in day to day business," says the man. In these 15 years he worked at various capacities including sales person to regional operation manager with a complete responsibility of eastern region.

"When my father expired, I resigned and my wife was the person who persuaded me to start my own set up. I resigned instantly and there was no time to think. I did not have any capital to start with, but I strongly stood by my own capital-intellect capital. This was one thing which I learned during my MBA in 1985. We started with Rs 3 lakh and we are now close to Rs 3 crore company without a single rupee loan and zero liability," says the proud man. For Rathsharma, the beginning was simple and simplicity continues till date. He adds, "We worked in telecom sector with IP as our platform, networking and power sector managements. Our road map was long focused and thus we had short disappointments but we were clear with regards to our future."

Advertisment

ACHIEVEMENTS:

Rathsharma claims, "We have always stood by our customers. On the job I always stood differently and did best in the region, though initially I faced problem in communicating in English. But later on it was my English which helped me in communicating with others. When people talked English, slept English, sold English, I drafted English to close the deals. I have started the country's first logistics of my company from Hyderabad to give all India price advantage of tax variations and it gave a great boost to my policy in corporate planning. It paid and was appreciated. Today people know me as a telecom engineer, some think I am system specialist, etc. I am a saffron clad sadhu who can talk technology. I am presently working on protocol engineering and I am not an engineer to start with. It is also a fact that I take Rs 1,00,000 for one Puja session, specially on remedy of Vastu."

CHALLENGES:

The man says that the biggest challenge is the state of Odisha, being a small state with small pockets, which results in less business potential in their line. He says, "There is nothing like business scenario here, low financial investments. The major challenge we faced all through is the apathy in government sector. We wanted to rule over their mind by making a point that we read and would not like to cheat. I remember, we started challenging the government officers about their knowledge and efficiency. In some cases, we rejected them on their face and even walked out several times in business deals. This gave us a new face and government officers started looking at us seriously. We never gave in to corruption."

MANTRAS IN LIFE:

The man believes that life has many dimensions. He says, "The almighty has given every one some thing or the other to live on. We must live on with it. We must learn to build on it. Everybody has got some unexplored, unearthed talent within." Rathsharma advises the young lot to start early to settle early. "Sleep well your health will be wealth."

Advertisment

FAMILY TIME:

"I have a son, daughter and a teacher as my life partner. Both the children are self made and wife a teacher. They make fun of me as I do not remember their date of birth, I do not remember their age, their telephone numbers. They were once so surprised to see me dancing for 3 hours at a wedding party and they were speechless," quips the man.

FUTURE PLAN:

Rathsharma feels that he should have started his career atleast another 5 years earlier. He says, "Now I have the capacity to do so and my team is poised for it but I am personally more inclined towards spirituality. My recent visit to USA as a chief guest and speaker is an example of the change in my life's priority. In the next 5 years, I will set a team with younger minds. They will rise upto my expectations. I have seen more fire in them."

Ranjeeta Bhattacharjee

ranjeetab@cybermedia.co.in

Advertisment