TEAM CONTRIBUTIONS

Through the Generations at M&M
by Mr. C.J. Thomas

When one looks back with nostalgia, it can be said, that my family has grown with the organisation. My family has been associated with M&M for the past 50 years and I sincerely hope, we continue to do so.

My uncle Mr. C.J. Sebastian, who joined Mahindras at the Mazagon plant in 1955 and served till 1969, was a World War II soldier in the Indian National Army.

Whenever we visited our paternal uncle, Mr. C.J. Sebastian, he would narrate stories about his time in the Army and at M&M. He might have never thought that 50 years later his family would still be serving in the same organisation.

My father Mr. C.J. Ouseph, the youngest brother of Mr. Sebastian, joined Mahindras at the Mazagon Plant in 1962 and served in the Auto Sector till his retirement in 1996. He worked in almost all M&M's plants - Mazagon, Worli, Ghatkopar and Kandivli - and saw M&M grow from a small workshop-sized plant to a large multinational.

"The company saw the Golden Era during our times," he says proudly. "There was always a family atmosphere and human touch.

The organisation has had its times of rough weather, but through alertness and changing with the changing times the organisation has forged ahead among its rival automobile companies."

I, C.J. Thomas, the eldest son of Mr. C.J. Ouseph, joined the organisation in 1990 at A.S. Nashik plant.

I was born into the Mahindra family and my children have been born into the Mahindra family too. I feel through my father we really lived a Mahindra life - a life of steady and gradual growth.

My father would narrate to us many stories of the organisation and now he does the same to my children. He still believes Keshubji is 'Annadatha'.

We as a family wish our esteemed organisation years of fortune and pray for it to become the No. 1 Company among the Fortune 500.

The following poem was composed and recited by Mr. Jay Shah, Mahindra Europe, at the Founders' Day 2001 celebrations at Worli. He has rewritten it as a tribute to our Founders on M&M's 60th Anniversary.

A Mahindra Thanksgiving

For the hay and the corn and the wheat that is reaped,
For the labour well done, and the barns that are heaped,
For the sun and the dew and the sweet honeycomb,
For the rose and the song and the harvest brought home -
A Mahindra Thanksgiving!

For the trade and the skill and the wealth in our land,
For the cunning strength of the workingman's hand,
For the good that our workers and engineers have taught,
For the friendship that hope and affection have brought -
A Mahindra Thanksgiving!

For sixty years of excellence and pride,
For sixty years of eventful stride,
For sixty years we have brought out our best,
For sixty more we will succeed every test -
A Mahindra Thanksgiving!

For the homes that with purest affection are blest,
For the challenge of plenty that brings out the best,
For our company extending from sea unto sea,
Thank you oh so very much J.C. and K.C. -
A Mahindra Thanksgiving!