pic powmenow.wordpress.com
A G Krishnamurthy ( 28th April 1942- 5th February 2016) will be remembered for different reasons. The industry may just note him as the founder chairman of Mudra Communication, taking it to newer heights earlier only associated with MNC and network agencies. Or as a person who has the vision to start MICA. Or even an author of books like ‘If you can dream’, ‘Ten Much’, ‘Desi dream merchants’, ‘Learnings of an advertising professional’ and many more.
To me he will always be AGK and I will be another of the many AGKites.
He always remained a person ingrained with middle class values and openness to ideas. One who could be called a homegrown ad man with a street-smart style and a belief of ‘success being a process not an end’. – See more at: http://www.mxmindia.com/2016/02/rip-agk/#sthash.tWfozKD2.dpuf
I remember the poster in his office at Mudra. Early days, when Mudra operated out of Manikyam apartments in Ahmedabad. It had a rooster running after a hen, while another in a corner was busy hatching an egg. It read ‘Yes, we run after new business- but we keep out existing clients satisfied’. This is a philosophy that he lived by.
AGK was Mudra and in many ways Mudra was AGK. Mudra was started with a mandate for excellence and that remained the driving force behind its success. A lot of its growth was organic. So when AGK said ‘Truly and honestly the age of the fittest surviving has dawned on us. The only way we (can prosper is by raising our bar of efficiency… There isn’t any alternative’. You knew he meant it.
He was also one of the toughest bosses I had. He never accepted mediocrity. I remember one incident where the legs turned lead- while we seven were paraded and blasted by him in Ahmedabad. (Full incident https://sanjeevkotnala.com/sardar-khush-hoga/). He was a great teacher of human relationships. One of the best bosses (not a direct boss) I ever had. Few people from whom I learnt the art of managing and motivating teams.
My career in advertising could have been short-lived if he was not there to make sense of my brashness and actions. I did mistakes and he allowed them as a learning ground. This openness is something that I carry with me.
He kept you on a leash. The leash of freedom of doing things you felt right and had conviction in. Yet he could be break your heart with one of the most brutal honest observation or a remark. Reward and reprimands ran parallel in his office. Biases were few and rare.
We all Mudraities who have worked under him or interacted know how motivating were the simple Ganeshas and those silver or golden pens could be. They were medals that many of us hold dearer than the awards won at later stage of life. Many a time, it was even the hard-boiled sweets that could come your way as an appreciation.
I will always remember him as AGK. That’s what he will remain for me.
I know he never forgot a Mudraite who has worked with him. In my advertising career, he twice asked me to come back. For some reasons I had to decline. But I started my advertising career at Mudra (1987-90) and I ended with Mudra (2001-2004) with my second stint.
AGK commanded respect that did not come entirely from the position he had but because he was through professional. I remember asking him for his observation as an ITC-Sheraton resident at Banaglore while I wasworking with HTA. And was not too surprised when I did get a handwritten note after two days. (https://sanjeevkotnala.com/upgrade/)
I read the news of his demise in the Whatsapp group of old and current Mudraites actively praying for his recovery. It drained me as memories flashed by me. The only way to charge myself was to hold the four Golden Ganeshas and a silver pen that he gave me during my 1987-1990 stint with Mudra Ahmedabad. And to relive few incidents and episodic interactions. They will always hold a special place for me and they always will.
Trust me SIR, whenever you look down from your heavenly abode, you will never find any moment of disappointment from Mudratites. Or better, AGKites
Published in mxmindia.com .
