Journey Begins with Globsyn

Santanu Saraswati


—“If you think you are beaten, you are. If you think you dare not, you don’t. If you like to win but think you can’t; it’s almost a cinch you won’t. If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost. For out in the world we find, Success begins with a fellow’s will; it’s all in the state of mind”.

I was really in a double mind after I got a phone call from my very old friend, Asim Roychaudhury, on a monsoon morning of 2011. Asim’s call was obviously for a different reason, asking for any girl or boy, who can work for Globsyn Group.
Just jokingly I said, “Asimda what do you think, if I join?”
--“Will you leave journalism after 19 years?” he asked.
“Why not, if it fetch me a hefty pay packet at the end of every month, and little bit security for my family, which I lost after my father in 2005?” I replied.

Yes I was in double mind. I know I will lose all my clouts, my power, which I achieved only with my honesty and hard work for 19 long years. I was tired, flabbergasted, working only for 8 months with Sakalbela, where apart from few very respectable colleagues like Rupak Saha, Saibal Biswas, Debashis Das and Sibapriya Dasgupta—most of them probably have no interest in self development. Friends, please don’t mind, I am excluding the magazine sections, supplement sections and last but not the least the Sports team of Sakalbela. Especially the chief reporter, least said is better. It was really a painful exercise working there, especially after working with Ananda Bazar Patrika Group and Hindustan Times, Kolkata for 18 long years, where I was privileged to work with journalists like Suman Chattopadhyay, late Sukumar Bandopadhyay, novelist Shekhar Basu, Debashis Bhattacharyya, Sanjay Shikdar, Debdut Ghosh Thakur, Devidas Acharyya, Shambhu Sen, Tapas Sinha, and few others in the Ananda Bazar art room—Debashis Deb, Shekhar Ray, and ABP Group’s printer & publisher Bijit Kumar Basu. Then people like Rajiv Bagchi, Anirban Choudhury, Sumit Sen, Saugata Ray, Saibal Sen, Subhendu Maiti, Dhiman Sarkar, Nilankur Das, Surbek Biswas, Rahul Das, Tapan Das and Arindam Sarkar. Sumit is the Editor, Times of India-Kolkata, and Saugata, the chief of news bureau of this largest selling English daily of the East.

But journalism, after 2008, especially, is not what I always wanted to be with. I was a energy sector specialist, but was having two weekly columns—one on lifestyle (every Monday—thank you Subhendu, I owe this to you) and Midweek Conversation (every Thursday, which provided me exposure to corporate as well as political world in a much better way). After joining Sakalbela, the first thing that was snatched out from me—was power sector! Second is obviously Health sector! What a great chief reporter, Sakalbela has! Wow!

People thought, just like other journalists, I left Hindustan Times to join Sakalbela for a better pay packet. Friends, you all are wrong. I left because I think I couldn’t work with the present chief of bureau of Kolkata Hindustan Times. I can only work under people who are highly educated and know the profession much more than I do so that I could develop with him under his able guidance. That scope, sorry, I failed to see. So decided it is better to call it a day, even after 16 long years of association with Hindustan Times, than living in disgrace and be there where you were, or be there where you started as a trainee journalist. If I hurt someone’s ego, I am sorry. I am writing just what is coming in my mind and just what is reality and truth—with no malice to one and all.

Some people are really living and making their livelihood out of journalism, only because they are being blessed by some unscrupulous people in power, who are corrupts, womanizers and born with all blots of human disgrace. With mushrooming growth of newspapers and media, they are living. And they are happy the way they are. God bless them. I would love to keep them in my prayers, too. Life should move on. God bless Sakalbela chief reporter.

So Asim’s call was just a fresh breeze, after spending 8 months in suffocation. And obviously, people again can call me emotional, but it’s very true that the offer for working with a larger-than-life statured CEO, Bikram Dasgupta, that too, directly, was just what I didn’t want to miss after I missed the offer directly from Mr Sanjeev Goenka’s office—few days before I joined Sakalbela.

Asim gave me a number, the number of Globsyn Group’s Associated Vice-President-Corporate, T N Raju. I called him up without being late—the day I still remember—Monday, May 23, 2011. I found this vice-president, very warm, someone who has all qualities of winning only friends, no foes. He told me that he would fix up an interview to be taken only by the CEO, Globsyn Group, Bikram Dasgupta.

I read a lot about this IT-stalwart during my University days and in my initial days of career, but got a scope to talk over phone once in 2009, while filing a story for Hindustan Times. That’s all. Never saw him face to face, like other entrepreneurs—Exide chief Satyabrata Ganguly, Ambuja Realty chief Harsh Neotia, RPG vice chairman Sanjeev Goenka, PwC’s Rupen Roy, Peerless’ Kalyan Shankar Bagchi, KPMG’s Anupam Ray, Titagarh’s J P Chaudhury, Ernst & Young’s Sudipta Das, Texmaco’s Maheshwary…….. I was really very excited thinking about meeting a man who was watched by one and all during initial years of Bengal’s IT industry.

It was Wednesday; I still remember—May 25, 2011 and 11.30 am at Globsyn Crystal’s CEO’s room, where presently I have to in mostly every day for meeting with BDG. But that day, it was little different. I never faced any interview—where I was only a listener. Everything that was told during that session—was spoken by my present boss, Bikram Dasgupta. But when it was over, I spoke only twice. I told him: “If I can’t, no one can”—I still remember. Another thing I told him confidently: “Very few journalists in Eastern India is having resource base at par with me.” May be these two small sentences fetched me this wonderful job—what I think till date.

Every day is a new day, learning new things of seeing work, seeing life and finding best ways of execution. Thank you Asim Ray Chaudhury, you helped me getting few wonderful colleagues—T N Raju, Sudipta Bhowal, Saibal Mukherjee, Sharon Gomes and last but not the least—Suraj Kumar of Globsyn Administration. I thank you. I thank you all. Just believe: Life’s battles don’t always go; To the stronger or faster man; But sooner or later, the man who wins; Is the man who thinks he can”.

I just pray to my God saying living or dying, Lord, I ask but to be Thine. My life in Thee, Thy life in me, Make heaven forever mine.