A Russian Malayali’s ‘Asian’ Experiments
The translation was made by Mr. Raman Nair from an article published in “Mathrubhumi Weekly”, September 28 — October 4, 2008
The birth of Asianet was an announcement on the birth of a new CHAPTER in the media industry of Kerala. Now visual media played a crucial role in uplifting Kerala’s life by igniting a revolution with the broadcast of Asianet. In front of this bold and daring start-up was Dr. Raji Menon, the capital and imagination of this expatriate Malayali. In this interview, Dr. Raji Menon, who in spite of being the main participant behind this creation of history, never got to be or bothered to be registered in the celebrated events, at last opens up.
What I had heard of Dr. Raji Menon was that he was a businessman who grew very fast, with deep roots in the Soviet Union. There was no opportunity to meet him in person. Later, it was coincidence that led to the meeting with Dr. Menon.
I think it was in 2004, I got a notice from Asianet inviting me to their Thiruvananthapuram studio to record an interview with me for a big program on Communism. Accordingly I reached their studio and my interview was conducted by Com Shaktidharan from Desabhimani. After the interview, someone approached and asked, “Do you remember me, Comrade?” I did not immediately recognise the person. On receiving some hints, I recognised him. After the Rajan case during the emergency rule, a number of talented engineering students from Rajan’s College (RCEC) joined the Naxalite movement. Rajeev, the person in question was one of them and he was the state secretary of the revolutionary student organization during 1980–81. Dr Rajeev was standing in front of me. He is currently a professor at Uppsala University in Sweden.
Dr. Raji Menon who was the main promoter and initiator of Asianet. There is a situation that Malayalee do not know Dr. Raji Menon at all. I took the initiative to have such a conversation because I felt that this situation should change.
Dr. Rajeev is the nephew of Asianet Chairman Dr. Raji Menon. The nephew was initially employed at Dr Menon’s company in Kandla, Gujarat, and from there the uncle sent Rajeevan to study in America. From US, Dr. Rajeev shifted to Sweden. From the conversation I realized that Rajeev is a person who listened carefully to the changes in my perspective and agreed to them to a large extent. It was Rajiv’s suggestion that I should get acquainted with Dr. Raji Menon. Rajeev himself made an opportunity for it.
The first meeting was at Dr. Menon’s residence in Kodungallur. Some of his friends were also there. The long discussion helped us both a lot to understand each other. I also accepted Dr. Menon’s request that I should cooperate in the programme on Communism being serialized on Asianet. The study progressed with access to a lot of the studies, Video cassettes and DVDs available from the Russian archives and analysing a lot of books on the subject available in the Russian and Western markets. People were invited from Russia to translate the books, DVDs etc. in Russian language. The interest shown by Dr. Menon in making the programme as well as research really surprised me. Dr. Raji Menon is very different from many ordinary businessmen. I registered this in his mind.
Later this understanding was strengthened. Every now and then, whenever we see each other, we talk about the newly bought or read books by him. Some books came with extra copies, with his deciding that I should read them too. Other times, unexpected, he will be on the phone, calling from different countries. Sometimes from Moscow, sometimes from London, Ukraine or Dubai, countries variant. The topic of the long phone conversation could be an idea or an incident from a newly read article or book or TV programme.
Dr. Raji Menon who was the main promoter and initiator of Asianet and its Chairman is not well known to many Malayalee. The current conversation was initiated because I felt that this situation should change.
It has been heard that you were a major link in the Indo-Soviet business relations during the Soviet days. Can you tell us about your arrival in the Soviet Union and about that period?
In 1970, I landed in the Soviet Union as a medical student. It was made possible not through political influence but by the efforts of my uncle Mr. N B Menon, recommendations from TN Kaul and KPS Menon. I am eternally thankful to them for the opportunity. Student life including internship ended in 1980.
Mr. P. Unnikrishnan the then correspondent of PTI in Moscow was my mentor during my student life. He was surprised and proud to observe my sudden growth in business. I could establish a very strong foundation in three to four years. Under “MENON” in Moscow were more than 10 companies including “Menon Impex”, an export/import company, a pharmaceutical manufacturing company called “Menon Pharma” etc.
Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, many had divergent views on its social and political structure. The government system of that time was successful in providing food, shelter, security and sense of belonging, patriotism to most of the people. The experiences related to the business sector were also very appropriate. Everything was straight forward. There was no cheating no conniving. All the contracts were strictly honoured.
We have adequately analysed the reasons and conditions for the collapse of the Soviet Union in the series “Communism, a search for truth”. The problems were mostly internal. It can be said that it was because of the erroneous conclusions and actions of Mr. Gorbachev and machinations of US President Ronald Reagan starting with Poland etc. Later, Yeltsin as president of Russia tried to implement the idea of ”liberal democracy”, but the result was financial collapse and lawlessness. Now under Mr Putin it’s Authoritarian Democracy sustained by high oil and gas prices.
Asianet was started around the time of the collapse of Soviet Union. What was the background? What was the role played by you?
I have already said about Mr. Unnikrishnan, the PTI correspondent in MOSCOW. He returned to Delhi and soon became the general manager of PTI.
Whenever I came to Delhi where I had an office I used to meet up with Mr Unnikrishnan. He once said that with his retirement the era of South Indians in general and Malayali’s in particular, at the helm of affairs in PTI would come to an end. My nephew Sashi Kumar who was a news reader in Doordarshan, the Hindu’s West Asia Correspondent in Bahrain had returned to India and was working at Reliance Groups Mudra Ad Agency in Bombay. Unniettan had started PTI TV and as per my recommendation, Sashi was interviewed and appointed as Deputy General Manager in PTI TV.
Once Unnyettan send word that I should definitely see him when I next came to India. When I met him, he informed me about a new opportunity created by the new situation where the government’s monopoly and restrictions in the field of broadcasting were ending. With the end of Doordarshan’s monopoly, he proposed setting up a new national TV Channel. He proposed that I should be the main promoter and investor of the channel, and that the other partners would be the major newspaper barons and PTI itself. He requested that I arrange for a Russian Transponder. I agreed. I could not say “no” to Unnyettan. Even though the field of media was not my area of expertise, because of Unniettan I took it up. My favourite nephew Sashi too was now in the field with PTI TV.
In Moscow, I hired Cosmonaut Volinov, the second astronaut after Gagarin, and General Antronov, who was earlier at the helm of some of Soviet Union’s rocket launches (the pathetic plight after the breakup of Soviet Union made hiring them possible), as advisers and with their help signed the contract for a transponder on the Ekran satellite. Since I was an overseas Indian, I had to take special permission from the Government of India if I wanted to start a media venture in India. It would take time and hence I used my nephew Sashi Kumar and my niece’s husband CP Chandrasekhar to register a company. In Moscow the annual rent for the transponder had increased from one million USD to 4.5 million USD at the time of signing the contract. ZEE TV’s Subhash Chnadra, SUN TV’s Kalanidhy Maran and others from India were trying for that transponder.
While things were progressing well in Moscow, matters in India were not progressing as expected. Unniyettan could not bring in PTI or other media houses into the venture. He suggested starting a business channel. I was willing to agree to that idea. It would be headed by Mr Unnikrishnan and many from PTI including Sashi would join in. But unfortunately, Unniyettan’s lung cancer took a turn for the worse and all these plans were put in jeopardy. He passed away within a year and a half.
Since the money for the transponder had already been m0stly paid and it would not be returned, and the arrangements made in Moscow were ones I did not want to go back on, I needed to stick to the idea of the TV channel. That’s when the idea of the National channel was brought down to a regional channel in Malayalam. With this Sashi, who was in a supporting role until then, was brought to a forefront role by me. It was during this period that Mr. V K Madhavankutty became an integral part of this venture.
Asianet’s corporate office was the office of my company “Menon Impex”, in Madras. The first four to five years, I spent the money for all the activities of Asianet. Asianet had no other financial source other than me. It is true that after a while funding became tight. When the concept of the channel started, I intended to be its major investor. But Unniyettan’s death made me the channels only investor.
The advantage of the powerful satellite Ekran was not as useful as we thought it would be. Its Yagi antenna would have been ideal for a National Channel. A regional channel did not need such wide powerful footprint. Moreover, 4.5 million dollars per year was an extremely high price to pay. We terminated the contract on Ekran and leased a transponder from another Russian satellite, Gorizont, through an American company. It required only quarter the Ekran lease amount. In India only Doordarshan has the right for terrestrial transmission. This now became a problem.
Now, cable networking was essential for the Channels operation. A company called Asianet Satellite Communications was registered for this purpose. I met all the expenses for the company. Mr V K Madhavan kutty played a crucial role in our getting government sanction to use Electricity poles. The then Chief Minister K. Karunakaran understood the matter and rendered necessary help. Large scale cable networking needed a lot of money. My company in Bombay, “Menon Pharma” helped Asianet Satellite Communications raise a loan of Rs.6 crore from the Federal Bank Alwaye. I bought the Pooliyarakonam studio Trivandrum from the eminent Actor Mr. Madhu. Later, when more funds were needed to expand operations it was decided to sell half of Satcom’s stakes to the Raheja Group, for over Rs 30 crore.
I had thought of giving a small stake to Sashi Kumar for his assistance. Later I decided to raise it to fourteen and even twenty % out of love for my favourite nephew. Sashi’s contribution was his work for which he drew a good salary. I am not underestimating his efforts or contribution one bit.
It was in 1997 or so, that he came to me with the statement that he had no other stake anywhere and requested that 50 percent share in Asianet be given to him. He promised his whole hearted endeavour to build up the channel. I agreed to his request without hesitation. Sashi was family, my favourite nephew. I did not say 40/60 or 49/51. I would cut down my time spend in India and asked him to manage Asianet as its MD. With this Sashi became everything in Asianet. I did not foresee that the devotee would try to swallow the temple.
Did you interfere in Asianet’s activities in terms of its content and approach?
No. Broad instructions were given, but rest was completely left to Sashi. I had hoped not to spend time in that field. I was more interested in technology related affairs and hence in Satcom, the cable networking company.
How come those who have been together for years decided to part ways?
Parallel to Asianet, almost the same time I had started four Joint ventures in Russia. They were in the fields of printing /publishing, pharmaceuticals, software development and basic research. I had neither the desire nor the time to come back home and participate in the running of Asianet, which was the only channel in Malayalam. Soon from many quarters I came to know that Asianet is known as Sashi Kumar’s venture in Kerala and my name was deliberately avoided.
It was in this context that I called Sashi Kumar to Moscow and told him that he can buy my shares if he wanted. But there was no response. Around this time I came to understand that the steps to get the approval of the Central government for my investment were not taken timely at first and later after getting the approval the information was hidden from me. With that, I lost complete faith in Sashi and came to the decision that I should look after the venture created with my investment. With 50 percent stake and management control, Sashi thought that I would be helpless. It so happened that my elder brother Mr. Nandan, who represented me in all my ventures in India, had 5 percent shares in Asianet. As per my instructions my elder brother had surrendered his shares but legally they were still in his name. Shashi would not have won a legal battle with this trump card in my hands. Maybe that’s why Sashi came to meet me at the Muscat Hotel in Thiruvananthapuram, and meekly told me that he did not want to fight. He profusely apologized to me for his conniving uncouth actions and explained that “he was paranoid”. I gave him more than the amount he asked for the shares he held and that’s how that relationship ended.
Did you feel the need to change the nature of Asianet after it was fully taken back? Did you try anything in that direction? Results?
When I summoned Sashi Kumar to Moscow once, he expressed his desire to turn Asianet into a communist channel. Under him, it was run with a marked left orientation. I wanted that it has an objective character. I worked towards that objective without firing a single staff member or downgrading any one for their personal conviction. Firing the old staff was not my way. Anyway, I believe that we achieved some of the intended changes. Even though I maintained a good relationship with the staff of Asianet, I started to lose my intellectual relationship with Asianet the enterprise the channel. Perhaps it was because of this lack of connection that I did not feel distressed when I got out of Asianet. Kerala is home to around three percent of India’s total population. Therefore, its market share is also proportionately small. I researched analysed programs from many parts of the world, did a lot of soul-searching but the Malayalam market did not have the economic size to make many programs doable. More over when it comes to Malayalam media, it has to be according to the Malayali’s current tastes and preferences, I was advised.
As for the period 1999–2006, by 1999 I got out of many of my business ventures. I decided to start a new phase in my business career. I started trying to do projects for Kerala using Asianet’s brand equity. During the time of UDF, I met A.K. Antony and initiated a project to computerize all the schools in Kerala. I had ways to bear the entire cost of 400 crore Rs or more. No reply came in. Later there was a suggestion to try it in one district. Here economy of scale worked, doing it only in one district was not practical. I suggested production of titanium metal, not just titanium dioxide, from the mineral sands of Kerala. I could have brought in the technology, funding could be worked on. There was no response. A detailed study about this was published in the Mathrubhumi daily. I suggested a new technology to prevent sea erosion, instead of laying rocks on the shore. No result.
Kerala, which achieved near 100 percent literacy, did not get on the fast moving train of information technology. Along with the software sector, I suggested to the government to start a factory to make computer chips in the hardware segment as an initiative of Kerala and had ways of providing all the necessary support for it. A presentation was made about a Russian electronic zone. But there was no response, zero progress. I was not interested in pushing decisions, by running after ministers. I do not agree with that method.
What was the impetus for Asianet to do a program on Communism worth studying? How did the Asianet eco system react to it?
My friend from Ukraine Lt General Bandurka, who was an academician and who earlier held a leadership rank in the Soviet Communist Party, came to Kerala on my invitation. An interview was conducted with him in Asianet. He made severe criticisms about communism on the basis of his experience and analysis. It was then that I felt that a serious research on communism was needed for the comrades in Kerala. Mr Venu — you know what a detailed study we made on the subject. A lot of time and energy was spent on it without expecting any advertisement revenue. This programme was stamped as Dr’s programme. I never micro-managed Asianet. K. Madhavan as MD and other senior people in management were looking after the daily affairs.
Does relinquishing majority stake in Asianet and moving away seem appropriate? Was it not losing an active link with the Kerala society? Isn’t that a step that validates the criticism that money was the only main concern?
I never managed Asianet with the balance sheet in mind. As a businessman it is not that I did not care. It seems that a visual media house on a standalone basis cannot do much in the political and social environment of Kerala.
I approached many of the heads of local media houses with the idea of a joint effort on important issues. They were sort of agreeable but the idea did not go forward due to some situational obstacles. Having become a Non Resident Indian from a very young age, I also felt that it would be difficult for me to interact effectively in Kerala. My initiatives for a better Kerala were not appreciated by the political system.
My focus has also been on the oil and natural gas mining industry in recent years. Large finances are required for that. All the above factors came together to nudge me to the decision to sell Asianet shares.
Based on the experiences so far, have you thought that there are any changes that need to be made in the field of visual media in Kerala?
I relinquished my chairmanship of Asianet and it’s not appropriate for me to talk about the changes that need to be made in the field of visual media, now. But let me answer the question. Its media business, be print or in visual media and business cannot be sustained without looking at the balance sheet. You cannot spend with no regard for the income status. This puts in limitations. You cannot proceed without looking at the rating of the programs, having only lofty social interests in mind. The government may be able to run a channel at a loss. It will act in the direction of ruling power interests. Regardless of revenue, a generous entrepreneur who can afford to run a channel that has only social good in mind would be an ideal situation. The idea of objectivity itself is subjective. But where are such entrepreneurs here?
In a place like Kerala, which is plagued by corruption and mismanagement, the visual media, which exposes all this and tries to solve it with careful interventions, is still relevant. Today’s condition of the Malayalee is that of a frog in a well. The changes taking place in the world and the changes taking place in India itself and in many other places should be shown to him. Our conservative society should be helped to adapt to the changes of the technological 21st century. If you start analysing, there is a humongous action field in front of the visual media. I don’t believe in announcements. So let’s stop here please. My ties to my land Kerala do not end here. Please don’t write me off as “somebody from the past”.
