Retail pioneer Raghu Pillai in ‘Indian Retail Hall of Fame’

Mumbai, 21st September 2011:  Raghu Pillai (1957-2011), considered the father of modern retail in India, was declared the first inductee into the Indian Retail Hall of Fame at a function organized at the India Retail Forum 2011.

In an emotional ceremony jam-packed with delegates at the two-day retail industry get-together that is being held at The Renaissance Hotel, Mumbai, business leaders such as Thomas Varghese, CEO, Aditya Birla Retail, Bijou Kurien, Chairman, IRF and President, Reliance Retail, Lifestyle, and Vikram Bakshi, MD, McDonald’s (North and East India), paid rich tributes to Pillai who passed away in Chennai in April this year due to a fatal cardiac arrest. He is survived by his wife, daughter and son.

Varghese of Aditya Birla Retail said: “Raghu introduced modern retail to India. A towering and inspiring personality, he was a true leader of men who led from the front. He was full of humility and humanity and had a strong sense of right and wrong. The award couldn’t have gone to a more fitting person. He is a worthy example for all young managers to emulate.”

Bakshi of McDonald’s said: “I learnt a lot from Raghu. When there was a bitter debate going on in India about organized versus unorganized retail, he injected a fresh perspective by saying that there was no clash between the two and it was all about introducing modern retail in India. He believed that modernizing retail was important because it was the last mile for anything that gets manufactured. He was an excellent professional and a true human being. People like him never die but always live in the stories that they leave behind.”

Kurien of Reliance Retail said: “Raghu loved good food and a good drink and was full of life with an overpowering personality and a loud baritone voice. He had a can-do spirit and was a natural born leader and visionary. Raghu was also very daring who never got stuck with endless analysis. Once he decided something had to be done, he made sure it was done and could be extremely pushy when it came to achieving goals.”

“ He was also a great family man, a loving father and a great husband who never failed to take the call of family members regardless of how busy he was. As a professional, he gave me a lot of insights into the world of retail. He had a unique insight into what makes a store work and just by looking at a location he could tell if an outlet there would be successful or not,” Kurien added.

Raghu’s wife Janaki Pillai, who specially flew in from Chennai to accept the award on her husband’s behalf, said: “Raghu always said his life must be a story that he could tell to his grand children. To the last, he was true to his words.  I would also like to thank India Retail Forum and the retail fraternity for this honour.”

In Raghu's Memory

Remembering you sir today on 3rd july.

All the blogs that I have seen talk about you as father of modern retail in India staring with Foodworld.

Not many people either know or have written that you actually pioneered modern indian retail in 1984 with Dunlop tyre service centers when the concept of experiential offering to the customer weas non existent. Its therefore not in nintees but you actually introduced modern retail in india in the eightees.

As a Dunlopian and now a part of modern retail in india, we miss you raghu.

Deepinder S Kapany has worked with Mr. Raghu Pillai earlier also and is now the Vice President and Head - Books and Entertainment Business, Reliance Retail

MEMORIES OF MR. RAGHU PILLAI

Raghu left an indelible mark on all those who were fortunate to come in contact with him.  His charismatic personality, unique style, charming sense of humour and his ability to make people around him feel wanted, endeared him to people in no time at all. 

On his birthday, I'm reminded of a few incidents that bring forth Raghu's amazing sense of humour - incidents that'll remain etched in my memory for all times to come.  His one liners, delivered rather matter of factedly and timed to absolute perfection, would put Wayne Brady to shame.

Raghu's penchant to start humming at the drop of a hat was legendary. I once asked Sriram Mahadevan what exactly Raghu hummed all the time - 'tu roo ru ru ru ru' - given that the key and time signature were always constant.  Later that afternoon, Sriram actually mentioned to Raghu that Manu was keen to know what he hummed all the time. Without looking up, without a change in expression, without discontinuing to do whatever he was doing,  pat came Raghu's answer in his signature sing song manner  - 'usko bol uski death knell gaata hoon'.

I was to meet Raghu one afternoon. Some guests from Germany unexpectedly dropped in to see me, just as I was leaving for Raghu's office. I sent him an sms informing him about these visitors and asked him if I could see him after an hour or so.  His response read 'fttm'.  Unable to figure out what he meant, I messaged back with a couple of question marks.  The next instant I figured what he'd meant and messaged him again saying I'd understood and would see him 'first thing tomorrow morning'.  His response had me in splits - 'smt by' (smart boy)

Raghu was once to have a meeting with a very well known external agency that we were considering signing up. The next morning I walked up to him and asked him how the meeting went and what he felt about this agency. Raghu's response rings in my ears to this day - 'my 10 year old doberman can do a better job than them'

I was in a meeting with Raghu in his room one morning, when Sriram Srinivasan opened the door, peered into the room, said something to Raghu, shut the door back again and left.  A couple of seconds later Sriram was back and he said 'Manu, is that you ? I just didn't recognise you with your beard'.  Right then, again without looking up, Boss goes -  'forget his beard, check out his ear rings'.  Till then, I was quite sure that Raghu hadn't noticed my recently acquired accessories - he had said nothing about them to me.

My nine year old son Uday never ever got to meet him, but interestingly even he shared a bond with Raghu.  Uday would call me once in a while at work and asked to speak with 'Raghu uncle'.  My colleague Mohit Aggarwal would generally came to my rescue and speak with Uday, posing as Raghu. 

Raghu - you will forever live in the hearts of the innumerable people whose lives you touched. God bless you. OM SAI RAM.

Manu Kapur worked with Mr. Raghu Pillai as the Sr. Vice President & Biz Head - Home Furnishings & Décor at Reliance Retail Ltd and is now the Purchase Development Leader, Global Trading - Textiles, IKEA Trading (Hong Kong) Ltd

Thoughts of Raghu on his birthday

We all miss him and that’s not the point I am writing about.

The common thread about all the memories that have been shared on this blog is about his being an exemplary human being. A human being as God meant them to be. Warm, Caring, Helpful to others, Generous, Large hearted, Concerned, Forgiving, Simple, etc., etc. To experience the presence of such a person is memorable by itself and being associated with him in any capacity is unforgettable.

So, on this birthday I started to miss him, feel bad and sad. At that moment his face came to my mind and I could visualize him saying “Pagal hain kya. Get on with life”.

To be sad and shed tears for such a person would only be tears for one’s one self. He was one of a kind and his memory will be cherished and more importantly should be emulated. His life force is no longer constrained and contained in a physical body. So what?

Every memory that each of us has is sustained by his life force and he lives on in our minds. Memories may dim and recall may be fewer over years as is the way of life. But, it will always be there in our hearts and minds and till then Raghu, Boss, Tiger, Sher Khan….  is around in his myriad personalities.


V Rajesh worked with Mr. Raghu Pillai in various Retail organisations and has been a part of his team since the start up days of Foodworld.

RP- Birthday

It's difficult to even think about writing something on Raghu's birthday, so soon after his sudden passing away. The more obvious thoughts that anyone who came into contact with Raghu were that he was such a warm person, very direct and no nonsense, but above all very humane.

The Raghu I will always remember is someone who wanted to make a difference, who wanted to set benchmarks and willing all of us to walk an untrodden path. When we started with the Foodworld experiment, none of us had a clue as to where all of this would eventually lead us, but the one thing, more than any other, that Raghu managed to instill in the team was a sense of passion and the belief that collectively we could more as a team than had been dreamt before. To me, that is the legacy he truly left behind.

Mr. S Raghunandhan was a part of the start up team of Foodworld and has worked with Mr. Raghu Pillai extensively in the start up of India's first Corporate Supermarket chain and is now the CEO, Prestige Retail Group.

Raghu- A Noble Man

Raghu was my brother in law and indeed a very kind and generous one too. In those days India has been my home for many years and he was a source of unstinting support both big and small to make my personal life easier: from hotels to air miles for a holiday!

Raghu was a kind man of few words but deep commitments to his family, friends and to his pioneering work in the Indian retail industry. He was one of those people whom I always asked for advice, or an opinion about the nitty-gritty of business management, investments, business trends and so on.

It was painful to hear about his demise. I wish the things and the fate could be different. Everyone comes to this world to do something good and to conquer the evil. Raghu’s dharma has been to enrich and simplify the lives of so many people close to him as well a good billion of Indians and all of their generations to come.

Franz Andrini - Former brother in law and author of “Slimmer in 60 days” and “Yogapedia-The Online Yoga Encyclopedia”

The Raghu I remember

Reliance, in the beginning, used to be a whirlwind of meetings. The ones I loved to attend were the ones presided by Mr Raghu Pillai. It was amazing to watch him watching everyone. His knowing smile and twinkling eyes said it all. If someone would try to spin yarn around any issue, or "give him english", as he called it, his smile seemed to say- You think I was born yesterday!

Me and my husband, both worked for him at Reliance. When he heard about our engagement, he came to my desk and said- "Congrats Mona, good catch!"Then he just winked and left. I was so stunned to say anything that time, but now this small incident always makes me laugh.

That's the Raghu I remember. Always smiling, always ready with a witty comment and always there to cut through the nonsense.

Mona Bhageria Adurty worked with Mr Raghu Pillai at Reliance Retail and is now Regional Manager, Modern Trade West with Whirlpool of India Ltd.

The legend that is Raghu Pillai

My enduring image of Raghu Pillai will always be what I saw in a “war room” meeting in the run up to the first Reliance Fresh Store launch. The atmosphere was tense and reports on progress etc. were flying everywhere. There was intense pressure from the Reliance Leadership to get the show piece store up and running and as I remember it, we were way behind schedule. In one of the meetings, to use a cliché, you could cut the tension with a knife, that is until Raghu in the middle of it all rocked back onto his chair and broke out into the loudest hum you could imagine. It went on for atleast 5 seconds after which he broke out his trade mark smile and said “alright let’s do this”. The mood in the entire room just changed like someone had switched a light on. This to me epitomized the man and his legend in the retail industry, pressure never fazed him, and he was truly a leader of men.

I last met him two months ago at Chennai Airport. His trademark smile was bigger than ever. He asked about my work and family and we parted ways, as I was taking another flight.

The news of his passing was hard to digest. I pray that his family have the strength to deal with this tough time.

The legacy of Raghu Pillai will live on for quite a while, as he is as important as a Sam Walton or a Jack Welch in the annals of Indian Retail. I do foresee one day when I will tell my grandchildren, “Did I tell you the time I worked for the one and only Raghu Pillai?....... “.

Prashant Adurty worked directly for Raghu Pillai at Reliance Retail and is now the DGM- Supply Chain Optimization at Arshiya International Ltd.

RAGHU PILLAI – A Corporate Beacon

I overslept on the Sunday of April 10th and the first thing I heard on waking up was my husband telling me “there is some bad news…Raghu Pillai is no more”. After a stunned silence, I checked my phone to see the umpteen text messages all conveying and confirming the same shocking fact. I kept re-reading the messages, not willing to accept it as reality till the words got blurred in a haze of emotions.

I can confidently state that there would have been a virtual flood of emotions which swept through each and every person who has ever come in touch with Mr. Raghu Pillai. He was that rare business leader who was first and foremost a “People Leader”.

How does one describe a person like him? Words fail to do justice……

“a dream boss who was warm, caring, large-hearted, ever-smiling, accessible, approachable, concerned, forgiving, encouraging, inspiring, …..CHARISMATIC”.

He taught us to take quick decisions, based on facts combined with “gut feel. He taught us that a mistake is not the “end of the world” and taking a decision is any day better than taking no decision.

He taught us to try out new ideas at work, to take ownership, to have confidence in our decisions. He was that leader who made you want to excel, to scale greater heights, to improve the current way of working. He taught us to treat every individual with dignity. He made even the lowest person in the corporate hierarchy feel important.

Open door policy was not just some corporate jargon for him….he embodied this principle in his dealings with all employees. Despite his stature, no one ever felt over-awed to go up to him or speak out his/her mind. He was direct and honest with his opinion and expected the same from others.

He genuinely cared for his people and we would all have some instance or the other where Mr. Raghu Pillai would have gone “out of the way” to extend his help much beyond our expectations.

I have had the good fortune to be associated with Mr. Raghu Pillai twice in my career, first with Foodworld-RPG Retail and then again with Reliance Retail. Even though I had not been in touch with him for a few years after I quit Foodworld, when I met him at Reliance Retail next, he greeted me with the same warmth, the same huge smile that we all remember him by. He never failed to ask a person about his/her family. Even on the phone, one can “hear” him smile .People say if a person’s smile does not reach his eyes, it is not genuine….by this standard Raghu Pillai possessed probably the most genuine smile in the corporate world, particularly amongst people at that stature. This smile was also backed by a legendary sense of humour.

People flocked to work with Raghu Pillai, changing jobs just to work under his guidance and leadership.

I know of instances where employees have given up considering greener pastures only because “Raghu asked to reconsider”. That was the charisma of the man, the leader, the corporate beacon who will stay in our hearts and minds forever.

Madhumita Mohanty worked with Raghu at RPG Foodworld and at Reliance Retail and is currently  General Manager and Head-Merchandising at Reliance Jewels.

Jaantha hai mera Bhai kaun hai?

I have read the posts on this blog with deep gratitude and painful delight. As Raghu's sister I had little opportunity to 'know' him professionally. Raghu never carried his work home. Of course I was aware that he was doing pioneering work in the retail industry but the posts here and the conversations I have had with his colleagues during his funeral, have shown me a side of him that I may never have known had he not gone so suddenly-  leaving us all behind to share our stories of him as the only way to comfort ourselves.

What I would like to do is share some stories of a Raghu many of you may not have known - Raghu as a brother.

When I was around 13 - the archetypal bratty kid sister - I caught Raghu sneaking a cigarette on the terrace of our home in Delhi. 'Hey bhagwan! You're smoking!?' I screeched, my tone implying 'wait till I tell Mom and Dad'.

Raghu - then 16 - displayed a hint of the daring, speed and simple 'solutionism' that was evidently his hallmark as a professional in later years. Without missing a beat he said ' Shhh. Not so loud. Here want to have one?'

Did I want to have one? Of course I did. Anything my big brother did I wanted to do. So - in a flash - I lit one - and was transformed from a possible teller of tales into a willing accomplice - my lips forever sealed - in this case around a cigarette butt. Mission accomplished, Raghu sauntered off down the terrace with a sly grin.

If memory serves me right, that was the one and only time my brother Raghu encouraged me to do something that could get me into trouble. For the next 37 years he did everything he could to keep me out of trouble!

As the years passed and it became evident that his wild kid sister was not going to lead a typical 'normal' conventional life, my brother Raghu did not sit me down and give me a lecture. Instead, partnered by my second brother Madhu, ( yes I have two amazing brothers - how blessed can I get?),  he set about - quietly, efficiently, without any hue and cry - creating a big fat safety net beneath me and then proceeded to let me live my life my way. No questions asked.

The result?  Every time I fell - I fell into his arms.

Stranded penniless in Srilanka because I was silly enough to forget to reconfirm my return ticket? No problem. One phone call to Raghu and within half an hour an ex colleague of his rolls up, whisks me off to dinner, gives me money to pay my hotel bill for one more night and the next day I have Air Lanka calling me to ask when it would be convenient for me to come across and pick up a fresh ticket back to Chennai.

Hungry hostelite in Bombay? Not a chance. Not when Raghu makes the effort to squire my friends and me to Kwality's at Kemps Corner at least once every two weeks - where he sits back and endures a bunch of giggling girls stuffing their faces and forgetting to thank him at the end of the meal.

Need a local guardian to sign the railway student concession form for my ticket back home for the summer? The hell with the taking the train - here's an air ticket - just fly back home little sister. Raghu.

Suffering in a flea ridden motel while shooting near Panvel? 'Raghuuuuuuuu' I wail. 'My secretary will call in five minutes' he replies. She calls in three. A room has been booked for me at The Park in Panvel.  Ahh - air-conditioned, crisp white linened bliss.

Whining that I'm out of cigarettes at 3 in the morning in Hyderabad? Get into the car and cruise the twin cities until we find a chai kadai that's open. It took us more than an hour.

Grumbling that I can't find parking on MG Road? One phone call and I'm allowed to park everyday at a company's basement right next to my office.

I've lost count of the number of times I've staggered out of some pub at midnight after drinking with the office gang and banged on the locked gates of the basement, yelling to be let in so I could take my car out. And when the bleary eyed and understandably irritable watchman showed reluctance, I've hissed through the bars of the gate, 'Jaantha hai mera bhai kaun hai?'

And all of this is just a glimpse of the small stuff.

The big stuff? That's another lifetime of stories.

Suffice to say that through all the upheavals of an unconventional life, I've often had my friends ask me what keeps me smiling. How come, they have asked, nothing seems to break your spirit. My reply has always been a grin and an airy 'oh it's the whisky and cigarettes that keep me cheerful'. The truth is I should have said, "Jaantha hai mera bhai kaun hai?"

With Raghu for a brother - what was there to fear?

At his funeral Pradipto said to me 'He doted on you. Now it's your turn to be strong'.

If I could have forced the words past the lump in my throat I would have replied 'The source of my strength is gone - how can I be strong?'

But Pradipto was right.

The only way I can honor my brother's memory is to be strong.

He will never stop being the steel in my spine.

And the next time someone asks me the secret of my resilience I'm going to say 'Jaantha hai mera bhai kaun tha?'

Ms. Indira Pillai