Arun Nanda was a fierce competitor
Dhunji S Wadia remembers Arun Nanda’s passion for horses, and how was resourceful and always ready to help
Everything Diwan Arun Nanda did was larger than life, and with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
I will best remember Arun Nanda for three things
- He was a gambler
- His love for horses
- And like his brother from another mother, he always loved The Art of the Deal.
He was a gambler – After all, he gambled on me, making me President of Rediffusion-Y&R. That too, in the aftermath of Airtel’s loss of business. And together we made Rediffusion-Y&R, the 6th-ranked agency in India.
He was resourceful and always ready to help. We built on each other’s strengths. Sure enough, new business began to pour in. When the State Bank of India wanted to consolidate its business from seven agencies to one, we were the agency of choice. Then followed an enviable list of accounts and projects: LIC, L&T, Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Make In India (Maharashtra), Magnetic Maharashtra, Maharashtra Investment Summit, Maharashtra Government Performance Index, Resurgent Rajasthan, Rajasthan Investment Summit, Lupin, Savsol Lubricants, Leibherr Group and Deutsche Bank, to name just a few which are top of my mind. And all this, while keeping the existing businesses intact.
