In June 2000, I was invited to give a presentation at an important hospital on the range of products that GE Medical offered in cardiology. This was a hospital in Singapore, and my boss was an American expat. I travelled from Bangalore to Singapore to deliver this talk, and the talk went off extremely well, much to the great delight of my boss.
He pulled me aside afterwards and said he'd like to gift me something really nice because of my performance. I said the latest craze was mobile phones, and I would like to buy one. He said, "Go ahead and buy whatever you want in Singapore, and I shall pay for it."
The news of my successful talk and the boss's gift that was going to come to me reached the ears of the big boss in GE Medical in Singapore. He was a Korean gentleman, later famous as the CEO of the Seoul International Airport. He was also fond of me and said that his chauffeur, a Sardarji, was an expert in mobile phones, and I should take his help in getting the best phone in Singapore.
I spoke to the Sardarji, who told me that it was not he but his son-in-law who specialised in mobile phones, and I should meet him.
That evening, I went to the address given, and I met the son-in-law, a young Indian gentleman who was busy dismantling and unpacking new mobile phones, wrapping them in newspapers to look like nondescript items, and boxing them for shipment to India. Ostensibly, he ran an extremely successful smuggling business!
Well, I laughed out loud, ate the chole bhature, and asked him to help me select a new mobile phone. He took me to Orchard Road, and I bought this beautiful Motorola phone, called Timeport. I think I paid a princely sum of around S$500. I got a Singapore GSM SIM card, too. I came to the office the next day and displayed my phone, much to the admiration of my American expat boss, who reimbursed me promptly.
I returned to India with my triumphant Motorola phone.
Later, a Himalayan Master whom I had just met told me he needed a mobile phone to be gifted to a patient in Manipal Hospital who was his disciple. I promptly gifted my Motorola phone. This was not my generosity but I did so because GE India was busy sanctioning new mobile phones for every senior manager with Indian SIM cards, and I got my James Bond-style Ericsson P28.
Motorola has always stood for great technology to me, irrespective of whether it's an American company or a Chinese-owned brand.
Viva la technology!
