ARUN K. THIAGARAJAN: Seasoned, but ill-starred?

At the time of going to press it looked like it would take a minor miracle of sorts to scotch the hp-Compaq merger. Carly (Carleton Fiorina, HP's CEO) was smiling. Walter (Hewlett, the man who wanted to preserve his family jewels) had given up. And all was well with the hp world. Actually, not quite. For, far away from the Delaware court house where the final chapter in the Hewlett-Fiorina fight had been played out, in India, a surprise announcement on the CEO of the merged entity had just been made. Balu Doraisamy, the 45-year-old Managing Director of Compaq had been named President of the new hp. Doraisamy has probably got his due, but one can't help but think of Arun K. Thiagarajan, the 56-year old President of hp India. It has been a rocky ride for the articulate Thiagarajan, widely considered one of the more competent professional CEOs in India. After a longish stint as CEO of ABB, the man became CEO of Wipro Infotech and Vice Chairman of Wipro. Things didn't really work out for both Wipro and Thiagarajan, and the latter left to join hp India as Ganesh Ayyar's replacement. And just when it looked like he had found his slot, came the announcement of the merger-an announcement that led to some speculation on the identity of the top manager at the merged entity. Some backed Thiagarajan, others did Doraisamy, and still others did Som Mittal, CEO of Compaq subsidiary Digital (a dark horse, really). While neither Doraisamy nor Thiagarajan responded to BT, a hp spokesperson stated that Doraisamy's was just one of the senior posts to be announced, hinting that more would follow and that Thiagarajan could still find a place on board. That looks unlikely: the buzz in it circles is that he is out of the company (along with an estimated 150-200 others). Still, it's hard to ignore the fact that Thiagarajan was among the key few who oversaw the merger of the India affiliate of Asea of Sweden and Brown Boveri of Switzerland, following the creation of ABB by the merger of the two global parents in 1988. He also oversaw the merger of group company Flakt India with ABB in October 1995 and was instrumental in the hiving off of ABB's transportation business into a JV with Daimler-Benz. Now, that's the kind of expertise money can't buy.

Miss Talented

RICHA GOYAL: Learning to fly

She's all of 26, but already flying high. But that's only to be expected. As a scion of the Subhash Goyal (of STIC Group) family, Richa Goyal isn't just the Marketing Director of her family-owned travel agency, but also a 2002 winner of Pacific Asia Travel Association's (PATA) ''Faces of the Future'' award. For the first time, PATA focused on the next generation of Pacific Asia travel industry leaders, and Goyal, along with 11 others from seven nations, got spotlighted. So, just how business-savvy is Goyal? Remember Virgin Atlantic CEO Richard Branson getting off the maiden flight to Delhi wearing a turban? Apparently, that was her idea. Again, while still a grad student, Goyal made STIC (it made its fortune chartering hippies in the 70s) put the focus back on students. Says the ex-rocker (she was the lead vocalist on her college band, The Mercurials): ''I feel proud not because I won the award, but because the world recognises that India has next-generation talent in travel.'' Forget travel, she may even have a future in politics.

For The Love Of Cricket

R. SANKAR: Game for anything

If R. Sankar had his way, he'd be behind a radio mike in a commentators' box, filling up the airwaves with his take on the things that men in white flannels do on the cricket field. Instead, the 42-year-old Chennaite is busy settling into his month-old job as the Country Manager of Mercer hr in Delhi. Still, the chartered accountant-turned-consultant isn't complaining. As part of PriceWaterhouse's (his previous employer) consulting team in Jamaica (where he handled the privatisation of Air Jamaica, among others), Sankar managed to be a part-time cricket commentator on local radio stations for six long years starting 1991. Initially, Sankar would work as an expert commentator, but by 1993 he had graduated to ball-by-ball commentary. Although it wasn't all that glamorous (more often than not, Sankar's commentary box would be a mobile van), it had its moments: Like the 1994 Pakistan versus West Indies test match in Jamaica that had Sankar in the commentary box. ''I did toy with the idea of taking up a commentator's job full-time, but realised that there was no real future unless you were on TV,'' says the man, who is also fond of visiting heritage sites. Harsha Bhogle must be glad...