Sulajja Firodia Motwani, Joint Managing Director, Kinetic Engineering

Mama has to go to work so that she can bring money to put in your piggybank,'' Sulajja Firodia Motwani enlightens her three-year-old son, Sidhant. That does the trick. Sidhant is thrilled by the prospect of embarking on a shopping spree in the evening with his mother. The piggybank is Sidhant's pride and treasure and he goes about boasting of the many coins his mother has earned for him to his friends at playschool. Sulajja never forgets to put a coin in the piggybank everyday. And, once a week, mother and son get together to splurge all that money. Today will be one such day. Whilst having breakfast, the duo decide to buy puzzles with all that hard-earned money.

Whether she's planning a day out with Sidhant, or test-riding a scooter, or negotiating an advertising deal with a TV channel, or visiting a dealership, or sewing up an alliance, the Joint Managing Director, Kinetic Engineering-flagship of the Rs 1,100-crore Kinetic group-usually has it all figured out, the 12-hour daily work schedules and frequent touring notwithstanding. In her own words, she's "hyperactive and imbalanced". A combination of those traits may not be enough to take most mortals too far towards fortune, fame and smiling shareholders (in fact it could lead to disastrous consequences) but for Sulajja-and for Kinetic-it's worked like a charm because going against the grain is just what was needed at this hitherto-conservative business group. Slowly but effectively, Sulajja helped Kinetic break away from old patterns by looking at the operations through a fresh pair of lens.

If it wasn't for Sulajja, the Kinetic group would have probably vanished from the Indian business canvas. She hopped on board seven years back when the Firodias were making Kinetic Honda scooters in a joint venture collaboration with Honda Motor Company of Japan. Kinetic Engineering was turning out mopeds under the brand name Luna. The JV, Kinetic Honda Motor, wasn't exactly going places, and the Firodias soon realised that Honda wasn't in a tearing hurry to dole out new products and technology. A break-up was inevitable. The question, though, was who would buy out whom?

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK

Enter Sulajja, who felt it made sense for the family to buy out the Japanese. Father Arun H. Firodia agreed, and by December 1998, Kinetic was on its own. ''Selling off our stake to Honda would have meant the death of the Kinetic brand. We would have had to bid goodbye to our image, our plant and the entire network. It would have been like starting from scratch,'' shrugs Sulajja, who revels in being "the catalyst in the break-up with Honda. When I joined the company, I was touring around the country 20-25 days in a month and meeting various dealers. Numbers showed that mopeds and scooters were a declining market. And in the long run, it wasn't wise to remain in just mopeds and scooters. Luna was no longer an aspirational product.''

The Honda buyout may have been a success, but Kinetic now had to get its act together in a market that was quickly moving towards motorcycles, a segment totally alien to the Firodias. The mopeds pie was shrinking, and as Sulajja points out: ''Had we remained in mopeds, the group would have died in two years.'' Her name translates into "beautifully shy," but don't let that-along with her petite frame-deceive you. It sure has fooled plenty in the past. "My body frame probably draws low expectations from others," she quips.

To be sure, when Sulajja stepped into Kinetic, few could have foreseen the company not just surviving without Honda, but diversifying handsomely into six new areas over six years. Besides manufacturing scooters, motorcycles and mopeds, the group is into direct sales, finance and insurance, auto components, designing for automobiles, distribution of financed products, and auto parking systems. Sulajja's vision for Kinetic is three-pronged. ''To find and grow niches suitable for Kinetic. Build a group size through entry into related new businesses. And take the Kinetic group global."

That calls for tonnes of hard work, by any yardstick. And she's willing to put in that extra ounce. "I work too hard, I party too hard.'' She isn't kidding. Last fortnight she partied so hard till it hurt-Joint Managing Director (JMD, as she is popularly known on the Kinetic campus) was laid up in hospital the following day. By Monday, though, she was back on her feet, in Mumbai for BT's cover shoot. ''With Sulajja, there is never a dull moment in my life,'' is how husband, Manish Motwani, prefers to put it.

There have been few dreary moments in the wife's life, for good measure too. After doing her MBA from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA, Sulajja worked for a financial portfolio management company-BARRA-based in Berkeley, California for four years, between 1992 and 1996. By 23, she was Senior Consultant at the firm. By 1997, she was in India, opening up BARRA's offices. There was a time when she was working for both BARRA and Kinetic. When she made the whole-time move to Kinetic, BARRA shifted office to Hong Kong.

A DAY IN THE HIGH LIFE

Sulajja's day begins around 6 am. After spending some time with her son, she heads to the right wing of her twin-bungalow in Pune's Abhimanshree Society on Pashan Road, which she has converted into a gym. The pad was built for two Japanese directors of the erstwhile Kinetic Honda Motor. After coming back from the US, a married Sulajja decided to stay in this twin bungalow with her husband. She exercises for an hour and then gets ready to go to work. But before that she makes it a point to make an egg for Sidhant's breakfast. If he doesn't find an egg made by his mother on the dining table, the three-year-old prefers to skip the meal. That's by and large Sulajja's only tryst with the kitchen.

SHE'S HOT & HOW

For choosing to buy out Honda and showing the world that Indian companies can survive without a foreign hand For getting an inward-looking, family business to think global For diversifying the businesses of the Kinetic group into areas like motorcycles, finance, insurance, auto design, direct selling, and auto parking

She then leaves for Pimpri-Chinchwad-an industrial town on the outskirts of Pune-where the Kinetic Finance Ltd (KFL) and Kinetic Engineering Ltd (KEL) offices are located. Nowadays, she mostly spends the first half at KFL. The company has entered into a joint venture with Citibank. ''NBFCs get funds at a higher rate. On its own KFL would not have been viable in the long run. Through this JV, Citibank is taking care of all the funding needs.'' KFL has started a scheme whereby Kinetic offers Rs 2,004 more than the market price of an old motorcycle for customers who want to exchange old bikes for a Kinetic Velocity (KEL's new 100cc motorcycle).

Another new business close to her heart is Kinetic Marketing Services Ltd (KMSL), started five years back as an experiment. Through KMSL, Kinetic sells vehicles (especially mopeds) directly to the customers. ''It was doing very well. So we spun it off as a separate company in 1999. It now sells 2,000 vehicles per month from some 50 locations.''

Sulajja now wants to take the idea forward. She is close to finalising a deal with a leading consumer durables firm whereby KMSL will sell microwave ovens, water purifiers, generators, and inverters through its network. ''We want to expand to 100 locations and sell the vehicles in 4,000.'' According to Sulajja, KMSL today is the second-largest direct selling company after Eureka Forbes. It posted a turnover of around Rs 100 crore last year.

Around 1.30 pm, Sulajja leaves KFL for a quick visit to a dealership in Pimpri-Chinchwad. She is removing mopeds from Kinetic showrooms. All Kinetic showrooms would now be under a new format. The project is known as ''showrooms of the future''. Sulajja wants separate showrooms for mopeds. ''In the midst of Aquilla motorcycles and Italjet scooters, mopeds are a misfit,'' she says. The moped showrooms would be located in smaller areas, targeting artisans, vendors and people working in small shops and the like.

It's not as if Sulajja is ignoring the moped segment. In fact, she wants to inject some excitement into it. The company recently soft-launched a 100-cc scooterette, King, which has the engine of a four-stroke bike, but the body of a moped. Sulajja hopes to sell around 3,000 units of King every month. Kinetic is also gearing up for the launch of a new version of Nova, a 113.5-cc scooter.

The high-octane enthusiasm though is clearly reserved for the bikes. Like Aquilla, a high-powered hot rod brought into India through Kinetic's technical agreement with Hyosoung of South Korea. Aquilla was introduced as a limited edition motorcycle last year. The company sold 300 motorcycles through this scheme. Kinetic now wants to take Hyosoung's Aquilla bikes to the US and Europe. Scooters, from Italjet of Italy, too will get a look-in. Kinetic will manufacture seven state-of-the-art scooters for Italjet and export them to world markets. Kinetic is free to launch these scooters in India as well and Sulajja wants to take two Italjet scooters to the domestic market this year. ''The agreement with Italjet gives us a one-time access to the Italian scooter manufacturer's world-class, contemporary portfolio. New models generally take 18 to 20 months and an investment of at least Rs 20 crore. So we save on time and money.''

Whilst Italjet will also help Kinetic strengthen its presence in Europe, Sulajja is also keen on expanding in South East Asia, to which she will soon begin exports of scooters and motorcycles. ''As per an agreement with Honda, we were not allowed to export to these markets. But now, we shall begin exports of scooters and motorcycles to South East Asian countries.''

Sulajja is keen on expanding in South East Asia, to which she will soon begin exports of scooters and motorcycles

It's 2 pm, and time to grab a bite. A quick one. Sulajja prefers vegetarian food. Her favourite restaurant in Chinchwad, Mayur, serves Gujarati food. "I gain weight very fast, unlike my younger sister Vismaya. So I prefer a low-calorie diet."

The latter half of Sulajja's day is spent at Kinetic Engineering Ltd. She wants Kinetic Velocity advertisements to feature during the Indo-Pakistan cricket series. On her way to KEL, Sulajja gets busy negotiating with TEN Sports. Kinetic would be introducing a new advertisement for Velocity during the cricket series.

YOUNG BLOOD

One of the key changes Sulajja's made at Kinetic is to induct a host of young people into KEL, since 1998. And it's not only the family siblings, sister Vismaya (28), VP (Corporate Affairs), and brother Ajinkya (23), General Manager (Marketing), who've been roped in. Over the past five years, the JMD has brought many young professionals onboard. More than 50 per cent of the senior officials at KEL are below 40. "After my entry into Kinetic, the average age in the group came down by around 10 years." It doesn't end there. She's also added six professional directors to the boards of all Kinetic companies, and over six years has pulled in 200 new dealers, taking the total strength to 450.

"The timing of her arrival was perfect," says M. K. Khera, with whom Sulajja shares the JMD designation. Both Khera and Sulajja joined the company around the same time. "Kinetic needed a youthful face. And she knows what the younger, modern customer wants," adds Khera, who is 20 years her senior. Adds Ajay Raina, coo and Director, Kinetic Finance Ltd. "She has the sensitivity of a woman and the authority of a boss."

Sulajja has a few unusual rules for her staff. No one should call her madam or Sulajjaji or Mrs Motwani ("that makes me feel very fat"). JMD will do just fine. No one should come to the airport with bouquets to greet her. And no one should stand up when she walks in. The exception, of course, is her kid brother Ajinkya, who can't help but refer to her as Sulajja didi. "Ajinkya is very sharp and practical. I am grooming him to be the CEO," she adds.

At 4.30 pm, Sulajja strolls into KEL's R&D centre. It's time to test the Italjet scooters and a Hyosoung motorcycle. She hops on to a 250-cc scooter and races it over a bumpy patch. She's done it many times before. "My mother-in-law once told me that she is surprised that I am alive." She's broken her arms thrice, got knocked on the head once, and had to spend eight weeks on crutches in the US back in 1992 when she managed to get her leg burnt by the silencer of a friend's Ducati. The good part about that last mishap is that's when she met Manish. They tied the knot in 1993. "I have always done more of guy things (with reference to the biking, not marriage)." She also does a bit of scuba diving, rollerblading, and mountain biking.

Sulajja's move to induct young professionals has paid off. The group's average age has come down by around 10 years

Unsurprisingly Sulajja's role model is her grandfather, the late H.K. Firodia. "He knew that I have the vigour and enthusiasm to take his business forward." He died of cancer three days after Sulajja came back from the US to India. "The Rs 1-lakh car was my grandfather's dream project," she says. Sulajja wanted to make that dream a reality. But the high excise duty made it difficult for Kinetic to launch the car at that price. "We parleyed with the governments at that time-the (I.K.) Gujral and Deve Gowda. But it didn't work out."

Today, even though the excise duty is down to 15 per cent, "it makes little sense to launch a car at that price." According to Sulajja, the Honda JV (at that time) had left little opportunity for growth for the group. "Today the circumstances have changed. It would not be wise to enter the car market. But if someone else is making a Rs 1-lakh car, we would be only too happy to be associated with that project. We plan to supply some critical components for Tatas' Rs 1 lakh small car."

Sulajja invariably takes work home. And if she is having dinner at her parents' place, all family members end up talking shop. "It's easy to be a working wife. But it's very difficult to be a working mother. If I am away for three days in a row, Sidhant gets very low. So I do all I can to make my trips shorter and be home with my son. I work overtime, take two to three flights in a day, just to be back home with him," she adds.

It's 9 pm and Sulajja's calls it a day at work. But there's one important task on the to-do list that's still unfinished: She's got to spend time with Sidhant before he dozes off. She couldn't find the time to take him shopping. Luckily, Sidhant has forgotten all about the puzzles. He is busy with his gun. His maid does not know how to load the gun. He was eagerly waiting for his mother to get home. Sulajja loads the gun. Sidhant is all smiles. After all, mother knows best, not just about domestic bliss but also about marketplace blitzes.