These are the most common signifiers that raise a red flag in our head if something unpleasant crosses our path. There is a generalized conception that, if we are doing a fine job at our work, then there is always the eternal sunshine, but what if any hindrance comes in our way, can we have the right frame of mind to pick ourselves up from a tight corner? Unquestionably, life is made up of incidents and accidents. These are the common statements given by people who don’t have the mettle to face the odds: I was doing good but that nagging issues have been imposed on me, I yielded to the pressure, I was cornered. External sources can try hard in blemishing our confidence and composure, but we need to face all the odds with unblemished integrity, come what may. It will be tough, it will be devastating, it will be demeaning, it will be irritable, as a person “Kamal Kishin Loungani, Founder and CMD of KIT Group I have come face to face with such situations, as I live and breathe, there is an incident that deserves a mention, it was actually a news that came in one of the leading dailies a decade ago:
‘Exporter’s fraud sends DRI on nationwide hunt’ it was a customs duty evasion perpetrated by a city exporter Shyam Tulsiram Bihani who diverted fabric and other goods imported duty-free under the Duty Exemption Entitlement Scheme (DEEC) and the Duty-Free Replenishment Scheme (DFRC) meant for re-exporting into the local market. Following the enquiry the Department of Revenue Intelligence released a conservative estimate that the total customs duty evasion is expected to cross Rs100 crore.”It would have been just another news if it was thus far but what was mentioned in the penultimate line of the news has shaken me from within. DRI has found that Bihani has imported raw material under the DEEC and instead of utilisation for re-export purposes, the goods were diverted into the local market and about five consignments of polyester fabrics were cleared duty free and sold by one Abdul Sattar, to whom power of attorney on behalf of Styale was conferred in Hyderabad and one Kamal Loungani in Mumbai”. My name was pulled into the net, despite I am being a trader who always aims to procure quality goods to meet my clients demand. Sourcing points of the raw materials won’t be on my wish list. I was shaken though, but I didn’t budge on the issue, with invigorated spirit, I surged ahead to lift my KIT Group into a USD 300 million worth enterprise acclaimed for the best business practices and integrity.
Incidents, accidents and unpleasant ifs and buts will apply breaks in our progress, but we have to defy those odds with greater conviction. Challenges will keep coming, but we have to be up for it. We have to see a challenge as an opportunity. In particularly the team leaders, business managers and the heads of our Group. As a successful group, we have come to a point, where we can rest on our laurels and continue doing things on its diurnal course and in over a period of time, the business will reach an eventual saturation. Or else we have to commit ourselves to not rest on our own laurels, break new grounds of possibility and constantly raise our own bar of excellence overcoming all the ifs and buts.