They are as different as birds and bats.
\nPeek at their plates at any family function and you\u2019ll know. She helps herself to rice, fish curry and gajar ka halwa; he prefers bread, boiled vegetables, grilled fish and cheesecake.
\nRoopa Kudva, managing director and chief executive officer of India\u2019s biggest rating agency, Crisil Ltd, is the antithesis of Vivek Kudva, managing director, India and CEEMEA, of Franklin Templeton Asset Management (India) Pvt Ltd. Yet, they have enjoyed each other\u2019s company for 27 years.
\nTheir romance, which blossomed at the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A), was not a Mills & Boon one. Roopa Phene, one of the 18 girls among 200-odd in the 1986 batch at IIM-A, found Vivek, a distant relation of K.V. Kamath, \u201ccalm, composed, kind, and always supportive\u2014willing to teach all\u201d.
\nphoto
\nUnlike Roopa, a 21-year-old graduate from Guwahati\u2019s Cotton College, 25-year-old Vivek was worldly wise\u2014an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) graduate with a three-year stint at Schlumberger, an oilfield services company in Australia. He found Roopa \u201csimple and determined\u201d.
\nRoopa liked the \u201calways smiling\u201d Vivek but it bothered her that he was four years her senior\u2014too old to be her husband. Nevertheless, they decided they would get married once out of IIM-A. In fact, her brother and two cousins landed up at the campus and, in front of others, addressed a hugely embarrassed Vivek as \u201cjijaji\u201d, even touching his feet before he knew what was happening (this brother got into IIM-A four years later and fell in love with a batchmate whom he eventually married. Roopa\u2019s parents now call IIM the Indian Institute of Matrimony!).
\n“A DEMOCRACY OF TWO: Roopa: In the end, Vivek\u2019s decision prevails. Vivek: No, hers does.”
\nThe most romantic aspect of their relationship is that Roopa\u2014aggressive and impatient\u2014has followed her husband around rather than staying put for her career. She quit her first job at the erstwhile Industrial Development Bank of India and joined Crisil to be in Bangalore, where Vivek was transferred when he was working for The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. Ltd. She took transfers to Delhi and Mumbai to be with Vivek. After heading HSBC\u2019s consumer division in Mumbai, Vivek joined National Bank of Oman in Muscat in 2004. Roopa would catch a flight at least one Thursday a month to be with him for the weekend (Friday is a holiday in Muscat). Once the flight landed, she would message Vivek, and by the time she got out of the airport, in 18 minutes flat, Vivek would have driven to the arrival gate to pick her up. When she was on a secondment with Standard & Poor\u2019s (S&P) in Paris, Vivek used to fly down every fortnight.
\n“WIDE ANGLE, SHARP FOCUS: Roopa takes care of the personal aspects. For instance, she takes care of the health and education of the two daughters of their maid, who lives with them. Vivek looks after the commercial aspects, such as paying salaries to the household help, bills, etc. He takes the investment decisions. Roopa decides on breakfast and dinner but Vivek will have to call the plumber if the geyser is not working. Roopa is a micromanager; Vivek delegates\u2014both at office and home. ”
\nIn 2006, when Vivek joined Franklin Templeton, it had Rs.20,000 crore assets under management in India. Today, that figure is Rs.43,000 crore. Vivek now oversees assets worth $28 billion (around Rs.1.5 trillion) across India, Israel, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Greece and other countries. Besides heading Crisil, Roopa is also the region head, South Asia, at S&P\u2019s, the majority owner of the rater. Since Roopa took over as CEO, Crisil\u2019s revenue and profits have grown an average 30% every year and the stock price has nearly trebled.
\n“CROSS-CURRENTS: Not many\u2014most of Vivek\u2019s buddies are Roopa\u2019s friends and vice versa. ”
\nTheir approach to work is radically different. Vivek is soft-spoken; he speaks to everybody with a smile. Roopa, many in Crisil say, runs a terror regime. Her first reaction to any note that comes to her is typically not approved till the fourth or fifth draft. Her passion for perfection verges on obsession. Vivek, in contrast, seems a bindaas guy who might alter a draft himself but will always make his colleague feel important. Vivek instils a sense of ownership, Roopa takes on ownership herself.
\n“DO NOT OPEN: They fight on where to eat but ultimately end up trying out every place. Ditto about films\u2014they see all the films that get good reviews. Incidentally, Vivek hated sushi till Roopa convinced him to try it; now he enjoys it.”
\nAt home, Vivek occasionally urges Roopa to switch off. He balances work with life\u2014golf is a must every Saturday and once a year, he takes an overseas golfing trip with buddies; he plays competitive bridge and has been running half marathons for six years. When at home (he travels at least 100 days a year), he loves to play Sudoku, the evil ones. Roopa prefers to read. Both catch films (always night shows), love eating out and travelling.
\nVivek earns more than Roopa but she has a higher public profile. \u201cFranklin Templeton is a private company. Hers is a listed firm. She needs to be in the public glare,\u201d Vivek says with his disarming smile. They both give each other enough space, don\u2019t talk shop at home and can spend hours together without talking, just looking at each other and the Arabian Sea from their home on the Worli seafront.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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