The Hindu: Board Room Becomes Battlefield
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Image: The New Indian Express
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s the two mighty armies lined up against each other at the Kurukshetra, and as the celestial conches, kettledrums and trumpets roared to signal the beginning of war, Arjuna was suddenly gripped by dilemma. “O Krishna,” he wailed. “It is my own cousins and uncles that stand as my enemies today. How can I derive any pleasure from attacking them? Isn’t this war a sin?” But the omniscient Lord who rode Arjuna’s chariot would have none of his pre-war jitters. He reminded him of his duty as a warrior and told him that a battle fought for a higher purpose was sinless.
Chennai’s Anna Salai a.k.a Mount Road is no battleground and the most famous address on the road — headquarters of the 132-year-old English newspaper The Hindu — no monarchy. Yet, the second floor conference room of Kasturi Buildings presented an equally acrimonious spectacle on March 20. The board meeting represented by the four fourth-generation branches of the owners’ family started innocuously enough. On the agenda was a discussion on allocation of duties. But by the time the editor-in-chief and chairman, N. Ram, was done with his decisions, a full-blown reshuffle of the power structure has been effected. Some members of the family had been stripped of their responsibility, while others had gained fresh ground. Clearly, a battle of brothers for the overall control of the Rs.800 crore newspaper empire had begun.
At the receiving end on that day was Ram’s younger brother and managing director, N. Murali, who felt he had been “kicked upstairs” with a senior managing director designation while real powers had been shifted to cousins K. Balaji and Ramesh Rangarajan. Murali left the board meeting after four and a half hours of bitter argument and later heard that his elder brother had been quick to announce the changes through the company notice board. The news spread like wild fire among the 3,500 employees of The Hindu group and Murali had to react quickly. He wrote to them saying, “any communication purportedly removing my supervisory powers and departmental responsibilities is invalid and you may please ignore such communication.”
As the media got wind of the situation, statements and counter statements flew thick and fast, making it a very public dispute. But for its millions of readers, it was too much excitement that they couldn’t associate the paper with. “The Hindu always reminds me of an old maiden lady,” Jawaharlal Nehru had remarked once.
“...Very prim and proper, who is shocked if a naughty word is used in her presence. It is eminently the paper of the bourgeois, comfortably settled in life.”
But naughty words were indeed uttered in the course of the quarrel. Murali and N. Ravi, another director, accused their brother Ram of reneging on his promise to retire upon turning 65 this May and make way for younger members of the family. Malini Parthasarathy, 50, is waiting in the wings to edit the paper that she ran as executive editor in the 1990s. The fifth generation, in their teens and early 20s, are already beginning their careers in the paper and before long, would be vying for positions of responsibility. 
In a rapidly changing business environment that demands fresh leadership, Ram should let go, say his brothers. Ram and several other directors did not respond to interview requests and questionnaires from Forbes India. At stake in this battle is the future of The Hindu. The younger generation has already expressed the need for improving corporate governance including norms for hiring family members and separating the ownership from management. Fresh competition in its strong markets — the South, especially Tamil Nadu — and a fall in advertisements have already started to tell on revenues. The group must prepare for tomorrow, by expanding on the Internet and attracting younger readers. It must also respond to increasing complains from long-time readers about editorial bias. And as a media house that has routinely subjected the establishment to scrutiny, it must answer questions its own shareholders raise about internal democracy and fairness.
THE MAN IN CHARGE: Backed by the board, N.Ram has further consolidated his position at the Hindu. Image: The New Indian Express
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Further, The Hindu's Management should learn from other newspapers as to how they are expanding instead of bickering amongst themselves. What they are teaching to the younger generation is "how to cling and wrest power from others".
Great Job done by Forbes India in bringing out such an excellent article. - Keep up the good work
