Page 3 - Al-Rashed Newsletter May 2020

TÊTE-A-TÊTE

INTERVIEWS WITH THE STALWARTS OF AL-RASHED
How you did you get into the Shipping Industry?
It was in 1996 that I got into this industry by initially assisting my father in his freight business. Although it was

something completely new for me since I came from a different background with Science & technology, I did start enjoying the work
and always had the urge to learn more. In 1998, I got a breakthrough with an opening in an MNC, which opened new doors for me to
earn more knowledge and experience. It has been a long 24 years’ experience, but I must say that every day is a new day & you
learn a lot of different and challenging things in our Industry.

What is the craziest thing you have done in your professional life?
If this question was asked back in 1996, the craziest thing back then would be me getting into freight business in spite of my different
stream and technology background. However, after all these years of working in this industry, I must acknowledge that we do tend to
do some crazy things in our career, and it is difficult to pinpoint and highlight one as such.

What’s your pastime activity?
Web development, graphics, mobile apps and learning latest programs are my areas of interest and I spend most of my free time on
activities related to these.

What’s your biggest achievement or most prideful moment?
I would say the biggest achievement for me and other colleagues involved and worked day/night, would be securing one of our
biggest project related to the New Refinery (Al Zour) in Kuwait, which definitely brought us forward in International market and
we managed to get into a very strong position in the market of Project Logistics. Although, we were already a well-known company
locally as well as internationally, adding our project capabilities was a new feather in our cap. Definitely, the credit goes to our CEO,
Mr. Ravi Varrier, who was quite actively involved and gave us all the support required to secure this business and supported the team
fully in terms of the operational aspects and customer satisfaction.

Tell us about one mistake that you have made during the early days of your career?
Our industry is quite different, we must deal with different kind/level of clients from different nationalities and approaches. During my
early days, I do remember that getting used to international client requirements was a big challenge. There were a lot of mistakes
I made during my early days of career, but my Superiors during that period supported and encouraged me to continue improving. The
most important lesson I learnt in my career is that no one is perfect, there will be times even when the best knowledgeable or
experienced individual will make mistakes, however, if we learn from our mistakes and ensure not to repeat same mistake in
future will definitely help us move further in the career. Teamwork is yet another important factor in our Industry, and it does make
everyone’s life easier, if we share our responsibilities and support each other in difficult moments.

Who inspires you the most ?
The list is long, goes on from my superiors in my previous company, management of past and current company, colleagues of past
and present company, our field staff, our office staff and so on. It is always good to stay positive and keep learning and getting
inspired from each one you work with or the ones working in same company but in different roles.

One thing that you really admire about Al-Rashed and one aspect that you think can be
done differently ?
The most admirable thing about Al-Rashed is the mix of different people making it such a
successful Organization and the Management coming with all their years of experience, I

cannot think there is anything much for doing things differently, however, one thing I did notice
in my early years with the Company was the lack of usage of latest technology or
tools. But, must say that we have come out of that quite well and are very much in line with
current market requirements, plus the company’s vision of future investment in such tools will
be one of our main key to remain market leaders.

Last, what message you would like to give it to your readers?
The world is going through a very tough period, which many of us might not have anticipated in
our life span, I would like to emphasize that if we keep working together, understanding and MR. RAJESH GUPTA
supporting each other in this tough period, we will definitely get over with this sooner than VICE PRESIDENT-
PROJECT LOGISTICS
expected. Most important is to follow the Health and Govt. guidelines. Wishing all readers, a
safe and healthy period for the rest of the year and years to come.

Interviewed by: Naseema Khan