Bengaluru: Ratnakar Sanjeev Shetty is currently the Chairman and Managing Director of RJ Builders, headquartered in Bengaluru. The over three-decade-old company has the unique distinction of having built more than Three Million square feet across 40 projects and intends to expand further with Ten Million square feet in pockets of South India. Karan Shetty, an architect by profession and son of Ratnakar Shetty, is the CEO of RJ Builders.
RJ Lake Gardenia, a 27-storied apartment project in KR Puram: RJ Builders, over a period of time, has developed expertise in multiple spheres, including residential, commercial, hospitals, hospitality, interior and IT Parks. Recently, RJ Builders completed RJ Lake Gardenia, a 27-storied apartment project in KR Puram, Bengaluru. There is a swimming pool from the 20th to the 26th floor. Karan Shetty did one of the costliest building designs, while the structural engineering was taken care of by Kamal Hadkar of Sterling Engineering Consultancy Services, which also took care of Mukesh Ambani's 27-storied residential complex Antilia.
The skill sets of the construction business are hereditary with Ratnakar Shetty: It looks like the skill sets of the construction business are hereditary with Ratnakar Shetty, thanks to Narayan Shetty, elder brother of Ratnakar Shetty's father Sanjeev Shetty. Narayan Shetty was a legendary personality in the state's construction industry with a series of amazing mega projects to his credit. Sanjeev Shetty, father of Ratnakar Shetty, was also a founding partner of the Shankarnarayan Constructions company, which was floated by Narayan Shetty to plunge into big business.
Mechanical Head of Chakra Company: After completing a mechanical degree from the BV Bhoomraddi College of Engineering at Hubballi in 1984, Ratnakar Shetty joined his father's Chakra Company as a Mechanical Head. There were 200 Tippers and Dumpers, and he had to repair the troublesome ones the whole night so that they were ready for operation by 05.30 AM the next day, which was a very good experience in learning.
Barter system for daily needs: Ratnakar Shetty hails from Shankarnarayan, a small village in Kundapur Taluk of Udupi district. His father Sanjeev Shetty owned agricultural land, and the family depended mainly on farming. When Ratnakar was a kid, the barter system was the norm, as they boasted a huge stock of Paddy bags. So, Paddy used to be given in exchange for fish, groceries, or whatever items were needed for daily use. In a way, it was like a true royal rural life those days. The kids studied in a state government-run Kannada-medium school.
Into the contractor's business, way back from 1955! It was a period in the mid-fifties of the previous century. Narayan Shetty, the elder brother of Ratnakar Shetty's father, Sanjeev Shetty, was a completely different personality. He was into the contractor's business, way back from 1955! Narayan Shetty used to take 10-20 labourers from the village to Sirsi, in the neighbouring North Canara district, to work on areca plantations for the wealthy Havyaka Brahmin landlords.
Take advance and disappear! However, it was not an easy task because workers would often take advance payments and disappear, while the onus of tracing them fell on Ratnakar's father, Sanjeev Shetty. His father was a tough, disciplined guy who would track them down and send them back to complete the work!
A visionary workaholic: Narayan Shetty, in fact, was literally a farsighted visionary workaholic, thinking much ahead of his times and never staying back at home, but was always on the move with labourers to finish the contract work. He was known for leading a team of workers to accomplish the assigned tasks on time! No doubt, he was paid for the job and the agreed-upon wages were disbursed among the workforce; it wasn't always a profitable venture. He underwent losses many a time, and interestingly, such an adverse experience was no setback for him to plunge further. Be it profit or loss, he always kept adventuring in getting tasks done.
Walked forty kilometres back to the village: Once, the loss was a deadly blow, as both Narayan Shetty and his younger brother Sanjeev Shetty were forced to walk forty kilometres to return to their native village. Ratnakar's Dad Sanjeev Shetty was equally a hardworking person, going to the farms as early as 05 am, doing what all needed to be done, and later engaging in other forms of work. But not Narayan Shetty; he was adamant about doing what he believed in.
Dug a huge pit for the Sharavathi Dam! Narayan Shetty, a six-foot-tall, fair, handsome, but tough guy, went to Shivamogga, where several Engineers from Bengaluru in ties were found in a perplexed mood. They sought the help of the former to dig a huge pit for the Sharavathi Dam, and the same excavation was astonishingly done at unimaginable speed, much to the astonishment of the city-based officials. If he was told to complete the job within a week, he used to get it done within 4-5 days!
Trunk loads of currency! Bengaluru Engineers were very happy at the Herculean speed of Narayan Shetty and assigned him to clear the trees before the proposed dam, as the area would be submerged and had to make way for the smooth flow of water. For Narayan Shetty, it was no work at all, and he did the job in no time, much to the shock of the bureaucrats, and they were all terrifically impressed. Both these assignments also brought in several gunny bag loads of money to Narayan Shetty, and Bank staff used to rush to his house to fetch the amount in trunks!
Engineers suggested bidding for the earthen dam! The Engineers entrusted with building the Sharavathi dam were taken aback at the unbelievable speed with which Narayan Shetty ensured the assigned tasks and were more moved by his commitment to the work. They suggested that he bid for building the trial pits for the earthen dam, for which M S Ramaiah would anyway be bidding. Initially, Narayan Shetty was reluctant to submit, insisting that he was neither qualified nor an engineer, but he later consented.
One contract yields Rs 50 lakhs! Narayan Shetty submitted the tender form, which was also qualified, paving the way for the contract alongside M S Ramaiah. That one single work fetched him a profit of Rs 50 lakhs during 1963, and there was no looking back further.
Hidkal Dam, Malaprabha Dam... Narayan Shetty suggested his younger brother Sanjeev Shetty become a partner, to which the latter agreed. In this way, they floated the Shankar arayan construction company and started bidding for several prestigious projects in the state. Together, the brothers bagged the contracts and built the huge Hidkal Dam, Malaprabha Dam, Ghataprabha Dam, Kali Dam, Katkol Canal tunnel, Panchet Dam, a well-known tourist spot and engineering marvel near West Bengal/Jharkhand, Shankaranarayan Building on MG Road in Bengaluru, which housed the Passport and LIC offices, to name a few of his milestone projects.
From village school to Baldwin Boys' School! All of a sudden, Narayan Shetty decided that all children should have the best of education and his and his brother's sons should be educated in Bengaluru. In this way, Ratnakar Shetty, who was about to go to the second standard in Shankaranarayana Kannada-medium government school, was suddenly sent to Bengaluru and was admitted to the first standard in Baldwin Boys' School! As a result, Ratnakar Shetty became the senior-most classmate in the first standard class! Ratnakar continued in the same Baldwin Boys' School for 10 years, upto the 10th standard.
Narayana Hrudayalaya, Narayana Netralaya: Ratnakar Shetty recalls, "Thanks to Narayan Shetty Doddappa, who never discriminated between his and his younger brother's sons, all the siblings and cousins received the best of education. We are ever indebted to him for his generosity and large-heartedness. It was also the vision of Narayan Shetty Doddappa, which led to the formation of Narayana Hrudayalaya and Narayana Netralaya".
Illustrious sons-in-law: Dr Devi Prasad Shetty, internationally renowned cardiac surgeon, is one son-in-law of Narayan Shetty, while H S Ballal, Chairman and MD of Manipal Group of Hospitals for the whole country, is another son-in-law.
An overdose of red marks in the progress card! Ratnakar Shetty jovially recollects his good old school days at the Baldwin Boys School in Bengaluru, "Although two hours in the morning and one hour in the evening were meant for studies in the hostel, I was more immersed in sports and more so in playing cricket. While all others were busy with their books, other friends and I were overbusy in preparing the score book for the match during the weekend. So, the marks card was overdozed with any number of red ink marks...
...A bashing session back home: So, whenever we went home during Christmas and Summer holidays, it turned out to be a bashing session for me. My elder brother Bhujang Shetty was a very intelligent chap, and his scores in studies were always at the peak of North, while mine were at the bottom of South! So, without even asking anything, my Dad used to beat me, left and right. Then I used to put forth a brave face by promising to do well in the subsequent exams and study seriously for quite some time on returning. But it used to be only a short-lived glory, as the personal memory of being thrashed by Dad was too short...
...Taught teamwork and leadership: The whole week was dedicated to the madness of playing cricket during weekends. Apart from preparing the score books during the weekdays and teams on Saturdays, a hunt was also on to search for the bat! In a way, such activities also taught the qualities of teamwork and leadership...
...A biggest world record of sorts! To maintain a distance from books and studies, I set a world record of sorts by failing the ICSC examinations, thereby earning the dubious distinction of being the only person in the Shettys' family to do so. While having written the exams only, I had a doubt, but felt that probably I may pass...
...Being a sportsman helped to dodge the beatings! My father got a call from his elder brother, Narayan Shetty, informing about his son Manohar, who was studying at Bishop Cottons School, had passed, and me having failed. Then my father, who was in his tile factory, gave a call to my mother inquiring about my whereabouts. He came and started beating me...perhaps being a sportsperson helped me dodge his beatings, running around the house; yet 10 per cent of them were not missable...
...Thanks to Nagayya Shetty Uncle, shifted to Dharwad: Nagayya Shetty, my another uncle had then shifted to Dharwad to oversee the construction works of the Hidkal Dam. I don't know as to what struck him; he immediately suggested that I move to Dharwad for appearing in the SSLC examinations as a correspondence student. I had never visited nor had dreamt of being in Dharwad...
...82 per cent marks: I joined Prof Walvekar's Tution classes in the morning at Dharwad and cleared the 10th standard with 82 per cent marks, which meant I had talent, but was lazy in studying. Later, joined the Karnataka Science College. Thanks to my Mathematics tuition teacher, Gudigudi Sir in Narayanpur locality, he infused a positive mindset in me. He was an excellent psychologist; more than the tuition, he used to make me think positively; pooh poohed the so-called formula, claiming it to be nothing.
God is great: Ratnakar Shetty signs off by concluding, "No doubt, all the hard-earned credibility and goodwill built over three decades went for a toss during the COVID-19 pandemic due to huge pending payments for the 27-storied 150+ crores apartment building project. Thanks to God, fortunately everything went well at the end of the day; everyone connected to us is happy"
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