Sunday 11 August 2024

Part Sherlock Holmes. Part Columbus

This is what I enjoy about my work- the fun of discovering new things and the joy of connecting them.


While glancing through the latest annual report of HDFC Bank , among the many photographs out there, I curiously stopped at this one. 'Jal Minar' provides drinking water to the rural population of a village. Nice name. Jal Minar like Qutub Minar


HDFC Bank has joined hands with Sehgal Foundation to install this. 
I became curious about the Sehgal Foundation. Who set it up ? What does it do ?

Sehgal Foundation was set up by Dr Surinder (Suri) Sehgal and Dr Edda Sehgal to improve the quality of life of the rural communities in India.

Dr Suri Sehgal and Dr Edda Sehgal are crop scientists and experts on hybrid seeds. They set up Proagro group (seeds company) which was later acquired by Bayer. They decided to use their wealth for philanthropy and set up the Sehgal Foundation.
Don't forget to watch the story of Dr Suri Sehgal The American Story

The foundation's website looks pretty comprehensive and in the spirit of transparency, a host of information is available on the website including audited financials going back many years. Curiously, I checked a few of them and found the name Lady Bamford Charitable Trust as one of the donors. This name sounded a little unusual and I further checked about this name.

This trust has been set up by Lady Carole Bamford. She is married to Lord Anthony Bamford who is the owner of a heavy equipment manufacturing company.


The name of the company is J C Bamford Excavators Limited or simply JCB. Oh, JCB I have heard and seen it all the time.

I didn't know that B in JCB stands for Bamford.



HDFC Bank > Sehgal Foundation > Lady Bamford > JCB
As I said, Business analysis is part Sherlock Holmes, part Columbus and a lot in between.

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