Madhu Kadam, a life-long Mahindraiite, is the Mahindra Veerta Award winner this year

Mr. Madhu Kadam [Plant Quality, Quality Assurance, Farm Division - Kandivali Plant] received the Mahindra Veerta Award 2024 from Dr Anish Shah, Group CEO & MD, Mahindra Group, at the 'Rise Awards' meet held last week. His wife Mrs Meenal Kadam and Ms. Manasi Kadam joined him for the event.

Mr Kadam received the coveted award [instituted in the memory of Mohan Redkar, a Mahindraiite who lost his life while trying to save two couples from drowning in the sea off Bandra] for his outstanding rescue and relief work in the wake of the tragic Irshalwadi landslide of July 2023, which killed over 84 people and wiped out the entire village.

Mr. Kadam, also a disaster management expert and licenced HAM operator, promptly responded to the emergency. Braving the heavy downpour, the began his journey from Mumbai and reached the site within a few hours of the incident. He established a vital wireless communication network with a base station at Khalapur and another at the incident site. Using his expertise in HAM radio communications, he established a crucial lifeline between the affected area and rescue teams, ensuring timely aid and saving numerous lives. Madhu also participated in the relief work – which even included attempts to find survivors buried in 10 – 20 ft of mud, large stones and uprooted trees.

Echo caught up with Mr. Kadam to know more about his work, his life, beliefs and personal philosophy. Read the interview here.

You couldn’t let go your dream of becoming an army man…
No, I couldn’t… Am very passionate about the work I do. So, that automatically makes me very disciplined and well-planned. I don’t do things for the heck of it… I do a few things, but I do them very well. So yes, you can always have a disciplined army man’s approach to life.

So, how does your typical workday start?
I wake up at 6.04AM every morning…

What? Why 6.04 specifically?
6.04 is a habit… It’s actually my daughter’s date of birth – 4th of July… So, I keep my wake-up alarm for 6.04… Start my day thinking for my daughter…

Aah… that’s nice. And then?
I freshen up… I pray in the morning; it’s my time with the God. I leave for office at around 7AM; reach office by 7.45 – 50. From 8 – 9AM, I plan my day… Things to be done, things to closed immediately etc… At 9AM, I start work… I also support IMS (Integrated management system) audits of three standards for all the five Farm Division five plants… So, there’s a lot of work to be done every day.

How’s it working in M&M?
You know! This is my first job… This is my 26th year at M&M – and I’ve loved every minute of my time here. I learnt a lot, worked with some of the best people in the industry, I was part of some of M&M’s biggest projects… I’ve no complaints! I tell my family, my blood group is M+ve… Mahindra Positive!

Tell us a bit about disaster management…
As a nation, we’re very low on awareness about safety and disaster management. We’re reactive – not proactive, as we should be. A simple example: our homes do not have a second exit point… our windows and balconies are grill-shut. That leaves no room for evacuation in times of an emergency – such as fire.

We never disengage our refrigerator or AC or microwave points; if you keep these plugged on for months, moisture gets into the system – ultimately leading to a short-circuit fire…

We do not alert neighbours if there’s a fire in our apartment; we try to douse the flames – but if we’re not able to kill it, we run down to call the watchman… By the time you return, the fire has spread to the neighbouring apartments or floors… Alerting the fire station – which is what you should be doing in the first place – is the last thing you do, after all your unsuccessful attempts to douse the flames.

When there’s a fire in your apartment, you must shut the windows to kill oxygen supply… You must use a wet blanket to smother the fire before it goes above waist high…

Even when we’re volunteering in times of an emergency, we’re invariably at the spot of incident. By doing so, you’re only crowding up the place, and not give enough elbowroom for experts to handle the situation… In such situations, civilians must move away from the incident and engage in activities such as traffic control. That is more helpful that acting busy at the incident spot…

Am sure you’ve been part of several such emergency situations… Aren’t you concerned about your own safety?
Yes, I’ve been a part of many emergency situations… the 2006 bomb blast, 2011 terror attack, the Chiplun flood… I was the only Indian disaster management personnel, invited by the US Government, to attend a leadership programme on ‘crisis management, preventing or responding to disasters’ in 2010…. My boss in Mahindra sanctioned a special leave for me to attend this summit [smiles]… In terms of personal safety, we take good care of ourselves and the teams we lead…

What do you do in your weekend?
That’s when I do most of my disaster awareness work… I talk to RWAs about safety and precautions they must take… I also train the Mumbai Civil Defence Team in parade activities, drill and marching…

You are licenced HAM radio enthusiast. How relevant is HAM radio in times of cell phones and messaging apps?
HAM radio comes very handy in times of a disaster – when communication lines are disrupted or blocked [by enforcement agencies]. HAM works on radio waves – making it handy for teams to communicate with each other and carry out rescue & relief work. In normal times, it’s just a hobby… we still have a few old HAM enthusiasts calling in every day and connecting with each other.

If you were to buy a Mahindra SUV, which one would that be?
I’d buy a Mahindra Scorpio… It’ll help me in my work. It’ll help me travel to distant places too – where the roads can be rugged…

What’s your favourite holiday destination?
Kashmir, Shillong, Kaziranga….

One unfulfilled wish of yours?
I’d like to do some disaster relief work under M&M or Mahindra’s name… As a company, we believe in the service of people… I’d like to lead a Mahindra team [in the name of our company] to do some good relief work.

Are you a foodie?
I eat normal stuff… Dal, roti and some salad. Am not a big fan of spicy food.

Echo sends best wishes to Madhu Kadam in all his endeavours. We are very confident Madhu will carry on his good work - one selfless act at a time.
Don't forget to watch Madhu Kadam's message here.