Karnataka - Bangalore

His talents flowered after retirement

Eighty-year-old Rajeeva Lochanam tells M. Raghava that designing clocks and pursuing literary interests keep him going.

The best part of octogenarian K.N. Rajeeva Lochanam's life has been the one after his days in office.

It is only natural that a man who worked in Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) and Bifora India and spent most part of his service working with clocks has continued to explore his interests.

Mr. Lochanam has designed two wall clocks, one with Kannada numerals and another, "world clock". Designed and marketed by him, the clocks have been purchased by schools, colleges, literary institutions, and private companies. His world clock has even won appreciation from the Guinness Book of World Records.

However, Mr. Lochanam's activities do not stop here. He uses his spare time between designing clocks and enriching his literary interests in Kannada, Sanskrit and Hindi. He has written several novels and short stories in Kannada. "My philosophy is to keep the mind involved in various activities, which I could when I was working. When I keep my mind active, it reflects on my health," says Mr. Lochanam.

An engineering graduate from B.M.S College Bangalore, Mr. Lochanam worked in HMT as Controller of Purchase between 1955 and 1972.

He then joined C.P. Tools in Mumbai where he worked for five years as Manager (Production and Planning). He worked for five years as Additional General Manager of Scooter India, Lucknow.

He also worked as General Manager in Mopeds India for two years and retired from Bifora India as Executive Director in 1990 at the age of 64. "It was during my days in Bifora India that I learnt about designing clocks. I used to sit with employees to understand the art of assembling clocks," he says.

Three months after his retirement he thought of designing a clock with Kannada numerals.

Mr. Lochanam has sold over 6,000 Kannada clocks and one of which finds its place at the Kannada Sahitya Parishat office.

Mr. Lochanam's world clock, designed in 1992, has an 18-inch diameter central dial showing Indian time and 12 small arranged sequentially from east to west to show the time in Eastern, European and American countries. While the clock at the centre has a blue coloured dial, the rest have red, green and black dials.

The uniqueness of this quartz clock is that it is made of fibreglass, which, according to Mr. Lochanam, suits any décor.

It is only through word of mouth that 750 world clocks have been sold, he says.

Mr. Lochanam says that he will continue with his work to create innovative products. "I will make optimum use of my remaining life," he says. Mr. Lochanam can be contacted at 26636690.

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