"If you have faith, nothing is impossible" - Shri Krishna Rao, MD, ANL Parcel Services

Shri Ch. N. V. Krishna Rao, Managing Director of ANL Parcel Services, Chairman of AP Courier Association and Managing Partner of Sai Krishna Poultry, has experienced zenith when two images caught his eyes after performing pooja on September 30, 1999. He is a stanch devotee of Shirdi Saibaba for over 40 years, he took some time to digest the fact. He informed his close circle about this miracle on the same day; but after one year he thought it should come to light for other devotees benefit.

Mr. Rao who walked 620 kilometres to Shirdi will visit Sabarimala for the 19th time this year. He conducts annadana every Thursday at Shamirpet Saibaba temple. He says, without his better half support, he would not have reached this height in spirituality and business.

Hamarashehar’s special correspondent met Shri Krishna Rao at his residence. He is a simple man and lives in no nonsense style. He is very cordial by nature and it was a nice experience meeting a person with both business and spiritual knowledge.

Q.Let us talk about the miracle and what made you to let the society know about it after one year?

A.I did not want publicity. I have faith in God and I decided that this miracle should reach others who have similar faith. After one year, these images still exist. It has witnessed all four seasons, and Sai is still at my home.

Q.As an ardent bhakt of Shri Shiridi Saibaba, have you experienced any other miracle in your life?

A.Abundant miracles have taken place, which only I could feel. In one of my visits to Shirdi, I was praying Saibaba and questioned in my heart if you are listening to me you should confirm by giving some flower. I received marigold garland in my hand and my body became light. I don't know what happened next. There was no one around me and I was alone with Sai.

One more such miracle happened while I was walking to Shridi; a stray dog accompanied me for 25 kilometres and vanished near a small Sai temple.

Q.What made you observe the images on the plate?

A.It is a regular ritual. I put different idols in a plate & perform Abhishekam with seasonal fruit(s), sugar, honey, milk and coconut water. Then I remove the same and distribute it as Prasadam. When I was about to remove the same with my right hand my hand lost its motion and felt paralysed. Immediately I screamed for help. That is the time when my supervisor looked into the plate and observed some images. God has stopped me to witness this.

Q.You believe “God is one”. Then why concentrate on different forms?

A.Yes, God is one, but has come in different forms for different reasons. When you see the images on the plate with a magnifying glass, you can see OM, Sai Baba in a sitting posture, Lord Krishna with a Flute, Hanuman, Ganapathi, Ayappa & also a meditating man with a rat nearby. I have preserved the plate for the past one year.

Q.What business you are into?

A.I had started ANL Parcel & Courier in 1985 when courier was an alien word in AP. Venturing into something alien is risky. However, one has to take risk to explore the possibilities. Now we have a joint venture with APSRTC for the same business. By God’s grace my business is taken care of.

Q.Prior to starting courier business you were into crankshaft manufacturing. What made you to diversify?

A.We had started with Alloy Nitrides Limited. We were manufacturing nitriding crankshafts for automobiles. We explored the possibilities and found courier business as one option. There was a long felt need by trading community in general and banking community in particular in urban and rural areas for this business. We cashed upon the opportunity and stared ANL Parcel & Courier in 1985.

Q.There is so much of competition in courier industry. How do you face your competitors?

A.Competition is there in every industry. There is no fun without competition. One has to face the challenges posed by competitors. We have quality and offer good service. One can rely on us for the services. That is the reason we have a good customer network today. So we have nothing to complain as we have our own share in the market. We give best after sales service too. Indian banks association, Hyderabad chapter has approved our company for the first time in 1986. That is a great achievement with in a year time.

Q.How do you strike balance between business and spirituality?

A.I have a good force at office. I have distributed my responsibilities to my officers. They play their cards well that gives me enough time to concentrate in spiritual arena. Trust is the key word. I have complete trust on my employees and they live up to my expectations.

Q.What is your contribution to the society and message to the society?

A.I am a very simple man. I live in myself. I don’t intend to give any messages but one should meditate for strength. There is lot of evil in the society. If one can concentrate on the God, (s)he will do good. (S)he is next to us all the time. I perform Annadana every Thursday at Shamirpet Saibaba Temple for more than 900 people. I have constructed two temples and one more is coming up at Itkyal in Karimnagar District, which is my hometown. These are the few activities I am doing for the society as of today.

-- Interview by Lakshmi Mantha

Profile of ANL Parcel & Courier Services

Origin

The origin of M/s. ANL Parcel & Courier Service ways back to year 1975. Shri Ch. N. V. Krishna Rao, a technocrat, had first floated a Private Limited Company by name and Style M/s. Alloy Nitrides Limited for Nitriding Crankshafts of automobiles. Though it was a humble starting the company grew gradually step-by-step under the stewardship of Shri Ch. N. V. Krishna Rao, the Chief Promoter, and later with his lead and earnest efforts it acquired the status of a Joint Venture Company with APSRTC with 50:50 equity participation.

Diversification

As early as 1985, the company had diversified its activities and stepped into a new field of Parcel Transportation under the banner of ANL Parcel Service. It was appointed by APSRTC as their sole agent for transportation of unaccompanied luggage, parcel/packets by their buses. For the last fifteen consecutive years, the company has been the sole agent of APSRTC for transportation of Parcels and courier packets etc. by their buses. Though this diversified activity is a new concept and innovative, the company has achieved considerable success from the year one with the co-operation of APSRTC and the support of its valuable clienteles.

Shri Ch. N. V. Krishna Rao, who never remains complacent with the success always explores new channels to take up challenging tasks. Effective and efficient courier service, particularly in semi-urban/rural areas, is a long felt need of the trading community in general and Bankers in particular. Mr. Krishna Rao identifying the importance of this vital factor has launched in June 1986 the courier Division of M/s. ANL Parcel & Courier Service in a modest way.

After watching the high rated performance, 'After Sale Service', in the courier field, the Indian Banks Association (Hyderabad Chapter) has appointed ANL Parcel & Courier Service as their approved couriers first time in 1986. For the last 14 years the ANL Parcel & Courier Service has been the approved couriers of the Indian Bank's Association catering to needs of about 3500 branches of over 60 banks spreading throughout the Andhra Pradesh including rural and far-flung villages which are not connected by rail.

With the encouragement by the Banking Industry in A.P., by sheer determination, dedication, total commitment and hard work coupled with prompt and courteous services, today ANL acquired No.1 place in the courier trade in A.P., in spite of cut throat competition by the private couriers.

Today ANL is the accredited courier for several public and private sector companies and carved out a place of pride in the Transport industry of Andhra Pradesh.

Organisation

The Board of Directors of the company constitutes a Chairman and 5 Directors. The Chairman and two directors are nominated by the APSRTC. The Vice-Chairman of APSRTC functioned as chairman of the Board of Directors of company. Many eminent IPS Officers of Andhra Pradesh including Shri R. Prabhakar Rao, P. S. Ram Mohan Rao, K. Vijaya Rama Rao & J. J. Dora etc., during their tenure as Vice Chairman & Managing Directors of APSRTC have also served as chairmen of the Board of Directors of the company from time to time.