Mandar Agashe

Mandar Agashe
Official portrait, 2021
Founder, Managing Director and Vice Chairman of the Sarvatra Technologies
In office
22 June 2000 – Incumbent
Joint Managing Director of the Brihan Maharashtra Sugar Syndicate
In office
19 August 1994 – 2 August 1999
Serving with Dnyaneshwar Agashe
Succeeded byAshutosh Agashe
Personal details
Born (1969-05-24) 24 May 1969 (age 55)
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Spouse
Jiza Agashe (née Aparna Pandharkar)
​
​
(m. 1996)​
Children2
Parent(s)Dnyaneshwar Agashe (father) and Rekha Gogte (mother)
Alma materPune Institute of Computer Technology (B. E.)
Musical career
GenresPop, rock, new age, techno, retro, ghazal
Years active1994–present
LabelsSony BMG

Mandar Dnyaneshwar Agashe (IAST: Maṃdāra Jñāneśvara Āgāśe;[a] born 24 May 1969) is an Indian businessman, music director, and former musician. Best known for having founded Sarvatra Technologies in 2000.

Biography

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Early life and family: 1969 – 1991

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Agashe was born on 24 May 1969 in Mumbai, Maharashtra,[1] into an aristocratic and entrepreneurial Chitpavan brahmin family of industrialist Dnyaneshwar Agashe of the Agashe gharana of Mangdari,[4] and wife Rekha Gogte, of the Gogte gharana of Belgaum.[5]

Through his father, Agashe is a grandson of Chandrashekhar Agashe, a nephew of Panditrao Agashe and Shakuntala Karandikar, an older brother of Ashutosh and Sheetal Agashe,[6] of distant relation to Third Anglo-Maratha War general Bapu Gokhale,[7] musician Ashutosh Phatak,[8] historian Dinkar G. Kelkar, and scientist P. K. Kelkar.[9] Through his mother, he is a great-nephew of B. M. Gogte,[5] a first cousin to poet Rashmi Parekh, a descendant of the aristocratic Latey (Bhagwat) family, and of relation to Kokuyo Camlin head Dilip Dandekar, and academic Jyoti Gogte.[10]

Agashe graduated with a BE degree in software engineering from the Pune Institute of Computer Technology in 1990.[11] He has been married to Aparna Pandharkar since 1996; she adopted the name Jiza Agashe upon marriage. They have two children.[12]

Early business career: 1991 – 2008

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In 1991, Agashe was appointed to the board of directors at his grandfather's Brihan Maharashtra Sugar Syndicate,[13] going on to become the joint managing director of the syndicate in 1994, the same year he was appointed a director on his father's Suvarna Sahakari Bank.[14][15] He founded a number of companies under the Brihans Group – Brihans Pharmaceuticals, an ayurvedic medicine company in 1998,[16] and musicurry.com, an internet radio company in 1999,[17] the same year, he resigned as joint managing director of the syndicate.[18]

By December 1999, Agashe and his CEO Gautam Godse had partnered with California-based software company Questionable Ventures to develop musicurry.com,[19] and in January 2000 he invited Usha Mangeshkar to be the internet radio's creative consultant,[20] with Agashe announcing plans to upload the Mangeshkar family archives to the web service by February–March 2000.[21][22] The web service was officially launched on 13 January 2000.[23]

In April 2000, he founded Brihans Natural Products Ltd., a skincare products manufacturing company,[24] and under him launched its signature aloe vera product range in 2002.[24] In June 2000, he established Sarvatra Technologies, a company that developed banking software for Suvarna Sahakari Bank;[2][25] alongside his other financial technology companies, EBZ Online and Codito Technologies, also being founded in 2000.[24] In 2002, Agashe purchased stake in Deepak Ghaisas' I-flex Solutions, after the company agreed to partner with Codito, with Ghaisas joining the board of directors.[26]

In 2006, Agashe launched "Anywhere Money" POS terminals under his company Saravatra Technologies to praise and support from politicians such as Shankarrao Gadakh in the Government of Maharashtra.[27] By 2007, Agashe had merged the business operations of EBZ Technologies and Codito with Sarvatra Technologies and partnered with Larry Ellison at the Oracle Corporation to introduce banking software technology to rural India,[28] after the Reserve Bank of India's governor Y. V. Reddy and economist Raghuram Rajan approved the plans in January 2008.[27]

Agashe with his father Dnyaneshwar Agashe felicitating Lata Mangeshkar

Suvarna Sahakari Bank case: 2008 – 2009

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Main article: Suvarna Sahakari Bank

In November 2008, Agashe was one of the directors implicated during Suvarna Sahakari Bank's ₹4.3 billion alleged scam case.[29] His family, along with other board members of the bank, were arrested on the charges of alleged misuse of their rights to sanction loans to firms owned by themselves and then defaulting those loans, thereby duping the bank's depositors.[30] Agashe was in Germany at the time of the arrests, returning to India for his father's funeral in January 2009.[31]

Agashe was taken into judicial custody in February 2009.[32] After his father's death, Agashe was approached by former depositors of the bank for repayment of the defaulted loans.[33] In early March 2009, he was remanded to magisterial custody after his initial plea for bail was rejected. He was charged with having sanctioned forged loan proposals amounting to ₹1.13 billion.[34] Agashe was subsequently released on bail on 11 March,[35] but was kept under house arrest until the bank merger was resolved.[32] The bank was eventually dissolved and merged with the Indian Overseas Bank in May 2009.[36]

Later business career: 2009 – present

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In 2011, Agashe launched Sarvatra's POS terminals to Urban co-operative banks in the Solapur district.[37] Under Agashe's chairmanship, having previously been appointed the company's vice-chair as of 2018,[38] the company's financial switch helping 450 co-operative banks and 50 urban co-operative banks, by 2018 and by 2020 respectively, connect to India's National Electronic Funds Transfer service.[39][40]

In 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Agashe announced he would consider making half of his employees work from home post-lockdown.[41] As of 2021 and 2022, Agashe is often quoted by several publications as an expert for the banking software and financial technology sectors.[42][43]

Musical career

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Agashe with Asha Bhosle in April 2016

During his final year in college, Agashe was introduced to Hridaynath Mangeshkar, who invited him to compose music for the Shirish Atre-Pai-authored Marathi poem Khulya Khulya Re Pavasa (lit. 'Open, Open, Rain'), sung by Asha Bhosle for the Marathi movie Hey Geet Jeevanache (1995). Previously in 1994, Agashe had recorded an English rock music album in Indianapolis, citing The Beatles as a major influence.[44] In 1997, he released his first Marathi language album titled Achanak (lit. 'Suddenly').[45] In 1998, he released his first Hindi language album titled Nazar Nazar (lit. 'Look, Look').[44][46] The album was produced by Ashutosh Phatak and Dhruv Ghanekar and released in India by Sony BMG.[47]

In 2003, Agashe released a new age-techno track titled I Need Someone in Germany.[48] In 2005, he further released a double-sided album titled Two of Us featuring an album of Hindi pop music titled Jaan Le (lit. 'Know It') and an album of English rock music titled F. C. Road.[49][3]

In April 2016, he music directed a western pop album of Suresh Bhat's ghazals in Marathi with Asha Bhosle called 82. The album was titled after Bhosle's age at the time of recording. Recorded within one week, the album consisted of ghazals given to Agashe by Bhat. In a televised launch for the album, hosted by Sudhir Gadgil, Agashe and Bhosle also announced a competition for fan-made music videos to the songs on the album.[45][50][51]

In June 2021, Agashe music directed a Marathi retro music album of Suresh Bhat's poems and ghazals with Rahul Deshpande titled Theek Aahe, Chaan Aahe, Masta Aahe (lit. 'It's Okay, It's Good, It's Great'). Recorded during the COVID-19 lockdown in India, the album was produced by Vivek Paranjape and featured Aarya Ambekar, Dhanashree Deshpande-Ganatra, and Pranjali Barve as guest vocalists.[52][53][54]

Discography

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As a solo artist

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  • Achanak (1997)
  • Nazar Nazar (1998)
  • I Need Someone – Single (2003)
  • Two of Us (2005)

As music director

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Notes

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  1. ^ Agashe bears his father's name (Dnyaneshwar) as a middle name as per the patronymic Marathi naming conventions,[1] but he is widely known without his patronymic.[2][3]

References

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  1. ^ a b Agashe & Agashe 2006, p. 62, आगाशे, मंदार ज्ञानेश्वर.
  2. ^ a b "Mandar Agashe, Founder, MD and Vice Chairman, Sarvatra Technologies". SMEChannels. 2 February 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Mandar Agashe : The Man Who Brought a Revolution in the Indian Digital Payment System". Your Tech Story. 19 August 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  4. ^ Ranade 1974, pp. 59–60, 70.
  5. ^ a b Kamath, M. V. (1 January 1991). The Makings of a Millionaire: A Tribute to a Living Legend, Raosaheb B.M. Gogte, Industrialist, Philanthropist & Educationist. Mumbai: Jaico Publishing House. p. 10. Retrieved 25 August 2022 – via University of California.
  6. ^ Karandikar 1992, p. Illustration 20.
  7. ^ Pathak, Gangadhar (1978). "पिरंदावण वाडी – तळेखाजण घराणा" [The House of Pirandavan Wadi – Talekhajan]. गोखले कुलवृत्तांत [Genealogy of the Gokhale Family] (Kulavruttanta) (in Marathi) (2nd ed.). Pune: Gokhale Kulavr̥ttānta Kāryakārī Maṇdaḷa. p. 976. LCCN 81902590. Retrieved 25 August 2022 – via WorldCat.
  8. ^ Ranade, Sadashiv (1982). "जांभळी घराणा (पहिला)" [The First House of Jambli]. फाटक कुलवृत्तांत [Genealogy of the Phatak Family] (Kulavruttanta) (in Marathi) (2nd ed.). Pune: Phāṭaka Kula Samitī. p. 56. LCCN 84900881. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  9. ^ Kelkar, Bhaskar; Kelkar, Govind; Kelkar, Yashwant (1993). "कासारवेल – पुणे – धुळे घराणा" [The House of Kasarvel – Pune – Dhule]. केळकर कुलवृत्तांत [Genealogy of the Kelkar Family] (Kulavruttanta) (in Marathi) (2nd ed.). Pune: Yashoda Typesetting. pp. 82, 89. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  10. ^ "बेळगाव घराणा (दुसरे)" [The Second House of Belgaum]. गोगटे कुलवृत्तांत [Genealogy of the Gogte Family] (Kulavruttanta) (in Marathi) (2nd ed.). Mumbai: Gogaṭe Kulamaṇḍala. 2006. p. 532. LCCN 2012338796. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  11. ^ "Mandar Agashe alumni of 1990 batch, an entrepreneur, Music director and Singer". Pune Institute of Computer Technology. 14 January 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  12. ^ Agashe & Agashe 2006, p. 62.
  13. ^ Agashe, D. C. (3 October 1992). Director's Report of the Brihan Maharashtra Sugar Syndicate (Report). Pune. p. 1.
  14. ^ Company News and Notes. Vol. 36. Ministry of Commerce & Industry. 1999. p. 14 – via University of California, Berkeley.
  15. ^ Agashe, D. C. (9 August 1995). Director's Report of the Brihan Maharashtra Sugar Syndicate (Report). Pune. p. 2.
  16. ^ Company News and Notes. Vol. 37. Ministry of Commerce & Industry. 2000 – via University of California, Berkeley.
  17. ^ Business World. Ananda Bazar Patrika Limited. 2000. pp. 24, 55–56. Retrieved 9 October 2022 – via Cornell University.
  18. ^ Limaye, Y. D. (2 August 1999). Director's Report of the Brihan Maharashtra Sugar Syndicate (Report). Pune. p. 3.
  19. ^ "Curried music". The Sunday Review. TNN. 12 December 1999.
  20. ^ "Musicurry.com comes as music to the ears". The Indian Express. ENS. 14 January 2000.
  21. ^ Seshan, Sekhar (21 February 2000). "A question of music". Business India: 116.
  22. ^ Karnani, Roop (22 February 2000). "The Melody of Money". Business Today: 76–77.
  23. ^ Karim, Ahmed (13 February 2000). "Making music? Hurry to MusicCurry!". The Times of India.
  24. ^ a b c Seshan, Sekhar (5–18 January 2004). "A New High". Business India. A. H. Advani: 69–70. ISSN 0254-5268. OCLC 4525594. Retrieved 16 February 2024 – via University of Virginia.
  25. ^ "New software boon for co-op. bank clients". The Times of India. Pune. TNN. 25 July 2003. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  26. ^ "i-flex Solutions targets co-op banksnews". The Hindu. 11 January 2002.
  27. ^ a b "'एनी व्हेअर मनी' योजना देशभर राबविण्याची शिफारस : गडाख" [Recommendation to implement 'Anywhere Money' scheme across the country: Gadakh]. Pudhari (in Marathi). Nagar. 18 August 2008.
  28. ^ Madhavan, Narayanan (11 May 2007). "Larry, Mandar jam for rural banking". The Hindustan Times. New Delhi – via Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń.
  29. ^ "Agashe, others sent to judicial custody". The Times of India. Pune. TNN. 25 November 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  30. ^ "Pune coop bank in Rs 436-cr scam". Business Standard. Pune. 23 November 2008. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  31. ^ "Fugitive run ends for economic fraud and dreaded gangster". The Indian Express. Pune. ENS. 5 February 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  32. ^ a b "Mandar Agashe in police custody". Daily News & Analysis. 2 May 2009 – via National Library of Catalonia.
  33. ^ "Pay back time". Pune Mirror. 5 February 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  34. ^ "Mandar Agashe's bail plea rejected". The Times of India. Pune. TNN. 7 March 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  35. ^ "Mandar will stay with cops". Pune Mirror. 7 March 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  36. ^ "IOB posts 17 per cent rise in business". The Hindu. Chennai. 30 October 2009. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  37. ^ "पंढरपूर अर्बन बँक बहुराष्ट्रीयप्रमाणे सेवा देणार" [Pandharpur Urban Bank will provide services like a multinational]. Sakal (in Marathi). Pandharpur. 28 July 2011.
  38. ^ Mohan, Raghu (7 May 2020). "We help banks stay on the grid: Sarvatra Technologies' Mandar Agashe". Business Standard. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  39. ^ "Sarvatra Technologies brings 450th co-operative bank on National Financial Switch". Deccan Chronicle. Mumbai. 17 August 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  40. ^ "Sarvatra Technologies onboards 50 urban co-operative banks on its UPI platform". The Economic Times. New Delhi. Press Trust of India. 4 December 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  41. ^ Rebello, Maleeva (30 March 2020). "Mandar Agashe says he'll consider making 50 per cent of his team work remotely post-lockdown". The Economic Times. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  42. ^ Mali, Krishna (8 December 2021). "Sarvatra Technologies MD & Vice Chairman Mandar Agashe on RBI Monetary Policy". TechGraph. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  43. ^ Adhikari, Anand (15 September 2022). "UPI, the Made-in-India Payments System, is Rocking Not Just India, But is Making Waves Globally Too". Business Today. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  44. ^ a b Mehta, Vibha (20 November 1998). "First Person". The Indian Express. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  45. ^ a b Mathur, Barkha (21 April 2016). "Asha renders six Suresh Bhat ghazals to western tunes". The Times of India. Nagpur. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  46. ^ Kharade, Pallavi (30 April 2004). "Singing a solo tune". Pune Times. Archived from the original on 25 December 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  47. ^ Nazar Nazar by Mandar Agashe (Cassette). Mumbai: Sony BMG. 1998.
  48. ^ Contractor, Huned (14 August 2003). "Mandar to release single in Germany". The Times of India. TNN. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  49. ^ Two of Us. Pune. 2005. OCLC 1135234390. Retrieved 9 October 2022 – via WorldCat.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  50. ^ "Asha Bhosale sings Suresh Bhat gajhals for her next album "82"". Star Marathi (in Marathi and English). 12 April 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  51. ^ "Music Director Mandar Agashe Launches Asha Bhosle's "82" Pop Album". Marathi Cineyug (in Marathi). 13 April 2016.
  52. ^ "लॉकडाऊनमध्ये साकारला म्युझिक अल्बम" [A music album made in lockdown]. Kesari (in Marathi). 5 June 2021.
  53. ^ Parchure, Ajay (28 June 2021). "'ठीक आहे छान आहे मस्त आहे' म्युझिक अल्बमचे ऑनलाइन कार्यक्रमात प्रकाशन" [Release of 'Theek Aahe, Chaan Aahe, Masta Aahe' Music Album in Online Event]. Mumbai Tak (in Marathi). Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  54. ^ "सुरेश भट यांच्या कवितांचा म्युझिक अल्बम 'ठीक आहे छान आहे मस्त आहे' झाला प्रकाशित!" [The music album of Suresh Bhat's poems 'Theek Aahe, Chaan Aahe, Masta Aahe' has been released!]. ETV Bharat (in Marathi). 2 July 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2022.

Bibliography

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