We hope to feature some of the people in our organisation, who have significant roles to play, who work diligently from behind the scenes, but are important cogs in the wheels of the company. Here is the first in the series.
He was originally a computer programmer (from NIIT) who became a Chartered Accountant (Indian CPA). He worked with diverse industries like management audits and investigations, media, and manpower services. He joined the Travel Corporation India, and post-acquisition, took a transfer to Treasury. He had a stint in Business Travel – commercial and credit, but made a comeback to Treasury + foreign exchange.
He is Amit Baraskar, Vice President & Head – Treasury, a man of many talents and many skills!
For the last few years, Amit has been heading Treasury at the Thomas Cook India Group in various capacities which entail:
- Handling end-to-end treasury for India and Mauritius (TCIM) companies of the group.
- Being a treasury support for the rest of the companies spread across 28 countries and 5 continents, supporting the entities on their funding requirements as well as those relating to cash management, cash flow management and other banking products.
- Heading the Foreign Exchange Dealing Room Back Office and Mid Office, handling 9 currencies and bank accounts operated out of 8 countries and 4 continents, and the transactions therein.
Amit attributes his success in his work to two heavyweight mentors on the team – Mahesh Iyer, the CEO, and Debasis Nandy, the Group CFO.
He also acknowledges that he is backed by 2 strong teams :
The Dealing Room BO/ MO team which made Thomas Cook India the ‘highly commendable winner’ of the ‘Best SWIFT solution across Asia’, at the Adam Smith awards by Treasury Today Asia in 2017.
The Treasury team which made Thomas Cook India win the ‘Best Cash Management India’ award at the ASSET awards Hongkong in 2018.
Winner of a host of awards at Thomas Cook, and previous organisations, Amit not only shines at work, but has been involved in several extra-curricular activities, as one can see from the long list below!
Treasury writer and speaker – Amit has written various articles for Treasury Today Asia magazine on technology, liquidity, mentoring, etc.
He was elected as one of the 12 judges (only 3 indian judges) from Asia for Corporate Treasurer Hongkong’s CT awards 2022, to recognise the ‘best of the best’ in the Asia Pacific region.
Amit also addressed (online) the whole of Asia (plus a few corporates and banks from Europe) at the Corporate Treasurer’s Conference on ‘Shaping strategies in a Volatile Environment’, held in Singapore.
In addition to all this, Amit has also published his next book “55 questions on Health & Fitness”. It is an attempt to bring out a compendium for those wanting to get onto a fool-proof path leading to complete health and fitness. This would cover all the 4 aspects – nutrition, physical activity, recovery and monitoring of relevant parameters.
As if all this was not enough, we have been informed that Amit’s interview was published in Treasury Management International, Berkshire, South England. The e-magazine has viewers/ subscribers across UK, Europe & Ireland.
What makes it even more impressive is that, to date Amit is the ONLY person from India to feature in the section ‘My Life in Treasury’, of the England magazine. No other Treasurer/ CFO has ever been featured here. An outstanding honour, indeed!
But enough said about that!
Let us talk about Amit, the person outside the office….
An athlete and fitness freak from the age of 12, he started early as an athlete who broke the state-level record in high jump as a young boy, and moved between multiple strength and speed sports. Amit hopes to make a come-back in the second quarter of 2023 on the athletic track, and then field.
We fired a few random questions at him on a more personal and lighter level. Check out his responses!
- Your family consists of …. my daughter Tanisha, known to be an athlete and Mumbai football champion pre-Covid, turned into a studious girl during Covid. My wife Dhanshree, homemaker, who is the pillar and backbone which keeps my family going…….
- Four things you always pack when going on a trip are …. yoga mat, sports shoes, swimwear, lots of junk food (always look forward to these well-deserved cheat days!)
- If you had to describe yourself in one word it would be … the HULK (strong and resilient but humble; like a big brother to the weaker species, angry when I see discrimination or oppression).
- If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I need higher levels of discipline and concentration……eventually the state of SAMADHI where one unites with the divine. On track to achieve this state in the next few years…! - When you are not thinking about Thomas Cook, you chill out by…. Taking long drives, and enjoying dinner with the family.
- When you need comfort food, you reach out for … .No comfort food, no snacking except for a few cheat days! Love to have nuts and seeds but only as part of a meal. I am convinced that the snacking habit eventually invites diseases and ill health.
That is Amit for you!