B.K. Birla, Sarala Birla and Manjushree Khaitan with the employees of the BK Birla group in Calcutta on Friday. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta, Dec. 30: Around five hundred employees of the Basant Kumar Birla group got a pleasant surprise when the group chairman dropped in today afternoon along with his wife and daughter to meet them ahead of the New Year for an informal interaction.

Nonagenarian BK Babu (as he is affectionately called in the industry circle) spent over an hour with the employees, asking them about their work and family at the group’s headquarters in Birla Building.

He was accompanied by wife Sarala and daughter Manjushree Khaitan, who is on the board of Kesoram Industries Ltd, the flagship of the Rs 15,000-crore BK Birla group.

Sarala Birla did most of the talking, though, congratulating the employees for their work and support.

The interaction was the first in the history of the group, insiders said.

Sources said Khaitan and Sarala Birla were instrumental in organising the year-end get together with the employees.

According to observers, the event was a sign that the group was trying to come out of its old culture and become professional with time. Such events are usually seen in multinational and top Indian companies.

“Gone are those days when proximity to the Birla family was the biggest criteria to climb up the organisation ladder. A number of new professional executives are being brought into the group from other places to run different businesses,” they pointed out.

Some senior managers also joined the party. Kesoram company secretary Gautam Ganguly, chief financial officer U.S. Asopa and Birla Tyre CEO Arvind Singh attended the programme along with some executives of Century Textiles and representatives of various charitable trusts.