Kaizer Bungalow No. 2 in Jamshedpur’s Circuit House Area, where Deven Sharma’s (above) parents live. (Animesh Sengupta)

Jamshedpur, Aug. 8: The historic plunge in America’s creditworthiness has catapulted a Jharkhand-born number-cruncher to the international financial circuit.

Deven Sharma, the president of global analyst firm Standard & Poor’s (S&P) which on August 5 sent Barack Obama’s men into a tizzy by striking off the ‘AAA’ rating of the US (considered the Gold standard in the world of finance) for the first time since 1914, was born in coal town Dhanbad 54 years ago.

The youngest son of former Tinplate Company of India managing director R.N. Sharma, Deven completed his schooling from Jesuit institution De Nobili in 1971. He later pursued a degree in mechanical engineering from BIT-Mesra in Ranchi district and moved to the US for a masters from Wisconsin University and doctoral degree in business management from Ohio State University.

Speaking to The Telegraph over phone from Bhubaneswar, octogenarian Sharma senior who lives at Kaizer Bungalow No. 2 in the Circuit House Area of the steel city and is attending a seminar in the Orissa capital expressed extreme happiness over Deven’s grit.

“I am proud that he has done his duty and not buckled under US pressure. I have not spoken to him, but will definitely congratulate him when he comes to Jamshedpur,” said the former managing director of Tinplate and erstwhile vice-president of Tata Steel Limited.

He recalled that Deven was always a bright student, a prudent son. “I was the chairman of Bharat Coking Coal Limited in Dhanbad when he completed his schooling. He was very good in academics,” the doting father said.

Mother Sayanam was all praises as well. “We know he lives far away, in New York City, but it is always a happy moment whenever he is in Jamshedpur. He happens to visit us almost every year. He dropped in here for a day last December while attending a Crisil (India’s subsidiary of S&P) board meeting in Mumbai,” she said.

Deven is also the chairman of Crisil. After working with Dresser Industries and Anderson Strathclyde, he joined Booz, Allen & Hamilton, in 1988; moved to The McGraw-Hill Cos (the parent firm of S&P) in 2002; was the executive vice-president at S&P from 2006-07; and became its president in 2007.

Elder brother Ravi, the managing director of Eastern Synpacks Limited, a small-scale unit at Jojobera on the outskirts of Jamshedpur, recalled how Deven always fought for what he believed. “We were very close and it feels nice to read about his achievements. Even as a child, he stood up for his beliefs,” Ravi, who is a year and a half older, said.