A quiet transformation began in Patna in 1973 when a young journalist, Dr. R.K. Sinha, inspired by the heartfelt appeal of social reformer Jayaprakash Narayan to support ex-servicemen, made a bold decision to leave his Rs 250-a-month job that led to the creation of Security and Intelligence Services (SIS). It today stands as a global powerhouse in security and facility services. Now led by his son, Rituraj Sinha, it has grown into a global, multi-billion-dollar enterprise built on purpose and values.

‘The SIS Story: From Accidental Entrepreneur to Global Conglomerate’ (HarperCollins India) is a powerful and inspiring account of this extraordinary 50-year journey of grit, vision, and purpose. Co-authored by journalist and biographer Prince Mathews Thomas, this book traces the evolution of the SIS Group — from a small beginning in Patna to becoming a global powerhouse in security services, facility management, and cash logistics, employing over 3,00,000 people across India, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore.

‘The SIS Story’ is more than a business tale — it’s a celebration of resilience, legacy, and how one man’s purpose-driven mission became a global institution. It also captures this incredible spirit of entrepreneurship from the era of License Raj to economic liberalization to the present. The shaping of an industry, the forging of a unique work culture and the complex passage through professionalization and generational transition-SIS has seen it all in its fifty-year journey. This inspiring tale proves that anything is possible if you dare to dream and match it with passion and purpose.

Here is an excerpt from the book:

First Steps

In the first few years of its life, SIS’s address was 94, Patliputra, Patna. Officially, this was the residence of Ravindra Kishore. But for all practical purposes, it was also his office. He lived upstairs on the first floor with his family, including his parents. Downstairs were two rooms that became SIS’s office. If there were too many people to accommodate, the veranda would become the office’s extension. On the back there was a garage, which in later years would hold a kennel for dogs that were trained and deployed on customer sites.

On Sundays, 94, Patliputra would become a recruitment centre. The house had a lawn that would be filled with a steady stream of youngsters hoping to land a job. They would fill up their forms and wait for instructions from U.N. Singh, one of Ravindra Kishore’s earliest hires. On his instruction, the young men would stand in a queue and their height and weight would be measured. Each candidate needed to be at least 5’7” tall and weigh a maximum of 70 kg. A physical test would be done.

Once a candidate cleared these rounds, he would be asked to go inside one of the two rooms on the ground floor for the interview. The interview panel was headed by Ravindra Kishore himself. Accompanying him would be retired army generals, senior bureaucrats and police officers. Once selected, a candidate would be given a kit that included his uniform. He would have to report for training for a month and then be deputed to a customer site.

Some of SIS’s senior most executives of today started their careers from that very lawn. This includes Arvind Prasad who would go on to become the chief financial officer, Vinaya Srivastawa, the future chief executive officer and A.K. Singh, who would head multiple ancilliary ventures. Not all of them started off as security guards. Arvind Prasad was in the accounts department, Srivastawa in stores. But all of them attended job interviews and got their offer letters right there.

The line separating home from office was blurred. At meal times, whoever was present, be it employee or client, would sit down with the Sinhas to have food. More often than not, Rita, Ravindra Kishore’s wife, would be in the middle of preparations when an employee came with a message: ‘Sir is coming with six people. They will also have lunch.’ How does one manage to feed twenty people if the food was being cooked for only twelve or fourteen? Was it possible to quickly cook more? If not, what adjustment could be done? For Rituraj, and later his sister Rivoli, the first lessons of people management probably were learnt right from the kitchen of their home.

As the family held the fort at home, Ravindra Kishore focused on the business. He had taken the entrepreneurial plunge with the security business. To grow it, the business needed a push and a shove as often as possible. In the first few years, Hari Budhia’s Bihar Foundry remained SIS’s biggest customer. It became Ravindra Kishore’s own training ground even as the industrial landscape of Bihar in the 1970s evolved, throwing up opportunities for a startup like SIS.

[…]

Yet, they had a problem: labour trouble. Tata Steel had a long history of tussles between its management and labour union. Budhia also faced a similar problem at Bihar Foundry. A manufacturing facility like this involved movement of different kinds of raw materials and products, either transported from mines or being shipped to customers. These moved in trucks in and out of the premises. Security was needed in nearly every part of this movement—at mines, gates and where the loading and unloading of materials took place. These industrial units employed hundreds or even thousands of labourers, mostly on contract. Supervising them and their movement—these were days before security cameras and drones—was a difficult job.

Unions made the job of supervising even more difficult. While it  would be unfair to characterize all labour unions with the same brush, it was not uncommon for unions to develop links with local mafias or enjoy political patronage. Company owners and their management would hesitate to directly intervene when cases of pilferage cropped up, fearing an industrial unrest by the unions that would have an even worse impact on operations than the theft itself. Owners like Budhia depended on their security personnel to keep an eye on the movement of manpower and material, and also the other on the unions.

Security came in the form of a chowkidar and a darbaan. They had little to no training. This meant they didn’t understand the demands of the job. Worse, many couldn’t read and write properly, a requirement to check documents at entry and exit gates. Were they trained to take on physical demands of the job, including facing off with unwanted elements? Rarely. Worse, in many instances, these very security personnel would join hands with the unions. This would make the union and their leaders even more powerful.

With no respite, businessmen would approach politicians who had clout and influence with the unions and local police. As we know, those who approached JP for help were directed to Ravindra Kishore. In SIS, Ravindra Kishore had the opportunity to change how the security manpower business worked. Listening to Budhia and the problems he was facing, Ravindra Kishore understood the requirements: bold and honest security personnel who could read and write, were fit physically and were trained to understand and address their client’s needs.

Ravindra Kishore found the solution in the resources that were available—retired army officers and soldiers. These ex-servicemen were the only ones who had exposure to a life in uniform and work experience that centred around security. ‘They were disciplined, followed commands and were aggressive,’ says Vinaya Srivastawa. 

They also became officers, supervisors and trainers. Among the most influential ones in those early days was U.N. Singh. He had retired as a subedar from the army, and Ravindra Kishore made him SIS’s first officer in the manager rank. Singh had a registration number of 5001—all officers in the company had their numbers starting with 5. He was not posted to a specific site but managed people, planned recruitment and training and even sanctioned leaves.

Like ex-servicemen, Ravindra Kishore also roped in retired police officers and bureaucrats. Retired police officers, like army veterans, had also led a life in uniform and specialized in providing security. They responded well to training, and again, understood recruitment. These police officers, like bureaucrats, had another attraction. They had influence with local administrations and former colleagues at police and government departments.

The bureaucrats, army and police officers also came with years of experience in administration. As brigadiers, heads of government departments or as superintendent of a city, these professionals had managed people, budgets and offices. They knew how things worked.

Ravindra Kishore, a young entrepreneur, grew to understand the importance of systems from them. And they were the ones to set up SIS’s first systems and processes. Quickly, Ravindra Kishore developed a flair for it. If anyone suggested a new practice or method, Ravindra Kishore was quick to understand if it would work or not. If it did, he was equally swift in implementing these in SIS.

[The excerpt reproduced with the permission of the publishers.]