印
度加尔各答的坦格拉(Tangra)区在上世纪60年代曾是一个荒蛮之地，到处是臭气熏天的皮革厂、垃圾场和未经铺设的道路。坦格拉出身的人极少取得了不起的成就，尤其是大约100年前定居此地的华裔客家人。不过Dan Chu做到了。
Michael Rubenstein for the Wall Street Journal
一月,金属和矿业投资银行家Dan Chu在他位于曼哈顿的瑞银(UBS)办公室。
Dan Chu在瑞银(UBS)的大多数同事都不知道他的经历。他最初曾在一家皮革厂工作，与父母兄妹挤在一个房间里生活。
瑞银并购业务全球联席主管柯克曼(Cary Kochman)说，Dan Chu从不谈论自己的出身，所以让人觉得有点神秘。柯克曼说，这些年来我多多少少知道一些有关他的成长经历，不过有一点我一直很确定，这就是他在世界任何地方都能安之如饴。
客家人在印度历来都是二等公民。大多数客家人过去都以鞣制母牛皮为生，印度人一般则不屑干这种活儿。
Dan Chu从小说的是客家人的方言──客家话。上学前和放学后，他都要在皮革厂帮工，做一些非常累人的活儿，诸如皮革抛光、用钉子把皮革钉起来晾干然后再徒手把钉子取出。
他的父亲曾在当地一所中文学校当过校长，卖过人寿保险，还做过旅行社代理人。他的母亲幼时曾卖过自制米酒，后来经营一家皮革厂。
由于他们房屋后面就是垃圾场，而骑小型摩托车到加尔各答主要商业区需要45分钟左右，因此整个村子共用一个地址：坦格拉南路47号。
Dan Chu说，我没太想过自己长大后要干什么，我也没有做过远走高飞的美梦，因为我无法想象离开后的情景。
14岁时，Dan Chu在一个天主教的寄宿学校里念书，学校里的其他学生多半都来自中产家庭。
美国亚利桑那州坦佩一个新教教会成员在坦格拉学校放假期间到这里进行了参观访问，这是为在当地建一所学校和一座教堂进行筹资努力的一部分。为吸引孩子到教堂来，教会成员向孩子们分发了旧的圣诞卡片。
在一个以当地客家菜为主的宴会上，Dan Chu坐在来访的美国人斯蒂尔(Fred Still)旁边。他们之间的对话改变了Dan Chu的一生。受当地条件的艰苦触动，斯蒂尔最终资助Dan Chu来到美国凤凰城。
17岁时，Dan Chu和斯蒂尔一家住在一起。他当时对美国的唯一认识来自于看到的好莱坞电影。晚上他听收音机，试着模仿美式英语的发音。他还试着去适应美国食品，诸如他从未吃过的沙拉以及从未喝过的凉牛奶等。另外，他还为学校的赛前动员会深深吸引。
放学后，他给草坪除草，粉刷房屋，洗车。斯蒂尔一家希望他成为一名传教士。但Dan Chu想办法进入了凤凰城的亚利桑那州立大学(Arizona State University)就读。
他获得了向外国学生提供的少量奖学金，一头扎进当时还很神秘的电脑世界。他还学了会计，希望这样的技能会有助于他留在美国。晚上，他去一家中餐馆做服务员，最后升到了副经理的职位。
1982年大学毕业后，他搬到了得克萨斯州米德兰，在米德兰第一国民银行(First National Bank of Midland)做数据审核员。
他成了永久性美国居民，把全家搬到了美国。他们家后来开了一家意大利三明治披萨店。
他闹着玩地申请了哈佛大学商学院。他认为自己被录取是因为推荐信。他的推荐人包括他工作过的中餐馆的老板。
刚到哈佛时，他对投行业一无所知。虽然如此，1989年他获得了当时素以高端客户知名的专业银行德威公司(Dillon, Reed & Co.)的面试机会，不过他以为自己去面试的是添惠公司(Dean Witter)，所以对此欣喜若狂。
被德威录用后，他投入了各种各样的投行工作，比如合并、资本重组和债券。他对各项工作没有什么偏好，剩下什么工作他都做。
1997年德威成为瑞银的一部分后，钢铁银行家Dieter Hoeppli把他招入麾下。在金属采矿业向中国、俄罗斯和印度等新兴市场扩张的时期，他们在全球各地忙着做交易。
2007年印度铝铜生产商Hindalco Industries考虑在美国进行首桩并购交易──斥资60亿美元收购亚特兰大的Novelis，当时该公司依靠的是Dan Chu。
该公司董事总经理Debu Bhattacharya说，他在引导交易中发挥了重要作用；不过他通常并没有试图把自己的想法强加于人，他是一个谦逊、灵活的人。
在离开坦格拉大约30年后，他出差时回到了家乡。皮革厂已经迁址了，他的家不见了，取而代之的是一批中餐馆和中印餐馆。
如今，他可以轻松地在宾夕法尼亚州肯尼特广场(Kennett Square)为年龄分别为10岁和12岁的两个女儿提供舒适的生活。
尽管如此，他说他希望自己的孩子们能够珍惜拥有的生活，因为他年轻时一切都是自己辛苦挣来的。他建议自己的女儿去麦当劳(McDonald's)体验一下努力工作。
他说，如果我把全家在印度的收入加在一起的话，不会超过1,000美元。
Gina Chon
（本文版权归道琼斯公司所有，未经许可不得翻译或转载。）
The Tangra district of Calcutta, India, in the 1960s was a place of bare brutality, stuffed with fetid tanneries, trash dumps and unpaved roads. Few people from Tangra make it big, especially the ethnic Hakka Chinese, who settled there about 100 years ago.
Dan Chu did.
Today the 51-year-old is the picture of Wall Street sophistication, a well-connected banker in the booming business of mining mergers and acquisitions. His clients include Alpha Natural Resources and Massey Energy, who are combining in a $7 billion deal, as well as India's Hindalco Industries Ltd. and ArcelorMittal.
Most of his colleagues at UBS don't know his story, which began in a tannery where he shared one room with his parents, brother and sister.
'He doesn't talk about it, so there's a little bit of a mystique around it,' Cary Kochman, joint global head of M&A for UBS, says of Mr. Chu's background. 'I've gotten to know bits and pieces over the years. However, one thing was always clear to me─Dan is comfortable anywhere in the world.'
The Hakka historically have been second-class citizens in India. Most earned a living tanning the cowhides Hindus wouldn't handle.
Mr. Chu grew up speaking Hakka, the local dialect of his group, which means 'guest people.' Before and after school, Mr. Chu helped with the backbreaking tasks of the tannery─polishing leather hides, hammering nails into them to help them dry and then removing the nails by hand.
His father served as principal of the local Chinese school, sold life insurance and was a travel agent. His mother, who sold homemade rice liquor as a child, ran the tannery.
With trash dumps behind them and the main Calcutta business area about 45 minutes away by scooter, the whole village shared one address─47 South Tangra Rd.
'I didn't give too much thought about what I was going to do when I grew up,' he says. 'I didn't have dreams of leaving because I couldn't imagine it.'
By age 14, Mr. Chu was studying in a Catholic boarding school where most of the other students were from middle-class families.
In Tangra on a break from school, members of a Protestant congregation in Tempe, Ariz., visited as part of a fund-raising effort for the building of a local school and church. They passed out old Christmas cards to entice children to come to church.
Over a dinner of local Hakka-style Chinese food, Mr. Chu sat next to a visiting American. It was a conversation that would change Mr. Chu's life. Moved by the local conditions, the visitor, Fred Still, eventually sponsored Mr. Chu's move to Phoenix.
Arriving at age 17, he lived with the Stills family. His only knowledge of the U.S. was what he saw in Hollywood movies. At night he listened to the radio, trying to mimic the American accent. He also tried to adjust to American food such as salads that he had never eaten, and milk that was served cold. He was fascinated by school pep rallies.
After school, he mowed lawns, painted houses and washed cars. The Stills wanted him to become a missionary. Mr. Chu instead found his way to Arizona State University, of Phoenix.
With a small scholarship for foreign students, he plunged into the then-arcane world of computers. He also took up accounting, expecting such skills would be helpful for staying in the U.S. At night he worked as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant, eventually becoming assistant manager.
After graduation in 1982, he moved to Midland, Texas, working as a data auditor at First National Bank of Midland.
He became a permanent U.S. resident and brought over his entire family, who later opened an Italian sandwich-and-pizza shop.
On a lark, he applied to Harvard Business School. He believes he was accepted on the basis of his recommendations, including one from the owner of the Chinese restaurant where he had worked.
When he arrived in Cambridge, Mass., Mr. Chu had no idea what investment banking was. Nonetheless, he was thrilled to land an interview at Dillon, Reed & Co. in 1989, then a boutique bank known for its patrician pedigree, though he actually thought he was interviewing at Dean Witter.
Hired by Dillon, Reed, he plowed into a range of investment-banking work, such as mergers, recapitalizations and bonds. He didn't have any preference for what he worked on and 'did whatever was left over.'
After Dillon Read became a part of UBS in 1997, steel banker Dieter Hoeppli took Mr. Chu under his wing. They traveled around the globe at a time when the metals-and-mining sector was expanding into emerging markets such as China, Russia and India.
When Hindalco Industries, an aluminum and copper producer, was looking to do its first U.S. deal in 2007, the $6 billion acquisition of Atlanta's Novelis, the Indian company relied on Mr. Chu.
'He was instrumental in guiding the deal,' says Hindalco Managing Director Debu Bhattacharya. 'But he doesn't try to impose himself. He is a man of humility and flexibility.'
About 30 years after leaving Tangra, Mr. Chu returned to his hometown while on a business trip. The tanneries had moved and his home was gone, replaced by a group of Chinese and Indian-Chinese restaurants.
Today he can easily provide a comfortable life in Kennett Square, Pa., for his two daughters, 10 and 12 years old.
Still, he says he wants his children to appreciate what they have since he 'clawed and scrapped for everything.' He has suggested that his daughters eventually work at McDonald's to learn about hard work.
'If I added up the entire earnings of my family in India, it wouldn't exceed $1,000,' Mr. Chu says.
Gina Chon
Dan Chu did.
Today the 51-year-old is the picture of Wall Street sophistication, a well-connected banker in the booming business of mining mergers and acquisitions. His clients include Alpha Natural Resources and Massey Energy, who are combining in a $7 billion deal, as well as India's Hindalco Industries Ltd. and ArcelorMittal.
Most of his colleagues at UBS don't know his story, which began in a tannery where he shared one room with his parents, brother and sister.
'He doesn't talk about it, so there's a little bit of a mystique around it,' Cary Kochman, joint global head of M&A for UBS, says of Mr. Chu's background. 'I've gotten to know bits and pieces over the years. However, one thing was always clear to me─Dan is comfortable anywhere in the world.'
The Hakka historically have been second-class citizens in India. Most earned a living tanning the cowhides Hindus wouldn't handle.
Mr. Chu grew up speaking Hakka, the local dialect of his group, which means 'guest people.' Before and after school, Mr. Chu helped with the backbreaking tasks of the tannery─polishing leather hides, hammering nails into them to help them dry and then removing the nails by hand.
His father served as principal of the local Chinese school, sold life insurance and was a travel agent. His mother, who sold homemade rice liquor as a child, ran the tannery.
With trash dumps behind them and the main Calcutta business area about 45 minutes away by scooter, the whole village shared one address─47 South Tangra Rd.
'I didn't give too much thought about what I was going to do when I grew up,' he says. 'I didn't have dreams of leaving because I couldn't imagine it.'
By age 14, Mr. Chu was studying in a Catholic boarding school where most of the other students were from middle-class families.
In Tangra on a break from school, members of a Protestant congregation in Tempe, Ariz., visited as part of a fund-raising effort for the building of a local school and church. They passed out old Christmas cards to entice children to come to church.
Over a dinner of local Hakka-style Chinese food, Mr. Chu sat next to a visiting American. It was a conversation that would change Mr. Chu's life. Moved by the local conditions, the visitor, Fred Still, eventually sponsored Mr. Chu's move to Phoenix.
Arriving at age 17, he lived with the Stills family. His only knowledge of the U.S. was what he saw in Hollywood movies. At night he listened to the radio, trying to mimic the American accent. He also tried to adjust to American food such as salads that he had never eaten, and milk that was served cold. He was fascinated by school pep rallies.
After school, he mowed lawns, painted houses and washed cars. The Stills wanted him to become a missionary. Mr. Chu instead found his way to Arizona State University, of Phoenix.
With a small scholarship for foreign students, he plunged into the then-arcane world of computers. He also took up accounting, expecting such skills would be helpful for staying in the U.S. At night he worked as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant, eventually becoming assistant manager.
After graduation in 1982, he moved to Midland, Texas, working as a data auditor at First National Bank of Midland.
He became a permanent U.S. resident and brought over his entire family, who later opened an Italian sandwich-and-pizza shop.
On a lark, he applied to Harvard Business School. He believes he was accepted on the basis of his recommendations, including one from the owner of the Chinese restaurant where he had worked.
When he arrived in Cambridge, Mass., Mr. Chu had no idea what investment banking was. Nonetheless, he was thrilled to land an interview at Dillon, Reed & Co. in 1989, then a boutique bank known for its patrician pedigree, though he actually thought he was interviewing at Dean Witter.
Hired by Dillon, Reed, he plowed into a range of investment-banking work, such as mergers, recapitalizations and bonds. He didn't have any preference for what he worked on and 'did whatever was left over.'
After Dillon Read became a part of UBS in 1997, steel banker Dieter Hoeppli took Mr. Chu under his wing. They traveled around the globe at a time when the metals-and-mining sector was expanding into emerging markets such as China, Russia and India.
When Hindalco Industries, an aluminum and copper producer, was looking to do its first U.S. deal in 2007, the $6 billion acquisition of Atlanta's Novelis, the Indian company relied on Mr. Chu.
'He was instrumental in guiding the deal,' says Hindalco Managing Director Debu Bhattacharya. 'But he doesn't try to impose himself. He is a man of humility and flexibility.'
About 30 years after leaving Tangra, Mr. Chu returned to his hometown while on a business trip. The tanneries had moved and his home was gone, replaced by a group of Chinese and Indian-Chinese restaurants.
Today he can easily provide a comfortable life in Kennett Square, Pa., for his two daughters, 10 and 12 years old.
Still, he says he wants his children to appreciate what they have since he 'clawed and scrapped for everything.' He has suggested that his daughters eventually work at McDonald's to learn about hard work.
'If I added up the entire earnings of my family in India, it wouldn't exceed $1,000,' Mr. Chu says.
Gina Chon
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