1

Sanmar Holdings Ltd

Chemplast Sanmar Ltd Sanmar Engineering Corporation Ltd

Cabot Sanmar Ltd Asco (India) Ltd
BS&B Safety Systems (India) Ltd
Sanmar Shipping Ltd Fisher Sanmar Ltd
Flowserve Sanmar Ltd
Sanmar Speciality Chemicals Ltd Sanmar Engineering Services Ltd
Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Sanmar Foundries Ltd
Bangalore Genei Tyco Sanmar Ltd
Intec Polymers
Vishay Sanmar Ltd
Performance Chemicals
ProCitius Research Xomox Sanmar Ltd

The Sanmar Group

9, Cathedral Road, Chennai 600 086.
Tel: + 91 44 2812 8500
Fax: + 91 44 2811 1902

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 In this issue...

367 Years of Gracious Chennai 5 Chemplast Sanmar Limited

The Group Annual Report: A Glimpse 8 Lending a Helping Hand 30

Queen of Denmark Honours N Sankar with Knighthood BS&B Safety Systems (India) Limited
First Class 9 Silver Jubilee Celebrations 31
Group Annual Day 10 Madhuram Narayanan Centre for Exceptional Children
The Sanmar Brand Equity Contest 23 Disability Assessment Camp 31
N Kumar: Philip Kotler in Chennai 32
An Ambassador Forging Institutional Partnerships 24
Employees’ Corner
Sri Sankara Vidyashramam Wins Awards Galore 26 A Day at the Paris Office 33
Awards for Sri Sankara Senior Secondary School 27 Legends from the South
Sanmar Speciality Chemicals Limited Tiruvalluvar 35
Tie-up with Galápagos 28
ProCitius Research Lab at TICEL Bio Park 29

Cover photograph: A view of NSC Bose Road, in George Town, from ‘Madras - Its past and its present’.

Matrix can be viewed at www.sanmargroup.com

Designed and edited by Kalamkriya Limited, 9, Cathedral Road, Chennai 600 086. Ph: + 91 44 2812 8051/ 52
For Private Circulation Only.

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4
One of the most beautiful avenues of Madras, Moubrays Road which is TTK Road today.
367 Years of Gracious
Chennai

Photographs in this feature and on the cover have been reproduced from the book, “Madras -
Its past and its present”. Our sincere thanks to S Muthiah, D Krishnan and G Vijayan
and the publishers, Affiliated East-West Press (P) Ltd.

Madras Week (20-27 August 2006) is to motivate people, associations

commemorated the 367th anniversary and communities in the city to host
of the founding of the city. S Muthiah, events that celebrate the city. Heritage
Vincent D’Souza and Sashi Nair decided walks, exhibitions, quiz programmes,
two years ago to celebrate Madras Day competitions, photography contests,
every year on 22 August, the day that lectures, talks, audio visual presentations,
Andrew Cogan, representing the British discover Chennai tours were some of the
East India Company, Francis Day and events that Madras Week offered to the
Beri Thimmappa, struck a deal with Chennai public.
the local Nayaks, the rulers at the time.
An interesting feature this year
Land was granted by the rulers where
was the live telecast or webcast
the Fort St George stands today. Out of
of the “spirit of Chennai” from
the old fort grew settlements and then
the Marina beach and Kapali
villages around it. Gradually the old and
temple, Mylapore. People from
the new towns merged into a city, very
anywhere in the world could

Courtesy: Madan Sriraman

different from what we see today.
view life in the city at these
Madras Day is an event to focus on the two places on Madras Day. A
city, its history, its past and its present. special competition for schools
The effort behind this celebration titled the Chennai City Living

Sri Kapaleeswarar Temple at Mylapore in Chennai.

5
The headquarters of The Madras and
Southern Mahratta Railway, predecessor of
Heritage Projects was organised in highlighted ‘Cinema in Chennai’;
the Southern Railway. association with INTACH, Chennai K Kalpana, explained the background
Chapter. of the restoration of the Senate House;
Theodore Bhaskaran spoke about
For the first time, Madras Musings, a
‘History from below; the Roja Muthiah
fortnightly that focuses on heritage,
Library of Chennai’; and Kanimozhi
environment and civic issues, organised
on ‘Poetry in Chennai’. Outside this
a series of talks, all well attended.
series of talks, Badri Seshadri spoke
Lakshmi Viswanathan set the ball
about ‘The last five Test matches in
rolling with a lecture on ‘An urban
Chepauk’ at the Shanmughasundaram
setting for an ancient dance’; Dr A R
Hall in Karpagambal Nagar. And
Venkatachalapathy described ‘Songsters
Randor Guy presented an illustrated
of the Crossroads: Popular literature in
talk on ‘Madras in Old Movies’ at
colonial Madras’; V Ramnarayan dwelt
the Sri Dakshinamurthy Auditorium,
on ‘Cricket in Chennai’; V Sriram talked
The Napier Bridge at a time when the traffic P S High School, Mylapore.
was not so heavy. on ‘Music in South India’; K Hariharan
Organisations and people involved in
the celebrations included the Unwind
Center, Masquerade, Quiz Foundation
of India (Chennai), PRSI (Chennai
Chapter), Vintage Heritage, Carnatica,
I N TAC H , Ma d r a s B o o k C l u b,
Madras Musings, Mylapore Times,
Archaeological Survey of India, Army
Postal Services, Nizhal, All India Radio
and Doordarshan, apart from schools
including Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan, K
K Nagar, Guru Nanak School, Velachery,
Sri Sankara Vidyashramam School,
Tiruvanmiyur, Avvai Kalai Kazhagam
and P S Educational Society.

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 The man who I n 1 6 7 8 , C h i n n a Ve n k a t a d r i , In 1927, he, along with S Duraiswami
started it all Thimmappa’s younger brother, acquired Iyer and N Krishnamachari, filed a
the Guindy Lodge and later sold it to the suit in the High Court of Madras and
Beri Thimmappa, a local merchant,
East India Company. Now we know it secured admission for Harijans in the
brokered a tripartite deal that led to
as the Raj Bhavan. educational institutions managed by
the founding of Madras city. It was
Thimmappa’s fluency in English and T h e Ba s h y a m Na i d u Pa r k , o f f the Pachaiyappa’s Charities. He was
the vernacular that caught the attention Taylor’s Road in Kilpauk is named responsible for the foundation of the
of Francis Day and Cogan. Originally after a fourth-generation descendant new Pachaiyappa’s College buildings
from Palacole, near Machilipatnam Thimmappa Bashyam Naidu. There at Chetput.
in Andhra Pradesh, Thimmappa and is also a Narayanappah Pharmacy at In 1928, Venkataswami became a
his grandson traded in indigo and Nungambakkam named after Ketty Councillor of the Corporation of
textiles before working for the East Narayanappah, another descendant. Madras and continued in that post
India Company. Present day representatives of the till 1952. He joined the Indian
family include Urmila Satyanarayana, National Congress in November
Beri Thimmappa built two temples,
a Bharatanatyam dancer, Dr Praveen 1936. He contested the general
one of Vishnu and the other of Shiva,
Godey and Ketty Bobji. elections the following year and
in Devaraja Mudali Street in George
Town – the Chennakesavaperumal One person who distinguished himself topped the polls in the Madras
and Chennamalleswara temples. in the Thimmappa family was Ketty City Constituency. He was elected
Thimmappa held a seat in the Council Venkataswamy Naidu. Venkataswamy Deputy President of the Madras
and a salute of five guns was fired became Minister of Hindu Religious Legislative Council, became Mayor
whenever he paid a visit to the Agent Endowments in the state cabinet in 1952. of the Corporation during 1938-39.
or Governor of Madras on Pongal As President of the Tirumala Tirupati He preached against war and was
days. He was presented with six yards Devasthanam Committee, he initiated a sentenced to the Trichy Jail for six
of superfine scarlet on that occasion. number of useful and popular schemes. months imprisonment.
By Sashi Nair

A glimpse of the Mount Road of the past. The building here is where the Bata showroom is now and to the left stands the ‘Anna’ statue today.

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 The Group Annual Report:
A Glimpse

The Sanmar Group Annual Report ahead of statutory requirements and also
2005-06 stepped off the beaten track throws light on the freshness of youth
to take a thematic approach. This year’s induced in its organisational structure,
theme was Sanmar, as a responsible paving the way for its onward journey.
corporate citizen, aptly titled “Citizen In the words of N Sankar, Chairman, “At
Sanmar”. The water-colour treatment The Sanmar Group, one of our proudest
gives the entire report an artistic feel achievements over the last few decades
and the cover image sporting four-leaves has been our deeply felt and assiduously
is symbolic of the Group’s established cultivated sense of ethical mooring. One
four core businesses. The report along area in which our ethical commitment
with the business briefings of the is reflected in tangible achievement is
Group during the period under review, environment management.” The report
also details the various corporate social also features Deputy Chairman Vijay
responsibility measures by its individual Sankar’s overview of the businesses and
businesses. The Chairman’s Statement forward-looking projections and plans
highlights Sanmar’s proactive efforts in for the Group.
environment protection that are way

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Queen of Denmark
Honours N Sankar with
Knighthood First Class

N Sankar, Honorary Consul General A Silver Cross with a red border,

of Denmark for southern India, was surmounted by a royal crown over
honoured with the Order of the the reigning sovereign’s monogram
Dannebrog Knight First Class by the with a silver badge and ribbon with
Queen of Denmark in recognition rosette formed part of the decoration.
of his valuable services as the Consul The Order of the Dannebrog was first
General. Sankar, who has been heading instituted in 1671 by Christian V and
the Danish consular interests in south was awarded for the first time on 2 July
India for the past 18 years, joins the elite 1671. The recognition is for Danish and
list of persons who are life-holders of the foreign citizens for rendering meritorious
most ancient decoration of Denmark, civil or military service, for a particular
bestowed by the Sovereign. He is the contribution to the arts, sciences or The decoration that was
first Indian citizen to be conferred the business life, or for working for Danish presented.
honour of Knighthood First Class. interests. The reigning monarch heads
Michael Sternberg, Danish Ambassador the Order.
in India, handed over the award to
Sankar at a function held in Chennai
on 4 July 2006.

Michael Sternberg, Danish Ambassador in

India, handing over the award to N Sankar.

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10
 10-12 August 2006

Group
Annual
Day
The Group Annual Day celebrated at Sanmar was replete
with edutainment and fanfare. This was the day that brought
to the spotlight the top performers at The Sanmar Group.
At the locations, performance excellence by employees was
lauded and senior management interacted with the people
sending out positive messages.
At Chennai, the two day sessions featured an array of
speakers and presentations. The management presentations
delivered by the MDs of the businesses focussed on the
strategies that would springboard the businesses on to an
accelerated growth path in the years ahead. The Deputy
Chairman spelt out his vision of making Sanmar a
one billion dollar group in the next five years.

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 Presentations

R Gopalakrishnan
Executive Director,
Tata Sons Ltd
R Gopalakrishnan presented a unique concept in decision making, ‘The Role
of Intuition and Analysis in Management Decisions’. According to him,
intuition and analysis play complementary roles in decision-making. At a
suitable point in time the baton is passed on from analysis to intuition. The
key to a manager’s challenge in making right decisions is to morph analysis
into intuition at a suitable time.

Raju V Kanoria
Chairman & Managing Director,
Kanoria Chemicals & Industries Ltd.
Raju V Kanoria’s presentation rang a familiar chord as he talked about the
challenges of running a family-owned business and the conscious focus on
professional management. He dealt with change to a productive culture from
a family culture without sacrificing oneness in the organisation. He recounted
the evolution of his business, the strategies that worked, the ideologies that
kept his organisation’s DNA intact.

Adil Zainulbhai
Managing Director,
McKinsey & Co, India
‘Opportunities in Manufacturing in India – Getting to World Class’. Adil
Zainulbhai’s presentation analysed the manufacturing opportunities in India and
highlighted the actual reasons for the manufacturing success in China – that of
strong fundamentals, sound economic policies, activity and scale, huge domestic
demand resulting in a great price advantage combined with high productivity
and investments. To make it to being world class, companies must build a culture
of continuous improvement by creating a system, whereby every year you grow
on what you’ve achieved.

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 Marti Subrahmanyam
Professor-Finance & Economics,
New York University
Marti Subrahmanyam talked about ‘Venturing Abroad - Issues of Globalisation
of Indian Companies’. His presentation covered the challenges of globalisation,
the need for globalisation in today’s competitive environment, characteristics
of global companies, the India advantage and the India-China comparison.

Anita Ramachandran
Chief Executive
ve Officer,
Cerebrus Consultants
Anita Ramachandran touched upon HR’s ‘Challenges of Managing in a
High Growth Environment’ and what organisations can do in such an
environment. In managing these challenges and the issue of attrition,
organisations should go beyond the compensation structure and take a re-
look into management style, the role of a leader and work towards emotional
bonding of employees.

P S Jayaraman
Managing Director,
Chemplast Sanmar
The theme of P S Jayaraman’s presentation was Safety Health &
Environment (SHE). He took the audience through the various
hierarchical levels of dedicated personnel managing SHE activities
and his direct involvement in these on a daily basis. Chemplast is
moving towards conversion to membrane-based technology and
has OHSAS initiatives at various stages of completion across its
facilities. Efforts are on to develop the Vedaranyam Bird Sanctuary
Safety and Health is not a one-stop in association with an NGO, the Bombay Natural History Society.
activity. You can’t just put hardware into The community building activities in education and health continue
it. It has to be continuously monitored. with several public health camps managed by dedicated company
We have plant level teams to monitor on doctors. Chemplast is focussed on its aim to be the first chemical
a day to day basis. company to achieve zero discharge at all its facilities and continues
its journey with the motto “Care for the Environment.”

13
 P Natarajan
Managing Director,
Sanmar Engineering Corporation (SEC)
‘Operational Excellence through Total Employee
Involvement’
The presentation by P Natarajan highlighted
the huge growth opportunities and the need to
develop execution excellence to capitalise on this
opportunity. SEC has launched several initiatives
to streamline operations and improve customer
service levels. Among the several initiatives at SEC
towards excellence the highlight was the ‘Service
Blitz’ initiative driven all across SEC. Service Blitz
is ‘accelerated service’ to customers by a team of
sales, service and application engineers who identify
and rectify the hidden pain areas of the customer.
5S, Lean and Six Sigma are being driven across
SEC with full involvement at all levels. Among the India is getting increasingly important to all
employee involvement initiatives an interesting one international companies including our JV partners.
was the outbound learning sessions which helped As a result of this, strong JV engagement is taking
create stretch goals to take employees to a new high place across the organisation. The challenge of the
in involvement. management is to orchestrate this in such a way that
there is open and free interaction without creating
any misunderstanding.

Murli Ramachandran
Managing Director,
Sanmar Speciality Chemicals (SSCL)
Murli Ramachandran’s presentation focussed on innovation
across the various divisions. The business heads explained
the complexities and nuances of their divisions, of being
open to failure and learning from them. The SSCL business
includes organic and phytochemicals, speciality polymers,
API – bulk drugs for pharmaceuticals, contract research
(with special focus on the pharma and healthcare industry)
and biotechnology. The presentations by Vivek Save, Dr B
D Gupta and Dr Uday Bhapat brought out the chemistry
and biological structure of the business and the role of
innovation in its success.
Amidst our disparate divisions, the
common thread is innovation.

14
 P Viswanathan
Managing Director,
Sanmar Shipping
Viswanathan’s presentation enumerated the trials and travails
due to the capricious nature of the shipping business, the
peculiarities in the economics of this line and the challenges of
keeping the floating staff engaged. The presentation brought
to light the intricacies in S & P of ships in the backdrop of
the wry humour of Churchill’s quotes.

Cycles are true (in the shipping business).

The challenge is in estimating the
duration of these cycles.

V Narayanan

Some of the Group

Corporate Board
members present
at the sessions

Preety Kumar P N Kapadia

Adit Jain

15
 of the Sanmar growth momentum are Cruising along this growth trajectory,
our 4 + 1 Ps- we would have to clear the path of
challenges and hurdles to keep up the
Vijay Sankar Process – our strong process
momentum. Externally the market is
orientation
Deputy Chairman, vibrant, but internally, our execution will
The Sanmar Group
Place – the advantage of being able to be dramatically challenged. Continuous
compete globally out of a strong base improvement is essential for operational
Vijay Sankar’s presentation on the 2nd in India excellence. There has to be a strong
day of the Group Annual Day program Product – The niche product range commitment to growth with a total buy-
projected the road ahead for Sanmar in and added price advantage in from the people of the organisation who
the next 5 years and the challenges and will make it happen. A change in mindset
opportunities in getting there.
Profitability – The focus on towards the changing marketplace with
profitability businesses getting far more global will
The year 2005-06 was a good year and
the group did well by maintaining focus
People – The most important ‘P’ place Sanmar well on overdrive and
factor, the people strength and leadership reaching the 1 billion dollar mark within
on profitability. The group is poised for
to take the growth forward five years is an easily achievable target.
accelerated growth in the next 5 years.
There are no constraints for strong
organic growth rates as the group is
positioned to leverage the large capital
investments from the past and those that
are underway. The growth will come
from newer allied areas and expansion
of all its businesses.
As for the readiness for spearheading and
managing this growth, there are several
factors that are in our favour. Our
strong leadership bandwidth, technology
platforms, strong financial fundamentals
and the ability to react quickly will
facilitate a lot of this growth. More
importantly, our reputation in financial
and employee markets and our strong
bindings with our JV partners will fuel
the growth. Factors essentially in favour

“At Sanmar, we do not

rest on assumptions; we
always question them.
We need to percolate this
line of questioning down
the organisation. The
way the world is evolving,
assumptions on business
conditions change rapidly
and we need to constantly
ask ourselves, are we doing
the right thing ”

16
 N Sankar
Chairman

I’ m convinced that ultimately

good management is basically
common sense rigorously and
properly implemented.

M N Radhakrishnan
Director - Co-ordination and Review

For an organisation to be
successful, it has to build
trust and faith amongst
its stakeholders, build
meaningful relationships.

B Natraj
Director - Corporate
conducting the interactive sessions

Various groups
drawing up
action plans.

17
 Group Annual Day Recognitions

Employees of the Year

2006

One of the major highlights of Group MRO sales. He lead the co-ordination
Annual Day (10-12 August 2006), admirably between the project office of
was the ceremonial recognition of the EPC contractor/ customer, the site
performance excellence by Sanmar location and the OEM branch to achieve
employees across the group. Employees these results. He is a fine example of
of the Year and Exceptional Performance cross-functional working, through
Awardees received their awards amidst his support to the customer and the
the usual fanfare and reading of citations engineering team.
detailing their accomplishments.
Jacob John, Tyco Sanmar
J Sridhar, Chemplast Sanmar Jacob John at Tyco
At the PVC Plant is responsible for the
in Mettur, Sridhar significant growth
has successfully in order booking
implemented heat and market share.
recover y projects Hi s r e l a t i o n s h i p
and temperature management skills
control system for have helped Tyco to
EDC Stripper. His make inroads with major customers
initiatives have resulted in huge savings in OEM and MRO segments. His
in steam consumption and substantial leadership skills came to the fore when he
savings in variable cost. was deputed to Reliance, Jamnagar, for
handling the major shutdown activity.
R Rajini, ProCitius Research
As a Sanmar resource, he was responsible
Rajini is a promising for co-ordination for all products.
researcher in our
S Venkatesan, Chemplast Sanmar
ProCitius team.
S Venkatesan of
She is a valuable asset
Karaikal, played a
to our service delivery,
significant role in
which she almost
ensuring effective
single handedly manages at ProCitius.
co-ordination with
Her research capabilities and project the Project Teams
management skills have won her at Chennai and
accolades from our customers. Karaikal for successful
implementation and commissioning of
Vijay Nambiar, Flowserve Sanmar the Caustic Soda expansion programme.
V i j a y Na m b i a r ’s He was instrumental in operating the
contribution to plant slightly at a higher current density
Flowserve at Surat of the electrolysers, which resulted in
is a result of his realising additional Caustic production.
single minded focus His disaster management skills came
on project activities through in his effective handling of the
and subsequent natural calamities that occurred in recent

18
years. He has also played a major role systems to reduce lead-time, revamped
on the PR front and has contributed to the vendor outsourcing system for faster
the environment protection measures turnaround times and reduced the overall
at Karaikal. processing times for the foundry.
Deepak Dave, Intec Polymers B Pankaja Shankhavaram, BPO
Deepak Dave Pankaja has, in a short
ensured the smooth time, gained prowess
integration of Intec in the techniques of
Polymers, Dadra, into accounting in SAP. Her
The Sanmar Group. contributions helped
He was entrusted the finalise tax audit of
role of the Business Sanmar Engineering
Manager and the key companies in July/August 2005 in
issues he tackled creditably were, the record time and also in the preparation
pressure to grow profitably, integration of the consolidated accounts of SEC.
of Intec into Sanmar and management She set up a system for retrieval of
of some ethics issues that surfaced. This quick and reliable data from SAP and
award is in recognition of Deepak’s independently handled statutory audit
contribution to the business and to the of Sanmar Speciality Chemicals from
organisation. the BPO side to complete audit before
the end of April 2006.
K Manikantan, Fisher Sanmar
Manikantan is now
Shankar Sinha, Flowserve Sanmar
re n owned for his S h a n k a r S i n h a’s
crisis management at mastery in engineering
the Reliance plant in of mechanical seals
Jamnagar. This was and auxiliary systems
recognised by the is a great asset to
Reliance team and Flowserve. His
he extended similar support for the distinctive speed
Reliance Hazira plant shut down. Mani’s and quality of response are now well-
commitment and efforts played a major recognised by customers and one of
role in ensuring continued confidence the major OEMs, Sulzer has openly
of Reliance on Fisher Sanmar products acknowledged that Shankar has changed
and thus winning new JERP business. their perception of response time.
His knowledge of the refinery process
N Narayanan, Sanmar Corporate
and control valve requirements is a
Divn.
great asset to the new refinery project at
Jamnagar and he is currently working Narayanan is
with Bechtel and Reliance on this responsible for Income
important project. Tax across the Group.

M Raja, Sanmar Foundries Among other key

assignments, his
M Raja brought
c o n t r i b u t i o n s a re
about a dramatic
significant in the tax assessments of
turnaround in the area
certain group companies that had gone
of fettling which was
through a process of restructuring and it
a major bottleneck
is due to his expert handling of appeals
in the sand foundry.
that significant tax gains came by for
He streamlined the
the Group.

19
 S Sankaran, Chief Executive - Finance Another important
(Accounting), was the seniormost facet is that the
Sanmar employee to receive the figures given
Employee of the Year award this year. by Sankaran are
We reproduce below the text of The never questioned.
Sanmar Group Chairman N Sankar’s Confidence level
speech at the Group Annual Day is very high. This
function. is particularly
important when
Sankaran has been with the group for
one realises that the figures he churns
close to 20 years. He joined us to head
out have a great impact on the ‘flexing’
Chemplast’s Sales Accounting, and his
of earnings of our employees. Some of
career progressed steadily through greater
his special achievements, just in the last
responsibility in Chemplast, to running
few years are:
the over all accounting functions of
the chemical business, and finally to 1. Introduction of SAP across the
Controller for the whole group. whole Group. This was one of the
smoothest introductions and while
Sankaran is a quiet, low-key personality,
we took it for granted, when we hear
not given to excessive demonstrations or
of some of the horror stories at other
strong outbursts. He does what has to be
companies, we realise the extent of
done quietly and without fuss. The big
his achievement.
plus point with him is it does not matter
how much ‘what has to be done’, expands 2. Setting up an internal BPO, again
- he just takes it in stride and does it with with the least amount of fuss. This
no drop in efficiency. He is the classic has led to a very smooth processing
characterisation of ‘Mr Dependable’ - so of routine accounts. and more
much in fact that he often tends to be important, has enabled quick and
taken for granted. The extraordinary and absolute standardisation of processes
quiet competence with which he carries and policies across all business.
out his functions, the lack of fuss, means 3. IT outsourcing to WIPRO. This
that not much attention is drawn to him. again was a difficult task and again
In fact the only time when we think of was put through with the users
him is when an unexpected problem not noticing any change – totally
crops up or we need some special analysis seamlessly.
or something out of the way.
For all these reasons, and for continuing
Given Sanmar’s stress on Corporate to be an ideal, responsible corporate
Governance, detailed financial analysis, citizen, I am delighted to recognise
standardisation of accounts and MIS, S Sankaran as an ‘Employee of the Year’.
and number credibility, are crucial. On
this count Sanmar comes
through with flying colours
with Sankaran at the helm.
Completing statutory audits
for over 12 legal entities
and giving us the results in
1 1 / 2 months is again a
challenge, that is done
regularly, without fuss
and in fact has been
institutionalised. S Sankaran receiving the “Employee of the Year” award from
N Sankar.

20
Exceptional Performance
Awardees

Head Office

Mettur

Karaikal
21
 Long Service Awardees

Head Office

Senior Management
22
The Sanmar Brand Equity
Contest
The Sanmar Brand Equity Contest thrown open to employees across the Group was the
first of its kind.

5 August 2006 Ajoy Govindan Nair,

V Shankar Ganesh and Vikas
The point of debate at the Sanmar Brand Gopinath Panicker.
Equity Contest: Should we aggressively
promote the Sanmar brand?
It was a day of excitement and
entertainment at the grand finale of the
Brand Equity Contest. The semi-finalists
were short listed based on the written
document the various teams presented.
Except for one team, all others presented
in favour of building the Sanmar brand.
The teams came up with many creative
options and the interesting presentations
K Deepesh Nanda,
kept the audience enthralled through Mallika Sriraman and
the day. Ramkumar Shankar.
The team that came first gave a breezy
and enjoyable presentation ending with
a song sung by the team members with
full gusto! The team that stood second
took the audience through a talk show
complete with a ‘commercial break’ that
had a mock audiovisual advertisement.
The only team to present a contrarian
J Srinivasan,
view bagged the third place. B Sriram and
R Venkatasubramani.

P Viswanathan, S Venkatesan, A H Kesari Prasad and Sarada Jagan.

23
N Kumar:

An Ambassador Forging
Institutional Partnerships
He has invested a great deal of his time, generating goodwill for the Group. He is our ambassador, subtly nudging the outside
world to the presence of Sanmar. Listening to him, you are humbled by his charisma and drawn to his amiable nature. This,
in essence, is N Kumar, Vice-Chairman and Member of The Sanmar Group Corporate Board. He has no ace up his sleeve,
he simply does what is to be done towards building institutional partnerships and he does it in his inimitable style. Kumar
is at the forefront giving momentum to the India-Singapore relationship, under the auspices of the International Enterprise
Singapore and the Confederation of Indian Industry. His account of the India-Singapore partnership:

Institutionalising Partnerships: Today, these two initiatives help drive the • Opening a gateway to China
International Enterprise (IE), Singapore economic activity from both ends and have • Luring the large Indian and Chinese
(formerly known as Trade Development laid the foundation for stronger economic diaspora in Singapore towards India
Board) needed a base to promote the ties between India and Singapore. • Facilitating Singapore investments in
India-Singapore partnership. In 1992, India
I was appointed Honorary Business Why Singapore:
• Most of all, the culmination of
Representative for South India for the Singapore has built itself on an outstanding all such initiatives into the India-
IE, a government body that promotes model, epitomising its commercial Singapore Comprehensive Economic
trade and commerce. Two years ago, IE viability; the political correctness, Cooperation Agreement (CECA),
decided, for the first time, to convert transparency, good governance, focus, which is a new beginning.
the individual-based representation to diligence, geo-political advantage, etc,
an institutionalised partnership and have made it a gateway to Asia, for the
set up the India Advisory Panel(IAP). world and the rest of Asia.
Today, the IAP is seven-member strong
What we have today:
with eminent industry stalwarts like
Looking back over this arduous
K V Kamath, Sunil Mittal, Mukesh
15-year process and with Comprehensive
Ambani, Kiran Mazumdar Shah,
Economic Cooperation Agreement
S Ramadurai, Ashok Soota, Tarun Das
(CECA) happening a year and a half
and M S Banga on the panel. It plays
ago, I think we have achieved what we
a recommendatory role to IE and meets
set out to achieve:
the Prime Minister, Singapore ministries
and institutions to help strategise the • Establishing strong economic
Singapore-India alliance and set it in the relationships between the two countries
right direction. and driving it on a continuous basis
• Establishment of an India Advisory
A second institutional body I have been Panel
associated with in spearheading the
• Promoting India in Singapore
India Singapore ties from the Indian
• Promoting Singapore companies in
shores, is the CII core group. The
India through IE
group, consisting of past and current
presidents of the CII, makes annual
visits to Singapore and drives the India-
Singapore partnership on a continuing
basis when they meet the PM and other In the final analysis this is yet another exercise for Sanmar in
economic and political arms of the the aspect of being a responsible corporate citizen to the business
Government of Singapore. community and to the nation at large.

24
Singapore and Post-CECA Spin-off: CECA and Beyond: program for students and teachers, was
Singapore is the third largest investor in CECA represents the stamp of confidence Sri Sankara Senior Secondary School,
India, after Mauritius and USA, with and a foundation on which Singapore- Adyar. Presently they are trying to do a
FDI at 321m USD in 2005. India will work towards forging a positive similar exercise to bring a Singaporean
Investments from Singapore into India future in trade and commerce. school team to visit Chennai. It would
be an exercise in culture exposure for
(Cumulative) The automatic step forward is in logistics,
1992 4.4 million USD both. There are more such initiatives
followed by the manufacturing sector, the
2005 962.5 million USD underway.
(Source: Secretariat of Industrial Assistance, Department IT sector including the area of disaster
of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Government of India recovery, education, etc. The possibilities Why Sanmar:
published at the IES website)
are endless. With CECA, Singapore As we go global, a Singapore strategy
India was Singapore’s 13th largest can facilitate India’s involvement in is an excellent proposition. Singapore
trading partner in 2005. Total trade with ASEAN and help recognise India as a will provide us the exposure we need to
India reached a record 16.6 billion SGD viable trading partner. With India as go international for greater inorganic
in 2005, increasing by 41.3% from 11.8 a business ally, Singapore can establish growth. They would do the due diligence
billion SGD in 2004. a partnership triangle, with India and for us and help with the network and
(Overall trade) China on an equal footing. provide us a strong platform in Asia
1992 2,392 million SGD
2005 16,605 million SGD and beyond.
Manufacturing Industry:
(Source: IE Singapore)
The idea is to synergise the best of both The bottom line however, is a
Significant GLC Investments countries. Singapore has excellent logistic commitment to the economic activity
Major GLCs like Temasek Holdings, capabilities, e-governance, infrastructure of the country. Though the networking
PSA, Ascendas and others have increased etc. India has the manpower and talent opportunity comes by default, it is all
their exposure into India. Singtel has pool. Many companies such as Nokia, about giving back and contributing. As
substantial investments in the Bharti have moved their manufacturing facilities for my role in playing ambassador, I am
Group - The largest mobile telecom to India. but the face of the Group, a catalyst,
service provider in India. facilitating the whole process for the
A ‘do-able’ Synergy: Group.
Challenges: The backend engineering facility can
In the final analysis this is yet another
The former PM and now Senior be based in India and Singapore could
exercise for Sanmar in the aspect of
Minister of Singapore, Goh Chok serve as the front-end to take advantage
being a responsible corporate citizen
Tong, the architect of the India- of the international platform. Legal
to the business community and to the
Singapore ties, set the ball rolling in counsels can be based in Singapore. The
nation at large.
a climate of liberalization in India. In Singapore brand in terms of governance
spite of cultural similarities and other is well built. Taking advantage of this,
favourable factors, India was not exactly IPRs can be held in Singapore. Today
the easiest of business partners. It is to India Inc has come of age and is a brand
Senior Minister Goh’s credit the ‘India by itself. Indian companies are acquiring
Fever’ caught on and the government- businesses overseas and trading directly
listed companies (GLCs) came in. with China. But ultimately it’s all about
However the movement also needed people to people interaction. Singapore N Kumar is the Honorary Business
non-government entrepreneurs to tie up still scores in providing us a bridge to Representative of the International
with Indian businesses. Singapore has a China, to help identify synergies and Enterprise Singapore (formerly
large segment of Chinese entrepreneurs strengthen China-India partnerships Singapore Trade Development
who have traditionally, vested their with their greater understanding of the Board). A past-President of the CII,
business interests with China. This is Chinese people and the culture. he continues to play an active role
the segment we wanted to draw and in its activities. He is an industry
Education:
today it is happening. Thanks to our representative at the WTO and has
continuous efforts, delegations from Education is a two-way lane in the India-
made representations as a CII delegate.
the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Singapore corridor. For instance, one of
N Kumar is also the Honorary Consul
Commerce come regularly to India to the two schools selected by the Singapore
General of Greece in Chennai.
explore opportunities. Education Ministry for an attachment

25
 Sri Sankara Vidyashramam
Wins Awards Galore

As part of the International School award renovated the Marundeeswarar temple

British Council International programme formulated by the British tank at Tiruvanmiyur and even celebrated
School award Council, Sri Sankara Vidyashramam traditional days like Aadi Perukku and
Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Ayyanar Thiruvizha by lighting lamps
Best Heritage Club award of
Tiruvanmiyur, has successfully complied at the temple tanks. They also spent
INTACH
with and completed all the activities to 15 days at Dakshina Chitra, a heritage
Bank of Baroda Rolling Trophy win the award. The school will receive centre that reflects upon the cultural
for the Interact Club the award in October 2006, which will and architectural splendour of ancient
Rotary Club’s Best Interact Club be valid for a period of three years. south India. putting up exhibits on
award management of water resources and
In addition to this, The Heritage Club,
special folk performances. They visited
Parampara, of the School, was adjudged
Illalur and Echangadu villages on the
the best among 500 Heritage Clubs
outskirts of Chennai and stayed in the
established in schools across the country.
homes of students there and brought
The ‘Best Heritage Club Award’
them over to Chennai to spend time
instituted by the Indian National Trust
here and experience the fast-paced city
for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH)
life. The students also took part in
was started under The Heritage Education
other events including tree planting
and Communication Service in the year
and in mass chanting of prayers. “In the
2003. Among the entries received by
larger context, heritage education helps
INTACH from various schools across the
students develop a sense of responsibility
country, the Heritage Club at Sri Sankara
and an understanding of problems
Vidyashramam was adjudged the best.
around,” said Kalpalatha Mohan, the
M Charru Gaayatri and Manasa The students of the Club vied with Principal of the school. The school was
Narasimhan, President and Secretary of one another to spread to the people the proud recipient of a cash award of
Interact Club, receive the BOB rolling trophy the benefits of rain water harvesting, Rs. 10,000 for the best Heritage Club
from film actor Madhavan.
in the country.
The Interact Club of the school has been
awarded the Bank of Baroda Rolling
Trophy by The Madras Voluntary Blood
Bureau for the fourth consecutive year in
appreciation of mobilising the maximum
number of 347 donors in a school during
a blood donation camp.
The school’s Interact Club has also
received the ‘Best Interact Club Award’
for the academic year 2005-06 from
among 24 schools that function under the
Rotary Club of Madras District 3230.

26
Awards for Sri Sankara
Senior Secondary School

British Council International the school to integrate internationalism

School Award and citizenship in school education.
Sri Sankara Senior Secondary School, The British Council International
Adyar, has successfully qualified for the School Award is an accreditation scheme
British Council International School for recognising international curriculum
Award for 2005-06 working very hard work in schools. The award consists of a
over the last academic year to win the certificate and the use of the award logo
prestigious award. The letter informing for a period of three years. The school
the school of the award states that it is will receive the award at a function to be
also a reflection of the commitment of held in Mumbai this October.
KJIEE certificate for Sri conducted workshops and ensured that
Sankara Senior Secondary there was participation from the entire
staff of the school.
School
The programme, which began in August
Sri Sankara Senior Secondary School
2004, extended up to March 2006. In May
enrolled itself in the Kuruvila Jacob
2006, a self-appraisal report was presented
Initiative for promoting Excellence
to the management in the presence of the
in school Education programme
member of the KJIEE team. The school An interactive session at the TQM
(KJIEE) in August 2004. This gave the
received the Certificate of Participation meeting held at Sri Sankara Senior
school an opportunity to interact with
from KJIEE in August this year. Secondary School.
member schools of the city to share the
best practices and to exchange views on
various issues.
The core team for Total Quality
Management from CII arranged
several meetings to discuss the TQM
techniques that could be effectively
applied to the various processes in
the school. The core team comprising
the Principal, the Vice Principal and
two other members of the faculty,

A section of the gathering at the TQM

meeting.

27
 Sanmar Speciality Chemicals Limited

Tie-up with Galápagos

ProCitius Research of Sanmar Speciality Chemicals has signed a chemistry services contract
with BioFocus DPI, the service division of Galápagos NV of Belgium.

BioFocus DPI, the service division of BioSciences and Sanmar under the
Galápagos NV, a genomics-based drug expert management of BioFocus DPI
discovery company, has signed chemistry scientists.
collaborations with ProCitius, a division
ProCitius Research, the research arm
of Sanmar Speciality Chemicals Limited
of Sanmar Speciality Chemicals Ltd,
in Chennai and Indus BioSciences, a
offers world class services in contract
subsidiary of CiVentiChem LLC in
“We are delighted to Hyderabad, both providers of integrated
research and custom synthesis. The
division, equipped with state-of-the-art
collaborate with BioFocus chemistry services to life sciences
facilities has an impressive track record
companies. Both companies will carry
with major pharmaceutical and chemical
DPI. We believe that out chemistry services for the Discovery
manufacturers in Europe and the United
Products division of BioFocus DPI, with
the target discovery and an additional option to provide support
States of America.

drug discovery services of for client projects conducted by the About Galápagos
BioFocus DPI Medicinal Chemistry Galápagos is a publicly traded, genomics-
BioFocus DPI would be division. based drug discovery company that
well complemented by India offers world-class chemistry has drug discovery programs based
capabilities with a very large resource on proprietary, novel targets in bone
the chemistry research pool of qualified chemists. Many and joint diseases - osteoarthritis,
osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis.
skills of ProCitius, pharmaceutical, agrochemical and
Galápagos offers a full suite of target-to-
biotechnology companies either have
enabling this partnership established their own facilities in India, drug discovery products and services to
or outsourced part of their chemistry pharmaceutical and biotech companies
to deliver immense to India-based contract research through its division BioFocus DPI,
value to life sciences organizations. This outsourcing enables encompassing target discovery and drug
discovery services through to delivery
BioFocus DPI and its partners to
companies.” benefit from the excellent cost-effective of pre-clinical candidates. In addition,
chemistry services available on the Indian BioFocus DPI provides adenoviral
Murli Ramachandran, sub-continent, while also enabling its reagents for rapid identification and
Managing Director, Sanmar Speciality clients to outsource work into Indus validation of novel drug targets and
Chemicals Ltd. compound libraries for drug screening.
Galápagos operates facilities in seven
“These strategic outsourcing agreements with CiVentiChem countries, with global headquarters in
and Sanmar complement our acquisition of DPI’s drug Mechelen, Belgium.

discovery operations. Our in-house therapeutic programs About CiVentiChem

and the continuing growth of BioFocus DPI demand ever CiVentiChem is a rapidly growing CRO
company offering medicinal chemistry
increasing chemistry resources, and this is a timely move to and custom synthesis services in Research
ensure sufficient, cost-effective capacity moving forward .” Triangle Park, North Carolina and
through its subsidiary Indus BioSciences,
Onno van de Stolpe, located in Hyderabad, India.
CEO of Galápagos.

28
Sanmar Speciality Chemicals Limited

ProCitius Research Lab at

TICEL Bio Park

ProCitius Research is all set to start- with 32 fume hoods and an exclusive
up activities at the TICEL Bio Park, wing earmarked for biology services.
Chennai, a unit of Tamil Nadu Industrial Commencement of operations is
Development Corporation Limited expected around January 2007.
(TIDCO), operational since November
2004. It is situated in Taramani, close to
the IT corridor.
TICEL Bio Park has world class
infrastructure for Biotech Research and
Development, implemented in 5 acres
of land at a capital outlay of Rs. 625
million (US$ 12.5 million). It has now
achieved 88% occupancy with national
and international clients.
ProCitius Research has occupied the
entire 5th floor at TICEL to meet its
growth plans. The project has been
planned in two phases. In the first phase,
ProCitius has planned for laboratories

Dr Koteshwar Rao’s paper included in

Top-50 Most Cited Articles
One of the papers presented by Dr Koteshwar Rao, Chief Executive,
ProCitius Research, Sanmar Speciality Chemicals, has recently been World HR Congress
recognised in the “Top-50 most cited articles” as published in Bio-organic
honours
& Medicinal Chemistry Letters 2003-2006. This journal is rated one of
the best international journals in medicinal chemistry.
Sarada Jagan
At the World HR Congress 2006,
An award ceremony was held at the ACS (American Chemical Society)
a book, India’s Greatest HR
National Meeting held in San Francisco on 10 September 2006.
Professionals, was released. The
Elsevier, the publishers, are responsible for the book, conceived and written by
publication of organic and inorganic chemistry Dr R L Bhatia, CEO, Fun and Joy
journals, including five Tetrahedron journals. These at Work, featured Sarada Jagan,
are amongst the most accessed journals enjoying Chief Executive - HR, as one of the
the patronage of more than 4,500 institutes top HR professionals. Sarada was
worldwide. It is a matter of pride and honour also presented with a citation. An
for Koteshwar Rao and The Sanmar earlier report in Matrix inadvertently
Group in particular that his paper has omitted mentioning the release of the
received this acclaim. book at the World HR Congress.

29
 Chemplast Sanmar Limited

Lending a Helping Hand

Water Problem near Mettur

P S Jayaraman, Managing Director,

Chemplast Sanmar Limited, participated
in the silver jubilee celebrations of
the Vaidheeswara Vidya Mandir
Matriculation School celebrations held
at Mettur on 7 August 2006 . In an effort
to solve the scarcity of drinking water at
the Gonoor Panchayat, close to Mettur,
Chemplast Sanmar gave a cheque for
Rs 6.5 lakh to construct three water
tanks. P S Jayaraman handed over the
cheque to K Ganesa Sankar, Assistant
Engineer, Panchayat Union, Nangavalli.
V Ranganathan, Chief Executive -
Operations, Chemplast Sanmar, T AN
P S Jayaraman, Managing Director of Chemplast handing over a cheque to K Ganesa Sankar, Thenappan, Vice President - Operations,
Assistant Engineer, Panchayat Union, Nangavalli (received on behalf of D Mutha Gounder,
Chemplast Sanmar and K Parthasarathy,
Commissioner, Panchayat Union, Nangavalli) towards the construction of three overhead
tanks. Also seen are: M Murugan, Councillor (extreme left), K Thamaraiselvan, President, Assistant Vice President - Personnel,
Gonoor Village Panchayat and K Parthasarathy, Assistant Vice President - Personnel, Chemplast Sanmar, were also present at
Chemplast Sanmar Limited (extreme right). the function.

Chemplast team
assists CMC
When a chlorine leak from the tonner
was reported by Christian Medical
College (CMC), Vellore, on 29 June
2006, the Chemplast team comprising
R Chandrasekar, AGM - Safety &
Environment, Plant III, Mettur, along
with other operators rushed to help
in response to a call from CMC. On
locating the leak at the top valve of the
tonner, it was brought to control by
providing an adapter in co-ordination
with M/s Chemfab team and the cylinder
was safely despatched to Chemfab
Alkalies, Pondicherry, who had supplied
them to CMC in the year 2001.
The CMC management expressed their
thanks to the Chemplast team for its
timely response to arrest a critical leakage
problem.

30
BS&B Safety Systems (India) Limited

Silver Jubilee Celebrations

A success story written over 25 years,

a testimony to innovation, safety and
excellence in service - that’s BS&B
Safety Systems (India) Limited.
The Silver Jubilee celebrations were held
at Karapakkam on 5 July 2006. The
overseas visitors from BS&B included,
Timothy D Kenneally, Dr Joseph Izzo,
Geoff Brazier and John Smallwood.

John Smallwood, BS&B, Asia Pacific, N Sankar, K S Narayanan, Dr. Joseph

Izzo, BS&B, Ireland, and Geoff Brazier, BS&B, USA, look on as Timothy
R Venkataramani, Executive Director, Sanmar Engineering D Kenneally, President BS&B Safety Systems LLC USA, lights the lamp.
Corporation Limited, Timothy D Kenneally and Vijay
Sankar, Deputy Chairman, The Sanmar Group.

Madhuram Narayanan Centre for

Exceptional Children

Disability Assessment
Camp
The Freedom Trust (Foundation for to prescribe a calliper or artificial limb
the Rehabilitation, Empowerment to suit the needs of each child.” At
and Education of the Disabled of MNC, physiotherapy training is part
Madras), associated with the Madhuram of the curriculum. The Freedom Trust
Narayanan Centre (MNC), assessed also works in the field of pain relief
the disability of the special children of and provides orthopedic appliances
the centre in July 2006. Dr S Sunder, after a two-stage process of assessment
Managing Trustee of the Freedom Trust, and prescription. The assessment
a specialist in Physiatry, chose to apply camp enabled the children’s parents to
it for treatment of special children using know the importance of Physiatry and
A child assessed by the Freedom Trust at
physical methods, avoiding drugs or also understand the need for physical the Disability Camp held at Madhuram
surgery. He said, “we also study how activities. Narayanan Centre.

31
 Philip Kotler in Chennai
Sanmar hosts interaction with marketing
guru

It was a meeting of minds when

Philip Kotler, S C Johnson & Son
Distinguished Professor of International
Marketing and Bala V Balachandran,
J L Kellogg Distinguished Professor of
Accounting and Information Systems
and Decision Sciences, both from
Kellogg School of Management,
Nor thwestern University, USA,
met The Sanmar Group Chairman
N Sankar on 16 July 2006 at Chennai.
A distinguished gathering of business
and other dignitaries attended and
interacted with the Professors.

Marketing guru Philip Kotler in conversation with N Sankar.

N Murali, Managing Director, The Hindu, N Sankar, Bala V Balachandran and C K Ranganathan, Managing Director,
CavinKare, seen with Philip Kotler.

32
Employees’ Corner

A Day at the Paris Office

Francois Vuillemin, Sanmar Speciality Chemicals, Europe

“Er… sorry, could you respell the name Nowadays, most European companies
of your company for me please?” have learned how to use the best of
both worlds, and most major players
Well, that’s fame for you. Not that
have sourcing offices in India. In the
this famous question is entirely new to
newest segment of the industry (biotech
me, but when I started working in fine
and discovery companies, for example),
chemicals nearly 15 years ago (sigh…), it
establishing relationships with Indian
usually came in a different context. (You
material or service suppliers was the
wouldn’t imagine how many different
norm from the start. I always found the
spellings - the name “Hoechst” could
European chemical industry less insistent
have for a non-German speaker.)
on buying from home than its American
But there you have it. As exciting as (not to mention Japanese) counterpart.
the perspective of starting a regional On the other hand, for medium-
office from scratch might be, the sized players in the fine chemicals and
amount of spadework needed to have pharmaceutical areas, there can still be
this question simply disappear from a perception that an Indian supplier
phone conversations is not to be getting a bit too interested in one of your
underestimated. raw materials doesn’t abide well.
Then usually comes: “Oh, so you’re an This is exactly where a local office fits
Indian company…” which can mean in, and where we are back to spelling
virtually anything from very encouraging names! If any, reluctance comes from
to quite the opposite (of course, tone of this black-box-syndrome - not really
voice usually gives it away). To explain why, knowing who’s there, not being able
you have to go a little way back in time. to put a face to a business partner, or
It was in the mid -90s that Indian differentiate between companies’ names,
chemical companies started to have a capabilities and business styles, not to
serious impact on the European fine mention cultural factors; none of which
chemicals market. As I experienced at improves when dealing via a trader.
that time from the European side, this Hurling, cricket or rugby?
impact usually took the form of your
Not that I would consider myself an
business being suddenly stripped from
expert in decoding Indian-European
you by an undisclosed competitor usually
cultural aspects just yet… but the team
referred to as “India”. Most of the time,
did its best to make me feel part of it
traders aiming at quick commissions
whenever I came over, so let’s say at
had approached customers and under-
this stage I could probably understand
quoting by 50% was not rare. You
business signals reasonably well. (I have
could sometimes capture your business
good hope of picking more local social
back by working hard on your costs.
lore as time passes, although I’m afraid
Still, numbers of processes that had not
cricket will be a tough nut to crack…
been continuously optimised for lack
I might have a look, at some stage, but
of competitive pressure, simply moved,
I’m still not done with hurling, the
very quickly, to Indian suppliers, at that
national sport of my wife’s home country
time.

33
 (Ireland). Also, in 2007, no other sport Making the Sanmar name better known
than rugby will capture my attention, as on the European fine chemicals landscape
the long anticipated World Cup beckons isn’t everything though. There is also the
and hopefully France reaches the final in small matter of generating business, and
my home city of Paris). fast, to support SSCL’s energetic growth
plans. In some areas of this industry,
Back to our business phone calls, a
particularly pharma, being selected for
good hint that things are proceeding
an early project might usually mean
well is when you get to: “Ah, so you
you have a 30% chance to deliver large
are actually with Sanmar, not a trading
quantities 5 to 7 years later - something
company…” the recognition there should
we don’t really have time for. So, efforts
be no smokescreen in communication.
sort themselves quite naturally between
Optionally, you might reply with “You
pursuing short-term opportunities,
see, we’ll just do business together like
earlier projects, and laying foundations
we always did, only, the plant is just a
for longer-term recognition. Soon
bit further away…”
enough, commercial support will add-
For, that’s the way it is… up as well (actually we’re well underway
with a couple of large scale businesses
already).
Put everything together and you get
a pretty busy diary. Then again, the
beauty of it lies in its variety. Not many
activities allow you to jump from research
to sales to legal, HR and corporate
communications (hmm... I’d have to
include secretarial…) within a single
working day. I have managed large teams
in the past, and although the HR part of
it is a reward itself, you invariably end up
delegating the exciting part of the work
(in my function: striking commercial
deals) to develop and maintain your
team’s motivation, so it feels nice to get
the fun part once more.
Working on your own isn’t for
everyone though. Fortunately, business
development means a lot of your office
time is spent either doing market or
chemical research, (something that you
definitely need concentration for), or on
the phone to people (spelling the name
of your company…). So at this early
development phase, working solo suits
fine. Of course, one occasionally misses
the all - office buzz.
But hey… if everything works out, there
might well be more of us soon...
Cheers from the Paris office!

34
Legends from the South
Tiruvalluvar

Tiruvalluvar was one of the greatest The name Valluvan could

“mfu Kjy vOj;njy;yhk; Mjp
Tamil poets, famous for the Tirukural, have referred to his caste or
gftd; Kjw;Nw cyF”
his comprehensive ethical manual in occupation and was in all
the form of 1,330 couplets, offering probability not his given Meaning:
sagely but pragmatic advice on every name.
Just as the letter ‘A’ is the beginning of the
conceivable aspect of human life.
Legends abound about the alphabet, God is the beginning of this universe.
Very little is known conclusively birthplace of Tiruvalluvar.
“kopj;jYk; ePl;lYk; Ntz;lh cyfk;
about the life of Tiruvalluvar. In Tamil According to one he is
gopj;j(J) xopj;J tpbd;”
tradition, he is believed to have lived said to have been born
some time during the 1st millennium and lived in Mylapore, Meaning:
AD. While most scholars place him an ancient part of present There is no need to shave your head or grow a
between 100 and 300 AD, a few believe day Chennai city, where beard if you abstain from doing what the wise
he lived around 600 A.D. He is said to the Kapaleeswarar temple have condemned.
have been a textile weaver, born to Adi is located. Another legend
“gopkiye;(J) va;jpa Mf;fj;jpd; rhd;Nwhh;
and Bhagavan, who led an austere life. associates him with Madurai,
fopey; FuNt jiy”
He was a poet, thinker, philosopher, the ancient capital of the
saint and teacher. Vasuki was the name Pandya rulers. According to Meaning:
of his devoted wife. folklore, Valluvar introduced
Better the poverty of the wise than wealth acquired
the Kural to the world in
The term Tiru is the Tamil term of with infamy.
Madurai’s Tamil Sangam,
respect, equivalent to the Sanskrit Sri.
at a conference of eminent “vr;rk; vd;(W) vd;vz;Zk; nfhy;Nyh xUtuhy;
This prefix of respect coupled with his
scholars and researchers er;rg; glhm jtd;”
supposed name Valluvan (the variation
regularly conducted by the Meaning:
Valluvar is a mark of respect, part of
Pandyas for long years.
the Tamil honorific system reserved for Unloved by even a single soul, what could such a
elders and the great), led to the name by Though Tiruvalluvar is man imagine he might leave behind?
which he is referred to today. revered as a Hindu saint,
there are also accounts of
his having been a Jain. Tiruvalluvar was (Arathuppal), wealth (Porutpal) and love
himself perhaps unconcerned about (Kamathuppal). But the subject matter
whether he was a follower of the Vedas ranges far wider than these titles suggest.
or of Mahavira, and like his book, It covers for example, such things as
ignored the artificial boundaries between gambling, espionage, medicine, folly
religions. and military forts. There is very little
The Tirukural is often described as an abstract philosophizing or reference to
“Eternal Truth”. It is one of the oldest the transcendental.
and most revered works in the Tamil
language. It consists of 133 adhikarams
or chapters. Each adhikaram consists of
10 kurals. Each kural is a couplet.
The short pithy couplets are primarily
in the form of maxims. These are
divided into three main sections. Virtue

35
36