The house magazine Mar.'07- Apr.’07 VOL. 7 NO.

2
 FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLY

C O N T E N T S
Between Us 1

Making manufacturing matter

Cover Story 2

Advantage Manufacturing

Best Practice 6

Modern manufacturing at Locks division

Best Practice 9

Challenge of procuring non-ferrous alloys

in volatile markets

Environmental Concerns 10

E-Waste...A disaster in the making

Restore. Reflect. Reimagine 14

‘India can make it’

Money Matters 17

Million dollar advice

In Memorium 18

Dr. KR Hathi: A good man of Godrej

Home Base 20

Little Wonders 34
 Between us

Making manufacturing matter

Jobless growth has been a spectre hanging over the Indian economy for a while now. It's
important to keep in mind that only manufacturing can generate enough jobs to improve
the situation. Also, manufacturing offers us an opportunity of advantage which if not dealt
with well may derail the bandwagon of growth sooner than we can imagine. Godrej
considers manufacturing a great calling and a vocation worth pursuing. To convey this
message and draw attention of those who might be looking elsewhere for challenges and
opportunities, we decided to focus matters pertaining to manufacturing in this issue.
Contributions of Kaustubh Shukla and DD Narwekar are a recommended read. Further,
the challenges of manufacturing typewriters indigenously are well captured in a write up
by our archivist.

Pioneer of modern management in Godrej, Dr. KR Hathi passed away recently. CHANGE
deeply regrets this loss.

Electronic waste is fast becoming a great concern all over the world as the waste is non-
Editorial Board
EJ Kalwachia biodegradable. Advanced countries are dumping this waste on less developed countries
Anil G Verma - an unfortunate happening. Mumbai alone generates 19,000 tonnes of e-waste a year - a
Harpreet Kaur
Jui Karandikar
serious concern for all of us. Nirbhay Dixit educates us on the perils of this new
Megha Moorthy phenomenon.

A feature on financial planning by Amar Pandit is offered to our readers as a wake up call
Co-ordinators
AI Buvaneshwar (East) for the coming year to enable them to give this aspect the attention it deserves for
FK Khapoliwalla (West)
financial well-being in future. Do read and take relevant action.
Sushil Thariani (North)
Vinod Kumar (South)
Congratulations to our Appliance team for our EON range of refrigerators being awarded
the 'Best Design - Consumer Durable' at the recently held Design Excellence Awards
Distributors
Nariman Bacha 2006. Considering the international composition of the participants and the jury, winning
SR Marolia
of the award is indeed remarkable. Do visit our Homebase for more details on this and
other such inspiring happenings at Godrej across different businesses.
Consulting Editor
Indrapal Singh
Our theme for the next issue is 'People First', as people are the ultimate source of
enduring competitive advantage. To co-create interesting and useful content for the next
Designed by
Uday Kamat issue, do share your insights, views or stories on the topic with us.
C Karunaharan
Parent readers are requested to convey our best wishes to those taking exams in the
Printed by coming months. We also wish all our women readers a Happy International Women’s
Genius Printers Pvt. Ltd.
Day.

Edited and published by

Indrapal Singh on behalf of
Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd.,
Mumbai-400 079.
For private circulation only. Indrapal Singh

1
 Cover Story
Kaustubh Shukla highlights the
importance of manufacturing for
economic growth, employment and also
as a sector offering challenging careers

Manufacturing
O
f late India has been in the news
in the global media for all the right
reasons.
A nation of over one billion people, a
thriving democracy, a robust and
growing economy, an emerging power,
an evolving manufacturing hub for a
wide range of industries from textiles,
ready-mades, gems & jewellery,
chemicals, and more recently auto
parts. However the most prominent
amongst all the stories, has been the
emergence of India as the back office
of the world. From call centers, to
simple Business Process Outsourcing
units, to engineering services to what
have you.
There are some subtle differences in
the India story when one speaks of the
Manufacturing versus Knowledge (or
software or service) industry. While in
the scenario where India was supplying
manufactured goods, we were looked
upon as a cost effective source for
goods. However, when the ITES boom
began, people in the developed
economies started to feel the pinch as
they were losing jobs. At the same time
organisations in the developed
economy were awakened to the fact
that they could harness the tremendous
talent in India for a cost arbitrage. In a
few years, the situation turned to one
where an organisation need not be
impressed with the India phenomenon,
2
but could ill afford to ignore it.
Having an ‘India Strategy’ has become
an important indicator for sustainability
of business in companies in the West.
Investors, bankers are enquiring if the
Boards have an India Strategy!
So there is no denying that ITES made
the world sit up and take notice of India.
The ITES boom also helped the
domestic economy. A large number of
young people with high disposable
incomes (despite the cost arbitrage)
was a blessing in disguise. The combined
disposable income created an inflection
in demand for consumer durables,
housing, vehicles, entertainment and
leisure activities, life-style products and
provided the much needed scale and
escape velocity for the Indian Economy
to grow. And what a boom it has
created – sustained growth of over 8
% for the last five years or so.
The question however is – if this is
indeed so, does manufacturing have any
future in India?
In my assessment, Manufacturing does
have a very bright future in India.
Consider the demographics of our
country. Almost 70% of the population
is below the age of 35. This large pool
of people will be productive, earn
disposable incomes, consume wide
variety of goods and services, and aspire
for lifestyle products.
This translates into a huge demand for
manufactured goods. While India is fast
becoming the back-office to the world,
it can not simultaneously afford to
become the market for the advanced
economies too, to sell their goods.
Services Sector has provided the much-
needed international visibility and
increasing disposable income – which
are very crucial for kick-starting
economic growth. However, Service
Sector is unlikely to provide
opportunities to the less educated
sections of the society. It cannot sustain
the growth. Three-fourths of the Indian
Workers (or 300 million people) have
not studied beyond high school. India’s
educated elite is too small – and its
purchasing power, too limited.
Given this scenario today, what is needed
to make India prosperous, is the boosting
of incomes of those workmen who are
stuck with low-productivity options. This
section of population cannot, in the
foreseeable future, hope to get jobs in
the software industry. Social tensions, law
and order problems because of this
divide, could be enormous.
Hope comes in form of
Manufacturing.
Before I proceed, let’s look at some of
the other success stories in the
manufacturing domain. We are aware
of the Japan example. A country with
limited, or no natural resources,
imports all its raw material, and yet is
focused on the manufacturing sector of
its economy, to make it the second
largest economy in the world.
Closer home, a similar story is
being written. Singapore.
Despite having options like
Tourism (especially medical
tourism), knowledge-based
enterprises, financial services and
the like and being equipped with
hardly any natural resources –
(where even water is imported
from Malaysia), Singapore is
focusing on Manufacturing.
Despite doing well in all the above
sectors, and managing one of the
most efficient ports on this side
of the world, Singapore has
steadfastly focused on
Manufacturing. Manufacturing
contributes to a healthy 28% of
Singapore’s GDP, and it is
growing.
Some other interesting snippets
about the Singaporean economy
and Indian economy are as
follows.
Singapore:
l 10% Refrigerator Compressors.
l 20% Ship Repair/Service.
l 30% Disk-drives.
l 80% Offshore Oil-Rigs.
l 30% Hearing Aids.
l 50% Fast Ferries – (up to 60m)
Indian context:
l Bharat Forge has the world’s largest
single location forging facility. It’s
clients include Honda, Toyota and
Volvo amongst others.
l Hero Honda with 1.7M motorcycles
a year is now the largest motorcycle
3

manufacturer in the world.
‘
l India is the second largest tractor
manufacturer in the world.
l India is the fifth largest
Given this scenario commercial vehicle manufacturer
in the world.
today, what is needed l Suzuki, which makes Maruti in
India has decided to make India
to make India its manufacturing export and
research hub outside Japan.
prosperous, is the Suzuki is also the second largest
maufacturer of small cars in the
boosting of incomes world.
Essal Propack is the largest
l Engineering,
of those workmen manufacturer of collapsible tubes
in the world.
low-productivity
‘
who are stuck with What better proof than these live
examples of Japan and Singapore, to
highlight importance
Manufacturing to a nation’s
of
options. economy!
The challenge of attracting
talent:
To use the stock market lexicon,
fundamentals of the Manufacturing
4
industry are strong, and this is the right
time to get in, and stay invested for an
attractive career growth.
Manufacturing industries have also been
the crucible of the various management
thoughts one gets to hear these days.
JIT, SPF, TQM, TPM, Kaizen, LCA,
SMED, 5S, Visual Control, Zero Defect,
Poka Yoke, TOC, 6 Sigma, Lean Plants,
Kanban etc. All these tools, techniques,
or Management thoughts have been
developed in a Manufacturing
environment.
On the physical side also, Manufacturing
plants have become sophisticated with
infusion of technology, are safe and well-
kept, with an increasingly educated, well
to do, progressive and compliant
workforce.
The Manufacturing domain is also
becoming inclusive – besides the
shopfloor, it now includes Design,
New product
development, Manufacturing
Engineering, CAD, CAM, Tool Design,
Process Design, Value Engineering,
After Sales Service and the like.
It is important to re-introduce
Manufacturing to the newer
generations, and attract them to it. It
is a national waste to have qualified
Engineers do non-engineering jobs.
Sample this dialogue between a Camel
and its Mother.
Camel : Mother, may I ask you
some questions?
Mother : Sure, you can Son, is there
something bothering you?
Camel : Why do camels have
humps?
Mother : Well Son, we are desert
animals, we need humps
to store water and we are
known to survive without
water.
Camel : Ok, then why are our legs
long and our feet
rounded?
Mother : Son, they are obviously
meant for walking in the
 desert better than anyone Are our plants designed to result of which the above-mentioned
does. ensure jobs are created, the country will never
l Minimum Material / Manpower / succeed in overcoming poverty. Also,
Camel : Ok, then why are our
Information movement engaging oneself in manufacturing
eyelashes long?
l Minimal Planning Effort actively and raising it to a higher level is
Sometimes, it bothers my
l Mistake proofing / First Time Right one of the surest ways of using and
sight.
l Aesthetically Pleasing work realising one’s potential fully. Let’s all
Mother : My Son, those long thick Environment work together for global leadership in
eyelashes are your l Zero Wait Time manufacturing, that we can be proud of.
protective cover. They l Zero Searching Time
Kaustubh Shukla
help to protect your eyes l Capturing of defects as Up-stream
COO, Industrial Products Division
from the desert sand and As possible
wind. I would like to conclude this piece by
Camel : I see. So the hump is to stating that, our
store water when we are country cannot
in the desert, the legs are hope to eliminate
for walking through the poverty without
desert and these eyelashes creating jobs in a
protect my eyes from the large way, especially
desert sand… for people who will
be migrating from
Camel : Just one more question, rural areas to urban
Mother…. areas. This mig-
Mother : Yes, dear? ration would be a
result of the
Camel : What the hell are we industrial deve-
doing in the zoo?! lopment. And for
Coming closer to home, while there has the young
been a distinct improvement in the engineers, the
Manufacturing domain in Godrej, a lot message is that
needs to be done. An engineer joining unless they work
us today, can participate in this for the manufac-
transformation exercise, to lead a turing sector, as a
satisfying, challenging, growing career.
For all those looking for challenge in
their jobs, run through the following
checklist. Answering this will provide
you enough challenge and opportunity
to prove your mettle.
Checklist for introspection:
Do our plants have
l Linear Flow
l Leveled production
l Standardized / Regular Job
Description
l Leveled Flow of Input
l Convenient Arrangements for
l Production
l Maintenance / TPM
l Housekeeping
l Safe Conditions
l Autonomous Work Stations
l Visual Controls
l Daily Work management Practices

5
 Best Practice

Modern manufacturing at DD Narwekar shares

with CHANGE the

Locks division
best manufacturing
practices in Locks
Division. He also
highlights how the
division adapted

G
lobal competition and intense throughput of the plant. Cellular
competition from the unorganised manufacturing was further supported itself to changing
sector in the locks business forced by six major initiatives which helped us
the division to adapt modern get most out of the modern approach demands of
manufacturing practices some years adapted. These throughput enhancing modernised
back. This initiative was sponsored by initiatives are described somewhat
PD Lam, BK Rajkumar and with the briefly below. manufacturing by
valuable guidance and mentoring from
5S and safety practices transforming the
Takao Kasahara, a world renowned
consultant in the area of operations. As The adoption of the methodology of functioning of the
a result, today, the Locks Division is in a 5S is one of the key requirements of division
position to offer competitive locking modern manufacturing practice (MMP).
solutions to customers, both in India MMP calls for clean, orderly, accessible
and markets overseas. and safe work places. This is achieved
by adopting the methodology of 5S and
Cellular manufacturing was the key having it as a routine performed
principle around which the regularly and always for having highly
modernisation of manufacturing productive manufacturing.
process was carried out. Instead of
linear flow of the manufacturing process, MMP also calls for a high level of safety
Visual Control
cells are formed which are designed to in the operations. Locks division is the
System for
complete a sub-assembly or a product first division in Godrej to achieve the
V-Belts:
within the cell itself. Cells are more or OHSAS 18001 certification which has
less self-sufficient in terms of
the processes required, storage
space for raw materials and Before
toolings, area for workmen etc.
Cells are mini plants within a
plant and are generally
designed to minimise the
movement of materials and
men for completing the
manufacturing processes
required. Single piece flow is
attempted as against batch After
wise production. Cellular
manufacturing results in great
improvement in productivity
besides conserving space. In
our experience, the
manufacturing space was
reduced by approximately 50%
and yet the level of production
almost doubled a great Shadow Board for Hand Tools: Frequently needed tools
improvement in the are kept on shadow board for easy access.

6
helped the division a great deal to
streamline and refine manufacturing
activities as regards to safety and health.
Further, as a result of this systematic
effort, the plant had 1100 days without
a single reportable accident and about
57% reduction in non-reportable
accidents. Contests such as spot the
hazard, clean the department and the
like are held regularly to enhance the
effectiveness of 5S and safety initiatives.
Also, employees are encouraged by the
management to continually improve
work areas.
Autonomous Maintenance:
Autonomous Maintenance (Jishu
Hozen) was adopted as a new measure
for maintaining all critical machines. The
operators are trained to maintain their
machines and equpment daily by
cleaning, inspection and lubrication. A
system of visual control is installed on
all these machines to monitor the level
of maintenance carried out by the
operators. The operators from
Maintenance department are entrusted
the task of carrying out relatively larger
improvements and improvements
received through the initiative of Kaizen.
Also, a new initiative of online
‘
registering of request received for
maintenance was initiated to have a
systematic database for maintenance
activity. This eliminated keeping of
maintenance related record manually.
Contests such as
Culture of Kaizen: spot the hazard,
We have adopted the Kaizen way for
clean the
continuous improvements in Locks
Division. This has brought about the
involvement of operators in the department are
improvement activities. The operators
are rewarded with instant recognition held regularly to
and employee of the quarter award
scheme. enhance the
Two Bin Inventory Replenishment
System:
The two bin system essentially ensure
that the required raw materials,
effectiveness of 5S
and safety
‘
components and sub-assemblies are
never out of stock. A high level of
initiatives.
availability of these enables the cells to
produce a wide variety of locks, with a
higher degree of certainty at a short
lead time. Also, maintaining a two-bin
system in a scientific way achieves an
7
 impossible double of increase in
availability of components etc,
accompanied by reduction in the value
of inventory time, simultaneously.
Before
After
CII-SME Cluster Approach for
Vendor Management:
The other major initiative to optimise
the inventory costs is CII-SME Cluster
approach for vendor development.
Locks Division is supporting their critical
suppliers for enhancing their capabilities.
This year the division has decided to
adopt the philosophy of ‘Sharing Risks
and Rewards’ for managing vendors.This
was also announced at the annual
supplier meet.
Locks division has extended their TQM
initiatives to their strategic vendors. To
develop them in this direction and have
a global level of competitiveness
amongst them, the division adopted the
CII-SME cluster approach.This approach
is governed by four key principles.
1. Group Learning
2. Performance monitoring and
management – continuously
8
3. Progress reviews by CII experts
4. Linking of processes to business results
Low Cost Automation:
Low Cost Automation (LCA) has been
a major initiative for transformation of
processes and improvements in
productivity. The focus at a macro level
has been on the following:
a) Eliminating / minimising human
intervention in the processes
b) Deployment of concepts like mistake
proofing (POKA-YOKE) etc. as a
part of deliberate design for
implementing LCA
Correct balance is maintained by up-
gradation of existing equipment through
LCA & inducting new state of the art
equipments to cater to market
deliverables of variety, cost, quality &
timeliness. Through this we are
enhancing processes & techniques by
innovative use of equipment &
resources, giving significant
improvement in cost, quality, & safety.
Energy Conservation:
Locks division has always been at the
forefront on energy conservation
activities and has achieved significant
reduction in energy costs. Many energy
conservation measures have been
identified through CII audits and
implemented, besides continuous in-
house energy conservation activities.
Some of the major energy saving project
implemented by the plant team in
consultation with E & E, has resulted in
substantial savings of specific energy
consumption to the extent of 42% over
a period of five years (2001-06).
To sum up, adoption of modern
manufacturing practices and implementing
them sincerely and systematically has
taken the division to new heights in terms
of customer response, productivity, stock
reduction and competitiveness. The
transformation is an ongoing process and
we have set for ourselves business goals
which are still higher and more challenging
to achieve.We are, however, confident that
given our culture of learning,
empowerment and team work, we will
achieve them.
DD Narwekar
Senior General Manager, Manufacturing,
Locks Division
 Best Practice

Challenge of procuring Multi-pronged

procurement strategy

non-ferrous alloys
essential for competitive
procurement in volatile
markets

in volatile markets dynamics. Using historical data and

other variables affecting the market,
we forecast better prices using a

L
ocks division has been using
technique called Monte Carlo
copper and zinc alloys, mainly
simulations. The outputs of simulations
brass and mazak for several
are used to determine low price
decades now to manufacture
periods on LME for procuring
components and locks. Non-ferrous
materials. Speculations are strictly
metals like copper and zinc alloys have,
avoided. It has resulted in significant
in fact, preceded the use of steel by
savings.
several hundred years. The advent of
electricity and technology of die casting Alternate sources of alloys had to be
facilitated the use of non ferrous metals identified in order to have our
on a much greater scale, where their requirements set at lower prices. We
usage was called for. adopted the strategy of ‘ore above the
ground’. Instead of losing the alloys in
As the supply of these metals of these
the form of ingots etc, we decided to

‘
Copper wire scrap metals is rather limited, and the usage
use scrap of copper, which has, being a
has been growing at a faster rate, the
noble metal, recyclable value of 90%.
prices of these metals on London
We identified scraps all over our
The end of 2005 Metal Exchange has been fluctuating
neighbouring countries as well and
widely. These fluctuations make it
perhaps changed the ‘
era of price stability
very difficult for us to procure the
metals at right prices for our
production where they account for
65% of the material cost.
obtained a reduction of 10% in the cost
of alloys.
Hedging is a well-known strategy for
containing the risk of future
transactions. Based on the findings
forever. The end of 2005 perhaps changed the
era of price stability forever. The prices
of our price forecasting model, and
carefully studying the market trends,
of these metals shot up to sky high levels
we hedge about 50% of our
hurting us severely.
requirement. This hedging assures
We, at Locks Division had to work out that fluctuations in the prices,
a new strategy for procuring these upward or downward, have only 50%
alloys at lowest possible landed cost, of the impact.
without compromising our stringent
To sum up, procuring alloys at lowest
specifications. We decided to adopt a
possible prices, is tough and a
three pronged approach.
challenging task specially under
l Improved short term and long term uncertain and highly volatile market
forecasting conditions. Doing a good job in this
l Search for alternate sources of these situation calls for deploying a great
alloys deal of art -a combination of
l Hedging imagination, intuition and skills as
opposed to analysis. We are inching
Improved short term forecasting was
towards learning of this great art.
achieved by deploying a forecasting
model, which combined the MR Shenai
uncertainty of the market with its Purchase Department, Locks Division
9
 Environmental Concerns

E-Waste...
Electronic waste is posing a serious
threat to human and environmental
health. Nirbhay Dixit provides some
plausible solutions in order to raise
consciousness about the perils of the

A disaster
highly toxic E-waste.

in the making
How often do we change our cell
phones? How often have we thought
of upgrading our TV with a brand new
Plasma television? In our pursuit for
new products, we sometimes forget
what happens to the outdated
electronic and electrical appliances.
Most of these devices at the end of their
lifecycle inevitably find their way to the
next door scrap dealer and from him
to some backyard smelter. Owing to
the absence of any defined regulations
for proper disposal of these products,
this kind of waste often ends up in a
waste stream where it is either dumped
in landfills like other non hazardous
waste, or is recycled in an unhygienic
and polluting way.
What is E–Waste
Electronic waste, also known as
E-Waste or waste electronic and
electrical equipment (WEEE) is a
generic term used for various forms of
electronic and electrical equipment
Large household appliances (ovens, refrigerators)
Small household appliances (toasters, vacuum cleaners etc.)
(EEE) that have ceased to be of any
value to their owners. The major
categories of WEEE are:
Toxics in E–Waste
E–Waste contains an amalgam of toxic
materials that pose a grave threat to
human life and the environment. Some
of the toxic materials contained in E-
waste are
Lead: Lead is a poisonous metal that
can damage the nervous system
(especially in young children) and cause
blood and brain disorders. Long term
exposure to lead or its salts (especially
soluble salts or the strong oxidant
PbO 2) can cause nephropathy and
abdominal pains.
Cadmium: Cadmium accumulates in
human kidneys. Inhaling cadmium-laden
dust leads to respiratory tract infections
and kidney problems, which can be fatal.
Ingestion of any significant amount of
cadmium causes immediate poisoning
and damage to the liver and the kidneys.
Compounds containing cadmium are
also carcinogenic, and can induce many
types of cancer.

IT and telecommunications equipment (PCs, printers, phones, faxes etc.) Chromium VI: Chromium VI can
cause damage to DNA and is
Consumer equipment (TVs, HiFis, portable CD players etc.) extremely toxic to the environment.
Most chromium (VI) compounds are
Lighting equipment (mainly fluorescent tubes) irritating to eyes, skin and mucous
membranes. Chronic exposure to
Electrical and electronic tools (with the exception of large-scale stationary
chromium (VI) compounds can cause
industrial tools)
permanent eye injury, unless properly
10
treated. Chromium (VI) is an established human
carcinogen
Mercury: Mercury causes damage to brain and kidneys.
When mercury spreads out in water, it is transformed into
methylated mercury. Methylated mercury easily accumulates
in fish and thereby enters the human food chain.
Beryllium: Beryllium and its salts are toxic substances
and potentially carcinogenic. Beryllium causes pulmonary
and systemic granulomatous disease. Beryllium can be
harmful if inhaled and the effects depend on period of
exposure. If beryllium air levels are high enough (greater
than 100 µg/m³), an acute condition can result, called acute
beryllium disease, which resembles pneumonia.

E-waste generation in India

India is transiting from a country of savers to a country of
spenders. New found economic prosperity has led to
mindless consumerism. Sales of electrical and electronic
devices are skyrocketing. However we don’t have a system
in place that can dispose these gadgets at the end of their
lifecycle. Presently, most of the E-Waste recycling
processes are extremely hazardous
Every month around 4 lakh new computers are sold in
India. The obsolescence rate of new computers has come
down from 5-6 years to 3-4 years. So we can estimate
that after 3-4 years every year around 48 lakh old
computers will be added to the waste stream. This number
will only increase in the future, and we are not even taking
into consideration imports of old computers from
developed countries. So far the preliminary estimates
suggest that total WEEE generation in India is approximately
1,46,000 tonnes per year.

E-Waste legislation in India

In India there is no E-waste specific legislation. However
there are provisions under The Hazardous wastes Rules,
1989, amended 2000 that could apply to E-Waste. India
has enacted around 14 laws to address environmental
issues, but none of these have a direct reference of E-
Waste. The processes that are used to dispose computers
produce harmful materials such as lead, cadmium, mercury
etc. The processes that generate these hazardous material
come under the ambit of hazardous waste rules. However,
the Government has taken into cognizance the severity of
the problem and hopefully in the near future specific laws
for E- waste would be promulgated.

E-Waste management scenario in India

In India there is an absence of organised recyclers. Scrap is
managed through various small time recyclers. The process
followed by recyclers is product reuse, conventional
disposal in landfills, open burning and backyard recycling.
The disposal and recycling of computer waste has become
a grave problem since the processes carried out for
recycling are very elementary and pose a great environment
and health risk.
11
 Landfill: Due to lack of public awareness,
in India, E–Waste is treated like any other
solid waste. Toxic chemicals in electronic
products percolates into the land over
time or are released into the ecosystem,
‘
impacting nearby communities and the
environment. In many European
countries, regulations have been
The obsolescence introduced to prevent electronic waste
from being dumped in landfills due to its
rate of new hazardous content. However, in India E-
Waste is indiscriminately being dumped
computers has come and polluting the environment.
Incineration: Unorganised recyclers
down from 5-6 burn parts of computers to extract
metal. This releases heavy metals such
years to 3-4 years. as lead, cadmium and mercury into the
air. Mercury released into the
So we can estimate atmosphere can bioaccumulate in the
food chain, particularly in fish - the major
that after 3-4 years route of exposure for the general public.
If the products contain PVC plastic,
every year around highly toxic dioxins are also released.
Recycling: In India, we recycle most
48 lakh old parts of the computer. It makes it a high
‘
computers will be
added to the waste
value scrap. From monitors, cathode ray
tube, copper, plastic etc are collected,
from printers motors and cartridges are
extracted, from the wires, copper is
extracted, from the circuit board, gold
stream. and copper is extracted. Although
recycling can be a good way to reuse the
raw materials in a product, the hazardous
chemicals in E –Waste can harm workers
12
in the recycling yards, as well as their
neighbouring communities and
environment.
Recommendations for proper
E-Waste Management
Ban hazardous waste imports
The Indian Government allows import
of usable old computers if they are
donated to educational organisations
but unfortunately a huge amount of E-
waste is imported in India on the
pretext of donated computers. As most
of the imports are done through ports,
proper scanning mechanism should be
in place so that the imports of such
hazardous waste is restricted.
Make the manufacturer
responsible
The principle of ‘Extended Producer
Responsibility’ makes it mandatory for
the producer to be responsible for their
products at the end of their life cycle.
Manufactures can attach a cost of
recycling (Advance Recycling Fee) in the
cost of the product. At the end of the
product cycle, manufacturers take their
product back and either recycle or
properly dispose it.
Sensitising the consumer
Government and manufacturers of
electrical and electronics products

should take on the responsibility of
educating the consumers regarding the
hazardous material contained in these
devices. They should be apprised of the
threat these materials pose to
environment and health.
Proactive measures by the
Government
The Government should assure that all
the illegal recycling and backyard
operations are stopped so that these
wastes can be channelised through the
authorised recyclers. The Government
could also look at a public-private
partnership approach in building
recycling and disposal facility for E-waste.
International Response to
E-Waste
E-Waste is increasingly being regarded as
a potential threat to life and environment.
The Government across the world is
taking cognizance of this nuisance. The
nations of the European Union lead the
war against E-Waste. Switzerland has a
comprehensive mechanism in place
where the manufacturers take the
responsibility of the proper disposal of
the electrical and electronic equipments
at the end of their lifecycle. Whenever a
customer buys an electrical or electronic
equipment, he has to pay an advance
recycling fee. This ARF is the cost that
manufactures attach to the product for
the recycling and proper disposal of these
equipments.
Basel Convention
The Basel Convention is an
international treaty that was designed
to reduce the movements of hazardous
waste between nations, and specifically
to prevent transfer of hazardous waste
from developed to less developed
countries (LDCs). The export of E-
waste to India and other developing
countries violates Basel convention as
most of the computer parts contain
hazardous waste. Basel Convention
prohibits trade of metal wastes and
wastes consisting of antimony, arsenic,
beryllium, cadmium, lead etc.
The United States of America is the only
developed country that has not ratified the
Basel Convention. As a result hazardous
E-Waste from USA is regularly exported
to developing countries.
‘
Modest beginnings in India
However, there is still a ray of hope.
New initiatives are been taken in India.
E-Parisaraa Pvt. Ltd is running a
Wipro has recently
recycling facility near Bangalore where
indigenous techniques are being used launched an E-waste
to dispose E-Waste in an environment
friendly manner. The maximum disposal facility for its
recycling capacity of this plant is
around 10 tonnes everyday. However, customer. Initially, 15
due to unavailability of inputs it is
recycling a much lower quantity of cities will be covered
around 1 ton everyday. It is abysmally
low as Bangalore produces around under this scheme. The
8,000 tonnes of E-waste every year.
Most of this waste material goes to entire process of collecting,
unauthorised recyclers.
The corporate world is also responding packing, processing and
to the gravity of the situation. Wipro
has recently launched an E-waste recycling of Wipro
disposal facility for its customer. Initially,
15 cities will be covered under this branded desktops, laptops
scheme. The entire process of collecting,
packing, processing and recycling of
Wipro branded desktops, laptops and
and servers is now in
servers is now in place. Customers will
place. Customers will pay
pay a nominal logistic cost of Rs 5-7 per
kg of the material. Wipro will ensure
that the discarded computers are passed
on to vendors certified by pollution
control authorities to handle and dispose
E-Waste with pollution control norms.
‘
a nominal logistic cost of
Rs 5-7 per kg of the
Wipro will collect documentary proof material
that that these items have been disposed
of in a safe manner by the E-Waste
handling agencies as prescribed by the
pollution control authorities.
A host of NGOs are also trying their bit
to alleviate the situation. Recently Toxics
link conducted a one day workshop on
E-waste management in Mumbai. NGO
Saahas is working on this problem in
Bangalore. Foreign organisations like
EMPA Swiss federal labs for materials
testing & research and GTZ German
Technical Corporation are working in
tandem with government agencies.
However, we still have a long way to go.
There is a need to inform the common
man of thse hazardous material this
innocuous looking material can contain
and the adverse effects they are having
on our environment. It will be a long battle
that we can’t afford to lose.
Nirbhay Dixit
New Business Development
Prima Division
13
 Restore. Reflect. Reimagine

‘India
Vrunda Pathare captures
the story behind the
manufacture of the first

Can Make It’

truly indigenious Indian
typewriter by Godrej.

Manufacturing the All-Indian typewriter

The year 1955 made India the first
country in Asia to manufacture its own
manual typewriter thereby finding her
a place among few industrialized
countries of Europe and America in the
field of typewriter manufacturing. It was
indeed an achievement for a young
industrial India as this first Manual
Typewriter was exclusively designed
and executed by Indian engineers alone.
Here is the story of the first all-Indian
typewriter and the company that made
this possible…Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co.
Ltd.
In the year 1947, India embarked on a
journey towards economic
Dr. Rajendra Prasad
independence, a natural successor to
in ‘technology and progress’, and in
‘industrialisation and machines’. The
need was felt that for sustained
progress, India must itself manufacture
what it needs.
The typewriter was one such product,
the market for which was completely
dominated by the foreign brands like
Remington, Olivetti and Underwood.
The idea of manufacturing typewriters
was first mooted as early as 1948.
When Naval Godrej discussed the idea
with his father, Pirojsha Godrej got
quite excited and pointed it out to
Naval that if Godrej did successfully
undertake typewriter manufacture, they
would be the first in Asia to do so, for

‘
the recently achieved political freedom. even a more advanced country like
To achieve this, our leadership believed Japan had not undertaken typewriter

The need was

felt that for
sustained
progress, India
must itself
manufacture
‘
what it needs

Pt. Nehru examining the Godrej typewriter during his visit to an industrial exhibition in Madras.

14
‘ Here is the
story of the first
All-Indian
typewriter and
the company
that made this
possible -
Godrej & Boyce
‘
Mfg. Co. Ltd.
From the special supplement brought out to launch the first manual typewriter, 1955

manufacture. Their enthusiasm was and Stationery Annual of India (1952)

matched by a sponsorship by the
Government of India to undertake the
manufacture of typewriters. However,
this wasn’t an easy job.
In 1950s, the demand for typewriters
in India was very small and restricted.
Statistics from the Office Equipment
published by Excels Ltd. recorded that
“at no time during the last ten years
total imports of typewriters of all kinds
exceeded 14,345 machines and that the
average annual reports during the last
ten years come to about 7,456
typewriters of all kinds.” Because of

The late Dr Hathi in his oral history interview to the Archives recalls
typewriter manufacturing in the following words;

“Typewriters came in the year 1955. But we were work-
ing on typewriters for many years. We were also at that
time trying to get the collaboration and in those days the
American typewriter called Royal was supposed to be very
good. Remington was already importing here. Remington
had a branch in India. But the Americans, even after the
world war, would not agree to join or collaborate. They
were not interested. We wrote at that time but could
not get collaboration. Then we started developing our-
selves. There was a model called Woodstock - American
Woodstock (as it had not been patented). We copied
that part to part except the spring which we had to
import. Everything else was made by us but it took a
long time. Then first typewriter we presented to
Jawaharlal Nehru.
At that time I was already a branch manager in Delhi.
I went along with SP Godrej to his house at Teen
Murti Marg and presented (the typewriter) to him.
We took an appointment. He gave us about a half an
hour. He came exactly in time and exactly left on
dot.”

15
 the small demand and the intricacy and and Morwalla was in charge of the all-
complexity involved in the important basic toolings. By 1952, 200
manufacture of typewriter, the well dies and punches for blanking, 18
known foreign firms in India contented bending dies, 12 die-casting dies were
themselves by merely selling imported ready. Special cams and innumerable jigs
machines or partially assembling some & fixtures were designed for producing
of the parts and never thought of 350 automat items.
manufacturing in India.
Out of 1,800 component pieces in a
In spite of this, Godrej took up the typewriter, only the types, key tops,
challenge of manufacturing such an rubber plates and one spring – of the
intricate and complex machine. The value of Rs 30 in all were imported,
job of manufacturing manual making it truly an all-Indian
typewriter involved in addition to the typewriter.
turning, grilling, tapping, riveting &
In 1955 the first All-Indian Godrej
punching, the making of over 150
Typewriter was ready for launch.
varieties of screws with special
threads, not to mention the whole Vrunda Pathare
series of specialised jobs like die- Godrej Archives
casting, spring-coiling, rack-cutting,
gang milling and heat treating.
Ad from
‘These specialised processes called for
highly specialised machines like special Industrial India, 1956
milling machines for type-bar segment,
carriage, guides & mounting frames, die
casting machines for main frames, top
plates & spool covers; automatic rack
cutting machines for bars; multi spindle
drilling & tapping machines for key-lever
mounting, carriage & plates & other
components which require precision
drilling.’ It was no doubt a difficult
endeavour!
Therefore, before getting into actual
production, a profound study was
undertaken to understand the
intricacies of the processes of
typewriter manufacture and the
assembly. It was decided to follow
the model of the Woodstock
typewriter as it had not been
patented. The Tool Room started
working on manufacturing machine
tools i.e. machines to make
machines. Special machines were
ordered as early as 1947 & 1948.
However, the work of manu-
facturing typewriters was kept on
hold in face of a new order for
manufacturing ballot boxes for the
first general election of Independent
India and it wasn’t until 1950 that
the work of typewriter manu-
facturing got momentum.
A small-design section was established
at Lalbaug under engineer KNV Vasan.
PM Bhada and KB Gupte were
associated with the manufacturing side
16
Money Matters
Million
S $
$ $
$
dollar
S advice
$
T
homas Stanley in his book The
Millionaire Next Door wrote:
"Save and become rich."
Napolean Hill said: "Think and grow rich."
In the Indian context, with popular
game show Kaun Banega Crorepati-III
having begun recently, all of you must
have seen hoardings projecting KBC-
III as the next easy way to get rich!
All of it sounds very simple and dream-
like. But, the truth really is that despite
all those desperate Rs 6 messages we
send, it's probably four or five people
out of a billion people who actually
become Crorepatis that way!
For most others, there are five legal
ways of getting rich, some of which
might be faster than the others -
1) Inherit it 2) Marry it 3) Save it and
Invest it 4) Become an Owner (own
equity) and not a Loaner 5) Win a
Lottery.
However, the one constant strategy or
principle that is relevant to everyone is
'Save it and Invest it'.
It is one of those principles, which
however old or simple it might sound,
is applicable even in today's time as it
was a hundred years ago. Burton Malkiel
in his book Random Walk to Investing
has written, "Even in fields such as
medicine, where true expertise really
exists, the greatest gain comes from
following simple advice...More lives have
been saved and prolonged by penicillin
and by washing hands than by any other
pharmaceutical or medical technique."
A simple strategy is easy to implement
and leaves you with a lot of time to
spend fruitfully!
Here are six simple steps to strike
gold:
1. Invest at least 20 % of your gross
Amar Pandit shares six
golden tips to become a
millionaire
income in a diversified equity mutual
fund or large cap stocks every month.
2. Start your tax planning investments
right from the beginning of the
financial year in April. Do not
procrastinate.
3. Transfer all risks such as death,
disability, critical illness, accident,
health and property to the insurance
company. Understand the
consequences of risks and do not
think of insurance as an expense.
4. Avoid short cuts. Albert Einstein
once said, "Only two things are
Infinite, the universe and human
stupidity, and I am not sure about
the former."
5. Ensure that you have addressed the
issues of wealth transfer by having a
simple will. It will help avoid any
discord.
6. Invest a fixed amount every month
in debt and equity.
Now here are six mistakes most
equity and mutual fund investors
make. Avoid these:
1. Having irrational expectations.
2. Selling out in bad markets.
3. Investing short-term money in
equity and long term money in debt.
4. Being affected by news, interest
rates, oil prices and losing
confidence too soon.
5. Trying to time the market and waiting
for the best time to buy or sell.
6. Getting greedy and opting for spicy
derivatives, commodity trading
without understanding the risks
associated.
Attempting to follow this advice will
certainly get you one step closer to
becoming a millionaire. The financial
decisions you make may not be flawless,
but it is certainly better to make flawed
decisions than make none at all.
The greatest barrier to your success or
becoming a Crorepati can only be 'you'.
Amar Pandit
17
 In Memorium
Dr. KR Hathi:
A good man of
Godrej K eki Rustomji Hathi, at the age of
85, passed away on Christmas
Day (December 25, 2006) at
Mumbai. He was born in Bharuch,
Gujarat and joined Godrej at the age
of 22 and served the company for over
50 years with distinction.
Dr. Hathi was essentially a simple man
– simple in his attire, in his ways and in
his relationships. He was simplicity
personified. A god-fearing man of deep
values and high integrity. A silent
achiever. A man who loved his work
and prodded others relentlessly to do
their own. A man of immense energy
and optimism. Tenacious and tireless
in his efforts. Stoic by nature, an
empathetic listener, a life-long learner,
well read, humble and helpful, Dr Hathi
was a great asset for Godrej.
A postgraduate and a PhD in history,
he joined Godrej at the age of twenty
two in the year 1944, as a salesman to
be trained as an executive to be posted
at branches outside Mumbai. For almost
two decades, he managed branches all
over India and returned to Mumbai in
the early sixties and shortly thereafter
proceeded to the US to get his post
graduation degree in management from
MIT. He was a Sloan fellow. In 1962, he
returned to Mumbai and worked for a
decade at the Head Office in the area
of Sales and Marketing, ultimately taking
over the reins of Marketing in 1973. He
retired as Executive Vice President in
1993.
Dr. Hathi was convinced that unless the
organisation was managed in a
professional way, it had no chance of
surviving and growing in the fast
changing times. He began the work of
professionalising the marketing area by
18
A homage to the man
who pioneered modern
management practice at
Godrej
recruiting management trainees for the
first time in the history of the company
from IIM, Ahmedabad. Not only did he
establish a well thought out trainee
programme, but ensured that training
was given to all concerned in the years
to come. He personally oversaw the
training of people in marketing and
ensured that their development was not
ignored.
To enable company growth, he
expanded the dealer network from that
of less than a 100 to more than 500 all
over the country. He had great knack
for appointing the right dealers and
establishing mutually beneficial
partnerships, which have lasted over
four decades.
To manage the dealer network and
have the company presence all over the
country, he expanded the branch
network from six to over 25 during his
tenure. These branches had sales and
service functions entrusted to them
besides having warehousing as an
integral part, wherever possible.
Innovation in marketing was his forte.
He introduced many new products
during his tenure. Innovative ways to
sell manual typewriters make a great
reading. However, nothing was more
noteworthy than the annual speed
typing contests for the typists. This
contest continued to be held for more
than ten years until the mid-nineties,
helping Godrej sell typewriters in
numbers larger than anyone else and
be the leader for years to come.
Similarly, other innovative approaches
adopted for different products enabled
Godrej to become the market leader
in various categories. The brand
‘Godrej’ became stronger than ever
 before offering a solid foundation for growth
in the nineties and beyond. Building the Godrej
brand to be amongst the top ten Indian brands
for years was one of Dr. Hathi’s most significant
contributions.
He embodied the spirit of Rotary and was a
staunch Rotarian for years. He urged young
managers to become Rotarians and serve the
community at large. He himself served the Parsi
community well, making contributions for its
welfare and served as trustee in several
occasions.
To those who were reporting to him, he was
their mentor. He was firm and fair. If the
reportee had erred, he would not hesitate to
pull him up, but on the next day itself, he
would compliment him on a job well done.
He believed in developing people and made
sure that promising young managers were
rotated adequately for their development. He
himself was the master of dealing with the

‘
DGS&D for Government business and taught
the art and skills of successful tendering to
many. He was a man of detail, with wide-
A man who loved ranging interests and a passion for
thoroughness. As a result, files would pile on
his work and his table, which he would work until late hours
to clear. But in the end, the matters did
receive his full attention and justice. Diligence
prodded others mattered to him a great deal. He read widely
and spotted ideas for action. As late as
relentlessly to do November 2006, at the age of 84, he spotted
a news item of the company’s interest and
their own. A man forwarded it to Mr JN Godrej for his use.
Godrej’s well being was always foremost in
of immense his mind.

energy and He loved to keep physically fit and was a yoga

enthusiast. A karmayogi in the true sense of the
word, he never mentioned his own woes but
optimism. listened to those of others with compassion and

Tenacious and ‘
tireless in his
offered help wherever he could. Although great
tragedies had befallen him in a short span of three
months, when he lost his wife and his youngest
son under tragic circumstances, he carried on
with life and performed his duties with grace
efforts. and dignity.
Those who knew him will always remember his
gentle and understanding ways and miss him
greatly. Farewell Doc.

(Inputs from Pesi Mancherji, Nari Tarapore, HN Patell,

Ramesh Gangaramani and Indarpal Singh)

19
 Home Base
The Steel Processing team from Plant 1, captained by Santosh Dixit were the winners
The event: Interio Division organised,
for the third consecutive year, the intra-
division cricket tournament for all its
employees at the head office. The match
was for both management staff and
workforce.
From: January 15 to January 29, 2007
Venue: The Godrej Hillside Colony
grounds.
Proceedings: This year, unlike in the
last two years, we received a
tremendous response for the event
with a total of 22 teams enlisting to
participate in the tournament. The
tournament this year brought in a few
surprises for the teams - some
unexpected wins and some
disappointments. Plant 1 was the dark
horse, which reached the finals and
played against Plant 4. Plant 1
20
Interio Division
The spirit of sportsmanship
emerged winners and displayed some
excellent cricket in terms of bowling,
batting and fielding.
Guests of honour: We were elated
to have Navroze Godrej as our chief
guest for the finals on January 29,
2007. He gave away the trophy to
Santosh Dixit, captain of the Plant 1
team. The other prizes were handed
over by Anil Mathur and Anil
Lingayat.
Spectators: Management staff and
workmen along with the GBSS team
were present in full strength at the
grand finale.
Super Performers: The Best
Batsman award was bagged by
Mangesh S Ambre, the Best Bowler
went to Ashok Panchal. Amit Chavan
was declared the Best Fielder and the
Man of the Series was Anil Gawde of
Plant 1.
Vote of thanks: We would like to
thank Navroze Godrej for having
accepted our invitation to be present
at the finals of the Interio Cricket
Championship 2007. We would like
to place on record our heartfelt
thanks to the entire organising
committee comprising Mangesh S
Ambre, Mahadev Sawant, Vijay
Salaskar, Ramballi Yadav and his team
without whose enthusiasm,
assistance and work, the event would
not have happened. We would also
like to specially thank Tejbahadur
Yadav for his hilarious commentary
and Mr Linge of Security Equipment
Division who officiated as the umpire
for the tournament along with Mr
Kudav of Plant 13. Our special thanks
to Godrej Foods, our sponsors for
the drinks served at the tournament,
Anil Verma, Executive Vice President
and Head, Corporate Personnel &
Administration, Anil S Mathur, COO,
Interio Division, our Vice Presidents,
Anil Lingayat and Manoj Ganjawalla
as well as all the members of the
management and our workforce for
their participation, enthusiasm and
support in holding this event each
year.
Last word: The championship apart
from a whole lot of fun also served
as a positive exercise in team
building.
– Mangesh S Ambre and
Doreen Rosario
Meeting customer satisfaction
Event: Customer meet organised by
Interio, Bhopal branch along with
Security Equipment Division
Date: November 26, 2006
Venue: Hotel Sayaji, Indore
Participants: In all there were 150
participants from the banking, private,
corporate, insurance and government
and education sectors.
Proceedings: The meet began with a
welcome address, corporate film and a
presentation on the Interio brand FK
Khapoliwala. This was followed by a
brief detailing on Security Equipment
products by Sarath Mohan Takasi,
Super performer at Times Staff Club. This year, Mangesh S
Ambre of Interio Division was a
Shield tournament member of this Godrej team at the
Times Shield tournament. He
Started by The Times
remained unbeaten with an
of India group, Times
individual score of 62 runs in
Shield Cricket
Godrej’s first match played against
tournament is a
NABARD. After winning this match,
prestigious cricket
the next match was against Mukund
Mangesh S tournament wherein
Ltd where Ambre remained
Ambre teams from different
unbeaten again at 74. However,
industries and firms participate and
display their cricketing skills. This is Godrej was knocked out of the
a knock-out tournament i.e. if one tournament in that match.
loses any one match, they are out We wish Mangesh S Ambre (Deputy
of the tournament. Manager - Human Resources) all the
Godrej & Boyce also takes part in best in the future.
this tournament through our Godrej – Doreen Rosario
Deputy Manager and another on Home
and Institutional products by RP Jagus.
The session ended with a vote of thanks
by Vineet Nagar. We thank FK
Khapoliwala & Vinay Salestekar for
gracing the occasion and making it a
great success.
Last word: The Home and
Institutional products that were
displayed were appreciated by the
customers. The meet was a great
success and the customers were happy
to know the developments taking place
at Godrej. We are certain the meet will
prove fruitful.
RP Jagus
Bhopal Branch
21
 Building bridges with architects
What’s new: This year, as a
strategic practice, we have initiated
various marketing activities to
strengthen our relationship with
architects, through associations with
different bodies like IAB (Indian
Architect & Builder), IIID (Indian
Institute of Interior Designers, IIA
(Indian Institute of Architects).
Action Plan: We have had a series of
informative seminars for architects in
Kolkata, Bangalore, Delhi through
Indian Architects and Builders (IAB).
Subsequently, we also initiated a tie-up
with Indian Institute of Interior
Designers (IIID) to launch an exciting
contest involving
product designs.
We were also
looking at
exploring
different avenues
of bonding with
Indian Institute of
Architects (IIA).
As a first step, we have sponsored their
Awards Nite in Mumbai on December
23, 2006, where around 200 member
architects from across India had
participated.
As part of the sponsorship, we had the
opportunity to:
1. Make a detailed presentation. As a part of the same initiative, in order to create awareness and build
2. Display our products (Enova, Doric interactive platforms with architects, project management consultants and
and new range of chairs) with facility managers, a series of lectures were organised at Kolkata, Bangalore
branding space at the venue. and the third in the series at Delhi on October 13, 2006 at Intercontinental,
3. Secure a branding space and a very The Grand. The lecture series was organised in association with Indian
interesting write-up in the Interiors Architect and Builders focused on enhancing workspaces in the changing
magazine. environment.
Proceedings: The magazine was The programme began with a welcome address by Manoj Ganjawalla and
inaugurated and released in the was followed by the speaker, Martin Haas, Senior Partner in Behnisch
presence of Anil Mathur and Manoj Architekten, a leading proponent of sustainable corporate design. His
Ganjawalla by Prof. Gurunath Dalvi, presentation covered four major projects involving multifaceted aspects of
president, IIA on this occasion. A lucky sustainability, interesting use of landscape elements in the built form and
dip was also organised and chairs were briefly touched upon effects of workspace on an individual’s productivity.
given as prizes to three lucky winners
His featured designs sought to create harmony with the city landscape.
at the end of the programme.
The latest products launched - Doric, Fusion and Enova alongwith chairs
Last word: This event has created a
and Desking Suites were displayed and generated a lot of interest among
platform for us to expand our
interaction with architects who are the fraternity. Architects were educated about the products by our teams
members of the IIA. and the column-based model was especially appreciated.

Vivek Sthalekar, Assistant General Manager Ashwini Deodeshmukh and Preeta Bipin
& Ashwini Deodeshmukh, Deputy Manager, With inputs from Jasdeep Singh Khanna, Delhi Branch
Interio Marketing
22

Sambandh training - Building realtionships through customer service
An ITI team from Nasik
This is in continuation with the
Sambandh training initiative that was
started in Mumbai in 2006. The
initiative has been slowly making
inroads and reaching out to people
in different parts of Maharashtra. In
Mumbai we have been interacting
Team Mohali grounded with enthusiasm
After the Mohali branch of Godrej
Appliances organised their first
ever cricket tournament, Cyrus
Bharucha writes a rapturous piece
for CHANGE on the spirit, the
events and the memories.
All work and no play, makes Jack a dull
boy. Give him a break and his eyes
gleam with joy. This was exactly what
the employees of the Appliance
Division, branch and commercial offices
at Mohali needed the most- a break.
After much deliberation and planning,
the cricket tournament was decided
upon just to give the employees this
much-needed break.
So far Mohali had only heard of
tournaments in Mumbai and once the
chance had fallen in our laps, we wanted
to make the most of it. The spirit was
upbeat. After all the groundwork was
taken care of by the Organising
Appliance Division
with freelance technicians, workshop
owners, private institutes and other
industrial training institutes (ITIs). In
Maharashtra, we have covered ITIs
from regions like Thane, Ambernath,
Mangaon, Nasik, Jalgaon and
Sholapur.
The jubilant winning team
Committee comprising Rajinder Koul,
Sarosh B Patel, Amit Kumar, Bhagirath
Dogra and Praveen Sharma, the
proposal was put forward before G
Yugandar, Senior General Manager-
Manufacturing, Appliance Division,
We have received encouraging and
motivating feedback from the students,
instructors and the principals of these
ITIs. They have gone on record to say
An ITI team from Ambernath
that this is the first time they have seen
such a high quality and easy to
understand concepts about
refrigerators - its service and repairs.
They have applauded the efforts of
Godrej Appliance division in making
efforts to reach out to people who are
about to make a career in this industry.
An intitiative that no other company in
this sector has ever attempted.
Kamal S Bhagwanani
Assistant Manager – Training and Development
Mumbai Branch
which was accepted immediately. As
soon as the idea was announced to the
employees, we were overwhelmed with
the response. 16 teams registered and
the Godrej Cricket Cup, 2006 was all
set to be a challenger!
23
 The match venue was decided. It was
the picturesque ground of the St
Stephen’s School at Chandigarh. It had
a lovely pitch with good turf all around
and several blocks for net practices.
The tournament was well spread over
three Sundays. The event was
inaugurated by Mr G Yugandar. He not
only promoted the event, but also
formed a team of senior members of
the staff, which actively participated in
the event. Neutral umpires and scorers
were also invited for the event.
The final match was between the
Dazzlers (Common Services) and the
Godrej EON wins award for excellence
Godrej EON range of refrigerators
were judged ‘Best Design – Consumer
Durable’ at the recently held Design
Excellence Awards 2006. These awards
are given by the leading business
magazine Business World and India’s
premier design school, National
Institute of Design (NID) Ahemedabad.
Our appliance team deserves
congratulations many times over.
Design excellence awards is a forum for
recognising the best design product
across several categories in India. This
24
Runners-up of the tournament
Blasters (Machine Shop-Compressor
Plant). And in a nail biting final, it was finally
the Dazzlers who dazzled all the way!
The most eagerly awaited part of the
programme was probably the prize
distribution because it was an event
forum indeed has very high standards,
which are reflected in the criteria for
awards, the prominent international jury
which judges the participants and the
process followed. In fact, more than the
above, the participants across the nations
enhanced the prestige of the event.
The rigorous evaluation procedure took
into account parameters such as aesthetics,
level of customisation for the Indian
market, materials used, safety and comfort,
ease of use, technical performance, sales
volumes and above all, costs.
where no achievement or contribution
went unnoticed. Prizes were given away
to the winners, the super performers and
anyone who had in some way or the other
contributed in making the event a success.
Even children didn’t go home
disappointed as they were generously
showered with candies and other goodies.
The cricket tournament was an event
that left all of us with very pleasant
memories. It was an event where
everyone, irrespective of position or
hierarchy, came together and had a blast!
Cyrus Bharucha
Refrigerator plant, Mohali
The jury comprised of Preeti Vyas
Giannetti, chief creative officer, Vyas
Giannetti Creative, Lalit Kumar Das,
head, Instrument Design and
Development Centre, Lars Lallerstedt,
industrial designer, Sweeden, Kimuru
Toru, executive director (architechture
and design), Nagoya Institute of
Technology, Japan, Kenneth Segal, head
(industrial design), Hassadah College of
Technology, Israel.
Godrej range of EON refrigerators
emerged as overall winners in this
competition.
The secret of Godrej winning the design
excellence award is deep consumer
insight. This insight was converted into
usable features by our design team.
Some of the innovative features and
their benefits are – Cool Shower
Technology, Swivel Shelf, Polybag
Suspenders, 2.5 l AquaSpace, Double
Deck, Integrated Ice Hangers and
Unique Door Designs.
What’s more, we have just extended the
EON range with the new EON Fresh
series of refrigerators. These are available
in four new colours, melon red, kiwi
green, icy blue and yellow nectar. These
help overcome the tyranny of white and
metallic. The new range is bound to light
up the kitchens as never before. Available
in two sizes, 243 and 263 litres. The
division plans to introduce many more
innovative products for enriching lives of
our consumers-everyday, everywhere.
Team Appliance

Pratap Singh Rane, Honorable Chief Minister of Goa, PN Sandhu, President of ALUCAST and DK Sharma, Vice President & Business Head, Tooling Division,
along with other dignitaries at the Godrej Tooling Division’s stall at the exhibition.
The Tooling Division’s participation at
the ALUCAST exhibition, 2006
facilitated showcasing of the division’s
technological competencies in an
international forum.
Automobile Companies across the
globe are presently striving hard to give
customers the best, in terms of
technology and price. Increased
competition everywhere has led
companies to lay more emphasis on
‘competitively pricing’ their products.
And therefore, Auto majors are
focusing on Low Cost Countries (LCC)
as an option for sourcing. India and
China are the most favoured LCCs
being looked at by the Automobile
industry. Exhibitions like Auto Expo,
Die & Mould, Asia Pacific Aluminium
Conference, etc., prove to be the right
avenues for companies to showcase
their products and create an awareness
of their capabilities, amongst varied
industries worldwide.
Godrej Tooling Division (GTD) availed
of such a forum, by participating in the
Tooling Division
Casting a good impression
recently held ALUCAST Exhibition –
Asia Pacific Aluminium Conference
2006, in Goa, from 2 to 5 November,
2006.
Asia Pacific Aluminium Conference is
organised by ALUCAST – (Aluminium
Caster’s Association of India) – every
year. ALUCAST is an Association
representing the Aluminium Casting
industry in India – and Godrej Tooling
Division is a lifetime member of
ALUCAST.
In its efforts to provide the right
platform forum to companies to exhibit
their products, this exhibition does not
limit itself to Indian industries, but
attracts overseas players too. This
enables a healthy exchange of
technology and opens up the right
avenues for international companies to
enhance their knowledge-database
about the Indian Die Casting Industry.
Growth of the Tooling industry is
dependent on the Auto-component
industry, which in turn, is dependent
on the Original Equipment
Manufacturers (OEMs). The
Component industry in India has seen
a huge growth, fuelled not only by the
booming Automobile industry in India,
but also by the strategic decision of
most Auto majors to source
components from LCCs.
This year too, Godrej Tooling Division
could showcase its technological
competency in Die Casting Dies and
set a benchmark for the Indian Tooling
industry in the Die Casting Dies
segment.
DK Sharma, Vice President & Business
Head of Godrej Tooling Division
welcomed the Honorable Chief
Minister of Goa, Pratap Singh Rane and
the President of ALUCAST, PN Sadhu
to the Godrej Stall.
The continuous flow of visitors
representing a wide spectrum of
companies that came to the Godrej
Tooling Division’s Stall was an evident
indicator of the excellent response
GTD got during this exhibition.
G Ramakrishnan
25
 Security Equipment Division
Mumbai’s top cop visits Godrej
Godrej Security Equipment Division, Mumbai Branch
arranged a live demonstration of the Under Vehicle
Surveillance System (UVSS) for top officials of Mumbai Police,
represented by Additional Commissioner of Police, Vinay
Kargaonkar and his team.
Keeping in mind the recent spate of threats from terrorists,
Mumbai police is planning to install UVSS at sensitive places
in Mumbai.
Demonstration of UVSS involved scanning the under carriage
of any sized vehicle with the help of specially designed state of
the art software to detect explosives planted in underside of
the vehicle. The demo unit of UVSS has been specially installed
at Plant 17 to train the Sales & Service team and for
demonstrations to various security officials.
(L to R) PI Anthony, DCP Bhitre, DCP Bhoer, Additional CP Vinay Kargaonkar,
Rahul Rajput Dara Byramjee, Business head & Vice president Security Equipment Division,
Special Projects & Premises Security Vinay V Salastekar Head - West Zone and Percy Master, Head-Mumbai
West Zone Region.

Police at your doorsteps Promoting a new mall culture

Activity: Mall promotion for Godrej Home safes after a
hugely successful outdoor campaign.
Venue: The activity was spread across premium malls in
Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore.
Proceedings: The activity was conducted in these malls on
three consecutive weekends in the month of January 2007. It
involved a compere who made announcements inviting the
audience to try their hand at opening one of the Godrej Home
safes. He/She gave the audience three numeric clues based on
the code needed for unlocking the safe. For instance, the score
The mayor of Kochi City Corporation Mercy Williams & DIC Ravada
Chandrasekhar releasing the booklet

The campaign: To reach out to the public for its home

security products, Godrej SED jointly with Kochi city police
have come out with the novel concept - Police at your
doorsteps. The project involves distribution of more then
10,000 booklets to Kochiites. The booklet contains all useful
information like tips on home security, security in public
places, traffic signals, legal aid available to people and also Promotional activity for Godrej home safes.
some useful telephone numbers in case of emergency.
India made in a 1986 match against Pakistan, birth date of a
Proceedings: The campaign began with the release of the celebrity and the like. People who managed to guess the clue
booklet at Kochi on December 26, 2006 by the mayor of Kochi and subsequently open the safe won a prize.
City Corporation Mercy Williams & DIC Ravada Chandrasekhar.
Last word: The activity created a lot of excitement among
Kochi City Police Commissioner P Vijayan and Suresh
the people who had come to the malls generating in several
Namboodiri, Senior Manager, Security Equipment Division, Kochi
sales inquiries.
Branch were also present at the function.
We would be soon extending this activity to the other cities
Last word: The concept is the first of its kind in Kerala.
in the country. We have learnt that malls can be yet another
And what’s more interesting is that the entire project was
medium to drive sales!
conceptualised and developed by SED Kochi branch jointly
with Kochi city police. Mehernosh B Pithawalla
SED, Kochi Branch Assistant General Manager – Marketing
26
 Nothing’s behind closed doors now
Event: A three-day training prog-
ramme was conducted for the All India
sales team of Godrej Entranza Doors
and Fire Doors
Date: January 10 to 12, 2007
Venue: Mumbai, Head Office
Objective: This training programme
gave the team an overview of the other
side of the door – manufacturing,
design and other functions that sales
teams never deal with directly.
Participants: All India Door sales
specialists, executives, deputy managers,
sales managers and regional managers
took part in the training program.
Proceedings: The programme began
with a visit to the fire door plant in The All India sales team for Entranza doors and fire doors
Saregam. This helped the team to
know the effort behind the fire The third day was completely Final word: The training program led
resistant doors they were selling. The classroom oriented with the design, a lot of clarity and zest to sell the
second day they had a similar plant manufacturing and the Head Office product among the team.
visit, but this time it was to the Godrej marketing team explaining in detail
Entranza – Moulded panel, HDF Flush about the Fire Doors and Entranza Mehernosh B Pithawalla
& Plywood doors manufacturing unit. Doors. Assistant General Manager – Marketing

Locks Division
New technology for pin cylinder locks
Event: Navroze Godrej inaugurated the Escomatic
(D-2 Flex Speed) machine in our CNC machine shop
on December 18, 2006. Also present on this
occasion were BK Rajkumar, Vice President and
Business Head, DD Narwekar, Senior General
Manager-Manufacturing, TS Murali, Senior General
Manager - Technology & Business Development and
MHM Shaikh, Assistant General Manager-
Manufacturing.
What’s special: The above machine has been
procured from M/S ESCO – Switzerland to
manufacture the pins for all our pin cylinder and
ultra locks. This machine will enhance our capacity
to manufacture pins required for pin cylinder and
ultra locks. By installing this machine, we will not
only be able to De-Vendor pins at lower cost but
also cater to our future requirement. We can now
manufacture 1 pin every second within 20micron
accuracy. We also plan to manufacture pins
required for the recently launched high technology
EXS locks. This machine has eliminated the Gear
Drive resulting in the reduction in Changeover
Time.
Navroze Godrej inaugurating the Escomatic (D-2 Flex Speed) machine Sachin R Jaybhaye
27

The makeover of the Mukadam
We all know that the market, of late,
has undergone a sea change.
Customers have become more and
more demanding and rightly so. In this
age of intense competition, every
company, is vying for an increase in
market share. One way to grab the
bigger chunk of the pie is to offer the
top quality service that leaves the
customers not only satisfied, but
delighted. It is, indeed, the service,
which separates the good company
from an ordinary one. Here, service
does not only mean after-sales service
Before the makeover
After the makeover
28
Logistics Department
but it encompasses the entire gamut
of activities directed at achieving total
customer satisfaction.
Logistics & Supply Chain Department
(L&SC), having understood this,
embarked upon an idea of bringing in
an element of customer orientation
into one of its activities. An activity
of physically delivering the material to
the customer. This job is carried out
by the transporter who employs a
Mukadam (roughly translated, a co-
ordinator) and 3-4 loaders. These
Mukadams are an important contact
point of our company to the
customer.
Since the delivery team, lead by the
Mukadam, is the face of the Company
to the customer, it was imperative to
project a positive image of the
organisation and its people.
So, to begin with, we decided to provide
uniforms to all Mukadams. Here, it was
ensured that the uniforms look formal
and professional, rather than the ones
typically provided to delivery men and
other attendants. It was also ensured
that the colours picked for the uniform
are aesthetically pleasing and are shades
which generate positive vibes. Every
Mukadam was also given an identity
card.
A half-day training programme was
also conducted, where the emphasis
was, among other things, on the
behavioral aspects and soft skills.
The programme was devised by the
Appliances Service Team on the
basis of inputs given by L&SC
Department. Since the programme
was created and delivered in
Marathi, it hit an instant chord with
the audience.
To monitor customer’s satisfaction
level, L& SC Department has also
devised the feedback form, which
each Mukadam is required to get filled
in by the customer. Based on the
ratings given by the customer, the
Mukadam would be given incentives.
This acts as a motivation for the
Mukadams to strive for total
customer satisfaction.
But like the saying goes, well begun
is only half done. The overwhelming
response of the Mukadams leaves us
in no doubt that this initiative will
serve its purpose well. However, we
also plan to have refresher courses
every six months and this initiative
would go a long way in helping the
company achieve total customer
satisfaction.
MA Naik
Senior Manager
 Precision Components and Systems
I attended a programme conducted
by Godrej for Learning and
Development (GOLD) on
“Innovation and Entrepreneurship”
by Prof. Mathew J Manimala at the
L&T Management Development
Centre, Lonavala on October 10,
2006. He gives us a first person
account of the programme
interspersed with memorable
anecdotes.
Prof. Manimala’s concept of innovation
stems from creativity. He firmly believes
that everyone is creative- it’s only the
levels of creativity that vary from person
to person. The necessity to generate an
idea, he says, arises from problems that
one faces. What he tries to point towards
through this theory is that problems are
in reality good for us, because that’s the
only way one can generate solutions. But
Material Handling Equipment Division
Handling the INTRALOGISTIX, 2006
Event: Material Handling Equipment
division participated in
INTRALOGISTIX 2006 – An Exhibition
& National Conference conducted by
CII. The exhibition was dedicated to
Material Handling and Logistics
Industries.
Venue: Pune
When: November 30 to December 2,
2006.
Attended by: HN Khumbatta, Vice
President and Divisional Head, CN
Dumasia, Senior General Manager
(Marketing), DB Vijaykar, Senior
General Manager (Design) and NB
Patel, Assistant General Manager.
Achievement: In the conference,
Vinay Kulkarni, Marketing Manager
presented a paper on Innovation in
Material Handling in the light of two
new equipments – the Low Level
Order Picker WAVE from Crown and
the Articulated Forklift Truck from
Godrej. At the exhibition, we displayed
Godrej 3.0 ton Battery Operated
Forklift Truck, Godrej Stackers,
Crown Hand Pallet Truck, Tennant –
A GOLD-en opportunity
Handing over the greeting card to Prof. Manimala
the key is not having just a solution, rather
having an innovative solution.
After explaining basic concepts, Prof
Manimala organised an exercise in
creativity. The exercise involved asking
certain questions and rating ourselves.
Post the exercise, all of us, somehow,
began having a little more faith in our
creative skills.
The second part of the seminar was on
entrepreneurship. We were given
opportunities to innovate and generate
Mr. Farhad Forbes, Chairman, CII - WR (second from the left) visits the Godrej MHE stall at
INTRALOGISTIX 2006
Industrial Cleaning Machine.
The highlight of the display was the
Komatsu Diesel & LPG Forklift Truck.
These equipments attracted a lot of
interest and attention. We represent
Komatsu for their range of Counter
Balanced Forklift Trucks in India.
The last word: Pune is amongst India’s
fastest growing software and industrial
centers. Many manufacturing giants
have their plants in and around Pune
and many more are setting up new
plants. Presence of all these equipments
ideas for the organisation. My idea was
related to developing a satellite to ISRO’s
specification and making the organisation
a leading manufacturer who will supply
to international space agencies. Though
the idea seems difficult, this is really
where good entrepreneurship comes
into the picture.
The evening was a time of celebration as
Meena Bhatia from the HR team of GIC
organised a party for the participants.
Personally, the high point of the seminar
was when all the participants presented
Prof. Manimala with a handmade card.
The caricatures in the card were so
innovative that the professor was
surprised himself.
It was, indeed, a suitable end to a
seminar on creativity.
RM Shinde
Head Methods
at one location helped customers to
understand the range of product
offerings and to decide their
requirement in a much better way. The
response was encouraging and good
amount of enquiries were generated.
Teams from big organisations like Tata
Motors, Cummins (I) Ltd., Bharat Forge,
Videocon, Miebach Logistics, Alfa Laval
and the like visited our stall. With these
inquiries, we expect good business in
the near future.
Sameer S Chandekar
Senior Manager – Pune Branch
29
 Electrical & Electronics Division
Successful realisation of AMLS at VSSC
Pursuant to the ETSP Section of E&E Division handing over
the revamped Automatic Multipoint Loading System (AMLS),
VSSC conducted a live test on November 25, 2006. The
test lasted for two hours on the system as a part of the
requirement of the upcoming Cryo Upper Stage Project.
AMLS is required for the strength/stiffness testing of
structures by applying loads at 16 discrete loading points in
various load steps. The loads are applied using hydraulic jacks
and are measured using load cells.
The system designed, assembled, supplied and commissioned
by ETSP included Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC),
Custom Built Electronics, Fully wired control panel, Hydraulic
Stations, Flow Control Valves, Supervisory Control & Data
Acquisition (SCADA) Software & Application Programming.
Around 150 officials & scientists from VSSC & LPSC gathered
at the test set up for performing , monitoring and witnessing
the test .
The tanks were filled up with Liquid Nitrogen (LN2) at -273
degree Centigrade and loads were applied as per VSSC’s

Testimonial from the Director, VSSC

requirement.
Safety was on top priority with fire engines on stand by and
the entire area was evacuated in case of any contingencies
arising during the critical test.
The results achieved were far beyond the expectations of the
entire VSSC fraternity with accuracies within +/- 1%.
The success was possible due to high level of interaction
between the Engineers/Scientists of VSSC and ETSP Engineers
at Mumbai/Trivandrum.
This success has initiated VSSC in further upgrading the
existing system from 16 to 24 channels and realising a new
24 channel system at LPSC, Mahendragiri.
We look forward to executing these orders.
In the last four years after the success of Hydroclave 2
Meters & Hydroclave 3 Meters (jointly with PED), Team
ETSP have successfully revamped the Autoclave,
Impregnation Plant and Rolling Mill facilities to the
satisfaction of VSSC.
Team ETSP looks forward to executing such challenging
projects with VSSC in the near future, thereby keeping the
flag of Godrej flying high towards its commitment to the
nation’s space programme.
AMLS Test Rig at VSSC, Trivandrum Team E&E
30
 Indexing a promising future
Pushkar Gokhale from G&B
Middle East is upbeat and
optimistic after participating in
the Index, 2006 exhibition
The construction boom and a healthy
economy ensure that this region offers
more opportunities to manufacturers,
suppliers, importers and exporters of
furniture and interiors-related products
and services than almost anywhere else
on earth.
With 1,575 companies exhibiting their
products and close to 40,000 visitors
from across the globe in 2006, Index is
without doubt one of the most effective
ways of doing business in the furnishing
and interiors industry in the Middle East.
Index is the largest event of its kind in
the Middle East and Asia. Held annually
at the Dubai International Exhibition
Centre, this was the 16th Index
Exhibition. National Pavilions from
Europe, America and the Far East and
companies from perhaps more than fifty
countries from around the world took
part at this year’s event.
This was our fourth consecutive year
at the event. The participation holds
importance owing to the fact that the
Middle East is continuing to expand at
a phenomenal rate with imports into
the region being currently worth in
excess of US$ 5.0 billion. The incredible
pace of commercial and residential
development throughout the region is
bound to give a significant growth in
imports of furniture and interiors for
the region.
Our objective obviously was to enhance
our reach and visibility in the region,
which was largely achieved.
INDEX 2006 was a good platform to
showcase new products and capabilities
as a solutions provider in the office /
home segments and an effective way to
generate prospective business from one
of the world’s most buoyant markets.
Five of our divisions namely FIG, SED,
Locks, Appliances and Prima
participated in this years’ event. Apart
from receiving good response from the
GCC member countries like UAE,
Saudi, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and
Oman, we also received good inquiries
from North Africa region.
The location of our stand was quite
strategic, ensuring maximum visibility
and footfalls. Moreover, the ambience
of our stand with the diversified
portfolio of state-of-the-art products
was well appreciated by the visitors and
our channel partners who visited us at
Index 2006.
The new EON range of refrigerators
along with the 67 Defender Plus with
biometric lock (the AA safe which was
specially manufactured for the event)
was met with keen interest among the
visitors, apart from our Interio
products. In case of our Locks, the
exhibition was a good forum to interact
with the builders and buyers from the
construction sector. Our Minicafe
vending machine, which was also put
up on display, received an encouraging
response.
The Middle East team felt hugely
inspired as both PD Lam and Navroze
Godrej attended the exhibition.
Together, they shared their plans and
their vision for Godrej in the coming
years. Apart from visiting the
showroom and the office cum
warehouse in SAIF zone, they also
met important channel partners like
M/s Zayani & Co., LLC and VV Sons
in Dubai.
31
 Teeing off a new tournament

Event: The NP Godrej Golf Rolling

Trophy
Venue: Vishakhapatnam
Held on: December 3, 2006
Purpose: On the occasion of Naval
Godrej’s birth anniversary, the East
Point Golf Club organised this
tournament. This is the first time such
a tournament is being organised. Godrej
was a sponsor for the event.
Participants: There were a total of
69 golfers who participated in the
event. The tournament began at 6 am
and the first team of four members to
tee off were Vice Admiral AK Singh,
Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Naval
Command, Rear Admiral Dilip
Deshpande, Admiral Superintendent,
Naval Dockyard, Rear Admiral Ajit Golfers in action putting the ball

Tiwari, Chairman & Managing

Director, Hindustan Shipyard Limited
and Commander Sharma, Eastern
Naval Command.
Winners: A number of prizes were
given away to the winners in different
categories. The overall winner of the
NP Godrej Rolling Trophy was Mr Latif
Saleh. The trophy was given away by
captain of the Golf Club, Rear Admiral
Dilip Deshpande. The other prizes were
given away by BP Chinoy, Branch
Manager, Vishakhapatnam Branch.
Last word: The event was doubly
special for the Vishakhapatnam Branch
as it was the silver jubilee of the
branch.
D Suresh Babu
Admiral Dilip Deshpande addressing all the participants Associate Manager-Vishakhapatnam Branch
32
 Congratulations
Hemant Panchal

Hemant Panchal being presented the Award

Secured the first rank at the national level in a Graduate

Diploma in Materials Management conducted by Indian
Institute of Materials Management. He was awarded a gold
medal, which was handed over to him by BM Kalyani, CMD
of Bharat Forge, Pune at National Convention NATCOM
2006 on November 18, 2006. Congratulations.

AIMA-ing for a quizzing victory

IYSA Mini Soccer League
Godrej was one of the sponsors for the IYSA
Mini Soccer League. The programme started
on November 5, 2006 and had almost 500
students playing every Sunday through the
winter at Delhi Public School, RK Puram and
Jesus and Mary College in Delhi.
Event: AIMA Business Quiz
Venue: Mumbai
Held on: November 22, 2006
Participants: The team consisted of Ravi Bhat
(Branch Commercial Manager, Mumbai Branch)
and Mehernosh Subedar (Deputy Manager-Sales,
Appliances, Mumbai Branch).
Achievement: Out of 40 teams that participated
in the elimination, (which was a written round
comprising 30 questions ranging from current
business news, to company histories and
management theories) only six teams made it to
the West Zone finals. Our Godrej & Boyce team
was one of the selected teams. The team also
emerged runners-up in the quiz and thereby
qualified for the National finals held on December2,
2006 at Chennai. After a battle of nerves at the
National finals, it was, however, Sun Microsystems
who walked away with the accolades.
Last word: Not winning the national finals was
not a disappointment. Rather, it has enthused us
to participate in more such events.
Ravi Bhat and Mehernosh Subedar
Mumbai Branch

33
 Little Wonders
Netra Nair
Netra Nair released her first music compilation recently
Daughter of: Mohan
Commercial (West)
Student of: Standard IX at Gurukul
School, Ghatkopar
Achievements: On December 6,
2006, at a function held at the SNDT
Auditorium at Ghatkopar, playback
singer and mimicry artiste Sudesh
Bhosle along with playback singer Sujata
34
Nair, Trivedi (of Tall, Takshak and 1947-Earth
fame) released her first music
compilation. The album is titled Shree
Ambhe Sharanam Mamah, a collection
of bhajans sung in praise of Ambe Mata.
Such an achievement at the age of 13 is
commendable. We wish her all the best
for her singing career.
– Darayus Chhapger
Tejas Sampat Udyawarkar
Son of: Mohini Sampat, Personnel Administration
Achievements: His drawing was published in the Kidzone section of tabloid
Mumbai Mirror on December 27, 2006. That apart, he was also awarded a
certificate from Bharatiya Manav Samaj Vikas Kendra, Dadar a few years back
recognising his talent.
 Aishwarya B Nair
Daughter of: MB Nair,
Accounts Department
A student of: Standard VII,
Udayachal High School
Achievements: Has been
winning the first prize in an
inter-school music
competition organised by
Ramakrishna Math, Khar for
the last three years, including
December, 2006. On
February 4, she won a first
prize in a Carnatic vocal music
competition conducted by Sri
Shanmukhananda Bharatiya
Sangeetha Vidyalaya, Sion, Aishwarya bagged the first prize in an inter-school
Mumba first prize in Carnatic music competition
Vocal music competition
conducted by Sri Shanmukhananda Aishwarya has been a student of
Bharatiya Sangeetha Vidyalala, Sion, Carnatic music from the age of seven
Mumbai. She has also been winning and has recently started learning
other competitions organised by Fine Hindustani Classical music.
Arts, NCPA and other cultural CHANGE wishes her all the best for
organisations. the future.

Behzad and Pashin Ichhaporia

Sons of: A E Ichhaporia
Students of: Udayachal
Pre-primary school
Achievement: The two
kids participated in a
national level family
camping programme
organised by the Youth
Hostels Association with
their parents. Incidentally,
they were among the
youngest participants at the
camp, but were active
participants in all the
Behzad and Pashin were the youngest participants at an adventure activities like
adventure camp trekking, tent craft, camp
fires and the like.
CHANGE wishes the two enthusiastic youngsters loads of adventure and fun in future.

35

Viraj Vilas Shigwan
Achievement: Viraj Vilas Shigwan of
IXED won the Best Platoon
Commander of the year at the inter-
school RSP rally held in January 2007.
That apart, the RSP Boys platoon from
Udayachal High School won the first
prize and the Girls platoon was
adjudged second.
Congratulations and keep it up!
36
Dhiraj Mishra
Achievements: He was featured in
the Sports page of Mumbai’s popular
tabloid, Mid Day, on December 6, 2006
for winning the gold medal and being
the only athlete from the state to create
a new meet record at the 52nd National
School Games at Napean Sea Road. The
athlete triumphed against all odds
including his brother’s death to win a
spate of medals like the Youth Nationals
at Varangal and the Federation of India
Dhiraj Mishra created a new record
at the 52nd National School Games Athletic meet.
Son of: Kamalshankar R Mishra, OPOS Kudos to the grit and determination of
department this 17-year old.
Pooja Talekar
Daughter of: Dilip K
Talekar, Interio
Student of: Udayachal
School
Achievement: Won
the first prize in an art
competition organised by
the Inspector of
Education- North Zone-
S Ward.
Hearty congratulations.
 Creative Space
Pottery in school: A creative means to beat stress
We live in a high pressure, high stress
society. Martin Seligman, renowned for
his research in to the psychology of
hope, expresses concern about what
he calls, “big I and small we” – a
distanced self centredness and an
increasingly attenuated sense of
connection with others. This tendency
must be confronted if we are to prevent
our lives from growing even more
stressful. The ability to deal with stress
varies from person to person. Torn
between excessive expectations and
powerlessness, people become
susceptible to the impact of stress.
Coping successfully with stress needs a
deeper understanding of our truly
limitless potential as well as our
vulnerabilities. Pioneer in stress
research Hans Selye says that one
should first establish and maintain goals
in life. Second, live so as to be necessary
I feel pottery should be
encouraged in each and every
standard because it gives us
mental rest after a hard day of
academic work. I feel it was a
good decision on the part of the
school’s management to have
pottery classes at school level.
The values of pottery are P for
patience and perfection. O for
originality, T for talent, E for
exactness, R for relief from
academic stress and Y for yielding
imagination.
Siddharth Bhasker
VIII Eng. C
I never thought in my dream that
I will be learning this extra-
ordinary subject. But what
commenced as a dream, now lives
on like an unforgettable
experience. I always look forward
to my pottery class… to manifest our creativity. We can
Nida Abbasi
VIII
I think that we are very lucky to
learn such a beautiful art… This
teaches us how to be united. Our
group work is more attractive than
the individual work we do.
Madhura V Rane
VIII Eng. C
Disclaimer: The viewpoints and opinions of the authors/artists that appear in CHANGE do not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of the Godrej Management.
CHANGE is not associated with any formal political, social, psychological, religious or philosophic organisation or party of any kind. These articles are solely the
personal opinion of the authors. Your comments and ideas for future articles are always welcome.
to others. Physical and mental training
transform our experience of things.
Physical training can bring forth the
unseen capacities of our bodies while
intellectual training develops our minds.
It seems unlikely that the sources of
stress we face will decrease indeed, it
seems highly probable that they will
increase. We them need, now more
than ever, to develop the qualities of
strength, wisdom and hope. Personality
We have pottery period only
once a week. We want more
pottery periods. We thank our
principal for providing us with
such a wonderful class. It helps
us in many ways. Thank you for
giving us an opportunity and
proving ourselves. We promise
that we will improve more in
pottery and make magnificent
things out of it.
Jatin P Panchal
VIII Eng. C
I think that not only the eighth
standard but all students of other
classes should attend pottery
class. As we know that it is not bad
to be innovative.
Tejal S Kamble
VIII Eng. B
Pottery class is a perfect platform
also express our imagination and
ideas by making abstract clay
articles… It should be held
especially for the higher classes
as pottery is not related to studies
and relaxes our mind.
Sanyakta Jain
VIII Eng. B
I love the pottery period right
development, Environment Education
being part of the school curriculum has
given the younger generation new
opportunities to develop a healthy
attitude towards society. ‘We are the
architects of our future’ stands true.
The introduction of the subject ‘Pottery’
to the eighth standard students has
brought a new meaning and attitude to
their learning. The students have an
‘hands on training’ on the Potters Wheel,
which ably gives their physical and
creative skill, an outlet to exhibit. It also
trains the students to cultivate traits like
patience, originality, and skill. Most
students look forward to the pottery
classes as it gives them a break from
academic stress and allows them to give
in to imagination and creativity.
Girija J Pai
Udayachal High School
from the day we were introduced
to it… Our sir told us to make
anything we wished to make. He
taught us to use the technique of
pinching to make exquisite and
good-looking pots. He also taught
us to make ganesh idols, name
plates, decorative trays, etc.
Sagar Chitnis
VIII Eng. C
Pottery is something very
different, unique and special about
our school, which is not in other
schools. It’s a good exercise as we
cultivate different areas of
creativity, skills, art, flexibility,
etc. It makes me very relaxed out
of the hectic periods of studies. I
also encourage schools to introduce
such activities for students.
Pranav Gaidhani
VIII Eng. B
We have been taught different
methods of making clay articles.
Our sir brings different types of
clay also. We also like to have
pottery in the ninth and tenth
standard as we like to have clay in
our hands and make beautiful and
fantastic articles.
Dipesh T Patel
VIII Eng. C
 Know Your Mangroves
Aegiceras corniculatum
River mangrove:
It is a densely flowering
– Dr. Maya Mahajan shrub, one to two metres tall,
with white fragrant flowers.
Leaves of this plant are in-
verted egg shaped, shiny
dark green and leathery. Salt
glands are present on the
leaves, which help in throw-
ing out the excess salt from
the plant’s body. Fruits are
light green and pinkish when
ripe, curved and very finely
pointed. It grows in both non-
swampy inter-tidal and tidal
zones.
Salt tolerance of this species
is comparatively low and it
prefers areas where there is
good mixing of freshwater.
Fine quality honey is pro-
duced from nectar of this man-
grove species by the honey
bees. It is used for timber, the
bark is used as fish-poison
and leaves are eaten by
people of Moluccas (erstwhile
Spice Islands, Indonesia). It is
an endangered species, which
needs our special care for
survival.