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NETWORKING ON THE GREENS HARINDER SIKKA IS A MAN WHO KNOWS WHERE HE IS HEADED, AND A RARITY IN TODAY’S WORLD OF MATERIALISM SAYS ASWIN KRISHNAN. Click on Read more to view....
When Harinder Sikka walks past, one sees a man who knows his purpose in life. There is an assuredness that comes with that gait which an average man would struggle to match. But Sikka is no average man. Flash back to a tournament at the Qutab Golf Course, in 2005. Sikka submits his scorecard and heads towards the refreshment counter. A while later, the prizes are announced, and Sikka has won. But the scores don't match. Sikka knows what he shot but the tournament officials believe otherwise. Sikka knows he doesn't qualify for the prize as he has shot a higher score. The officials insist that he collect the winner's trophy as it has now been officially announced. Sikka declines the trophy and the accompanying cash purse of Rs 30,000. "I could never have taken that trophy home and had it staring at me day in and day out with me knowing I didn't deserve it," he says. Harinder Sikka is a big name in the Indian corporate world. Part of the Nicholas Piramal Group, one of the three biggest pharmaceutical firms in India, Sikka is one of the most high profile men in the corporate and bureaucratic worlds. However he was not born with a silver spoon. Sikka joined the Navy in 1979 and was commissioned two years later. The next few years were spent globe-trotting as part of the naval training schedule. Quick to grab an opportunity, Sikka soon gave up his original career for one in the corporate world. To gear himself up for the challenge, he chose to do a management course. An MBA in those times was a very rare qualification, as was a specialization in Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) which Sikka acquired in Tokyo. This was in the early 1990's when patents were virtually unheard of. Involved as he was in the pharmaceutical industry, Sikka foresaw the possible need to fight drug and patents battles, especially for firms not involved in generic manufacturing or reverse engineering. When patents finally came in, he was one of the handfuls who knew about them. This made him invaluable for his company. His main achievements during this period were representing India in the CII and ASSOCHAM as the chairman of the Pharmaceutical Committee. It was about this time that golf came into Harinder Sikka's life. He was a keen polo player while in the Navy. At that time he believed golf to be a game for board-room failures. However, once he joined the corporate world, he forced himself to head for the golf course to learn the game chiefly as a medium to spend quality time with his clients and help clinch deals. Sikka was introduced to golf first by Secretary to the Government of India, Arun Kumar, and his interest was kept alive by close friend Avinash Chatwal (Jt. Secretary to the Government of India). His initiation to the game came at the US Club, Mumbai. Sikka remembers the first ever time he hit a golf ball. Being used to playing polo, where power plays a major role, he swung his 5-iron with all his might at the stationery ball. Wonder of wonders, the club split in two and the club head flew all of 50 yards ahead. The ball? Well it miraculously took flight and landed beyond the 200-yard mark. What a beginning! Soon, Sikka began to understand the nuances of the sport and the proverbial golf bug took possession of his very soul. What began as a pastime to help improve business relations and clinch new deals, soon became a fight against the odds to improve basic golfing skills and reduce the handicap. Over the years, both objectives were fulfilled. Sikka recounts one tale about how he played golf in Australia with this potential client, the owner or MD of the firm they were looking to tie-up with. The man cheated on the golf course and Sikka decided there and then against the merger. Indeed, he was proved right as six months later that firm went in the red due to balance sheet irregularities. "Golf has played a major role in several mergers, acquisitions, brainstorming and collaborations on drug deals and policies as far as our company is concerned, over the years," says Sikka who is today a complete golf addict. So hooked is he that each year he makes it a point to go all the way to the Gulf to watch the Dubai Desert Classic. On the professional front, things couldn't be better. Nicholas Piramal is today developing new drugs and is the only company in India with a research centre of their own. The unit is in Mumbai and boasts of 350 scientists of whom 50 are from the US. With five manufacturing units in the United Kingdom and one each in the US and Canada, things are certainly looking up for the company. There is a very famous Hindi song sung by the legendary M ukesh with a phrase 'Kisika dard mil sake to Ie udhaar'. Harinder Sikka lives by this very phrase. For a man who would qualify among the wealthiest in the city, giving back to society and benefiting the downtrodden is his calling in life. Feeding pigeons and working for a school for disadvantaged children are the causes very dear to his heart. That and of course getting his handicap down to scratch. After all a life without a golfing goal holds no meaning. Harinder Sikka for one would definitely agree. FAVOURITES Golf Course (India): Jaypee Greens Golf Resort Golf Course (Abroad): St. Andrews Golfers: Mukesh Kumar, Firoz Ali, Jeev Milkha Singh, Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman, Vijay Singh Golfing Moment: Scoring a hole-in-one on the tenth at the Qutab Golf Course Movies (Foreign): A Bridge Too Far, Godfather Movies (Indian): Koshish, Saraansh Actor (Foreign): Clint Eastwood Actors (Indian): Sanjeev Kumar. Amitabh Bachchan Actresses (Indian): Nutan, Madhubala |