| Business Line, Saturday, Jun 25, 2005 |
| Relaxing right |
| Rasheeda Bhagat |
| ‘Young executives of today don’t know how to relax like the older generation... they have to strike the right balance, so that they don’t burn out.’ N. Kumar, Vice-Chairman of the Sanmar Group, relaxes with a daily game of tennis. |
 He has no “structured holidays” but his day is pretty structured and begins at 5 a.m. with an hour-long brisk walk on Chennai’s Marina beach, followed by time on the treadmill and some stretching exercises under the eagle eye of his personal trainer “to get over my back problem. Those two hours form my morning recreation,” says N. Kumar, Vice Chairman of the Sanmar Group. The next two hours are spent on the Internet, reading and answering his mail; 80 per cent of the replies go over the e-mail and “only 20 per cent of my letters are dictated,” says the man, who has a penchant for the latest technology. His latest tech toy is an IBM Thinkpad, on the screen of which he can scribble with a pen. |
| Kumar has no fixed work schedule, but on most working days, he is in his office before 8 a.m., “and I get off by 3 p.m. and go to the Madras Cricket Club for a game of tennis.” Both he and his older brother, N. Sankar, Chairman of the Sanmar group, play tennis regularly and have been on the competitive tennis circuit too. “I have been playing tennis from the age of 10 and played with both Vijay and Anand Amritraj,” he says. |
| Kumar has no fixed work schedule, but on most working days, he is in his office before 8 a.m., “and I get off by 3 p.m. and go to the Madras Cricket Club for a game of tennis.” Both he and his older brother, N. Sankar, Chairman of the Sanmar group, play tennis regularly and have been on the competitive tennis circuit too. “I have been playing tennis from the age of 10 and played with both Vijay and Anand Amritraj,” he says. |
| Till five years ago, he was a keen golfer but “then that takes a lot more time... three to four hours at a stretch. But it’s more than making the time... I used to be a two handicapper and when you come to a certain handicap and feel you can’t improve further then you tend to give it up. I played golf for 8 to 9 years and loved it. But I continue to play tennis.” |
| When asked if has ever been bothered by a bad knee, he says, “Well, I do have bad knees, but that’s due to age and not tennis. At my age (mid-50s) if you exert yourself too much, then you get problems. But by and large playing tennis has changed the way I think and live.” |
| When asked to elaborate he says that playing a game one really enjoys helps ease a lot of tension. “You’re asking me about R&R; the workplace builds up a lot of tension... but then as my brother Sankar says, tension also keeps you alive and keeps you going. Indira Gandhi said that tension was one thing that kept her going. Sometimes you work for 20 hours a day and do not even know you’ve worked for such long hours!” |
| He gives the example of the time (1997-98) when as CII President he travelled six days a week “but never felt tired... the adrenaline kept me going. Now even if I travel for a single day, I feel tired!” On his exercise regimen going for a toss during his CII presidency, he says he managed by doing yoga early in the mornings in his hotel room. “Otherwise there was no time; every evening there was a social engagement and then there were meetings and internal discussions all the time.” |
| Kumar loves to read, both on the Internet — “both my house and office are wireless and that is such a delight” — and real books. He has read all the three books of Dan Brown and loved them. “I love quick, racy kind of reading, and find late evenings and flights the best time to catch up on reading. These days I’m doing WTO work for the CII and have to read a lot on WTO.” |
| Not many people know that he is a good writer too and apart from writing speeches and articles, he has published a full-fledged book, My days at the CII, in 2000. But the print order was only 25; “it was just for my family and myself. I’m not a writer; I was just documenting my thoughts. But when Tarun Das retired as the Director General of CII, he said I was the only person who had written a book on his days at the CII.” |
| Once this was made public many people asked for copies, so now he is adding another chapter: ‘8 years later’, but this time too the print order will be only 100. |
| It took him barely five months to write the book, even though he writes in long hand and then keys it into the computer. “My father says only two people understand my writing; I and my god. I’d say that after sometime even I’m not able to decipher my scribbling!” |
| Kumar doesn’t have any favourite holiday destination and unlike most corporate dons, including brother Sankar, does not own a little cottage tucked away in the hills. “Till now I’ve kept away from the hassle of maintaining a cottage, but recently my wife and I ... for the first time we went alone, without the children or friends... went to Coonoor and had such a lovely time that I’m tempted to get something of my own there. At 57, I feel I need a quiet place to relax; a place where you can read or write and spend a whole week doing very little; I would say real recreation is something that takes you away from the hassle of day-to-day living.” |
| The one holiday he fondly remembers is the weeklong Alaskan cruise that his family took in 2000 along with corporate chiefs such as Rahul Bajaj and Baba N. Kalyani of Bharat Forge. “It was our 25th wedding anniversary, which also coincided with my 50th birthday. We were a group of 18 people and we had such a great time. It was such a lively group and we loved being together and doing things together... The cruise was well organised, the excursions were good, the food was good and there was so much comfort. If food is right, friends are right... and the drinking is right too, you really enjoy yourself. The whole experience was great.” |
| On the young executives of today facing much more pressure at the workplace than people in his generation, Kumar says, “Our generation was more relaxed; this generation is aggressively confident but they don’t have much time to relax. The environment is so competitive” He gives the example of his nephew Vijay Sankar, “who works 12 to 14 hours a day and is so busy, he has time to play tennis only once a week. Rahul Bajaj was telling me his son Rajiv, who is now running the company, has no time but when he comes home he switches off... he doesn’t attend calls, and he has his holidays only with his wife and child. That is how Vijay is too... very focused on whatever he does, whether it is work or a holiday. But yes, they do work very hard.” |
| Does he find the younger generation burning out faster? |
| “Yes, but that is because they don’t know how to relax like the older generation. Compared to my father, I was less relaxed, compared to me my nephew is much less relaxed. They’re so tense. I’m not saying this is not required today; honestly I don’t know. But they have to strike the right balance, so that they don’t burn out. My father worked till he was 75, I might work till I’m 65 or 60 and the youngsters will work till they are 45.” |
| Watching movies (“action films; I love Star Wars and hate movies that make you cry”) and music relax him. “I even learnt Carnatic music; even though I was very bad at it, I enjoyed it. I tried Sanskrit too; I’d say Sanskrit, yoga and music were three things that relaxed me a lot.” |
| Coming to food, he loves South Indian vegetarian food, and though focussed and regular with his exercise routine, “I only read a lot about dieting, but I could never diet. I dream of losing weight but have never lost weight.” |
| Voluntary work, either with the schools for disadvantaged children that his family run or with the CII, are two other things that Kumar enjoys. “You have to give back both to society and the industry which has given you so much; and I find working for both totally relaxing,” he says, adding, “I’ve to tell you about my granddaughter; she is one, and playing with her is the ultimate delight.” |
| Picture by Bijoy Ghosh |
