Grindwell 75 years Coffee Table Book

Those were the Days
I still cherish my days in GNO, even though it is nearly 20 years since I left GNO. I will always be grateful for the many opportunities I got, to learn and grow my career. The long working hours were so fun-filled that we hardly felt the strain. I think one of the criteria for employment in GNO was that you should have a good sense of humour.
As a fresh management accountant, I had prepared some elaborate reports and proudly presented the same to Mr. Hoshang Patel, our late Managing Director. He browsed through it patiently and finally asked me, 'So, what do you think?' I was taken aback and could not answer... Firstly, I never thought, what I thought mattered, and secondly, I was not trained to think... I told him I would think and come back. This incident, set me thinking because we were more focused on getting the right answer, rather than think about what can be done to improve a given situation. The freedom to express an opinion and have a different point of view helped us to grow personally and contribute better to the organisation. For this I am so grateful to GNO!
When I was promoted to a Manager, Mr. Joy Kutty wrote me a lovely note, that I still treasure. He congratulated me on being the first and only woman Manager among 200 Managers! In the male dominated world of GNO, I was treated with respect and had equal opportunities. When I am asked in many forums what is my experience on gender discrimination, I tell them I don't know because I have never felt discriminated at GNO!
There were so many incidents and fun time we had, teasing, imitating and clowning around during the many training programs, get-togethers and travel times... Those were the days my friend, we thought they'd never end!
GNO Board and Senior Managers at the Strategy Meet – Ooty April 1989 Standing: (L-R) Mr. D.T. Devare,
Mr. Baji Kalwachia, Dr. P.G. Pawar, Mr. Joe Pereira, Mr. Vinod Kapur,
Mr. V. Shivkumar, Mr. K.S. Gurumurthy, Mr. Devraj, Mr. Joy Kutty,
Mr. S. Panchapakesan,
Mr. Pramod Bapat
Seated: (L-R) Dr. G.K. Valecha (guest facilitator), Mr. Soli Mehta, Mrs. Meheru Mehta, Mrs. Dilnavaz Variava, Mr. Amal Chakrabortti, Mr. Hoshang Patel, Mr. Russi Bilimoria, Mrs. Almitra Patel,
Mr. Anand Mahajan, Mr. Zarir Fraser (then Musa)
Mrs. Hema Krishnamurthy worked in the Finance function in Bangalore between 1988 and 1998
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Hema Krishnamurthy


The 1990s
Golden Jubilee Song
On the occasion of GNO's 50th Anniversary in 1991
Fifty years ago, it all began,
The first Grinding Wheel Company in the land; So many people, have given all they can,
We salute them, EVERY woman and man.
We've Journeyed to the Top, you've heard us say,
The Grindwell Family has grown stronger along the way; So many people, together at Work & Play,
Have made Grindwell what it is today.
Grindwell Norton,
We are SOLID GOLD,
We are THE BEST,
We're better than the rest. Oh! Yeh!
Grindwell Norton,
We are NUMBER ONE,
We're aiming HIGH
And together we will touch the SKY.
Life Begins at FIFTY, we proclaim,
We will make a difference, We will change;
So many people, will take us to a higher plane, Will light up the sky with Grindwell's name.
Grindwell Norton,
We are SOLID GOLD,
We are THE BEST,
We're better than the rest. Oh! Yeh!
Grindwell Norton,
We are NUMBER ONE,
We're aiming HIGH
And Together we will touch the SKY.
We're aiming HIGH
And Together, YOU & I, will touch the SKY.
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Music and Lyrics by Anand Mahajan
Theme for the
50th Anniversary Celebration in 1991


Golden Jubilee Celebration
(L-R): Mrs. Dilnavaz Variava, Mr. N. D. Sidhva, Mr. & Mrs. Ostermeyer, Mr. & Mrs. Jean LeMinoux, Mr. Donald Devine, Mr. & Mrs. Michel Besson & Mrs. Tehmina Sidhwa
at the celebration in Mora
Celebration in Mumbai in Dec 1991
(L-R) Mr. & Mrs. Mahajan, Mr. & Mrs. Sidhva, Mrs. Cloty Pereira (wife of Mr. Joe Pereira) and Mrs. Deepa Bapat (wife of Mr. Pramod Bapat)
Dance Performance in Mumbai
Women's Throwball Teams (HO & Mora)
Cricket team
Employees singing the Golden Jubilee Theme song
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Naval Commander's visit to Mora plant on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee Celebration
(L-R): Mr. Welling, Naval Commander, Mr. E.P. Fernandes, Mr. Parulekar, Mr. K.C. Kalia, Mr. V.B. Contractor, Mr. J.L. Agarwal, Mr. A.B. Gawade
(R-L) Mr. Pramod Bapat & Mr. N.D. Sidhva presenting the anniversary memento to an employee
Mr. K.S.Ram (standing) serving the Mahajan family during the Golden Jubilee celebratory lunch organized at the Tirupati plant. Seated (L-R) Aakil (standing), Mr. Anand Mahajan, Mrs. Vera Mahajan, Ashaita
In-house magazine of GNO in the 90s
Management Goals circa 1991


Babu Vichare worked in GNO for 50 years!
He was not just a peon but also an office manager, custodian, the keeper of keys and much more...
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Extract from an interview with Babu Vichare – Inhouse magazine, Jan-Mar 1992


Sales and Males
The year was 1993. The setting: idyllic Khandala; the venue: Duke's Retreat and the occasion was our annual sales conference. GNO was coming off the back of many successful years; each surpassing the previous year with record-breaking sales figures. At the helm was AYM with sales headed by the one and only Joy Kutty. Stories about Joy's temper with poor results had already become part of GNO's folklore. And our results that year were not the best.
The mood was grim as Joy got stuck into the forum. Most of us were ducking for cover and the brave amongst us who dared to sit straight up bore the brunt. As P.K. Shrimal made his presentation for the Northern region, the din of lunch cutlery being cleared from the hallway outside the conference hall was becoming a distraction. Out marched Joy, to clear sighs of relief from the forum. A massive outburst followed as Joy vented his frustration on apparently the hapless hotel staff. All became quiet except for Joy's verbal assault. Then there was brief respite - for a very brief second or two. Then an equally frustrated voice bellowed 'I am a guest like yourself too'. Needless to say, what followed in the conference room was equally hilarious – nervous glances, then a snicker or two followed by cackles of laughter that lasted for a long long time!
The setting three years later was the conference room in Mora. Joy had retired and BSM had taken over as the sales chief. However, the situation was similar – sales figures lower than expectations. AYM was addressing the group. AYM's reproach has the same telling effect as does Joy's verbal assaults. If Joy was like a runaway Shatabadhi when he got
upset, AYM was the exact opposite. Normally a soft spoken person, his decibel level would drop significantly lower when he was concerned. The pauses between words would stretch longer and the audience would get very still and quiet trying their level best to ensure they got every word that was said.
With the disappointing figures, AYM was upset that he wasn't warned earlier about the downturn as most of our presentations blamed the economy, the Chinese, the weak Indian rupee and just about every innovative reasons that we could think of. He remarked that we had met just 3 months earlier and all of us had predicted a good quarter. If things were getting worse, we were told, then we should have communicated the same and not wait for the conference. 'You know I love mail. You should have written to me'. An equally quiet but a very brave voice spoke from the back 'That's funny AYM. All of us love Fema(i)les'.
I could go on to write many interesting stories. Or of the people, the passion, the work atmosphere and the sheer quality of the people that I was fortunate to work with. Pages won't be enough and would not do justice. It's been close to 16 years since I moved on from GNO. Memories still linger. GNO shaped my work ethic and helped me become what I am in the corporate world. I wish Saint-Gobain Abrasives and its families all the very best.
Sales Training Programme in Khandala, 2001 Back Row (L – R) Mr. D. Sankaran,
Mr. E. Lakshminarayanan,
Mr. Virinder Khosla, Mr. Vivek Sud,
Mr. G. Swaminathan, Mr. K. S. Hooda, Mr. Pratas Baruah, Mr. Ravi Kumar. Front Row (L – R) Mr. R. B. Deshpande, Mr. K. S. Gopalakrishnan, Mr. A. Dinakar, Mr. Ritesh Patterson, Mr. Nalin Jain,
Mr. Ravi Purushotham, Mrs. Anita Shivkumar, Mr. Pramod Bapat, Guest facilitator, Mr. Venu Shanbhag, Mr. Gerard D'Cunha, Mr. Manoj Malhotra, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi
Mr. Ravi Purushotham worked in GNO between 1987 and 2001 in various roles in Abrasives Sales and Marketing
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Ravi Purushotham


GNO Managers' conference with families - Goa, April, 1991
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Mrs. Vera Mahajan seated in the centre (in black). Mrs. Deepa Bapat behind her (in green), Mrs. Aparna Sreedhar (wife of Mr. N. Sreedhar) seated extreme left - Cosmos Ladies Club Group, Mora
(L-R) Mr. Rolf Mogstad (Vice-President, Coated Abrasives, Norton Co. and then, Chairman GNO) with Mrs. Almitra Patel in Bangalore in the 90s


Story of GNO's Non-woven Business
Serendipity and luck often plays an important role in stories about business start-ups. One such story, which I have been part of, is that of the GNO Non-woven business. I remember very well the cold call I made in October 1994 from the GNO sales office in Mumbai to the Hindustan Lever Ltd. (now, Hindustan Unilever) office asking to speak to the product manager for VIM. The objective of my call was to try and get HLL to buy Norton scrubber pads (which were imported from Mexico in those days) and give it as free gift with VIM powder, which was the leading brand in the segment. I was lucky not only to be put through immediately to Nitin Paranjpe, who was the VIM product manager but also his immediate response to come and meet him. Coincidently, HLL was considering product extension to the VIM brand and was thinking of scrubber pads as an independent product similar to what 3M had recently successfully launched in India with a major TV commercial.
We spoke about our respective global strengths and complementary positions in the market with Norton not being interested in the consumer market and Unilever in the industrial market. The person responsible for personal products of HLL at that time was Mr. Harish Manwani and
Nitin was reporting to him. We had a few joint meetings to discuss the various possibilities but what followed in quick succession was way beyond my wildest imagination. We ended up not only signing an agreement in India for the Indian market but triggered by our initiative, Norton and Unilever signed a global agreement for promoting sales of scrubber pads in many other markets in the world.
The agreement with HLL is what gave us the comfort and the impetus to invest in the Non-woven plant in Bangalore. In fact, the line was mainly designed for making consumer pads and there was even a machine to cut into small pads at the end of the line. The line was commissioned in March 1996 and Nitin and his colleague attended the plant inauguration.
Meanwhile to seed the market we had imported pads from Mexico and sold the initial lot to HLL. These were branded VIM Scrub pads. HLL had an internal launch of the pads and we were invited to attend the same. It was my first exposure to how a consumer product company executes a marketing plan. I was surprised to see that they had made catchy songs and film clips to address their internal sales team with a view to get their attention to sell new products.
Unfortunately, the first lot of pads which we imported from Mexico were not of very good quality and the market response to the product launch was lukewarm. Compared to 3M pads, the VIM pads were very soft and weak and this was a significant setback. When we started making the pads in-house we tried our best to improve the product and offer a product which was superior to 3M but by then HLL had also changed its plan and their strategy had changed from brand extension to brand consolidation. The scrub pads then became a 'free with VIM' add-on to get rid of the stocks and, despite all our efforts to improve the quality of the pads, the plans for an independent scrubber pad category were dropped. Over time the HLL business stopped completely and the original purpose for the Non-woven line was no longer there. This happened soon after we started our new plant.
This was a major setback and between 1997 and 2000 the Non-woven business struggled. The plant was highly
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P. Natarajan
(L-R) Mr. P. Natarajan, Mr. M.R.Ramarathnam, Mr. Baji Kalwachia along with Mr. Doug Turner (then Technical Manager, Bonded Abrasives, Norton Co.) at Norton's Bonded Abrasives Plant in USA in the 80s


underutilised but the team rallied around and made various improvements in the line to produce several new products for various applications. We also tied up with various consumer brands to sell scrubber pads. The business which was in trouble due to the failed HLL deal gradually turned the corner. Between 2000 and 2010 the business not only became profitable but generated cash for GNO with sales growing at a CAGR of 25% per annum and various new products being churned out year on year. We continued to sell consumer pads in various brand names to different agencies and continued to innovate. In 2010-11, we even overtook 3M in the number of consumer pads sold and were running at full capacity. In 2012, a new plant was set up which gave us new capability to grow the business. While we continued to grow our presence in the industrial market,
consumer pads provided the high volumes. Today, we sell under multiple brand names with strong relationships with various parties. As luck would have it, our non-woven story came full circle when, in 2015, we restarted the sale to HLL under the VIM brand!
Post script: While the initial idea of HLL and GNO coming together to produce and sell VIM consumer pads failed, the people involved succeeded. Harish Manwani went on to become the MD of HLL and, later became the Chief Operating Officer of Unilever global business and Nitin Paranjpe followed Harish Manwani's footsteps to become the MD of HLL and is currently the President of Unilever's Home Care business. Even I moved on to various roles within and outside Saint-Gobain.
Senior Management of GNO at a conference in Mumbai, 1997
Front row (L-R): Mr. P. Natarajan, Mr. P.K. Shrimal, Mr. B. Santhanam, Mr. Pramod Bapat, Mr. Sanjay Arte, Mr. M.A. Puranik,
Mr. N.S. Sahasrabuddhe
Back row (L-R): Mr. S. Venkataraman, Dr. K. Mohandas, Mr. B. Shankaraiah, Mr. Joy Kutty, Mr. J.N. Bhandare,
Mr. M.R. Ramarathnam,
Mr. J. Karamchetty, Mr. Anand Mahajan, Mr. Deepak Thombre, Mr. Joseph Pereira, Mr. N. Sreedhar
Management Development Programme at Dukes Retreat, Khandala, 1993
Seated on the ground: (L-R) Mr. D.T. Devare, Mr. P. Natarajan,
Mr. B. Santhanam, Mr. N.P. Narsimhan, Mr. Sahirudeen, Mr. K.C. Kalia, Mr. S. Panchapakesan, Mr. T.R. Betaraya, Mr. R.K. Mittal Seated on chair: (L-R) Dr. Bandopadhyaya, Mr.T.R.Mohan, guest facilitator, Mr. Anand Mahajan, Mr. Joy Kutty, Mr. J.L. Agarwal, Mr. R. Welling, Mr. V. Bardapurkar
Standing:(L-R) Dr. Y.A. Prasad, Mr. Gerard D'Cunha,
Mr. V.B. Contractor, Mr. Vivek Ubhayakar, Mr. M.R. Ramarathnam, Mr. B. Shankaraiah, Mr. Mansukh Shah, Mr. M.M. Deodhar,
Mr. A. Agasty, Mr. M.A. Puranik, Mr. J.N. Bhandare
Mr. P. Natarajan joined GNO as a management trainee in 1981 and went on to Head the Coated Abrasives Business. In 1998 he took on a new responsibility of MD, Vetrotex, India within the SG Group. He left the Group in 2003, but re-joined to Head a new project in 2012. Currently, he is the MD of SEPR Refractories India
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Inauguration of Coated Abrasives Plant, Bangalore, 1993
GNO's Senior Managers' Retreat along with families, Kathmandu, 1995
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Coated Abrasives Plant, Bangalore
(L-R) Mr. Sudhir Coondoo (one of GNO's oldest dealers based in Hyderabad), Mr. A. Dinakar along with Mr. Joy Kutty
(L-R) Mr. Russi Bilimoria, Mr. N.D. Sidhva, Mr. Donald Devine (then Chairman, GNO) and Mr. Michel Besson (then Chairman, Norton) being welcomed by Mr. Anand Mahajan and Mr. P. Natarajan
(L-R) Mr.B. Santhanam, Mrs. Vera Mahajan, Mrs. Shashi Kapur (wife of Mr. Vinod Kapur), Mrs. Tehmina Sidhwa, Mrs. Almitra Patel


GNO's Board of Directors at Mora in 1996. (L-R)
Mr. Philippe Crouzet (then President, Ceramics, now CEO, Vallourec, France), Mr. Paul Neeteson (then Chairman, GNO and VP, International Development), Mr. Amal Chakrabortti (then Vice Chairman, later Chairman, GNO), Mrs. Dilnavaz Variava, Mr. Pierre- Andre de Chalendar (then President, Abrasives, now Chairman and CEO, Saint-Gobain), Mr. Hoshang Patel, Mr. N.D. Sidhva and Mr. Anand Mahajan
Dealer Conference at Paris in 1997
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(L-R) Mr. Joe Pereira, Mr. Pramod Bapat, Mr. Anand Mahajan, Mrs. Shailaja Mahajan (Mother of Mr. Anand Mahajan) along with Mrs. Vera Mahajan at the Long Service Awards in Mora in 1999
(L-R) Mr. Jean-Louis Beffa (then Chairman and CEO – Saint- Gobain), Mr. Anand Mahajan (Managing Director - Grindwell Norton Ltd.), Mr. Pierre Tracol (then Vice-President - International Development - Saint-Gobain and Chairman, GNO) and Mr. B. Santhanam (then General Manager - Marketing - Grindwell Norton) at a management dinner in Bangalore - 1997


Prawn Curry and Rice
My being part of the GNO Board was very special and I enjoyed my visits with Anand Mahajan, the family and the staff at GNO.
There are a number of memorable moments that come to my mind. I recall one visit when I arrived early in the week and Anand and I visited the Mora Bonded plant on the island during the first morning. Sometime early in the afternoon the plant closed to allow time for families to set up a food and crafts bazaar on the ground next to the plant. Anand, Vera, and I then went to visit the bazaar late in the afternoon. I still remember Anand warning me about being 'too participative' in the food part but I was confident that I would be ok and ate substantially at each family booth. We then proceeded to the house where we stayed and had far more drinks than would have been recommended and also some delicious prawn curry and rice.
I was very ill the following morning but did go with Anand and Vera to the first part of the event which I think was an awards ceremony that included too much incense for me. I then went back to my room for some much needed rest until Anand woke me and said that I was expected by the employees to be in the guest section at the sports field. One of the events was a Tug of War and I was asked to participate. I did so but was very nervous about the state of my internals. It all went well in the end and my motions did not affect my actions during the Tug of War or through the course of the day.
All in all (and despite my stomach), I spent a wonderful time at Mora.
(Adapted from an email that Maury sent to Anand)
Maury Webb was CFO, Abrasives and Director, GNO (at that time)
Language Barriers
I can recollect many fond memories of GNO in general and the camaraderie I shared with Anand Mahajan in particular. We had driven from Bangalore to Tirupati and after visiting the plants there, we set off for Madras. It was dark by the time we reached the city. Back then, the only way to get around in Madras was by asking people for direction. We were chatting through the journey, confident that the driver would know the way or would ask someone on the way in the local dialect. But to our bad luck, neither did the driver knew where the hotel was nor did he speak the local language! That's when Anand said to me: 'Don, do you realize that we are the only two people who can understand each other!!' We finally managed to reach our hotel, I don't remember how, through sign language I guess. I will never forget the evening that we spent at the boutique hotel (I think that it was a Taj hotel) in Madras. It was the same place that Princess Diana and Prince Charles had stayed at a month or so before our
arrival. That evening, we sat on the balcony overlooking the beautiful gardens and solved all the problems of GNO, of Norton and of Saint-Gobain and the world!
(Adapted from an email that Donald sent to Anand)
(L-R) Mr. Vinod Kapur (then MD, Lincoln Helios India Ltd.), Mr. Zarir Fraser (then Musa) (then Deputy MD, GNO), along with Mr. Donald Devine in Bangalore, 1993
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Donald Devine was Vice President, Bonded Abrasives, Norton Co. and Chairman GNO (at that time)
Maury Webb
Donald Devine


Employees First
I worked in GNO between 1999 & 2003 - seems quite a while ago!!!
The concepts of employee first & employee empowerment which is talked about so much today was then itself embedded in GNO's DNA. Even for a small company (those days anyway) we had enough complexities in terms of varied businesses (SBUs), technologies, multi locational manufacturing, sales offices, warehousing etc. But the futuristic HR policies & practices, not only made it a successful, growth oriented company but it also provided the embryo for providing very many business leaders & CEOs for various other Saint-Gobain businesses in India & abroad.
I personally gained a lot in my career from the rather short stint in GNO & I am sure many other GNO Alumni will also hold similar views.
My best wishes,
Mr. V. Srinivasan was the Vice President Coated Abrasives, Super Abrasives and Marketing between 1999 to 2003
3 year Plan Meet - Mumbai, 24-25 Nov 1999
(L-R) First row: Mr. Joy Kutty, Dr. P.G. Pawar, Mr. D.T. Thombre, Mr. Venu Shanbhag,
Mr. A. Dinakar, Mr. S. Nagaraju, Mr. B. Shankaraiah, Mr. Karamchettey
Second row: Mr. Gerard D'Cunha, Dr. K. Mohandas, Mr. N.S. Sahasrabuddhe, Mr. Joe Pereira, Mr. Vivek Madiwale, Mr. V.B. Contractor, Mr. Vivek Sud
Third row: Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, Mr. Bhandare, Mr. Venkatraman, Mr. Virinder Khosla,
Mr. Panchapakesan, Mr. M.A. Puranik, Mr. Anand Mahajan, Mr. Atul Dhall
Fourth row: Mr. Krishna Prasad, Mr. P.K. Shrimal, Mr. M.R. Ramarathnam, Mr. K.S. Hooda, Mr. K. Pitichaiah, Mr. N. Sreedhar, Mr. Pramod Bapat, Mr. Abbey John
Standing tall in the last row (centre) Mr. V. Srinivasan
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V. Srinivasan


Performing Pooja
Amongst the many unforgettable moments I had in GNO, this is etched strongly in my memory .
I wanted to have a traditional ground breaking ceremony for our new site at Buti Bori (Nagpur). It was peak summer – beginning of May and the weather was punishing. We had engaged a local priest, who would not shorten any of the rituals. No one was sure as to how much Anand subscribed to these rituals. On the ground breaking day, Anand, Pramod and I were proceeding to the site. As we entered the site premises, all the decorations around the site made it look like a grand ceremony. The security guards were in a fantastic attire – they resembled the guards in an English Palace. On
reaching the site I told Anand that he should perform the Pooja. Anand resisted and said the power of attorney was with me. I told him – not for this one - he needs to do this as the Company Boss.
Anand squatted on the floor and went through a fairly long ritual administered by the experienced priest. He was barefoot on a hot and sunny day. He could hardly remember his birthstar and had even more difficulty in remembering Vera's!
The whole thing lasted for an hour and a half. All of us enjoyed this function. This one became a minimum template for ground breaking in all our future projects.
Mr. M.R. Ramarathnam joined GNO in April 1982 as a Senior Project Engineer in the erstwhile Consulting & Projects Division. Since then he has worked in several functions including Engineering, Project Management, Campus Management, Building Materials Trading, Environment, Health & Safety and Sourcing. Today, he is the Vice President – EHS, Loss Prevention & Group Security within the Saint-Gobain Group in India
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M.R. Ramarathnam
Mr. Anand Mahajan performing the pooja. To his left are Mr. M.R. Ramarathnam and Mr. Pramod Bapat


Challenging Roles
I still remember, my father cautioning me when I decided to quit my earlier job to join GNO. He reminded me of a popular quote: "A rolling stone never gathers moss" and advised me to stay for a longer period at least in GNO. My initial impressions about GNO were; it's a small organization, like a family, where people generally join and stay for a long time. Consequences of this, I thought, was that my career growth within GNO will also be limited. Ergo, I felt that I may need to search for another challenging job outside the group after gaining some experience in GNO.
However, once Saint-Gobain started taking interest in the Indian market, things started changing. Many GNO team members were assigned challenging assignment of developing the Saint-Gobain business in India. These developments changed my perception and I started realizing that I can also get new challenging opportunities within GNO/ Saint-Gobain Group and there is really no need for me to look
out for any opportunities outside the Group. Looking back at my journey in GNO, I realise that GNO did meet my constant quest for new challenges. I was kept professionally engaged without any feeling of monotony. I had a change in my role or responsibility almost every 3 to 4 years. Each change brought in new challenges and tremendous learning. Now, I am associated with GNO for more than 22 years and continue to remain extremely enthusiastic about opportunities in store for the years to come.
Mr. N. Sreedhar joined GNO in June 1994 as Works Accountant, Mora plant, since then he has worked in several functions including Vice-President, Abrasives India. Today, he is the Vice-President, Finance for High Performance Materials and IT, Strategy & Purchasing function for Innovative Materials Sector, Compagnie de Saint-Gobain
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N. Sreedhar
(L-R) Mr. N. Sreedhar along with Mr. M. Mhatre, Mr. Arvind and Mr. T. Mumbaikar, committee members of Grindwell Norton Workers Union, Mora
Mr. N. Sreedhar (then VP – Abrasives, India) along with the Group Concord team, Dec 2009


Campus Life at Mora
Back then, most of the new entrants who joined the GNO family started their career at the Mora campus. Mora-Uran campus for GNO was one of the major locations at that point in time and had a very thriving residential campus.
The campus was so vibrant and filled with fun and frolic. A lot of us cherish those memories of our campus life both at the bachelor accommodation called Rendezvous and later at the family accommodation.
Amongst a lot of fun filled incidents; some of which cannot be reproduced here, there is one such incident that comes to my mind involving few individuals, who are still within GNO.
After marriage, I had moved into the family quarters within the campus. I had Mr. Thimmappaiah and family, Mr. D. Sankaran (DS) & family and Dr. P.B. Arora & family as my neighbors. We lived on the same floor of the newly constructed K-Block.
It was during that time, the four of us received the Naval Club membership. This was a good gesture from
the Indian Navy (NAD Karanja). They
encouraged us to use their club facilities.
For us, it was a welcome break; earlier we had to travel for more than 30 minutes to go to a good restaurant that served multiple cuisines and drinks. Transport to get back was always difficult.
With the access to the Naval Club (only
for men) that offers good quality food and drinks, for 4 of us, what we needed was only a reason. It was on one of the days, the most critical appliance in a Tamilian family, the wet grinder, that is used to prepare the dosa and idli batter; stopped working and resulted in a near catastrophe at DS's house. Naval campus had an electric goods repair shop and we finally had a real reason to go there. Since the wet grinder was really heavy, we needed 4 people to carry it to the vehicle and then to drop it at the repair shop. We convinced the women folks that it is
important to check the status of the repair; we gave special instructions to the shop to delay it as much as possible, so that we come and check the progress every day and also visit the Naval Club.
Still the mystery is not solved, I think, it was on day-5 evening, we were told by the shop keeper that the repaired wet grinder has been taken back home by DS's wife Meena that morning.
We got back only to find out that the ladies had ganged up against us; curious for the latest update!
We lost the reason and poor DS became the batter.
Mr. Aju Varghese joined GNO in 1993 as an Analyst Programmer. Since then he has worked in GNO, Glass & Delegation. Today, he is the Chief Information Officer for the Saint-Gobain Group in India
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Aju Varghese
(R-L) Mr. Anand Mahajan presenting the Long Service Award to Mr. Aju Varghese and his family in 2009


The 2000s
C&P Conference - Kerala - Jan, 2001
(L-R) Mr. Joe Pereira, Mrs. Rajani Santhanam, Mrs. Cloty Pereira and Mrs. Vera Mahajan in traditional Malayali attire
(L-R) Mr. Joe Pereira, Mr. Joy Kutty, Mr. & Mrs. Santhanam
Grindwell Norton features in Forbes Asia's 200 "Best under a Billion" list 2007. In the photo, Mr. Joe Pereira receiving the award on behalf of GNO
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Mr. Beffa, then Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Compagnie de Saint-Gobain, at the Coated Abrasives Plant, Bangalore, 2006


(R-L) Mr. Krishna Prasad and Mr. B. Shankaraiah during the construction of the Bhutan project in 2008
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The Board of Directors at the 56th Annual General Meeting of Grindwell Norton Ltd. in 2007
(L-R): Mr. Shivanand Salgaokar, Mr. Pradip Shah, Mr. Amal Chakrabortti, (then Vice-Chairman, later, Chairman, GNO) Mr. Anand Mahajan, Mr. K. Viswesh (Company Secretary), Mrs. Dilnavaz Variava, Mrs. Meheru Mehta, Mr. Noshir D. Sidhva, Mr. Ermin Irani, Partner, Kalyaniwalla & Mistry seated at the back (third from left)
Non-woven Abrasives Plant inaugurated in Bangalore, 2012. (L-R) Mr. N. Sreedhar, Mr. M.R. Ramarathnam, Dr. K. Mohandas, Mr. Patrick Millot (President, Abrasives, Saint- Gobain and Director, GNO)
Long Service Awards 2013
Mr. Anand Mahajan (centre) along with the Long Service awardees


Abrasives Dealer Conference on the occasion of GNO's 75th Anniversary, Mumbai, Sept 2016
Members of the GNO Management Committee in the 90s (L-R) Mr. Joe Pereira, Mr. B. Santhanam, Mrs. Beena Kutty (wife of Mr. Joy Kutty), Mr. Joy Kutty, Mr. Pramod Bapat, Mr. Anand Mahajan and Mr. M.R. Ramarathnam during the 75th Anniversary celebration in Bangalore, Nov 2016
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Tirupati plant received an Environment Emerald Award 2014 (L-R) Mr. Guillaume Texier (then VP Ceramics Materials, Saint-Gobain and Director, GNO), Ms. Claire Pedini
(VP HR, Saint-Gobain), Mr. B. Shankaraiah, Mr. Pierre-Andre de Chalendar (Chairman and CEO, Saint-Gobain) and Jean-Pierre Floris (then VP, Innovative Materials, Director and earlier Chairman, GNO)
(L-R) Mr. Jean-Pierre Floris along with Mr. Anand Mahajan planting a sapling at Tirupati


GNO Management Committee Today
(L-R) Mr. Deepak Chindarkar, Mr. Krishna Prasad, Mr. M.R. Ramarathnam, Mr. Anand Mahajan, Ms. Anupama Vaidya and Mr. Samir bouObeid during the 75th Anniversary celebration in Bangalore, Nov 2016
C&P and Project Management Teams
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(L-R) Mr. C.S. Divakar, Mr. Shyamsundar, Mr. Krishna Prasad, Mr. Nikhil Kelekar, Mr. Ritesh Patterson and Mr. Harish Holalu, Bangalore, Nov 2016
SiC Management Team during the 75th Anniversary celebration in Tirupati, Nov, 2016
(L-R) Mr. Lokesh Pai, Mr. P. Mohanrao, Mr. Krishna Prasad,
Mr. B. Shankaraiah, Mr. Kiran Taula, Mr. M.V.Satyanarayana


Abrasives Management Team
GNO Teams 2015-16
Mr. Krishna Prasad, Mr. Ritesh Patterson (centre) along with the Performance Plastics team 2016
Mr. Samir bouObeid (centre), (to his right) Mr. Hari Singudasu,
Mr. Neilesh Ved, Mr. Narayana Prasad, Mr. Amit Koul, (to his left) Mr. V.R. Mahadevan along with the Abrasives Marketing team 2016
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Mr. Krishna Prasad, Mr. Anand Mahajan, Mr. Vidosh Sarup, Ms. Anupama Vaidya along with the High Performance Refractories team during the 75th Anniversary celebration in Halol, Nov 2016


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Mr. Deepak Chindarkar, Mr. Prakash Sabarad (seated in the centre) along with the GNO Finance team 2015-16
Ms. Anupama Vaidya (centre), Ms. Jyoti Tiwari (third from left) along with the GNO HR team 2016
Mr. Aju Varghese (seated extreme right) along with the INDEC team 2015-16


Conceived, Curated and Edited by: Anand Mahajan
Special Thanks to:
Joe Pereira
Associate Editor:
Medha Shanbhag
Acknowledgments:
Joe Pereira M.R.Ramarathnam Shyam Digamber
Thank you to Almitra Patel, Dilnavaz Variava, Vera Mahajan and to all our present and ex-GNOites for sharing their stories and photographs
'Our story in verse' written by: Medha Shanbhag
Copyright © 2016 Grindwell Norton Ltd. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, all material on these pages is copyrighted by Grindwell Norton Ltd. No part of these pages, either text or image may be used for any purpose. Therefore, reproduction, modification, storage in a retrieval system or retransmission, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise, for any reason is strictly prohibited without prior written permission.








Conceived, Curated and Edited by: Anand Mahajan
Special Thanks to:
Joe Pereira
Associate Editor:
Medha Shanbhag
Acknowledgments:
Joe Pereira M.R.Ramarathnam Shyam Digamber
Thank you to Almitra Patel, Dilnavaz Variava, Vera Mahajan and to all our present and ex-GNOites for sharing their stories and photographs
'Our story in verse' written by: Medha Shanbhag
Copyright © 2016 Grindwell Norton Ltd.
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, all material on these pages is copyrighted by Grindwell Norton Ltd. No part of these pages, either text or image may be used for any purpose. Therefore, reproduction, modification, storage in a retrieval system or retransmission, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise, for any reason is strictly prohibited without prior written permission.