The Man Who Would Be Kim

HE hasn't burnt black as any native, doesn't speak the vernacular by preference, and his mother tongue isn't a clipped uncertain sing-song a la Kim, Rudyard Kipling's unforgettable character. Yet, Kipling and Kim are why Simon J. Scarff, managing director of the Rs 645.62-crore SmithKline Beecham Consumer Healthcare conglomerate, and named Officer of the Order of the British Empire (obe) last Christmas by the Queen, is in India. In India for 23 years - in two stints with the company which makes that quintessentially Indian brand: Horlicks.

Yes, naive as it may sound, Kipling's stories started it all.  I developed a certain fascination for India when I read Rudyard Kipling in school, says Scarff. And after that he made every effort to make sure that he spent his working life in India. So much so, that at 21, he chucked up his job as a Lloyds insurance broker in London.

 I quit for a very simple reason - because I didn't enjoy what I was doing. I didn't have any other job in hand at that time, he recalls. Besides, insurance broking wasn't going to take him to India. It was premeditated romance; he was well aware that Horlicks Ltd - what the company was known as then, and which he joined in 1963 - had operations in India.  I hoped that if I joined Horlicks I would get the opportunity to work in India. After Kipling, it was John Masters.

Eventually, he did persuade the company's top brass to send him to India, to take part in the late 20th century version of the Great Game that Kim had played.  At that time, India was looked upon as a hardship posting. For we did endure regular 12-hour power cuts right through the summer. That was also when there was no mineral water. No air-conditioned cars, or air-conditioned offices, and just one shade of shampoo. That was 1968, when Scarff, then general sales manager, got his first taste of India.  I landed here in the month of January, and the moment I got off the plane, there was this very distinct aroma that hit me. Then, there was the dust and the warmth.

But this 25-year-old Englishman, who had just made the longest trip of his life, was going to see a lot more of India than just heat and dust. And soon. Till then, summer holidays to Spain and the south of France were the furthest that he had ever ventured. Although Nabha, Punjab, where the company was headquartered at that time, was his base station for the next two years, Scarff spent a lot of time on the road by virtue of being in charge of the sales portfolio.

Around end-February,  I flew down to Calcutta, boarded an Ambassador, and hit the road. I visited Horlicks stockists, distributors and retailers all along the way, Bodh Gaya, Ranchi, Patna...we stopped at virtually every town en route. There were no air-conditioned cars then, so I had to keep the window down, and by the time I reached Delhi, I was caked with mud. And I had had my fill of beer and soda water.

His boss, Jim Pountney, an India veteran of 13 years, was obviously hell-bent on putting this India novice through his paces.  When I returned to Nabha, Pountney, standing before a map of the country, shut his eyes and placed his finger on a spot on the map. It was Porbandar. So, Scarff went off to Gujarat, in the midst of his first Indian summer, to take in more mud, heat, beer, soda water, and, of course, India.

It was a short tenure, but it further whetted his appetite for India. In 1970, Scarff was posted out, only to make a return eight years later, this time as the company's head honcho. Scarff decided it was time to feel at home, as he got down to relishing hot Indian curries, which he'd always enjoyed. After lunch I would take 20-minute lessons in Hindi every day. Nikhil Nehru, president, McCann-Erickson India, was at that time working with Hindustan Thomson Associates, SmithKline Beecham's longstanding ad agency. Recalls Nehru:  The first time I met him was when he had just arrived in India as managing director, and a party was hosted in his honour. The host got all flustered when a toaster stopped working. Some of us tried to help, and then Simon walked into the kitchen and helped us fix it. That was the first thing that struck me about Simon, just no airs about him, absolutely down to earth.

And Priya Vishwanathan, whose five-year tenure as the company's hrd chief ended in 1994, echoes the sentiments.  Simon has a complete lack of ego for someone in his position. For many years, he didn't even bother to have a car parking slot reserved for himself.

On his part, Scarff believes that there are many other attributes that have helped him survive, or rather, flourish in India.  You need high tolerance levels, and a very long fuse. Most foreigners who've been here for a long period have had that. You've got to realise that things won't happen as fast as you expect them to. Plus, SmithKline Beecham's success in India has been another positive factor.  I am surprised myself at how long I've spent here. But then, I always wanted this job, and since I have been part of a successful team, it's made my stay here all the more enjoyable.

Indeed, his company closed its financial year in December 1998 with a turnover of Rs 645.62 crore, a 14.8 per cent rise over the previous year. While over the last eight years, the company's turnover has shown a compounded annual growth rate of 18.2 per cent, net profits have jumped every year by 19.9 per cent.

What about England? His son and daughter live there. Scarff has this motto:  The secret of survival is not to long for what you've left behind, but to make the best of what you have.

And he's done that to the hilt. He is a mainstay of the Delhi cocktail circuit. Then there's wild life photography. In fact, he's off to Kanha National Park again next month.  I couldn't have done much of this back home. Neither would he have been able to indulge in white water rafting, another of his favoured pastimes.

 But what's most important about Simon, says Nehru,  is that he is a people's person, he enjoys meeting people and building relationships. And just as well. For, despite being a marketing man, one of his greater challenges was on the human resources front. Recalls Vishwanathan:  When the company moved its headquarters from Nabha to Delhi in the eighties, it had a lot of old Indian employees who had closed minds and were afraid of each other. Scarff brought in management consultant Mrityunjay Athreya, who opened up the operations of the company. Today, it is a company that works according to modern management principles.

 Simon has become a lot more confident over the years. I think that's got to do with both the company's success and his increasing familiarity with the Indian environment, says Nehru, who also pays a tribute to Scarff over how he and his team have managed the Horlicks brand in India.  It's a 110-year-old brand that continues to be relevant today. That, despite its prices going up, packaging being changed, and increased competition. Simon has planned its evolution very well.

Scarff has another five years to go before he reaches retirement age.  I look upon myself as a guest here. A retired life in the UK would be far more convenient. I don't wish to stand in a queue here and pay my electricity and phone bills. That's probably when he'll find the time for his golf.  Five years ago, I had a handicap of 14.That's when I played four times a week. Now it's only on weekends, and my handicap has plummeted to 17. But before he heads home, Scarff would like to satisfy his travel bug once more with a visit to Kashmir. He hasn't been there in 15 years.