Then my grandfather passed away earlier this year, there were over two thousand people at his chautha ceremony (usually performed on or after the third day of the death). That was the day I thought, if I get even one thousand people at my chautha, I would have left my mark in the world,? says the young, down to earth and affable managing director of SRF Limited, Ashish Bharat Ram.

This is more or less how Ashish defines the essence of his management philosophy. ?At SRF, we take care of people. We are here to make a profit as all businesses strive to do and must do, but at the end of the day, we realise that there is more to life and business than plain money,? he says. His company is perhaps the only company in India that gives the family of a deceased employee the same salary as he was getting for six months or more. ?We also try and give a job to one of the family members according to his or her qualifications,? he says.

Ashish comes from one of India?s oldest and most respected business families. His father set up SRF Ltd in 1971 to manufacture Nylon Tyrecord Fabric and moved to Chennai to set up his first plant in 1973. ?Some of my happiest memories are from that time. I was four-five years at that time and had a ball. We stayed there for eight years. The people were simple and had a simple lifestyle. It was not as if they were not doing well, but they simply did not believe in showing off.?

Ashish agrees that it was during this time that he picked up some of his present values and management philosophy. ?Our family has always believed in secularism. We try and incorporate it our company practices. We make sure that there are holidays associated with each religion in a calendar year. Deepawali, Id, Christmas are all celebrated. Caste and religion play no role in our management functions. There are certain groups in India who do not do so. They might have senior management from just one religion or upper castes. We just do not indulge in such practices,? he says.

So did he always want to get into business? ?We were always brought up with the idea that we will be managing the business one day. I did have my ?I will be a pilot when I grow up? fantasies at five but lost them fast.? An alumni of Doon school, he graduated from the capital?s Hindu college with a degree in Economics. He went on to do a degree in business management from Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University, United States. He majored in finance and strategy. After stints with various organisations like Toyota Motor Corporation, Tokyo, and American Express Bank, he joined SRF in 1994. ?My first recommendation to my father on joining was to sell the business,? says Ashish. Did his father throw a fit and fire him? ?No, we sat down and he asked me my reasons,? he says. Consequently, the company was sold. But does he not think that he missed out on getting a toe in the lucrative services sector? Why did he do this? ?We are primarily a manufacturing group. Being in services meant having a totally different mindset and managing people differently. I thought it best to focus on the core competence of the group.? But is competition from China not a worry for him? They sell the products at much cheaper rates after all. ?I think we can match China every step of the way. I feel that it is the various subsidies, artificial devaluation of the Yuan and other such factors that are keeping the value of Chinese goods down. I can say for a fact that the operations of my Gwalior plant are cheaper than that of similar plants in China. So it is a matter of time,? he says.

Today, SRF is a leading Indian player in the industrial textiles, refrigerant, packaging and pharma intermediates sectors. It is also one of the top ten suppliers of nylon tyre cord in the world besides being one of the the top three manufacturers of belting fabric. For the financial year 2007, its revenues increased by 39.5% to Rs1,802.5 crore while its profit after tax increased by 175.9% to Rs 289 crore.

However, certain industry sections feel that the company has been less aggressive and has grown less than it could have, given the booming Indian economic scenario. ?Some people do hold that we have not been doing well and have been growing at rates much less than some of the other Indian companies. But one has to see that within the context of the business we are in. Globally, our business sectors have been growing at a rate of two to three per cent. In India, the same has been seven to eight percent. In such a scenario we have been growing at a rate of 15-20%. So you cannot say that we have not been doing well.? Ashish says that 2008 will be the years when SRF will scale up. It is also a part of his personal agenda. ?You will see an acquisition from us by March 2008. One will also see many investments for increasing capacity,? he says. ?We are very bullish on the industrial polymers space and feel that one has not even scratched the surface of it potential in India,? he says, referring to future growth opportunities.

Ashish took over as MD at SRF in January this year. So how has his journey to the top of the management been like? What are the lessons he learnt along the way? ?Management is all about people. I feel my job is to ensure that I have the right people in the right position. I act as a facilitator in some respects.? Trust is something that he values most in business transactions. ?There should be a legal contract, but it?s best avoided. One must have one as a last option, but it?s better if one comes to mutual understanding. Our buyer and supplier relationships are based on the same. We have had occasions where the buyer would perhaps pick up less goods than stipulated in the contract. Sometimes you make very good profits or sometimes raw material and other cycles may eat into your margins, but at the end of the day it?s all part of the game in life and in business. It is important to have relationships that see you through both,? says Ashish.

What is it that irks him in employees? ?I don?t like people hiding things from me. I also do not like people treating other people with disrespect and being arrogant,? he says. Is his management style different than that of his father? ?I am tougher than he is. I try and not involve emotions in decision making,? he says. Ashish also remarks that he takes on more after the manage-ment style of his great grandfather Sir Shri Ram.

With all his responsibilities, how does he manage stress? ?I watch sports for half an hour every day when I get home. It?s a must. It is my way of busting stress,? says Ashish. He is also an avid golfer and has a single digit handicap. There was a time when I played golf for almost all the daylight hours. However, now I just play it on Saturday mornings with a bunch of my Doon School friends,? says Ashish. He is also fond of spas and an occasional trip out of town.

So what can one expect from him in the future? Will he be striking out on his own, especially at a time when we are seeing a lot of splits in family owned firms? How will SRF handle it? ?We have a family council that meets once a month. It comprises me and my wife and my brother and his wife. We have a constitution as to what can be done with the company and what cannot be. Where one can spend and where one cannot and other such issues. One sees often that families often do not fight over the big things, but it is the small things that cause the split,? he says.

?After all, at the end of the day, for me it?s all about people and not the money. Money comes and goes but going to sleep with a clear conscience is essential for me,? he adds.