Sri S. Narayanaswami: An Enlightened Industrialist

Sri S. Narayanaswamy:
An Enlightened Industrialist

In almost nine out of ten instances, the birthdays of persons celebrated in public, are either politically motivated or sectionally inspired. Only a few among men and women who receive plaudits are deserving of recognition and felicitations for having lived the good age. Sri S. Narayanaswamy, who completed his eighty-first year in April last, is one such whom most of the institutions and organizations with which he has been connected look upon as an ungrudging contributor to their interests. Hardly before he passed his ’Twenties, he had already joined groups working for the social, cultural and industrial causes. Though not a full full-fledged graduate of our university, he had graduated creditably in public service. Many a movement of public utility claimed him as an incessant coadjutor or collaborator in advancing the objects forwhich such institutions came into existence.

The stock exchange drew his attention for an early career but unlike many others engaged in the share-market he had been found from the beginning refreshing himself with valuable pre-occupations such as reading a lot of good literature and writing with great speed upon many a subject of economic and industrial interest. As a speaker, even at a young age, he was needed by the social organisers to participate in their discussions, and never did he show slackening in his mental powers of tackling problems. More than that, his facility for speech and his attraction in filling it with apt quotations from modern writers proved an immense source of willing attention from audiences.

Like the late Sri C. Y. Chintamani of Allahabad and Dr. D. V. Gundappa of Bangalore, without holding university degrees, he is any day more competent by his knowledge than of the so-called experts in the field with long suffixes to their academic qualifications. One may get amazed indeed at his readiness, to talk on economic and technological problems with apparent ease and command of adequate material.

With a variety of interests and serious involvements in business concerns he has no self-obsessions ofimportance so as to remove the qualities of loyalty and admiration for men of intellect and large vision such as Dr. C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar. The Rt. Hon’ble Mr. Sastri and Rajaji. If every one of them felt him reliable and useful in moments of need, it only adds to his other sterling traits of promptness and energetic discharge of assignments in public affairs.

His daily routine of attending Advisory Boards ofmore than a dozen Companies in the industrial field, has not robbed him of naturalness and cheer and an accommodative spirit to claims of a different kind. The adage that the busiest man alone can find time for everything is true in a great measure or him. A practical mind is his, and an unquestioning inclination to help others in distress. To his credit is a clean and unblemished record of service of all kinds, ranging from small undertakings of collecting books for building up a library to the vast entre­preneurial efforts at bringing into life a new industry or reviving a sick one. In short, his ambitions are for others; his activities are for himself.