Sri Lankan Nadars born with business flair

By Amal HEWAAVISSENTHI

Nadars sprang into prominence as business giants from their native Tamil Nadu where almost 11 million Nadars live as an important business community. Their cardinal religion is Hinduism with a notable exception of Christian and Islamic Nadars. Western researchers such as Robert Hartgrave conclude that they are a community that has risen to the top of social ladder by tearing apart the fabric of inflexible South Indian caste system. Currently they live in Madurei, Thirunelveli, Virdunagar, Sivakasi and Kanya Kumari of Tamil Nadu.

The outstanding feature of their lifestyle is starting something on a small scale and developing it by leaps and bounds. During the 19th century, the Nadars began a large scale emigration to foreign countries in quest of huge business opportunities. They launched business ventures in Sri Lanka, Canada, USA, Singapore, Malaysia, Britain and South Africa and still they live there permanently.

Why they came to Sri Lanka

Commenting on the first arrival of Nadars in Sri Lanka, the spokesmen of the 'Welfare Union of Sri Lankan Nadars' Robinson Nadar, Charles Jebaraj Nadar and Jayakumar Nadar say, "we the Nadars began to come to Sri Lanka during the English administration. During the British administration, Tamil Nadu experienced a 'Great Depression'. That time, Tamil Nadu people believed Sri Lanka to be a Paradise with lots of opportunities for profitable business. Just as Sri Lankan people struggle to goto Italy or to Japan, so did Tamil Nadu people to enjoy the privileges in Sri Lanka.

This is absolutely true because plantation industry in Sri Lanka at this time was in full swing yielding an unprecedented amount of business and employment opportunities. Among the varied groups of Indian people who came here to capitalise on the opportunities were the Nadars who were poised for chances of economic gain. Most of them were employed near cities and estates and their prime objective was to embark on some form of business.

Persistent in his aim

A.Y.S. Nyanam Nadar was a man who achieved resounding success in business arena with his courage and unfailing perseverance. A few decades previously he came to this country from Tamil Nadu to create a dramatic chapter in his life. He walked to houses through villages and towns collecting waste material such as empty bottles or unwanted pieces of iron. Nyanam Nadar who had sound business foresight embarked on more advanced businesses with the money he had earned from the first small scale business.

Consequently he managed to become a landmark figure in the business arena of the country. When he died at the age of 84, he was the proud owner of Cintec and St. Anthony's Consolidated Ltd.

Nature of their business

These businessmen often had to begin with the small capital they had but they experientially discovered paths to earn biggest profit from the small amount they invested. Says Robinson Nadar, "The first generation of Nadars who set foot on Sri Lanka invented a novel business. They saw that this rather laborious business could yield much profit.

They collected recyclable material such as bottles or discarded iron. No sense of dignity or laziness could hold them back. They made a massive profit out of this business and some went back to India to invest the money on other businesses. Some others brought their families back from Tamil Nadu and settled here."

Apart from that, the Nadars turned bottles, pieces of iron, brass, aluminium, plastic and newspapers into a massive business project.

The 'Nadar business' introduced an invironment friendly business which turned waste material thrown into garbage dumps, into money. Therefore, they can be conveniently called the first environment friendly businessmen in Sri Lanka.

Supporting one another

Earlier the Nadars were engaged in small scale commercial projects associated with sale of rice, grains, sugar, coconut oil and gingerly oil. Most of them commanded their commercial influence throughout Tamil Nadu when they developed their businesses to large scale businesses. From the very beginning, they displayed a penchant for success through the businesses of their own rather than working under an employer.

As they relished gradual success, their small businesses branched out into bigger, more complex business ventures dealing with the sale of cement, paints, steel and varnish.

An impressively prominent characteristic of Nadar community is their natural tendency to be highly supportive of one another within the community. Their undisguised commitment to give succour to a bankrupt businessman proves their unity. Popular tradition has it that wealthy Nadars were used to give their daughters in marriage to impoverished, unprosperous young men and direct them to succeed fully in accordance with their desires. This trend virtually promoted the Nadars as a well-organised business community.

The Nadar Gandhi

Later on they emerged a politically powerful ethnic group on the platform of South Indian politics. K. Kamraj, popularly known as "maker of rulers in Indian politics" was from a Nadar family and he was a massive figure in the freedom struggle of India. He earned the popular label of "the black Gandhi" or "The Gandhi of the South" because his political behaviour resembled the non violent approach adopted by M. K. Gandhi in the freedom struggle in India.

Kamraj was chiefly instrumental in producing Prime Minister twice after Jawaharlal Nehru who viewed Kamraj as a trustworthy companion. They were Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1964 and Indira Gandhi in 1966. Kamraj's unfatiguable service to South Indian education is highly recognised even though he himself had not received higher education. Kamraj, who later became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, is generally considered the symbol of Nadar community.

The secret of success

Some of the Nadars who came to Sri Lanka started business on fried gram, fried peanuts, murukku and other snacks which were produced and sold on wholesale basis. They sometimes counted much on retail stores and what they expected was no quick profit but a high level of sale.

They say "most of us who started retail stores always tried to attract more customers by selling goods at the cheapest price. We managed to keep a tiny profit and maintain a higher customer base by selling things much cheaper than other shops.

We treated the customers with high respect which in turn earned us a bigger battery of customers. Thus, the small profit accumulated to an enormous profit..."

The secret behind their success is their ability to curtail or limit unwanted expenses and reinvesting the income on the business projects to recover redoubled profit.

As each member joins the family, everybody gets enormous support in starting separate business ventures. They distinguish themselves by adapting to modernisation and future trends in sharp acceleration.

Their true involvement in the education field apart from business has produced a considerable number of professionals.

Robinson Nadar comments, "The Sri Lankan Nadars are scattered throughout Colombo and other areas. Almost four years back, we established welfare association of Sri Lankan Nadars. By now its membership has risen to not less than 1500.

We earnestly hope that Nadar population will amount to more than forty thousand."

Social anthropologists will find Nadars community a readymade topic for further exploration because this interesting community has exploded throughout the world. They have called a halt to the norms of conventional social hierarchy of South India and have achieved unmistakable success through simple rules of life.

Nadars, earlier called Shanars, won their rights during the British administration in India in 1859. One of their demands was to be granted the right to us "Nadar" with names.