went through a traumatic and violent onslaught of mindless
“Mumbai Meri Jaan!” (As many a sentimental Mumbaikar would refer to this vibrating metro), went through a traumatic and violent onslaught of mindless, heartless, robotic terrorists on the peace loving inhabitants of the city. Their bullets knew not the religion of their victims. Their actions were thoughtless of the trauma of families that were waiting for their kin, who fell to the outburst of the unholy weapons of these terrorists who claimed to be acting out of a heavenly and holy call! The incident left in its wake an angry and shocked nation. The international community was stunned and shaken in disbelief. There were reports of cancellation of events, celebrations, travel plans and so on. We soon realized if we go on like this we are giving in and aiding the sinister designs of these terror mongers. India Label Show was just a week away and would have become a victim to have succumbed to the wishes of these villains. Our label industry rose to the occasion and bravely went ahead to put their best foot forward. Even though there were many international visitors who put off their plans to visit, the event was held successfully. We salute our label printers who came and registered their resolve to make this show go on. Printers came not only from all nooks and corners of India but also from far off places like UAE, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Iran, Romania, etc. They were complemented with suppliers from Europe, USA, China, etc.
“Even though the Indian label industry has been facing a slowdown in the rate of growth, our printers continue to invest in new capacities. Letragraphics of Ahmedabad became the proud owners of the Gallus label press exhibited at the show. The sister and brother team from Synpack were conspicuous by their presence at the Nilpeter booth standing next to their newly acquired Nilpeter press running there. The South Indian printers led by Raveendran of Seljagat and Gururaj of Wintek were seen prowling around the show displaying their willingness to make new investments in enhancing their capabilities. Ranesh Bajaj of Creed Engineers reported sale of four 100% defect detection systems from AB Graphics and a Kodak CtP Plate making system to Webtech, Mumbai. The second Lintec press was sold to Sribalaji in Delhi. The offset “Brava” from Rotatek that was showcased at India Label Show will make its second appearance at Printpack 2009. The team of two young brothers Denver and Janus Annunciation of Janus International, won a unique distinction of being the first narrow web label printer in the country to invest in an HP Indigo label press. During the show they went a step ahead and decided to buy “Label Traxx” the unique job management software for label printers. Our local press manufacturers Jandu Engineers, who was against displaying his presses at shows, came forward to exhibit three presses at his booth. They were able to report sale of all the three machines! He immediately decided to showcase his machines at Printpack 2009. The show has successfully exhibited the resolve of the Indian Label Industry to stand up and prove themselves in trying times. We are happy that the industry made the show go on . . . .
“In all my columns hereon I will end with a part from history. We are an industry where the first generation started and the next generation is just coming in. The young managers need to learn about the hardship that their mentors went through. In this vein, I mention the life of Mr Dinesh Gogari, fondly known as Dineshbhai, of Dinsons Selfsticks Pvt Ltd Mumbai. Dineshbhai, as a young boy after studying up to SSC, was working in a ration shop. Working in hot and humid conditions, wearing loose pajamas and a vest as a top, he dreamt of a different life. There was a storm inside him; the urge to become a businessman and run an industry made him restless. He wondered that with little education, no background or family in business and little knowledge of English, how would he achieve his dream. He made enquiries to explore the possibilities. Eventually, he decided to try his hand at printing. He worked at the ration shop during the day and started screen printing stickers and labels during the night. An honest and hard worker as he was, he continued to plough back his meagre earnings into his small enterprise. The complete story is long, full of hard times and personal sacrifices, all the same Dineshbhai found hard earned success and today he runs his company from an 8000 square foot factory that he owns, with six label presses. He is always smartly dressed and polished in his speech, even fluent in English. He wishes others like him to be inspired and never give up if they wish to succeed. That sure is a long way from his days in the ration shop. Our label industry has many such success stories and I will try and bring them to our younger generation for them to draw inspiration and take the industry to greater heights.”
Written by Harveer Sahni, Managing Director, Weldon Celloplast Limited, New Delhi-110008
