This apocalyptic statement by Socrates was surely Greek and Latin in the days of yore, the ramblings of a visionary philosopher, the depth of which few could comprehend. But today, the thought is a prophecy come true. It is a cliché that technology has made the world a global village. The friendly neighbourhood could just be a couple of oceans and continents away. Little wonder that within the Sanmar headquarters in Chennai is the confl uence of three nations of Europe – Denmark, Spain and Greece.
As early as the 17th century, a Danish admiral representing the King of Denmark arrived at Tranquebar, 7 kms north of Karaikal. A trade agreement was drawn between the Ambassador of the King of Denmark and the King of Tanjore. The southern connection with Denmark has continued ever since. In anything South, can Sanmar be far behind? The Danish gateway was fi rst opened in 1947 when K S Narayanan (KSN) went to Denmark to acquire training in cement technology from the Danish cement plant of F L Smidth. In 1975, P H Mortenson of Engineering Construction Corporation (a subsidiary of L & T) was the Consul for Denmark in Chennai.Under directions from the Royal Danish Embassy, New Delhi, KSN took over as Honorary Consul for the Royal Danish Consulate in Chennai. The mantle was passed on to N Sankar in 1989 and he became the Consul General. Apart from t he trade links, DANIDA, the Danish International Development Assistance agency supported by the Danish government has implemented programmes relating to health, water supply, drainage, agriculture, training centres in environment management, etc., in Tamil Nadu and also in other parts of India. Danish consular services continue to this day. KSN and N Sankar, were decorated with Knighthood and again, N Sankar was decorated with Knighthood First Class by the Queen of Denmark in December 2005 for his services to the Royal Danish Government. S B Prabhakar Rao was also honoured in recognition of his distinguished services as Vice Consul for 25 years.
K S Narayanan with the Prime Minister of Denmark HE Poul Schlüter. (17 January 1987)
N Sankar with the Danish Ambassador Bjorne Henneberg Sørensen during his visit in 1994.
N Kumar in his active role as president of CII frequented Delhi and was well recognised in the business, administrative and diplomatic circles. He drew the attention of the Ambassador of Greece who invited him to represent the Consulate of Greece in Chennai as Honorary Consul. The second European connection was again established in the Sanmar premises in 2001 and is now well poised to represent Greece in South India.
The third angle to the European triangle came with the recommendations from various quarters for the appointment of the Honorary Consul for Spain in Chennai. The Spanish Embassy in New Delhi invited Vijay Sankar to represent the Consulate. Vijay Sankar assumed office as Honorary Consul for Spain in Chennai since February 2007.
The reign of Spain, Greece and Denmark converge at Chennai presently under the auspices of Sanmar.
Surely there can be no guesses to the connections between the three European consuls in Sanmar. That leaves us with the links between the three constitutional monarchies of Denmark, Spain and Greece.
Princess Benedikte presenting the Belønningsmedalje Med Krone to S B Prabhakar Rao.
Deputy Foreign Minister Petros Doukas, Dr. Athanase Lavidas, SEV Secretary General & Head of International Operations and N Kumar at the Greek-Indian Business Forum held in Mumbai on 14 November 2007.
Tracing the royal connection, it is intriguing to note, the Greek royal house, is descended from the reigning dynasty of Denmark. The Princess of Greece is the present Queen of Spain. HM King Constantine II of Greece married a Danish Princess, HH Queen Ann-Marie. It is a networked world indeed. Some of the Greek royalty have social and spiritual ties with South India.
Princess Benedikte with N Sankar.
Vijay Sankar, Hony.Consul for Spain in Chennai at the Spanish consulate office at the Sanmar headquarters
It is indeed royalty that created the insignia of a region’s cultural identity through art, architecture, customs and traditions. HM King Paul of Hellenes founded the Royal National Foundation and HM King Constantine held under its aegis “The Athens Meeting” in 1964, an international cultural gathering in Athens for eminent contemporary thinkers from all over the world to exchange ideas. HM Queen Frederika, Queen Mother of Greece, and her daughter HRH Princess Irene, in the course of their spiritual pursuits were acquainted with Advaita Vedanta through the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharishi and were the devotees of the sage of Kanchi, His Holiness Shri Chandrasekara Saraswati Swamigal.
Dr T M P Mahadevan, professor of philosophy and spiritual scholar, was a speaker at the Athens Meeting. Subsequently HM Queen Frederika, and HRH Princess Irene came to Kalahasti in South India to meet the Acharya of Kanchi. Princess Irene is a member of the Dr T M P Mahadevan Foundation in Chennai, which continues the work of the late professor and publishes his writings, besides other educational projects of Indian culture. Among these projects, Her Highness supports an international library at Kanchi.
The Greek shipping industry is noted for several family-owned businesses held by the ‘Golden Greeks’ as they were called.
Parthenon Temple, Athens
With the tenth longest coastline in the world with 14,880 km, the Greek maritime fleet is today the largest in the world with 3079* vessels accounting for 18 % of the world’s fleet capacity. (*Bureau of Transportation Statistics of the US Dept of Transportation)
The happiest place in the world is Denmark (based on a report published in 2006 by psycholo- gist *Adrian White).
Copenhagen
Naturally, since Denmark produces some of the finest cheese, cookies and pastries in the world and the best fairy tales like the Emperor’s New Clothes are from here. However it is not because the Danes say ‘cheese’ all the time and live in a fairy tale world that they are the happiest lot. Analysis showed that a nation’s level of happiness was most closely associated with health levels, followed by wealth and provision for education. Denmark is the only country in the world that has a law limiting trans fatty acids in foods to 2 per cent. Primary and higher education is free, the people enjoy high living standards and government welfare measures. Health, education and wealth, the land of Lego, Carlsberg beer, football and crisp, fat-free cookies – reason enough to be happy. *(A psychologist in the University of Leicester produced the First-ever ‘World Map Of Happiness’ – The report was published in November 2006. The data is from the Science Daily).
Spain’s pioneering voyages of earlier centuries opened trade routes across the oceans to the Americas, Latin
Roman Theater and Anfi teatro in Merida
America and Asia Pacific which holds the country in good stead even today. The economy is growing with the strength of the biggest trade links. With 40 of the UNESCO World Heritage sites in Spain, the Spanish tourism industry has grown to become the second biggest in the world, worth approximately 40 billion Euros in 2006. Spain has the second largest wind energy generation capacity in the world. Other industries that shape the economy are manufacturing and metals, automobiles, textiles, chemicals, ship building and more recently, construction.
Several seas and countries apart, yet the common denominator between Denmark, Greece and Spain is Sanmar with common interests shared by the people at the helm. Connections such as these created stories in history and history tends to repeat itself, in newer avatars, under different aegis.