Two of the 8,000 perforations in the 2012 London Olympic torch have a Chennai connection! The prestigious torch has the handprints of two Chennaiites among the 8,000-odd folks who are carrying it from Greece to London. And the lucky two are the city’s successful businessmen – Mr Uvaraj of Poorvika Mobiles Ltd and Mr Sathish Babu of Univercell Telecommunications.
Mr Uvaraj and Mr Babu got a chance to carry the torch as part of the relay on June 24. “The Olympic torch by itself is a celebrity and while holding it, I became a celebrity myself,” says Mr Uvaraj. “The organisers were so considerate that they gave the torch we used back to us as memento,” beams the 37-year-old man holding the torch.
“When I saw people of all races cheering me that morning, there was no demarcation of caste or community, but just the feeling of oneness with all,” says Mr Babu who lit his torch from a Pakistani woman. To share that elated feeling with his customers, he has decided to display the torch at each of his showrooms for two days.
The big opportunity for the two folks came their way through their association with Samsung. The Korean major, also the presenting partner for the Olympic torch relay, had decided to reward its top mobile phone dealers in the country with this gesture. Each of them contributed a revenue of over `360 crore annually through mobile sales.
“It was an opportunity open to select key partners,” says Ms Ruchika Batra, GM, Samsung Electronics. “We wanted to make the meaning of Olympic real for more people and we saw this as an opportunity to connect with our channel partners who have helped us succeed in business,” she adds.