Creative research in the chemical industry – Four decades in retrospect

My professional research career spanning more than four decades has been largely devoted to synthetic medicinal chemistry (Ciba, Bombay – now Mumbai – 21 years) followed by an equal number of years in process development of drugs, crop protection chemicals (Searle, Bombay) and drugs and speciality chemicals (Recon and Hikal, Bangalore). These efforts have involved several collaborators including many from other institutions and offered multitudinous challenges calling for continuous creativity in industrial setups. I was fortunate to have had a conducive environment to be able to respond to these challenges. I attempt to offer the readers in the ensuing pages a flavour of the excitement that has marked these years.