Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw on curing cancer and the perils of a divisive society

Shaw says she tells her pharma colleagues that they are in a humanitarian business - like it or not, patients come first and if patients are the focus, profits would come naturally

I like to spend a lot of time on the beach. Scuba diving. Snorkeling. But that's when I have a little time, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw confesses. When they do happen, these rare trivial pursuits don't usually lead her further than the Maldives or Thailand — destinations close to India. The founder and chairperson of Biocon, India's largest bio-pharmaceutical company, is hosting a lunch for Business Standard at Biocon's Dining Hall, called what else, Fine Dine. 

Outfitted in a silk waistcoat with a dark dress, the 60-something entrepreneur is a Bengaluru native. She was schooled in Bishop Cotton Girls’ School, and later at