Making It Big

  7

  My Guru: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

  Around seven years ago, Kavita Khanna, a very dear family friend and wife of the legendary Bollywood star Vinod Khanna, called me up with a rather strange proposition. I had become friendly with Kavita through Vinod, who is a close friend of mine.

  ‘Binod, I want you to meet Sri Sri Ravi Shankarjee,’ Kavita told me.

  ‘Sure, sure,’ I replied. But I was not really interested, and put off the plan to meet Guruji.

  However, Kavita did not give up. She repeatedly made appointments for me to meet Guruji, but I never found the time to keep those appointments. It was partly because of my hectic schedule and partly because I simply did not feel a strong urge to meet him.

  ‘I can see you’re never going to be free on the dates we fix for you to meet Guruji,’ Kavita said one day. ‘So you tell me what dates you’ll be in Delhi and available.’

  I gave her a list of dates.

  ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘I’ll come from Mumbai on one of these dates and we’ll go and meet Guruji together.’

  Although I felt no particular urge to meet Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, I had no objection to meeting him either. I had not personally met him, but I knew him to be a great spiritual leader.

  One morning, Kavita took me to meet him. He was sitting on a sofa and his disciples were seated cross-legged on a carpet in front of him. In the Hindu tradition of master and disciple, the Guru always sits at a higher level than the disciples. However, as I walked into the hall where Guruji was sitting, this escaped my mind. I walked straight to him, bowed and sat on a sofa beside him. He talked to me about Nepal. After an hour, some of his female disciples started to lay breakfast on a table in front of him.

  ‘Serve this man first of all,’ Guruji told them, smiling.

  They served breakfast to me as well as Guruji. We began to eat. In retrospect, I wonder if Guruji’s disciples were annoyed with me for not showing enough respect to him. But I am sure Guruji did not mind at all. He is beyond such mundane things.

  Over breakfast, we continued to talk about the state of affairs in Nepal. Guruji was particularly interested in the Maoist insurgency, which was at its height at the time, and I could sense that his interest was born out of compassion.

  ‘I’ll come to Nepal soon,’ Guruji told me just before I left.

  He struck me then as an intelligent and compassionate person. Soon afterwards, I felt myself being drawn to him by some unknown force or attraction. Perhaps it was because of his strong positive aura, but thoughts of Guruji kept coming up in my mind.

  After a week or so, Kavita called me up again.

  ‘Guruji wants to come to Kathmandu,’ she said. ‘And he has asked me to get in touch with you to plan his visit.’

  I began immediate plans for his visit. I met Sashi Raj Pandey and Bimal Kedia, who were associated with Guruji’s ashrams in Nepal. I arranged for the army parade ground to be available for a yoga session. In short, I did all the groundwork for his visit. I went to meet him at the airport when he arrived, and stayed with him for the three days of his visit.

  A number of questions rose in my mind as I observed the level of reverence given to him and the sway he held over thousands of his followers. Why were these people, including some noted intellectuals and influential personalities, so devoted to this man for what appeared to be purely altruistic reasons? I could also sense that Guruji’s only motivation was a wish to help human beings overcome suffering. Why? And why were his disciples unconditionally surrendering themselves to him?

  ‘Please tell me what is this all about,’ I implored Vinod Khanna, who was among his devotees. Vinod had suddenly given up acting and turned to spiritual matters when he was at the peak of his Bollywood career.

  Vinod told me the long and fascinating story of his spiritual journey—about how he had been drawn to Osho initially and had then found Guruji.

  ‘Look, Binod, if you are lucky and also mentally prepared to find a master, then you’ll find one,’ he said in the end. ‘A master is someone in whom you have unlimited faith and into whose hands you are ready to submit yourself unconditionally.

  ‘Don’t think that because you’re an accomplished person, you don’t need a master,’ Vinod added. ‘Everybody needs a master, and who knows, you’re probably being drawn to your master already.’

  His words served as a moment of enlightenment for me.

  I suddenly felt there was a huge vacuum in my life. There were many issues that I found perplexing—personal, professional, socio-economic—and which I could not share with anyone, and on which there was no one who could offer me unconditional guidance. I did not know anyone whose judgement was not coloured by a vested interest, conflict of interest, or some other limitation.

  I then realized that I had already found my master. I became a devotee of Guruji and found I could freely discuss any issue or share my personal happiness and sorrow with him while he guided me with unconditional love, as a parent guides a child. I felt there was nobody in the world who loved and protected me more than Guruji. Gradually, my wife and children were also drawn to him. Soon, I found myself always longing to be with Guruji.

  Guruji once took me with him on a two-week tour of Latin America. Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay were among the countries we visited. There I saw how Guruji transformed people’s lives. His powerful breathing technique called Sudarshan Kriya leads to life-changing experiences. I saw notorious criminals who were behind bars, drug addicts and even diehard atheists completely transformed by Guruji. I saw leading academics, artists, film stars, industrialists and politicians in those predominantly Christian countries submitting themselves to Guruji. Why? The answer is, the more you achieve in the material world, the more empty and conflicted you can feel inside. Eventually, you find yourself lonely and miserable. That is why we all need a master to guide us and to free us. In the broader sense, Guruji wants to restore Sanatan Dharma, the ageless universal religion, to the world. He says Sanatan Dharma leads to compassion and transforms passion into dispassion.

  Over the years, my devotion to Guruji intensified more and more, so much so that I no longer had the appetite to pursue my worldly ambitions.

  ‘Guruji,’ I once said to him, ‘I have achieved a lot in life. I wanted to build a business empire and I have done that. I have also tried my hand at politics. Now I’m tired. My children have grown up and they can take charge of things. I want to let go of this baggage and be with you all the time.’

  I thought I could be of some help in further spreading Guruji’s message and growing his organization, whose reach already extended to 153 countries.

  But Guruji declined my request, even though he knew that a person of my calibre and influence working full-time for him would definitely have helped expand his organizational base.

  ‘Both India and Nepal will witness major transformation in the days to come,’ Guruji said. ‘You still have an important role to play.’

  But this did not stop me from finding every occasion I could to be with him. I meet him in the ashram whenever the occasion permits, particularly during Navaratras, and also travel with him to many different parts of the world. My family and I are overwhelmed with his affection for us. He is the single living force that directs our lives.

  Over the last several years, I feel that we have seen a qualitative change in our lives, both personally and in terms of business; and my son Nirvana feels this way too. An unseen force is constantly helping us through our problems. My organization has grown manifold—in depth as well as reach—in many more countries. Non-performing businesses have started to perform. And all this is happening somehow, without too much pain and anxiety on our part. Unforeseen complications or problems created by unhealthy competition is a part of life, particularly in the Third World. These complications and problems give you a unique opportunity to solve them. With positive thinking coupled with positive action, you can solve them forever. Such power comes through the grace of the m
aster.

  I once asked the same question to both the owner of Kent, Mahesh Gupta from Delhi, who is very dedicated to the Art of Living Foundation, and to Guruji, as well as to Ajay Mirg from Bhopal. Their experiences were similar to mine. Under Guruji’s larger umbrella, they have seen unprecedented spiritual and business growth.

  I often feel, subconsciously, that Guruji is telling his disciples: ‘Tum mera kaam karo mein tumhara karunga’ (You do my work and I’ll take care of you).

  Call it destiny, Narendra Modi had also become very close to Guruji over time, and Guruji has now become a strong cord that binds me and Modi together.

  8

  Professional Battles

  When I was around ten, I was frequently visiting Pashupatinath temple with my father. He would always meet a sage who roamed around the temple premises wearing a cap made of beads. One day this sage suddenly grabbed one of my hands, pulled out a piece of paper from his bag and gave it to me. ‘Recite this every day,’ he told me.

  A few Sanskrit mantras were written on that piece of paper. Later, I realized that it was a hymn to Lord Shiva. I have been reciting that mantra every day ever since, both in the morning as soon as I wake up and at night just before I go to bed. I would not claim that daily worship of Lord Shiva has brought miracles into my life but it has definitely strengthened my will. It has given me the power of mind to overcome all sorts of difficulties in life.

  Whenever there are obstacles in my way and my destination starts to blur, I seek solitude. I close my eyes and take a few long breaths. I feel calmer. I recite the mantra the sage gave me. It boosts my confidence and helps me focus. Only by focusing the mind can you identify the root cause of a problem, and once you have identified the root cause, half the battle is won.

  Nabil Bank

  G.C. Srivastava, a management consultant at Nepal Arab Bank Limited, was the first to let me know that 50 per cent of the shares of the bank were up for sale. He told me, ‘The sheikhs now want to pull out their investments from the bank. They have asked us to dispose of their shares within a year. If you are interested, I can arrange a meeting with the relevant people.’

  This was in 1994. The first ever joint-venture bank had been operating in Nepal for almost a decade. Emirates Bank International of the UAE had been handling its management. I liked Srivastava’s proposal. If I were to open a new bank, it would have taken me many years to establish one of the reputation of Nepal Arab Bank. Taking over this bank would save me time and energy.

  I told him, ‘I’ll buy it. You take it forward.’

  Nepal Arab Bank was established by the Galadhari Brothers Group, a reputed business group from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). They initially wanted to open a bank in India, but when that did not work out, they opened banks targeting the Indian market in the four neighbouring countries of India—Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan—simultaneously. Later on, there was a misunderstanding between the rulers of the UAE and the Galadhari Brothers. The ruling sheikhs went on to nationalize all the undertakings of the Galadharis. Nepal Arab Bank Limited came under the UAE government ownership. The largest bank in the UAE, Emirates Bank International, started to handle its management. The executives of Emirates Bank were shocked when they saw the balance sheet of Nepal Arab Bank. At a time when their companies across the world were earning billions of dollars in profits, it was natural that the sheikhs were not impressed by the bank’s meagre turnover of US $2–$3 million in Nepal. One of the executives snapped at the Nepal Arab Bank officials, ‘What is this? Why does this company perform so badly?’

  Srivastava and other executives tried to explain the situation to them but the Emirates Bank executives would not listen. Asking them to withdraw their investments within a year, one of them added, ‘If you can’t sell the shares of this bank, go and throw them in the Dubai creek. Just don’t bring them back to me.’

  I went to meet Graham Twelis, an officer at Emirates Bank in Dubai. He took me to the bank’s chief executive officer, David Berry.

  ‘I will buy 30 per cent of the shares in the first phase,’ I said. ‘Please help me operate the bank for the time being and I guarantee you I’ll buy the remaining 20 per cent as well.’

  Berry was initially hesitant but finally agreed. A sale of even 30 per cent of the bank’s shares was a big deal. I got a few business partners on board. Girija Prasad Koirala was Nepal’s prime minister at the time. Another Nepali Congress leader, Mahesh Acharya, was the finance minister, while Hari Shankar Tripathy was the governor of Nepal Rastra Bank and Satendra Pyara Shrestha his deputy.

  I sought and quickly obtained permission from the central bank to buy 30 per cent of the promoter’s shares in Nepal Arab Bank.

  I sealed the agreement with Emirates Bank at the Oberoi hotel in Delhi. I made only two demands: that I should be on the board of directors and that the CEO should be appointed on my recommendation. They agreed. D.C. Khanna was appointed CEO of the bank on my recommendation.

  Just when things were going smoothly, I came upon a legal hurdle. The Galadharis had placed a strange clause in the company registration documents, saying no Nepali citizen could buy more than half per cent stake in the company. Due to this clause, Nepal Arab Bank, which was formed as a joint-venture undertaking, had no Nepali promoter. Some business interests in Nepal had lobbied for the joint-venture undertaking, expecting a partnership. The Galadharis had exploited these interests in getting the bank opened, but had inserted that clause to prevent anyone from claiming a stake in the bank after it was established. This was disclosed to me later by the Bangladeshi lawyer Rafibul Islam, who had handled the legal formalities associated with setting up the bank.

  I met him many times while buying the promoter’s shares. After we came to know each other well, he revealed he had met in Switzerland an influential person from the Palace to land a separate deal on behalf the Galadharis for the licence to open the bank. The means used by Rafibul Islam to obtain a licence for the bank were questionable; however, Nepal Arab Bank, on its part, had ended the government’s monopoly in the banking sector.

  I asked him how the clause in the company registration documents that now stood in my way could be changed.

  ‘The provision can be removed by convening the annual general meeting of the bank before the promoter’s shares are transferred,’ he advised.

  When a meeting of the bank’s board of directors was convened to call for the AGM, Shambhu Poudel and Gajananda Agrawal, who represented the ordinary shareholders, opposed my plan. They argued that if that provision was removed, then the bank would eventually fall entirely into the hands of a business house. Yet they had not perceived any such threat when the Galadharis owned the bank; neither had anybody cared about the provision when Emirates Bank International took over. Now, however, when a fellow countryman was trying to run the bank, the clause had become an issue. These shareholders boycotted the meeting. Nonetheless, the board endorsed the proposal to amend the documents to pave way for the share transfer. However, Shambhu Poudel fought a case against that decision all the way to the Supreme Court, which issued an interim order to stop the process.

  Eventually, word spread that Emirates Bank was eager to withdraw from Nepal and sell off its shares. Many players were suddenly interested. They started to pull strings at the central bank and the finance ministry. Some started to lobby for transfer of Nepal Arab Bank shares to Beema Sansthan, a state-run corporation that had a monopoly in the insurance sector. Meanwhile, D.C. Khanna had to step down as CEO as his year-long tenure had ended. Suresh Kadadkar, who succeeded him, started to negotiate with another group that was interested in buying the shares.

  I approached him and asked him point-blank, ‘How could you start negotiating with another party despite the agreement with me?’

  ‘We have already given you more than enough time,’ he said. ‘Other potential buyers are pressuring us. If you can’t settle the matter soon, we would be compelled to sell the shares to some other party.’

&
nbsp; I was speechless.

  Shortly after that, I had to leave for Delhi to attend a meeting of the World Economic Forum. There I met the chairperson of National Bank of Bangladesh, Mahbubur Rahman. He and I were vice chairpersons of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry during its first term. Though he represented Bangladesh and I Nepal, we developed a very good relationship. And, of course, I knew Abdul Awal Mintoo, another director of that bank, extremely well.

  I told Rahman about the hurdles I had been facing in trying to buy the promoter’s shares in Nepal Arab Bank.

  ‘I can’t buy the shares just because I’m a Nepali citizen. A clause in the company’s registration document itself has to be amended. However, you could buy the shares on behalf of National Bank of Bangladesh. I’ll help you do that. You can transfer the shares to me the day the clause is amended.’

  ‘I can do that,’ he replied, ‘But on one condition.’

  I became a bit apprehensive when I heard that but he grabbed both my hands and said, ‘I won’t buy just 30 per cent, I’ll buy 50 per cent of the shares.’

  As soon as I returned to Kathmandu, I started renegotiating with Emirates Bank International along the lines Rahman and I had discussed. The Emirates Bank officials did not have any problem with National Bank of Bangladesh buying 50 per cent of the shares. I established direct contact between the two banks, and they sealed the deal.

  To proceed with the deal, National Bank had to get permission from Nepal Rastra Bank, where Satyendra Pyara Shrestha had succeeded Tripathy as governor. The necessary licence was obtained. Finally, Emirates Bank International withdrew from Nepal Arab Bank, selling the promoter’s shares to National Bank of Bangladesh in mid-1995.