Even though I am aware of the shortcomings in my conduct, I cannot always help it. In the battlefield, a commander is guided by his strategy and not by his compassion. He expects even injured soldiers to put up a tough fight. There is no room for sympathy because a battle cannot be won with compassion. You need unremitting drive to win a battle. I have always sought that level of drive from my colleagues. But I have lost many trusted colleagues because I have driven them up the wall. As I think about how I may have hurt their self-esteem, I sink into deep self-criticism. I say, from the bottom of my heart, that I hold them in high regard for their contribution to the Chaudhary Group.
As a student of Juddhodaya Public High School, Kathmandu.
With father, mother and brothers in Haridwar.
Greeting Mother Teresa in New Delhi.
With late king Birendra Bir Bikram Shah and late queen Aishwarya Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah.
With Annapurna didi and (L–R) Arun, Basant and Kiran.
At Tiger Tops resort, Chitwan, with Sarika and the boys.
On a trek in Dolpa.
Playing golf, with Mt Everest in the backdrop.
Listening to Bill Gates at a Forbes conference in New York.
With (L–R) Muhammad Yunus, former president of Nepal, Ram Baran Yadav, and former CNI president, Narendra Basnyat.v
Meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kathmandu.
In the presence of Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, along with Sarika and Nirvana.
At the launch of Nepal Social Business, in partnership with Lions Clubs International, in Canada.
At a school in Kavre which was built by the Chaudhary Group as part of its earthquake rehabilitation efforts.
Alongside sons, (L–R) Rahul, Nirvana and Varun.
Family. Top from left: Rahul, Nirvana and Varun. Bottom from left: Surabhi (Rahul’s wife), Sarika and Ashrayata (Nirvana’s wife).
To Be Continued . . .
‘You have to sacrifice something to gain something else,’ my father had told me.
This was a piece of fatherly advice I never took very seriously. I want everything in life, not one thing at the cost of another. In my opinion, compromising on something to get something in return is not good management.
Have you seen how a tent is erected? It is supported by four poles at the four corners and by one in the middle. A perfect tent is erected only if all the pillars are placed in a coordinated manner; otherwise, the tent would be loose here and taut there. The journey of life is like putting up a tent. It is supported the most by the central pillar—our professional life.
If you are not happy and fulfilled in your professional life, then you are unlikely to feel fulfilled in life itself. I am not just talking about entrepreneurs like me but about people from any walk of life. Only those who have done their best in their profession can be happy and make their family happy too.
Professional success is not everything, however. If you focus only on professional success, one day you will realize that though you have reached your destination, your personal life has been left behind. If your room is filled with trophies and medals but there are no photographs of your parents, spouse and children, then such a success is futile. Family life is the second pillar of our life.
The third pillar is your personal life, and by that I mean your truly personal, inner life, the things that even your spouse and children cannot see. You may be a spiritual aspirant, a music lover, or love to chill out with friends or enjoy solitude. That is your inner personal life. Only those whom you choose can go there with you. Those who limit themselves to their professional and family lives alone lead a mechanical life. Find time to fulfil your inner life, and happiness will radiate from your face.
We belong to many social spheres—those of neighbours, friends and colleagues in society. Social life is about interacting with them. If we fail to dance with them in merriment and cry with them in sorrow, we become an outcast. If we do not recognize our social responsibilities and shoulder them, our life is not in balance. Therefore, social life is the fourth pillar.
The fifth pillar is public life.
What is the difference between social life and public life? We have a two-way involvement in social life. Society expects something from us and we want to do something for society. For instance, today I interact with the mass media, politicians, social activists and international figures. This is part of my social life. I share happiness and sorrow with the members of my society. This is another aspect of my social life.
Public life is a one-way involvement. You do not recognize the people, but they know you. They analyse your actions as good or bad. Some revere you as an ideal while others loathe you. All those activities that have an impact at the public level are part of our public life.
Those who can set up the tent of their life supported by these five pillars will lead a successful life. This is my ideal. I have always tried to strike a balance between these five pillars of my life; my lifestyle and my achievements are the outcome of this.
My life and achievements have also been shaped by my dreams. Businessmen are dreamers.
Dreams are boundless. But human capacity is limited. Those who recognize this but still keep raising the bar for themselves are bound to realize their dreams. They are sure to be successful. The heights achieved by the Chaudhary Group is the outcome of my tireless and steadfast determination, backed by my father, brothers, wife, sons and dedicated colleagues.
Epilogue
25 April 2015
That day I was in Meghauli of Chitwan in central Nepal, inspecting our upcoming resort along with my colleagues from Taj. Suddenly, everything around us started shaking. It felt as if we were standing on a boat on rough sail. ‘Oh an earthquake!’ somebody yelled. Near us was a trench that would be the resort’s swimming pool. The six-inch-deep accumulated rainwater started spilling out of the one and a half meters deep trench! What a tremor! A great earthquake had struck Nepal.
I immediately thought of Lily. ‘Oh God, Lily is alone in Kathmandu! At least we were together in Chile.’ We think of our most loved ones at the time of crisis. Solace came when she called me and exclaimed, ‘Babu! Are you alright?’ She was also thinking about me! We were able to talk over phone after much difficulty. Telephone networks were extremely congested after the quake.
Surprisingly, I was still able to think clearly despite the mega disaster. Thank God, you put me through the Chile test first! I had passed, and passed well—I realized then.
To me, the Chile earthquake had come as a great revelation. I was face-to-face with the transient nature of life. You cannot postpone your cherished dreams and callings. Your duties and responsibilities can’t wait. You do it now or never. You could be making plans for ten years, but how do you know what comes your way in the next ten days or in the next ten minutes!
When I returned to Kathmandu, my heart wept to see the ruins and rubbles. Many of our heritage sites were destroyed, including the Bhimsen Stambha, popularly known as Dharahara, the icon of Kathmandu. The streets, the people, the houses, the monuments—these were inseparable parts of me! I was born here. I grew up in these streets—among these houses, among these people. I had such an innate connection to this place. Oh God, what had happened to the city where my heart belonged!
As soon as we ensured the safety of our employees, I called a meeting of my senior executives and we immediately sprang into action for earthquake relief. Thousands of people had lost their lives (the death toll came to almost 9000), 700,000 houses were destroyed, and about 36,000 schoolrooms damaged. That was a great loss for a country staggering with slow economic growth and suffering from high political instability. We couldn’t wait even a single minute before we came to the fore to help. While I was still in Chitwan, I had instructed my senior staff over phone to open up the gates of our schools so that the people had a place to spend the night in safety. I asked them to start distributing packets of Wai Wai and bottles of Rio juice and water so that nobody had to sl
eep hungry or thirsty.
Houses were damaged everywhere. My office building in Sanepa was not spared either. It housed my office and the international headquarters of CG Corp Global. It was the place where I started the Chaudhary Group and where I spent my crucial years building the business. I was troubled to see the damages as the place meant a lot to me. Our whole operation was bound to be disturbed for some time. We did not even get a chance to take out our important documents. Many of our employees’ houses were destroyed. But that was nothing when compared to the sorrow and trauma my fellow countrymen were facing.
Fourteen districts around Kathmandu were seriously affected. Villages were flattened and people were sleeping hungry under the sky. We immediately decided that we would run relief programmes in these districts. ‘There shouldn’t be a moment’s delay in reaching out to the needy people in these places,’ I decided.
Putting our usual business aside, we started taking relief materials to these districts. Our whole team volunteered. In the first phase, we ran emergency relief programmes comprising food, water and medicines. Two weeks later, we announced through a press conference that the Chaudhary Foundation would build in total 10,000 transitional shelter homes and over 100 school buildings in the most affected districts. Out of the 10,000 shelter homes, 1000 would be solely funded by us and the rest through partnership. Now we have reputed names from around the world like Tata Trust, Alibaba, LG, Sapoorji Pallonji, MoneyGram as our partners in building these homes. Our total financial commitment was NPR 25 crore (approximately two and a half million US dollars). That was the first relief initiative of such big scale ever taken up by a corporate house in the history of Nepal. We ran the relief programme as a humble effort to help the people whose lives were devastated by the most damaging crisis of our times.
The nation was in a state of shock. Leaders, donors, corporate bodies and people from around the world had joined hands to run rescue operations and provide material relief to Nepal. Aircrafts from around the world came with rescue teams, relief materials, volunteers and experts to help. Our only international airport was so congested that the aircraft had to make rounds in the air for hours before landing. Despite total commitment and effort by the friends of Nepal, we as a country were struggling to manage the overwhelming relief support. On the one hand, the relief material was stockpiled, and on the other, people were suffering for want of basic supplies.
This was an example of our inefficient management system and lack of preparedness in times of crisis. There are examples around the world where such crises were so effectively handled that the whole scenario changed in a few years. Sichuan in China and Gujarat in India suffered great earthquakes in the recent past. But they not only recovered, but entered a new phase of development after the crisis. All it takes is a visionary leadership and an effective government. While I am awestruck by the examples of successful state management elsewhere, I am troubled to see that at home we are still entangled in the ideological debate of whether to go for rehabilitation or reconstruction after the earthquake.
Nevertheless, we the private sector never gave up. We took up the task of helping the earthquake-affected people around us. Today, while writing the final chapter of my autobiography, I feel happy to have already handed over shelters and school buildings. My sons, Nirvana, Rahul, and Varun, are actively supporting me in this social service initiative. It gives my heart great joy when I see the smiles on the faces of the people when they receive the shelter homes through us. I was fortunate to be at a school handover ceremony organized by the Chaudhary Foundation recently in the Kavre district of Nepal. I cannot express how happy I was when I saw the smiling faces of the children who would study in the classrooms we built.
During the Chile earthquake, I was shocked and terrorized. It changed my outlook towards life. But the Nepal earthquake changed my life itself! My priorities have changed. I have come to see life from a new angle. The joy you get by bringing joy to others’ lives transcends all other joys. Your happiness cannot be absolute. It cannot be independent of others. Life is transitory, its worth can be measured only through the happiness you bring to others’ lives. When you start thinking that way, your whole life changes. A new world dawns for you.
THE BEGINNING
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Copyright © Binod Chaudhary, 2016
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