| Taking A Break |
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Some of India's billionaires holiday abroad and in exotic locales at home. Others breed horses or spend time on their yachts BS
Research Bureau Take Zee Telefilms chairman Subhash Chandra. A businessman who prefers contemplation to the exotic, Chandra is given to meditating in the hills of Igatpuri, a small town situated 45 km away from Nashik and 140 km away from Mumbai (on the Mumbai-Agra highway), where he attends a Vipassana course, under Guru Goenka for the few days that he takes off in a year. Vipassana is a logical process of mental purification through self-observation. The Vipassana Research Institute (VRI) was established in 1985 for the purpose of conducting research on the sources and applications of the Vipassana meditation technique. And the Vipassana International Academy (VIA), located in Igatpuri, is one of the world's largest centres for the practice of Vipassana, offering on-going meditation courses, with up to 600 people per course, throughout the year. Similarly, the Mumbai-based Ashwin Dani, vice chairman and managing director of Asian Paints India, finds practising yoga therapeutic. For Dani, yoga is not only relaxing but it helps rejuvenate his energy levels. It helps that the Iyengar Yoga Centre is housed in the building he resides in, run by yoga instructor B K S Iyengar. That, of course, makes it easy for Dani to practise yoga three or four times a week, at his home, if not at the yoga centre. Several
of India's billionaires are keen racetrack buffs. UB group chairman
Vijay Mallya, Shapoorji P Mistry (son of construction doyen Pallonji
Mistry), Eveready Industries executive vice chairman and managing
director Deepak Khaitan and Jindal Steel and Power executive vice
chairman and managing director Naveen Jindal own or run horses. Mistry's
Manjristud farm house in Pune houses as many as 100 steeds. Some of these men have christened their horses innovatively. Take, Sunil Jhangiani, managing director of the Rs 100-crore plus garment export company Esjay International. He has named his horse 'Endorsement.' Mallya's all-time favourite is called 'Saddle up'. The man without whom the Indian Derby would have been bereft of glamour took to the sport purely because of his fascination for the animal. As he puts it: "The horse is the ultimate athletic animal." It's no surprise that every year Mallya spends a lot of time at his stud farm at Kunigal, about 60 km from Bangalore. Interestingly, Mallya's interest is by no means confined to the equine community. He also spends time on his yacht. He owns a 1906-built 50-metre steam powered yacht that was owned by a string of illustrious people before it came into Mallya's possession, the most prominent of them being Elizabeth Taylor. Called Kalizma, Mallya retained the name given by Taylor in 1967. Similarly, Gautam Singhania, the Raymond boss, owns a yacht called 'Ambassador 47' because of its 47-feet length. There is, of course, no dearth of art lovers in the country. Most Indian billionaires claim to be connoisseurs of art. The Godrej group's Adi Godrej, RPG group chairman Harsh Goenka, Ranbaxy managing director D S Brar and Aditya Birla group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla all are art aficionados. For Brar, paintings make the atmosphere in an office more vibrant. Godrej is an ardent admirer of M F Husain's work. Godrej, who has a collection of 100 paintings today, says his interest in art was kindled by wife Parmeshwar Godrej. But it seems to run in the family. For instance, the wife of Jamshyd Godrej (Adi Godrej's cousin and managing director of Godrej & Boyce) runs the Cymroza Art Gallery in south Mumbai. Harsh Goenka, on the other hand, has been patronising art for more than two decades. With his house and office littered with paintings and sculptures of all hues, Goenka owns one of the best private art collections in the country. But Kumar Mangalam Birla believes that art is a matter of private choice. He is most emotional about his father, Aditya Birla's paintings. Rightly so. Birla was a reproduction artist par excellence. He has painted 13 'reproductions' of various classics. The Birlas also set up the Birla Academy of Art and Culture in Mumbai in 1996. Kumar Mangalam Birla also takes a 10-12-day holiday every year to travel to London or to Switzerland. His vacation is always strictly with the family. However, within India, Birla tries to make a trip down to his farm house in Bangalore every now and then - mostly over long weekends. Not much of a party-goer, Birla loves to travel, read and watch movies. On the other hand, Reliance Industries' twin pillars, Mukesh and Anil Ambani, often spend their vacations going on nature trails, exploring wildlife sanctuaries and indulging in desert safaris, trying to be as close to nature as possible. For instance, Anil Ambani took a break with his family and a few friends at Kailash Mansarovar last year. Dilip Shanghvi, managing director of Sun Pharmaceuticals, cherishes nature too. Yet another family man, Sanghvi likes to unwind by spending time with family and friends in his favourite destinations - Kodaikanal and in the serene backwaters of Kerala. But Bharti group chairman Sunil B Mittal had never taken a vacation till two years ago. But in the last two years, Mittal seem to have grown to like the idea of holidaying, though his holidays are always linked with business trips. Mittal's vacations, usually sporadic and short, are spent outside India. For instance, Mittal has been taking a two-week vacation in summer for the last two years along with his family. Like the Ambanis and Shanghvi, Mittal also likes going to the hills and to ocean destinations, though overseas. But back home, he always looks forward to unwinding on the beaches of Goa. Yet another adventure buff is HCL Technologies chairman, president and chief executive officer, Shiv Nadar. But Nadar prefers seeking adventure westwards. Last year, he hit the jungles and prairies of Africa, when he set out on an African safari.
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