The Indian Flavour

Prasad obviously enjoys the good life. And these things come easily when you are the managing director of British giant, Borthwicks Flavours, and looking after a territory that covers the entire region between Turkey and Burma.

When you travel 14 weeks in a year, you stop enjoying it. It's irritating when you don't get your favourite seat in the aircraft or your favourite room in the hotel, complains Prasad. This is not altogether surprising considering he was born with the proverbial silver spoon. This grand nephew of Dr Rajendra Prasad hails from a wealthy landed family in Uttar Pradesh and happens to be the son of Rai Rameshwari Prasad, who was a leading bureaucrat from the Bihar cadre.

Back from England after nearly 20 years, the thirty-something Prasad is still getting used to post-liberalisation India. Delhi used to be a sleepy town with simple people. Now you can tell people's aspirations by the way they dress and talk. India will definitely be the one of the largest consumer markets in 10 years, he says.

The marketer in him is thrilled by these developments. Borthwicks' worldwide customers such as Whyte & Mackay, Nestle, Kelloggs and McDonald's are already in the country, and Prasad has no hesitation in declaring: We will do a million dollars of sales in one year. An MoU with the Shiv Jatiya Group has already been signed, and Prasad is now anxiously waiting for the FIPB clearance for Borthwicks India Limited.