MyFootprints on Stone of Time…!

Sometime, in late sixties I completed my Higher Secondary education, keeping in view my marks my dad decided that I needed to go abroad, because the chances of getting admission in any of the Engineering colleges in India were rather remote. And any way deep down, who wanted to go to the engineering college. I was sure there was more to life than that. So destiny decided and I sang ‘Beirut here I come’. At that time Beirut was a happening place and to study there I felt like God’s chosen one.

Who knew then, that these were the first strides out that were taking me towards my “Karma Bhoomi”. The battle for survival had begun. Along this endless march in life, I met so many people that many of them I do not even remember now, but there are some unforgettable one who helped me pave the path of my life. I met a few who recast my attitude, touched the very core of moral fiber. Some infused my willpower with an extra drop of zeal to fight. I dedicate this blog to record the sweet memories of those great human beings with whom I was fortunate enough to work or was thrown together with by dear destiny.

Vinod Gulati: My childhood friend who I always thought was smarter and better looking than me. After school he decided to join the Army. He used to come home two times every year and that was like celebrating Dewali. Every day he would take me to CP for a treat to a new Restaurant - Gaylord, Labohim, Laguna, United Coffee house and other popular restaurants of the happening cannaught place area. This was my first brush with the world of Luxury, good food and bravery. While spending time together he would narrate his experiences in the Army OH! Army seemed like a dream world. I didn’t mind hard work ,fighting the enemy, any boy’s dream, and a passion with me and to top it all holidays like those thrown in Army seemed the way to go but my parents did not think so and that’s that. Well, Vinod was/is my hero. I wanted to be like him. Time passed, and Vinod remained my friend, philosopher and Guide .Although we don’t meet often enough now but he will remain my best friend forever.( Like my daughter would say my BFF)

· I did write about Bhisham Varma in my earlier blog. What can you say about a man who falls in the same category as Super Man, Spiderman and Phantom all rolled in one. He was the best swimmer for more than a decade in Delhi, his pole vault record at Delhi University is yet to be broken, phenomenal driver who could identify the name and model of a car blind folded simply by listening to the sound of the engine. He was a commercial Pilot as well and so much more. As for me, he was my Chachaji, a father figure; I looked up to him for directions in life. He gave me confidence, believed in me, guided me— whatever I am today is thanks to him. He was a visionary, a genius with an ability to turn his weakness into his strength. He was a charmer par excellence. He would have his biggest critics eating out of his hand within minutes, he was never scared to take on people /companies ten times bigger and come out a winner-always. He was like GOD by my side; even today after every achievement I feel his presence around me, I miss him because I know he would be really proud of me. He will always be my guiding spirit.

· Leila Varma: A beautiful, charming and highly disciplined lady is my Chachi (Aunt)-married to my Uncle Bhisham.A Palestinian Christen (Greek orthodox) Leila was every thing opposite (in good ways) to my Uncle. Highly educated in USA, very shy-she was forced to be my mother, sister and guide at a crucial time in my life. She never ever interfered in our work. I remember we had a manager called Saud who was working with my Uncle for many many years-once when Uncle was in London on business I caught him manipulating the restaurant bills and asked him to leave the restaurant and only come back after Uncles return. He got furious and rang up my Aunt complaining about me-mind you I was only an 18 years old green horn but Leila backed me up and asked him to come back after uncle’s return. She taught me the most important lesson of my life---while working in Beirut I was ordered by uncle to bribe Airline staff, government official and not only that I was forced to do things which I felt were unethical .Having no friend at that time, I started writing a dairy to give vent to my frustrations. Without realizing that Uncle was monitoring my each move. Being a masochist- on one page I toyed with the idea of death. By mistake the dairy fell in uncle’s hand and all hell broke loose. While my uncle was giving me a lecture on changing with the world (he was right in his own way), Leila interrupted and told me not to give in, but to fight for what is right, she said, “Virat you don’t have to change with the world but to work on changing the world to what is right”. Till date I have worked on what she taught and that has made me the man I am and mind you that most of the times makes me a misfit in this world. But I am proud of who I am.

· Judith Brewer: A ravishing blond from New York and a graceful walk from Paris- she was a real friend in that ‘friendless’ early world of mine. She was actually going out with a diplomat friend of mine and when I tried to date her she said, I was like a little brother. We remained friends till I returned back to India and thereafter; I could never locate her in this world. She was my teacher and a friend who taught me to write letters, but most important thing she taught me to be independent and learn to be my own boss. She gifted me dignity of living.

· Toni Campbell: A great friend, the man to whom I owe my sensitivity and gift of writing, especially to his younger brother Colin Campbell. Colin was young rebel with Jesus Christ beard and hair style. Somehow I was going through my own rebellious phase and we hit off well. He used to write very fine poetry. He helped me in converting my heart aches into verse. He first taught me to write poetry and then became fan of what I wrote. He was always a cool guy who promised to come to my wedding, dressed in a suit but no tie and shoes. We wrote our first poetry book together it was called “INTODUCTION”. Today he lives in Spain and takes care of his mother.

· Psyche Nigam: My boss in ITDC and A.K. Dave Assosiates. A vivacious, pretty and Hot-yes really hot lady. We were all in love with her- all her Management Trainees, her colleges and even her bosses except, obviously her husband (God bless his soul). She was real deliverer. Although she was just one of the many Dy Directors, but the fact was that she ran ITDC. She was a go-getter and I was her assistant. She taught me to be a hotelier. She was multi tasking from training to planning to running of Hotels. Actually if you think about it, her exit was the first nail in ITDC hotels coffin. I was her “Golden Boy” and the lady was really fond of me and she was very unhappy when I left her company for another Job. She is a great Lady maybe the best .I will always love and respect her and will be ever so grateful for her guidance and training.

· Kissan Mehta & Vjay Mallya: Together they have played a very important role in my life. Kishan Mehta President UB group gave me a break to head his Fast Food Division and start a pizza chain under the name Pizza King in 1983-84.I was working for Milk Food at that time and when I came to know that McDowell & Company is planning to come into fast food industry. I felt cheated as I wanted to be the first one. I dared and called Mr. Mehta’s office and as luck would have it he came on the line and called me for an interview and rest is history. He is the man who brought Coca-Cola to India. A great manager. He gave me total freedom to run the chain the way I wanted. We became so successful that we were written about in Times and Newsweek & India Today wanted to do a cover story on us. It was because of Pizza King Mr. Mallya is even today called The King. Mr. Mehta’s guidance helped me to open the first pizza chain in our country successfully and that gave me tremendous confidence and my abilities as a manager were put to test, successfully.

· Vijay Mallya on other hand was a Prince Charming, a ‘Dare Devil’ and ‘Great Human Being’ all rolled into one. He was proud of us and on many occasions he said that to me. He believed in us to an extent that he lived, breathed and ate pizza from Pizza King like it would go out of fashion. My interaction with him was limited, but at every stage we interacted he was always surrounded by self centered coterie of managers who misused their position for their personal benefits. And it is my belief that is the reason Vijay Mallya a man of vision, who came out with outstanding concepts like soft drinks (Thrill, Rush and Sprite), the first highly successful fast food chain Pizza King and an amazing King Fisher Airline could not overcome the difficulties. Even today I am emotionally attached to Vijay Mallya and his vision and it hurts to see yet another of his passion – the Kingfisher Airline slowly going to dogs. I hope for the first time he himself buckles up to fight it out. What I learnt from him was he gave his involvement with his new projects was total but along the way he got over them and started looking for new ideas like a child would do with an old toy when he found a new one .If he is still determined to beat his father’s achievements. Then he must realize that it is not just starting a new project, but what matters is how each one of those gets converted into a successful venture,by following them through thick and thin. May be I say this because all the people attached to Pizza King are all doing well individually today but all still miss Pizza King a Lot.

· Richard Rekhy: When I was working as GM at Centaur Hotels I met this very humble and polite auditor representing renowned firm RSM . Richard was their managing partner, Northern India. Richard and I became very good friends. Even after I left Centaur and joined JP hotels he was my friend and financial advisor. Although we did not do any business together but we interacted on daily basis. Richard was the one who forced me into Hospitality Consultancy. His boss Mr. Ratan S. Mama had a great regard and believe in Richard and in 1996 we floated a company under RSM- Ratan Mama Consultants in collaboration with Pannell Kerr Forster first professional Hospitality Consulting firm in India. Being a Restaurateur and Hotelier my ability for deskwork was limited. I was hard core operation man. It was Richard with his uncanny support that not only in guiding but even in writing reports with us that established us as the first Professionally Managed Consulting Firm. Within six months of starting of the company Mr. R. Mama passed away and his son who was supposed to be my under study by default became my boss. Following next two and a half years were tough, we did about 57 small, large and medium projects/assignments and all those were successful because Richard’s supported us. To be précis he had a major role to play in turning me from hardcore Hotel Operation Professional to a Professional Corporate Manager. My ability to look at projects operationally, financially, administratively is his training. Today Richard is heading KPMG as their COO. God bless him.

· K K Sharma: I became friends with this maverick lawyer from high court when I was working with JP’s. He has a great ability and fire to win legal battles which also gives confidence to his client. After leaving Regent Mumbai when I open my own restaurant he was there to help me. The loosing restaurant saw all my fare wheather friends vanished into the blue, except for KK. He not only supported me but helped me in so many ways to stay afloat during the times of monetary stress. His unflinching belief in me - when everybody, including some of my family, lost confidence in me he was there for me and that’s something I will never forget. He taught me the real meaning of a good friend. You are not rich if you have too many of them just a few true ones makes life worth living.

Written by Anil Chak & Virat Varma

Le Bua Hotels & Resorts, Bangkok.

DISCOVERY OF NEW GALAXY

Back in 1999 it was indeed a matter of pride to become the first Indian ever to be approved by REGENT HOTELS for the post of General Manager of their Hotel which they were planning to open in Mumbai - It is besides the point at this juncture that I was then working for the promoters of the Regent property as Chief Operating Officer. The Regent Mumbai when launched was considered as a brand which re-wrote the service standards for the country, and was rated as the best new Hotel by the Conde’ Nest.

All what I say is because I am quite in a position to make such a statement freely and unhesitatingly as I am not only aware of the world service standards but also of various aspects that are involved in developing these services.

My Story about ‘Lebua’ begins with a phone call from Samir Puri – a very dear friend and owner of Lotus Pond and many other restaurants in Delhi - requesting me to meet a friend of his named Deepak Ohri who represents a fairly large and reputed Hotel chain from Bangkok, who were keen to come to India, and whether I could be of any help in the process. This meeting with Deepak Ohri was arranged in Mumbai at Grand Hyatt. As for me, it was more of a courtesy call, simply because Samir wanted me to be present in the meeting for the reasons of my understanding of the hotel industry at macro level and awareness of the dominance of Indian Hospitality Industry by the American Hotel Chains and that the brand world was already crowded - Under such circumstances how viable it would be for a lesser known brand from South East Asia to venture into the Indian market, was the issue.

With his disarming smile and positivity Deepak appeared to be the perfect picture of a man on a mission. He tried to sell me the product, but what excited me more, was his exalted vision, attitude and determination. He was sure that what he had created was the best [He reminded me of my times when I was setting up the Pizza Chain with Dr.Vijay Mallya] and was very clear of his journey and direction. Our fifteen minute meeting lasted for more than two hours as I really wanted to know more and more about this young man and his discovery. To be frank, I was pretty much impressed by him rather than the Brand and I wanted to be a part of what he was doing and also of his future plans.

Convinced with Deepak’s presentation, I made up my mind to get him a Hotel and as the luck would have it a 400 room property in Dwarka Sec 10 was looking for a brand. As I had a very convincing case, we decided to visit Bangkok to assess the Brand and rest is history.

Lebua Hotel Bangkok- A 370 Plus Suite Hotel Has Redefined

Luxury, Glamour and Service.

We drove from Airport with flashing Police escort all the way to the Hotel. On arrival Special Ladies escorted each and every guest to their particular room, explaining everything about the Hotel and Bangkok.

The wondrous ‘Lebua’ started hitting us very slowly. The late night flight landed early morning Gaurav (Director in Dwarka Hotel) and I decided to take a little tour of the Hotel and have Break Fast. The Hotel was very busy and bubbling with activity, as expected breakfast room with nearly 175 cover was full. Two smart Hostesses were attending to all the guests, trying to accommodate them. One of them - very politely - asked me my room number more as a conversation and with a fleeting look gave some instruction to her associate. Next we saw Restaurant Manager a Lady executive was with us in a jiffy she took us to a table about 15yards from where we were standing. I could see the guest leaving the table, but before we could reach, the table was cleaned and properly laid out - a lesson in efficiency. The BF buffet was unbelievably the most elaborate spread I had ever seen – and we would not do justice to even one third of it.

Being a hotelier I have spent most of my life and money visiting and eating out in various hotels across the world but my experience with ‘Lebua’ was really an eye opener. I thought Regent Hotels were the ultimate, but for me ‘Lebua’ redefined the service standards. May be it was wonders of Southeast Asia or was it Deepak’s vision.

Over a period of time I made several trips to Bangkok and stayed at ‘Lebua’. Each of my stay was a unique experience, for one I always saw the staffers fully prepared to greet the guests. While dining we never had to call a waiter for pouring water or clearance. They were there but not noticeable. I found them monitoring movement / development of the guest on the table from behind the pillars in a very subtle way.

I never saw the house keeping staff tidy up the room, yet every time I returned, the room was fully serviced. Every staffer, every executive was completely dedicated towards a singular goal to serve the guest.

As for the food, four Michelin star chefs were working in unison to control the quality and presentation of food. I never saw food better presented, their Breakfast Buffet was one of the largest I saw. It reminded me of Sunday brunch at a well-known US hotel resorts.

Usually, I avoid making predictions but when I do, God is kind, and they do come true and very confidently I can predict that Deepak Ohri and Lebua hotel is next best thing that will happen to the world of hospitality and soon enough it will make its presence felt and will become a milestone in terms of service, food and hospitality. ENDS

Written by Anil Chak & Virat Varma