The honourable chairman : Captain C P Krishnan Nair

From handlooms to hotels, Captain C P Krishnan Nair has seen it all at 82, discovers Arati Rajan Menon

At the Leela in Mumbai, everyone calls him Honourable Chairman. But today, Captain C P Krishna Nair, 82, in yellow T-shirt and shorts, just off the squash court, is more an eager child as he shows off his new Nokia phone. "A relative sent it from Dubai," he tells you with obvious enthusiasm. "See, I can take pictures of you, me, everybody. And save them as memories."

They come rushing back anyway when he sits down to talk, now nattily dressed in a Madras check shirt and bright blue suit. He is anything but reticent as he rattles off some seriously impressive names. First off is his "hero", Subhash Chandra Bose. "He was ill at the Tripura session of the Congress and I was privileged to be one of those who looked after him," Nair says with obvious pride. He spent quality time with Frontier Gandhi Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan and his family. "I travelled the whole North West Frontier Province with them," he remembers. "They were so surprised that a South Indian boy could enjoy non-vegetarian food."

There's warmth when he says of Sheikh Abdullah, "He had a rough exterior but was a loving person." And a hint of condescension when he talks about Swami Chinmayananda: "I told him to go to Rishikesh and expand his spiritual horizons; he used to be very boisterous." His fondest words, though, are reserved for V P Menon, Lord Mountbatten's advisor during the transfer of power. "We were from the same native place and he became my mentor," he says, and his eyes mist over. "He looked out for me when I was a young lad."

Today, that young lad is chairman of The Leela Palaces and Resorts, which owns properties in Mumbai, Bangalore and Goa, and runs Leela Lace, a leading garment export house. And just like his handy little Nokia, he keeps all the memories safe, and close to his heart. The past is just a heartbeat away.

Early battles

Born in Cannanore, Kerala in 1922, Nair faced discrimination early on two counts: one because of British colonialism, and the other because of the caste divide. When he was just eight, he embraced Advaita, the principle of non-duality. His worldly-wise family didn't quite understand such abstract notions, but they accepted him the way he was. "I believed in the futility of worldly life; I was very utopian at the time," he says, surrounded by the opulence of the Leela, still absentmindedly playing with his phone.

He entered the real world with a bang when communist leader A K Gopalan came to his school to set up a student union, the first one in Malabar. Just 12 at the time, Nair was made the secretary. "All 900 students actually 'struck work' till we leveraged some changes from our tyrannical headmaster like better teaching methods," he remembers. Gopalan also introduced the young Nair to the freedom movement. "We were often put in the lockup despite being children," he says wryly. A fierce nationalistic spirit emerged, as did a deep reverence for Bose. "If he were at the helm, India would have been the No. 1 nation in the world today."

Idealism aside, Nair was pragmatic when it mattered. His antipathy towards the British didn't stop him from taking a job as civilian wireless operator in 1942. "I was at a crossroads in my life," he admits. It led to a transfer to Abbottabad in the North West Frontier (in present day Pakistan), and then on to Delhi. He was introduced to V P Menon and to the concept of "constructive work", like setting up cooperative societies and ration stores and striving for rural development. Nair was content, for a time.

His life took a dramatic turn when Leela - his wife, that is - entered it in 1949. The chairman switches on like a lightbulb as he says, "Her father, who was in the handloom business, chose me because he felt I had the gumption to stand up to anybody." He was in the army at the time. Prompted by Leela, he resigned his commission in 1950 and joined her family business.

It was a smart move. "I introduced the tweedy look and the bleeding Madras check to Indian handlooms," he claims, pointing to his own shirt. "Our exports started booming." On a broader level, he helped create All India Handloom Board to provide assistance to weavers. "We asked the government to levy a cess of 1 paise on every mill fabric woven to plough back into the industry and modernise it." Result: Rs 300 crore in the coffers of the industry. "We changed the face of the industry," he says.

Rooms with a view

Nair's star, and stock, rose high over the years. But it wasn't enough. In his 60s, rather than hanging up his socks, he decided to build a hotel. Why? "I had stayed in the best European hotels. I wanted to make one." Just like that.

Nair was resolute while Leela the voice of reason: someone in the family needed to learn the ropes. Elder son Vivek, already doing a management course at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, switched over to hotel management at Cornell University. And the Mumbai Leela was up and running in 1986. It has since been joined by The Leela, Goa, recently awarded the prized British Imperial Mark for excellence, and The Leela Palace Bangalore, chosen soon after its opening in 2001 by Forbes as among the eight best business hotels of the world.

But there are no full stops on Nair's to-do list. His pet project to build a hotel in hometown Cannanore is pending. "We will first build an airport there, then the hotel."

Meanwhile, the proposed Leela in New Delhi, where Nair has invested a large amount, has run into a snag. "Bureaucracy is the biggest bane of India," he says. A rare flash of anger lights up his eyes. "But I'll never give up."

This relentlessness is well known at the Leela. "Even during the worst crisis, the chairman says 'this too shall pass'", says R Venkatachalam, director (finance) and chief financial officer, Leela Palaces and Resorts. "His energy keeps us all motivated."

Sherry and Shankar

This energy and yen to excel remain intense - Nair starts his day at 5 am with his morning walk, has a workout at 6 am and is on his desk at 9 am sharp. He puts in a seven-hour day even today, punctuated by a siesta. After hours, he takes time out to toast life with a glass of sherry or red wine, relaxing to Norah Jones or Anoushka Shankar. "I used to listen to Pandit Ravi Shankar, but now it's his daughters. You have to keep up, no?" he asks with a grin.

Helping Nair stay with the game are sons Vivek and Dinesh. Both Mumbai-based, they are hands-on at Leela Lace and the Leela hotels. And Madhu, Dinesh's wife, handles the interiors and aesthetics for the group. Nair's muse, though, is unquestionably Leela. "I enjoy myself completely with her," he says shyly. And though he likes NDTV and BBC, he is content watching Malayalam serials with her on Asianet.

As if on cue, the phone rings his - wife is calling about lunch. "Naan varate," he says softly in Malayalam. I'm on my way. The Nokia is put away, and the interview wrapped up in a hurry. The chairman knows who's boss.

Nairspeak

If Subhash Chandra Bose were at the helm, India would have been No.1 in the world.
I stayed in the best European hotels. I wanted to build one.
Bureaucracy is the biggest bane of India. But I'll never give up.

Featured in Harmony Magazine
July 2004