Veteran Indian journalist and columnist’s book Capture the Dream: The Many Lives of Captain CP Krishnan Nair is a fascinating insight into the life and times of the hotelier, who has worn many hats during his long and distinguished career .
Bachi Karkaria is a veteran Indian journalist and columnist. Over the years, she has written several bestsellers, including Dare To Dream: A Life of MS Oberoi; Mumbai Masti, a richly illustrated book, in collaboration with designer Krsna Mehta, capturing the quirky soul of the city; The Cake That Walked, on Flurys, Kolkata’s iconic teahouse on Park Street; In Hot Blood: The Nanavati Affair that shook India. His latest book Capture the Dream: The Many Lives of Captain CP Krishnan Nair, the founder of the successful Indian hotel chain – the Leela Group – named after his significant other.
Khaleej times spoke with Karkaria about the incredible life and times of Captain Nair.
Edited excerpts from the interview:
What was the inspiration behind writing a biography of Captain CP Krishnan Nair, who died in 2014?
I only knew Captain Nair as an outstanding hotelier, but after watching an audio visual (AV) presentation by his longtime friend Vijay Amritraj, I realized how many equally outstanding previous careers he had had. The trajectory of a poor low caste Nair boy from an obscure hamlet of Kannur in Kerala was astounding. He managed to impress the likes of VP Menon, Pandit Nehru, and for starters, Chirakkal Valiya Raja, who, so taken by the self-assurance of this six-year-old, decided to pay for all of his schooling. He became India’s first lace maker after his wife Leela first encountered this exquisite fabric and said, “We have to make it”; he promoted cult fabrics from the 1960s and 1970s like Bleeding Madras and cheese cloth; was India’s largest ready-to-wear exporter to the United States, supplying such famous brands as Gloria Vanderbilt, Liz Claiborne, Brooks Brothers and Tommy Hilfiger. Also, the centenary of Captain Nair’s birth was approaching on February 9, 2022, so that was an added incentive.
How did Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose influence Captain Nair?
Netaji dazzled student activist Krishnan when he was taken to the Haripura Congress in 1938 by his first hero, communist leader AK Gopalan. You’ll have to read about the breast milk cure when Bose was down with a fever there. That first encounter turned into lifelong admiration when, as a twenty-something wireless civilian officer stationed in Abbottabad (in present-day Pakistan, then undivided British India), he was thrilled by Netaji’s moving speeches on Radio Sholen broadcast from Singapore.
How did “Bleeding Madras” cotton become a sensation in the United States?
It’s one of the most compelling stories, both in how it turned threat into opportunity, and you’ll have to read all the strategy and chance that went into creating the legend in the chapter, Let It Bleed.
What prompted Captain Nair to switch from his textile business to the hotel business?
He was already at the top of his game, but his travels to America over the years had exposed him to the grandeur of iconic hotels like the Waldorf Astoria. The unstoppable – and no less nationalistic – entrepreneur that he was, he knew he simply had to create such ultra-luxury in India, or even better. The proximity of his home and factory to Mumbai’s future Sahar International Airport was also a factor. He then created a luxury space, which was the exact antithesis of the “quickie” airport hotel. Its bars, restaurants and Cyclone nightclub made it a magnet for Bollywood as it was much closer than the biggies of South Bombay.
Why do you think Captain Nair was an exception to the rule as a successful hotelier, turning to this career when he was already in his 60s?
Captain Nair was arguably the only hotelier who consciously promoted India in every way. He internalized the ancient tradition of “the guest is God”. He designed each of his hotels in the style of past dynasties/empires in the region. It showcased not only the greatness passed through this, and the totally authentic local artefacts on display, including the Mewar turbans worn by staff at Leela Palace Udaipur, but also showcased a country ready for the future through systems and cutting-edge services.
Do you agree that Captain Nair liked quarrels and public fights? If yes, why?
Even someone as reckless as Captain Nair wouldn’t consciously invite the kind of battles that have plagued each of his hotels, but he certainly spared no punches when facing his obstructors. He did this because he was a man obsessed with his mission to create and deliver “the best of the best”. The “marathon man” aptly embodied the mottos of the two giants of athletic footwear: “Just Do It” by Nike and “Impossible Is Nothing” by Adidas. You cannot ignore the fact that he managed to get influential politicians on his side who worked as an effective counter force. For example, Maharashtra strongman Vasant Dada Patil vis-a-vis AR Antulay who continued to sit on permissions for his first hotel.
How did his deal with Four Seasons go wrong?
It really was a matter of ego, and Captain Nair blunted that of Isadore Sharp. After all, he had created this spectacular 75-acre property in Goa, even agreed to keep it closed for two years to remodel it at great expense to Four Seasons specifications. So he wanted co-branding, which went against the global chain’s SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures). The straw that broke the camel’s back was getting permission from the new GM when he wanted to check in with Mrs. Leela Nair. So the honeymoon ended before the knot was tied! Incidentally, among the many benefits for the entire hotel industry wrung out by his eldest son Vivek was the need for the government to allow foreign chains to enter with the more tempting status of “operator” instead of just commercial agents. The Four Seasons’ rapprochement caused this, but ultimately this victory did not help the Nairs themselves.
Elaborate on Captain Nair’s zest for life.
Captain Nair lived king size, whether in the extravagance of the meals he cooked for his guests, the generosity with which he invited people to stay for free, the flamboyance of his bespoke suits, which he loved to buy, or the aura of Guerlain’s Shalimar eau de toilette and $480 (1,763 Dh) for 50 millimeters (ml) of Orchidée Impériale face cream with which he pampered his skin every morning. The chapters A Man In Full, The Captain’s Table and Trailblazer In Parrot-Green Blazers make this clear. He never lost this exuberance even at 90 on his last trip to the United States; his younger son, Dinesh, was barely able to keep up with him as the father reveled in the bespoke shops and restaurants of his textile empire days.
“Dream” is the common marker in your two biographies of two Deans of Hospitality, MS Oberoi and Captain CP Krishnan Nair. Dare to Dream is the old title and Capture the Dream is your current topic. Was it a conscious choice?
No and yes. This last title was decided in haste because everyone involved wanted the book to come out in time for the centenary. But, yes, it was a chance connection. This book itself records the many parallels between these two hoteliers, with the captain being no less of a trailblazer than the Rai Bahadur despite coming onto the scene some 40 years later when the Indian hotel industry was well entrenched.
Finally, what will Captain Nair’s legacy be in the Indian hospitality industry?
The short answer to that is “unabashed, even exaggerated luxury, and the conscious, relentless determination and to hell with the odds to deliver the best of the best to customers and the country.” And how not to marvel at its unique “green” signature; no other hotelier past or present – arguably anywhere in the world – was such an obsessive gardener. He personally created the lyrical landscapes of all his properties, planted over a million trees while knowing every potted plant and its exact position in the vast terrain.
From each trip abroad, he brought back suitcases full of saplings and seeds, even scaling a high wall in Peru to ask for cuttings of the flamboyant plumeria, which now adorns all his sweet landscapes in seven colors. The book lays out the long answer to your question and thus does justice to Captain Nair’s imprimatur on Indian hospitality. Not only that, I hope it also captures his story of growing modern India with passion, determination – and chutzpah.
joydeep@khaleejtimes.com
