Our first view of Birla House the heritage home where industrialist Yash Birla lives with his wife Avanti and children Vedant, Nirvaan and Shloka is through a small space in its imposing gilt gates. A “BH” is emblazoned in cursive font on the gate, beyond is a long, narrow tree-lined driveway that leads up to the house. Outside the gates, the Mumbai weather feels hot and muggy; once inside, a breeze lifts the humidity almost magically, and the temperature cools.
We have a brief impression of colonnades lining the front porch of the home there’s a cluster of men, who seem to be government officials, milling about and then we’re ushered into a foyer filled with objects d’art, up a carpeted flight of wooden stairs, along walls lined with Raja Ravi Varma paintings and family photos, through a long corridor (off which, open several airy, sunlit rooms) and finally into a large living room where there’s a profusion of paintings, ornate silver, crystal and stone knick-knacks.
The man we’re waiting for Yash Birla puts in a brief, distracted appearance, apologises and requests a few minutes more to deal with some work. When he returns, however, he gives us his full attention. His blonde streaked hair, bulked-up physique and boyish looks are the aspects of the public persona we’ve come across in countless images; in the flesh though, he seems less flamboyant and more down-to-earth: He’s dressed in a basic black T-shirt and blue jeans (black ankle boots the only flashy note), juggling three cellphones and a cup of coffee. He’s also disarmingly candid.
It’s the same forthrightness that makes his new biography On A Prayer (co-authored by Vishwaveer Singh and published by Shobhaa De under her imprint for Penguin India) such a compelling read. From his growing up years to the pressures of being a Birla scion, the tragic air crash in which he lost his parents and sister at the age of 22, to courting his wife Avanti, and his yearning for a daughter, he’s talked about it all. His publisher and friend Shobhaa De lauded him for “telling it like it is — which takes guts”. But Yash says he’s only done what he’s always believed in — speaking from the heart.
“I’m a straightforward person,” he says. “And maybe in today’s day and world, you have to be a little strategic in what you say, how you say it, when you say it and whom you say it to. I’m not like that. I don’t have any qualms in admitting that I have faults or I’ve made mistakes. That’s what human beings do — we’re made up as much of strengths as of weaknesses.”
His particular weakness, Yash says, is impatience. “Patience is something I don’t have. If there’s an idea in my mind, I want to make it happen now,” he says, striking the couch for emphasis. “But often, things need their own time to happen. Forcing the issue is counterproductive.”
Patience is certainly something he’ll need in steering the Yashovardhan Birla group of companies through its current crisis. As the company battles allegations of tax evasion and with one of its top aides embroiled in a drug bust, this is a troubled phase. “All businesses pass through cycles, ups and downs. Sometimes, a bad phase is an opportunity to clean up certain messy things that may be there without your knowledge. A bad phase is not the end. You should do at that time what is correct, whatever helps resolve the situation. Ultimately everyone should be satisfied whether it’s your employees, shareholders or associates. Just like in a marriage, a negative cycle in business means it’s time to introspect. This happens in every businessman’s life,” he says.
He admits that while his attitude is philosophical for the most part, there have been times when he does feel the pressure: “I’m not saying that I don’t get flustered, I don’t get emotional, I don’t get anxious I go through all that. But that’s periodic. When I feel that way, I read four pages of the Yoga Vashishtha at night and I’m fine. Tough times are challenging, but there’s always something to learn from them.”
He’s certainly learnt a lot from every challenge that life has thrown at him so far. The tragedy that befell his family meant that Yash had to leave his MBA course in the US midway and assume the mantle of his father’s empire at the age of 22. But responsibility was something Yash was groomed for from the time he was a child. By 18, he was included on the board of directors of some of the Birla ventures. At 20, carelessly skipping a board meeting on his birthday to meet with his friends for lunch, Yash was made to realise the full weight of his responsibility as a son of the Birla family.
“My father was so annoyed,” Yash recalls, chuckling. “He told me you’re not some teenager celebrating your birthday. Maybe I should have been more responsible but really, for a 20-year-old boy to miss his birthday lunch and attend a meeting is a bit preposterous! But that’s the way we were brought up, to know that business and karma came first… today when my sons tell me, ‘We have to go here, it’s our birthday’ I say ‘You can’t keep celebrating and avoiding responsibility!’ What my father told me then, I repeat to them now!”
If he’s strict with his sons, Yash is just as indulgent with his 14-year-old daughter. “I’m just too soft with Shloka,” he says, and smiles. “She’s a very strong girl, very smart. Actually she’s got me wrapped around her little finger!” Apart from his daughter, it is his wife Avanti (“We’ve been together 24 years,” Yash says) who is his emotional anchor. Meeting while still in college, their relationship sustained over long distances (while Yash was in the US), family resistance (Yash’s Marwari family felt Avanti, a Maharashtrian, might find it difficult to adjust) and grief. Over the years, they’ve gown together as individuals and their love for family as well as their deep spiritual inclinations have kept their bond strong. “I’m a very emotional person,” Yash says. “My daughter, my wife, they’ve held me through (all the ups and downs of life). Then, my love and my connection with the Divine: Feeling spiritual energy, in brief moments of prayer and meditation… These are what keep me going.”
Yash’s absorption with the spiritual realm is known of, but he has had to contend with the opinion that it is at odds with all the trappings of great wealth that surround him. He counters it with the story of Raja Janak from the Ramayan: “Raja Janak was a great spiritualist. He was a king, he had all the luxuries but he was a saint and a realised soul. The Bhagvad Gita also doesn’t ask you to leave everything. Why are you born here? Not to abandon it and run away from your duties. But this is not easy to do, and it’s not as though I’ve managed it completely you must avoid being attached (to where you are). So all this wealth and luxury, it’s there, very good. I’m enjoying it. Nai hai, theek hai, God will show me a path to carry on without it. I tell myself that it’s all transitory.”
What he does try to keep fairly stable is his day-to-day routine. A regular day for Yash Birla begins with a healthy breakfast, reading all the newspapers and then it’s off to the office. Returning home at around 8 pm, it’s time for his workout, chatting with family, dinner and then it’s time to unwind either by taking in a movie or a TV show (currently, it’s Mahabharat) or a cup of coffee with friends. Perhaps once a week, Yash and Avanti head out to a club where there’s good Progressive House music playing, which they both enjoy. “But no matter where I go, in the night I have to come back and meditate, do my pranayam, and read a spiritual text,” he says.
We are escorted back down the carpeted stairway, through this home that Mahatma Gandhi lived in on his trips to Bombay, and which Sardar Patel passed away in. The sense of history and legacy that permeates the house is difficult to miss. Yash Birla has inherited this legacy, and it’s evident that he treasures it.
“This home is something I have a deep emotional connection to,” he says. “I want my children to inherit it as it is. And they should preserve it, for the next generation. I want them to maintain the values and traditions that we’ve always observed here I want them to continue… I always feel like I have to leave what I’ve got, for my children. If I can’t do that, then I’ll feel I’ve not done well.”
