The King Of Good Times

The first time Vijay Mallya took to the skies was in 1964, when he was 11 years old. It was on Air-India and he was one of the six children selected from 1,20,000 applicants for an international camp organised by the Indian Council of Child Welfare. The destination - Vienna. Nowadays, Mallya does not need an airline to take him anywhere. There is his personal Boeing. And if that does not work, then he can always hop onto the no-frills airlines he is planning to launch. Alternatively, if the journey is by water, then he has the yacht that once belonged to Elizabeth Taylor. And if on that day it does not suit his fancy, then there is the Indian Princess, his still bigger and grander yacht. And accommodation is also not a problem for this globetrotter, as he owns luxurious apartments in many of the leading cities of the world. Guess Mallya must have a tough time making choices. However, he is certainly clear about living life to the fullest and is popularly billed as the 'King of Good Times'.

I caught up with the jet-setting Mallya on a Sunday morning at the United Services Club in Colaba, Mumbai during the McDowell's Celebrity Golf tournament. Mallya, sporting a t-shirt of the official tournament apparel sponsor Daks, seemed to be at his gregarious best mingling among the array of celebrities, greeting friends, trading jokes, posing for photographs, conversing in Kannada with fellow Kannadigas (he's a Rajya Sabha member of parliament from Karnataka, remember) and scoring a few 'birdies' (pun intended). When I managed to corner him for a short tête-à-tête I was floored by the energy exuded by the man. To stress the point, let me recount his schedule for the previous three days which he disclosed to me. Thursday, he lands in Mumbai at 1.00 a.m., attends two board meetings, two AGMs, three international UB Group meetings, flies out to New Delhi in the night; Friday, he attends a series of meetings in the Capital, flies down to Mumbai the same evening to attend a special dinner and Saturday is chock-a-block with meetings all through including one with Atul Kasbekar to discuss the Kingfisher calendar and in the evening, the launch of his company's new energy drink brand called 'Cult'. The next morning he is at the US Club swinging the golf club.

As we are on the green my first query is about his interest in sports and the retort is a quick, "Love sports, especially high-speed sports. All fast things hold an interest for me. During my teens I used to build racing cars. I have always been fascinated with speed." The preferences therefore range from horse riding, speedboat racing to Formula 1 sporting events.

Is this part of the playboy image, of someone who leads the good life under public glare?

Mallya is candid, "I love the good things of life and I have no qualms in admitting it. I work hard, very hard and also party hard. But I am a responsible citizen and always advocate the thought that drink if you enjoy your drink, don't do it as a style statement or under pressure. It's not worth it."

For a man who must have logged innumerable flying miles, does travel take its toll? "Not in the least," he says, and adds, "I enjoy my travel and don't believe in cribbing about it. Jet lag does not affect me at all. I guess the so-called exertion due to travel is all in the mind. If it's your responsibility that makes you work at a fast pace, then there has to be mental conditioning to accept even the negatives of a hectic business schedule. Today even if I have to travel to distant places, I really don't feel the need to recover after the trip. I am right there getting on with business."

But, he admits that he too is human and needs breaks. "I take my breaks to bond with family and close friends. We go on family holidays to unexplored destinations. Lakshwadeep is a place, which I simply love," he says. Asked to name his favourite international getaway, his vote goes to France. The French connection goes back to the '80s when, on his father's advice, he was based in the Monaco region of the country. The memory makes him reminisce about his father, the late Vittal Mallya "He was extremely loving. His sudden and untimely demise literally threw me into the world of business in 1983. It took me a few months to find my feet but once well fixed, there was no looking back. I started running the company my way." Was there a period of uncertainty, insecurity? He says, "No. Fear has rarely affected me. Even during my school days, I do not recollect any stage fright when in public forums. I have always lived life on my own terms."

This, he says, is because of an unshakeable faith in the almighty and the influence of his mother, the anchor of his life. Mallya, incidentally, is a believer in Tirupati Balaji and also attends regular discourses of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Does he have an icon, someone he has emulated? Again, it's a no. He says, "My philosophy is very clear. I do things that suit me and not because people expect me to do things. But, at the same time, I have always been connected to ground realities. I have made mistakes but learnt to quickly move on to bigger challenges. I don't dream nor do I have any crutches in life."

Well, for someone who does not dream, he is leading a life which most people only dream about.