Even hard-nosed investors need a spiritual touch and an emotional connect at their workplace
On deal street, you can never be sure. here, head rules over heart and volatility rules over everything. There are billions at stake and one less-than-clinical step can push you over the brink. How do investors survive this gruelling all-or-nothing regime? What are their touchstones of sanity as they juggle intimidating figures? ForbesLife India visited the offices of the country’s top private equity players to look for answers, and came back surprised. In the midst of a mad rush of numbers, the constant buzz of telephones, and heaps of papers around their workplace lies an inner calm rooted in their private space. While for some, idols and images of Lord Ganesh offer spiritual balm, for others, souvenirs from their personal lives remind them of the things that really matter. Vinita Chaitanya, chief executive, PRISM, an interior design firm, says most high-profile investors feel the need to be surrounded at their office by objects they can call their own—photographs of loved ones, gifts from family and friends, or religious motifs. “The lives of these people are fast-paced and deal with a lot of capital. They cannot show their emotions or weaknesses. At some level, simple, small things touch them… it’s their emotional need.”
Bala Deshpande, 48
Day Job: Senior managing director, New Enterprise Associates India Pvt Ltd
Passion: Seeking Nirvana
One of the most prominent features of Bala Deshpande’s office in the posh Windsor building in Mumbai’s Kalina area tells you a lot about the 48-year-old even before you meet her. It’s a striking blue-and-pink painting of the Seven Chakras, reflecting the spiritual bent of Deshpande’s mind. (Blue is the colour of divinity and pink of the heart.) At its apex is a 1,000-petalled lotus, the Sahasrara Chakra, which symbolises detachment from illusion. It is a crucial step towards attaining higher consciousness.
Says Deshpande, “The illumination of the chakras, the energy centres in our body, is a goal I have had for a long time. I truly believe this is what the lifelong journey for human beings is all about… how and when you light up the chakras.”
Vishal Tulsyan, 39
Vish Narain, 39
Rubi Arya, 42
MK Sinha, 47
(This story appears in the July-Aug 2014 issue of ForbesLife India. To visit our Archives, click here.)