Was this book a catharsis in a way?

Everyone goes through some crisis or other. I had nine crises. The last one at the age of 65 was so brutal that I lost every penny I earned in my life. This book was written during my darkest period. When I looked back, I realised there must be something wrong with the way I did business, something wrong with my attitude. I am happy I wrote this because through writing this, I discovered a new side of myself — the spiritual side. And now when I look back, I am happy these things happened to me because it has changed the way I look at life.

Having hit rock bottom and bouncing back, what’s the lesson you can give to people who go through downturns?

Instead of taking drastic steps, start talking to your soul. You have to talk to yourself, and at that point of time, the soul gives you correct answers. And I think that is what happened to me and it gave me a lot of courage. Secondly, my family, especially my wife, my daughter, and my mother, stood with me like pillars. That helped me regenerate myself.

Instead of taking drastic steps, start talking to your soul. You have to talk to yourself, and at that point of time, the soul gives you correct answers. And I think that is what happened to me and it gave me a lot of courage. Secondly, my family, especially my wife, my daughter, and my mother, stood with me like pillars. That helped me regenerate myself.

Age is just a number, and regeneration is just a process. Ups and downs that come in the life are God’s way of saying that you have a lot to learn.

A striking thing when one reads your story is the diversity of your businesses – from stockbroking to investment banking to gaming and entertainment and cinema. Why did you flit through so many different businesses?

Basically, I am a creator at heart. I love creating businesses, but I am not a great manager. I lose interest once I create a business. Cinema to me is the epitome of creativity. Whatever I have tried to do, the first rule was that it had to be something that gave a kick to my creative spirit and the second, there had to be some innovation involved.

Even in cinema, I played with visual effects when it was not very big. Jajantaram Mamantaram had 63 minutes of VFX — more than any other film at that time. When I started SMAASH, I created a game of cricket to be played in 800 sq ft in a very aspirational manner. I love creative challenges and technology challenges. I love to jump onto new problems, and that is why staying on in one business was always a cumbersome task.

But when you look at the valuation of ShareKhan, when Mirae bought it, don’t you have regrets?

Selling Sharekhan or SSKI at a low value would have been a regret if money were my chief motivation. But unfortunately for my family, money was never my chief motivator. Something that challenges the mind was always a motivator, and I’m very grateful to God that he has given me a number of occasions where my mind was challenged. Even when I was in Sharekhan or in SSKI, I gave approximately 33 per cent of the equity as ESOP to employees. They used to get 50 per cent as bonuses.

In a venture dealing with money, to not have money as a motivator for oneself, is really strange?

I met Dhirubhai Ambani when I was very young. He asked me how much money I have. His IPO was just going to come. I said about ₹4 lakh. He told me that I should lock it in Reliance shares, and you will never have to work for the rest of your life. It was a very prophetic statement.

Okay, where did you meet him?

I was studying in Sydenham college, and I was also helping my father, and it was then I had the opportunity to meet Dhirubhai. He explained value addition in a unique manner, through the example of someone selling atta and someone selling bhajia.

Probably if I had listened to him and put that ₹4 lakh in Reliance, it would have become ₹400 or ₹600 crore. But since 1998, I have never invested in the stock market. I thought this would result in a conflict with my clients. I have always said, using Dhirbuhai Ambani’s words, because he was my inspiration, that I should have a business that would allow people to make money out of it.

What keeps you busy now?

When I hit the nadir of my life in 2022, my wife forced me to go to Kashi – though we are Jains. When I entered the city of Varanasi, a sudden metamorphosis happened in my life. It was so beautiful. Today I invest two hours in meditation. The meditation has helped give me a calm mind and filled me with creativity,

I have written six other books after this. And I am also retelling Jungle Book. We are all caught in this jungle. How does Mowgli get the courage to fight SherKhan. It needed Rs 30 to Rs 100 crore to make this movie. So with the help of people I learned artificial intelligence. And in less than Rs 50 lakh, I have recreated Jungle Book using AI. If you look at the trailer, it is better than the Disney version of Jungle Book. A lot of leading actors are willing to support me with their voices for the characters. This will release on August 15.