In the fifty years that he has invested into the company, the group has grown to be a much admired entity, with 8 companies spread across 49 locations and 9 states in the country and a separate vertical operating in the Luxury Hospitality segment which was started by Anjali.
The key to his success has been his belief that it is people who make organizations what they are. Over the last few decades, he has honed and perfected the ability to take on board people from diverse backgrounds, with a diversity of beliefs and thoughts, to steer his conglomerate to success. ‘Business is 90% people’, he told me several times during our multiple meetings. The Anand Group employs over 13,000 people across its various locations and offices. The group lays great emphasis on the development of its employees through training programmes conducted by its in-house technical and management institute—Anand ‘U’.
The young man who came from Lahore with a heart full of dreams studied Mechanical Engineering at the Chippenham College of Technology, UK, and started his career in 1954 as a Plant Manager with Mahindra & Mahindra in Mumbai.
When his father wanted him to go the regular route and be content with a small business of his own, he stood his ground and relentlessly chased his ambitions till he struck pay dirt. He continues to be the face of the group, travelling and striking up relationships around the globe, for the company’s growth.
When he is not busy with work, Anand retires to his many homes around the country. I met him at his sprawling farmhouse by a river on the outskirts of Pune, with a few hundred mango trees, a swimming pool that he shares with wild ducks, and fruit and vegetable orchards that make the place a self-sufficient abode. During the course of our meeting, he showed me around the place in an all-terrain-vehicle with child-like delight while I hung on for dear life in the back seat.
Anand is also an avid reader and golf player who used to enjoy shooting game. He raised Anjali in their farmhouse in Delhi where she had the company of horses and spent her days collecting bird eggs and bonding with nature.
‘I brought her up as my Puttar but today, I must confess that I feel the boundless joy of having a daughter. It is such a pleasure to have a daughter. She is more forgiving, caring, and more than generous in reciprocating your affection,’ Anand told me about Anjali.
Dear Anjali,
Over the last three decades that your mother and I have been blessed with your presence in our lives, the one thing about you that has continuously kept us captivated is your endless diversity, your unlikely interests, and your boundless spirit.
We are not sure where you got it from. Your mother says you got it from me because I myself was quite a wayward child who refused to be reined in. But we are sure the years of living on your own, from the age of ten when you went off to Aiglon College—a British-based boarding school in Switzerland—has a lot to do with the gifted young lady that you have grown up to be.
It was difficult for us to send you away to boarding because we were blessed with you after 19 years of marriage. However, having studied in boarding schools ourselves, your mom and I knew that the bonding that takes place with other kids in that environment makes for lifelong friends. The essential virtues of learning to give and take come easily when you are in boarding, sharing a dormitory with other children. Your mom and I were sure we did not want you to lead a charmed existence at home. Aiglon College in that sense was perfect. Your pride and spirit surfaced when your Humpty-Dumpty figure made you the target of teasing; but instead of buckling, you decided to dig your heels in and stay your ground. The teasing, in fact, seemed to have worked positively for you because you had proved to yourself that you were capable of much more, and went on to become Head girl of junior school at 14 and of senior school at 16. Before finally leaving Aiglon, you had made friends from some 40 countries, which in itself is quite remarkable.
Dear Anjali, that spirit has endured to this day. I still remember my amazement, and regret too, when I realized that instead of pursuing the Business Management degree that I thought you were going to take up in London, you had instead gone on to enroll yourself for a Masters in Arts at the prestigious St. Martins. Your heart was set on pursuing your passion for arts but you knew that I wanted you to study economics so that you could take interest in my business and take it to greater heights. But that did not dampen your spirits. You took your mother into confidence and for years you studied Arts during the day and pursued an evening course in Business Management at Westminster College, without me knowing what you were up to! And when I did find out, I had nothing but admiration for you.
Darling, when you came back to India at the age of 26, after 14 years of staying abroad, you were friendless and perhaps lonely here, but I am glad those times have passed and you have not just found yourself a splendid life partner in Jaisal but also given birth to a pair of infants, who you will raise, I am sure, with the same maturity with which you have handled yourself.
I know it has not been easy for you to integrate yourself with my business but it has been very satisfying to see you apply your sense of intuition into
