Of Idlis, Orchids and a serial entrepreneur

Just finished reading “Idli, Orchid Ani Mee”, a book by Vitthal Kamat. The ‘Orchid’ in the title refers to Hotel Orchid, Mumbai, and the author is the owner of the ‘ecotel’ – Hotel Orchid. The book is written in a simple, yet lucid narrative style. The reader is transported through the life of the author, a self-styled entrepreneur. The book looks at the journey of the author from ‘Hotelwala Kamat’ to ‘Restaurantwala Kamat’ to the owner of the five-star, deluxe ‘Ecotelwala Kamat’. Reading the book one thing struck me, that to be an entrepreneur the first thing you need is to dream big – not be content with your achievements and rest on your laurels. Though not new to the hotel business – his father already owned a couple of restaurants in Mumbai – the writer went on to open and successfully run almost fifty odd restaurants in Mumbai, and other cities around India and the rest of the world. To this list were added a couple of three-star hotels, and finally a four-star hotel in a prime locality in Mumbai – Airport Plaza, later renamed Kamat Plaza. But not content with this, he dreamed of opening a five-star hotel where Kamat Plaza stood. Dreaming big is just the beginning, but the second thing you need is a burning passion, a fire within that is all-encompassing. You need to breathe, live, eat your dream; not worrying about hunger or sleep, for these are but human frailties that get in the way to realizing your dream. You need to work, work and work. As the author recalls his father saying, “Kamat naav asel, tar kaam kara” (if the name is Kamat, all you should do is work – work is loosely translated as kaam in Marathi). And so the author often put in eighteen-to-twenty hour work days, overseeing the work on his dream project. Everyone sees a flourishing business, but few see the hours of blood-and-sweat that behind its creation. The book offers a glimpse into the trials and tribulations that Kamat faced in the realization of his dream. Overall the book is a good read. At times, it gets a little mundane, and you find yourself losing interest. But once it gets to the point of Kamat’s single-minded pursuit of his dream, it makes really wonderful reading. The book is also replete with many anecdotal tales of incidents over the almost twenty-five to thirty odd years of Kamat’s journey from ‘Hotelwala Kamat’ to ‘Ecotelwala Kamat’. These make interesting reading, offering an insight into the author’s personality. They give an insight into his powers of observation and innovation, of how a serial entrepreneur relishes challenge, and converts every obstacle into an opportunity. An insight of how, in business, the biggest profit or gain is gaining goodwill of your customer(s). Overall the book makes quite a good read, and is definitely recommended for wannabe entrepreneurs. As the author quotes a saying in Marathi, “Pudhchyas thech, magcha shahana” – the mistakes of the one in front teach the followers quite a lot!