It was a typical monsoon day in the 1970s when someone told me the owner of the skyscraper being built nearby was on the site. At that time I was reporting for Indian Express at its office on the reclaimed Nariman Point in south Bombay. "So what’s so great about a building owner visiting his site?" I asked. "Well, the building under construction next door is none other than a five-star hotel and the owner is Oberoi." When I heard this, I ran to the site despite the heavy rain. I wanted a glimpse of the man who had already made a name in Delhi and elsewhere in India; I was soon introduced to Mohan Singh Oberoi. "How is the project progressing, Mr. Oberoi?" I asked as he stood under an umbrella inspecting the construction. "It’s on schedule. Every detail of the building is being executed according to plan," he said with a smile.
Until I met this legendary Indian figure, I had only heard the usual stories about this unique personality. "From a waiter to a hotel owner" was what was commonly said about him. And no sooner had the 35-storied Oberoi Sheraton opened in Bombay than it became a status symbol. The hotel overlooking the Arabian Sea became a famous landmark along with other skyscrapers in the area. Once the hotel opened, it became a popular venue for major corporate meetings, important business and political press conferences. I visited the hotel regularly and got to know its Food and Beverage Manager, Chander Nain, who is now general manager of the Jeddah Trident Hotel. At one time Oberoi had a hotel in Dammam — no longer — and in Jeddah until recently, it managed the Green Island Restaurant on the Corniche. Its only business in Jeddah at present is the Jeddah Trident; in Khamis Mushayt is another property under Oberoi management.
Oberoi began his career as a coal clerk in 1922 at the Hotel Cecil in Shimla. The turning point of his career came in 1934 when he acquired his first property, Clarke’s Hotel in Shimla. He did so by mortgaging his wife’s jewelry and all his assets. He was only 36 years old and his acquisition cost him 20,000 rupees, a princely sum in those days. The remainder of what he needed was a loan from one of his uncles and he told his eldest daughter at the time, "Just wait, when you grow up, wherever you go, there’ll be an Oberoi hotel." That showed his ambition and determination to succeed. Many of his relatives and friends had written him off, saying he was wasting money on worthless projects and fruitless endeavors.
Soon, however, things began to take off and four years later, he astounded his critics by signing a lease to take over operations of the 500-room Grand Hotel in Calcutta. In 1943, he staged another coup by acquiring controlling interest in the Associated Hotels of India, owners of the Cecil and the Corstophans in Shimla, the Maidens and the Imperial in Delhi and a hotel each in Lahore, Murree, Rawalpindi and Peshawar — all this in pre-partition days. He thus became the first Indian to run a large first-class hotel chain. In 1965, he entered into an agreement with an international hotel chain and opened the first modern five-star international hotel in the country — the Oberoi Intercontinental in Delhi.
There are legendary stories of his tenacity and hard work. While manning the reception desk one night at the Cecil in Simla, a guest who was the famous barrister Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru’s father, asked him if there was someone who could type a document running into many pages by 5 a.m. The young clerk surprised him by replying, "I’ll do it, sir." Some 15 minutes before the deadline, Oberoi knocked on Motilal’s door and handed him the typed pages. Motilal was so impressed with the cleanly-typed document that he gave him 100 rupees. And what did he do with the money? He replaced the torn blankets in his small, cramped house and bought watches for himself and his wife. Oberoi’s monthly salary in those days was 60 rupees.
As he went from success to success, he was persuaded to enter politics in the 1960s and 1970s. He was elected three times to the Indian Parliament. Last year he received the Padma Bhushan, one of India’s highest awards. In addition, he has been given many awards, both national and international.
"Everyone says yours is a rags-to-riches story. What’s the secret of your success?" I asked him during one of our meetings. "This is what everyone asks me," he shot back with a broad smile. "I don’t know how it works for others, but to speak for myself I’ve been able to accept the challenge and make good. There is comfort in knowing that whatever little I’ve achieved has also helped to increase my country’s prestige."
Newsweek honored him in 1977 with an award for making significant contributions to the world of business and his reply to the question of what prompted him to become one of the biggest hoteliers in the world was: "The idea was never merely to make money. The compulsion was to think big, always offer the best and let it happen. Name, fame and profits would then automatically come."
He remained a picture of simplicity and humility despite his unparalleled success. Last week, at the age of 103, the father figure of the Indian hotel industry and chairman of the Oberoi Group died at the age of 103. Rai Bahadur Mohan Singh Oberoi will continue to be a source of inspiration to all budding entrepreneurs and to any who wish to be successful in the hotel industry.