Rashesh Shah and Vidya Shah of Edelweiss Group reveal the secret ingredients of being successful partners, in business and in life, in the September edition of The CEO India Magazine.

1. LAST
MINUTE
LEAN
THE
INNOVATION
MYTH
MEET
THE NEW
BOSS
MAKING STRIDES,
ON TRACK AND OFF
EDELWEISS GROUP’S
RASHESH AND VIDYA SHAH
V I E W F R O M T H E T O P
SEPTEMBER 2017 VOLUME 6 ISSUE 6 `200

2. 20 | SEPTEMBER 2017 CEO INDIA | 21
INTERVIEW
MAKING
STRIDES,
ON
TRACK
ANDOFF
EdelweissGroup's
RasheshandVidyaShah
onthesharedinterests
andcomplementarities
thathavebroughtthem
successasbusinessand
lifepartners
Words by AMIT RANJAN RAI AND VIKRAM JOHRI
Photographs by VIPIN PAWAR

3. INTERVIEW
22 | SEPTEMBER 2017 CEO INDIA | 23
go, so I decided to continue to work
to ensure some income was coming
into the family. It was almost out of
compulsion and not choice.”
Rashesh says, “That helped a lot. We
knew it would take 3-4 years to build a
foundation and in those years I would
not be able to take a lot of compensation
home. It ensured that on the home front
we were fairly stable and I didn’t have to
worry about short-term needs.”
On November 21, 1995, after
months of conceptualising and ground
work, Rashesh, along with Venkat
Ramaswamy, a colleague from ICICI,
founded Edelweiss Capital Ltd. It was
only in February 1996, though, that the
company started its operations. The
newly-rented office at Dalamal Tower
in Mumbai’s plush Nariman Point
was being refurbished, and the other
co-founder, Ramaswamy, had a few
more months to relocate from Chennai
and join. All this while, from June 1995
onwards, Rashesh had been working
from a small cabin he had rented in
Mumbai’s Flora Fountain area.
Those were lonely days and often
frustrating too, Rashesh recalls. What
also pinched was the `5,000 per day
rent he paid for the office, which at that
time had no employees. “From June ’95
to February ’96, I was working all alone
— for the first 5-6 months from a small
gloomy cabin, and then the 500-sq ft
new office which had no one but me and
the office boy. I had to do all the small
things needed to set up the company
and office — everything from the RoC
filing to setting up the phone lines, fax
machine, furniture... and at the same
time, running around to close deals and
so on. I had never thought I would feel
so alone,” he says. His only support in
those months, he says, was Vidya. “She
was there in all my struggles. She was
a good listener and sounding board.
I
t was a mergers and acquisitions
project that first drew them close.
They were batchmates, both from
Mumbai, pursuing an MBA from
IIM Ahmedabad in 1987-89. In the
first year, they barely knew each other.
During the term breaks, they would
board the same trains to Mumbai and
back, but hardly interact. It was in the
second year that they started interacting
more often and came to know each
other better.
Quite sure about her career path,
Vidya Shah, née Desai, chose finance
as her specialisation in the second year.
Rashesh Shah opted for marketing as he
wanted to explore a career in advertising.
But after his summer training at Lintas,
his interest in advertising waned. He felt
he was better cut out for finance and
decided to go for it.
Finance got the two, who by now
were quite comfortable with each other,
to take on a course project together —
the one on mergers and acquisitions.
In those days (the late 1980s), M&A
was a fairly new concept in India. There
were hardly any Indian companies
using M&A as a growth strategy. The
project focused on studying M&A as a
growth opportunity for companies and
how investment banks can offer M&A
services to corporates.
Rashesh and Vidya travelled
together to Mumbai a few times as part
of the research. It was largely during
this project that they discovered they
had a lot in common, their interests
were similar, they could chat with ease
on almost anything, and they quite liked
being with each other.
Around January 26, 1989, before
leaving for holidays, knowing quite well
they had a liking for each other, Rashesh
pulled the trigger and asked Vidya if
they could take their relationship beyond
friendship. She agreed.
And that’s how Rashesh and
Vidya Shah, who head Edelweiss
Group and EdelGive Foundation,
respectively, embarked on their
lifelong journey together. Rashesh
is the chairman and CEO of the
`6,634-crore financial services
major, while Vidya is CEO of the
group's philanthropic arm which
works with non-profit organisations
in areas like education, livelihood,
gender, financial inclusion and so on.
What attracted them to each other?
“His super high IQ is what I have always
found fascinating about him. But more
than that it’s his IQ balanced by a great
sense of humour. He can be extremely
funny and have you in splits,” says Vidya.
“Also, his great sense of curiosity. He
is always wanting to know how things
work and what really drives something.”
Rashesh, on his part, says, “A lot
of things that I don’t have. She is very
grounded, soft-spoken and calm, and
also she is very kind to people. I can
sometimes be harsh and impatient. She
cares a lot about other people. We also
shared a common interest in reading
and had a lot of authors in common.”
He adds, “As I said, she is more different
than me. She is very much into music,
which fascinated me because I don’t
have a good ear for music and have
struggled for that all my life.”
Today, 30 years later, they recall the
time spent together on the M&A project
as among their fondest memories from
the courtship days. Rashesh says a lot of
it involved hanging out together on the
campus during the project. Says Vidya,
“We would go on very long walks on the
campus as it helped clear a lot of our
thinking on the project — at that time
the campus wasn’t as crowded as it is
today. Of course, this was another way of
getting to know each other better.”
They had some favourite places
where they loved going out for a meal.
One of them, a little distance away from
the campus, she says, was Vishala, an
open-air eating joint with a village-like
setup that serves traditional Gujarati
dishes and thalis.
After their MBA, they both, along
with many others from the batch, got
placed at ICICI in Mumbai. The two
joined their first job much before the
others from the batch, so that they
could spend more time together,
especially in the evenings, after the
day’s work. “Almost within 15 days of
leaving the campus, we were at work.
Both of us joined ICICI in April, while
most our batchmates joined only in
June,” says Vidya. She recalls a small
pub called Rasna near the ICICI office
where they would often go. Rashesh
adds, “Yes, hanging around after the
office hours, going out to eat idli-
dosas, and talking about our future
aspirations… All that was good fun.”
The two didn’t wait long to get
married. Almost a year after they joined
ICICI, they tied the knot.
Rashesh and Vidya’s period at
ICICI was the time when, in 1991-92,
India’s economic liberalisation started.
Rashesh recalls there was a lot of
entrepreneurial activity happening at
that time and between 1993 and 1995,
the financial services sector in India
underwent a big change. Sebi was
formed in 1988 and given statutory
powers in 1992; the mutual funds
market was made open to private
players in 1993; private sector banks
started; foreign institutional investors
(FIIs) started coming in; the National
Stock Exchange was established in
1992; and so on. “The capital market
and financial services industry was
going through a sea change — it was
opening up in a big way — and we
at ICICI, as we were meeting a lot of
entrepreneurs as part of the job, could
feel what was going on in India and the
financial services sector,” says Rashesh.
That is when he and a few other friends
thought they had a great opportunity to
start and build a company — a new-age
company for a new-age India. Rashesh
says, “When I had joined ICICI, I was
clear that I wanted to work here for a
long time, but over a period of time,
with the changes happening in India,
particularly in financial services, my
aspirations also changed.”
In April 1995, Rashesh quit his job
(he was then with Prime Securities)
to start his dream company. Vidya,
meanwhile, continued with hers. They
knew the new company would take
time to get established and the first
few years would be a struggle. “We
obviously had dreams, but it was a new
venture and we didn’t know how it will
HIS SUPER HIGH IQ IS WHAT I HAVE ALWAYS FOUND
FASCINATING ABOUT HIM. BUT MORE THAN THAT IT’S HIS
IQ BALANCED BY A GREAT SENSE OF HUMOUR. HE CAN BE
EXTREMELY FUNNY AND HAVE YOU IN SPLITS

4. INTERVIEW
24 | SEPTEMBER 2017 CEO INDIA | 25
Obviously, being an investment banker,
her day used to be busy, so we used to
talk mostly in the evening. Since she
understood business, I would discuss a
lot of business issues as well.”
Being a start-up entrepreneur in
those days wasn’t like what it is today.
Rashesh says, “There was no glamour
in being a start-up entrepreneur in 1995.
When you worked for a big company, like
ICICI, or say, for a mutual fund, there was
a lot of status involved in that. But if you
became an entrepreneur in those days,
you were seen as inferior to someone
working in a company. And your social
status took a beating.”
Edelweiss started operating as soon
as Ramaswamy joined in February 1996.
Rashesh, of course, got his much-
needed company. The first few years,
from 1996 to 1998, were of immense
struggle — much more than the two
partners had anticipated. Business was
hard to come, the deals were not getting
closed and capital was an issue. The
Asian financial crisis in 1997 and LTCM
and Peregrine’s collapse in 1998 made
matters worse.
Then from 1999 onwards, business
picked up, and 2000 was a blockbuster
year for Edelweiss — the company’s
revenue jumped from `1 crore in
1999 to `11 crore in 2000. A lot of the
business came from helping internet
and BPO companies, like Transworks,
Indiainfoline, Daksh and Educomp,
raise capital. But then the very next
year, the IT bubble busted and the
9/11 attack in the US happened. The
market turned bad and Edelweiss’
revenue plunged to `5 crore. “It was a
rollercoaster evolution for us. The first
3 years were filled with struggle, but
that’s where our real foundation got
laid. We never took the eye off the ball.
We were very clear we wanted to build
a high-quality, high-growth scalable
business,” says Rashesh.
Over the years, Edelweiss has
diversified into a full-blown financial
services provider. How did that happen?
Rashesh explains his approach: “We
believe that every 4-5 years we have to
make a slight pivot. Not a 180-degree
pivot, but a slight pivot. The first we
did was in 2000. From 1998 onwards,
our investment banking and corporate
advisory business started doing well,
so in 2000, we expanded into brokerage
and got into capital markets. By 2003-
04, as we became fairly entrenched
in capital markets, we got into HNI
advisory and wealth management, and
in 2007-08, we started the corporate
credit business. Then in 2012, we
entered retail credit and insurance. So
every 3-4 years, we added new business
lines in adjacent markets, while we
kept growing the old business lines.
Today, we are present in almost all the
segments. So, the approach to growth
is this: when you talk to a customer
and you spot a need, you grow in that
adjacent market.” Rashesh adds, “Also,
we strongly believe that not only our
business and organisations have to
grow, but also our people. So we invest
in people’s growth.”
As for his plans for Edelweiss’
future, he says, “Every few years the
company needs to expand its scope.
Once it stabilises in one phase, it needs
to start planning for the next. In the
long term, obviously, we want to be one
of the top financial companies in India.
Currently, we are in the top 25 or so. We
would like to be in the top 10 in, say, 10
or 20 years. We want growth to be slow
but steady and consistent. We would
expand our scope and activities keeping
the customer’s needs in mind because
that’s what ultimately saves you.”
By 2000, Vidya was already a
successful investment banker with 11
years of experience with companies like
ICICI, Peregrine and NM Rothschild,
where her role was to advise corporates
in capital raising and M&A transactions.
But by then, she says, she was growing
tired of investment banking, and as
she and Rashesh were expecting their
second child, she wanted a less hectic
career. “I was travelling a lot in those
days, so I wanted something which
involved less travelling.” Edelweiss
was working with a good number of
new Internet companies those days,
so Rashesh suggested she could help
them raise capital, something she had
a background in. And as she started
meeting a few companies, it dawned
on both Rashesh and her that perhaps
she should join Edelweiss rather than
look outside. Edelweiss had finished
4-5 years of existence and had hit its
first real good year, 1999-2000. It was
raising its first real outside round of
financing. Rashesh says they actually
needed someone like her who had a
finance background and understood
fundraising.
In April 2000, Vidya joined Edelweiss
as its 10th employee. “It just happened,
it wasn’t planned,” she says. The 7
years she worked as CFO at Edelweiss,
until its IPO in 2007, was a time
of great learning. “I felt energised
being a part of a team that was so
passionate, committed and also very
entrepreneurial. It was my first insight
into how organisations get built. How
you have do it patiently, brick by brick,”
she says.
One of the key learnings Vidya had
in her first year with Edelweiss was
around board governance. While she
and Ramaswamy were working around
closing financing, she was worried
about working towards a new reality
where they are also accountable to an
outside shareholder. There would now
be people from outside on the board
who owned some part of Edelweiss. She
says that was a great learning.
The second was around the idea
of looking at adjacent markets to
grow. “The whole idea about adjacent
markets, looking at how we can grow
on that side as well, was something
I was exposed to. How does one look
at opportunities to expand and go
about doing it, was again a learning at
Edelweiss,” Vidya says.
Another lesson was around hiring.
How to hire high-calibre people at a
time when there were so many foreign
investment banks coming in, and the
competition for people was tough. So
how do you hire people on the promise
of a very different vision? There came the
role of vision, telling your story, writing
the guiding principles, and so on.
“It was the whole juxtaposition
between capital, resources, human
resources, technology, strengthening
the back-end in terms of operations,
risk, compliance, and so on — all part of
organisation building — that I learnt as
a part of Edelweiss’ growth journey.”
2007 was a time for another move
for Vidya. She had a keen interest in the
social sector. Through CSR, Edelweiss
has been distributing funds to NGOs
from its early days. As the CFO, Vidya
had been managing that herself. Vidya’s
interest in the sector had only grown
over the years. Around 2006, she started
to look at the social sector very actively.
In 2007, Edelweiss was going for its
IPO, and Vidya was hesitant to continue
as the CFO after the IPO. “I wanted to
remain connected to Edelweiss, but I
knew I wouldn’t be there in the role of
the CFO. I started to think about what I
wanted to do next.” Since she had some
time on hands, she started travelling
and visiting the NGOs Edelweiss had
funded. She saw the work on the
ground all over India. What struck
her was that while the social sector
was starved of philanthropic funding,
a bigger and deeper crisis was the
inability of the non-profit organisations
to scale and become more structured.
“What I saw was that irrespective of the
pedigree, whether it was Baba Amte's
Marogi Sewa Samiti or a very young
organisation called the Samaritan
Help Mission then in Kolkata, it did not
matter whether they were young or
old, large or small, the issues around
organisation capacity were uniform,”
she says. “Most of the NGOs are set
up by people who have very good
experience in the social sector, they
have a development background, they at
times come from the communities they
serve, but they don't have the mindset
really to build an organisation beyond
the programme that they are running. So
they are always starved of funding. They
don't have enough people. They are not
able to hire because they are worried
about where they are going to find money
for people. They have issues around
strategies, planning and processes.”
Vidya related the NGOs’ struggle
with her own learnings at Edelweiss.
“When I started thinking about our
own journey and about the need of the
sector, I felt we could bring what we
have learnt building Edelweiss to the
social sector,” she says. It was then that
she decided to set up a foundation that
would not only fund these organisations
but also work very closely with them in
building their capacities.
In May 2007, after quitting as
Edelweiss’ CFO, Vidya established
EdelGive, the philanthropy arm of the
Edelweiss group. EdelGive’s objective
was clear: To leverage the capacity and
capital of the for-profit world to offer
both financial and capacity-building
support to non-profit organisations. And
doing so by working closely with these
organisations to help them overcome
organisational development challenges
and create stronger and more
sustainable organisations. Edelwiess
supported the idea but it was also keen
on building a culture of philanthropy
within its organisation. Vidya says,
“They didn’t want to set up something
different from Edelweiss, they wanted
it to be intrinsic to who they were as an
organisation and as employees. So we
agreed that the capacity that non-profits
need will be provided by the employees
of Edelweiss.” Today, Edelweiss has one
of the strongest employee engagement
programmes in the country.
She explains how this model
works. When Edelgive decides to fund
an organisation, it does an analysis
of where the organisation’s biggest
needs are. It has identified four areas
— strategy and planning, human
resources, processes and technologies,
and financial sustainability — around
which the needs usually show up.
EdelGive then structures projects
focused on the need-based areas that
the employees then go and execute.
“The way most companies structure
their CSR is really to have a budget and
then one of the people is tasked with
using that budget in an efficient and
appropriate manner…. We are organised
more around philanthropy than CSR,”
Vidya explains. “Philanthropy that is not
just around funding, but also building
the sector as a whole. It is about
building the ecosystem of the sector.
We are working not just with NGOs,
but also with other corporations and
foundations in helping them become
more thoughtful and structured as far
as their giving is concerned.”
Vidya explains the capacity-
building work that EdelGive does with
the example of Masoom, a Mumbai-
OUR APPROACH TO GROWTH IS: WHEN YOU TALK TO A CUSTOMER AND YOU SPOT A NEED, YOU GROW IN THAT
ADJACENT MARKET. SO EVERY 3-4 YEARS, WE ADDED NEW BUSINESS LINES IN ADJACENT MARKETS, WHILE
WE KEPT GROWING THE OLD BUSINESS LINES. TODAY, WE ARE PRESENT IN ALMOST ALL THE SEGMENTS. AND
JUST AS IMPORTANT IS PEOPLE’S GRO WTH; WE INVEST CONSIDERABLY INTO IT.

5. 26 | SEPTEMBER 2017 CEO INDIA | 27
based organisation that works with
night schools in the city to help them
improve the academic performance of
students. Students to the night schools
are mainly school-dropouts from poor
socio-economic backgrounds who work
during the day to support their families.
Masoom works towards providing extra
resources to the students, teachers
and principals of the night schools so
that the SSC pass percentage improves.
EdelGive funded the first two schools
Masoom started working with in 2008
and in terms of capacity building for the
first 2-3years, it focused on building a
business plan for the NGO on how it can
first expand from two to 30 schools, and
then more — the kind of financing as
well as the organisation infrastructure
it will need. It also built Masoom’s CEO
Nikita Ketkar’s ability to go out and
raise money. In 2012, Masoom attracted
its first large amount of funding from
Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.
Today, it has grown to work with 60 night
schools and plans to reach out to 120
by 2020. Its efforts have helped not just
educate over 10,500 students, but also
improve the pass rate to over 70 per
cent from in the low 30s earlier. Nine of
the schools supported by Masoom boast
a 100 per cent pass percentage.
Since its inception, EdelGive has
influenced over `100 crore for giving,
impacting about 4.5 lakh lives. It
supports 130 non-profit organisations
in 14 states across India. Over 75 per
cent of Edelweiss’ employees are
engaged in volunteer programmes and
financial giving. They have provided pro
bono support of 22,000 hours of skilled
volunteering. In FY17, EdelGive’s total
commitment to the social sector was
just under `35 crore.
The couple thus have their hands
full. Has success changed them? If
anything, success in business has
brought them a new-found appreciation
for their middle-class backgrounds.
“My father came to Mumbai in the early
60s. He is from Karnataka, from the
Hubli-Dharwad Area,” says Vidya. “He
started working with Godrej Soaps, and
he retired from there, so he was with
them for nearly 40 years. Almost until I
started going to college, we lived in the
Godrej Colony. And it was a beautiful
place to grow up in. It is still there and
it is very green. So, everybody around
me came from families who worked
in Godrej — either at Godrej & Boyce
or Godrej Soaps. It was like living in a
gated, protected community but the
people there were mostly middle class.
So, there was never a show of wealth,
irrespective of what your father or
mother did at the company.”
Vidya elaborates on her work ethic:
“My father came to Mumbai partly
because his family was in very stringent
financial conditions and he had to
support his family. So, one of the things
he instilled in me and my sister early
on was that we have to be independent,
we had to get a really high-quality
education, and not just school education
but we had to have professional
degrees, and we had to manage
independently. And never be dependent
on anybody. That was something that
was drilled into us — I realise that
now looking back, I didn't realise that
growing up.”
Rashesh too was born and brought
up in Mumbai, but his family hails from
Gujarat. “We came from a very typical
middle-class family. I used to enjoy
studies but I also used to enjoy playing a
lot. My father used to be fairly busy with
work. In fact, he operated the factory,
which used to work over the weekends.
So, we never had weekends like other
kids had. And we always used to go out
on a Tuesday or a Wednesday, which was
the day off. We would go out and have
South Indian food, and a lot of time with
the extended family, cousins and all.
Summer holidays were a time to go to
the village, so it was a normal, middle-
class business family existence.”
Vidya recounts how her father’s
job paved the way for her interest in
management. “It was actually a strange
case when I decided I will be going to IIM
Ahmedabad when I was about 11 or 12,
because one of my neighbours was the
head of marketing for Godrej Soaps and
it was a time when we suddenly had a lot
more competition in the soap market.
This fantastic ad campaign from Liril
had come out from Hindustan Lever, and
then you obviously had Lux with the film
stars. But then the Cinthol ad came out
with Vinod Khanna and that was really
a stellar, marquee campaign one that
people still remember,” she says.
“So this neighbour of our was
somebody I really looked up to and
he was from IIM Ahmedabad. And
without really knowing much about IIM
Ahmedabad, I decided I'm going to IIM
Ahmedabad. And a lot of things that I
did was to understand and prepare for
it. But my father was incredibly happy
when I decided to choose the path I
did. My sister was very clear that she
would be going towards medicine;
she became a dentist. But I was very
clear that I would do this and my father
was very happy. And I think — he is no
longer around so I cannot verify it — the
happiest day for him was when I got
the letter from IIM Ahmedabad with my
admission,” she adds.
With such similar upbringing
and common interests, the Shahs’
life together has been one of happy
matrimony. “We still have a lot of
common interests like books and
movies,” says Rashesh. “And obviously
the kids — son Neal and daughter
Avanti — are the centre of our lives.
And we both enjoy running and all,
participating in marathons.”
Communication is the glue that
binds them together. “I think talking
to each other has been one of the
cornerstones of our relationship,” says
Rashesh. “We talk about everything —
what is happening in our work, about
our friends, what she is reading, so if
she is reading something interesting
she would talk about it. We have a lot of
common interests but at the same time
we are still very different people, so, on
the whole, that also I find good for us.”
Vidya agrees. “I think our entire
journey, he has been a great sounding
board for me and I hope I have been a
good sounding board for him,” she says.
“Then, our children are a huge part of
our companionship. We are a very close
family. Even though my son is currently
studying abroad, and my daughter is
getting ready to go next year, we have
been very close. And we have tried to
build a family that is very open to talking
to each other.”
“The third part of our companionship
has really been a lot of things that we
do together — running, for example,”
she adds. “Rashesh ensured that I also
started running. I was running but I
used to be on my own and I would enjoy
that a lot more. So he said you try being
part of this group and maybe you will
enjoy it even more. So that is something
we do together. Given our enjoyment
of music as well, we end up doing a
lot of things with each other. I love the
pure classical music and I also love old
Hindi songs which are more raga based
— basically the 50s, 60s and the 70s'
music, a little bit 80s, but mostly around
the 70s. So he has begun to listen to
that as well. He likes instrumental
classical a lot.”
Reading is another activity that
unites the couple. "It is huge part of our
shared experience,” says Vidya. “Even
on campus, the thing that attracted
me to him was that he read Somerset
Maugham. Very few people I knew at
that time had read the author. That is
how the exchange really started, and
then there were authors like Raymond
Chandler. We also shared for a very
long time a love for historical crime
fiction. And I like crime fiction but I like
intelligent, literary crime fiction. So I
read a lot of books around that and we
have Excel spreadsheets with all the
books and what we have read.”
“Lately,” adds Vidya, “he has begun
to read a lot of non-fiction. He enjoys
self-help books about running — around
marathon running and fitness. But what
he really enjoys are biographies. So
he has read biographies, irrespective
of whether they are about people
OUR ENTIRE JOURNEY, RASHESH HAS BEEN A GREAT
SOUNDING BOARD FOR ME AND I HOPE I HAVE BEEN A GOOD
SOUNDING BOARD FOR HIM. TALKING TO EACH OTHER HAS
BEEN A CORNERSTONE OF OUR RELATIONSHIP

6. CEO INDIA | 29
from the music world or the sports
world or business world. He has read
an enormous amount, on people like
Caesar, Claudius, right from there on.
I continue to read a lot more fiction.
My favourite recent authors have been
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Margaret
Atwood, and Elena Ferrante.”
While they share many interests,
Rashesh and Vidya are from different
backgrounds; she a Kannadiga, he a
Gujarati. When she married him, she
felt a culture change, but one that
she found pleasant. “The first thing
you notice is that Gujarati families are
extremely warm,” she says. “And they
are also very interconnected. Whether
you are a cousin three times removed,
it is a huge community. And the one
Rashesh comes from is also extremely
into each other. They meet regularly,
they do a lot of things together like
watching plays and so on. So it is not
just the immediate family.”
“The second thing was about the
food,” Vidya adds. “The food was very
different. My mother-in-law, who always
ensured I felt comfortable, taught me
to cook — my mother couldn’t achieve
that, but she did.”
But what was really amazing, Vidya
says, was the warmth in the family. “My
mother-in-law and my father-in-law, we
all lived together. Both were extremely
warm persons. My mother-in-law, who
passed away only recently, really looked
after me, she looked after my children,
because I continued to work after both
the kids. She never made me feel that
because I was a working woman I was
not doing my share. She really went out
of her way.”
Thinking back to that time, Vidya
says, “I am sure that initially she must
have felt that Rashesh is marrying
outside the community; she may have
had those reservations, especially
around language. So I told Rashesh that
I will learn Gujarati, and I did. I speak
fluent Gujarati. With my mother-in-law,
I always spoke in Gujarati, and with
children it is Hindi and English, because
that is the common language between
Rashesh and me. Rashesh never learnt
Kannada. But I speak fluent Marathi,
Gujarati and Kannada.”
Coming from different backgrounds
and building a life together has taught
the couple the importance of adopting
complementary roles. Even with their
kids, this dynamic plays out. “Usually,
Vidya pampers them more,” says
Rashesh. “I am stricter. But it also
varies from situation to situation.
There are times when I am a lot more
indulgent, and she is strict. So it
actually varies.”
Vidya agrees. “I am the go-to
person to get things done. So a lot of
the stuff around the academics, the
extra-curricular activities, all of that is
something that I have always managed
for them,” she says. “Now, of course,
they are much older — my son is now
21 and my daughter is 16. So they are
independent. I think one of the things
to keep the family together is to keep
doing things together. So play rummy or
bridge together, play home cricket, take
them out for, say, horse riding when they
were really little. Those are the things
Rashesh has always done. And he has
always been very focused on aspiration-
building, helping them at what their
aspirations are.”
With the kids grown up and more
time on their hands, the couple are far
keener on a work-life balance now than
ever before. They are both into sports.
A few years ago, a friend suggested to
Rashesh to try running a marathon.
“I had never actually run more than
3-4 km, so he said why don't you do a
half marathon,” says Rashesh. “I was
initially apprehensive but I said let me
try — then I ran 5 km, then six, seven
and eight, then one day I ran 11 km.
I said now I can do 21. And then I did
my first half marathon in 2010. Then I
was about 47 years old. So that's how I
started running.”
The interest extended to other
endurance sports. “Then after running, I
wanted to do the triathlon. I didn't know
swimming, so then I learnt swimming,
so I can do a triathlon, and then about
four years ago I did my first triathlon.
And I think I now enjoy all three —
swimming, running and cycling. So it is
overall what we call endurance sports
now,” he says.
Vidya is into fitness. “I really like
running and gymming. I am very
regular and passionate. And I'm always
listening to music, even while running.
People say that I shouldn’t mix running
and music, but I still feel I can manage
to do both,” she says.
The Shahs have tasted success
in business and on the home front,
but life continues to offer lessons. “In
endurance sports, you learn one very
important thing and that is how to last
for a long time. When you run a 42-km
marathon, you need to consistently
maintain a pace, consistently be able to
complete the distance. So you learn a
lot about pacing yourself. About lasting
for a long time, about not getting bored
and enjoying, being more mindful and
being more present,” says Rashesh.
“All of those things are very
important in business also,” Rashesh
continues. “When you run 42 km, you
actually never think about running 42
km; you know you are going to run 42
km; you know also in your mind you
are going to run 1 km 42 times. So the
same thing applies to business — it's
10 years at one level but it is also 40
quarters at another level.”
WHENYOURUN42KM,YOUACTUALLYNEVERTHINKABOUT
RUNNING42KM;YOUKNOWINYOURMINDYOUAREGOINGTORUN1
KM42TIMES.THESAMETHINGAPPLIESTOBUSINESS—IT'S10YEARS
ATONELEVELBUTITISALSO40QUARTERSATANOTHERLEVEL

7. 30 | SEPTEMBER 2017 CEO INDIA | 31
INTERVIEW
Personal Memo
What is a day in your life like?
Rashesh Shah: A week day is like...
Edelweiss, clients, people. Evenings
with family. On weekends…catching up
on reading, running and spending time
with Vidya, my daughter Avanti and son
Neal when he is here. I run three-four
days a week.
Vidya Shah: Get up at 4.30 am to run and
exercise, be back by 7.30. Have breakfast and
be at work by 10 o'clock. Work until 5.30-6.00
pm. Have dinner at home, read a book and
go to bed early. That’s a typical day.
How do you prepare for an important
business meeting?
Vidya: I do work hard on important
business meetings. I put down what I
would like to achieve, what would be the
best case scenario for us, especially if
there is something to negotiate or do
together. I sometimes script out the
important points that I must say. Yes, so I
do prepare.
Rashesh: Getting a lot of background
stuff on the meeting and client. And
being very clear about the agenda of the
meeting. So planning, preparation and
being clear about the agenda are very
important for me.
Five interesting things in your office…
Rashesh: Our cafeteria where there is
usually a lot of energy. We have a lot of
good artwork and paintings in the office
that actually Vidya has curated. Then
people. I like meeting new interesting
people that have joined, especially the
young. The other is the energy that is there.
Last, the dynamics among the people. So
when I observe groups working together, I
find the group dynamics very interesting.
Vidya: I have a lot of Ganeshas. A
photograph of Colin Firth, I admire
him a lot. Then a photograph of Audrey
Hepburn. I think she has the most pleasant
personality, so if I am feeling down, I
just look at her lovely smile. Then I have
photographs of Rashesh and the children.
How do you unwind?
Vidya: Usually with a book.
Rashesh: Reading, running, swimming...
Spending time with Vidya and the kids. No
matter how tired I am, when I go back home
and I am with Vidya and the kids, I just don't
feel tired. That is unwinding for me.
Your ultimate holiday destination and why?
Rashesh: We like going to New York as a
family. It is a very vibrant city. We have a
lot of friends out there. We enjoy eating
and hanging around, so New York is good.
Then our house in Alibaug. It is very close
by, but for us, it's like a holiday. Every time
we go there, we completely switch off.
Vidya: I like slightly more relaxing
holidays. So I love, say, going on a book
tour kind of a holiday. Going around
meeting authors. I think for me the Jaipur
Literature Festival is a good holiday. I go
there every year.
What is your greatest indulgence?
Vidya: I love silver jewellery.
Rashesh: One is books, we buy a lot of
books. The other is running. I buy a lot of
running clothes, shoes and accessories,
like watches and so on.
Favourite artists…
Rashesh: I love the Beatles, that’s an
evergreen. In Hindi, I love AR Rahman.
Vidya: Too many. In music, Pandit Jasraj.
What is your kind of cinema? A few
favourite films…
Vidya: I love romantic comedies the most.
Any brands or designers you are fond of?
Vidya: I like Indian designers a lot. So
there is this brand called Plantation
House, I really like them. They do a lot
of organic clothing, with very clean lines
and nice colours. Then I like Grassroots
by Anita Dongre. That’s another brand
encouraging local artisans and designers.
Rashesh: No. I am very indifferent to any
brand and all.
Your ultimate watch.... Which one is on
your wrist at the moment?
Vidya: I have a Cartier that Rashesh gifted
me a few years ago but I don’t really
spend too much on watches. Even the
Cartier, Rashesh insisted and got me.
Rashesh: Currently, I am wearing a Fitbit.
What cuisine do you enjoy the most? Any
favourite dish?
Vidya: I love my mother’s food, so I really
like Kannadiga food. It’s a very north
Karnataka cuisine. So I love jowar rotis
and she makes a particular green leafy
vegetable and some chutney to go with it.
That’s the food I grow up with.
Rashesh: It would be Italian, I love pizzas…
I also like Indian, but I think Italian would
be slightly higher.
What kind of books do you like? Please
name a few favourites.
Rashesh: I actually read all kind
of books. I like detective stories, I
read a lot of history, biographies and
autobiographies, a lot of business
books… The past one year, I have read
a lot on the history of Rome — the old
history, some 2000 years ago — and the
Second World War.
Vidya: My recent favourite is Elena
Ferrante’s Neapolitan series. I’ve read
all her books. I really like reading
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, I have read
all her books too.
Your inspiration and role model?
Rashesh: Gandhi and Abraham Lincoln,
they are my favourite leaders. Lincoln is
somebody that I have read a lot, I have
read his biographies and so on. Among
business leaders, people like Warren
Buffett and NR Narayana Murthy.
Vidya: I admire Rohini Nilekani. She is a
remarkable philanthropist, so I look up to
her and the kind of work she has done.
My favourite movie still is Four Weddings
and a Funeral. I am a great fan of British
cinema and television serials.
Rashesh: I love the Godfather series. Then
also the Matrix series. I love this kind of
thinking, complex cinema with a good
storyline and not just good acting. I like a
lot of science fictions.
What is your kind of car and why?
Vidya: I like a very sensible car. I am
not into big cars at all. Currently, my
car is a Toyota Camry, it’s a hybrid, and
I think it is one of the best cars — very
quiet and roomy.
Rashesh: My car is a Mercedes. At some
point, we had to buy something, and
people in the office said this is a good
comfortable car. But we have a Toyota
Camry, and I like the Camry more than
the Mercedes. So I like something that is
comfortable where you can sit at the back
and do your phone calls and read. That's
the only thing I do when I'm in the car.