His father ‘financed’ the freedom struggle, he was at the heart of the Indira Gandhi era, his newspaper helped Rajiv Gandhi in controlling the Sikh riots and he nudged economic policy towards liberalisation.

Through KK Birla’s autobiography one vicariously brushes shoulders with India’s greatest leaders. Titans like Gandhiji, Vallabhai Patel, Shastri, The ‘Royal’ Gandhis— Indira,  Sanjay (KK’s advice helped turn Maruti around), Rajiv, Sonia— Political stalwarts like Jayaprakash, Morarji, Narasimha Rao, Vajpayee, Manmohan Singh, The Birlas— From Shivnarayan to Kumaramangalam— Business friends like Swaraj Paul, ‘Jeh’ Tata, Maharajas like Madhao Scindia (who pushed a man off an elephant on a tiger hunt to teach him to stop being a bully), Spiritual and cultural giants like Dalai Lama (they vacated their house for him, when the Dalai Lama first arrived as refugee!), the Pondicherry Mother (he foiled her attempt to hypnotise him), Ustad Bismillah Khan and last but not least are protégés like daughter Shobana, Vir Sanghvi and Khushwant Singh.

No free lunch!

Now many envy the Birlas their wealth, KK reveals that it carries a price. “It was customary, in our family to give a male child a Spartan upbringing”. One learns there’s no free lunch at India’s richest family table. His father, GD Birla’s attitude was simple, “…make sure the boy did not drown, but otherwise…” be hands off. KK’s impressive business empire and political clout is not just a hand-me-down. ‘KK Babu’ owns Hindustan Times, a sugar, textile, fertiliser and engineering empire, he was a prime mover in FICCI and ICICI and has been a confidante of the Gandhi family for 5 decades.

While KK’s life is packed with achievement, he will not receive unqualified applause. The business community measure him often unfavourably against the Aditya Birla group’s achievements. Second and more seriously, is KK Birla’s questionable role in the Emergency— Indian democracy’s worst hour.

Now KK is not a dishonourable man. Far from it, he is sincere, intelligent, organised, principled, loyal, hardworking. Sterling qualities, except they at times stumbled over each other.

The autobiography reveals that KK, a man who spent 3 full Rajya Sabha terms, is not a democrat but an autocrat. “I believe in discipline and not mob rule…” And since KK equates Lok Sabha electioneering with mob rule, he “…decided never again to contest for the Lok Sabha”.

Indira wave

The defining moment of KK’s life is after he was crushed by the Indira wave…“Everyone makes mistakes, she said softly, but cautioned me not to make such a mistake ever again in future.” And KK never made that mistake again. He may disagree with the Gandhis, maybe even let a stinging editorial through, for he is no chamcha, but when his opinions clashed with his loyalty to Indira, loyalty won. Even after nearly 3 decades of time to reflect on it, KK still prefers Indira’s firm hand of emergency to Jayaprakash’s rabble rousing. All that he wishes was that the Emergency lasted 2 months not 2 years. The autocrat outpointed the democrat.

Impressively, the book is not ghostwritten. KK’s voice is studiously correct, but on occasion awkward “Ever since I was a young man, I have been taking interest in the game.” Also KK Birla’s commitment to ‘Plain Jane’ reporting doesn’t do justice to some truly engaging incidents.

Autobiographies are by their very nature self-justificatory. By corollary, self-accusatory. But the best are revelatory.

Vir Sanghvi portrays his boss as “The Last Englishman to run a business empire in India”, a man known to give appointments “from 10.23 to 10.47’. But KK’s self portrait is more insightful. Consider an incident where KK overtook the Police Commissioner’s car in British India. KK had been driving with his chauffeur by his side. An official car loomed ahead. He overtook it even though he knew it could lead to trouble… Why? Because his chauffeur shouldn’t think he was afraid to do so.

Prestige, power, family, courage, discipline, loyalty… this is the fuel that drives KK Birla in a life spanning 9 decades and going strong, a life that definitely brushed and even shook history.   
 
Brushes with History. An Autobiography.
By Krishna Kumar Birla. 665 pages.