Tatas, Birlas and Laughing Buddha

Among the Feng Shui suggestions I offered last week to one of the Tata (a top industrialist family in India) companies was to place a Laughing Buddha on the side table near the idol of Lord Ganesha. An interesting similarity that immediately struck me was that both of them are the gods for prosperity, for wealth and for shubh labh (gains). This has inspired me to paint what I am going to name Double Blessings.

Laughing Buddha and Lord Ganesha

Typically, the bellies of both is large which is considered a sign of prosperity though these days even the richest of them all diet, jog and exercise to remain slim.

Behind the two idols, on the wall, were the framed pictures of two great Parsis: Jamshedji Tata and JRD Tata.
The other business house that consulted me was Birla's. (Note: Birla is a top industrialist family in India.)
Interestingly, among my Feng Shui suggestions that worked effectively was to place a Laughing Buddha on the side table near the idol of Lord Ganesha! Behind the two idols, on the walls of the offices of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL)at Mangalore were the framed pictures of two great industrialists: Aditya Birla and B.K. Birla. My brief from the Managing Director of MRPL Ravi Kastia was, “Birlas are trying to pull out of MRPL. They want to sell their stake. Talks are going on with Ambanis and ONGC besides some other big players too. Basically, we want right Feng Shui so that everything goes on well and Birlas come out of the transactions smoothly.”
ONGC turned out to be the savior since MRPL’s accumulated losses of Rs 2400 crores over the last three years could be set off against ONGC’s taxes if the companies merged.
P.S. A year later, Ravi Kastia confirmed that talks moved smoothly and the chapter closed happily for Birlas too.

Note: The right of privacy is sacred for me. The names of the people mentioned in the diary are usually changed to protect the identity of my clients. The real names are mentioned with the consent of people mentioned.The picture accompanying the article is only for representational purpose.

Write to Mohan Deep