Malayalis owe much to Captain C P Krishnan Nair, who breathed his last in the early hours of Saturday at the age of 92, for introducing them to the world of opulence and etiquette. Though there were deluxe hotels at various places like Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi, the concept of a 'palace waiting for the Maharajah to come' was unheard of till Captain Nair provided them with the window through which the Keralites saw the best of the best in the world of hospitality.
Whether it is in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Kovalam, Goa, Udaipur or Chennai, the leela Palaces stand out because of the kind of luxury offered by these hotels. What makes Capt Nair, a Padma Bhushan awardee, unique is that whatever he did, he did with élan and style. How a former captain of the Indian Army without any exposure to the intricacies of business could strike gold from a rather innocuous lace manufacturing unit could be a mystery for the uninitiated. The sad thing is that the chief minister of the State where Capt Nair was born termed him a thief!.
Abbottabad in Pakistan hogged media attention following the killing of Osama Bin laden. But for people who knew Capt Nair, the cantonment town was a familiar jaunt. It was while serving at Abbottabad, Capt Nair laid the foundation stone of his vast business empire. The laces manufactured by leela and the hotels set up by Nair under the brand name leela became trademarks for excellence!
He was the last of the link between the pre and post Independent India. Nair was a protégé of VP Menon, India's first cabinet secretary. After his stint with the civil service, Menon worked as director and chairman of the leela Group till he passed away. It is said that lord Mountbatten, the governor general of India, always described Capt Nair as Krishnan, my boy!
He had a knack for packing things and presenting it to the world in a style making the people think many times over before they say no. The leela hotels are symbols of the best things in the globe. With no help from the government , he went on his own and proved that India could match the world in building the best of hotels and manufacturing the best of textiles.
Capt Nair and his wife leela played hosts to all the guests who came calling to their hotels. For them the slogan was adhithi devo bhava.. Mumbaikars will surely miss the regular evening scene of a Rolls Royce Phantom ferrying Capt Nair and his beloved life leela through the Marine Drive.
