Life is not easy for those who like to live it king size. Men of great appetite sometimes forget that it perhaps pays to catch ones breath and contemplate the cards in one’s hand. For senior executives who control the pace and direction of their companies it is something they ought to do regularly for course correction. Some senior executives exercise, read or listen to music or even climb mountains and then there is Ajay Shetty. A banker turned vintner. He studied abroad, did the hard yards cracked deals as a banker and earned his commissions but his travels revealed much to him. He realised that his fellow countrymen were yearning for good classy goods and yes wine was one of them. It meant him resigning from his job after checking his savings and getting down to work to make his dream became a reality, instead of becoming yet another still born aspiration that dots the imagination of several others in this world.
In Ajay’s words he loves his sports, loves to eat and drink. He manages to do all this and more during the course of his work.
Ajay is a passionate reader of books and magazines specifically of sports biographies. In his words” Reading about guys like Tiger Wood, Andre Aggasi is very inspiring. If it is fiction then the Amish Tripathi series “ The Meluha series” is another favourite. When I fly I don’t watch dvd’s or movies I read by the dozen. I just love sport so I read about it a lot”. When he does get the time he likes to play badminton or golf. He visits the gymn regularly to ensure his lifestyle does not catch up with his waist.
The subject of food makes him very excited. He say’s “I love experimental food and yes I have to say this I hate vegetarian food. The only vegetable I like is the potato and yes it has to be fried. Where ever I go I like to eat the local food. In Goa I want to eat the local cuisine and that holds good where ever I go”. So it can mean hot spicy Andhra food or Kerala cuisine.
On the subject of favourite restaurants there are several. Gunpowder, Ananad Ashram , Chula in the Grand Hyatt and La Plage for French food in Goa are his favourites In London he likes Heston Blumenthal and Din Tai Fong which is found all over East asia for Asian cuisine. Another favourite is Gagan in Bangkok. In India there is Bima, Nagarjuna and Annapurna which is based in Bengaluru. As he puts it “ The nature of my business follows my passion”.
Music is another great passion. Not a slave to any one genre he like to listen to the music that excites him at the moment. Dr Dre, NWC are artists who also inspire him. These artists he said followed their passion and made a lot of money. That talent he said was fun, an expression of the moment and music essentially for him is a state of mind.
He enjoys travelling to the Far east and places around India. For him the experience of travel itself gives him great joy. The great beaches along with great food and good wine make him a very happy traveller.
Married but not encumbered by children he is on the fast track and the next five years he feels will be important. He said “ I have a really large vision, I would like to see the vineyards grow by 200% in the next 2 years and have the resort take off near Bengaluru. I have a clear road map and yes it also involves a global landscape. I would like to deliver wines outside India”.
With that fine relaxed attitude one should not be surprised if he sells wine to the French.
