Atithi Devo Bhava - A mantra that catapult Nair to success

Entrepreneur par excellence, philanthropist, environmentalist, soldier, marketing strategist, hotelier and indomitable freedom fighter, Captain Chittarath Poovakkatt Krishnan Nair is no longer among us. He left for the heavenly abode in the early hours on May 17 at his sprawling residence in Mumbai. A few months back he was honoured with an honorary doctorate at a simple function organized at his hotel Leela Kempinski, Mumbai.

Born and brought up in Kannur, Kerela, Captain Chittarath Poovakkatt Krishnan Nair (February 9, 1922 – May 17, 2014) was the founder chairman of The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts. From a young freedom fighter, then an officer serving in the Indian Army, to a pioneer in the handloom industry, and later as a major textile exporter, Nair had reached to the pinnacle of fame and success through sheer grit, innate confidence and discerning style.

Nair received his early education at a small elementary school in his native village. A natural rebel, he joined the independence struggle at the tender age of 13 and later became an officer in the Indian Army. In 1951, he resigned his commission and helped establish the All India Handloom Board. He was involved in developing and marketing loss making Madras, a hand-spun yarn from India in the United States, which met with electrifying triumph in promoting exports to America. By 2001, he was the recipient of the prestigious Golden Globe Award for the highest exports in clothing in India from The Ministry of Textiles, Government of India.

His frequent business jaunts to Europe and America had exposed him to hotels with high service standards, inspiring him to make his first forays into the luxury hospitality sector. At the age of 65, he started to build The Leela group of hotels, bringing his Indian dream to life, which today has become one of the most feted aboriginal hospitality groups in the comfort segment.

Leela hotel was launched in Mumbai in 1987. Today, The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts has 8 luxury properties in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Gurgaon, Udaipur, Goa, Chennai and Kovalam with new hotels opening in Noida, Agra, Jaipur and Lake Ashtamudi in Kerala. Nair’s mission was to delight and exceed his guests’ expectations through gracious Indian hospitality, known in the ancient Indian scriptures as Atithi Devo Bhava or ‘Guest is God.’

Globally recognised as an environmentalist, hotelier and visionary, Nair had been the recipient of many prestigious accolades. For his unstinting efforts in environmental conservation, he received the Global 500 Laureate Roll of Honour by the United Nations Environment Program in 1999 from Emperor Akihito of Japan.

Lauding him as a doyen hotelier, the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences honoured him with the Lifetime Achievement Five Star Diamond Award in 2009; the Green Hotelier Award by the Geneva based International Hotel and Restaurant Association (IH&RA) and the Maharana Mewar Foundation’s Uday Singh Award for “Outstanding Practical Achievements in the Protection and Improvement of the Environment” in 2002.

In 2008, Business Week, US listed him among the 50 global octogenarians who still ‘rock the world’. Recent awards in 2010 include the Hall of Fame Award at the Hotel Investment Forum India held in Mumbai and the ‘Hotelier of the Century’ Award given by the International Hotel and Restaurant Association.

Nair had also received the highest Indian civilian honour - the Padma Bhushan, from the President of India.