Nair, popularly called Captain Nair given his stint in the Indian Army, had also served under Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. He had handed over the chairmanship of the hotels he built to elder son Vivek last year. He then became chairman emeritus of the company. His younger son, Dinesh, was made the co-chairman and managing director.
Nair's life typifies the proverbial rags-to-riches story that shows that through determination, grit and a bit of luck anyone can overcome challenging circumstances and achieve extraordinary success. The son of a government bill collector, Nair, one among eight siblings, was born in 1922 into a poor family in a Kerala village.
Part of Nair's school education was funded by a scholarship from a local landlord who was impressed by the 13-year old's recitation when the landlord was on a visit to the village school. It was also around the same time he joined the freedom movement and later enrolled in the Indian Army as an officer and was placed at Abbottabad in Pakistan, now famous for US secret services' operation to kill Osama bin Laden.
In 1950 Nair married Leela, the daughter of a handloom owner and soon started helping his father-in-law in the business. Over the next four decades he expanded the handloom business, set up a manufacturing facility in Mumbai, developed an export market for Indian handlooms and in the process went on to become one of the country's leading personalities in the sector.
In 1987, Nair opened his first luxury hotel in Mumbai. His inspiration to make a foray into the hospitality business came from his exposure to some of the finest hotels in the world like Adlon Kempinski and Waldorf Astoria during his business trips abroad. He ventured into a new business when he was 65, an age when many retire from active work and move to a quieter life.
Nair named the hotel after his wife and over the years grew the business into a chain of eight properties across India. In the process it also has become one of the most celebrated indigenous luxury hospitality groups in the country. Leela hotels are known for luxury and opulence, but it is now weighed down by huge debt and is considering divestment of stakes in some properties.
A few years ago when Nair felt a hostile takeover threat to his hospitality business from its bigger peer ITC Group, he said that he had a white knight in Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani. ITC holds 12.2% in Hotel Leelaventure.
Nair is survived by his wife and two sons.
His funeral is scheduled for Sunday at Juhu crematorium. A condolence meeting will be held at The Leela Mumbai, on Thursday.
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