Godman to Tycoon

PRIYANKA PATHAK-NARAIN GODMAN IIUIIUN THE UNTOLD STORY OF BABA RAMBEV I Godman to Tycoon The Untold Story of Baba Ramdev Priyanka Pathak-Narain i i ^juggernaut i n:tlCKRNAUT HOOKS KS I 11H Shub|H.u' jat. New 1 )dhi 1 hiUiu y h-nf puhtkhed byju^^n^aar Ihvnky 2017 Cn|Tynphr Priyank;* Path;\U Nurdm -AH7 10 \f 8 7 6 S -'I 0 2 \ Ati nghr- n^t.TV’r O, Nc parr of-thk puhlb-unon tmvbe mpiruhiyttb jriiijMmtiL'kf, or stored n't a rctrievd sysKm m ;inv f>nn or by any meam without the written permission ot thy publiidwu The vkJWtr am! opinions expressed in ibis hook me Hut authoA own. Jlw fhkl?T contained herein were reponed ro he mu: m on rhe date of puldkcdon by dir author fn ihc publishers of the hoof, n ml die pnMtsim^ me not in any wuv fethk. hu' theij mvumn y m vermity. ishn qymsHhnmm Typeset in Adobe (Aston IVo by P. Ajdh Kun>kH? New Del Hi primed al M;tni.|:jKIV- ht];>h>^LC$ i =td Contents Author a Note vii 1, The tycoon 1 2. The Bay Ramdev 13 (he Deputy and the Mentor 25 4. Ihe Cura 33 5. Ihe Karly Days 41 6, Aastha Television 49 7. Tin? TV S-i- 53 8. Friends m I ligh Places 63 9. Mystery 1: The Aliys Murder 69 ID, A New Mentor Enters 71 1,1,. The Old Mentor Exits 75 12, The Seeds of an Empire 81 Enter Brintia Karat 89 14, Patanjali Is Born 97 15, The Yoga Roadshow 99 16, Mystery 2: The Guru's Disappearance 105 17. Hit Reimention * 115 IS, Hie Aastha Takeover 121 19. Mystery 3: The Mentors Sudden Death 129 20. Tiie Anna Movement 143 21. Toe Old Mentor Re-enters 153 22. The CEO 159 23. The Brother 183 24 Patanjali Ayurveda Limited 189 25. Conclusion 201 Sources 209 Acknowledgements 235 A Not? on the Author 237 V t Authors Note When the idea for a hook on Baba Ram dev and bis company came up* it seemed promising, 1 had followed Ranidevh rise ten years ago when 1 was at Minly meeting him on multiple occasions, covering his Ganga campaign in Ka.npug hanging around his kutir while he asked questions about swadeshi economies to Rajeev Dixit, his late mentor. I enjoyed listening to their easy banter and all the idealism in their conversation at the time, tvach time we met, 1 had found him earthy, self- deprecating and disarming,generous with his time ami deft in steering conversations to what he wanted to say But I never felt that I had really got to know him. Beyond his carefully cultivated public persona lay a masterfully guarded person of tremendous will dlie only way to tell his story; I believed, was to tell it through the voices of all the people he worked with Author's Note along the way to building his empire, those who’d had a chance to meet him in unguarded moments. I imagined that their memories, anecdotes, talcs of how Ramdcv inspired and transformed their lives would he a far more interesting story than Ramdevs own version of it. So 1 began at the beginning. I spoke to members of Ramdevs family: from his mother, Gulabo Devi, and brother Devdutf Yadav to his uncle Jagdeesh Yadav/(hey gave me a rare glimpse into Ramdev s childhood and adolescent years, i spoke to his triends: from his junior at the gurukul he attended in his early twenties, Acharva Abhavdev, who shared anecdotes about RamdevY tenacity, to his lifelong deputy, Ac h ary a Ralkrishna. I interviewed long-time Ilaridwar residents Sushant Mahcndru andTarun Kumar, who have known Ramdcv and company since their early days selling chawanprash on bicycles there. I spoke to Radhika Nagrath, who helped design Ramdevs first logo, and to Professor Veena Shastri, another Ilaridwar old-timer, who has witnessed at close quarters Rarndcv’s phenomenal rise and remembers, tor instance, the old days when Ramdevs brother used to go on a cycle to deliver fresh milk to his sister in the hostel where she stayed in Haridvvar. [ spoke at length to his first mentor, Karamveer Maharaj, with whom Ramdev later fell out, and, when he was still alive, to his second mentor, Rajeev Dixit, the architect VI It Aii t tior’s N of Ramdev s swadeshi campaign. I met people who had worked for Ramdev at different points of time from Vipin Pradhan, ail aide ol Ramdev's between 2002 and 2005, before Patanjali Ayurveda Ltd was even established, to S.K. Patra, the CEO who helped lay the foundations for Patanjalfs phenomenal growth. I hunted down Kirit Mehta, a bitter former ally of Ramdev s, and one of the founders of AasthaTV; and the Pitties, still devoted Ramdev supporters. I interviewed Rarndcvs adversaries and officers investigating him and his firms for various alleged lapses — from firinda Karat, who levelled the sensational charge that Ramdcv’s Ayurvedic medicines contained unlabelled human and animal hones, to Jitendar Rana, who investigated Ramdev for sales tax evasion. All in all, 1 spoke to fifty-two people to unravel the mystery. JV1 y sources corroborated - and dismissed - information that 1 had gathered Irom other primary sources, helping me fill in the gaps tin til a clear narrative began to emerge. Some of my interlocutors — Karamveer, Kirit Mehta and S.K. Patra, tor instance — are important new voices in rhe Ramdev story, who agreed to taped interviews and spoke for the first time on the record about their time with Ramdev. For a complete list of inverviewees and sources for each chapter, please refer to 'Sources'at the end of the hook. A tj tiler’s Nil re- ] had set off expecting to discover a rags-fo¬ ndles tale, of how a hoy with no formal education became a national hero and tycoon through sheer grit, determination, hard work and conviction, i did find a portion of that story. But I also found much more. X 1 lhe lycoori IFaritfaiar, 2016 On a low stage, sunlight streaming from u high skylight, he lies Hat on his stomach, props a shaggy face on his palms, peers into the crowd and laughs, A. thousand people mimic his vogie pose and laugh back indulgently. There never was any doubt about this nimble, orange-robed mans ability to grip an audience. He has held millions enthralled, day after day, for more than a decade. 1 ,lke any good performer, Baba Ram dev knows the trick is to keep surprising. So, sitting beside towers of products made by his company, Patanjaii Ayurveda, during one of his telecast yoga camps, this improbable business tycoon with an eye for dntma smiles and s;iys,‘ffit,inj.di has become a great brand, 1 heat. But you’ve seen nothing yet,'lhere are two 1 ('_! udhium u> Tvv own things that I have to do. Make all foreign companies do sirsliasami [headstand] within five years* and put Mother Indvi on the throne of the world. Kifm maza ayegtf [What fun it'll be]P Cheers and cruhu&iamc apphiu&c greet the tmnouncemenL lie holds everyone spellbound in kU theatre - some are smitten, others cynic ah hut hardly any are indifterent* Ihjw can they be? Baba Ramdevk story and his rise arc simply stunning. Bom Ram Khan Yadav, the ill-educated son of an impoverished fanner from Said Ah pun Haryana, Ramdev began his tenuous journey to fame and fortune as w yoga teacher struggling to help his I amity make ends meet sometime in the fare 1980s. Three decades later* Baba Kamdev is the powerful tycoon at the helm of Pataniali Ayurveda Limited, the country's fastest™ growing FMCG, or 'fast moving consumer goods5, company that employs about 20,000 people. If the big three FMCG companies, Unilever, Colgate and Nestle, am worried and frequently looking over their shoulder, it’s for good reason. Revenues at Pataryali Ayurveda multiplied fifteen times from Rs 317 crorc at the end of 2010™ 11 to an awe-inspiring Rs 5000 e.rore in 2015-16. Ramdev declared that this number would double by the end of 2-016-17.lt did -to a staggering Rs 10,000 crore in May 2017. While announcing this stupendous achievement, 2 The Ranukv set the company's next audacious target: Rs 20,000 crore in revenue by May 2018, A 2017 Assodiam-TechSei research report put thin growth lit perspective thus: Pafanjaii h "the most disruptive force in the Indian FMCG market. While Patau jail is growing at over 100 per cent annually* "its peers including FTC, Dab up Hindustan Unilever (HUL]t Colgate"-Prd mo live and Procter &* Gamble struggled to get ft growth much less than double digitk In September 2016 the Hu run Rich List, a ranking of dollar billionaires in the world, ] is ted Baba Rarmk vk closest aide* Aeharya Ralkrishna, as the twenty™sixth richest Indian* with a persona! wealth of Rs 25,600 cm re ($3*8 billion), lie owns 94 per cent of Patuoaili Ayurveda l ad, Swamts,sueh as Baba Ramdev, who have taken s any As And wear saffron clothes as a mark < it their re n u rna a t i o n of rfi e p u r$ u i t o f wt irl ti! y th i n 1 i kc weu! t h and fame and forsaken their families are prohibited by the code of ascetics from owning companies* if Baba Ramdev accepted a direct stake in Fatanjalt Ayurveda, he would violate that sacrosanct cade of religious ethics and lose credible tv with his followers/1 hats why Rulkrishmu the deputy whom Ramdev keeps on a tight leash.

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