'How rooted in reality are baniya businessmen': Ashneer Grover recalls father-in-law’s approach towards life

Ashneer Grover, in his book 'Doglapan', recalled the time when he was stumped by his father-in-law after bagging a fancy offer from Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Ashneer Grover, known to not mince words, recalled an unusual occurrence when he was stumped by his father-in-law. In his book ‘Doglapan,’ he recalled the time when he went to his wife’s father immediately after bagging an offer from Kotak Mahindra Bank in 2006.  

Grover’s wife, Madhuri Jain, belongs to a baniya businessmen family and her father was against the idea of her getting married to Grover. When he bagged the Kotak offer, he was confident of raising the stakes of getting a green signal from his father-in-law for the marriage.

As per the offer, his annual CTC was Rs 8 lakh with an assured bonus of Rs 3 lakh. The former Shark Tank India judge also said, “The way that job was sold to us, however, was that there was a possibility of making 150-200 per cent bonus, thereby pegging the total annual earning at Rs 20 lakh.” This made him very happy and he decided to sell this to his father-in-law who replied by saying, “Jitney ki lagi hai utne ki baat karo (let’s discuss what you have in hand currently).”

While this was a small incident, it left a deep impression on Grover’s mind, he shared in the book. “I realised how rooted in reality Baniya businessmen are. While we are taught to be optimistic, they have been able to make their mark while being realistic.”

Grover who got the offer after completing Masters in Business Administration from IIM-Ahmedabad concluded by saying that courtesy his job, Jain’s father agreed to their alliance.

“Bahot papad bele the shaadi karne ke liye…” he recalled.  

Grover has been caught in a courtroom battle with fintech unicorn BharatPe, a company he co-founded along with Shashvat Nakrani and Bhavik Koladiya. The company filed a civil case at the Delhi High Court and a criminal complaint with the Economic Offenses Wing against Grover and his family members for misappropriation of funds, among other claims. The fintech company also filed an arbitration under the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) rules to restrict him from vesting his 1.4 per cent shares in the company.