Basant K Chaudhary’s career has been tilted more towards fulfilling his passions than profits and market share. He started an advertising company and a recording studio when service sector businesses were almost unheard of in Nepal . He tried his hand at journalism too in order to satiate his creative urge. With a sentimental and spiritual tinge in his personality, he has also been very active in social service.

Brought up in one of the biggest business houses of Nepal (the Chaudhary Group), Chaudhary knew the nuances of business from an early age working first in the family-run shop (Arun Emporium) and later in dozens of industrial and commercial projects that the family developed. But Chaudhary developed a liking for social service and other extra-curricular activities since his youth and got involved in them even at the cost of his studies. “I would go to the villages for health camps and I enjoyed those experiences more than studying,” recalls Chaudhary.

Also in his business, Chaudhary deviated from his family because he wanted to do something independently. Being very keen about the arts and especially music, he started a company called Group-3 as his first venture after his graduation from Public Youth Campus. Under this, he set up an advertising agency and a recording studio. Because of his itch to write, Chaudhary also started publications like Realm (a news magazine) and Urvashi (a film magazine). But these businesses had to be closed after some years because he had other priorities.

Nevertheless, these activities point towards the fact that Chaudhary was quite adept at multitasking from the start of his career and this got further highlighted later on.

Chaudhary joined his family businesses in 1989 and worked in ventures like Pashupati Biscuits Industries Pvt. Ltd. Soon he also started the Independent weekly in 1991 because of his passion for journalism to raise social issues had not been fulfilled yet. Chaudhary claims that he tried to make the Independent a truly ‘independent’ publication with honest reporting and critical analysis. That is why, the paper shot to fame immediately after its start, according to him.

But he concedes that business-wise it did not do so well after about three years of operation because, in his view, the environment then was not conducive for such a paper. “Being honest started affecting our business. However, he tried to operate the newspaper for some seven more years but had to close it down finally in 2001. “I lost millions of rupees in that paper,” he admits candidly. “In the end the choices I had were to either kowtow to a political party or some foreign embassy for funds. I chose to do neither and closed down the paper.” But he is not too unhappy about losing money in this venture. “At least I learned how to analyse things critically. Furthermore, writing had always been a big passion for me. What is life without passion?” he queries philosophically. And even after the closure of Independent, Chaudhary has continued to write for different newspapers and magazines. He has also written songs for two music albums: one romantic and the other devotional.

While doing all this, he had also made plans to go into healthcare sector. Thus came into being the Norvic Escorts International Hospital Ltd., of which Chaudhary is the managing director. The total investment for this project was Rs. 160 million, which is Chaudhary’s biggest so far. “Again, I wanted to do something different from my family business. I wanted to diversify into the service sector because that is where Nepal ’s strength lies,” says Chaudhary. The hospital is one of Nepal ’s premium healthcare providers and Chaudhary informs that the hospital has started paying back the principal on the loan from this year.

Chaudhary is looking to further strengthen his hold on the health sector by opening what he calls Norvic Medicity: a facility that will have a whole range of health services - from allopathic to Ayurvedic and homeopathic hospitals and convalescence centres. Chaudhary has already bought a hillock at Kakani for his purpose.

But people have accused that such facilities are overly expensive and they forcefully levy unnecessary charges. Chaudhary refutes these charges by saying that people have to pay for quality. He says that in government hospitals, doctors do not have enough time for patients but in private ones the care is much better so they are more expensive.

While Norvic is doing well, Chaudhary says that his family business of biscuits is struggling because there is too much competition and food habits of the Nepalis have changed. Pashupati Biscuits has made losses for the last three years and he is contemplating closing the factory if things do not pick up soon.

But Chaudhary is likely to take these developments with equanimity because he has seen the ups and downs of life very closely. As a former Member Secretary of the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT), he recalls: “During the five years at PADT, I met many people - from normal ones to Aghoris. Everyday, bodies would be burning on pyres a few hundred metres away from my office. It taught me that in the end there is nothing. Feelings of being a big shot or a small fry in the society, owning a building or having visited places are all illusions.”

People credit Chaudhary for beautifying the Pashupati area and cleaning up the Bagmati during his tenure as the member secretary of PADT. Recalling that 117 houses had to be demolished for that purpose, he says he apologizes sincerely to the people affected by this action but also adds that sacrifices are needed for big purposes.
Personal Side

Performs Pranayam in the morning

oes not go to parties too often.

Always eats at home

ikes to read historical books. At present he is reading books by BP Koirala

Another social service establishment led by Chaudhary is the Shree Lunkarandas-Gangadevi Chaudhary Charity Hospital in near Biratnagar. Set upin 1994, the hospital is named after his parents and it provides free health service to the local people. Chaudhary says that he is also involved in giving scholarships to poor children. About 30 students are studying under this programme, according to him. Given his love for the arts, Chaudhary has also established an academy for arts and literature under his parents’ name.

According to Chaudhary, success means having more friends than enemies. “Whenever I start something, I look at the impact it will have on people,” he says. He admits that this quality is a weakness in business and that may be the reason why he is not as successful as his brothers in the field of business. But he says that he has lived life on his terms. “But I think I have been quite successful because I have more friends than enemies.”

Chaudhary plans to retire from business and material pursuits in about 10 years. “In terms of an average Nepali’s life, I am very old already,” he contemplates and informs that his daughter looks after Norvic now and he will have completed all his projects in the next ten years. “This is the time of materialism and I have had to live by the rules of society. But there will be a point where I will live for myself,” he says.