Binod Chaudhary speaks exclusively to Tatler Asia in a one-on-one interview about family, the future of his company, Chaudhary Group, and his love for Nepal
Forty years ago, I bought a second-hand Volkswagen van and, with my wife, drove out of Switzerland. We crossed the unstable and at times dangerous lands of Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan. Our destination was Nepal.
This relatively small country has always drawn the attention of the world, whether for the majesty of the Himalayas, the fascinating story of Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, the first men to reach the top of the world, or the legacy of the Gurkhas, those soldiers known as the bravest of the brave.
In the 1970s the Kathmandu Valley was a favourite destination for Western backpackers and an iconic place for the hippie movement. Ravi Shankar’s music, yoga and meditation along with fresh air and free marijuana were part of a magical cocktail.
Walking through Nepal’s capital by night, we could easily have encountered the fashionable, 20-year-old, long-haired man who had just opened Copper Floor, a nightclub frequented by tourists and locals alike. That young man was Binod Chaudhary and he would go on to form Nepal’s largest multinational company, becoming the first and only Nepalese on Forbes’ World’s Billionaires List.
Copper Floor was his first venture outside the family business. Although he came from a conservative background, his passion for pop music and his business acumen made the happening place a success ahead of its time. The place was popular with the hippie crowd, but also by many members of the royal family. Among them, Prince Dhirendra, the son of the then king of Nepal, became a close friend and was very helpful in a country where personal relations play such an important role.
I didn’t come across Chaudhary in those heady days in Nepal, but years later Binod Chaudhary invited me, with my son Michel, the publisher of the Asia Tatler titles, to spend three days with him in Nepal. I was really happy at the opportunity to return to the country after more than four decades and talk with this intriguing character.
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