A farmhouse near Delhi airport, May 2021. Tanmaya, we have to do an IPO,” uttered an elated voice from the other side of the phone. “And we have to do it before the year ends,” underlined Bhanu Chopra, exhibiting a sense of abnormal urgency.
The poor CFO, to whom Chopra was speaking, was hospitalised and battling the deadly Delta variant of Covid. He expected a normal check-in call from his boss. The chairman and managing director did call, but he was talking business. “Don’t worry. We will do it. Let me come back, and discuss,” the CFO mumbled, trying his best to calm down Chopra, who too had tested positive with the virus.
(This story appears in the 27 January, 2023 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)