He made you believe that you could fly: Vijay Kedia on Rakesh Jhunjhunwala

“After meeting him, you feel like you can fly,” the ace investor said in an interview to Moneycontrol. “If you sit with him, you don’t get spoonfed, you learn from his aura. He could jumpstart every person, even one in a coma, by just standing next to him,” said Kedia.

Kedia met Jhunjhunwala in 1991-92 when both of them were starting out in the stock market. “I met him in the rink and it was my first interaction with him,” he said. Kedia had just arrived in Mumbai and had started work at the BSE when there was pit trading. The two used to meet after work at a bar nearby and exchange ideas.

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“I had come to Mumbai without anything and met him, who was courageous and aggressive even back then,” said Kedia.

There was another time, in 2004, when Kedia wanted to enter the big leagues and had found a stock that he liked—Aegis Logistics.

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“It was a small cap then with barely Rs 20-22 crore market cap and I went to Rakesh with the idea. He listened to all the details and said that the stock was great but he couldn’t take it because it was a small cap. I said that I want to do something big in life and wanted to take 5 percent in the company but that I was also afraid of any hassles that could come from the limelight, from IT or Sebi, and he replied in his usual style and I can’t repeat all of that he said now,” said Kedia, with a laugh, adding it involved some expletives.

“It was such great encouragement,” added Kedia, who went on to pick 5 percent stake in the company that has since multiplied in price by over a hundred times.

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“We also learnt that from him, that we can make it big by doing things the right way. We also lived by that zindagi mein galat kam karne ka nahin (in life, never do a wrong thing),” he added.

Jhunjhunwala may have been brash and loud with people but with friends he had a child-like manner, said Kedia. “He was like nariyal (tender coconut) hard on the outside, but tender on the inside,” he added.

Kedia’s wife called Jhunjhunwala “vidya sagar” because of the things he knew and he could recall. “I met him a few days ago in Breach Candy hospital and he recalled so many of the incidents from decades ago that I was surprised. His memory was better than a computer’s and his courage was like that of a lion. He wasn’t a bull, he was a lion. He went after every opportunity that others were warned away from, like airlines,” said Kedia.

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A few days ago, when Kedia had met Jhunjhunwala at the hospital, he had asked him how he was doing. The Big Bull replied with his characteristic joviality. “He said 'I am enjoying myself, that I sleep 15 to 16 hours'. He then kept talking about the market and shares. He was that rare bull,” Kedia said.

“People say a lot of good things about someone when they pass away but Jhunjhunwala was truly all these things. He was brave and inspiring,” said the Big Bull’s long-time friend.