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| Edited By: Karishma Upadhyay |Source: DNA |Updated: Sep 24, 2015, 03:42 PM IST
I have done only one interview before this and it wasn’t an enjoyable experience,” he reveals and then flashes a 440-watt smile. He is the son-in-law of the richest Indian in the world but except for the li’l warning, Amit Bhatia is quite easy-going. A Cornell University graduate, Bhatia’s married steel tycoon Laxmi Mittal’s daughter Vanisha a little over a year ago.
Touted as the wedding of the year, the Bhatia-Mittal wedding took place at the awesome Palace of Versailles and Vaux le Vicomte, acknowledged as the finest chateau and garden in France. It was a fairy tale wedding, to say the least. And, it continues. “It was a lovely wedding and Vanisha and I are enjoying being married. We are still in the honeymoon mode,” he says.
Still reluctant to talk about anything even remotely family related Amit hasn’t gotten used to people being interested in ‘who he is’ or ‘what he does’. “I don’t encourage such people. I prefer being in the background,” he says candidly. A banker by profession, Amit has now moved to hedge funds. “Every once in a while people ask me when I’ll start working with my father-in-law. Their interest is natural. After all, Mittal Steel is a well-reputed company.” And, his reply to this all-important question? “I’m not involved in the company and I don’t ever plan to be. Though it is family business, it is very professionally managed. Also, I enjoy what I do.”
LN Mittal spend a reported Rs 200-crore on the wedding, so it’s more than natural to be curious about what it’s like to be a part of such a family. “It’s exciting because there are opportunities to do things and see places one wouldn’t really get otherwise. But, at the risk of sounding boring, it’s just another family. My family is very close to Vidisha’s even though they are here in India. Her brother Aditya is probably my best friend. We spend a lot of time together with him and Vanisha’s family.”
Amit’s eyes light up and the smile becomes wider when the interview’s focus shifts from his family to sports. In town to announce the newly formed Mittal Champions Trust, Amit’s happy to be able to be a part of sports in any way possible. After all, he is a self-confessed ‘sucker for sports’. “In school, I played cricket for a club called Delhi Blues which toured England. Murli Karthik was my roommate for a while. I aspired to be a cricketer and then I started playing tennis. I played the junior Wimbledon. I play squash now. So, I basically love sports.”
Amit’s involvement in the Mittal Trust is a manifestation of this fondness. “I am going to be very involved in the trust. The aim of the trust is to fund sports which aren’t considered very glamorous like badminton, swimming or squash. The idea is to put those sports on the map. I want to do all that I can.”
Just before Amit walks away to join his father-in-law, one last questions - Did he enjoy his second interview? “Oh! I did,” he says, flashing another disarming smile.
