The Canadian Parvasi - Issue 12

The International News Weekly VIEWS
September 15, 2017 | Toronto 14
Harry S. Banga: Chandigarh man who
is among richest in Hong Kong
By Jaideep Sarin
Hong Kong : He grew up
in Chandigarh and never
thought he would be a billionaire
and one of the richest
people in Hong Kong.
But Harry S. Banga has
done that successfully in
the fields of commodities,
ship management and asset
management.
With a net worth of $1.02
billion, Harindarpal Singh
Banga, as the chairman of
the fairly young Caravel
Group, not only figures
among the list of Top-50
richest people (Forbes Magazine)
in Hong Kong but is
known as the tycoon who
has staged a comeback in
the commodities sector in a
big way.
"It's been a great journey.
(I am) So proud of
achieving what we have
done. Obviously, there were
a lot of ups and downs. Never
realised on leaving Chandigarh
that I will be where
I am today. By the grace of
god, it has been a wonderful
and successful journey.
One day I will write a book,"
Banga told IANS during an
interview in the swanky
headquarters of the Caravel
Group in the Central Plaza
skyscraper in Hong Kong's
busy Wan Chai commercial
area. Banga, who started as
a shippie, has reasons to feel
proud.
He exited the Noble
Group, in which he was a
co-founder in 1988, just before
it started crumbling
on the business front. Setting
up the Caravel Group
in 2013 with an $800 million
investment, Banga was
soon back in the big league
of Hong Kong billionaires
early this year.
"We have three verticals
within the Caravel Group.
The first one is Asset Management.
It is purely investing
in liquid assets in
equity, fixed income and
debt investment and some
private equity investment.
The other part is brick and
mortar business in Caravel
International which has got
two verticals. One is Caravel
Resources under which
we do the commodities business.
Then we have Caravel
Maritime and Caravel Fleet
Management Limited.
"Today we are the third
largest ship management
company in the world. We
have 450 ships under our
management, close to $20
billion dollars of assets.
Total officers and crew are
about 18,000 -- the majority
of them from India," he explained.
With operations spread
in 19 countries across most
continents, Banga says that
doing business with China
is easier. "Seventy per cent
of our total turnover comes
from China. I have been
dealing with China since
1983. Dealing with officials
and corporates in China, I
find them very easy to develop
and do business with.
"Our business mainly
focuses around China,
which is the main consumer
of commodities today.
Today, we are the largest
international trading company
supplying iron ore to
China. Total volume is 40
million tonnes. The originating
countries are India,
Australia, South Africa and
Brazil. Caravel Carbon does
the thermal coal business.
Sixty per cent of that goes
into China and 40 percent
to India to power plants, cement
plants etc," he said.
Though his company
has offices in India, the
business dealing is limited.
"While in other countries
in Europe, Australia,
America it is either a green
light or red light -- it is all
very clear. Though in the
last three years it is changing,
in India it is permanent
amber light. So, you don't
know if it is red or green.
They do come with a policy
in India but it takes a long
time to understand that policy,"
said Banga, who was
honoured with the Pravasi
Bharatiya Award in 2011 by
the Indian government.
"Ours (India) is not easy.
We have religion issues,
caste issues, language issues,
states have their own
issues. All these things are
very challenging. New Delhi
takes decisions. The implementation
is in districts.
It is a very different world
there (in the districts). In
Beijing, one guy decides,
everyone implements," he
said. Banga is worried that
too many young people in
India are getting education
and skills, but not enough
jobs are available.
"In India, we have the
beauty product and health
product e-retail company
called Nykaa. That is one of
the major investments that
we have," he added.
Born in Amritsar, Banga,
66, did his schooling and
bachelor of engineering in
Chandigarh before moving
out in the 1970s.
"I became the youngest
captain at the age of 27-anda-half.
I worked with companies
in London, Geneva
and Hong Kong, where I arrived
in 1984," he said.
Among other things,
Banga has an eye for contemporary
paintings and
antiques.
Actress Ekavali Khanna says playing wife
to Adil Hussain in Pakistani film was great
The Canadian Parvasi
TORONTO: In her first major
role in any international
film, actress Ekavali Khanna
has given a nuanced performance
as a conservative
Pakistani housewife in the
Norwegian film What People
Will Say which premiered at
the on-going Toronto film
festival. The film deals with
female oppression and the
culture of shame in south
Asian societies and its diaspora
in the West.
Ekavali spoke about her
role opposite Adil Hussain
in this cross-cultural film by
Pakistan-Norwegian actordirector
Iram Haq.
Q: How did you land this first international
role in What People
Will Say?
The casting team of the
film got in touch with me in
December and asked me to
audition for the role. They
sent me three scenes and
asked me to self-test. They
seemed to be in a hurry and
said I should record and send
the audition immediately.
I got my 12-year-old son to
give the cues, recorded the
audition and sent it to them.
I received a call from them
within 24 hours, saying the
director loved the audition
and I will be doing the film.
Q: After English Vinglish and
Life of Pie, Adil has turned in
another superb performance in
the role of a husband. How was
it to play this role opposite Adil?
Adil and I have acted in
Dr.Chandra Prakash Dwivedi
's 'Zed Plus 'earlier, so
when I was going to Norway
for the shoot I knew this is
going to be another enriching
master class. There’s so
much one can learn from
Adil.
Adil is extremely dedicated
to his craft, and puts
in a lot of labour in his
work. He is very humble
and though he's far more experienced
and seasoned he
treats his co-actors with a lot
of respect and often exchanges
ideas and likes to work on
the scenes together. It’s a
privilege to work with him.
Q: You have delivered some
powerful lines. How did you prepare
for the role of ultra conservative
Pakistani wife?
My character Najma
constantly seeks validation
from society and could easily
sacrifice her child’s life
and happiness because of
'what people will say.’
Slipping into her character
was not smooth,because
understanding and empathizing
with "Najma"
seemed impossible in the
beginning,and being an independant
single mother
myself i could barely identify
with the character I was
to play.Iram and I had extensive
discussions,and there
were things that she told
me about her own equation
with her mother and true
life instances that happened
with her which helped me
understand my character
deeply.
In my own head I created
a graph of Najmas life and
tried to understand what it
could mean for a young girl
from Pakistan to get married
and move to a country
like Norway and start living
there.It enabled me to understand
why Najma was so
unreasonable and why she
behaved the way she did.
Iram, Adil and I would
have long discussions and
by the time we started shooting
i was totally prepared to
play Najma.
Iram had even taken us
to meet some Pakistani families
in Oslo for reference,it
was very helpful. As for the
lines,we had the freedom to
improvise ,with the directors
approval.Iram had prepared
all of us so well,a lot
of lines which werent in the
script came to us naturally
and she was more than happy
with the inputs.
Q: Iram Haq is a rising international
filmmaker as her two
consecutive films have made to
the Toronto film festival. What
were your experiences working
with her?
Iram is a beautiful soul,
so pure and honest, and that
reflects in her passion for
her work. She prepares her
actors well and then gives
them the freedom to perform
organically.
Her vision for every
scene is so clear, and she
conveys it so well that as
an actor I felt very strong
and empowered. It’s been a
very memorable experience
working with her.
Q: Any high and low points during
the shooting of the film?
The entire shoot was
full of highs.I worked with
an exceptionally talented
cast and crew who were
very inspired and passionate
about the project. The
Norweigan,Swedish German
and Danish crew were
true professionals and despite
the extreme weather
everyone was striving for
perfection.THe entire process
of shooting the film was
a high.
On a personal note, one
of the high points of my
life was when my birthday
was celebrated by the production.
We were all sitting
around during lunch
when suddenly the entire
crew broke into the Norweigan
birthday song, and
a surprise cake popped up.
I was really touched by the
warmth.