Vishal & Abhimanyu Mehra
The bright, interesting twins

Vishal and Abhimanyu are not only cued about their dreams but also each other. "Forgot to tell you that my kind of girl is very different from his", they say at exactly the same moment. Their repartee can be spooky at times, but though the twins have taken the path less traveled, yet, come hail, rain or shine, they know they would walk it, for they can see their empire sitting pretty near the horizon. Even on a cloudy night they can see the sign, it reads - IVA Group of Companies.

But the resemblance does not go much beyond this for Vishal and Abhimanyu Mehra. For one, Vishal is a left-hander and extremely gregarious, Abhimanyu is more self-effacing and reticent. Vishal does most of the talking most of the time, Abhimanyu listens and rarely barges into a conversation. Interestingly, the professions that they are in would make you feel that the twins should swap their moulds.

But it is not what you think. Vishal holds the brush while Abhimanyu is the 'operations' man. Vishal went to Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, London, which is a part of The London Institute and perhaps one of the best, while Abhimanyu ticked for the External program of London School of Economics and then zipped off to Switzerland for a post-graduate diploma in International Hospitality Management from Les Roches. Back home, together they are trying to make Svaasa, their spa in Amritsar, the best possible.

Alumnus of Delhi Public School, the twins had their share of career blues - Abhimanyu vacillated between the choices of being an architect and an urban landscape designer, Vishal actually did not even want to finish school, he was so enamored by fashion that he wanted to throw the satchel and bow on the ramp after the models had walked his designs. "The hype, the media, the rush, the creativity, the exclusivity attached to it appealed to me. When I was in school I use to sketch, use lots of colors, draw and paint, makes all sorts of art stuff and experiment," he adds.

But the when the dirt settled, and after Vishal had peered into the lives of the great designers, he realized "that they are all primarily artists at heart and alongside their well established labels, like YSL, Karl Lagerfield, Versace etc., they still continue to make art." For Vishal it was not a U-turn from fashion to art, it is just a little detour to the destination. Despite his blues, Abhimanyu never lost sight of the final vision - to not only take forward the family's hospitality legacy but also to build an empire. The Svaasa spa is just the first step, the empire is in the offing, with the name already in place - Iqbal, Vishal, Abhimanyu (IVA) Group of Companies - Iqbal being the eldest of the three. You cannot doubt this entrepreneurship, their family not only brought the first international airlines to Amritsar but also opened the first fully air-conditioned hotel in the city; Svaasa is the only spa in the northern plains and the one planned in Gurgaon would be unique in several, including its handcrafted, baked clay walls.

All over Svaasa, you can see the imprint of Vishal's creativity and Abhimanyu's 'operational skills'; creativity in the food platters, charcoal drawings, the rooms, the paintings in the bathrooms, wrought iron motifs in their 250-year old manor; and suaveness in Abhimanyu's handling of the guests and the staff, he might be self-effacing but he ensures great comfort, lovely food and a memorable stay. Together, the twins make a downright deadly combo. You really don't need to see their degrees, you can fathom that they have been trained immaculately for it.

Grill them about walking an unbeaten path and they would refute it in tandem - if they had to study medicine or engineering that "would have been unbeaten." What they are doing is natural for them.

Recalling the interview for LSE's external Program, Abhimanyu laughs about how he told the Board that just because one or two of his answers in the last two minutes were incorrect "doesn't represent what I am and what I can achieve." He sure got in.

Admission in Les Roches was not a difficult call but once there Abhimanyu got into a rigorous "disciplined schedule involving a great deal of library work and
research. We covered all aspects of a hotel from purchasing, kitchen, to
front-of-house interactions and bookkeeping."

He graduated with Honors and was presented a Swiss Silver Wine Carafe, though "I did not tell the authorities that I don't drink, what would I do with a wine carafe?" But degrees could remain looking good just on the mantelpiece, you need to know how to use it. That took Abhimanyu to a stint in Hyatt, Chicago. And he highly recommends "youngsters to go for industrial placements lasting a maximum of 18 months, as it is a great learning experience. Just observing and working with wiser experienced managers
and directors was thrilling as you are dealing with them at a one-to-one level which is not practiced everywhere in India."

Vishal, of course, thinks "if you are good you can get in anywhere or pursue anything but if you doubt yourself or your desire, you might as well just sit at home." At Central St Martins, Vishal had a "fabulous experience, for the college is a complete huge world on its own. The faculty was very good but the best bit of the education and learning experience was communicating with my peers, friends and other art students. Everyone is a unique individual with brimming talent and desire."

Along with the degree, Vishal brought back confidence from London. Today, he indulges in mixed media, sells his wares to individuals and companies, loves gazing at monuments done in watercolors, adores cubism, and Salvador Dali.

Vishal and Abhimanyu are not only cued about their dreams but also each other. "Forgot to tell you that my kind of girl is very different from his", they say at exactly the same moment. Their repartee can be spooky at times, but though the twins have taken the path less traveled, yet, come hail, rain or shine, they know they would walk it, for they can see their empire sitting pretty near the horizon. Even on a cloudy night they can see the sign, it reads - IVA Group of Companies.

Published in Sun Magazine, September 2004