"Alive Because Of Gautam Adani": Wai Wai Firm's Boss Recalls Maldives Incident

Varun Chaudhary, Managing Director of CG Corp Global, the company that produces the iconic Nepalese noodles brand 'Wai Wai' has said industrialist Gautam Adani helped save his life after he suffered a "massive accident" in the Maldives, sending a private jet carrying doctors to evacuate him.

Speaking at NDTV World Anviksha Summit, Chaudhary said he regarded Gautam Adani not only as a business mentor but also as someone to whom he owed his life.

"Mr Gautam Adani, I would say, is my mentor as well. I am also alive because of him, because of the incident that I had," he said. " I had a massive accident in Maldives and if it wasn't for him sending a private jet with doctors to evacuate me, I don't know where I would be."

"And also because, you know, he is such a simple human being. My interactions with him have always been so pleasant and always been so encouraging. Because, you know, he is doing business at a scale which one can't imagine. So when you dream so big, and if a mentor... I think sky is the beginning," he added. 

Chaudhary did not provide details of when the Maldives accident took place, what caused it or the nature of the injuries he suffered.

Chaudhary, a director in the family business behind the Wai Wai brand, described the instant-noodle company as one of Nepal's most successful examples of a brand crossing international borders.

"Born in Nepal, it travelled the world without a passport," he said. "We were sent to a boarding school at the age six, my brother as well. The boarding school kids who used to leave Nepal and go to India and other parts of the world. They were the ones actually who started carrying Wai Wai all across."

India, he said, became a particularly important market. Chaudhary said Wai Wai was now sold in about 100 countries and had helped provide a platform for the business group to expand.

"The story of Wai Wai has led our group expanding into 15 different business verticals and this is globally," he said.

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