Where are you likely to find India's largest two-wheeler producer Brij Mohan Lall, liquor baron Vijay Mallya, Ranbaxy head D S Brar, Pepsi India head Rajiv Bakshi and hotelier Lalit Suri over the next few weeks?
In South Africa, of course, watching the Cricket World Cup.
World Cup fever has gripped the country and the corporate head honchos are not to be left out. Thus, Mallya is travelling to South Africa in his private plane along with some friends to watch the matches.
Suri, the chairman and managing director of Bharat Hotels, is planning to go for the finals. Brar, who had gone to England four years ago to watch the last World Cup, too is going to be there for the semi-finals as well as the finals.
The other cricket fans from the corporate world who are ready to wing their way to South Africa include Timex Watches managing director Kapil Kapoor, P&O Travel India managing director Partha Basu, Pepsi's largest bottler Ravi Jaipuria, Eros Group managing director Satish Sud, SABMiller India chairman Devin Narang and Arjun Sharma, the former head of Sita World.
Delhi-based designer Ritu Kumar along with her family is heading to South Africa for the India-Pakistan match on March 1.
The trip, she said, will be a mix of pleasure and business, though pleasure will dominate.
While most of the corporate heads are planning to go for the India-Pakistan match, some are even planning to camp there from February 26 onwards when the India-England match takes place.
Then there are those who can't help being in South Africa -- people who have put their money on the event.
Brij Mohan Lall and his son Pawan Kant Munjal are leading a large contingent of people drawn from the Hero Honda -- a sponsor of the title -- management to South Africa.
For the same reason, Rajiv Bakshi, the chief executive director of PepsiCo India, another sponsor of the cup, is on his way to South Africa along with a bevy of its celebrity endorsers such as Shah Rukh Khan.
Kunal Dasgupta, chief, Sony Entertainment Television, which has the rights to telecast the matches live in India, too is on his way to South Africa.
He can hope to bump into arch rival Manu Sawhney, the head of the ESPN-Star Sports Network. Having lost out to SET in the race for the telecast rights of the World Cup, Sawhney will be in South Africa on vacation, and not on work, to watch the semi-final and final matches.
However, a couple of city-based businessmen have decided against following the Indian team's fortunes in South Africa after its dismal performances in New Zealand and its inaugural match against Holland.
