The High Priestess Of Hospitality

SURI HAS TAKEN HER COMPANY FROM SIX TO 14 HOTELS IN INDIA AND LONDON. AND SHE’S SHOWING THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY HOW TO BE MORE INCLUSIVE WITH THE LALIT’S LGBTQ POLICIES.

- Arnika Thakur

JYOTSNA SURI 67, CHAIRPERSON AND MANAGING DIRECTOR BHARAT HOTELS

KEY NO CHANGE MOVED UP MOVED DOWN NEW RETURNEE

LAST YEAR, VIDEOS OF RELIANCE INDUSTRIES CHAIRMAN MUKESH AMBANI’S FAMILY DANCING TO BOLLYWOOD NUMBERS AT HIS DAUGHTER’S WEDDING MADE A SPLASH ACROSS social media. But a video of another business head performing at her son’s wedding also garnered considerable attention. Except this one was a bit different. Jyotsna Suri, chairperson and managing director of Bharat Hotels, the flagship company of the Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, was seen with her son and the group’s executive director, Keshav Suri, in a drag performance at his wedding reception in Goa, both swaying to a Bollywood song. Keshav Suri was getting married to his partner, Cyril Feuillebois.

By no means is this a regular event in India. Even after Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalised same-sex relationships, was abolished by the Supreme Court last year, same-sex weddings are not common in the country. And for a business family to celebrate a same-sex marriage with such fanfare is definitely not conventional. However, for Jyotsna Suri, it isn’t just that one day she was there for her son; his identity has become an intrinsic part of her company’s approach to business.

It all started when her son came out as gay. Sitting in The LaLiT hotel in New Delhi, I ask her about it. “The first big thing was that I accepted my son... I had zero choice. Either I am happy and I have my son. Or I am unhappy and I lose my son. There is no way I was going to lose my son and there was no way I was going to be unhappy. So I took that decision and having done that, I had to do something for the commmunity, she says.