I had almost convinced IDBI as well, but they wanted 80 per cent returns and I could not do that. It is better to be sure of your failure than your success! By chance, I happened to meet a very kind-hearted Omani gentleman, who gave me 50 per cent finance and organised the rest for me from an Omani bank.

Actually, I wanted to price my vaccine at Rs 70, not understanding the other costs involved. Just from my lab to this glittering building, the cost goes up by 35 per cent. In my opinion, profit is not a sin, provided it is used for the right purpose. For example, we invest 30 per cent of our sales in R&D-even America does only 4-5 per cent. See, money is a tool. You can do some great things in life with it. If used properly, it is an effective tool. But the same money can also be used for detrimental purposes. You should earn only as much as you require. If we earn over that, it leads to an unbalance of the mind, and your projects, your programmes, get delayed.

I cannot claim that I am 100 per cent pure. I also had to pay one or two bribes. I'm not advocating payments, but if you stick to your guns, noble projects get held up due to small irritations.

It's not money that is evil. Money has different faces. In the wrong hands, it is bad, it's the things they do with it. I'm very democratic. I don't behave like a magnate. I discuss financial decisions with everybody.

Normally, the tendency is to contain ourselves within the budget.In my personal life, my wife is a very capable lady, so my mother and my wife manage. No one likes to call himself a miser, but I have no time to spend money. I love music-I recently spent Rs 6,000 just on audio tapes.

I've never thought about personal investments because there's been no money to invest! I've never bought a single share so far, never invested in real estate. The share market is a den of gamblers-it's not helping the country's economy. My father is a very rich man, but it's all fixed assets, no liquidity. For me, it was always music and books. I made a huge investment on a music system that cost Rs 4.7 lakh. I lied and told my wife it was for Rs 2 lakh, and even then, she thought that was too much! But they spend Rs 6 lakh on just one bangle-I'm amazed!

If someone left me a million dollars, I'd invest it in R&D immediately, and also partly in music. I'm financing a music project for Rs 15-16 lakh. I'll siphon off some money from my wife!!

As told to Punam Mohandas