Of the many entertaining shows on VH-1–The Surreal Life, Strange Love, Fabulous Life of…, etc.–My Coolest Years–Rich Kids, features our own ABCD version of Paris Hilton–Vikram Chatwal.
My Coolest Years is 10 episodes of fun teenage reflection. Each hour episode dedicated to the personal stories of a particular clique. If you grew up in America in the last 30 years, you’ll recognize the types. We all had to pick one. To hang out with. To hook up with. To torment. To be. (Or not to be!) We’ll hear from the Metalheads, Geeks, Hippies, Bad Girls, B Boys, Jocks & Cheerleaders, the Rich Kids, the kids who were In The Closet, their “First” Times (wink wink), and their Summer Vacations.
But, what exactly do we learn about Vikram?
Where did he grow up and what did he drive? Vikram resided in a 10,000 square foot penthouse apartment and drove Porsche’s, Mercedes’, and BMW’s. Cliche, isn’t it?
Did he have a nanny? While the other rich kids were being watched by Olga the swedish exchange student, or Marie the French Au Pair, Vikram was reared by Raju, the male nanny, who would come to school to serve Vikram lunch.
What was his secret stash? When other kids were hiding porno mags, alcohol, and cigarettes, Vikram like a good little desi-boy, hid gaudy jewelry from his parents.
To watch Vikram, and the other rich kids in all their splendour , check out the next episode of My Coolest Years–Rich Kids on VH-1 airing next on March 22.
While Vikram plays his daddy is wheeling and dealing. Who knows? Maybe Vikram will have a place in future Clinton administration 🙂
hmm any clue which episode he’s on? can’t afford to miss this one…
ignore that; just re-read your post
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Don’t believe everything he tells you. Like a rapper, he has an incentive to embellish his past except in the opposite direction. Instead of describing a middle class childhood as one full of drugs and gangs a la Eminem, he’s taking a wealthy childhood and gilding the lotus.
It’s just a white lie, but enough people were there …
Here’s one tip – do you have any idea how large a 10,000 square foot dwelling is? It’s gigantic in a house, and in a Manhattan apartment it’s very very rare. There are probably only a handful of them total, and they represent the very top of the real estate market. They can’t even sell any more so they’re being chopped in half:
We’re talking about Mittal’s level wealth here. I don’t think his family ever made the Forbes’ list.
Excellent point, Yadash.
And finally… a comment about Mittal where someone isn’t asking for his e-mail address!
Right on, Yadash. The Chatwal family has a pretty shady history:
Don’t believe the hype!
On the other hand, the story Gurpreet cites includes this tidbit:
Which is close to Vikram Chatwal’s claim of growing up in a 10K sq ft penthouse.
Going from a 7K sq ft apartment to a 10K sq ft apartment is a 43% increase, hardly a minor matter (if somebody is indifferent between the two, they ought give all their employees a 43% raise)
I also don’t think Vikram grew up in that apartment. I recall that he lived in a different part of town. Ask Gurpreet, he was tight with Vikram 😉 [For the record, I’m kidding]
As I said in my first comment, these are white lies. It’s not that he grew up in the projects with 12 relatives, he was a rich kid. I’m just pointing out that he’s engaging in inflationary revisionism. Caveat emptor here, as with other aggressive self-promoters, unless you are interested in this really great old bridge across the East River that’s for sale dirt cheap …
More on Sant Chatwal from Indya.com
A former Indian Air Force pilot, who immigrated to the United States in 1975 and began the Bombay Palace chain of restaurants in New York, left India on May 9 while still facing charges of bank fraud, according to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Sant Singh Chatwal, a major political contributor to ex-US President Bill Clinton and his wife Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, has been charged by the CBI with defrauding the New York branch of State Bank of India of $ 9 million in 1994.
He is accused of failing to repay a loan.
Chatwal was visiting India during Clinton’s April trip to raise funds for earthquake victims in Gujarat. He had even appeared in a Bombay court but was released on bond without any travel restrictions.
The CBI says that the 10-day ban on Chatwal from leaving the country had just ended when he fled.
According to the New York Daily News, Chatwal funneled at least $ 210,000 in soft money to Hillary Clinton last fall, making him one of the Senator’s biggest soft-money donors. His contributions came even as debtors pursued him in bankruptcy courts for more than $100 million, including more than $ 30 million in unpaid taxes.
The Daily News reported that Chatwal visited India in February to help arrange Clinton’s Gujarat visit and again in April, when he accompanied the ex-President on his trip.
He was with Clinton and daughter Chelsea during Clinton’s presidential visit to India last year.
Last December the Daily News said Chatwal settled an estimated $14 million debt. That case was linked to the First New York Bank.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation had accused the restaurateur of being a major player in a plot to virtually rob the bank of $ 25 million through improper loans made by the bank directors themselves. Chatwal too was a director of the bank.
In early 1996, the New York Daily News quoting US court records reported that Chatwal was arrested in India, held in a jail in Bombay and charged with bank fraud by the CBI.
But an attorney who represented the Indian banks said Chatwal basically outmaneuvered the Indian authorities. At one time, he claimed in court to have only $ 2,600 in his name and no checking account.
A Chatwal spokesman Rabinder Singh has told the Daily News that Chatwal wants to set the record straight. “He would like to handle it himself,†he told the newspaper.
Besides being a restaurant owner, Chatwal and his family also own budget hotels in Manhattan. He is part-owner of the weekly News India-Times newspaper and some television companies in New York.«
most rich people have lawsuits against them….the hate on the chatwals is weird….why do you care to dish dirt on them?
Literaaly thousands of families across India ; Europe ; Canada and the US thank SSC for having provided them and their children with financial security, through his numerous business ventures and above all his humility and generousity.A rare Sant indeed.May Sat Guru be always be with him and his family.
Yadash, Manish and others with similar names, are as usual jelous to the core of any Sikh making it big! Look around yourself and face reality, DLF – largest real estate company in India owned by a Sikh family, Ranbaxy – largest Indian generic drug maker, MAX NEWYORK LIFE – one of the largest insurance companies in India are also owned by Sikhs. Largest American farm is owned by a Sikh. Maximum number of pretigeous cars per capita are in the state of Punjab. The fact that you guys went and did research on the Chatwal family to pull out dirt shows how narrow minded you guys really are and brings back the whole 1984 aura – the Sikh genocide which was state operated and controlled. If you really want to compare, then rather than comparing Mittals with the Chatwals, you might want to start comparing yourself to the Chatwals and see where you fit in. Aaham…on an aside, the other businesses I mentioned (by the way the line up of Sikh owned businesses around the world is very long) are all in the Forbes list since you only go by a benchmark outside of your own land. Sat-Sri-Akal!
ITS ALL BULL SHIT. Those who exactly dont know about Sant S Chatwal either they say such things or those who dont like people growing especially like Sant singh Chatwal , who started his career as Pilot in IAF which means he started from scratch and now after so much hard work of so many years he successfully build up his business empire. employing Lacs of people in US & in India. I hereby strongly oppose comments given by yadash, MO & gurpreet Malick…………..People like SANT CHATWAL…………are rarely found.