Karan Bilimoria

Karan Bilimoria

Author: BBC Radio 4 June 13, 2004 Duration: 36:32

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the businessman Karan Bilimoria - who set up production of a beer designed to be drunk with Indian food, imported it to Britain - and is now selling it back to India. As a student at Cambridge, Karan missed Indian food and used to eat at restaurants several times a week. But he disliked the gassy lagers they served – finding he could neither eat nor drink as much as he would have liked. He decided to develop a beer that was smoother and less gassy - especially designed to be drunk with Indian food. He worked with a brewer in Mysore, India, and initially they prepared to market Panther Beer - but a last-minute stint of market research led to them changing the name to Cobra Beer. It has won a string of liquor industry awards, is sold in more than 30 countries and the company is expected to turn over more than £60 million this year.

But when Karan first started on his business career, his family were horrified. He had already qualified as a chartered accountant and had just graduated in law from Cambridge, but instead of a stable profession he started to import polo sticks, then began trading in up-market ladies' clothes. His father urged him to find a more solid career, but Karan persisted, delivering crates of Cobra Beer to Indian restaurants from the back of his battered 2CV. It took more than five years for the brand to establish itself, but it is now a familiar site not just in restaurants, but on supermarket and off-licence shelves.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: What A Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong Book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho Alternative to Bible: The Gathas of Zorathushtra Luxury: Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister videos


The Desert Island Discs: Archive 2000-2005 podcast opens a unique window into a pivotal era, drawing from the BBC Radio 4 archives. This isn't just a collection of interviews about music; it's a deeply personal exploration of life, ambition, and memory through the voices of the early 21st century. Each episode presents a guest from this period-be they an artist, a politician, a scientist, or an activist-facing the program's enduring and revealing premise: selecting the eight pieces of music they would take if stranded alone. The conversation that unfolds around these choices is where the magic happens. The host gently guides them from their selections into stories of childhood influences, career-defining moments, personal triumphs, and profound losses. You'll hear the crackle of a vinyl record lead into a confession, or a symphony cue a tale of resilience. Listening to this podcast feels like uncovering a time capsule of cultural and emotional history, where a pop song can explain a political stance and a classical adagio can frame a love story. It’s an intimate study of character and a testament to how the soundtrack of our lives shapes our identity. These archived conversations, preserved in this podcast, remain compelling because they bypass the superficial, using music as the key to unlock genuine human experience.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Desert Island Discs: Archive 2000-2005
Podcast Episodes
Rt Hon Sir Menzies Campbell MP [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:20
Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the Liberal Democrat politician Sir Menzies Campbell. Born in Glasgow, he excelled at both academia and sports making it to the University in Glasgow and then Stanford in California whe…
Anne Scott James [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:31
Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the journalist and writer Anne Scott-James. Now in her 92nd year, Anne Scott-James came from a line of critics and writers and became one of the first women career journalists, editors…
Desmond Morris [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:40
Sue's Lawley's castaway this week is the zoologist turned author and broadcaster Desmond Morris. He made his name with The Naked Ape first published in 1967 in which he persuasively argued the case for viewing man as a '…
Virginia McKenna [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:22
Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the actress and wildlife campaigner Virginia McKenna. She was born in London and, after spending five years of her childhood in South Africa to escape the Blitz, she returned to England…
Joe Simpson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:54
Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the mountaineer Joe Simpson. He was born in Kuala Lumpur in 1960 where his father was stationed with the British Army. Over the next few years the family lived in Gibraltar, Ireland and…
Hugh Masekela [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:17
Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the world famous musician Hugh Masekela. As a boy growing up in the impoverished townships of South Africa, he was inspired to learn the trumpet after seeing Kirk Douglas play Bix Beide…
Rt Hon Michael Howard MP [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:21
Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the leader of the Conservative Party, Michael Howard. He was raised in an orthodox Jewish family in Llanelli, South Wales, where his parents ran ladies' fashion shops. In the Labour-sup…
Tim Rice [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:51
Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the world famous lyricist Sir Tim Rice. Sir Tim is best known for his collaborative work with Andrew Lloyd Webber creating some of the best loved musicals of recent years. The duo first…
Diana Athill [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:31
Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the writer and book editor Diana Athill. For nearly 50 years Diana Athill was involved in every aspect of publishing, from editing and even completely rewriting books to drawing adverts…
Geraldine James [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:47
Sue Lawley's castaway this week is one of Britain's best known actresses - Geraldine James. Geraldine James became a household name 20 years ago for her performance as Sarah Layton in the epic, lavish series The Jewel in…