Did you finance his government?

Not even a rupee.

You made no contributions to his party?

No way.

Did you make contributions to any political party?

No. Not at all.

You didn't pay Bill Clinton his fees when he came here?

No, I heard of it. But I never got involved in any such thing. I have many friends. Why are you talking of one or two. Many people from politics, films, sports, journalism, the corporate world. Relations are based on emotions; they have nothing to do with the commercial aspect.

What made you buy such an expensive sponsorship of the Indian cricket team? Was it emotion or was it business?

It was purely emotion. We had declined (the sponsorship) initially because the cost was very high. But then it went to some MNC. When I learnt it had gone to an MNC, I didn't like it. Cricket is an emotional thing for the country. So we decided to go for the sponsorship and paid extra, more than the MNC had decided to pay, and we took the sponsorship.

Are you getting value for money?

I don't know. Probably yes, but it's very difficult to say. It's very difficult to quantify that.

... contd.