McKinsey: How did the Oberoi Group begin?

P. R. S. Oberoi: In 1922, my father, Mohan Singh Oberoi, came to Simla to look for a job. Set about 7,000 feet up in the Himalayas, Simla was India's summer capital, the place from which officials conducted the affairs of the Raj. The entire Indian government moved to Simla for the summer months—lock, stock, barrel, and files. Before 1911, they faced a 1,200-mile trek from Calcutta; when Delhi became the new imperial capital, their journey was much shorter.

My father found a job as a clerk at the Cecil Hotel, which was the most fashionable hotel in Simla. Senior British officers and Indian princes made up most of the guests. The Cecil belonged to the Associated Hotels of India, the first—and for a long time only—hotel chain here. My father was the hotel's cashier, for which he was paid 50 rupees a month. He was 22 years old. Hardworking and dedicated to his job, he soon became a capable and trustworthy assistant to Mr Grove, the general manager of the Cecil.

Some time in 1927, Ernest Clarke, an executive in the hotel, asked my father to accompany him to Delhi, where he...