PVLF 2025

Interview with Hrishikesh Datar, Author of Ruminate: The Sufi Saint on Mastering Life and Business

An insightful interview with Hrishikesh Datar, exploring the fusion of Rumi’s spiritual wisdom and practical business strategies from his book Ruminate.
on Sep 23, 2024

Hrishikesh Datar is a lawyer by training. After graduating from National Law School, Bengaluru, he started Vakilsearch.com, now Zolvit, India's largest online platform for legal, tax and compliance. He was recognised as part of Forbes 30 under 30 in 2017.

Frontlist: Your book "Ruminate" is unique in that it combines Rumi’s spiritual wisdom with practical business strategies. What inspired you to draw from Rumi's teachings for this book, and how do you see his insights as relevant to the modern business world?

Hrishikesh: I would say, in all humility, that it was Rumi’s verses that chose me as a medium to get known to the world at large. I see his insights as more relevant than ever, because we have become a world of striving and chasing, rather than a world of seeking and creating.

To find our bliss and our true place in the world, we have to return to seeking and creating from a place of abundance.

How do we do that? We must look at reality not through the lens of what we can see, but from a true scientific understanding of what actually constitutes reality.

Frontlist: "Ruminate" bridges the gap between spirituality and business. For skeptics who might view these as separate realms, what would you say to convince them of the benefits of integrating Rumi’s wisdom into their business practices?

Hrishikesh: As I was saying earlier, most of us believe that business is “real” and spirituality is “imaginary.” Think for a moment, about a vivid dream you had. If you remember it, you will recollect that it had tremendous detail and maybe you even woke up in a cold sweat or shaking with fear.

How is that reaction any different from the reaction you would have had if you had actually lived through that experience?

If you look under a very powerful microscope, everything that appears to exist is actually just empty space. So, literally nothing exists.

And yet, we are able to “perceive” everything. Is it not then true, that everything we “perceive” is just imagined, like we do in a dream?

So the biggest learning from Rumi is to NOT separate the spiritual from the real, and realize that everything is actually the same. And hence, business and spirituality need not be integrated. They were never separate to begin with.

Frontlist: You founded Vakilsearch.com, now Zolvit, which has grown into India's largest online platform for legal, tax, and compliance services. How have the principles outlined in "Ruminate" influenced the way you lead and manage your company?

Hrishikesh: They have influenced the way I manage myself. To quote Rumi, “Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world, and today I am wise, so I want to change myself.”

I don’t think you can manage anyone unless you can completely manage yourself, and that is the journey I am on. To become a better, more connected and more whole person everyday.

Frontlist: Ruminate targets a diverse audience, including small business owners, mid-level managers, and entrepreneurs. How can readers from different professional backgrounds personalize the book's message for their specific needs?

Hrishikesh: The question assumes that people from different walks of life have different needs - well, they do, from a strictly material lens, but they are all chasing fulfillment.

Rather than chasing it, I hope that the book would help them to seek it within themselves. All wealth, abundance and fulfillment is generated within.

My hope is that the reader of this book will, every day, begin, sustain and end the day with the same question - did I become the greatest version of myself? And if the answer is yes more often than not, fulfillment is an automatic accomplishment.

Frontlist: As an entrepreneur yourself, what advice would you give to aspiring business leaders seeking to find purpose and meaning in their work?

Hrishikesh: I think the question turns the problem on its head. Don’t look for fulfillment in your work, look for fulfillment in yourself, and you will attract work which will fulfill you.

Keep trying to become satisfied with the version of yourself which is showing up at meetings, at the office and in your personal life. And focus on growing that version to its grandest ideal. Automatically, before you know it, your life must begin to unfold in miraculous ways.

Frontlist: Looking ahead, do you have any plans for future projects or books? How do you envision continuing to share your insights and experiences with a broader audience?

Hrishikesh: As with this book, I want to stay open to ideas and inspiration. There are several ideas that come to me each day, but I have begun ruminating [no pun intended] on a few, which will see the light of day in the coming months.

I look forward to more opportunities like this one, where I can answer questions on the book, and my perspective on how we can apply timeless teachings in our frenzied world.