His white flowing beard reveals his advanced age but hides a sober and shrewd face. Sardar Manmohan Singh, 65, looks completely at home in Tamil Nadu’s Vallandai village as the towering Chandigarh native interviews a 35-year-old with a doctoral degree for a consultant’s job.

Sitting at one end of a plastic dining table amid acres of greenery on his Akal Farms, Singh shoots pointed questions towards Alaghu Kannan on the far side about the nature of the local soil, weather conditions, farming techniques and horticulture.

The younger man is composed and precise with his answers and finally manages to convince Singh to hire him.