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M. K. ELANGO
IN-PERSON Chatham House rule

The Chairman's Table

Twelve principals, one table, one structural question. Nothing said in the room is attributed outside it.

What you leave with

The one question about your own group you had been avoiding, asked by someone with nothing to sell you.

12 seats · 4 open
Dates
City
Rotating · Coimbatore, Chennai, Madurai, Tirupur, Dubai, Singapore
Shape
Dinner + roundtable · 12 seats
Who it is for
Family business principals
Price
₹75,000

Per seat, per table. Includes dinner. Not a subscription. Private dining room, disclosed on confirmation. As at 26 August 2026.

The room

Dinner + roundtable · 12 seats

A table for twelve. One structural question, tabled at the start, argued through dinner. Chatham House rule, which here means the ideas travel and the attributions do not.

The recurring format is simple and slightly uncomfortable: each principal describes their portfolio in ninety seconds, and the table says what it appears to be optimising for. It is remarkable how often the answer surprises the person who built it.

No presentation. No slides. No pitch at the end.

The running order

Published in advance.

You should be able to decide whether a day is worth your time from the agenda rather than from the promise.

19:00

The question, tabled

One structural question. It is circulated a week ahead.

19:30

Ninety seconds each

Your portfolio, described. The table responds.

21:00

The argument

Where the table disagrees, which is the useful part.

22:15

What each of us will change

One sentence each, spoken aloud.

The one question about your own group you had been avoiding, asked by someone with nothing to sell you.

Every event page on this site carries the same five things: a date, a city, a price, a seat count, and this line. If any of them is missing, the event is not ready to be sold.

FAQ

Questions about The Chairman's Table

Answered plainly, with the real figures. If something here is wrong, tell us and it goes in the log.

₹75,000 per seat, per table, dinner included. It is not a subscription — you pay for the table you attend. There are twelve seats in total, of which four were open for the Coimbatore table on 14 November 2026, as at 26 August 2026. Payment is taken after the seat is confirmed, never before.

Quarterly, in a private dining room, rotating between Coimbatore, Chennai, Madurai, Tirupur, Dubai and Singapore. The next table is in Coimbatore on 14 November 2026. The venue is disclosed on confirmation rather than published, which is consistent with the Chatham House rule the table runs under.

The ideas travel and the attributions do not. Nothing said in the room is attributed outside it, which is what makes a principal willing to describe a portfolio honestly rather than the version prepared for a bank. There is no presentation, no slides, and no pitch at the end of the evening.

One structural question is circulated a week ahead and tabled at 19:00. From 19:30 each principal describes their portfolio in ninety seconds and the table says what it appears to be optimising for. At 21:00 the table argues where it disagrees, which is the useful part. At 22:15 each person says aloud one thing they will change.

Family business principals — the person who controls the portfolio, not the person who reports on it. Twelve of them to a table. What you leave with is the one question about your own group you had been avoiding, asked by someone with nothing to sell you.