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The next question went even further in probing the dilemma between principle and real action:
"I do understand. However, this is all about human resource, on where to locate the business, on whether to have vegetarian meals or not, but there is also something a step preceding this, especially mining, because mining is a very destructive act. We know from Indian history that Jain jewelers did not come out of nowhere: apart from lawyers and politicians, they have been in diamond trade and polishing for a long time, and when one travels through India, and also through Africa, one can see what mining does to a landscape, it can kill, can give the feeling that all beauty, the natural abundance of life on the surface of the earth, is destroyed, even by superficial mining, let alone deeper one. So, how could, within Jainism, past and present, be justified that diamond is a clean thing?"
"Yes, as per Jain principle, by mining or any agricultural work you are definitely killing a lot of animals. Even the smallest ants, you are killing thousands and thousands of them. I agree. But there is a line between what you do and what you cannot do, because at the end of the day, whatever you do, it has some of these effects"
"Well, every life is to some extent at the cost of someone else's life!"
"Jainism believes that every life, the small one in the ground and your own soul, are the same. So, how can you kill another soul? We are eating vegetarian food, all kinds of vegetables that also have a life. The question then is: why eat this? What we do is minimize as much as we can, minimize as much as we can to survive and continue on that base. Now, coming back to business, the point there is that the possible end is very far, if it does not come quickly, because you have to keep growing, growing ... That means that you get yourself a bit away from your principles to manage those parts, there is no doubt about that. My father, at the age of 56, said that he had enough, retired and left. We have a huge piece of land in Mozambique. My sons wanted it together with our partners. I said I don't want. I do not want to have anything to do with agriculture, even though we are family, me and my sons. I said I do not want to bring this money to my family, you just take the money for yourself, IF you make any. So, in things like that, I have, at my age, started to put a brake on myself, because I said: enough is enough! One day my sons will take over everything from me, so that I can enjoy what I want to enjoy, not that I do not enjoy my situation now, I certainly do, but at the cost of harming something, and I do not want to count this as enjoyment. So if that day comes, and it may eventually come soon, and you say that I have to excuse for what I do now, I have to admit, yes, there is no excuse. I agree that what is done is wrong, but believe that it was the least of wrong. There are thousands of other things that I could have done, and that would have been much worse. So, it is the lesser devil, it's not pure, I do agree".
"Let it be clear that what I just asked is not a judgment, it was just an attempt to tease out the internal dilemma - we all have dilemmas - from various perspectives, and how you deal with that in your business. You made it quite clear that there is a line, and that you like to draw it where your sons do not, or not yet. Others may draw the line even tighter than you do. So, you see this as a 'personal' boundary, it is you who decides where your morals and conscience draw that line".
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