Roop Jyoti is a serenely composed man, quick to smile, always relaxed. The scion of the Jyoti Group, Roop is not your stereotypically stressed businessman constantly worrying about the stockmarket and perpetually glued to a mobile. The reason: regular meditation at the Vipasana Centre that he helped set up in the verdant foothills of Shivapuri north of Kathmandu.

But there was one bit of news that made Roop lose his composure last week-his nomination by King Gyanendra to the Upper House. "I am numb with excitement," he confessed to us. "But a bit nervous too, people have high expectations of me." His spacious office at Jyoti Bhavan is cluttered with flower bouquets and congratulatory letters and faxes.

So, what does Roop want to accomplish in the Upper House? "It is too premature to be made public," says the soft-spoken Roop. He is using his first week at the parliament to study the "political environment" and assess possibilities. Royal nominees have one advantage over elected members: they are free from party interests and the mental burden of getting re-elected. "They can devote themselves to the country's well-being rather than making populist decisions that might harm the national interest," he says.

As the second son of legendary Nepali entrepreneur, Mani Harsha Jyoti, Roop studied engineering in India and then did a doctorate in Political Economy and Government from Harvard University. He also holds a double masters in public and business administration from the same university.

Asked what he regards as his main achievement, Roop does not hesitate: it is the Vipasana meditation centre. Roop was converted to this meditation technique when he saw how it helped his father cope with terminal cancer. "He was in great pain, but he was calm, collected and completely at peace with himself right to the end." Roop wants to become a fulltime Vipasana guru so he can show other people the path to inner peace and how easy it is to cleanse the mind of extremes of emotion. "In a sense it is the art of living," he says with the calm conviction of someone completely self-assured. Roop recalls the time he showed King Birendra around the centre last year, answering the late king's many questions on spirituality and peace. There is a reverent silence in memory of that departed soul.