Khushroo Suntook, Chairman, National Centre for Performing Arts&nbsp;
I have been free for only two months in my life,&rdquo; says Khushroo Suntook, chairman of the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA). Today, where professionals, bogged down by work and stress, will give an arm for a sabbatical, this 78-year-old refuses to breathe easy.&nbsp;
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2014/jun/27boss.jpg" alt="" /> Khushroo Suntook&rsquo;s passion for Western classical music has made him a world citizen, as it helps him meet artistes and collectors. The septuagenarian in his various moods at his Nariman Point office. Pics/ Satyajit Desai &nbsp;
I meet him on a Tuesday afternoon at his Nariman Point office. As I enter Suntook&rsquo;s cabin, I notice myriad pictures of him with international artistes adorning the walls of his office. Dressed in a grey safari suit, the septuagenarian greets me and poses for the camera sportingly.
For the love of the arts Born and raised in Mumbai, Suntook hails from a family of lawyers. &ldquo;My father was a solicitor. My maternal grandfather and maternal great grandfather were judges,&rdquo; Suntook, who is an advocate, tells me. A student of Campion School, he had renowned conductor Zubin Mehta and leading income tax expert Soli Dastur as classmates.
He displays his photographic memory when he says, &ldquo;I was the school&rsquo;s second student when its operations started from a Marine Drive flat. We joked how each class had an attached bath.&rdquo;&nbsp;
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2014/jun/27boss-2.jpg" alt="" />
As a youngster, Suntook enjoyed listening to Western classical music and playing tennis. &ldquo;My mother and grandfather were into Western classical music. I enjoyed swimming and playing tennis too. Sundays meant going to the Willingdon Club, swimming and playing badminton and squash,&rdquo; he reminisces.
The sports buff has won many titles and organised Davis Cup and ATP tournaments. Jimmy Mehta, an ex-Davis Cup player, trained Suntook. &ldquo;Under Mehta&rsquo;s tutelage, I played tennis at the state and national level. Then I moved to inter-office tournaments. I loved tennis as it took me to England and Holland where there were music concerts,&rdquo; he exclaims.
The sportsman has watched his favourite players live at Wimbledon. &ldquo;I would buy a &pound; 10 ticket and watched matches. Rod Laver, who won the Grand Slam in 1961 and 1969, is my favourite,&rdquo; he says.
Stepping into business Suntook would accompany his parents to Rome and Florence, where he made some friends, including Victorio K and Dr Rossi, with whom he founded Bisleri in India in the 1960s. &ldquo;My near and dear ones were appalled by the idea and exclaimed, &lsquo;Who will buy water in India?&rsquo; But we got the licence to start the company. We built a factory in Thane and distributed Bisleri through Voltas. But eventually, we sold it off like silly people to the Parle group in 1968.&rdquo;
Two months later, he was free for the only time in his life. For the next 32 years, he worked with the Tata group, including Lakme, Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing and Tata Investment Corporation Ltd. But in the midst of all this, he ensured that his love for Western classical music stayed alive. &ldquo;We started exporting Lakme products to Moscow and Milan, where I could attend concerts. Once a senior director on the board told me, &ldquo;I have noticed you export goods to all those places where there are nice opera houses,&rdquo; he guffaws.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2014/jun/27boss-3.jpg" alt="" />
Changing gears Over the years, NCPA&rsquo;s founder, Dr Jamshed J Bhabha, became Suntook&rsquo;s friend and urged him to become the cultural institute&rsquo;s vice chairman in 2004 and then chairman in 2008. &ldquo;Dr Bhabha was a visionary. he encouraged me to start the Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI),&rdquo; says the septuagenarian. Since Suntook&rsquo;s stint, NCPA has started hosting more events &mdash; Indian classical music and dance, operas, plays, theatre screenings, photography exhibitions and workshops. He also infused a corporate discipline by dividing performing arts into dedicated departments, headed by professionals.
Suntook has made a conscious effort to promote Western classical music, often perceived as a niche genre, in the city. He maintains that his love for this art form has turned him into a world citizen. &ldquo;I have been subscribing to the magazine Gramophone since 1952. There was a collector&rsquo;s corner that was penned by John Freestone. I wrote to him.
He, then, introduced me to rare records and collector Vivian Liff and artiste George Strait.&rdquo; The music aficionado believes in looking at the road ahead. &ldquo;I wish there was more funding available to the arts. The art of giving is not applicable to the arts in this country. Today, NCPA has many programmes but we have a lot of plans to grow exponentially. I&rsquo;m happy to be still dreaming at this age,&rdquo; he concludes.

At 78,&nbsp;Khushroo Suntook is heading the National Centre for Performing Arts with a keen interest to help the cultural institute grow exponentially

It's never too late to dream: Khushroo Suntook

Pune woman makes studio apartment from a shipping container

At 78,&nbsp;Khushroo Suntook is heading the National Centre for Performing Arts with a keen interest to help the cultural institute grow exponentially

It's never too late to dream: Khushroo Suntook

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It's never too late to dream: Khushroo Suntook

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