COO’s like Jagger

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Talk of CEO (Chief Executive Officer) and images of a ritzy man looking dapper in a suit conjure up. Well, they have toiled hard to get there. No, we’re not spilling beans on how they made it on their way up.

That's for one of those times when you're in the mood to propel yourself to climb the ladder. There are plenty of self-help and success story books for that. We scour through the minds of some of the head honchos to explore more of their other side.
Music makes the world go round. For Mehmood Curmally who heads the Rhythm House, Mumbai, it’s music that's rocked his life ever since he was a kid. “Music has been my life, both professionally and personally, a family tradition and passion,” he says.
It's weekends full of song and dance for Manoj Nair, CEO and President, Novel Infra which has a firm foothold in Dallas, Texas and Bengaluru, who likes to unwind by spending weekends with his wife Usha and a group of close friends with themed music evenings. “We work around themes like big fat Indian wedding theme or rain songs for monsoons or a Rang Barse themed evening will have related Bollywood songs. Otherwise, we would just sing the songs we like and call off the evening, so this way we also learn new songs based on the themes and pep up our evenings. We use minus one tracks instead of karaoke. I was also the President of the Round Table India earlier and am active in charity work and also sing for a cause.”
They must be the poster boys of ecommerce in India — co-founders of FlipKart and have been named as one of the young achievers, but they have their other side too. Binny Bansal, co-founder, Flipkart who worked with Amazon for many years, likes to let his hair down by taking off overseas. “Whenever we feel the need to take a break, we just take off to a scenic locale abroad. My schedules are so hectic that we don’t get much time together.”
It’s not just about power, altruism or ambition. Dr Thomas Chandy, Director and Chief of Orthopaedics, CMD, Hosmat Hospitals who has three successful music bands, shares, “I have a jazz band and perform regularly. Work is quite stressful sometimes. I also run a restaurant called Tango Calypso and travel for charitable music shows. I also collect music instruments and has over 300 musical instruments. I also do farming and do innovative farming when I get time.”
Another CEO who has his own music band, Ministry of Blues is Philipe Haydon, CEO, The Himalaya Drug Company. Only if you hear them live you'll know what keeps Philipe making headlines not only in the boardrooms, but also at their head-banging sessions. CEOs now definitely have a whole new meaning.