‘I speak Tamil, not Gujarati’

Mahmud Jamal, MD, Poppat Jamal & Sons, loves to travel with his family and enjoys old melodies.Though his ancestors belong to Gujarat, he feels a strong connect to the city and loves Chennaiites

CHENNAI: Founded in 1901 by his grandfather, Poppat Jamal & Sons has grown a lot from that one single store in George Town. A family business that began as a wholesaler of crockery, glassware and lighting products, today caters to all household needs. Taking care of the family business Mahmud Jamal, MD, Poppat Jamal, never wanted to get into another field. He talks to CE about his love for music, travel and his bucket list.

What kind of music do you enjoy?
I listen to English, Hindi and Tamil music from the 60s,70s and 80s. I also listen to a lot of Ghazals and Shayari. I enjoy songs by Bhegum and Jagjeet Singh. Music has that power to soothe your mind during any time of the day. It has always been a major part of my life.

Where all have you travelled?
I love to go to a place and get the feel of it. For instance, I would go to London or New York and stay there for three to four days and walk around the city. In fact, not just me but even as a family, we love to travel together a lot. Now my grandchildren are too young so we aren’t able to travel much. But I have it on my bucket list, to go and stay at the Sun City in South Africa for a week with my whole family.

What about Chennai do you love?
Although we are basically from Gujarat, we have been in Chennai from the last three to four generations. I don’t speak Gujarati at all, I speak Tamil. I don’t feel much of a connection with Gujarat. Chennai is home for me. I love the people of Chennai; they are really good people.
Was yours an arranged marriage? Tell us about your family.
It was an arranged marriage but, I arranged it (chuckles). My wife is related to me, she is from Hyderabad. We have a son and a daughter and four lovely grandchildren — two boys and two girls.

Movies or books, what’s your pick?
I would pick movies any day. I love to watch movies and would always find a reason to watch one. I used to watch a lot of movies of Dilip Kumar, who is my favourite actor. I used to wonder how ‘superstars’ like Dilip Kumar and Shah Rukh Khan are not good looking but their screen presence and their acting prowess just blows your mind away. Their energy levels are exceptional!

Tell us a bit about your childhood.
I was raised in a very cosmopolitan atmosphere. My parents used to take us to cabarets and exposed us to club life at a young age itself. I would always say that my  parents were my greatest source of inspiration.

You used to play a lot of sports earlier. Do you still play?
I used to play cricket and even played table tennis and did swimming, competitively in school and college. But then I hurt my knee and after that I haven’t been able to play or jog. So it just gradually stopped.