He loves biz, books and the Beatles

CHENNAI: Dressed in a pair of casual jeans and a t-shirt, he sipped on his cuppa, his phone by his side and eyes glued to the laptop, even as we prepared for the interview. “I was the first student in my batch to get placed and also the first one to leave it as well. It would have been an irony if I continued, because I did my masters in entrepreneurship,” says Sudhakar Parthasarathy, MD, Empress Corp.

CHENNAI: It was after quitting his job that Sudhakar started experimenting with different career options. And soon when people started approaching him for events, he realised that there was a dearth of ideas. What started as an event management company eventually turned in to a digital PR service firm. In the last 10 years, he says, he has personally streamlined over 450 events. The entrepreneur takes us through his school days, qualities of leadership, and talks about his love for music. Excerpts follow:

What kind of a student were you?

I have always had this flair for cracking challenges with logic and understanding the essence of it. In fact, I would hardly read. There was a time in Class 6 when my mother came up to me and said, ‘Why are you not studying, and I said “You want me to get good marks, right? Don’t ask me to study.” And from that day onwards, she has never asked me to study. I wrote my last exam in Dec 2017, and I completed my third Masters in English Literature. Since I solved most issues in a logical manner, people perceived that I was studious.

What were your hobbies in school and college?

I studied in a boys school, so back then my hobby was to loiter around by the neighbouring school (laughs). Other than that, my school sent me for a lot of extracurricular activities and I had several responsibilities as the head of culturals, student union, etc. I studied at an Anglo-Indian community school — one wrong word and they won’t let you go anywhere outside for culturals. So I had to be very careful with what I said, how I behaved, etc. Thankfully we went on to win all the big culturals. There was even a time when my teachers would ask me to stay out, because most of the time I was anyway out of class.

Tell us about the kind of sports you played?

I always wanted to be a sports person, but I was expected to be in school for rehearsals at 6 am, which I couldn’t do, so I had to forgo sports. However, I did take it up in college. I am really good at both badminton and table tennis.

You mentioned that you being part of the school culturals paved way for your career?

In school, I was the team leader. And that is where I think I got lessons in leadership, because every time the team was different. It was a different experience every time. A lot of leadership started there — how to suddenly come up with something, what to do, how to strategise and so on.

What kind of music do you listen to?

I know that different genres exist and know to differentiate between each. There have also been times when I have been forced to be a DJ because the DJ was late. My favourite genres are rock, jazz, and country, which is not the market for Chennai. Although it is often projected that Chennai is a techno crowd, it is not. I think they are more than happy with Bollywood songs.  I am a huge fan of The Beatles and also listen to a lot of AC/DC.

You are an avid reader…

Till school and college, I never really touched books. Somebody just threw me a book and said give it a shot. Fortunately the book was The Alchemist, it was short and nice, and the next thing I ended up with The Monk who sold his Ferrari. I began to even feel that I missed my childhood because I never read the right kind of books and then I started getting attached to books. In fact, my whole house is filled with books. I love Sidney Sheldon and also Dan Brown. For my birthday, I get 20 books as gifts; that’s the kind of bonding I have with books now.