Running, jogging, cooking: CEOs find solace outside work

CEOs lead a hectic life. Taking some time out for themselves outside their routine tasks has become a necessity. They claim that pursuing other interests not only keeps them fit but also helps in making the right business  decisions, and in coming up with innovative ideas for the company. Here is how CEOs spend their time when not on the job.

• Photos : Rajwant Rawat

Tomohiko Okada, Managing Director,  Toshiba India

A man of many interests, Tomohiko Okada, Managing Director, Toshiba India, was a crew member of a famous local sailing team during his university years. Later, he took up scuba diving when he started working with Toshiba. For the last 30 years, Okada has found solace and comfort in jogging. "When I get tired with office work, I feel it is better to keep the balance between the brain and the body. Jogging gives me some sort of business inspiration and encouragement for  'tomorrow'."But last year, during the lock-down, he experienced a newfound comfort in Yoga. "During and after the lockdown period, in addition to jogging I am practicing Yoga almost every day. Practicing Yoga makes me feel good both physically and mentally."

Ajoy Chawla, CEO, Jewellery Business, The Titan Company

Every Sunday morning, Ajoy Chawla, CEO, Jewellery Business, The Titan Company, runs anywhere between 15-20 kilometres in Bangalore's Cubbon Park. Running for Chawla is therapeutic. It not just calms his mind and body, but also helps to reflect and ideate. "I don't carry any gizmo or listen to music while I am running. When I run, I am with the environment. That is my time to myself." Chawla has run 10-12 half-marathons across the country in the last few years, and especially looks forward to Titan's anniversary run every year. He ran 30 kilometres on the lifestyle company's 30th anniversary in 2014. Running for Chawla is also about setting goals and bettering them. "When I run, I am not competing with anybody else, I am improving myself.

• Photograph by Sudhir Damerla

Rajen Vagadia, Vice president and President, Qualcomm, India & Saarc

Rajen Vagadia, Vice president and President, Qualcomm, India & Saarc, has been an avid traveller. "When my children were growing up, I used to travel 21 days a month. Now, I travel with family," says Vagadia. They go for two vacations a year. He is a nationalist as far as travel is concerned, but during the Covid outbreak he went on a trip to the US with his family. The family spent much of their time at the Yellowstone National Park. "You must go there to see the hot springs. It's unbelievable. The colours are so wonderful," says Vagadia.

Krishna Prasad Chigurupati, Chairman and MD of Hyderabad, Granules India

Krishna Prasad Chigurupati, Chairman and MD of Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company Granules India, has a distinction not many top executives of Indian firms, or even global firms for that matter, can lay claim to. He holds two Guinness world records in marathons. The 67-year-old, along with his wife Uma Chigurupati, holds the record of being the only couple to have participated in marathons in both North Pole and South Pole, in the same year. Five years later, in 2015, the couple created the record of becoming the only pair to have participated in seven half marathons, in seven continents, in seven days.

Baskar Babu, Managing Director and CEO of Suryoday Small Finance Bank

Baskar Babu, Managing Director and CEO of Suryoday Small Finance Bank, believes in the idea of Servant Leadership (where the goal of the leader is to serve). Over the years, he has figured out a very palatable way of demonstrating this to his staff - by cooking for them during CEO-connect meetings. Babu, who learnt the basics of cooking from his mother, started experimenting with food early in life. He finds cooking therapeutic. "I was supposed to hold a CEO-connect meeting and I told my team that I don't want it to be a preaching session, but a more casual and freewheeling one.  So, they came up with the idea of potluck lunch," says Babu. But he thought a potluck lunch would be boring, and decided to cook for his staff. He ended up making Dosa for everyone. Babu has experimented with various cuisines, but Dosa and chutney is his first love. "I like how so many combinations can be made using various ingredients to create chutney."

Manish Bhatnagar, Managing Director, SKF India

Manish Bhatnagar, Managing Director, SKF India, runs five days a week. He covers over 300 kilometres every month, a fitness regime he has been following since 2005. Bhatnagar has successfully completed six marathons, including NYC 2019, Chicago 2017, Rotterdam 2018 and Hyderabad 2019, and over 100 half marathons. He mostly runs on roads around his home, office or hotel, and once a week goes to an athletic track for speed training. He also uses flyovers to replicate hill-training workouts. "Some people meditate, I run. It serves the same purpose for me. It calms me down and helps me focus through the day. I also like the 'me time' that running provides. It helps clear the head."