A man whom Time claimed as its own

Pradipta Mohapatra, who passed away earlier this month, was a multi-faceted personality known for his sharp business acumen. He was an author and a business leader who was on the board of many companies. He also co-founded the Coaching Foundation of India, an executive leadership coaching outfit. One of his greatest achievements was pioneering India’s foray into modern organised retail over two decades ago.

His reputation after the long stint with the RPG Group, the companies he helped launch, and his passion for leadership training were legendary. But he had other passions too. His business associates and friends who visited his home would have noticed his passion for collecting small pieces of art and works by the big artists. Chat him up over a drink and he would walk you around, showing off his neatly framed collection. An Anjolie here, a Bawa there and even a Hussain tucked away on a corner wall, and Pradipta reeling off the stories behind each of them.

Horological obsessor

Very, very few people, however, knew him to be the huge watch collector that he was. He wasn’t known to be one who wore any of his passions on his sleeve — including his near obsession for watches. But he made an exception in this case and wore them on his wrist. Many of Pradipta’s colleagues and friends wouldn’t have noticed his watches because, given his elevated taste, they were always sophisticated, minimalist and suave, never flashy.

Those who weren’t ‘horological ignoramuses’ would have noticed his preference for automatics, with special complications; they would have seen the care with which he preserved the old, rare leather straps and original buckles on his prized possessions, and his preference for simple watch-faces.

To call Pradipta an avid watch collector would be to put it mildly. I doubt if he himself knew how many watches he had. My guess is he would have lost count much before he needed to take special storage space to preserve the objects of his affection. I would hazard a guess that his collection went into the four figures!

Over decades of buying watches that caught his fancy and sourcing them through special contacts whom he cultivated assiduously, Pradipta’s collection had a mind-boggling variety of brands and complications. Most of his watches were automatics, with the odd quartz that had only been taken into the fold due to its artistic, hand-crafted bezel or case. Of course, he was always sold on special stories behind special watches — even quartz.

Skilful raconteur

When I had contacted him in 2008 and asked him to write a watch column for BusinessLine’s weekly magazine Smartbuy, Pradipta’s passion for horology was unheard of outside of his family and close friends. He immediately agreed and I discovered how good a storyteller he was too.

His first column focused on the fascinating story of Swatch and its revival in the early 1980s on the back of plastic quartz watches that were developed to fend off competition from the low-priced Japanese watches of that time. The more interesting part of his story spoke about Swatch’s India connection — a pair of the earliest plastic Swatches with faces and themes borrowed from here. One kitschy edition sported multiple neon portraits of MG Ramachandran (or MGR, as he was known to most of us) on the watch face and the strap.

Who would have thought that the ex-chief minister of Tamil Nadu could be the muse for a limited edition Swiss watch? The watch was certainly more colourful than the man himself. And the other was also a plastic quartz Swatch with intricate miniature paintings taken from India’s most globally renowned book — the Kamasutra.

Of velvet and velour

I remember vividly the obvious glee with which he waited to see the look of disbelief on my face as he slowly and dramatically pulled out the two watches for our photo session. In fact, during many such encounters, while sitting in the balcony facing his garden or over in our studio, his crazy passion for watches would come through in subtle, inimitable ways.

He would carry his ‘beauties’ in velvet-lined wooden boxes and velour pouches, and pull them out with a mischievous smile spreading across his face. As the watch was handed over and laid delicately on my palm, he would watch the reaction in my eyes and guffaw with satisfaction at having predicted it.

I would often be surprised, not just because of the depth of his knowledge on the subject of Horology, but also by the sheer number of watches he could pull out from his collection across brands. Sometimes, for his next column article, I would choose a rare, eccentric brand and wonder if he may have any of its watches with him; and he would again surprise me by carting across half a dozen, to share his insights with me.

He was a great storyteller and his well-written column recounted some great tales. The subject was rarely the watch itself, though a few would always be in the background. His stories were about people and their passions, countries, cultures and how they shaped the watch industry, and ultimately, our lives. He had a natural flair for writing on the subject and that helped him bring more drama to his copy. Over time, through the column, his passion became more widely known and literally took him places.

Meeting his match

Perhaps Pradipta truly met his match when he travelled on an assignment to Bregenz, Austria, for the launch of a Swatch James Bond limited edition. There, he met Nicolas Hayek, co-founder and CEO of the Swatch Group. He had a bunch of stories to tell after the trip, but the one that really blew me was about how Hayek wore the exact same, rare 1960s watch that Pradipta sported on his wrist. Nicolas, who passed away in June 2010, oversaw the revival of the Swiss watch industry, and was the CEO of the group that owned 40 plus of the world’s top watch brands.

He tended to wear about eight watches at any time — four on either hand, sometimes more, going all the way to his upper arm. Apparently, Hayek was stunned to find an Indian watch collector with one of these rare timepieces and promptly wanted it for Swatch’s museum. He was ready to offer a similarly valuable watch from their current collection. I doubt if Pradipta gave his consent for the barter. His watches were, after all, some of his most prized possessions.

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