Parmeshwar Godrej
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Biography
Style icon Parmeshwar Godrej, Oct 12 2016 : The Times of India
Diva Was Also A Well-Known Philanthropist
Businesswoman and philanthropist Parmeshwar Godrej, wife of industrialist Adi Godrej
She was Mumbai's original queen bee and will be fondly remembered by many as a style icon in her signature beret, who hosted some of Mumbai's most memorable evenings peppered with a globally eclectic guest list including businesspersons, Hollywood actors and beautiful people with an ease which no one has since been able to match.
Godrej used her position and natural charm to champion many social causes. She campaigned for AIDS at a time when people were still embarrassed to talk about it. One of her biggest initiatives in philanthropy was joining hands with actor Richard Gere, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative to combat AIDS through the launch of the `Heroes Project' in 2004.
She is remembered for her public persona as much as she is for being a devoted wife, mother and friend with a warm heart. The daughter of an army officer, Parmeshwar was 17 when she met Adi Godrej, who was 21. She was then working as an air hostess with Air India. They married in 1965, and had three children -daughters Tanya Dubash and Nisa Godrej who are associated with the flagship company Godrej Consumer Products, and son Pirojsha who leads the group's listed realty arm.
In the second volume of his book `Godrej A hundred years', BK Karanjia wrote: “One cannot think of Adi Godrej without thinking of Parmeshwar Godrej. The other way round, too. It isn't only that together they are often in the news, doing the social round. Their complementariness is a way of life with them. Each freely acknowledges what is owed to the other.“ Adi Godrej, who recently described Parmeshwar as a “strong woman“, gained immensely from her extroverted personality . She helped her introvert husband to become a leader of excellence by coaching him in art, culture and the finer things of life, according to the book.
Harsh Goenka, chairman, RPG Enterprises, reveals that he acquired his taste for art from Parmeshwar Godrej.“She was a true diva with various facets. The one facet I came closest to was her strong sense of design. She helped design my home and office.That's when we developed our friendship of 30 years. She gave me my passion for art. She exuded natural warmth. `Socialite', in that sense, is a wrong term to use for her,“ Goenka told TOI. She is remembered by many as one whose ideas were ahead of her time. She set up a series of businesses, all of which were successful in their own right. She also contributed to the family business of soaps and toiletries by offering her astute marketing ideas.
In the book, Adi Godrej has been quoted as saying: “Our best advertising was due to her (Parmeshwar)“. The campaign to revive Cinthol after Godrej split with American multinational, Procter & Gamble, was an example of that.
Hoshedar Press, former vice chairman, Godrej Consumer Products, recalls how Parmeshwar Godrej was instrumental in roping in Imran Khan and Vinod Khanna, her close friends, to endorse Cinthol, a relatively small brand compared to the rivals. It added immense value to the brand and its image, he said.
As an interior designer, she refashioned the homes of the wealthy in Mumbai, Delhi and London as well as several iconic restaurants, including Khyber and China Garden.Godrej had also designed clothes for actress Hema Malini on the insistence of director friend Feroze Khan for the film Dharmatma in 1975.
She had teamed up with director Shekhar Kapur to launch a production house called Starlight in 2000, which was preceded by co-producing the Merchant-Ivory production `The Perfect Murder' in 1988.
Given her own wide range of interests, her network of friends were from diverse fields.In a recent book, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen had spoken richly about her, calling her a “brilliant conversationalist“ and “wonderful company“. As word spread about her death, social media was filled with rich tributes to her and her passion. Salman Rushdie wrote, “ A dear and unfailingly generous friend and a tireless fighter against the spread of HIV AIDS in India. A wonderful woman and a force of nature.“
Author Shobhaa De said, “She did raise the bar for how India entertained but there was much more to her than her exaggerated glam public persona.“ Businessperson Nina Pillai said, “She had that big Punjabi heart and her laughter was one that came from her soul.“
She died in 2016 in a Mumbai hospital after a prolonged lung illness, family sources said. She was 70. She was cremated, according to her family.
The Original Diva
Shobhaa De , The Original Diva “India Today” 13/10/2016
Daaahling, you are and will always remain the original diva! Mwuaah! Make no mistake: La Godrej had one of the sharpest brains in contemporary times. And smart people recognised that about India's most glamorous diva within five minutes of meeting her. Astute, shrewd and on the ball, Parmeshwar didn't waste a precious minute on nobodies. She once told me tiredly, "Who wants to spend time with these bores?" Those 'bores' happened to be captains of industry, her husband Adi's contemporaries. Who indeed? I agreed with her entirely.
During the last couple of years, ever since she was diagnosed with a lung ailment, she had become a bit of a recluse. She rarely stepped out, mainly because it had become too much of an effort to do so. Long evenings drained her physically, and besides, she really had 'been there and done that' for fifty years. In fact, it would be no exaggeration to say, it was Parmeshwar Godrej who introduced India to the glitzy but remote international high life. It was Parmeshwar who created the red carpet and dressed for it, twenty years before Bollywood discovered its existence. She was the one who encouraged black-tie evenings and formal sit-down dinners. And it was she who wore the slinkiest couture, while advising 'auntyjis' to experiment with gowns and abandon shapeless salwar suits. And it was most certainly Parmeshwar who stunned stuffy, stodgy desi business fat cats by addressing them with a long drawn out "Daaaahling..." followed by the mandatory air kiss. Most didn't recover. One could watch them staring numbly into space for hours after that perfunctory hug. The air kiss came to our shores thanks to Parmesh. The mwuaah-mwuaah that is so annoyingly ubiquitous today, was started by Parmeshwar decades ago. Sigh! So many firsts spring to mind. Was it just yesterday when this fiery 'Sikhni' startled India by... by... just being herself? Beautiful. Gutsy. Unafraid.
For those of us, who cut our social teeth watching this remarkable woman transform the dull business of business entertaining in India, with her incredible daring and pizzazz, it was a liberal education of the best kind. Possibly, the first sip of fine wine that I ever enjoyed (Chateau Petrus) was at one of her sumptuously staged soirees. How can I ever forget that mad moment? The magical setting? The ridiculously glamorous crowd? I would never have had the opportunity to chat with the many exceptional personalities she hosted with exquisite aplomb. Like Richard Gere who was always her house guest during his frequent trips to India. Would I, on my own, ever have been able to hang out with Oprah Winfrey as I did at the opulent Godrej Villa on Juhu beach? Or just be in thrall of Parmeshwar's eye for beauty-those priceless jamawar shawls carelessly strewn on sofas, the well-picked art on the walls, buffet tables by the beach groaning under lobsters and tiger prawns. Thai lanterns like thousands of fireflies in the night sky. So many dreamlike evenings with one woman as the pivot, holding it all together.
This was where Bollywood first encountered corporate India and clinked champagne flutes with global celebrities. Such was the draw of a Parmeshwar party that guests would cancel flights, postpone holidays and reschedule meetings to attend the soiree. And such was the social clout of the hostess that she reduced the mightiest to minions, the vainest into wallflowers. For so many people hankering for recognition, to be sent an invite by Parmeshwar was to feel and revel in the fact that, "Gosh! I have finally arrived!" Nobody had the same magnetic appeal. Parmeshwar really did have it all-money, taste, charisma. She also had the guts to break rigid establishment rules. And her husband Adi had the supreme confidence to support every aspect of his wife's flamboyant life.
I recall her words, after a particularly tedious evening: "Daaahling, I have no time for bores. I only like to be with very successful, very good-looking, very young people." The party circuit got the message-to be dropped from Parmeshwar's guest list was the equivalent of social death. It was better to leave town altogether. But to have partied with Parmeshwar is to have sipped and savoured life itself.
Behind the exaggerated glossy facade was an excellent marketing brain. Almost single-handedly, Parmeshwar transformed the low-key image of the tightly-owned company and made it more global. Thanks to her aggressive approach, several new initiatives were launched, and Godrej rapidly diversified into new terrain. Her regular presence at Davos was much looked forward to by the international bigwigs she cultivated and hobnobbed with.
Her sartorial style may have shocked conservatives back home, but she herself revelled in it, confident in the knowledge that she was a trendsetter par excellence. Some say it was her chutzpah that took her places. I would say it was her brain. She was the first person in India to rope in her celebrity friends as brand ambassadors (Vinod Khanna and Sunil Gavaskar for Cinthol), decades before anyone else thought of it. She was also a talent spotter who saw the potential in rough-cut diamonds on the fringes of showbiz. She is known to have groomed several beauties when they were starlets looking for breaks. I remember seeing a ravishingly beautiful but unknown Parveen Babi for the first time as she stood awkwardly by the glittering Godrej pool waiting for someone to greet her. There were countless others who benefited greatly through their association with Parmeshwar.
With her amazing knack of putting people together, combined with her unbeatable hostessing skills, Parmeshwar nurtured two generations of celebrities-cricketers, movie stars, business tycoons, fashion designers, beauty queens... from Donatella Versace to Liz Hurley, Imran Khan to Anouska Hempel, they all flocked to her legendary parties and enjoyed her lavish hospitality.
Yes, she set the bar ridiculously high. Others came on the scene with perhaps more money, but no style. Rival hostesses tried to clone her formula and failed miserably. Till the end, Parmeshwar remained the original. It's impossible to think of Parmeshwar in the past tense. I am not even going to try.
Shobhaa De is a columnist and author
