Riding The AdventureTrain

For someone who has been to most places in the world, Seemanto Roy, head - infrastructure and housing, Sahara India Parivar, tells Mahesh Tharani that he has his sights set firmly on the next frontier - Antarctica

At 27 not many have travelled so much that it is easier to mention the countries not visited. At 27, it is also not easy to be heading a project worth Rs 20,000 crore and travel by economy class even though he owns an airline. And for a person of any age it isn't easy being the son of Subroto Roy. Seemanto Roy, head - infrastructure and housing, Sahara India Parivar, however tries to live up to the benchmark his father has set in entrepreneurship and enterprise. And at the age of 27, he is as much at home in his office at Amby Valley, Lonavala as he is in a corporate boardroom on the other side of the world.

Roy is by his own admission an inveterate traveller. "I have had a penchant for travelling ever since I was young. I used to travel around India previously, now I travel the world - mostly on business. My father always believed and conveyed to us that travelling was the only way to learn and experience life, it is the best teacher. He also ingrained in us to travel by economy class," Roy says.

Roy still remembers his first trip abroad, when he was still in school. It was a family outing to Switzerland and the most impressionable memory of that trip is the clockwork precision at which everything worked there. "My father was on business in Switzerland. Though, actually, the first country I visited outside India was Nepal, I always consider Switzerland as where it all began for me," says Roy.

But even before the Swiss trip, he used to visit national parks around the country. Being a student with Delhi Public School and St Phillips in Lucknow, Roy and his friends would take recce tours, each of them contributing for the trip from the available pocket money. "It was usually wildlife sanctuaries that we visited," he says.

It was in Ranthambore that Roy had an unforgettable incident, a chance encounter with a leopard. "In the dead of night, I walked out of the tent to search for a place to relieve myself, since there weren't any restrooms there. I walked to a secluded area behind a few ruins and there, five feet away, was a leopard staring at me. I didn't know what to do, and I shouldn't have done what I did, but I ran all the way back to where the others were," he says.

For Roy, travel and adventure are synonymous. "My next adventure holiday would have to be parasailing. The thought of being amongst the clouds has intrigued me since I was young. I share with my father the same fascination for flying. My grandmother though never allowed us to pursue our hobby. I even intend to take part in the Himalayan Car Rally someday but that would mean many days of leave from work. It will have to wait," says Roy.

So, where is the time for holidaying when work abounds? "I usually team business with pleasure, always taking a few days off to see the country and learning about the traditions of the locals. I refrain from visiting monuments," he says.

When he's not travelling, Roy shuttles between his family home in Lucknow and Amby Valley, where he has been living for the past few years. He is equally comfortable staying at both places but misses the food cooked at home. "When I shifted to Amby Valley I had the cook sent to Lucknow to be trained by my mother, grandmother and other cooks to attune him to our style of cooking. But I still miss home food, which I satiate every time there is a festival, since the entire family has to celebrate each festival together."

And though being a Bengali, Roy doesn't quite have a sweet tooth. He says, "I prefer spicy food, so when I go to Lucknow I usually visit the by-lanes of the old city to eat kebabs."

His latest hobby is playing golf. After a long day at the office at Amby Valley he usually chills out playing a round of gold by night. "I have just begun to play golf about a month ago. It is very addictive," he says.

Today, Roy is a seasoned country-hopper but there are still a few ambitions left. For example, he wants to go to Antarctica. In fact, he decided to go there for his honeymoon, but his wife shot down the idea. Roy says, "I had planned to go there for my honeymoon but my wife preferred Maldives, Hawaii and Las Vegas, so we went there instead. I didn't complain since I could actually go scuba diving in the Maldives. I even took my test there for which I studied for three days."

Antarctica is therefore his next travel destination but South America, Japan and parts of Africa are also on the wish-list.

"I haven't been to any of the countries of South America and the Scandinavian countries because I do not have any business interests there as yet," says Roy with a smile which hints that it would not take too long for him to explore the potential markets there.