He refuses to comment on rumours of his interest in The Printers Mysore (Pvt.) Ltd, the company that publishes Bangalore’s Deccan Herald paper. “I like that (print) space and we are scanning the market all the time for suitable acquisitions. We will, however, grow organically also,” Chandrasekhar adds.
Chandrasekhar’s involvement in the media will also extend to a 2-hour programme that he will host on his FM station. It will “play blues, contemporary rock…” It won’t just be about the music he likes, Chandrasekhar says. “If the point of having a radio station is to play only music I like, it would be cheaper to buy a music player rather than invest Rs35 crore in running a station,” he adds.
He is also learning to play the guitar. He admits these excite him more than the things that once did—such as cars and bikes (he has an impressive collection, including a Ferrari, at his home in Bangalore’s Koramangala area). But, what excites him most is being an agent of change in every walk of life he steps into.
CURRICULUM VITAE
Rajeev Chandrasekhar
Born: 31 May 1964
Education: Bachelors degree in electrical engineering, Manipal, Karnataka; masters in computer science, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, USA; advanced management programme, Harvard University, Boston, USA
Career: Between 1985 and 1991, he was in the USA with chip-maker Intel Inc. and was part of the Pentium team. Returned and founded BPL Mobile in 1994. Sold his 64% stake in BPL in 2005 to Essar. Later formed Jupiter Capital, a venture development and investment company focusing on infrastructure, media and technology ideas
Hobbies: Motorbikes, cars, planes and music. He flies a Cessna 162, P-68 and also plays the guitar
Most Satisfying Moment: The day he launched BPL Mobile
Currently Reading: ‘Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army’ by Jeremy Scahill
(K. Raghu contributed to this story.)