An artful mind

In a country where STEM has long overshadowed the arts, Munjal tells Veenu Sandhu that future leaders will need both halves of the brain

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A couple of hours before I am to meet Sunil Kant Munjal for lunch at Indian Accent in New Delhi, his office calls. The chairman of Hero Enterprise has just returned from his travels abroad and would prefer to eat at home. I feel a sudden thrill. Munjal is known for his beautiful residence, but as a private person, he rarely opens it to the media and routinely declines requests from architectural magazines to feature it.

The house in Friends Colony, approached through lush greenery and a warm welcome from his staff, reflects an owner deeply attuned to art. There is exquisite floor inlay, walls lined with works by modern masters and, on a centre table, a blue sculpture by Anish Kapoor, Munjal’s schoolmate from Doon. Heavy woodwork and ornate chandeliers sit easily alongside all the art. “All of this was done by craftsmen on site,” he says. Technology, meanwhile, works in the background, invisible. The home is a tribute to Indian craftsmanship, executed with modern restraint.

Munjal is a committed patron of the arts, and this year is particularly special. The Serendipity Arts Festival, which he launched in Goa in 2016 and which will run from December 12 to 21 in Panjim, turns 10. What began as a low-attendance event — “locals didn’t believe something of this scale could be free, so we put out a newspaper announcement”— is today one of the world’s largest multidisciplinary arts gatherings, drawing artists from 20-30 countries, visitors from as many as 60, and crowds of around 100,000 a day.