On Saturday March 10, the music industry woke up to the sad news that Mohan Mahapatra, former managing director of Virgin Records India, had passed away in Singapore at 61 after battling cancer. A mentor to many, Mahapatra earlier headed Plus Music. An alumnus of St Stephen's College and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, he also had a successful stint at Ambience Advertising.
Though I eventually joined EMI Music India (which evolved from Virgin) in 2005, Mahapatra had moved to Singapore, with Shamir Tandon looking after Indian operations. As a journalist, my association with other music company heads had been strictly professional. Mahapatra, though, has always been more of a friend.
This quality is seconded by those who worked with him. He had a knack for discovering talent, and guiding the staff on systems and processes. “When we set up in 1998, we would talk more about personal lives and families than work.” recalls Atul Churamani, who handled A&R (artiste and repertoire) and marketing at Virgin. “When Shubha Mudgal and Shaan came to office, he would chat with them endlessly but never about work. That was my job.”
Clearly, here was a leader who did things his own way. Everyone had freedom, but ultimately, he supervised everything in detail. “We had monthly targets,” says Parag Kamani, who handled international music at Virgin. “Each time we achieved them, he took every staff member for lunch at a five-star hotel.”
Plenty of anecdotes abound about Mahapatra. At the MTV Music Forum at the Taj Mahal Hotel in 1998, everyone was busy networking during the breaks. Our friend wasn’t interested and took me for a walk. Suddenly, he asked, “Is that Meg Ryan?” The American actress was with husband Dennis Quaid. We took their autographs on our MTV folder. No selfies then, sadly. Kamani remembers how his wife once received flowers and a card saying, “Without your support, Parag wouldn't have achieved so much.” When Kamani approached him, he said, “You have been promoted.”
In 2002, a few friends and I were floating a rock listening club. Mahapatra was on the e-mail list, and offered the Virgin conference room for meetings, with snacks and coffee. When we decided blues-rock would be the theme for our first session, he suggested we include related genres like Cajun and zydeco. None of us knew them but he arranged some recordings.
Churamani recalls Mahapatra’s fondness for seafood, specially crab. “He was allergic to snails though and wasn't much of a drinker, barring an occasional sip of wine. But he knew the rarest restaurants in town,” Churamani says.
Most of us had heard of his illness, and some met him in Singapore. In a video recorded recently, he said, “Gratitude, joy and peace. You live by those three words, you don't need anything else. With cancer, I never said, why me? Cancer is a process of learning. It makes you a better person. I've never been afraid. It all comes from God. I am a happy person.” His amazing spirit and largesse made Mahapatra a special inspiration.
