OBITUARY. Parmeshwar Godrej: From an air-hostess to a high-flier

It was back in 1997. Hollywood star Goldie Hawn was visiting India. As a former event management executive, this writer was entrusted with the task of hunting down the hosts of Goldie Hawn in Mumbai, to make a business pitch. The first phone call was to the Godrej residence in Mumbai. The high-priestess of society, Parmeshwar Godrej had a reputation of hosting the most sought after soirees in town. After being put on hold for a couple of times, the phone call was finally answered by Parmeshwar Godrej herself.

From being an air-hostess with Air India, who later married Adi Godrej of the Godrej group, Parmesh, as she was fondly called by her friends, had acquired the reputation of being the perfect host for high-fliers from across the globe. It was not just her lively get-togethers in Mumbai. Her reputation for hosting the rich and the famous, spread even to Davos, where the global business leaders gathered for the World Economic Forum. “How do you know that Goldie Hawn is coming to India?” was her gentle question to this writer.

“Unfortunately, we already have our own set of event managers,” was her next response. While this interaction with Parmeshwar Godrej ended at that, there have been others who have been at the receiving end of her largesse. Gauri Devidayal, Partner, Food Matters India, that owns sought after Mumbai restaurants like The Table and Magazine Street Kitchen, recalls on social media that it was Godrej “who got them to do their first catering gig”.

While her parties got most of the media coverage, she was also someone who personified both glamour and generosity almost in the same breath.

“She had the pulse of the common man despite the rarefied environs she lived in,” says advertising veteran Sam Balsara. A widely reported activity was that of being the champion of removing the taboo surrounding AIDS. One example of her largesse was when she generously contributed to the MAMI film festival, when it was reportedly strapped for cash.

Balsara, who is the chairman of Madison World, recalls that when Khyber, the acclaimed Mumbai restaurant got burnt down, Parmeshwar Godrej redid the interiors complete with the works of celebrated painters like M F Husain and Anjali Ela Menon.

The highlight was that a burnt down wall was left intact that drew critical acclaim from the most celebrated of professionals.

Another little known side of Godrej was that she even campaigned during elections for family friends. When C Rajagopalachari’s Swatantra Party (that existed between 1959-1974) fought elections, Parmeshwar Godrej had campaigned for Nana Chudasama.

BJP spokesperson and fashion designer, Shaina NC, who’s the daughter of Chudasama, recalls that the most admirable quality of Godrej was the warmth that she exuded irrespective of her surroundings and her ability to make everyone feel so special. Industrialist Harsh Goenka agrees. In a social media comment, Goenka called Godrej his Guru in the world of art.

“She was warm, generous, a friend, my guru in my passion for art, humanitarian and a society beacon,” he said.

For all her contribution to social work, philanthropy, arts and so on, Godrej was also responsible for bringing a dash of glamour to the soap brand portfolio of the Godrej group where she was a creative consultant. “Her big strength was her access to global network of professionals and to look at things in an unexplored way,” says a former group executive.

“That she was an outstanding lady is an understatement and obvious to those who came in touch with her,” says Balsara who’s worked closely with her for several decades.

Her first brush with advertising was with the soap brand Cinthol. She wanted Pakistani cricketer Imran Khan, who’s a close friend of the family, to endorse the brand Cinthol in the 1990s.

The big challenge for the agency was that Parmeshwar wanted the ad to be shot and put on air, the very next day.

“I didn’t think it was possible but we tried and succeeded. Such was her drive and determination and enthusiasm that it was difficult to say no. She always achieved the impossible or improbable and came out with flying colours,” says Balsara.

Post the Imran Khan phase, Parameshwar went on to create memorable advertising with Vinod Khanna for Cinthol shot by ace lensman Shantanu Shourie and with Dimple Kapadia for Crowning Glory shot by another leading name Zafar Hai and so on.

“She was bold, gutsy, down to earth, creative in the real sense of the term,” says Balsara.