Interactive Agenda

The unlikely candidate.

My father kept a small watch-and-radio shop and sang on stage. At nine I was sent to The Scindia School in Gwalior — a music teacher who was a friend of his arranged the entrance exam — and I have said since that I was sent to boarding school because I could not be managed at home. I won the junior boxing championship, played cricket and football, and loved hockey best. Years later the school put me in its alumni series, and I described myself as the most unlikely candidate for success. I still think that is fair.