‘Patience is the most overrated virtue’ - Subodh Sankar, Co-founder of Atta Galatta
(The Proust Questionnaire is a questionnaire about one's personality. It has its origins in a parlour game popularized by Marcel Proust, the French essayist and novelist, who believed that, in answering these questions, an individual reveals his or her true nature.)
Subodh Sankar is the co-founder of Atta Galatta, the art and literature space in the city. From being an entrepreneur in the IT industry, to baking bread, Subodh’s work has been varied and interesting. He lives in Bangalore with his wife, teenage daughter and two dogs. These were his answers to our Proust questionnaire...
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
An evening on the recliner with the family and the dogs.
What is your greatest fear?
Life running by, without me experiencing the ride
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
My occasional procrastination.
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Disloyalty.
Which living person do you most admire?
Mohammed Yunus.
What is your greatest extravagance?
The time I spend thinking about playing golf.
What is your current state of mind?
Thinking of new possibilities.
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Patience. I think it eventually leads to indecision.
On what occasion do you lie?
When my teenage daughter’s angst needs to be settled.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
Nothing.
Which living person do you most despise?
The breed of people who lie their way through life.
What is the quality you most like in a man?
Persistence.
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
The same things I like in a man.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
“Boss”.
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Lakshmi, my wife.
Which talent would you most like to have?
Play a musical instrument.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
Talk less.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
The fact that we have, in a small way impacted the lives of a handful of youngsters who consider Atta Galatta their second home.
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
A Banyan Tree, to be privy to the generations that grow and change around you
Where would you most like to live?
In a dynamic, fast changing city, without the Bengaluru traffic.
What is your most treasured possession?
My grandmother’s handwritten notes about almost every single book she read.
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Ignorance.
What is your favourite occupation?
Bathing the dogs.
What is your most marked characteristic?
Being a good listener.
What do you most value in your friends?
I value the fact that they have been friends for such a long time. We basically know each other inside out.
Who are your favourite writers?
Tom Robbins and PG Wodehouse.
Who is your hero of fiction?
Don Quixote.
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Thomas Edison.
Who are your heroes in real life?
My father.
What is your favourite name?
Aparajitha, my daughter’s name.
What is it that you most dislike?
Giving up too easily.
What is your greatest regret?
My grandmother, my biggest influencer passing away too early.
How would you like to die?
Simply.
What is your favourite journey?
On the road, with the family, no arrival times planned.
What is your motto?
Try and make at least one person happy every day.