The quiet giver

"She was a very private person, full of life and with a heart of gold. In the world of today, one would be hard pressed to find a soul as honest, genuine and large-hearted as my dear friend Villoo,” says champion jockey and trainer Pesi Shroff. He was speaking of Villoo Cyrus Poonawalla, quiet philanthropist, director of Serum Institute of India Limited and well-known racehorse owner who passed away on June 8, 2010 at Poona at the age of 66, following cardiac arrest. "She would turn the world upside down to help a friend as she so often did for me through all the 28 years that I was privileged to know her,” Shroff states.

Married into the Poonawalla family known for its flair and flamboyance, Villoo had her own dash and drive! She loved speed — in horses, cars and bikes that she drove fast through the town in her younger days! But quiet was her quality of mercy. Only after her death when people came to them did the family get to know that she had been doling out large sums of money on a regular basis! "I was always questioning her as to what she was doing with the substantial sums I was giving her as she had very little shopping to show. We got to know later that she had been distributing quietly — to friends, relatives, priests, workers’ families, anyone who approached her, but she didn’t want it to be known,” explains her husband Dr Cyrus, former chairman of the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC), renowned racehorse owner, breeder and racing administrator, who is Serum Institute’s founder chairman and managing director. "There were no limits to her generosity. She never expected anything in return and no one was turned away in their hour of need,” Shroff adds.

Villoo Poonawalla in her young days

As a director of Serum Institute, the largest exporter of vaccines in the country and the fifth largest global manufacturer of vaccines by volume, Villoo put in her own prescriptions. "She was a very versatile and talented person and very intuitive. She would guide me in assessing the performance of people,” Cyrus says. "She was the favorite member of the family as far as the staff was concerned. The workers looked up to and respected her,” asserts her son Adar who is executive director — operations at Serum Institute. If there were issues or problems with workers, she would help sort them out, he adds. "Villoo bai,” as she was affectionately known, made no distinction between rich or poor and was not above attending a puja or sharing in a worker’s happy occasion.

The family at Adar’s wedding (from left) Dr Cyrus, Villoo, Adar and Natasha

"She was also very involved in designing all our boardrooms, the older and newer ones, the auditorium, etc. She gave things her touch of class and taste,” Cyrus informs us. With new buildings having come up in the Serum Bio Pharma Park, the country’s first biotech SEZ (Special Economic Zone), we are shown the large, beautifully blue water body with its cascading water and fountains, surrounded by spotlessly clean driveways lined with symmetrical palm trees and manicured gardens. "She was very involved with this. Our effluent treatment plant recycles large quantities of water and we use only recycled water for the garden and fountains,” director R. S. Savant tells us. For the boardrooms, she would look into every detail — the paneling, veneers, marble, etc and select the expensive and exclusive artifacts herself. While the work was in progress, she had a table and chair placed nearby for her and would come and watch. "She was the one to give the personal touch to the family business,” he states. Adorning the conference rooms are framed photographs of Cyrus and Villoo with VIPs and celebrities — Dr Manmohan Singh, Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, chief ministers and cabinet ministers, Prince Charles, Hillary Clinton, Larry King…

Pictures of horses abound too. "She was an excellent rider, but I never allowed her to ride in gymkhana races. At the farm (the well-known Poonawalla Stud Farm which has produced 250 Classic winners) she would ride different horses no other rider could ride,” Cyrus declares. He narrates the story of how on a visit to the Great Wall of China in 2005, she not only climbed on to a horse but she made it rear on to its hind legs, released one of her hands from the reins and had her picture taken! "We were so angry! She could have been hurt!” exclaims Cyrus. Shortly before she died, they were on a visit to Russia, where she enjoyed a helicopter ride ("she even wanted me to buy her a helicopter”), as well as a visit to the world-renowned State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.

Cyrus and Villoo Poonawalla leading in Desert Warrior with Pesi Shroff up after winning the Turf Invitation Cup of India in 1990

"Her sudden and untimely death is indeed very tragic,” says B. K. Khare of B. K. Khare and Company, Chartered Accountants, who was a director at Serum Institute for decades. "Of course she was of great strength to Cyrus and one can say she brought great luck to him. Her passing is not only a loss to Cyrus and Adar but it is a loss to humanity.” "My mother sacrificed a lot for me. She was with me when I stayed in the UK between the ages of 10-18. She could have looked after her health better, but her death was sudden and shocking. I am glad however that she got her final wish — to see her grandson Cyrus and spend a year with him,” Adar states. "For Villoo, Cyrus and Adar were her world and she spent every waking moment worrying about their every need,” says Shroff.

For the racing fraternity, hers was a familiar presence at the paddock. In a sport known for multi-million glitz and glamor, "she was a very quiet race-goer. She would come without fuss or ado, enjoy her racing and go. She was one of the finest human beings you could have come across,” remarks Dr Shashi Chand Jain, former RWITC chairman. "She had great enthusiasm and sporting attitude, win or lose,” says Poona’s noted nephrologist and environmentalist Dr Farrokh Wadia who is also the owner of the Yeravada Stud and Agricultural Farm. "When we won the Poona Derby in October 2008 with her filly Phenome­nale, her joy knew no bounds as she led the filly through the screaming crowds and no amount of my begging her to release the reins would stop her from leading the winner all the way into the paddock,” Shroff relates. "Her dream, which she often mentioned to me, was to own a colt and win the Indian Derby in her colors. My only regret is that I could not fulfil her dream.”

Born in Bombay on September 30, 1943, Villoo, who was the daughter of Minoo and Amy Panthaki, moved to Poona after her marriage. "We first met in Mahableshwar when she was riding. She had a passion for horses even before marriage,” narrates Cyrus. Old-timers in Poona remember her zooming down Main Street on a powerful bike, leather boots et al, making heads turn! "Nearly 40 years ago, I know she used to drive a small red sporty car. In those days there were hardly any imported sports cars and this was a locally modified and souped up car which she drove with great élan!” Wadia recalls.

Coming as she did from an athor­nan family, Villoo was religiously inclined and prayed for several hours a day, states Cyrus. "I had met her for the first time during the Third World Zoroastrian Youth Congress (in Poona in December 2003). Always enthusiastic about encouraging the youth in its activities she played a vital role in the event,” states Mabrin Nanavatti, president of the Federation of Zoroastrian Youth Associations. "For the recent 18th All India Zoroastrian Youth Meet in Poona, although keen on helping us, she told us to approach Adar as she may have felt that sooner or later he would have to be in a similar situation of encouraging youth activities.

"Although Adar didn’t hesitate a moment before giving us the funds, we knew at the back of our minds that she was always there to support us.”

Endorses Khare: "Her spiritual qualities were reflected in her day-to-day conduct. She understood the meaning of life. The existence of such persons makes this planet worth living in.”