Speed Always Gives Me A Thrill - Partho Dasgupta

Speed thrills! He wishes to touch the sky when flying high. Times Now vice president and business head Partho Dasgupta reveals his passion for speed... something which until now, only his close friends were privy to. "Speed always gave me a thrill and that's one of the reasons why I learnt how to drive at a very early age, when I ideally shouldn't have been driving," says Partho.

I inherited the thrill for speed from my dad

Part of my thrill for speed has been inherited from my father. There is an air strip near Calcutta called Barrackpore, where many races were held. It was here that Vijay Mallya used to race in a Formula 3000 in those early days. I used to attend those with my dad when I was seven and that's where I got enamoured by speed. So much so that when I was young I used to drive with pillows under me. Once I was tall enough to drive a car, I got a license.

I want to do a flying course

I harbour a dream of doing a flying course some day. Flying gives the concept of speed, a whole new dimension. But unfortunately, there are no flying courses in Mumbai and Delhi. My dream is to experience the thrill of sitting in a cockpit and flying high.

There is a lot to learn from racing

I love watching Formula 1 and sometimes my friends ask me what do I find so exciting in watching all 64 rounds of the race. To which I tell them there is always something new and exciting in each of those rounds.

There is a lot to learn from racing. It teaches you about team work and that's something we can apply in our professional lives too. In the end, there is only one champion and it is the quality of work that you put in, which ultimately decides whether you are a winner or not.

Sundays are race days

There are a lot of things that I want to do and once I have more time in my hand, I will eventually do them. With all the work pressure, one hardly gets to do these things. I have participated in some rallies earlier but never in races. Nowadays there are places where you can hire a Formula 1 car for a day and you can go on a ride with trainers.

Sundays are sacrosanct for me and I try and switch my mind off work and chill. This is when I catch up on the races.

My longest drive has been from Calcutta to Delhi

My biggest stress buster is playing with my daughter. Secondly, I also love hitting the Mumbai - Pune highway on Sunday mornings. I zoom at a speed of 160 - 170 kph and try not to think about anything at all.

My longest drive has been from Calcutta to Delhi via Agra. The total distance was about 1700 kilometers.

Driving gives me a thrill

My wife too loves to go on drives so there are times when we take off on Sunday mornings and go to Pune for lunch. Once we drove from Mahabaleshwar to Mumbai in just about six hours. It gives me a thrill.

Dad told me never to mess around on two wheelers

I have always been a responsible driver and I know when it is ok to drive fast and when it's not. My parents were never scared of my driving but my dad always told me to be careful while riding a two wheeler. I've had bad accidents on two wheelers when I was young and I was forced to leave riding.

I wish to have a sportier version of Ferrari

I drive an Innova but eventually I would love to possess a slightly sportier version of a Ferrari.