Corporate lawyer Rohit Kochhar is a tennis pro with a professionally designed tennis court in his backyard.
Rohit Kochhar, chairman and managing partner, Kochhar & Co., is running late. Once Kochhar does make it to the table where I have been sitting, waiting for him, it’s easy to understand the reason for his delay. Kochhar, like any other lawyer, may charge by the hour for his time, but loves a good conversation and, when engrossed in one, tends to lose track of time. We talk about this, that and the other and finally get to the reason for our meeting. Kochhar is fanatical about tennis and has gone to the extent of building a proper tennis court in his palatial home in Delhi.
“There is almost a spiritual high that I get when I exercise. When I am on the tennis court, I forget my restlessness. I can get away from the stress of my work and ambition,” says Kochhar. “No other activity engages me in quite the same way”, he concludes.
Kochhar’s meteoric rise in the legal profession has, according to him, come at the cost of not having enough time for tennis. He says, “If I didn’t have to work as much as I do to pay the bills, I would spend that time in the gym and on the tennis court.”
Kochhar’s devotion to tennis also comes from his belief that the body needs to be kept well-oiled and in shape. “There is a connection between one’s physical state and one’s mental state. If you feel good about your physical state, then it has an impact on your mental outlook,” says Kochhar. “Which is why,” he adds, “I can’t understand people who smoke.”
There is also an awareness of impending old age. Says Kochhar, “I don’t want to see sickness in my old age. I know that no one can avoid old age, but you can increase the chances of a healthier and more peaceful last decade of your life.” Kochhar’s interest in fitness was piqued at around age 17. It was bad health that made Kochhar keen to stay fit. He says, “From the age of six till I was 17, I had the worst possible asthma. There were times I thought I would die.”
When Kochhar joined a gym in his late teens, he would spend as many as two to three hours a day there. And he would sometimes supplement that with a run as well. Says Kochhar, “I was in very good shape and I wanted to continue to look good. That was motivation enough.”
That was then. Extreme youth and free time, unencumbered by work pressures, are gifts that are rarely revisited later in one’s life. Kochhar says that work pressure today means that he can put in only five hours a week in the gym, doing just the basics.
It was also when he was 17 years old that Kochhar started playing tennis. Kochhar says that starting at that age in tennis was an aberration: “At 17, you start peaking in tennis.” The late start also had something to do with affordability. He says, “Tennis was an expensive sport. It was my dream to have my own tennis court at home.” When Kochhar moved to Mumbai for law, he played some competitive tennis, but after that he has played mostly for pleasure.
“After having played several sports — basketball, football, badminton, hockey, table-tennis, cricket — I feel that tennis is the king of sports,” he says now. Going on to explain what makes tennis so special, Kochhar says, “Every part of your body is exercised.”
One of the perks of being mega-successful is that money isn’t a hindrance to pursuing an interest. Kochhar, at one point, employed a full-time sports manager who would play tennis with his boss. When that sports manager exited, Kochhar got one of his bodyguards professional coaching. He says, “Now he plays with me. Though my son who is 17 likes to play tennis, I don’t play with him. My son doesn’t like losing, so I can’t play with him.” One of Kochhar’s drivers has been taught the umpiring rules and he sits on a professional umpire’s chair when there is a game on.
Age hasn’t diminished his game, Kochhar says.
“My game has improved over the years. I play higher-percentage tennis. My physical aggression on the court has diminished, but I keep the ball in play.”
Who are Kochhar’s tennis heroes? “Nadal is my favourite. He is physically attractive. He is also flamboyant and humble.” Explaining his choice of Nadal over Federer, Kochhar says, “I am an iconoclast by nature, and Nadal fits that. I don’t like regular people. The combination of flamboyance and humility in Nadal is appealing. I try to practice humility in every aspect of my life, so the heroes I embrace in my life are humble.” That said, Kochhar is in a hurry to return, maybe to a game of tennis?
