Vigorous physical activity is Chaddah’s release. And it reflects in his choice of musical instrument: the drums. He was part of a band in college and continued to be in one when he joined Bain.
Practicing and achieving perfection
“We played together in a band called Bain the Band, for lack of a better name,” says Rao. The band didn’t go too far. But Chaddah continues to play the drums. Loudly, at times. “We were practicing at his place for a friend’s wedding. And it bothered the neighbors,” adds Rao.
They came up and asked him to keep it down. Chaddah didn’t. It was music after all. Chaddah shifted houses eventually. “He didn’t tell me it was for the drums, but maybe it was,” recalls Rao. Chaddah almost never complains and doesn’t have time for those who do either.
Drums and football were his releases. Until a knee injury meant he had to stop playing the sport. But Chaddah needed a release and that release is now squash. Now, there are days when he is up at 6 am, driving to the courts to find a partner to smash a small but stodgy ball against a wall. This sameness, he doesn’t mind.
The days when he isn’t playing squash, he is at work at 8:30 am making to-do lists. It is either on email, on his battered old Samsung, which has a cracked screen, or on a notepad. He has been doing it for 10 years. And somewhere, during that time, even though he would never admit it, there was some mundanity.
Chaddah has seen the best of Zomato and the worst. He celebrated the good times and doubled down on his work hours during the bad. Ignored the concept of work-life balance for many years. Now, with the $200 million Ant Financial round, the days of austerity are over.
For Chaddah, life after college has been about finding problems to fix. And now, over the last two years, he has felt the need to chase a new problem, find new solutions. And all of this adds up to that email.
“The first time he told me this [about leaving] was five years ago. We were playing pool at the time,” says Goyal. He remembers nothing else, he claims.
But the conversation the two had more recently was slightly more emotional. The duo was sitting on Goyal’s deck having a beer when Chaddah told him he was going to leave. Goyal smiled before Chaddah could complete his sentence. Neither will tell you what happened next. One doesn’t remember; the other won’t talk to you.
But for now, at the end of March, Chaddah will leave Zomato and take a long vacation, which will take him to Japan for the cherry blossoms, the US to meet the family, and then Peru, because why not.
What after that?
He refuses to discuss his new ideas. It isn’t time, he says. And he won’t look back either.
Try? How would you describe the last 10 years?
“They have been beyond what I could have imagined,” Chaddah says.
It is rare for Pankaj Chaddah to talk. It only happens if you ask the right questions. He smiles, gets up from his seat where he spent an entire afternoon, talking. Lunchtime is over; the restaurant needs to shut.
Chaddah has seen the best of Zomato and the worst. He celebrated the good times and doubled down on his work hours during the bad. Ignored the concept of work-life balance for many years. Now, with the $200 million Ant Financial round, the days of austerity are over.