Bengaluru: Mr Hari Khoday, vice-chairman of the Khoday Group, who passed away on Monday night, was more of an intellectual than a businessman, senior Congress leader B.L. Shankar told Deccan Chronicle.
“What I most fondly remember about Mr Khoday is the fact that he was always a true friend. He never broke his friendship even if the other person was going through a bad time. I remember he was very close to former chief minister J.H. Patel. Mr Khoday stayed friends with Mr Patel long after Mr Patel’s glory days had gone. I remember they would meet often, listen to music and discuss art and literature, long after Mr. Patel lost his chief minister’s post,” Mr Shankar said.
During the 1970s and the 1980s, Mr Khoday was recognized as one of the foremost industrialists in the state.
“I remember that he was very close to Mr D. Devaraj Urs, who was perhaps the finest chief minister Karnataka ever had,” he said.
“The Khoday family was tightly knit. I remember all of them used to stay together in this big mansion on Race Course road. The family and Mr Hari Khoday especially had excellent relations with all political parties,” Mr Shankar said. Mr Khoday preferred music, theatre and movies.
He produced a couple of movies which focused on socially-conscious themes.
He could have produced commercial movies as he had no dearth of money, but chose not to, Mr Shankar said
“There was no ugly exhibition of wealth by Mr Khoday. He used to ride in an old Mercedes Benz car and had no airs about him whatsoever. He was always found in cultural programmes because of his true love for fine arts. He was a simple, genial and humble man,” he said.
