Zubin Mehta: I could have been a doctor

He’s having a great time in hometown Mumbai with the Symphony Orchestra of India.

‘ Growing up in a Parsi household, your parents choose your profession so I might have played with the thermometer as a child, so my mother must have said that he has to be a doctor (laughs). I completed two semesters at St Xavier’s College and I realised this wasn’t for me. I spoke to my father who agreed and later I went to Vienna to study. ‘

Western classical music is still a niche in India. Do you feel that the audience has evolved?

In Bombay, I am certain they have. Maybe we will call it the Mumbai Orchestra one day. I hope cities like Chennai, Delhi, and even Kolkata which used to have an orchestra earlier also evolve with time. I remember my father used to visit Kolkata and play there. There used to be an orchestra in Hyderabad also. The Nizam had an orchestra that played once a year on his birthday but he paid those musicians for 12 months (laughs). Those were different times but they were really good as they had a conductor from Germany who used to train them. I believe things will change for good.

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