– Dilip Thakore (Bangalore)
An English literature graduate of Delhi University with multi-industry experience in advertising, garments manufacture, IT industry and also an international bridge player, Kiran Nadar is chairperson of the eponymous Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA, estb.2010). This museum houses India’s largest collection of modern art comprising 7,000 exhibits of art, sculpture, installations and conventional paintings in its two galleries in Noida and Delhi.
Newspeg. KNMA has finalised a blueprint to construct a new, consolidated museum of art, culture and heritage in Delhi. Designed by Ghana-based celebrity architect Sir David Adjay, this new public museum will have double the capacity of its two predecessors. Work on building the new KNMA facility will begin as soon as economic activity resumes after the Covid-19 national and local lockdown of business and industry is lifted.
History. After graduating from Delhi University’s top-ranked Miranda House, Nadar (nee Tandan) began her career in 1970 with Mass Communications and Marketing (MCM), then the dominant and most respected advertising agency in the country. However after short stints in MCM’s Delhi and Bombay (Mumbai) offices, she returned to Delhi to help her mother manage her garments manufacturing company Alumna India Pvt. Ltd. Meanwhile in 1975, she met with and wed Shiv Nadar, then employed in the DCM Group’s electronic calculators manufacturing division.
In 1976, Shiv Nadar promoted Hindustan Computers Ltd (HCL) to manufacture micro-processors for India’s then nascent IT industry. In 1980 when Shiv moved to Singapore to establish HCL’s Singapore operations, Kiran teamed up with Rajendra Pawar and Vijay Thadani to establish NIIT Ltd, where she served as promoter-director for three years (1982-1985). In the mid-1980s she took a sabbatical to play competitive bridge, transforming into a worldclass player winning several national championships and represented India in tournaments abroad.
In 1994 together with her husband Shiv, who in the meanwhile had developed HCL into a transnational IT services heavyweight (annual revenue: Rs.72,304 crore in 2019-20), Kiran Nadar co-promoted the Shiv Nadar Foundation (SNF).
Shiv Nadar Foundation. During the past quarter-century SNF (annual budget: Rs. 689 crore) has promoted the SSN University, Chennai and Shiv Nadar University in Dadri (Uttar Pradesh) with an aggregate enrolment of 6,900 students mentored by 906 faculty. Moreover, the foundation has also established four free-ofcharge thoroughly modern Vidyagan boarding schools for children of economically weaker sections in UP, and KNMA.
Direct talk. “In SNF, we believe that K-12 education should be as broad as possible, give children a wider perspective and invest them with knowledge of our rich civilisational history, culture and heritage. This is essential for development of national pride and unity,” says Kiran Nadar.
Future plans. As soon as KNMA in its new avatar is up and running after the lockdown is lifted, the museum will commence lectures and seminars on art, culture and heritage and invite four-five school groups including parents to visit and participate in these activities. “KNMA will become a major hub of art, culture including performing arts and heritage education. I believe our activities will greatly enrich the education of children, especially of children from less privileged sections of society,” says this accomplished and committed philanthropist.
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