A Fine Balance

Adar Poonawalla shoulders the responsibility of his family’s vaccine business, takes forward his mother’s charitable dream and, yet, manages to find time to create a Batmobile for his son.

- N Madhavan

You get a glimpse of the good life even before you enter the Poonawallas’ Pune home. The architecture of the house, named Adar Abad, is distinctly European. Six large columns support the elevated front lobby which has striking orange Italian marble flooring. On one side of the lobby stands a 40-year-old single engine Cessna aircraft. On the other side is ‘Lil’ Cyrus’s Stable’ which houses a Shetland pony (a breed of horses that are short but sturdy). Inside, the living room is large with a high ceiling and a dome that allows sunlight to flood in. What immediately catches your eye are the frescoes in the ceiling; they are inspired by one of the great masters of Italian Renaissance, Michelangelo, and his work at the Sistine Chapel, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. Ming vases, riding trophies and other figurines dominate the room and paintings by Vincent van Gogh (Water Mill at Opwetten), Renoir (who celebrated the feminine), AJ Munnings (of horses, what else) and Marc Chagall (from his work on flower vases) populate the walls.

A bright spot on one of the walls draws your attention—a closer look reveals that the shine is provided by 20 silver plates with Pablo Picasso’s paintings imprinted on them. “This is my favourite,” says Adar Poonawalla, the 35-year-old CEO of Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest maker of vaccines (in terms of dosage). “Imprinted are some classics, including Visage Larvae, Centaure,Visage de femme, Un Poison and Le Dormeur.”