Call him the boy with the golden spoon and Sid doesn’t flinch. “I want to be remembered for myself, and not just the family name. There are so many occasions in my life when the name ‘Siddharth’ is more important than ‘Mallya’. Dad has achieved wonders. But I am not interested in just being known as someone’s son. I am very proud to be his son. But I don’t want to be known as the boy with the golden spoon. I want to be remembered for what I achieve on my own. I am very fortunate to be born a Mallya. But it does come with a lot of baggage.”
Sid says the slump in his father’s airline business has nothing to do with him.
“I’ve nothing to do with the airline. Just see what’s happening. There’s a genuine public outrage. But you should see see the messages I get on twitter about the airline. Almost as though it’s my fault! So while it’s glamorous and seductive to be born where I am it also comes with its own disadvantages.”
Sid did look after the family’s IPL team. “And that was a lot of work. Running a professional sports team is not a joke. At that time I was just 23. How many 23-year olds do such a thing?”
Tell him he has made himself unpopular on Twitter with his abrasive remarks and Sid retorts, “If you’re alluding to what happened with my IPL player (Luke Pomersbach) what I said was misunderstood. I did what was correct. I just stood up for Luke. As for Ayesha Takia, let me reiterate I didn’t know who she was. I don’t watch Bollywood films. I genuinely didn’t know who she was. If that’s a crime then I am guilty. I wasn’t being mean. I wasn’t trying to put her down.”
Then Sid reasons practically, “I can’t be that unpopular because 300,000 people follow me on Twitter. Maybe this has to do with my UK upbringing or my boarding school background. But I’m a huge believer in speaking the truth. I’ve never been someone to mince words. I cannot stand people who just say things to please people. I believe in saying what I feel like saying. If that upsets some people, fine. If people don’t like what I’ve to say it is more their problem than mine. If people on Twitter don’t like what I’ve to say then they shouldn’t follow me.”
At the moment Sidhartha is back in India. “There are so many opportunities presenting themselves to me. And I want to look at all of them.”
