I was studying to be a chemical engineer and absolutely hated it. My grades had got me admission into Mumbai’s well-known University Department of Chemical Technology but soon I started thinking about making a career in something that I liked doing. I will be eternally grateful to the late photographer, Gautam Rajadhyaksha, and ad filmmaker Prahlad Kakkar for helping me. They didn’t know me at all but I connected with them out of the blue in 1985 and told them that I was at a crossroads in my life and needed help. They actually took the time not just to talk to me but also my father. This made a huge difference in my career choice and marked the turning point of my life. Quite clearly, if I had continued on the same track I would have been the world’s worst chemical engineer.

My dad said he would do whatever it took for me to study in the field of my choice and sent me to study photography at Brooks Institute, Santa Barbara, in USA. This turned out to be a phenomenal learning experience.

Entering the celebrity management space with Bling! Entertainment Solutions, that I set up in 2007, marked another milestone in my life. I’ve always maintained that while I’m happy with the way my life has shaped up as a photographer, it would have been a lot better if I would have had an agent. The concept of hiring an agent doesn’t really exist in this country but it’s something that I am very familiar with having lived abroad. I feel that anyone in an artistic area of work should not be striking their own deals but should be operating through an agent.

In my personal life, the birth of my twins Naomi and Arnav was a turning point. Funnily enough, the only thing my wife and I had consistently agreed upon was that we’d have just one child. We thought that in this day and age, one was good enough. But someone up there had a different plan and we were blessed with the twins in 1996. Now, I can’t imagine life without them.

(As told to Shreya Shukla)