Empress of roller coasters

Despite being the co-founder of one of the biggest theme parks in the world, Pooja Shetty Deora confesses that she feels no different from any other person with a job. It was Pooja’s father Manmohan Shetty who first came up with the concept to create this theme park. Through hard work, dedication and after bringing a slew of experts from across the world on board, his dream became a reality.

“It was really amazing working with my father and sister for the project. My sister handled the creative side of things and I helped out with the logistical end. My father and I have worked together for a long time as well, and are in tune with each others’ vision of how things should be. So, it was a great experience. Although we worked together as a family, each of us had our own space to work,” she recalls.

Though downtime is hard to come by, especially with so many of the family members holding high profile jobs, Pooja reminisces about how they spent her mother’s 60th birthday in Paris. However, it was not a trip to see the Eiffel Tower or admire works of art at the Louvre. In what may be considered typical of a family whose lives revolve around an amusement park, the group went to Disneyland. “Of all the amusement parks that I have been to around the world, I think Disneyland was the most memorable trip. The whole family went along to celebrate her 60th birthday and that’s not something we are able to do usually. It was truly an amazing experience,” she smiles.

Aside from Disneyland, Pooja also recalls a trip to Orlando and Universal Studios with some fondness. “My husband and I were in Florida for a conference and we decided to take some time off and check out the theme park. There’s something for all age groups there and we had a great time exploring, although we could only spend about half a day there,” she says.

Although she has been on a fair number of trips abroad, Pooja admits that both she and her husband, Lok Sabha member Milind Murli Deora, are homebodies. “We’re usually out and about in public thanks to our jobs, so when it comes to taking a break, both of us just prefer to kick back with some music or a TV show and spend the day at home,” she shrugs.

Tough as it may be to believe though, Pooja isn’t one for amusement park rides. “I usually don’t like to go on a lot of rides and am not one of those people cueing up for the most daring and scary roller coasters. Still, I’ve tried out the roller coaster at our park and it’s become one of my favourite rides at the park,” she signs off with a grin.