PitStop@50: Gautam Singhania's big, fat birthday bash

When a racing car stops during a race for a change of tyres and refueling, it is called a pit stop. And when a car enthusiast turns 50 and organises a get together for his close friends, what bet ter than calling the affair Pit Stop@50?

Gautam Singhania, the Raymond CMD and car enthusiast, hits the golden number on Wednesday. The celebration began last weekend at Moksha Himalaya Spa Resort in Himachal Pradesh with his wife Nawaz, his cousins and close friends.

"I thought about places abroad too, like Dubai, but decided this place because it is really nice and will enhance our country's tourism," Singhania tells ETPanache over phone. "There is no better gift than spending time with your friends."

The guest list for the weekend in the mountains included over 150 people. They included his cousins Harsh Pati and Vikram Pati and longtime friends like Godrej's Tanya Dubash, Wadia Group's Jeh Wadia, Bharti Enterprises' Rajan Mittal, Citibank's Pramit Zaveri, Rustomjee's Boman Irani, Quikr's Pranay Chulet, Credit Suisse's Mickey Doshi, Infosys director Ravi Venkatesan, MW Corp's Mukul Kasliwal, Indian cricket team manager Ravi Shastri and Cream Centre group owner Sanjiv Chona.

The weekend's food was taken care of by star chef Farrokh Khambata. Guests were treated to spa treatments, music, champagne and exotic desserts.

Over the years, Singhania has been a fixture on Mumbai's party circuit. But he is equally drawn to nature. He has often gone rallying away from the city to regions like Ladakh and Kashmir.

The weekend seems to have of fered a ful l r e fuel ing for Singhania and his friends. He isn't sure yet about his plans for today, the actual date of his birthday. "Maybe, I'll just have some friends over," he says. Or maybe he's just not telling us too much.





Gautam Singhania with his wife Nawaz



Boman Irani, Monty Sabarwal and Pranay Chulet



Gautam Singhania and Vikram Pati Singhania



Boman Irani, Zarina Mehta and Irani’s wife Perizaad



Singhania with Pramit Zaveri and financial consultant Shivkumar




Vincent Li, his wife and Gautam Singhania




Manoviraj Khosla, Vedika Khosla and Gautam Singhania




Gautam Singhania and Ferrari Challenge driver Tommy Lindroth