Bally Sagoo On Travelling The World

OT: What does a holiday mean to you?
Bally Sagoo: For people like me who travel a lot, the difference between travelling for work and travelling for a holiday ceases to exist. So work is mostly a vacation for me. If only someone would take the pain of packing, airport queues and paperwork away!

OT: What are your favourite places in the world?
Bally Sagoo: I was born in Delhi, brought up in the UK, and my family spent years in Uganda before I was born. African music has always influenced me. Besides India, I love the whole of Africa. The variety is mind-boggling. I love African cuisine. For the same vibe of multiculturalism, I also love the Caribbean. I am fond of Hong Kong as well, not just because of its multicultural nature, but also since it is very clean. I won’t say these are my only favourite places. The world is huge. A lifetime isn’t enough to see every place properly. I love going to places I have not been to before.

OT: What do you do when you go to a place for the first time?
Bally Sagoo: Eat local, listen to local music and definitely meet up with locals.

OT: Where is home for you?
Bally Sagoo: I have a studio in Mumbai, my company has an office in Brussels and I have reps worldwide. So I live out of a suitcase. Home is where comfort is. Birmingham is comfort zone for me because I have grown up there. Still, they say you can take a Punjabi out of Punjab, but not Punjab out of a Punjabi. For us, everything boils down to food.

OT: What do you pack when you travel?
Bally Sagoo: My gear always goes in first. You never know where and when inspiration strikes.

OT: What do you bring back from your holidays?
Bally Sagoo: Memories. Masalas. Recipes. And audition tapes.

OT: As in?
Bally Sagoo: My company does projects like film production, TV shows, artist promotion and management, etc. I meet people all the time—in clubs, airports, hotels. I’ve had golgappa wallahs from Mumbai and kids from rural Punjab come up to me and sing, on the street! I bring a lot of that back.

OT: So which are the places you would like to visit?
Bally Sagoo: The South Americas and Tasmania. I also want to explore the southern and eastern states of India.