About the Trustees and the Leadership Team
Roohi Savara was associated with G&T Oilfield And Offshore Services Pvt. Ltd. (the successor avatar of the erstwhile G&T Resources Worldwide) being its co-promoter. She withdrew from active participation in the business in the late 90s to focus her efforts in the managing and conservation of the growing Roohi & Rajiv Savara Family Collection such that it could be safeguarded for showcasing to future generations as to the extraordinary specimen of what gifted women and men before our times and around us have created. Roohi high-schooled from the Convent of Jesus & Mary, New Delhi and graduated in Commerce from the Jesus & Mary College, New Delhi whereafter, she graduated in Law from Delhi University, practicing law for over 15 years.
Roohi co-founded the not-for-profit The Savara Foundation for the Arts and has had the privilege of serving on the Advisory Committee for Indian and Himalayan Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art – Philadelphia, USA.
Rajiv Savara FCA has over two and a half decades of hands-on experience in the field of Oil & Gas as well as the Marine Industries. In 1989, he co-founded G&T Resources Worldwide, a partnership firm supplying equipment and services to the Oil & Natural Gas sectors. Ever since, Rajiv has played a significant role in the formation and success of G&T Oilfield & Offshore Services Pvt Ltd and G&T Total Energy Services Pvt. Ltd. amongst many other ventures in strategic alliance or as joint ventures including amongst others Bechtel Corporation – USA, Groupe Schneider – France, Halliburton – USA, SHV Energy NV – The Netherlands, Lubrizol Corporation – USA, Sparrows Offshore – Scotland, Oil States Industries, Inc.- USA etc.
Rajiv high-schooled from St. Xavier’s High School, Delhi and thereafter, graduated with honors in Commerce from the Sri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University. After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 1984, he worked in the Management Consultancy division at AF Ferguson & Co (now part of Deloitte), where he gained much experience in the strategic acquisitions arm of the Firm.
Rajiv has had the privilege of serving on the Board of Trustees at The Barnes Foundation – Philadelphia, USA and the Advisory Committee for Indian and Himalayan Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art – Philadelphia, USA besides having advised multiple international museums on Pre-Modern and Modern Indian Art.
Roohi and Rajiv have two daughters, the elder daughter Tejshree is a Lawyer specialising in the laws relating to the Arts, Antiquities and Cultural Heritage. She has currently taken a sabbatical and has formed her registered not-for-profit The We Exist Foundation (WEF) that organises impact-based initiatives under its various programs, hoping to inspire individuals through its efforts, to be a part of a positive change by giving back to the disadvantaged and abandoned animal community in India, starting with dogs.
The younger daughter Taarini holds a Bachelors in Fine Arts from LaSalle College of Arts – Singapore whereafter, she graduated with a Masters in Museum Studies from the University of San Francisco – USA. Taarini currently leads the arts and culture programming at Asia Society India Centre as Programme Officer. In the past, she has worked as an Administrator and Researcher with multiple Art Organisations including the Rubin Museum of Art – New York and the New Delhi-based Serendipity Arts Foundation. While her interest in the arts spectrum is dynamic, her research has revolved around art accessibility and education initiatives
Rahul Savara is the Group Managing Director of Tropical General Investments (TGI) Group, which commenced its business activities in Nigeria and is presently in 12 countries with business interests in FMCG, Agro Allied, Oil Field Services, Healthcare, Chemicals, Real Estate Development etc.
Throughout his career spanning 30 years, Rahul has demonstrated strong leadership skills in managing a diverse business portfolio spread across different industries and geographies. With a clear focus on value creation, Rahul has successfully overseen the growth of businesses such as Chi Ltd. and WACOT Ltd., which have emerged to become leading players in the Nigerian FMCG and Agri Business Sectors respectively.
Apart from the above, Rahul sits on the boards of several Nigerian companies, including CHI Pharmaceuticals Limited, ORC Fishing & Food Processing Limited, Romson Oil Field Services Ltd etc. He is also a director in many companies in West Africa, including Fludor – Benin SA (Benin Republic), and Romson Oil Field Services Limited (Ghana). Rahul has served on several National Committees, is an active member of Nigerian Agribusiness Group, a Member of the Institute of Directors and a Fellow of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.
Rahul and his wife Anutaz, have three children, the eldest a daughter Tanvi, followed by son Rohan Raj and the youngest son Raghav Raj.
Dipen Sabharwal QC is a partner at White & Case LLP, where he heads the Firm’s London office. He is qualified to practice law in England, India and New York, and advises clients on complex cross-border disputes across the globe. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2019, becoming one of the youngest solicitors to take silk and the first India-trained lawyer to be so recognised. Dipen leads White & Case’s India country group and is considered as a pre-eminent advisor on India-related disputes.
Dipen holds law degrees from the National Law School of India, Oxford University (where he was a Radhakrishnan Chevening Scholar) and University of Michigan Law School (where he was a Graduate Fellow).
He lectures at King’s College London and teaches advocacy skills for the Foundation for International Arbitration Advocacy. He also serves on the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA) Board of Reporters as the India Rapporteur. Dipen lives with his wife, Sindhoo, and daughter, Freya, in London. Sindhoo and Dipen collect modern Indian art with a focus on works on paper.
Nitin Savara is the Deputy Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Zomato, a leading listed USD 10 Billion Food Tech Company since November 2021. Prior to this role, Nitin worked as a partner with Ernst & Young LLP (EY) for 8½ years. He is also an Independent Director of Campus Activewear, a leading Indian Footwear brand funded by TPG, which has recently filed for an IPO.
Nitin is a qualified Chartered Accountant and Lawyer. Nitin was an instructor for cross border structuring at International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD) – Practical aspects of International Tax Planning.
Nitin’s wife, Kanika, is a Team Leader with Make My Trip, a NASDAQ listed e-commerce travel group, as part of their “LeadHer” initiative. Kanika and Nitin live in New Delhi with their two children, Vanya and Vedant
Shruthi Issac is the Director- Collection Museum Initiatives at The Savara Foundation for the Arts and the Curator of The Roohi & Rajiv Savara Family Collections. She started her career in visual culture as a scholar for The Savara Foundation for the Arts (SFA) in 2008. Shruthi set-up the personal archives of the Indian modern artist, Sayed Haider Raza for the New Delhi-based The Raza Foundation as part of M.Phil thesis on the artist. As its Founding Curator, she set-up and managed the single artist museum, Amar Nath Sehgal Private Collection in New Delhi.
Shruthi holds a degree in English and French literature from the Delhi University, a Master’s degree and an M. Phil degree in French and Francophone Studies from the Jawaharlal Nehru University and is currently completing her graduate studies in Museum Studies from the Johns Hopkins University.
Shruthi anchored, translated and edited select publications on Sayed Haider Raza including Geysers: Letters between Raza & Akbar Padamsee, Bal Chhabda, E. Schlesinger, F.N. Souza, Laxman Pai, M.F. Husain, R.V. Leyden, S.K. Bakre, Tyeb Mehta, V.S. Gaitonde, Ram Kumar, Walter Longhammar (2014) ; Maitri: Letters Between Sayed Haider Raza & Ashok Vajpeyi (2016); The Carnet Series, Itinerary- S.H Raza (2016); The Carnet Series, Seeing Beyond-S.H Raza(2017), and an anthology on the Mexican poet Octavio Paz: India Remembers Octavio Paz (2019).