Surprises never end. A few minutes into the meeting at Le Meridien’s Monsoon restaurant and I can say with confidence that Ashok Chopra’s fame as a hard nosed professional who knows a good book from a bad one is well earned. He may not believe in book launches but understands the power of modern modes of the market. Never mind that he self-deprecatingly refers to himself as a fossil. “A book does not sell a hundred copies with a launch,” he argues. “A good book is a good book. Word of mouth publicity matters,” he says, adding, “I love the feel of a book in my hand but the future lies with online sales. Kindle is the way. The number of book shops is going down.”
Having just authored “A Scrapbook of Memories”, Chopra is happy to talk of his book. No surprises there. “My book is not an autobiography. It is my journey with the written word.” He is happy to talk of his career as a publisher. No surprises there too as he is the publisher of Hay House and has earlier had stints with Vikas Publishing House, UBS, Macmillan and HarperCollins, and published the likes of Khushwant Singh, Jatin Das, Rajinder Singh Bedi, Balwant Gargi and Satish Gujral, etc. “Khushwant was like a family elder. I travelled the world with him. I stayed with him in Kasauli,” he says. And Uma Vasudev? “I met Begum Akhtar at her house in Delhi in 1974. We had a lovely evening but it ended on an emotional note with Begum Akhtar putting her hand on Uma’s cheek while leaving. She pleaded with her not to break off her marriage.” That aspect of Begum Akhtar is not so well known. Just like the bond Chopra shared with Sahir Ludhianvi whom he calls “a poet first, then a lyricist”.
Surprise, surprise, he is equally comfortable talking of food. He claims to be a frugal eater, but does he choose his stuff with care! Opting for fish tandoori, he gently tells the staff to back up the fish with “finely chopped onions and coriander.” Fish tandoori comes on the heels of fresh lime soda which he sips ever so slowly. It is followed by chapli kababs of which he has only a little bite.
The surprises do not end there. Chopra reveals himself as a man who has lived his life according to a set of dos and don’ts. “I am a small but fussy eater. I have never tasted pizza in my life. For that matter, I never tasted whiskey too. Nor have I have had a sip of tea.”
There is more to come. For a man with clear cut avoidables, Chopra is happy to enter the kitchen. “I can do the usual dal-chapatti. I can do chicken curry better. And butter chicken too. I like spicy food. I like Italian food as also Moroccan and Mexican.”
Umm. And what about Punjabi food? “I do not like Punjabi food beyond dal-chawal,” he says as a matter of fact, then packs in a surprise, “I can grill a fish. I can make pakoras, vegetarian, fish and veg chowmein as well.”
Yet he claims cooking is not really the love of his life. “Cooking is nice but music is better. Then I love driving. I have a large collection of music ranging from Indian films to Jazz to Western classics. I have Lata Mangeshkar’s Yeh zindagi usiki hai and Mehdi Hasan’s recording at her house.”
Books. Music. Drives. Food. So many expressions of joy. And some really pleasant surprises.
