Dr. Karan Singh, scholar
Singh wonders at the connection he feels with South India. “I love the music, the food. There’s the connection with Sri Aurobindo and Auroville. I am particularly interested in the Periya Puranam and the Nayanmars. It’s no wonder I chose to build a temple there,” he says, referring to the Sri Karneshwar Nataraja temple located on the beach at Pudhukuppam.
The next few minutes are spent in appreciative silence as we tuck into the main course, and Singh digresses to talk about the usual fare at his home. “Our ethnic food is Dogra food, and my wife is from Nepal, so we have a mixture of that at home. I usually have a light lunch and a proper dinner. I’m not much of a foodie. My family was, mother, father, but as for me, anybody who can survive four years of boarding school food...,” he trails off, laughing.
Tannishtha Chatterjee, actor
Tannishtha remembers how in Gour Hari Dastan , “the food was vegetarian but good.” This ‘but’, she says, is typical of Bengalis while referring to good vegetarian food. She finds cooking therapeutic but here again she is finicky about the time of steaming and temperature of boiling. It is like World cinema where each emotion is measured? “You are actually right,” the actor gushes. “I give my cook a tough time,” she admits. Tannishtha remembers that she was like that since childhood. “In between I became a little amenable but now my mother says that I am back to my old habits.”
Tannishtha Chatterjee
Satyasheel Deshpande, Hindustani classical vocalist
A great lover of all Indian cuisines, Deshpande acquired taste for these while accompanying his guru and mentor Pandit Kumar Gandharva on country-wide tours. “I relish Gujarati khichdi, pangi and dhoklas, Maharashtrian saboo dana khichdi, chidwa, banana flower subzi, ker sanger, dal bhatti churma, gate ka pulao and subzi.”
Counting shrikhand, basundi and chocolates as his favourite, he confides he likes ice creams. I find that amazing and point out that many of his fraternity avoid it religiously. “When their singing does not sound good because of wrong riyaaz they blame it on ice cream,” pat comes the reply.
Satyasheel Deshpande
Valmik Thapar, environmentalist
Thapar’s 40 years of experience in the wild tells him that tigers and birds don’t like to waste food and the best time to observe them is when they are having their meal. “Everything revolves around food for a tiger. They are going to protect their food and finish the last scrap. They will not run away. So you get time with the animals. My all the food encounters with tigers have been fantastic. Same way if a crested serpent eagle has caught a snake, it would not fly off till it consumes it.”
Of course, there are traits that separate one from the other. “When Changez was eating he had a do not disturb sign. Noon was like come and join me. You are welcome to watch me eat. I link this a lot with human behaviour.”
Valmik Thapar
Ritu Kumar, fashion designer
However, working with artisans meant Kumar had to spend days outside Kolkata.
“I would travel miles into the hinterland where the wives of karigars would cook for us, and it was wonderful. They would cook in mud pot and serve roti. Sometimes, I used to take my kids along and they would eat the same. It is the most delicious food that I had in those days. The way they use coconut is simply amazing.”
She still gets authentic Chinese food from the homes in Tangra, where her workshop is located...
Does this mean the grace and romantic image that we associate with women will eventually vanish.
“The wonderful thing about India is that both can co-exist. I don’t think anybody is going to wear track suit to a wedding anytime soon.”
Trying mango pannacotta, she takes a dig, “What about man’s fashion. I feel sorry for guys. They haven’t come far from those pathetic bush shirts and safari suits. The office doesn’t give them leeway to experiment and the moment they put on kurta, people tease them of political affiliations.” Anybody listening?
Ritu Kumar
Hansal Mehta, filmmaker
“My two daughters go to Tridha, where the parents have to cook for the entire class once a month. So I have to cook twice a month for 30 kids. They have strict rules.
“The food has to be vegetarian, no maida and it has to be wholesome. There I get an honest opinion about my cooking. It is like waiting for a film’s review.”
Hansal Mehta
Ashish Soni, fashion designer
“My mother, a Ph.D. in Hindi, had a strict rule for my sister and me. We would be fed only if we spoke in our mother tongue. So dinner conversations would only be in chaste Hindi. And we would eat mostly Indian vegetarian food.”
Ashish Soni
Himmat Shah, sculptor
My curiosity for colours developed while watching servants pluck vegetables of different colours. We were served fresh meal from the vegetables grown in our backyard. Many years later I realised that the food I ate acted like a tonic for the brain.
Himmat Shah
Rujuta Diwekar
“Of course, I practise what I preach. Belief and conviction cannot come if it is not done by self...It will break hearts if I was on a diet which is completely opposite of what I talk about.”
Rujuta Diwekar
Chris Morris
I have the worst diet as a sportsperson. I like to call myself a skinny fat guy
Chris Morris
