‘I cycle atleast 50 km a day’

India’s son-in-law no 1, Robert Vadra talks about his fitness regimen.

Robert Vadra’s left index finger is bandaged. As the 42-year-old businessman son-in-law of the first family of Indian politics talks animatedly about the colourful bags and belts at his stall at the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts exhibition in Delhi, you can’t help but ask him how he got hurt. “Oh, I fell off my cycle,” he says, and starts off on his pet topic of conversation — fitness. “I was looking back to see how far behind my friends were, and lost balance.” Then, his eyes light up as he recalls the moment of victory — “I still led them by 25 kilometres!”

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For Vadra, the husband of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s 39-year-old daughter Priyanka, there’s nothing like the kick of pedalling 50 kilometres a day on his Scott bike. Isn’t he pushing himself too hard? “I don’t like things easy, though yes, my security has a tough time,” says Vadra, clad in a sharply-tailored grey Armani suit, which contrasts starkly with the all the kitsch that he exports. “I don’t wear any of the stuff I design because there’s a certain decorum I need to follow while dressing in India, but you should see me abroad — you won’t recognise me!” Bring up how he has chosen to maintain his signature Moradabadi moustache for years, and he says, “People compare it to Salman Khan’s in Dabangg. I plan to keep it, unless my daughter (Miraya, 9) decides to shave it off while I’m asleep!”