Surinderjeet Singh Ahluwalia is into colour therapy. He matches his turbans with the days of the week. Ahluwalia claims to have picked up this habit from Vimla Sharma, wife of former President Shankar Dayal Sharma, and from the better half of Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh.
‘Chindi’ to his mother and ‘Romi ke Daddy’ to his wife Monica, Ahluwalia doesn’t care for women wearing perfume. In his early years as minister, his secretaries would have a tough time allotting time for women visitors. On several occasions when they set aside 15-20 minutes for a lady, Ahluwalia would spend less than 10 seconds. On other occasions, when they kept five minutes he would spend 20 Puzzled, they mustered courage and sought to know why he packed some off early and allowed others to overstay. “Shortest possible time to those wearing perfume. To others serve coffee,” shot back Ahluwalia.
Back home, not wearing perfume is one of the many things Monica does to please ‘Romi ke Daddy’, apart from cooking every meal for him. His diktat to his friends: “If you want to keep me happy, never invite me for a meal.” Of the 20 odd years that Ahluwalia has spent in Delhi, he has had less than eight dinners out of his house. His philosophy: food is a private affair; eat to please yourself and dress to impress others.
Chindi grew up with yet another notion, ingrained by his father: in a joint family the fight always begins from the kitchen. Till a son is married, he loves whatever his mother cooks. Post-marriage, his wife’s recipes become his favourite. Which means war! Consequently, though the family business is managed jointly, the kitchens in the Ahluwalia household are separate.
{{/usCountry}}Chindi grew up with yet another notion, ingrained by his father: in a joint family the fight always begins from the kitchen. Till a son is married, he loves whatever his mother cooks. Post-marriage, his wife’s recipes become his favourite. Which means war! Consequently, though the family business is managed jointly, the kitchens in the Ahluwalia household are separate.
{{/usCountry}}Born in a traditional Bengali household, Monica Banerjee attempted suicide when her parents opposed her marriage to Ahluwalia. Charred, she battled 65 per cent burns for nearly a year. Post-treatment, Ahluwalia married her against stiff opposition. “I physically lifted her and we got married.” Not surprising considering he had guzzled gallons and gallons of milk while in hostel in Calcutta. Determined to initiate his Bengali friends to the “taste of Punjab” he would round them up every evening and treat them to milk with layers of cream. It took his friends days to recover from indigestion. But once they did, they would avoid Ahluwalia like the plague. As for Monica dear, she recites Gurbani and annually visits Patna Sahib with Romi ke Daddy.