THE Salgaocar family hails from Saligao, in North Goa, hence the name. Raj grew up in the midst of a large extended family, almost 20 people, with seven children, all living together in a small house. His grandfather died when Raj�s father was only seven. And his grandmother opened a small provision store. From these humble but proud beginnings, Raj�s father, Vassudev Salgaokar, made his fortune, and built a vast mansion named Hira Vihar, at Chicalim, five minutes from Dabolim airport, in 1979.

This was the first and only house that he built. Vassudev passed away in 1984. Raj Salgaocar and Dipti Ambani met in Mumbai 25 years ago, in 1978. They stayed in the same building, Usha Kiran, the first skyscraper on Carmichael Road, which is an exclusive residential area of Bombay. Dipti lived on the 22nd floor, and Raj on the 14th floor.

Dipti�s legendary father, the late Dhirubhai Ambani, and Raj�s remarkable father, the late Vassudev Salgaocar, were both self-made men. Raj says, �Both were born in poverty, barely educated, achieving success by sheer determination and grit. They became very good friends. My father enjoyed a Campari with Dhirubhai over hot onion bhajias.� When Vassudev passed away, Dhirubhai became Raj�s friend, a guide, an elder, and a surrogate father.

Raj and Mukesh Ambani, being the same age, and Anil Ambani only two years younger, the three inevitably also became friends, together with other young people in the building. Raj went to VJTI to do his Production Engineering and Mukesh to UDCT for Chemical Engineering, while Anil studied Chemistry at K.C. College. (Later Raj and Anil were to go to the Wharton School for their MBAs, and Mukesh to Stanford for his MBA.) Romance blossomed between Dipti and Raj, and after knowing each other for more than five years, they got married on December 31, 1983. This was the first marriage in Dipti�s family and the last in Raj�s family. They moved to Goa some time in end January 1984, and have lived there ever since.

Hira Vihar, where they live, is the Salgaocar family home. It was designed by the architect Rallino Souza. It is more a palace than a house, with exquisitely landscaped gardens. It is close to Raj�s office, and their children�s school. On Ganesh Chaturthi, and some other holidays, the families of Raj�s two brothers and four sisters, with their children, get together at Hira Vihar.

Besides their family home, Hira Vihar, they own a house at Candolim, right on the beach. You need a four-wheel drive vehicle to reach it. Then you pass through a beautifully landscaped pathway, with deities along the way, until you come to the house. In 1986, Raj�s good friend, the great adman and writer, Frank Simoes, who wrote an enthralling biography of Vassudev Salgaocar, �Fare Forward, Voyager�, helped them get this plot and build this house. They use it on weekends or some evenings to entertain guests and friends living in North Goa.

However, their personal house, where they go at least once a week, is at Dona Paula, near Panjim. It is built on a cliff, and cascades down to the river and sea. The view from the house and its gardens is spectacular. This house was created, there is no other word, in 1998. Both houses, in Candolim and Dona Paula, were designed by the famous architect Lucio Miranda, and landscaped by the knowledgeable expert Shashank Vaidya.

Needless to say, both Lucio and Shashank have done a marvellous job. The beautiful gardens, with a wide range of plants, shrubs and trees, mostly tropical, in all three houses, are looked after by Raj. Inevitably there are a large variety of palms since Raj is passionate about them. He is a member of the Friends of Palms Society based in Paris. Nothing, not a tree or shrub is planted or transplanted or even pruned without his supervision.

Dipti adapted extremely well to Goa, and Goan ways and culture. She served us an exquisite Saraswat meal, and according to Raj, her food tastes exactly like his mother�s cooking. What a wonderful heartfelt compliment! His mother used to cook by �andaaz�, and without tasting the food! She would not let anyone else taste it either while cooking. She would look at the catch of the day. (In Goa the men go to market to choose the fish and then bring it home. Raj does it too.) And then decide what to prepare, which spices should be freshly ground.

Dipti is an excellent cook, being equally proficient in preparing Gujarati, Lebanese, and Italian cuisines. She looks after the three houses, the retinue of servants, the upkeep and maintenance, while he looks after the gardens. This division of work, one in charge of interiors, and the other in charge of exteriors, has led to a very harmonious relationship. Their parties are full of fun and laughter and very good food and malt whisky and European wine. They usually have an eclectic selection of interesting guests, and charmingly and immediately, without any fuss, they make everyone feel at ease.

Dhirubhai used to take his entire family to wildlife reserves for holidays. No wonder Raj and Dipti often go to Londozi and Singita in South Africa, or any other wild life reserve for their vacations. He is a superb columnist, as evidenced by three of his articles which I read: one on his memories of Dhirubhai, one on the temples along the coast south of Goa, and the last on the temples of Maharashtra.

He is very proud and knowledgeable about his Saraswat Brahmin background, and is doing yeoman service for his community. The family temple is Devi Sharvani at Advalpale, Bicholim (originally located in Saligao). Raj and Dipti have two lovely children, Vikram, 18, and Isheta, 15. Vikram is an ardent sports person, soccer and basketball, and was Dhirubhai�s favourite, being his first grandchild. He is planning to go to Wharton for his undergraduate studies. Isheta is also a sports woman, being passionate about basketball, and her intellectual pursuits are reading and writing.

Raj, who is now 45, has very extensive business interests: mining, processing, and export of iron ore; the hospitality industry, with two hotels, La Paz, in Vasco, and Goa Marriot Resort, at Panjim; power generation, transmission and distribution, jointly with Reliance (RSPCL); the media: he owns a Konkani newspaper, �Sunaparant�, which means Golden Land and was the old name of Goa, and also �Goa Today�, an English monthly; and he is also into agriculture and real estate.

He travels very frequently to Japan on business, dealing with some of the largest firms in the world, who are his customers. His community activities are many: overseeing the Salgaocar Medical Research Centre, a hospital; the V. M. Salgaocar Law College and Management Institute; the V. M. Salgaocar Foundation, which gives scholarships, awards to eminent Goans, publishes Konkani books, and has an annual lecture by well-known people; and also the famous Salgaocar Football and Cricket teams.

Basically Raj is a social drinker, preferring pure malts or Cognacs. He loves Sake with Japanese food, especially in Japan, which he visits often for business reasons. He likes Bordeaux for red wine, and Burgundy for white wine. Dipti rarely drinks -- maybe a glass of champagne or white wine, if at all. He enjoys a rich Havana cigar occasionally.

While Raj relaxes by gardening, photography, and reading, Dipti concentrates on cooking, community care, and also reading. Weekends are always with their family. Dipti travels to Bombay quite often and keeps in touch by subscribing to the Bombay newspapers. I have two memories of Raj and Dipti at their beach house which I�d like to recount: his mother had been ill, a few months before she passed away, in 1996. He came home and asked me a lot of questions about J. Krishnamurti and his teachings. I gave him my book on Krishnamurti. Shortly thereafter he invited me to his beach house in Candolim. Both Dipti and he asked many sensitive and sharp questions about Krishnamurti�s philosophy, how to deal with sorrow, and with death. I answered as best as I could. It was a sombre evening.

Seven years later, in March this year, I met Dipti and Raj again at their beach house in Candolim. It was a joyous evening, with fabulous conversation and great howls of laughter, and the guests finally went home well past one in the morning. They epitomise a very attractive couple, wealthy but with absolutely nothing artificial in their behaviour, no airs of any kind, down to earth, humble, invariably courteous and welcoming and smiling, extremely intelligent, and always relaxed in company. They have that rare combination: lives informed by joie de vivre as well as hard work, coexisting with proactive sensitivity and charity to others, and an innate sacred spirituality.

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