Dilip De loves drinking single malt whiskies, smoking cigars, growing flowers in his Alibaug farmhouse, reading books, not just those authored by his wife, and cooking... especially Bengali dishes.

SHIPPING tycoon and horticulturalist Dilip De is passionate about most things in his life, but especially celebrity author-wife Shobha, cooking, drinking single malt whiskies, smoking cigars, growing flowers, reading books, collecting paintings, wearing designer clothes, travelling, rebuilding vintage motorcars, and hanging out with the boys. Not necessarily in that order. �Keep the wife No. 1 always, she�s my best friend, the priorities of the rest keep undergoing change,� he says jovially.

Here is a man who knows and loves food, when he has parties at home, the guest list is a headache to prepare because everybody wants to be invited. Especially if Dilip De is cooking. But first his own choice. It�s Oriental, though he does not mind Continental, if the food does not have too much butter and wine. Ask him about Indian food, and he pulls a face. But Bengali food makes Dilip De�s eyes light up. He�s a good cook, loves eating most Bengali dishes, especially the chicken risala, mutton curry and potatoes, mustard fish, prawn cream curry, mutton kurma, most of which have been influenced by the Awadhi school of cooking.

His mother was a good cook and Dilip learnt just by watching her. �When I was 13, I could already make potato bhaji with lime and egg, it had such a lovely, creamy texture. Today I have recipes of my own. My mustard fish is the best in the world! I once cooked it for 65 people. I also have a nice recipe for spinach and green peas. No, I don�t go to the market to buy the produce, it comes to the door. But I cook when I am in the mood. And when I am in the mood, you should taste my tiger prawns with dahi.�

He�s equally knowledgeable about single malts, which he has been drinking for the past ten years. �Before that, I used to drink Black Label, Chivas and vodka. Now I am exclusively a single malt drinker. My favourite is Langavulin, 16 years old. I have studied whiskies. Put me to the test. I should be able to tell you the brand and age of most whiskies... even whether it is blended scotch or Indian.� For a man who had his first drink at 25, Dilip�s grasp of the subject is indeed amazing. �I don�t drink every night, despite going to six to eight parties a week, but with close friends I can have three pegs in an evening,� he admits.

There�s cigars, his other great joy since the last five years. He had quit smoking in 1993 after starting when he was 25 with Lucky Strike, then going on to ITC�s India Kings and smoking 30 cigarettes a day. �I had a bad cough, the doctor scared me, so I gave up smoking,� Dilip says of the experience. But he took a fancy to cigars when he was visiting Geneva and dining with the director of a watch-making factory who was a cigar smoker. �I bought one and got hooked on,� Dilip explains. �Now I smoke Davidoff, H. Upmann, the Partagas D Series, and Monte Cristo No. 2 and 4. They are robust cigars, complex, spicy smokes. I smoke cigars only with people who understand and appreciate them.�

He works out as well, one hour, twice a day. The mandatory push-ups, which is a very man�s thing, some stretching, regular PT exercises. �I haven�t stopped doing exercises since I first began in school,� says Dilip. �I work out at home, no gyms with heavy machines and things, perhaps light weights.� And his days as a cricketer for the Cricket Club of Calcutta where he played first division, the Rajasthan Club where he was vice-captain, and St. Xavier�s College in Calcutta, which was the inter-collegiate champion for three years, keeps Dilip light on his feet today. �I was the opening bowler, and some of my team mates went on to play Test cricket,� he boasts. Now he watches cricket on TV. He�s also played rugby and messed up his left knee. And done the 100 and 200 metre sprints, a little hockey, some table tennis, body building.

He�s a classical dresser, is Dilip De, loves Ceruti, Lanvin and Jeger. �I go for the classical cuts. But I�m not always in western wear. I dress up often in Indian attire. Nothing ethnic that makes me look like a joker, but I get kurtas specially made by Darzee of Calcutta and Sarbari Dutt makes my coloured dhoties. I also collect shawls, Kashmir, Jamevar, I have one that is 130 years old, it is late 19th century and made in Paris.� And he collects wrist watches and loves to tinker around vintage motorcars, especially to restore them. �I have this grand 1934 Morris Sports model of which there are only five in the world.�

The flower business at his farmhouse in Alibaug is a hobby with Dilip. His greenhouse there is a complete state-of-the-art place with the most modern, computer-controlled technology. He grows orchids and anthuriums and supplies them to 120 places in Bombay alone and to most hotels. The farmhouse is also where he wants to take his collection of books and build a big library. Of course, he reads! �And I read a lot... but not fiction, I prefer biographies of big people, I like finding out how they made it!� It is the collection of books, his cigars and single malts, that Dilip De dreams of taking with him to his den at Alibaug. There he would like to spend time with friends, close friends with whom he hangs out and watches the Grand Prix over beer (Dilip is one of the boys!), and the family. �While I will build a room next door for the wife to sit and write her books,� he says of Shobha De, his first love.