Page 42 - UpperCrust e-Magazine Third Quarter 2024

COVER STORY | AMRITA RAICHAND

atching Amrita, as she
Some Gatte ki Sabzi?
meticulously fussed over a
Wsplendid dining table, all dressed
and loaded with Rajasthani delicacies, two
things struck me simultaneously; the way
she cooks and the way she looks, especially
in these delicate chiffon saris. “Oh my God,
really?” she exclaims. “Well, I learnt to do
both from my mum and I can’t begin to tell
you how great a cook she is! And yes, it was
she who taught me how to perfectly drape
a sari, too. In fact I am so comfortable in
one, I could be wearing jeans!” Now, that’s
something, I am impressed. It’s not a feat I
manage well personally, tripping along as I do
whenever I wear one!
Amrita Raichand, nee, Saluja has had an
eventful life. And she owes much to her mum,
Prakash Kaur for the beautiful childhood
and support during her growing up years. It
couldn’t have been easy, for life had struck
the Saluja family a strong arrow. Amrita’s dad
was just 39 and she was merely three and a
half years old when they lost him to a massive
heart attack. Softly, she comments, “It’s
uncanny, but dad may have had a foresight…
he was so keen that she continued to study
further, even after marriage which she did,
MA in Economics. That plus, he made sure
she went for gourmet classes, both of which
held her and us, my two brothers and I, in
good stead. She is a hardcore sardarni, a
sherni who gave us a great upbringing and
everything we could ever need in life.”
Like she says, they hail from a happy and
hearty Sardar and Punjabi family, all of whom
loved eating good food. Her dad, Harilal
Saluja especially. He was not only particular
about what he ate but how it was served, so
they all learnt all these nuances from early on.
However, Amrita’s bigger influence came
from her maternal side. Nani, nana, mama
and mamis. It’s a family which was based in
Lahore (that itself explains the love of food),
which shifted, lock, stock and barrel during
the Partition, to Hazaribagh in Bihar, now
Jharkhand. A street in Haribal is named after
her grandfather; Sardar Angad Singh Hora.
“Yes, I have many happy memories
from when I was a little girl. Of Lalaji
(grandpa) and Pabboji (grandma). Lalaji
always carried a pocket knife with which he

40 | UPPERCRUST | JUL-SEP 2024