Pa’s the word

Schauna, Alisha and Nadia Chauhan along with papa Prakash Chauhan, Chairman & MD, Parle Agro, and ex-Thums Up owner, talk of kitchen experiments, factory visits and other childhood memories this Father's Day

It's cool in this wood-and-marble room at Shanti Kunj... a wonder, considering it's still summer in other parts of the city. Tucked away in a quiet bylane of Vile Parle East is a quieter bungalow. Its inhabitants, the Chauhans, owners of Parle Agro (think fresh and juicy, cool drinks to hang out with, emergency lemon refresher et al), have come together to celebrate Father's Day. A warm family meal awaits daddy dearest and his three little girls after this flashback session. Apparently, it's a much calmer celebration as compared to earlier years.

"We'd once made a video in which we all sang a song for dad," says Alisha Chauhan with a giggle. No one recalls the lyrics though. "We tried to convert them into CDs but the sound got messed up," says Nadia Chauhan regretfully. She's the youngest of the siblings who are two and eight years apart and perhaps the only one who spent a large part of her childhood at the Parle Agro factory and office. Nadia began attending marketing meetings by the time she was 11 years old.

The career move came after she stopped organising impromptu garage sales, says Prakash Chauhan. "My mother-in-law once had a sale of sorts in the market. Someone asked her if she possessed a license to sell goods. That's when I told Nadia she was better off if she held her ambitious sales within the compound," he says with a laugh. The sales were ambitious indeed with ties, tie-and-dye T-shirts, toys and books on offer.

"Once I made several posters advertising the sale and plastered them on all our walls. When dad got home, he wondered whether the house was being sold," she says with a laugh. Alisha prompts, "And one of the customers thought our new Audi was on offer!" "Well, I was willing to negotiate," retorts Nadia. Her fondest memory is as a five-year-old who never let her father out of her sight. "If he ever had to go to a party or any place out station, I'd make a huge fuss and make him stay back. Then we'd watch Casper and Cinderella over and over, him lying on the sofa and me sitting on his stomach."

The joint managing director and chief marketing officer of the company also tried her hand at a homemade brownie business. "She was just 10. I don't know where she learnt to make them or how she managed with just a regular oven," says the proud father.

The Just Divine brownies however, were a short-lived affair after a particularly large order kept the youngest Chauhan up one whole night. The scent of chocolate was so overpowering, she was put off it for good.

Baking bread was a lot simpler. "Especially because dad got us the bread maker. We'd try regular bread, garlic bread, pizzas, everything," says Alisha with a smile. While the bread never rose fully, according to Prakash Chauhan, "it always tasted delicious." The second daughter of the Chauhan brood, Alisha has founded the V3 Fitness Chain and is also director, Parle Agro.

When was it that the three daughters realised how important a man their father was? "I think we always knew," says the eldest, Schauna, CEO, Parle Agro, with a smile. Which reminds Prakash Chauhan about a trip to the factory when Schauna was barely two. "She pointed at the Thums Up filling machine and mumbled,
"Mummumm."" The sisters burst out laughing and Alisha teases, "What were you being fed!" Speaking of Thums Up, do they miss it, considering it now belongs to Coca Cola? Prakash Chauhan gestures that he doesn't quite understand. "Miss it why? It's still one of the top colas in the country, especially in the south." Would they want to buy it back sometime? Now Prakash Chauhan smiles, "Whatever for? If we could create Thums Up, we can create another equally powerful brand."

Growing up as the daughters of an industrialist meant the factory was pretty much a second home. Alisha and Schauna hung out there only when home on holiday (they attended boarding school in Kodaikanal). They had their own little cabin too, next to the Chairman's. "We had installed our favourite video game, Dark Castle, on dad's Macintosh and would spend hours playing when he was away," remembers Alisha, a video game addict.

Nadia points to a squashy black couch facing us in the room, "It's why she bought that couch. So she could sit for hours on it, playing."

If not at the factory, the trio would be busy doing gymnastics by the well that used to be there in the bungalow grounds, or climbing on the roof of their playhouse and plucking fruit off the ancient mango tree. "We'd also put up skits and dances in the garden and we charged a rupee per guest," giggles Schauna. "Dad and our relatives would come and we had other loyal customers," says Nadia mock seriously.u00a0

All three claim to be equally spoilt, though dad did have a standard punishment. Prakash Chauhan elaborates, "Once, Alisha was annoyed about something. That made me angry. I picked her up and," the other two chime in, "Put her on top of the cupboard!" "He'd do that whenever he got irritated," says Nadia as Prakash Chauhan guffaws.

The sisters insist that they never thought of an alternate career. "That's because I bullied them into joining the business," says Prakash Chauhan with a twinkle in his eye. "The trick was to get them involved," he explains.

Did he never miss the expected heir of most family businesses: the male child? Prakash Chauhan scowls and shakes his head before regaining his humour, "I don't know how difficult a time a son might have given me."
We're almost doneu2026 but can he put each of his daughters in a nutshell in terms of her personality? Chauhan ponders... and ponders some more. "Not in a nutshell, it's in a nut," he pronounces finally. "Dad!" exclaims Alisha, mock outraged, "Are you calling us nuts?"u00a0

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