Mukesh Ambani is not just one of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful men. In my book, he’s also one of the simplest. I cannot claim to be his friend. Though when you are Mukesh Ambani, everybody is your friend, from Narendra Modi and Hillary Clinton to Shah Rukh Khan and Sachin Tendulkar. I know him moderately well, however. I interviewed him once over lunch in 2000. Then when he became the richest man in the world in October 2007, I met him over a cup of tea at his Reliance Industries Ltd. office at Nariman Point in Mumbai. After that, I did not think Mukesh Ambani would remember me. But I am told he never forgets a face.

True enough, wife Nita Ambani and he were leaving a wedding reception at the Taj many years later just as I was entering. I courteously stood aside. Through his security cordon, Mukesh Ambani spotted me and breaking stride came up to graciously say hello and inquire how I was. I thought that was extremely nice of him. But I have a better memory of Mukesh Ambani. From an interview I did with him over lunch. It was at the Trattoria at Hotel Taj President. He was then staying at Sea Wind in Cuffe Parade. Just across the road. He walked over and joined me. Dressed simply in a bush shirt and baggy cotton trousers. The fabric was Only Vimal, I had no doubt.

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The Trattoria was then his favourite restaurant. I cannot remember what he ate. But I know we discussed food. He liked Italian cuisine but preferred South Indian. Especially Idli-Sambar-Chutney. “I am an authority on it,” Mukesh Ambani told me enthusiastically. They had it at home on Sundays for breakfast. “With Jalebi- Gathia,” he added guiltily, “because we are Gujju.” But he was always on the lookout for good Idli-Sambar-Chutney. It was his favourite meal at airports. “Some Indian restaurants in New York make it just like the small eateries in Tirupati,” he informed me. He also liked it at Mysore Cafe in Matunga. “But the best Idli-Sambar-Chutney I have had is from the dosa man on the road at Gowalia Tank,” Mukesh Ambani said, astonishing me. I would never have imagined the richest Indian would indulge in street food, but there you are!

At home, the Ambanis kept a Saurashtra maharaj and a Nepali cook who prepared all their vegetarian meals. Now, of course, with his stake in the Oberoi Group of Hotels’ flagship entity East India Hotels (EIH) Ltd., Mukesh Ambani could order a gourmet meal of any cuisine made by one of the Master Chefs of the Oberoi chain. His father Dhirubhai Ambani insisted that cooking should always be simple. He was also health conscious. Fruit juice for breakfast, soups and salads for lunch, and Rotli-Dal-Bhaat-Shaak for dinner. “But occasionally I binge,” Mukesh Ambani revealed with a shy grin. “How often?” I asked. “Once in 15 days, then I can put away a seven course meal with a couple of desserts!”

When he was doing his MBA at Stanford University in the US in the 1970s, Mukesh Ambani had to cook his own meals. “How did you manage?” I remember asking. “Oh, I used to boil rice, sauté vegetables, and mix them with my mother’s homemade masalas,” he replied with another small grin. All this we discussed before the Trattoria manager came to take our lunch order. When the drinks menu was placed before Mukesh Ambani, he gently pushed it aside. “I don’t drink,” he said politely. “Not even a sip?” I persisted, disappointed. He conceded, “Well maybe a sip of champagne, but only as a token if a toast is being raised.”

Another memory I have of the discerning taste buds and simple habits of Mukesh Ambani, the Indian billionaire business magnate and CMD and largest shareholder of Reliance Industries Ltd., is from when I visited him in office one evening in 2007 to congratulate him on becoming the Richest Man in the World. The meeting was short and over a cup of tea. He was dressed in his trademark bush shirt and baggy cotton trousers. Maybe he was short of time, and had kept some important business meeting waiting, maybe he never had his tea steaming hot – but without any inhibition, Mukesh Ambani poured the tea out of the cup into his saucer and gently sipped it while talking. He was most at home. But then he was home. This was his office. I think he spends more time here than at Sea Wind or Antilla. I did the same. It was simple homemade, masala chai.