The Wellness Gene

Updating our pantry with global flavours, Tanya Dubash is building an empire to satisfy the evergrowing breed of MasterChefobsessed Indian gourmands. Now with a new health focus, she tells Aparna Pednekar  about her plans to take Indian kitchens from hype to health.

- Aparna Pednekar

Steering India’s most respected conglomerate to new horizons is a formidable challenge by any standards. But Tanya Dubash, executive director and chief brand officer, Godrej Industries, has turned the curve with aplomb. The Brown University and Harvard Business School alumnus’ masterful rebranding of the 119-year-old family business is headlined by her chairperson ship of Godrej Nature’s Basket. As we speak, it seems evident that turning it into the urban Indian’s go-to gourmet destination was a natural extension of the svelte 48-year-old’s personality; and that her professional outlook is drawn equally from both parents— her father Adi Godrej and her mother, the late Parmeshwar Godrej.

Peers and employees describe Dubash as humble, soft spoken and a keen listener—she admits that she would have been a teacher or counselor in another life. These are qualities that have catapulted her to the top of the list of the country’s most powerful businesswomen. Along with her father’s indefatigable work ethic, she’s also inherited his discipline and fitness-conscious lifestyle, marrying the two with her love for food.

Capitalizing on the growing focus on health food, and the need to dissociate the words ‘healthy’ and ‘bland’, Godrej Nature’s Basket’s newly-launched Healthy Alternatives brand is a specially curated wellness range comprising a selection of products such as super grains and flours, natural fruit chips, roasted high-protein snacks, gluten-free super-grain pastas, black, red and forest elephant rice, and more.

Dubash shares that gourmet experiences, travel and books—Eat, Pray, Love is an all-time favourite—form a troika in her list of pleasurable diversions. Vogue catches up with the eldest of the Godrej siblings for her guiding notes on work, life, family and the need for baked lotus seeds.