PRITI PAUL

IN CONVERSATION WITH THE YOUNGEST SCION OF THE APEEJAY SURRENDRA GROUP, AT HER INDO-MOROCCAN DELHI HOME, HELLO! FINDS OUT WHAT MAKES HER A TRUE CORDON BLEU GLOBAL CITIZEN WITH A CREATIVE SOUL AND A NOSE FOR BUSINESS

- ANSHU KHANNA

"So much of this house is Indian in influence, yet everyone who walks in calls it a Moroccan riad," smiles Priti Paul, as she ushers us into her Delhi home.

Touches of fine fresco art, magnificent arches, and detailed trelliswork, all crafted by Indian artisans, fill this mini Moroccan palace. The home aptly reflects the dual existence of its resident, who is fiercely Indian at heart, yet blends into the Moroccan way of life like hand fits to glove.

It would, in fact, not be wrong to call her a cordon bleu global citizen who shuttles between continents. Born and schooled in Kolkata, she pursued her undergraduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. Soon after college, this youngest scion of the Apeejay Surrendra Group had to jump into the family business when the Pauls lost their patriarch, and all three siblings Karan, Priya, and Priti had to fill his large shoes.

Priti was sent to the UK, where she worked her way up in the male-dominated shipping enterprise of the family. It wasn't long before she met her Moroccan husband, Joauad Kadiri, a hotelier and a man with as intense a taste in the arts as her. They had a fairy-tale wedding that got covered by global glossies and Priti has remained the toast of glamour media, besides making her presence felt with the culture writers and the business press. Three gorgeous sons — Jad, Kais, and Jai a castle-like hotel in Marrakech and an equally strong repertoire of business portfolios to manage keep her on her tiny toes.

"I think we all are reinventing ourselves in the post-Covid scenario, decluttering our lives, doing what truly pleases us, and going beyond the brief," she shares.