Eat, Pray, Love

The Restaurateurs: Deepa Awchat, 55, & Suhas Awchat, 56 Married: 31 Years.
 

- Rachna Virdi

Deepa Awchat couldn’t have received a more perfect ‘wedding gift’ from her doting husband—a restaurant of their own, to satisfy the cravings of her restless Goan palate. That’s how the homey and charming Goa Portuguesa was launched in Mumbai 30 years ago.

Partners at home and at work, Deepa and Suhas are as different as chalk and cheese. Suhas says, “She cooks food, I cook up stories.” Yet they are perfectly in sync, and still very much in love, they point out. Before they met, Suhas was a qualified psychiatrist, after a stint as a sharpshooter in the Army and commanding officer with the Home Guards. Deepa, a table tennis champion, was a special officer with the Central Excise & Customs in Mumbai. They first saw each other in 1984, when Deepa was posted at Goa airport and Suhas was flying to Goa. It was love at first sight—for Suhas, at least! The two met again at a concert in Mumbai. Now, it was Deepa’s turn to be smitten by the filmy romantic, dressed in a kurta and shawl. When they were introduced, the sparks flew; six months later, they tied the knot. “It was his sense of humour and jovial nature that attracted me,” reminisces Deepa.