Naresh Kumar: “What is the essence of Valentine’s Day?”

Hmm. “Love?”

He smiles. “Yes.”

The interview began with the interviewer turning into interviewee. As long as he wasn’t serving tennis questions, it was okay. Love is a topic that’s easier to tackle.

We are sitting in the living room of the Kumars in Middleton Mansions. Mrs Kumar is always a picture of perfection, those pastels and pearls. Today she wears a sari by luxury label Hermes, one of the many designs she spearheaded in a unique collaboration some years ago. Mr Kumar is getting ready. He emerges from the bedroom, all suited up.

We settle in for the “Valentine’s Day interview”. They are quite the couple to feature in this issue. Having shared more than 50 years of togetherness, their story needs to be told.

So for starters, was their marriage arranged? “Arranged to the extent that we were introduced, and then it took off,” smiles the Mrs.

The Mr fills in the details. They were introduced at a lunch at his brother’s home without his knowledge. “She sprung a surprise on me by turning up for lunch!” They knew each other for a week before they got engaged. Three months later, they got married. It was November 1961.

Does he remember what she was wearing at THE lunch? “Yes,” he says, “a sari”. She says, “My mother told me that I must wear a sari. There’s a difference in our age, otherwise she thought I would look too much of a kid!”

There is a gap of 14 years between them. But she says that was never a problem. He smiles and pitches in; “one of us had to be mature!” She laughs. No wonder she picks his sense of humour as the quality she loves most.

They look totally in sync, complementing each other at every step but surely something about him must have irritated her back in the day? She thinks for a minute. “When we first met, at that time he was playing a lot of tennis. His priority was to go to the club. And for me, my meal was very important — I had to either wait or have a salad! But I was young. And I didn’t think tennis was the be all and end all.” The Mr smiles his Zen-smile and adds: “I had to go to the club to train and practise.”

The quality he loves most about her is her tenacity cloaked in all her gentleness. “I revel in all her achievements, as a social worker, as a fashion icon, I especially love her ability to make friends.”

Clearly, the secret to their togetherness is that they genuinely appreciate each other and are happy to participate in each other’s activities. And the art of prioritisation. “Running a good home is admirable. And Sunita does it remarkably. When she wanted to join Mother Teresa, Mother said that Sunita should first look after her own home and family and then go to Mother’s. I believe that you can always find time to do what you really want to do.”

Mrs Kumar made sure she was home every day when their three kids came back from school. “It requires great skill to raise a family, have a career, keep your husband happy, navigate through problems… I have always thought that running a home is much more tedious than going to office.”

So, does he still give her compliments? “He has to!” They laugh.

They love travelling together. She likes shopping for him. “She likes shopping. Period. That’s another key to a happy relationship!”