Ours is ‘I am 16 going on 17’ kind of love story. We knew each other since childhood, but only in our late teens, we started to develop affection for each other,” narrates Ujjwal Khanna, 46, about his love story with wife Kanupriya.
“We went for a movie on our first date. He didn’t reach out to hold my hand till the intermission, when he nervously asked me if he could do so for the rest of the movie; I thought ‘that is so sweet!’” remembers Kanupriya, 45.
This year, the two complete 25 years of knowing each other; then being married, running their primary ventures, and a baby venture, Karamele.
While Ujjwal joined his family business of hosiery manufacturing, Kanupriya was pursuing a career in healthcare. She did a Masters in Dietetics from SNDT University in Mumbai and MSc in Nutrition from King’s College. After surviving a long distance relationship and spending all theirs and their friends’ pocket money on late night STD calls, and taking Kanupriya’s sisters’ permission to marry her, they finally got hitched in 2003.
The idea of Karamele grew when Kanupriya’s mother was diagnosed with gluten and dairy intolerance, two decades ago. “I was at King’s then. I started researching to formulate a diet like quinoa, soya milk and yogurt but had not experimented with them in the kitchen.”
Then their daughter was born and found to be allergic to eggs, yeast, berries, and a few other foods, and followed by her son, who had the same problem. “Each time I took my children to birthday parties, I had to stop them from eating cake and pizzas. It broke my heart. So, I started experimenting in the kitchen. I substituted refined flour with quinoa flour, oats flour and sorghum flour. Instead of sugar I started to add organic jaggery and/or honey,” she adds.
Ujjwal is a hardcore Punjabi, but Kanupriya’s cooking slowly improved his nutrition. “In the Karamele journey also, I became her obvious guinea pig, and encouraged her to take the craft to a larger audience,” says Ujjwal.
With an endeavour to help people understand that a healthier lifestyle need not come at the cost of sacrificing cravings, the two started Karamele, offering a range of desserts and snacks devoid of preservatives and artificial flavourings.
Ujjwal offered to lead the business side, so his wife could focus on the creative, nutritional and the quality of the products. “When we started to plan our commercial kitchen, she decided on the brands, while I took care of the procurement and financing,” he adds. Setting up the commercial kitchen, they say, is their most memorable project together. Kanupriya says, “The best part of having him alongside was that I could ask the most basic questions without hesitation, or even wake him up at night if I realised I had to change my requirements.”
While most husbands will be envious to know Kanupriya doesn’t like to go for shopping, Ujjwal says he’s a self-confessed gadget nerd, “and so I am the person who handles all the tech-related aspects of the house.”
Ujjwal leaves for work at 10:00am and is back by 7:30pm , he has carved out extra time for Karamele. “Once a week, I work from home to focus all my attention towards Karamele.” His wife practices yoga on waking up, and before beginning the online clinic, she visits the kitchen and makes sure the staff knows what needs to be done. “In between my online appointments, I make sure to visit the kitchen again, and finally wind up by 7:00pm,” she says.
Well-wishers told Kanupriya that working with spouse could be overwhelming. “However, in our case, it is 1+1=11.” Ujjwal agrees that conflicts arise sometimes, “but empathy and gratitude go a long way in relieving stress and unnecessary frustrations.” Ujjwal is the realist and the better negotiator, admits Kanupriya, but he quips, “Her drive and planning is better than mine. I am organised, but not to her extent.”
Covid impacted them hugely. Both got the virus in the first wave, so production had to be moved to their home kitchen. “In the second wave, we had stalled production at Karamele for a few weeks before the peak had set in. But we won’t compromise on quality,” he adds.
Next, they want to expand Karamele out of Delhi and yet franchisee is not a model they are keen on. “Our future plans are centered on evaluating how to achieve this goal. I also want to increase our range of products and flavours,” concludes Kanupriya.
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