Size 4 at 40

But the lady isn’t about to take this seriously. “Of course I can accept a compliment,” she insists,“But I’m not the sort to allow anyone to fawn over me constantly.”

We are meeting at her expansive home — a beautiful bungalow that teases the Arabian Sea as if it owns it — a home where her pals have seen as many nights of revelry as they have intimate lunches. We’re invited to lunch this time,and Chulani promises home-cooked vegetarian staples. This,from someone who made us fall in love with oysters. “I’ve turned vegetarian. I just don’t think you need to kill to be healthy,” she explains. Chulani is a famous gourmand,she’s written articles on her passion — food — for several publications,beginning with this newspaper. “But I still have an opinion of what people order at restaurant,” she laughs.

She steps into her art-filled hall dressed as she’s probably never done before — in basic black tracks and a vest,hair tousled as if she’s just rolled of bed,sans makeup. She looks gorgeous,a decade younger if that’s a beauty benchmark.

“I am now a size 4,earlier I had to squeeze into a size 8,” she accepts. “I had a lifestyle where I went out a lot and always had the odd glass of wine,but I never seemed to have the balance that an exercise routine gives you. I’ve disciplined myself now.”

Chulani’s regime is enviably easy. “I wake up to two cups of masala chai — with sugar. And I can’t bear green tea,” she giggles,as her three pugs,Oscar,Milo and Munchkin,run about. “An hour of yoga and then I get on with my regular day.” Salads are de rigeur,but with lots of yummy cheese sprinkled on. No flour but delicious millet rotis are on the menu. “Life is too short to deny yourself anything: but you can’t have wine and cheese and bread all at once.”

Of course,her wardrobe choices have changed. “I used to be a very conservative dresser,” she says. “Now I’m more experimental,the hemlines and necklines are a bit more daring.”

Her two kids (Tiana,who is aching to get a flight to take her back to school in England,and Tzar,who has an opinion on everything) “haven’t dwelled” on her weight-loss too much. “They love me in any case; they think I’m the best thing since sliced bread.”

Friends with benefits
Avanti Birla:She is so slim,she’s looking amazing these days
Indu Mahtani:She’s in her 50s and is very fit
Haseena Jethmalani:She always looks 18; you’d never believe she’s a mother of three
Laila Lamba:I’ve seen her in a swimsuit and she looks even better