Asian Power Couples
Kirit & Meena Pathak
Kirit & Meena Pathak
Patak’s, which was founded in 1957 by Laxmishanker G. Pathak, was sold by his son Kirit
Pathak to Associated British Foods on 30 May 2007 for £200 million. Patak’s supplies 75% of
British curry houses with sauces and mixed spices, and sells ready meals to all the major UK
supermarkets and other major retailers throughout Europe and North America. Kirit Pathak
helped his father’s fledgling business at the age of 10, leaving his academic studies at 17 to
join the business full time. Meena Pathak, whom he met in India in 1976 has a degree in Food
Technology and Hotel Management and joined the business after their marriage. One of her
first big successes was an authentic tandoori paste and she has since gone on to write three
successful cook books. Kirit Pathak is chairman of the combined business of Patak’s and Blue
Dragon in the Associated British Foods group and Meena is also a director. Kirit Pathak (1990)
and Meena Pathak (2002) have both been appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire
(OBE) for services to the food industry.
Anjna Raheja & Raj Ghai
A graduate of Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford, Anjna Raheja is an expert marketer,
with extensive experience in the public, travel, lifestyle and corporate sector. She founded
Media Moguls in 1994 and it quickly became the first port of call for many top brands wanting
to target the UK’s ethnic audiences. The portfolio of clients over the years has included UK
Government agencies and companies including: Ford Motor Co, Jaguar Cars, Lloyds Bank,
Diageo, Cobra Beer, VeeTee Rice, Sky, Star TV, Sony TV, Virgin Atlantic, Lebara Mobile and many
others.
Raj Ghai has been a director of Media Moguls since its launch running the Music and
Entertainment division. He has worked with many top names over the years including Jay Sean,
Raghav, Rishi Rich, Panjabi Hit Squad and a host of others. Additionally, the company has been
the force behind the British PR of numerous feature films including Slumdog Millionaire, Bend
it Like Beckham, My Name is Khan, The Infidel and most recently West Is West and the urban
comedy Anuvahood.
Mark Ramprakash & Puja Vedi Ramprakash
Mark Ravin Ramprakash MBE is a former English cricketer. A right-handed batsman, he initially
made his name playing for Middlesex, and was selected for England aged 21. He is one of only
25 players in the history of the sport to have scored 100 first-class centuries. In November 2012,
he was announced as the batting coach for Lions in India. In January 2013 he was appointed as
batting coach for Middlesex, on a two-year contract. Off the pitch, he is best known for winning
BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing in 2006 with dancing partner Karen Hardy. He married Puja Vedi in
2012. Mark was awarded an MBE in 2013 for services to cricket.
Mark Ramprakash & Puja Vedi Ramprakash
Puja Vedi Ramprakash is a freelance journalist, PR consultant and director of LiveStyle Media,
a boutique trade/consumer PR agency specialising in all things lifestyle, film and events. After
gaining a Bachelors degree in English from Royal Holloway, University of London, she joined
Zee TV as an Assistant Researcher in 1996. Several other roles for Showbiz Magazine, Hancock
Information Group, Standard & Poor’s, Tandoori Magazine - Cobra Beer, Liquid Magazine and
Asian Enterprise followed before she set up LiveStyle Media in 2007.
27