Dilip and Jacqueline Kapur are like fire and ice. She is a quintessential straight-shooting German who doesn’t mince her words, while Dilip is the more laidback kind, with a lot less to say. He indulgently watches his wife tell it like it is, a tiny smile playing around his lips, as we sit in their elegantly done-up home in Auroville. The home was built one kid at time — it was just one room-and-a-half when Jacqueline moved in. One room was added when their son Milan, who is now 22, was born, and another after the birth of their daughter, Ayesha. They added the terrace after acquiring a wrought iron staircase from an antique dealer with no idea what they were going to do with it. The couple met 26 years ago when Jacqueline came to India as a tourist and was visiting friends in Puducherry. Dilip has lived in Auroville since his family moved there when he was four.