From $3 NYC to Millionaire Chef - How did Vikas Khanna change his Fortune

[Music] You are born with a disability and here you are as a Michelin star chef and you came to New York and you had $3. So your story on paper does not make any sense to me. I moved to New York in 2000. I did more than 30 jobs here. Cleaning homes, toilets. What is this? What is this? What is this? What is this? What is this? It doesn't make sense just not on paper. It doesn't make sense anywhere. [Laughs] Nothing. Nothing connects to our inner life. [Music] I sometimes I feel my sister was completely delusional. [Laughs] One day people magazine, people magazine happen. [Music] One day your Michelin star, same week. I am doing, I got the Michelin. Same week I am hosting a martyred chef and you go and tell your grandmom that I did it. Once my mother didn't enjoy my meal and it crushed my world. [Music] Because I was only cooking to impress a few inspectors. [Music] That hurt me most. [Music] My sister, on her deathbed at Columbia hospital, she said, "Isbar de khainge, Indian hospitality, Ksbar, are you de khainge?" And then, my mother said that this is your last promise to this. [Music] So if there is a 20-year-old chef who is watching this right now, what do you think he can do or she can do to become Vikas Khanna by 2044. I love what I do. [Music] I constantly hear no people investing or we're going to take more pranglo. Fantastic. What do you mean take more pranglo? What do you mean? [Music] Michael Bard. [Music] Hi sir, welcome to the Indian Business Podcast. Absolutely. Sir, I am so excited to see you today because you are one of the biggest inspirations in India. And you are an icon because everybody looks at you and they know that the American dream is still alive. And they can pursue that American dream. And more importantly sir, I feel so proud that Indian restaurant is doing so well. Everybody is talking about bungalow in India. And when I told them that I'm about to do a podcast and I'm going to New York, they're like, "Are you meeting Vikas Khanna by any chance?" I was like, "Yeah, I am meeting Vikas Khanna." Oh my God, that was the reaction. Standard. And that is such an amazing thing, sir. I'm going absolutely humbling. I think what a unique journey it also feels like that it's success belongs to the country. I feel that that is something very unique which happened to the last ending of my career. Sir, your story on paper does not make any sense to me. You are born with a disability and here you are as a Michelin star chef, a celebrity chef. You're also a filmmaker and an author. And you came to New York and you had three dollars. How do you piece it all together, sir? Walk me through your journey and take me back to 1970s India when you were born and your family. Wow. So it doesn't make sense just not on paper. Nothing connects to all my life. So I feel that anything which was something a roadblock was my biggest turning point. Not able to run was my turning point towards a kitchen. If I was running like everyone else I would become like just like everyone else. And my mom used to tell me that you were never born to walk. You're always born to fly. She was trying to cover up that he can't even run properly like other kids. So no competition with a partner, he's a player. We started a lot of jeep, but now when you turn back you feel oh my god. That's why you fell in love with something which was so internal like cooking. Whiskyabad you jump into the space where you're going to have your own business. So you're 15 and how do you raise the capital you start knitting because I was raised by my grandmom and mom. So I could knit so fast. So we made sweaters and we made the first capital to run lawns garden to start it. And that's a very hard on right now in today's currencies about $100. But it was a big moment for me to have that. Yeah, oh my god, it hit me hard right now talking to you. I remember the summer and making sweaters behind. Nothing makes sense. And when my uncle said, you know, if this guy, the way he's so passionate about cooking and food and serving, if he was in America they will really have the entire country will come together to celebrate this. And here we constantly humiliate him in one form or the other every single day I see that. At everybody's giving him names, he's like, what is he doing? What is he doing? He's making food. Like, let derogatory words cannot be undefined and I live a bite and I never need to take it personally or seriously because my grandmother used to say, choose happiness. She used to say choose happiness then a career because it'll turn your whatever you choose, it'll turn into success and choose purpose to a business. That they should have some purpose of why you're doing something and you love feeding people. Universe is also enjoying this. I think she's here in uploading in the form of rain. And then you start your business and business gets shut down by local authorities and they crush the whole business. And again, a road stopped. Entire thing was closed. You moved to the US. So nothing makes sense. One thing which really made me strike that my destiny has been written by the divine intervention was I went to study at Manipal and they never put me in the hostel. If they had put me in the hostel, I would have never discovered Urupi which became the foundation of my cooking. So I was put into a small hotel next to Lord Krishna's temple at Krishna Mart and that changed my life. How? Yes, Punjabi was a girl. I only knew certain kind of cooking. She was a butter chicken, paneer pakora and kulf chas and chanas. When I went to Krishna temple, the first dish I ever had, as a prasad was men's cake. It's a coconut and pineapple or green mango curry. My entire perspective changed. It turned me into a rebel. I don't care about the different sources. I don't care about the confidant cooking. I don't care about this. They lag everything. We've been made to believe that the entire thing is a scam to make us believe that that cuisine is superior. While it has no depth. And we can all come after me. Even many young kids come after me and say, "No, no, no. French is a supreme." I'm like, "No. Every cuisine is supreme. It's civilizational. It's belt on so many generations." So my role was that it was a very big university. And that's why it just doesn't make sense. So, talk to me about your mother and grandmother. Because I know for a fact, my mother has shaped my character. And she told me in the beginning that, "I can't give you a lot of money in connections, but I can give you a great character. And that will shape your life." I didn't know what it meant back then. I was like, "I would rather have the money." But now looking back, I realized that character is everything. My question is, how did your grandmother and mother shape your character? I think because I worked in the same industry. So my mom was running the operations of me. Grandmother was a cook. So, one thing that I was most surprised about in the first class, when I was in the Khaname, was that you have to serve with great energy. And even if people are humiliating you, because food comes with divine intervention. There's a billions of years of evolution happening in nature so that those ingredients come to you. Our contribution to cook to them is like maybe an hour a day, but how much the universe has created with that energy, that food, you are representing that. So, I was very angry because I was very scared to run the bankboards. I was in the bus stop. And the top of the. What was the situation like? What were the teachings? Because without any financial restrooms, we had our bankboards. So, if we were not able to get a job, we would have to eat some food. But we had problems with our jobs. We didn't have staff. You know, a small business is a very difficult. Life and entrepreneur. That's how many people go back to a safety belt of doing jobs. This is like every day is a new issue. And if you're not ready for it, you're not signed up for it. Then you can walk out, but you signed up for this. And you have to deal with it. And that is what I learned. The sense of powerful discipline of this business. Because you can even buy a car with a car. And that was something. I saw that. My mom cleaning sewages, toilets, people shouting at her. You know, it's staff business. You know, the talk was still 1980s. There was no camera. So, you can record people's misbehavior. So, it was like you were subjected to such level of degradation in so many ways. I learned from them the power of patience. I learned that food is energy. And how you serve is even more important than how you cook. How you serve is even more important than how you cook. The grandmother used to say. And what was your grandmother like? You call her BG right? What was she like? Absolutely genius, poetic, generous, Bade bade bartande kharo me. Ami kahani bha dai chadi te ki chabindia pakistan ka partitionowa. To BG was instrumental of people who were moving to Pakistan, to say that, you know, I'll take care of your daughters and all. Aap ho ke aap, deke ke aap kahra naapko. And, raise so many kids, so good to us. We didn't even know that we're not our families. Raise so many kids. Sare naevers ki bha chai ghar pe khani bhani hai. Ghar pe bha daa vel tha. As she did, I don't know, I don't think so shini hot, ko anything in small batches. Ok. Aap hain ita. Mere chappi te ka itti vadi parathi arti ki. Mere chappi te ka, do bori matra chili saare ghar me. Am bhai to bhees dubbe amaare hai. Put, where do the money come from? This is not very expensive. Ami sa is not as expensive as, you know, the things are now. It's not a very, and you know, we're close to very farms. Amrisaar is that land. It's a very blessed soil. ki ghar me, Gheum, Bandra, sab kuch, everything is homemade. So, I felt that looking at her and her power to be so generous. And, she would one line which I always quote of hers is that she says ki, Niyat no paag lagda. Barkatna niyatanaande hai. Which means that your intentions are the gravity of your success. Your intentions are the reason they'll be abundance. Your intentions are the main source of how business actually begins. Gharad. And, sorry, once your business got destroyed, what did you do? So, I'm obsessed by this singer's called Samar and Garfunkel. So, they used to have a song called Boxer. And, I used to love the song Boxer. Samu, you know, I used to know that it was not. Boxer, my favorite song was in the world. Okay. Or, that song is about Niyak, about a lonely boy who comes to Niyak. Something that felt that, oh my god, that story, is, there's a message, not just a song. And then, I just read a book called Jonathan Livingston Seagal, which my brother gave me. And, that also defined me that they could be higher skies when you feel that you're limited. Or, wo belie, wo ht, important tha. And then, I moved to Niyak in 2000. And, did more than 30 jobs here. Small cooking in houses, holding signs of subways, sandwiches, cleaning homes, toilets. Going to kids' homes and cooking for the whole week. Kana. Delhi's me karm kana. But, look, a connection to the other bankers. Me karm kana. Jama jata it tha. But step by step, you discovered that there's a whole world which loves hardworking people. And honest people. A world opens their doors for them. And constantly, I saw that happen. That I would be cleaning the building where I live. I used to clean apartments and cook for them. I'm going up. And, top $3 in my first pocket. Asa to my kawala, I used to get my bank tickets from there. I used to get my tickets from there. Because, I was young and I was always very like, okay, surgery, because I learned the tricks that how making people feel great is one of the biggest gift that God gave me. That was fine, but experiencing homelessness for months. So, talk to me about that night. You had $3 in your pocket. And you were homeless. I used to live with the young people who were with the chefs. So, they took me out. Because, I could not do the rent that month. So, monthly and weekly, I was at the mass of the house. It was the highest time period. So, I'm thinking that I must, there must be a way that I have to get back home back to Amrit sir. And that is when I've went to New York Rescue Mission. It's a homeless shelter. It's out of Canal Street. Now, it's called the Bauri Mission. It's one of the oldest homeless shelters in this country. And for me to be there and to feel that bottom of how things are for me and how I have to pull myself up. And there was no other choice for me. But somehow, I felt the energy of that shelter and that kitchen was like golden temple. And my brain was foggy. I was freezing. But I kept connecting the two dots. And this is similar to what experienced at Krishna, temple in Urdupi and the golden temple. This is so similar to me. That they're not asking me, "Who am I? What's my faith? Who do I come from? What's my status?" It's so similar in a way. And they're feeding me. And I think it was also a way that your career, your path, everything is based on that energy. That how you pull yourself up. And that was my lowest point, became my foundation. And I'm very proud of it. So, what is the role of delusion in your life? Oh, a very good delusion question. I have a favourite hero in India. She's the shortest girl in the world. Jyoti Namonka. If I was sundering here, she's my favourite person. Because she asked me a lot about her. She asked me, "Who is your favourite person?" She said, "Guruji, why?" She said, "Guruji always lies." So, the guy was interviewing God confused. What does that mean? All the family members are both friends. If you're a small girl, then you're a grown up girl. You're not your friend. They're telling me the facts. I know. But Guruji says, "You're the most beautiful girl in the world." You're going to have an amazing life. Some days, we need to hear that. To shift the negativity which the world injects into us. Similar, as a brown guy, started working in America from the very bottom, worked with some of the greatest chefs in the world. Constantly being told that this cuisine has a limitation. It has to be hyphenated. This has to be hyphenated cuisine. What is hyphenated, sir? Modern Indian, Indian Italian, Indian Latin, Indian French, French Indian, American Indian, Molecular Indian, this Indian, that Indian. The Thagya was, "Why can't it be just Indian cuisine? Why is it less?" If people of the native cuisine, these are made to believe that you're inferior, there is no way you can feel that you can compete with people. Because before the competition starts, you've been made to feel that you're less. So, constantly the hyphenation game was too powerful. No, no, no, it's never going to be working for you. Let's put like modern Indian, this Indian. So, Shurishwara may too be feel that you need to be seen. You need to do this. I did everything. I've been in the city hustling for 26 years. Even now, sitting with you are hustling. That this is a very tough city. And it's also a city with no memory. You could be the greatest icon in the city and tomorrow. No one even remembers your name. So, if the city teaches you to live in present moment, when sometimes I hear somebody opening a restaurant and the first line is, I wanted to open a restaurant in New York because there was no good Indian restaurant. And I am going to be the first time. I am going to come and cash all the Indian restaurants. I'm thinking, bro, why don't you lift yourself up and lift others with you? It's a positive sum game. Your DNA would shift. I constantly hear now people are investing. Or are you going to take more bungalow? Fantastic. What do you mean, take more bungalow? What do you mean? Bro, you're going to jump into this. That you hear the narrative. I don't care. You don't stand and sit here if you've not gone through all that. But my mission here is that you don't say that there was no good Indian restaurant before me. I want to teach American what great Indian food is. Bro, people given their circumstances with the investments, with the money and with the dreams and the shortages and the challenges they must have faced to start the QS in this country. Don't degrade them. You are an extension of them. Celebrate them because we are standing on their shoulders. People while talking to Vikas Khanda at his restaurant, I realized that the biggest challenge of running a restaurant is in the food. It is the chaos in operating the restaurant. And if you're running a cafe, bakery or a bar, you know this very well. One busy evening, one wrong table order, one misplaced bill, and suddenly you have angry customers, a confused kitchen, and money leaking from everywhere. And this is where Odo's POS for restaurants can help you out. Once you set it up, you can organize your floors and tables to match your actual layout, so that the staff always knows which table ordered what. Orders are taken directly from the POS and sent instantly to the kitchen or bar with no paper chits and shouting across the counter. Billing becomes extremely smooth, and you can print bill in advance, split them anywhere the customer wants, and even collect tips directly through the POS. On top of that, you can set different rates for dialing and take away, manage and customize your menu, create combo meals, and keep track of what's in stock so that you never promise what you do not have. You can even integrate Swiggy and Sumato orders or let customers place in pay for a self-service kiosk. And the best part is that your first Odo application is free for life with hosting and support. So if you want to run your restaurant in the most efficient manner possible, check out the link in the description and try Odo's point of sale for your restaurant today. The first person to celebrate a message when And it is a great milestone happening in my life, it's always praying for Chopra. First, my friend, what did she do? Because she knows what it takes to be on that status, to be on the top of the list. Which we don't care for, we don't see it, it doesn't matter to us. It matters to you because it's representation of found the world's largest countries. So I feel celebrating as an extension is your biggest character test. What you said character, that character what your mom gave you was not about running a business. Character is when nobody is watching you. Rest is all what the cameras are on. The character is watching, nobody is watching. Yeah, interesting. So when you were homeless and you had no way around, did you tell yourself that you're going to become the man that you are today? Not really. What was the story that you're telling yourself? I was saying, "Savive this brother, survive." Because sleeping on those bunkers was also a big challenge. Because there were a lot of people who had their own issues and. I was also scared of children, very scared of me. And any child who's been bullied a lot when they were growing up, has also got a switch in their mind. It generally is off. But some moments just burst electricity in the brain. It shocks your brain and you start shivering. Because you're reliving that moment of being bullied where you can't run away. So there are some moments where you're living in a very mixed environment. Like, sir, shouldn't talk. But dark nights are there to be forgotten by the light of the sun. But you felt that, "No, you have to get up. Now you have to go home and not go home." What do I do when I go to the office? I felt I would have become a burden on my parents. I started my work at the bank. And the gap came and I was demoralized and I was broken totally. So now the choice is to become a person who will have to come. And because I was always trained in certain fields, your craft was always so respected by your own soul. There is a difference. All those things happen much later on. How to join these thoughts and use this as a business plan. Most of the time, I was a child of a child. So how did you go on to cook for Barack Obama? And I want everybody who's right now struggling, who's in their hustle phase to listen to this, what exactly helps you climb that ladder over 10 years? Like, what are the attributes that meet the man that you are today? My sister is the one who gets maximum credit for my career. And in 2004, I cooked crore the James Beard House. I'm going to fast forward this for people who are listening that the power of not giving up. I was doing a job at Salam Obama Restaurant in Tribeca and got my green cards. And everything in 2004, cooked at the James Beard House, one of the most respectable places in the culinary world. And when they asked me to say a few words, I said nothing because I was going to say, "I'm going to enroll you in English-speaking classes because you'll have to learn this language because Monday you're going to represent entire Southeast Asia." I was very angry. I was very angry. I was like, "What will you do when you're at the stage?" "The power of delusion." So he enrolled me in the English classes. How old were you? I was about 35, 34. And I was like, "What happened?" I used to listen to him later. I used to listen to him later. He was like a twin tubing. After that, we started. 9/11 had happened. There were fundings coming to downtown to revive it. So there was a small restaurant which started working in. It's called a spice route. Tandur Pallas, all the little little projects. There was a girl there. She saw me. And she said, "Oh, my God. Look at this guy. He cooks. He takes the cash. He's talking to everyone. Every time you go, he's the same energy. I was still young. I'm getting a chance in New York City, honoring that there's nothing a small position. She was one of the line producers of Gordon Ramsay. He introduced me to Gordon Ramsay. He got it on the say, "This is a Bollywood star. I'm not. I'm just a very honest chef." He puts me on a show called Kitchen Nightmares. And the clip is still online, I guess. It's this is 2005. And suddenly, you're every newspaper in the country that who was this guy who was on the show. And I was there for a few minutes. I came in as a consultant. Again, honoring that moment. The owners of the restaurant said, "Would you please stay and improve this restaurant? I'm like 100%." I committed to it. Taking that position very honestly. Ghanan Ramsi comes back after few months his bro you keep working hard like this you're going to get a Michelin star I recommend this Wow It was a dream it was something that was never able to get hold of in this country You know when things happen you forget how did it happen again on ring that position 2008 the economy fell in the toilet in the country Restaurant gone, add a cooking school gone, add a catering company all in debt gone I met Dalai Lama his holiness He tells me or failure sets you free And I've seen that My bankers was not broken I was never free to travel because constantly I was doing that Again on ring that advise I travel to Thibhat Nepal Bhutan But not India not Pakistan The road such a big journal which became my one my most best selling books Which got James Gayan nomination In France got humiliated like crazy that why Indians are brown people can't cook They should just be cleaning and deliveries and store management they're never going to be leaders My fear of my college came back to me when teachers told us the same thing At Yakhuzin our Indian teachers telling you that Yakhuzin is never going to be on the center stage It's a side cuisine Pushed me so hard came back to New York honoring that moment of humiliation Opened you known within nine and a half months got a Michelin star How difficult is it to get a Michelin star? Yes I don't know, there's no rule, no fund, no one So no one knows How do you get a know score? Too many people are coming and checking on and voting for you right? Internally we don't know they are Same week I got a Michelin Same week I'm hosting MasterChef India So you're in front of 200 million people the same week And you go and tell your grandmom that I did it And after a few weeks she passed away Again on during that moment that I do this I just feel that everything which is constant is constantly standing up again Everybody's going to fall any dreamer everybody's going to fall Even in jobs you're going to fall, fall to How quickly you get up I've never been given the like I feel the privilege of grief I never had a moment to grieve for something which was taken away from me Because I was always thinking of Agla Kaya Every business is built on that I think the only thing which is so internal and broken he was when a lost Masterster But constantly I'm pushing myself Today we are going to show you what we are going to do I have had self published five books before I could publish 42 books How much guts are required to keep constantly self published books and not selling it coming up with new ideas Genuine was not my first restaurant It was my fifth restaurant Fifth restaurant Chote Chote Chote Chote restaurant Kole Kaya Kaya Kaya Kaya Kaya So everything what you're seeing that all this opportunity is too small That is the foundation You've got to make the pyramid upside down I've seen one to many people say that sir this of us is too small for me They said I'm not going to do this I'm not going to do this That's amazing And then 2008 Wisconsin Gurudwara there was a shooting happening In coming back to the administration So I was making a documentary on holy kitchens That why the shooting really hurt me so badly that nobody should be targeted for the faith I come from that learnings So I saw that your connection to the White House increased Suddenly because this saw my god this guy represents a unique universal language Through food he's telling stories Traveled all over the US Most of the Abhili colleges telling the story And you started building up something which no Indian chef had ever built up Till that date That there was an amazing access to the White House That you're doing dinners and you're doing Southwick meals at the White House conferences Imagine this is the same guy who absolutely disregarded the fact that he was less Because his sister said like my Guruji my sister said he is my share That Guruji is my sister What are you talking about? I am sitting one day people will come. magazine, I'm like, you should, Masakad is there. And people in Pakistan happen, one day, you know, Michelin star. Yeah, it was a very better sweet moment for me. But see, some days you've got to believe in that, because nobody else is going to trust that, that is possible. Now you see almost every guide around the world has Indian restaurant as a Michelin. Yeah, waited. But whose time paid the struggle of convincing people that this is possible? And to win it eight years and then to restart your career and say, no, I'm going to take this even higher without the Western world's validation. So this is a very unique thing. It's just one common thread, which I find in the delusion of the past. I have sometimes I feel my sister was completely delusioned to even tell me that this is going to happen a few decades ago. Those are four months. By two years, she predicted that two billion people will be represented by single voice. How do you make sense of that? Yeah, that's crazy, sir. [SPEAKING SPANISH] This has to be defined by energy. So a lot of people have big dreams. And they believe in being delusional. But what separates people who actually go and achieve it? And people who just keep dreaming. Constantly executing it. Consistently living up for it. People say, oh, I'm in-- I just didn't-- I've done it here. And no article came in the magazine. I'm just looking at myself. Like, a brother. And a B-salt dinners gave a cast of mention to you. But you don't know what is a holy circuit. It suddenly brings this to attention. Holy circuit. Like, how did you living in New York City would be selected to represent and replace Aksha Kumar on MasterChef India? The world's biggest washroom. And to do it for 20 years, consistency. People actually think that if they reach the target and are it over, you can execute it. You can expand it now. Sorry. It's a lot of trouble. I just feel that the entire thing, which I feel that we don't have many Indian brands globally with all my respect, that we have the potential, is we want to expand like every chef have met, every entrepreneur have met. We are going to be $7 trillion, $1 trillion, $1 trillion at Toronto. I don't understand. Which city should we go? Where should we go? Bro, every city will have its own challenges. It's great to dream, but it should be step by step. It's very, very important, especially in hospitality world, to eye not just structure before you go globally. And some restaurant groups are doing it. And amazing for them. But, I really think that a successful delusional matmano, suddenly that also disappears, because it's based on a value system of the group. So, as a very successful person today, can you tell me, how are you hustling today so that people can actually benchmark their hustle with regards to what you're learning today? [SPEAKING KANAPANESE] [SPEAKING KANAPANESE] What is it about? It is only about that. And to find your happiness in what you do, it's so understated. I love what I do. [SPEAKING KANAPANESE] Very few times you meet people who are happy in what they are doing. They're not seeking external validation. [SPEAKING KANAPANESE] The little happiness what you bring that brings extreme multiplication values when you're giving them away. [SPEAKING KANAPANESE] And we talk to them. We have gifts for them. There's a table outside only for mid-ice. [SPEAKING KANAPANESE] I just think it's a different thing. So, all those people who are struggling, running a business, I feel at the last project of my career, I feel it was all about happiness. There's never going to be enough money. There's never going to be enough awards and enough accolades. But little happiness is enough. So then why are you making films and writing books? So, I was just talking to Jay. And Jay told me that you'd be doing injustice to Vikas Khanna. If you just call him a chef, he's not a chef. So I asked him, Jay, how would you define Vikas Khanna? He says, you know what, bro? I would just call him Vikas Khanna. That does make a lot of sense because you're writing books, you're making films, you're also a chef. And you just greet all of it. Why? Why are you doing all of those things? Well, I've got a lot of rare opportunities. A lot of rare. Like when we read the article, we get one single billion. We get one opportunity. When you're not just running a business, you're bridging gaps between two nations. If the presidents are running for re-elections, they are calling you for dinner to host dinners. Because you know, it carries weight. You're re-election. You're talking about elections. So it's a very rare position. When there are some mishaps happening within the community, you're one of the arbitrators to teach people about what is a universal voice we carry. As an Indian, you can never be singular. We are all this plural, which is our gift to us, by ancestors. That's the DNA of India. How can I be singular? When I was a Hindu child, I learned to learn to eat in the early days. My first teacher was a Jew. He was a Muslim. I was at my house. Look at that. I turned towards Jainism when I had to heal my sister. I went to Catholic school. Please tell me that how am I singular? But for me, not to tell these stories will be injustice. And I stretch myself because I also don't take mental pressure of things. When things fail, I have an answer. Something amazing is going to happen. You know, there was a time when every week I was offered television show after the success of Master Shia. I've not done a single show. I've been doing this for 20 years. Because the moment people see you, they don't even know your name, Master Shia. So I love that. To hold something which you believe in and only do that. Books are important. Literature is very important. Writing 42 books. I've written novels, children's books. Cook books. It's very important to have a genre made. I've promised my father. And I feel God is my partner. And how do you find wonderful partners like Samir and Jay? God is my partner. They are all the energies of God. I feel. How do you meet them, sir? I met him at Genon. He was working with us there almost like two decades ago. And Samir is the business partner. Jimmy is the one who got me in the project. And then I met Shalabhabi who designed the restaurant. Shalar is me. And then when I met Masha, everything changed. Who's Masha, sir? Masha is my partner's daughter when she came. And everything changed. Every gap, every, like the grand canyon in my life, my gap was after my sister. She filled up everything. Abuse's spelling competition in school. I am more nervous than her. Because I've been taught so much. But hopefully she answers all those words. But this is the joy I was seeking. And as Rumi says, what you're seeking is seeking you. Sir, I think one of the most important lessons of your story is reputation compounds. When you are a nobody, you're working insanely hard and you're treating a work like craft. So I think for somebody to see the value in you, you have to be constantly treating a work like craft. Because when you see a craftman working with his skills, when you see a craftman building something, crafting something, the twigle in the eyes is just very visible. And that I think gets you great opportunities. Am I right, sir? 100% I also believe so much in Divine Female Energy that Reshtrans should have one of that. What do you mean by that sir? Birji grew up. I grew up in Pune. There were a lot of Reshtrans around. Pune is a big food city. It's a very masculine energy of the Reshtrans. It's an uncle's money. But actually, when the house of a grandma is a house, there is a female Divine Energy. It's a comfort. Healing energy. The Reshtrans was trying to get it. 42 years I've been doing that. In my bank, Amrit sir, a small bank, he said, "This is a small type." Because my grandmother and mom were there all the time. Divine Energy of this room. Softness. Even the children used to do this. But it's an energy of the Earth. When the people in the world say that, "I feel that it humbles people." That it's a female restaurant. I call it my daughter. But I also feel that it is so important that you're not just doing business. But also, uplifting the industry. You have posted a sign of your childhood, a sign of your childhood, and suddenly, you'll start a sales show. Everybody has come to you for 200 years. You'll have a lot of dancers. They're dancing in the female forms. And that happens because you become the person who's around all these things happening. So, it's very important for me to be in business. Business is not open at all. What Sharu Kansi is. Restaurant is like shops and then bungalows are a temple. Temple is around shops with you. So, I feel that that is something I hold very closely to my heart. And for somebody who doesn't believe in that it has to be 600 trillion bungalows around the world and shut up. One restaurant can uplift a cuisine more powerfully and in the most honest way. And that's what we struggle for everyday. I'm still motivated for two years. Here in time, I'm going to be leaving at two o'clock. I'll see you for the service. You'll see full energy, four generations here, elderly people being carried from the stairs. You're going to see, oh my god, your restaurant, your restaurant, on so many people bring food for you as they got the reservation. Because it's impossible to get a table. Yeah. So, mainly, you're very important to be present in that moment. So, now I want to come to the hardcore business aspect. I just got to lost in your story, sir. So, my question is, Zuraavar told me that 90% of restaurants close within the first one year. It is one of the most capital intensive businesses in the world. And it's one of the hardest businesses in the world. And in spite of working very hard, it's not very rewarding in the short term. It's only rewarding in the long term. And you need a lot of grit and persistence to sustain in this business. And he was talking about India. And here you are in New York. One of the toughest cities to live in. And here you're running all the toughest businesses to run. What's the business like, Zuraavar? Where did you find a gap in the market to start bungalow? Mehra, to be honest, when I was in Kuchnita, my promise my sister. So, see, I hope we understand that every happen and orange is can't be compared. This is something which is a piece of my heart. I didn't want to do this. You didn't want to do this. I have all the check boxes, bro. I don't have to do this. This is a way tough business. But what happened that my sister on a deathbed at Columbia hospital, had a mount and I, she'll kept ordering stuff for the restaurant. And because she said, "Keshbhardh Dikhainge Dunyako, Isbar Dikhainge Indian Hospitality, Keshbhardh Dikhainge." After her, I was totally demonized. But the things got started getting shipped. Sometimes, pees, cocks, sorry, there are wheels coming. Sometimes, I, I, I do what I do, because she had dreamt for it. And then, my mother said that this is your last promise. Do this. I won't say anything about this. But Isbar, just think about your own. Isbar, to raise such a water, to raise a whole bunch of Indian food in the world. So for me, it was different. Have you opened without reservations? If you're going to talk numbers, we go open without, we thought, we're Indian restaurant, and we're Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and we're here. We're here, majority of you, Thursday, and we're here. Like, a typical format, had you follow, it was all over, that we're here, and most of the restaurants, you see that, you know, things are evolving right now. The open without reservation, it was raining like crazy, strong, and we had more than 2,000 people outside. 2,000 people. Wow. After, we are completing almost 800 days, in two days, 7, 98 days now. Or, or we have peaked. On last Saturday, we peaked number of people, footfalls in the restaurant, we crossed 800 people. Our wait list was almost 10,000, for that night. We peaked after two years. Wow. I just think that all what you're saying about business, it's important what you're saying. But it doesn't apply to us in that same format. Because this is more of what Jeff Visa says, people don't visit Bangalore, it's a pilgrimage. For me to be staying as path-breaking restaurant, everybody wants the same pie, that is why they're struggling. What does that mean, sir? Everybody wants to reach out to that same demographics of people. Same. What is that demographic? Here. 25 to 40. Rich, spenders, new jobs. But my reference here, that comes from Suraj Parjatya. We are your guys. When the movie came out, our business stopped in Amritsar. Because I used to do Kiti parties. Because all the women instead of going for Kiti parties, they'd rather go for a hamab. And BG used to say that we're going to have to eat a lot of meat. My grandmother went to watch a movie after Mughli Azam. Isn't that a market? Bangalore entered that market. When you want to take your great grandmother there, you want to take your grandmother there. You want to see your kids see an Indian artist perform. Not just a restaurant. So we changed the measurement of the pie. So we don't fit into that box of that target audience. So this is also unique. It takes decades and decades for so many people to have faith in you. And you too be performing every night. So pie is very difficult for us to talk about pie. This is the regular movie structure. This is our environment. So the business plan you're talking about, Bangalore doesn't fit into that model of that myopic vision or this. This became a hamab ke haikon. When you come in the evening, if you're celebrating a festival, you'll see so many people buying clothes off that festival and dressing up like that and coming to the restaurant. Today everybody's going to get this Jasmine bracelets because it's graduation. And we first celebrate mothers for graduation. And you'll see that everybody is, I'll be wearing so many gajras. So every woman I'll be meeting, I'll be putting the gajra from her hand to the wow. This is also unique. We have a Chodipazar happening today. There will be a lot of bangles outside and you don't have to make a reservation. You can just come in. We want to create that atmosphere of a big wedding. So you know, two days ago, I was speaking to John A. Berger. He wrote this book called Contegious. He teaches a course at Walton and he talks about why do some products go viral? And he has a framework called the Steps Framework. Usmanal last Kajo SNA, it talks about stories. And it's made John A. Berger. If you build a product, where people can express their stories and see their stories in your product, your product will buy, before it go viral. And you don't have to do anything about it. That's exactly what bungalows doing, right? It's telling other people stories. It's, you've practically built a home away from home for other people. And when everybody comes together, like you said, four generations, when they all come together, that's the story we're telling. You're giving them a piece of memory that they will cherish for the rest of their life. Why would they not talk about you? I mean, to me, it looks obvious. Why you're so spoken about. Why bungalows such an important part of everybody's memory? Like you've crafted something really, really beautiful. We've had some of the biggest chefs come in here. And the world's biggest chefs. They sat here and they said, something in us changed. I can't talk about it very openly, but once my mother didn't enjoy my meal and it crushed my world, because there was only cooking to impress a few inspectors. That hurt me most. My sister, was there, she was very good, right? One of my sisters, a very good Kerosene Dal Dhyavskinder, getting more and more, only your son has the power to change it, but he's so busy taking validation from the Western world. And I'm sitting there, it was in my apartment and I'm just like, what are you guys talking about? They were talking that, that as if I was not there, but now I want to feel that my mom could be sitting on any table with my sister and say, I, I'm a share, I felt that I had forgotten that Indian food was never built for external validation, it was always created to heal. It was always created to unite. Ashering bowls, our last spoons, there is so much of story to be told. They're in Western culture, everybody orders their dish, in Indian culture we order one dish here, bungalow celebrates that. I felt that this comes at also the price that this is my last restaurant. Of course, we have a sign downstairs which says March 23rd, 2034, make every day count. What does it mean sir? Ten years of bungalow, what a promise for sister. We opened this on 150th birthday and I'll keep the promise, may God be with me, my health, my mom is okay to keep this promise for this same intensity for 10 years. It does as a thousand, a rose, a weightless child. People just want a glimpse of this. As a temple. I hope I can keep the promise, I do that with my whole soul and heart which he does so internally. So if there is a 20-year-old chef who's watching this right now, what do you think he can do and he can do to become a vicar's Khanna by 2044? This is very difficult for me to get a deadline. It involves a lot of things, it's very difficult to get a job. Where should this start sir? Keep honing your craft. I got planned my training also so well that I trained in Kolkata, I trained in Agra for UP and I trained in Kutvandu, I trained in Mumbai, I trained in Kathmandu. This is during my college time. So it helped me to generate a cuisine which was original at the same time so respectful to where I come from. My grandmother's story is that business without purpose is just about dollars, not about legacy. It's a lot less because there's a lot of dollars to beat up, it's easy to beat up. How do you beat up a restaurant? Do you decide what restaurant I can be in and what your performance is? What's the value of this? How do you evaluate something which is so deep? A big restaurant is very good, you touch the heart of a garish restaurant. So tell them just constantly keep honing, work under many people. And what is the right way to hone these skills? Nothing, devotion. You can't do a job at home for 4 hours, you can never do it. You have to go to clubbing, to party, either you party then or you party after achieving something. But when you party after achieving something, you feel that the world is celebrating with you. What are the most relevant sources to learn from? Should they go to a particular school, should they read a book? People, people. Book schools, discipline, help. But you have to help the character. The people help the character. Also, in Indian restaurants, which are called the "Tangual Different Rooms" restaurant in Mumbai, they made something out of jackfruit. And it was the most unexpected thing ever. Yesterday, I was at this restaurant called Indian accent. And they made sweet potato and bindi. They made some dish out of sweet potato and bindi. I was like, this is such a weird dish. But when I tasted it, it was one of the most magical things I had ever tasted. Now, how can somebody, that's what I was thinking and I thought of asking you this question. Those are two dishes that I have never had together. How does a chef craft that concept and bring that dish to life? Just the process like. So tonight, you will be eating a dish which is just pineapple. Just pineapple. Just pineapple. And you will see every table ordering that. Okay. You will eat fried dahi and you will say your life changed. Okay. It takes us two days to make the dish. Just fried yogurt. Just fried yogurt. That's it. That's the dish. But do they not think I am coming on? How did you come up with that and what is the special about it? So, see. We are making the apple cabbage's kanchi. We fermented it in a coarset mustard and then we pureed that and that's the sauce with fried yogurt. Sweet potato chart, you will get it. Okay. Okay. And everything will come together on the plate. They said, I am telling you what are you going to be thinking? This chicken you will eat. The chicken you will eat is all pineapple. The skin of the pineapple is the juice of the pineapple. Because it is chicken and narca leaf. So, all the pineapple is the skin. The pineapple has one piece of it to create that dish. So, what I do here is unique in a way that everything is just right. It is the main flavor of the lamb chops, naranghi. Naranghi or komkots. The main flavor is naranghi. How do you seek that inspiration, sir? Many things of existing Indian cuisine, you just add to it. You can't take it away. They have been happening in India for years and years and years. I am not just of inspiration. I had eaten curd in the Sarafa, in Indore. I had been mad. My life was in it. I had become a star. I had to beat it up. I become very competitive. What have I eaten? I had not eaten it. I had given it to Shalufra and gave it to me. I will be mad. So, for me, constantly being awake, being curious and keep searching. And that is the key. It is all around you. You will see what we do. Every person gets free dessert here in the restaurant. They say, "Salibration". Now, I will go to the evening and take all the tables. I will go with the candles. I don't remember making anything for my mom. I remember that. That is a tribute to my mom this month. It is called Cold Coffee Moose with caramelized bananas and dark chocolate balls. You will see that how we are taking cold coffee. All these are children in the family. I will create a new style of the same. Of course, we will get the last melody. So, from what you are telling me, and please correct me if I am wrong, what separates a great restaurant from a good restaurant is not just storytelling, but also the amount of effort that you put into every dish to give people a transcendent feeling, which eventually comes out via food. You said, "Rundatow it". "Salundring means that not that you don't have control. "Salundring means that you understand that you never had control". I feel that this restaurant is not doing that. So, the one thing that I am taking away today is be delusional. I was always delusional, but today you kind of validated it. Because sir, when we started working at BSNL, my father was working at BSNL. And BSNL had given its employees a golden handshake, which basically meant bye-bye. My mother had retired eight years ago. And I was still in college. So, there was no way money could come home consistently and we also had a home loan to pay. So, we started things school with 20,000 rupees of my capital and 20,000 rupees from Parsh. And I just said, "Yeah, we'll just build a school." Because I knew how to tell stories. So, I was like, "I'll teach people storytelling and people will come." And I was this super delusional person, just like you. Now, I take pride in that. I told Parsh that, "You know what? We'll not charge anyone anything." I will teach people storytelling and they will have such an amazing experience that while going, we'll have a small debba. And over there, people will just put in the fees. Parsh, you know what I mean? "Dunia, I say, "Kamni, Gerti, Bhai." You will have to actually charge people only then you will actually start making money. And sir, for two years, we made no money. And then COVID happened. We had to give up the classroom. Again, that was a downfall. But then, like you said, every failure sets you free. That set us free to explore YouTube. And then, in my bedroom, with a white wall. And remember that million, million received, million mischreplacters. We had this broken 1 plus 7 camera, which I put up on an Amazon basic tripod. And I found that tripod in the second half of the video, I took a small amount. So, the next. Is it the same character? Yeah, it's so small that I was making videos on the first time I was sitting on the video. I made it. بھرانے کے بعد there was no light, light was sunlight or sunlight bina تو میں میں سے exposeur کا کنسری پہنے تھا تو exposeur used to increase and decrease so eyes to suddenly look like God and suddenly it used to turn dark but I was like okay this is what I can do so I'll just do it so we did that for one year and Sir again one fine day the video started to well and we hit 1 million within 11 months and then it was absolutely magical that's when Paa showed me that you know what we wait up by each mile I was like no we have to go back to building that school so since 7 years we've been working very hard to build a school for India we want to ensure that there's a business school for India that teaches them to be entrepreneurs because when I was a kid because I had nobody teaching business and my best friend's father was an entrepreneur us go sorry lessons milay so men have said what can we build for people like me who don't come from pedigree who don't come from rich families and how can we deliver world class education that's why I started YouTube and so what I don't know is I had to go to Harvard I had seen a fees of $200,000 and I said this will not happen we sit here and make a case study and then 6 months ago I was at Harvard Sir living a talk and that was like a full circle moment for the full talk thank you so much Sir and you know I told people at Harvard I don't know what I was thinking when I said that I told them that 10 years later when your kids decide to pursue business they would rather go to thingschool than go into Harvard I said that again but how will I get it? If I was going to listen to that yes Sir so that is the belief that I have that one day will build a big school and again I don't intend to build a big big school I just intend to build a small big school just 100 kids that's fine but if those 100 kids can go on to do something really great and I can give them the right to win I think the dream will come true Sir so we are safe thank you Sir thank you so much My last question to you Sir you've constantly coated Dalai Lama and you've said he used to say that there is no death only changing forms to write what does that mean Sir? So in my practical form this restaurant is manifestation of my sister's spirit it just changed the form it also makes me very conscious of my shortcomings so many times and the guests don't live up to the experience I intend to give them or we create for them many times Samir has seen me break down in the night and crying I left I left my sister down what is it? you don't care it's just one of the billions of years it's just one you say that the thing that I heard is that the things that are happening with the mid-tie are going to happen so I feel that it's important that you're also conscious of your little space of 10 years and such a long career I've been cooking for Mamdani Manjabas 5 these are the kids who you fed with your hands how many years have you been in your legacy in this city? how God put you in this position? I just believe there's a higher divine self who watches everything so now there's a small difference in my heart that it wasn't death it was a great birth but short lived life she had I have to make all her dreams come true gave me a purpose and I feel that everybody is a billionaire who has a mom calling them all currencies are short of that true just when that call comes that's the ringtone of the gods if you seek anything in equation you're a billionaire right now so I value that the most beautiful sir thank you so much this is amazing sir I just gave you for the numbers but I'm taking away very important lessons thank you so much sir this is wonderful I bless you