Masterchef Mr. Ajay Chopra on AskAviArya Show

Foreign.

Searching for LS Searching for truth I couldn't let you go without a request. You can hear me loud and clear.

I can? Yes.

And what about can you hear me?

I can hear you loud and clear.

Excellent. Excellent. So we'll get started.

Yes.

So welcome to the Askavi Arya show where we interview people from all over the world or especially entrepreneurs and people, human beings who have been able to leverage the Internet to lead a lifestyle which we call makes of an Internet mogul. Because I always say that Internet mogul is somebody who can leverage today's technology and be able to spend more time with the family, still grow its impact on the world and still make more money because the Internet doesn't make all this possible. So, Ajay, welcome to the show.

Thank you very much, Avi. Thank you very much. And I really feel what you said just now is so important in today's life because I think everybody is just snuggled with their phone, you know, trying to make an impact with their own self. But I think we need technology to help us to help technology. So I think that's what we're doing.

Absolutely, absolutely. So, Ajay, tell us. You know, the first section of first section of my show is always the story, the behind the scenes. I always say that I'm a father of two girls, six dogs, husband to a superwoman, a streetcar racer turned hotelier, and now social media marketer. So what is your story?

But if I have to put it in your words, and I'm a father of two sons, husband to a beautiful wife, who's also my partner in the business. Okay. Yeah. And I started my career very humbly with TGI Fridays. This was way back in 1998 as a prep cook. And even after passing out of college and, you know, getting a gold medal, didn't get a job. So that's really behind the scenes. Slogged. And then moved to the Cecil in Shimla for about eight and a half. My inert dream was to get through the o' Brien Central Learning and Development. And as an hotelier, you would know what it means for any hotelier there. So didn't get through the first year. The second year, the course never happened. The batch got scrapped off. In the third year, I finally made it. And then the next two years were a roller coaster ride because, you know, you, you enter as a cowboy, but you come out as a chef. Oskaldi does that to you. It's two years of strenuous hard work, a lot of data getting inside you and you becoming a man really so that's what it did to me. But I worked with the Obra for only a year at the Obra in Delhi, and then I moved to the Marriott in Mumbai. So I was, you know, the sous chef at JW Mumbai in Lotus Cafe, one of the busiest coffee shops in town. Did that for about two and a half years and got promoted to a chef de cuisine in a restaurant called Saffron in the same hotel. Then came back to Lotus Cafe as a chef de cuisine. And then I moved out to London. This was a different step altogether because, I mean, at that moment, everybody, you know, was looking at the international market and, you know, Indian restaurants were picking up steam there. So I got an opportunity and I went there. So I spent three years being the executive chef of a restaurant called Mint Leaf, and then I opened another one for them. And we were there for about three years that by then I got married as well. And so we were there for about three years and came back to the Goa Marit resort as the executive chef. That's where MasterChef happened. And people ask me, how did MasterChef happen? And I just say this. I just got this as a gift from God because I didn't do anything.

How nice. Lovely. I love that.

So, yeah, so post that, I think life completely changed. A year later, I joined the Westin in Mumbai, where I met your good friend, you know, our marketing head, Anjali.

Right, right, right.

Yeah. So I think you. You still do the Marriott account.

Yes, absolutely.

Yeah. So, yeah. So I worked with the Westin for four years, and I think by then I realized that I was earning too much money for somebody else.

Right.

And then me and my wife thought to ourselves that, you know, I think we should do something for all. Then we asked God and what should we do? And restaurants is all what we know. Food is all what we know. So we ventured into that. Now from the past three years that we've had this company called Zion hospitality, we've done 16 restaurants all across. So starting from Muscat to Jaipur to Raipur to Bilaspur to Mumbai to Pune to Rajpur Surat, and now Abu Dhabi. So, you know, the space is kind of increasing. And I think, yeah, that's. That's really the story of. Actually, that's the journey. I won't call it a story. The story is that, you know, I cliched if I just say I love food. But, yeah, look at me.

I love food, but I think you've lost weight since your last pictures I.

Saw, I have been trying a lot. Because, you know, in the loving food business, I have also started to love a lot of tablets, which I don't like. So I need to get living for longer so that I can enjoy food for longer.

Exactly.

And that's why I think I'm just kind of balancing.

Wow, that's an amazing story. I love what you said. You know that. Because that is something that's, you know, even with a little bit of success that you get. Uske satma daratai when people say kumsa darata dali aatai, because it's not supposed to be ours. So I know exactly what you're saying.

And I loved it.

You know that I think that's the best part of the interview. It's always, you know. But that was the best part.

Yeah. Just to kind of add on to what, you know, you just said something that, you know, being chefs in a hotel, you're a hospitality person yourself. It's a very normal thing. Right. You know, you go for a job, you work, and you come back. There's no glory attached to it. Maybe an interview here or interview there is. Fine. But then this was larger than life. This was, you know, starting yourself to be seen on national television standing and rubbing shoulders with Akshay Kumar. It did go in my head. It did tell me that, oh, wow, you are something now. And that really is such a slippery ground. And, you know, unless you have the hand of God holding on to you, you know, you will slip. And that's what exactly happens to every single celebrity who, you know, goes high very quickly and then comes down very quickly as well, because it's about holding your own self, your emotions. So, you know, I really need God to handle me in that area. And when I slipped, I really looked out for God's hands and I realized that he was always there. So I think that's really the story.

That is so beautiful. Saturday Morning of mine is made because that's the kind of conversation I like to. Because, you know, that it's so reassuring that there is a higher power, there's a higher universe, there is a God, and that we will sit. It makes us feel less responsible for our mistakes because I always say that I'm going to do my best. I'm going to be conscious of the fact that there is somebody around me. And it makes me feel less responsible for the fact that, you know, I have to do it.

You know, you have two lovely daughters, and I must relate this to a family because, you know, God really made us as his children, and we are his family. So when your daughters are around you, they are exactly like what you just expressed. Like this. My dad's around. I don't need to care about anything. I can live it. So that's how God wants us to live, knowing that God is around us and you know, he is our father and you know he will hold us up. So I think now I live with that, with that assurance. And that freedom is different. That freedom is. Is not a freedom where I can go and do anything, but that freedom is that I can enjoy life as God has made it.

That is so freeing. On a Saturday morning. I'll show you the whole office right now, and I'll show you what madness happens. 24. Because from this office building of ours, we are handling about 700 hotels in 10 countries. Somebody's social media or the photograph of a dish or the room is not going right, or there's utter madness outside my cabin. I'll show you what's happening.

I can totally imagine.

But amidst all of that, when you tell me these kind of things, I actually feel I've lost 10 kilos just by talking to you in the last 10 minutes.

Great.

So, you know, so when it comes. So I understand that you. I like your story of when you said that you wanted to be in that Oberoi school. And, you know, first year you didn't get in. Second year, the school program didn't happen. Third year you finally got in. And after that, there was two years of struggle. So one was a struggle to get in. The other was the struggle to say that, can you even get in?

And then, you know, then.

Then maybe you could say, somebody would say, bad luck hoga second year. And then you got in. And then once you got in, it was not the end of the journey, it was the beginning of the journey. Two years of harsh work or Uske BAAT b nikal ni KE baat. Then you had to go for a.

Job here and a job there and a job there.

So the journey from being who you are to what you want to be has got, you know, so many sort of milestones.

Yeah.

So, you know, for all the budding entrepreneurs or budding chefs who are listening to this in the hospitality industry, what would your advice be to them? Keep on marching. One day you will reach your destination. Or while you're contemplating your career, you should also see that what is right for you, what is not. I mean, what should be the strategy. One day, everybody reaches a destination. People who don't give up, they will eventually reach. Or should you Keep on thinking, is this for me? Can I do a better thing?

Yeah. Now. Brilliant question. Avi, thank you very much for this because it kind of sums up the entire career story for anyone. Now I would want to relate this to. You know, I was at an institute yesterday called as the Academy of Pastry Arts in Bangalore and I was just addressing the students about the same story and the same question popped up. And you know, before I could say anything, I actually asked one of those very bright, gleaming students who I could see in the eyes that he's got something in him which will make him grow higher. And I asked him, I said, what do you think of this question? And then he said that, sir, I did my internship and in my internship I was given a bag of potatoes every day and I had to peel those potatoes. And every time I got those potatoes I thought, is this my life? And you know, and as I crossed that bag of potato, I could learn something new and then, and then I could learn something new and then I could learn something new more. So, you know, he said it in so many crystal clear words that I would now want to take my life as one potato at a time. And I think it sums up the entire story because, you know, we don't know what's going to happen to us five years, eight years, 20 years from now. I have known iit engineers who have spent their lifetime doing techie jobs and then after 20 years they say, I want to be a chef. I want to do something. So I'm saying that you never know what life is going to open up for you 20 years later. But what we do know is today. What we do know is that if we do not put our best efforts today and our skills in the best use today, it is not going to anywhere amount into whatever we are thinking tomorrow. So there are a lot of people who keep thinking about tomorrow today and destroy today. There are a lot of people who think about yesterday today and destroy today. But there are very less people who think about today, foreseeing tomorrow and work today. I think that's how I come to work every day, that what is my task at hand today? What is it going to do for me today? And then obviously this is going to translate into something bigger tomorrow. So I really loved when the boy said that I'm going to take life one potato at a time. So my advice to everyone is that even my life, you know, I've done the same thing. I've peeled bags of onions and anybody can get discouraged having 600 kgs of onions in front of you that you have to peel and slice and make brown onion paste. Like, that's really. Wow. I mean, what a job it is. I'm so excited. Nobody was going to say that, right? But I told myself, the quicker I pass off this hurdle, can I actually get inside the kitchen and learn the new gravy? A lot of my batchmates didn't even know why were they peeling the onions. I at least knew that browning and paste banega. So I think that's also another thing which I want to tell you that, you know, be aware of who you are, where you are, because that is basically give you a surety of what you're going to do. Otherwise you can just go on with blinkers on and you don't even see where you are. So there were a lot of people who were peeling onions but didn't know what they're peeling it for. And my chef would actually come and ask me a question that. And I would say, brown onion paste. And he would just pat my back and go away. And I didn't understand why did he do that? Because he realized that there were a hundred students there, but only one or two knew what they were doing. So I think that's what you're doing, why you're doing this. If your heart is not there. Yeah, if your heart is not there, then might as well raise your hand. That's it. I'm not going to do it.

That's a very powerful lesson because then.

Your journey is going to.

Very nice. So, you know, like, I think.

Yeah. So these.

I remember many years back, my dad, you know, told me to get into hotel management. And there was garages. Hotel had a program. I think it was a one year program, some internship, something. I went in there as a. As a. As a steward. So the first thing, when I went for my interview, they. I had hair till here and I had two balis and. Okay, you can hear me. Okay. So first thing they wanted me was to, you know, obviously cut my hair and all of that. And so every morning they used to give us such a big, you know, like a balti. And so what you are telling me today. But this example I used many times because what happened with that was because I was able to make friends with all the stewards who had come. So what was their motivation in life? What was my motivation in life? There's a lot of things that put into perspective. So you reminded me of that story and I like it. I think we should have. When we edit this show, we should have one of the things saying one potato at a time should be, you know, the title of this interview. Okay, so then. So your story happened.

Sorry, can I just say another thing on.

Yeah, please, please.

Yeah, can I just say another thing on this? Washing plates. You know, another thing which we go through as hotel professionals, which nobody tends to understand because my mom asked me this question. So what do you do in your hotel management school in your training? And I said, I peel onions, I wash toilets. And she was like, what? You wash toilets? Yeah, I was. Toilets, you know, And a lot of my friends could never understand this. Recently, I again went to an institute, and this time there were this batch 200 new students. How many of you want to be chefs? Course. And the second thing I asked them, how many of you can clean toilets? And they were hardly a hand. And the very fact that I asked this question, and I put the mic around to the principal, I said, have you ever washed a toilet, sir? Yes, many times. The hod. Have you washed a toilet? Yes. Question to you. The very fact that, you know, it's about. It's about breaking yourself, breaking yourself into pieces and saying that, yes, I am humble, but I will know my job. I think, Avi, you're a great example of, you know, doing what you're doing, because I think after hotel school, you know, everybody's perspective changes. You know, you're able to think in a manner which is much larger than any, I would say, any engineer, any doctor, because they are tuned to think like this. We are tuned to think like this. You know, we have no blinkers. We can do whatever comes in our way. And I think cleaning the toilet is one such example that, you know, I can do anything. Wow. If I have clean toilets, I can do anything.

That's a great perspective to have some people give up hope and think and you are spinning it around and you're saying, that's awesome. That's all. So, you know, every stage of success gives you some confidence that I can do it. And it working for me, it gives you some humility. It gives you all of those kind of things. Then what happens?

How.

What is the next step? How do you continue to maintain that level of success? What should be the key ingredients? Obviously surrounding yourself with the best people. Because I'm sure that you and your wife are partners, both of you grounded. To say that, you know, let's. Let's make a nice, you know, aware, conscious business, you know, with the love of God, brought into the business and all of that I can imagine by just Talking to you for 20 minutes, that that's the kind of business that you and your wife is forming. But what happens? How do you continue to keep that level of success? Because what I've realized is once you reach a certain level of success, then you're not above all the other people that you are working with. You come into a race with people who are better performers now. So it's tougher at that level. So how do you keep on?

So, first of all, you used a term saying that surround yourself with good people. And I think sometimes it's costly to run a company and you still have people around you who are expensive. Sometimes it's costly from here because a lot of people don't even have the heart to share. So what I have done, or what we have done rather as a company, is that a. We've hired some very good people in our company. You know, people who are fantastic in their approach, thought, creativity, and they will bring in everything to the business just as I bring, you know, and we've had a clear chat in the interview, and the interview was very, very clear that, you know, do you agree to what I say? In my heart. And if you agree to that, then everything else will happen. But if you're not connected there, then I think nothing will happen. So I think my hiring process is very clear. I look at people's attitude and how deep they are with their own self and their work, and if I find that same depth that I have, then I think the match happens automatically. The second thing, what we've done is that a lot of people don't partner and don't collaborate. But I think today's age is about collaboration. And if I. If I have to grow, I can either grow like this or I can either grow like this, you know, So I prefer growing like this, like a larger plateau. And then the mountain is. Because I am actually making sure that there are a lot of people growing along with me. You know, I take an example of a gentleman who I would not like to name here, but he rose like this, you know, he rose like this. And in the Kahawat in Hindi, which we read in school, all of us, that. So that is not the story that I want to follow. I want to make sure that we are growing together, because if you're growing together, everybody is happy. So that is another thing that I do. The third thing that we do is obviously, I mean, Internet is something which is a boon as well as an enemy. So you got to use it as a friend all the time. So there is so much happening around the world that you've got to be aware of, whether it's Copenhagen becoming the food capital of the world, or whether it's Noma doing something else, or whether it's this new Mexican chef who's coming out with his fantastic flavors, or it's naked cakes. So you always keep getting aware of trends through the Internet, and those trends are the trends that you start thinking about. And you start thinking that, okay, what is the next that will happen in India? Now, we all know that grains are local grains which were always there 70, 80, 90 years back, and our ancestors always consumed them, had suddenly vanished, but now they're coming back and moved. So a barley is more in fashion than probably quinoa today in India, yes, quinoa is becoming famous, but barley is a national approach to quinoa. So. So I think, again, being aware and talking to the team and what are the new trends? And, you know, we have these jam sessions that we do that what's happening around to kind of keep all of ourselves abreast. So it's not that you're a pastry chef. You will only do pastry.

Okay.

You know, you will also do restaurant opening. You will also look at the critical path. You will also look at this. So I kind of expose people out of their comfort zone so that one day they can stand as I stand because somebody pushed me. So I'm pushing them.

Wow, that's amazing. So tell me, you know, in this new age of not really new age, but, you know, things evolve, but eventually the basics remain the same. So most of the time, when it comes to opening of a restaurant or opening of a food outlet of any kind, how much is it the story and how much is it the taste of the food?

So if you look at the global perspective, right now, everybody's following a story first, but the story, you know, so you probably are a storyteller, and you know that if the story has no legs, nobody's going to stick onto it. So you will possibly present a great story. You'll possibly have a lovely launch, you know, and maybe a few starting points. But then if the story has no legs and has no body, then it's not going to stick around. And the body and the legs for a restaurant is the food, is the flavor, is the service, is that personalized touch. And all of these elements have to come together for the great story to survive for long.

Understood. That's very well said. So, like, for example, I remember I'd gone to this was, I'm Forgetting it was some beach town many, many, many years back. Was it Mexico? I don't remember. There was some beach town I found I met this hotelier and they said before we actually have a meeting, let's have breakfast. So we were having breakfast and the husband and wife met me and they said, you know, both of us fell in love in university and that's how we got together. And then we traveled all over the world and we tasted different cuisines and then we came back here, we opened a resort over here, we built it over the last five years and all our experiences of traveling around the world. So we made a multi cuisine restaurant and that's what our hotel is about. Very interesting story. And then we had had breakfast, then they took me into their conference room and then their suited booted team came and they presented a very corporate strategy for the same hotel and restaurant. I told them, I said the story I heard outside was a much interesting story than the one you're telling me inside because that's what you guys are as a brand. So most of the times people are saying how should I make a great story? And what we're trying to tell them is you tell us what story you already have. It's already great. Everybody has a journey and a story. So that's very interesting what you said, that it has to be a story but the story has to stand on its legs which is the service and the delivery and everything together continues. Story. I think what I'm understanding from what you're saying is that it's not that it happened once, but it's happening every day.

Yeah, very true. So I mean it's a game that you have to bring on every day. You can't just play it once and say, oh, I was Kapil Dev, I took the World cup in my hand.

Right, right. So when it comes to, you know, Internet marketing and social media and all of that, so when all the restaurateurs, hoteliers or even personal brands, because you know, that's what the focus of our show is a understand a person's story is to understand how, you know, I love how you brought in God into the whole this thing. I just love it because after that I, you know, you threw me off balance for five minutes because my mind went in another direction. I was supposed to ask many different questions but it gave me a lot of peace on what you said. Maybe I wanted to hear it while we are going through many deliveries in the next weekend. But anyways, when it comes to Internet marketing and social media, and all of that. And it comes to Internet marketing, social media for restaurants, and Internet marketing, social media for personal brands like yourself. What do you think are the few things that you learned in the past and how it's. How has it helped you? What is the advice you would give to up and coming social media people?

It has taken me some time to kind of understand this. You know, I won't even say fully. I would say understand it a little bit. And I must confess that I'm not the best social media influencer when it comes to, you know, today's thought process and the day and age that we're going through. So I'll tell you in two steps. One is that how am I doing it today? And the other is how I learned it. Obviously, you know, you become a seeker when you are in hotels. You know, you kind of seek so much. So this was another thing that I was seeking that, you know, what is this? How does this work? And when we were hotel chefs, we didn't even understand the power of media. We used to always think, you know, it's a big thing. But then over a period of time, we started to realize that, you know, this is important because what people see is what people believe. And the onset of Facebook, you know, it was more like a. Like a friendly zone. So when. When MasterChef happened for us, you know, there were some 5,000 odd friend requests that came to my page. Wow. And I was overwhelmed. I said, what do I do with this? So I accepted all of them. You know, then I realized that, damn, this is a bad thing that I do because this is my personal page. And now people are just asking me stupid questions. So I don't. I can't carry this. Then somebody told me that you got to make a page. You know, then I made a page.

And then happened after MasterChef. Oh, interesting.

Yeah, yeah. Because we didn't know this game, you know, 2009. I don't think this was so elaborately there. And then page happened, and somebody guided us to make a page, then keep the page and then the website, and then this, that. And then eventually I was doing what people were telling me because I was unaware of many things. But then it came to a point where I saw a lot of youngsters and a lot of youngsters, you know, almost coming to par. And you use this term that after a while, you know, you are. You are not learning. You are actually looking around and seeing what, you know. There are more powerful people who are. Something like that. You said, you know, just now, if you can remind me, I could just relate it to it. You said that you are around people and you're learning, you know, it's more.

Yeah, yeah. So I said when you. When you. When you. When you reach a certain level of success, you surround you. The kind of people that come around you are people who are, you know, more talented than you or.

Yeah, that's right. Yeah, yeah. So now the question was that, you know, are they more talented or are they, you know, just using this tool powerfully? So the answer was both. You know, some of them were very talented, and some of them were just using this tool very powerfully. So I told myself that, you know, okay, fine, that, you know, I know the game one, but I don't know the game two, I must learn the game too well. And that's when I started to follow all these people, you know, what they were doing and how they were doing things. And then I realized that it's all about building a community. It's about talking to people real time as I'm talking to my family. And that is when people will start understanding that, you know, okay, this guy is for me. I need to read his post. I need to read his recipe, because he believes in me. It was then backed up by the TV programs, because the same personality, what people saw on Facebook or Instagram is the same personality they saw on television, and the same personality, if they met me somewhere. So they had a correlation of the entire thing. I think that was very important because generally we think that celebrities are showing a different life and living a different life. So I think that's where my story kind of shifted a little bit, because every time I met fans, they told me the same thing, that your recipes work and you are just like how we believed you to be. So I think that just kind of sums up the entire thing. But on the other ground, the game, too, was that there were people who were quickly rising because of the rise of Instagram and Internet and, you know, all this brand activations which was happening through Instagram. I realized that I was. I was behind, you know, and I really then started to work on it to understand the whole perspective of how the story must be told. So much so that somebody told me that, you know, you got to blow your own trumpet. And I said, man, I can't do it. You know, it's not me, it's. Yeah. And he said, you know what? If you don't blow your own trumpet, people will use it as a spittoon. They'll just spit on it and go. So that opened my eyes and it's like, wow. So this is a kind of a job. Okay, fine, Ajay Chopra, you have to keep yourself aside and your, yourself aside a little bit and then you have to come into the zone where everybody else is thinking. So somewhere I think I was more prototype in my approach in the beginning, but then I started to enjoy this because then you, then you start having real time confidence in what you're doing and how you're doing it and people are accepting it. So now I know that if I post something at, at 10:30 in the morning, I'll probably get a traction which is very little. But my fans are alive between 3:30 and 7:30, so I know this, that, you know, if I talk to them at that time I'm going to get more traction. So all of that.

Interesting, interesting. I like, you know, I liked, I like the philosophy in your, in your thinking. I liked what you said about. There are both aspects to it. One is that there are some people who are more talented and then there are some people who just know how to use the tool better. And you had the first aspect done and you just have to go for the second one. That requires a lot of awareness to know where I am and where I have to go.

Yeah, yeah. And that again relates to what I said in the beginning, that, you know, if I know where I am, I'm peeling these onions for what?

Right.

It relates to the same thing, really.

Right.

So one footage at a time.

That's true. That's, you know, what, what in fact, what I was thinking in the morning. I got up at 6:30 in the morning and for many reasons, the first thought that came to my mind was to create a video on lying to yourself. Because, because sometimes, you know, to look in the mirror and realize that these are the things that I still haven't done. Some people think that they rate at 22, some people think that they rate at 32, some people think at 42, I should have reached this level by now. So when you look at yourself, your mirror tells you, you know, there are some things that you should have done, which you, for whatever reasons, there were some bad habits that you didn't get let go of and there were some good habits that you did not incorporate because of laziness, lack of discipline, bad company, whatever. But when I look into the mirror, I don't want to accept those things because it makes me feel bad. So therefore I start lying to myself. And that lying to ourselves starts at all ages, you know, from me at 42 to my team, which is an average age of 40, 25. There was this guy who walked into a place like an amusement park, like Pele Apughar Otatha Maria. Yeah, he walked into an amusement park. He walked into the room of mirrors. There were mirrors all around. And he walked in and he saw his reflection of him in ten mirrors. And so he replied to the mirror, saying, what are you looking at? So all of them said, what are you looking at? He said, talk to me, you know, with respect. They said, talk to me with respect. They got into a fight. So I heard this story some 30 years back, and it's always stayed in my head that we are always trying to fight between a real self and all that. And so, you know, what is supposed to be mostly digital marketing interview has turned into philosophy and spiritual because you give me insights how everything is related. Because I think what your point is this only. That is what's happening in my mind right now.

And you kind of summed it up because a lot of people think that it is my spiritual life versus my physical life. There are two different things we are not. So firstly, I would actually say to the people who look at the mirror and say that every single person, I'm a firm believer of Jesus and the Bible says that God has made us wonderfully and beautifully. So the first thing, you should get up and look at the mirror and say, I am wonderfully and beautifully made. However I am. That's the first thing which kind of builds you up. You don't want to press yourself down. The second thing, what I've also done in my life is that I've told my staff, I've told myself, I've told my people that, you know, we all have strengths, and we want to love to put our strengths out there and say, oh, I've done this, and I've done this, and actually have tambas on our back and keep it there. And, you know, you all love that, but that doesn't give us success that was past success. So a lot of times, like you said, that we lie to ourselves. We actually put our weaknesses behind us, try to hide them, you know, And I tell my people that, okay, and I work with Garwali cooks. I work with, you know, people who have not got exposed too much in life. And I say that Microsoft Excel, you need to know the costing. So bring this front. Bring this in front of you and let it be there till the time it is broken in pieces. This was my weakness. I bring it in front of me and I now can see it. The very fact that you can see your weakness will put you to break that weakness. But if you keep hiding it and if you keep putting it at the back, that no, this is something. Procrastination is something which everybody does. I also do that. I'm not saying that I'm the best guy in this world. I've been procrastinating my exercise and a lot of other things. But I'm just saying that there were weaknesses in me, you know, which I brought in front and I said I'm going to get rid of that. And one such thing was speaking English. I was born in Lucknow, traveled with my father's job. So we lived in Alwar where I studied in a very good school, Alvar Public School. And my English was paratheda even in the age of nine.

Oh really? I can't imagine that.

Yeah. And then we moved to Sonipat, you know and my school's name was Shambhudi Al model school which was Hindi medium turned into English medium. All Haryanbis. And by. So I entered that school in class seven and I came out in class 12. And by class 12 I had forgotten how to speak English. I only knew how to speak Hindi and Haranmi because Hindi was home and Harani was school, you know, so I was, I could speak Brash Haryanami. And I still remember that by the way. Yeah.

Exactly.

So the very fact that I had become my weakness because when I went for my hotel management interview the guy asked me a question. So where do you want to go? And I said, I am from and I want to study in Delhi. This was my tone, my dialect, my language, you know. And the guy looked at me like this, like what? Like is he really going to get through? And then he looked at my, you know, credentials and he says, you seem to be from good school but what happened here? And then I spoke in Hindi and I remember this, that you know, sir, I had this five years where I couldn't speak English. And then he said that, you know, why don't you read the newspaper every day? Just read the newspaper every day and start reading it aloud. And I put that in front of me and I achieved it. And when I went to London I did face that challenge because those guys speak really fast. But there was a time after three or four or five months that I could speak in their accent with them. Standing with them. I said, man, wow. This is, this is like, you know, really putting your weakness out of the window and throwing it off today, I can go to any part of the world and speak. I can't speak their language, but I can speak in a language which people will understand me and they will not look at me in a downward manner. Wow.

That has been so amazing. So tell us, you know, what are you. So it brings us to the end of the, you know, the almost the 45, 50 minutes that we asked from you. Firstly, thank you so much for your time because it is reset me for the weekend. This is a weekend which I'm not going to get it off because there's lots of stuff happening in the office and my mind was really wired up with a lot of stuff happening. So. And in the morning I got up slightly early, so I didn't have time to. You know, normally I don't like to come to the office when I am not 100%, you know, with my mission because I'm coming and impacting hundreds of people in the office and I should not do that. But thank you for this morning session, which were not only about social media, but also about so many other amazing things. So, you know, as we come to the end of this show, what is that one thing that you would want to be remembered as? People are obviously following you. You seem to be somebody who knows that they're not following a master chef, only to know about recipes and cooking and career guidance and all of that. But they're also following you because. And so therefore you're very aware and conscious of the kind of footprint you're leaving and the impact you're making on people through the 154,000 followers you are blessed with. I'm sure you think of yourself as somebody who blessed with people who are following your path to success and freedom and, you know, good thinking. So what are the, what are the one or two things that you would like to say, you know, and be remembered as?

That's a very tough question because, you know, with the kind of life that I've had in the last few years, it has transformed and now it is not about me, but it's about him. It's about a man who lived for 33 years on this earth and, you know, he was God and he was man and he gave his life for the entire world because he so loved us, you know, and he gave his life because all of our sins. The Bible says that everybody has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. So we all need our redemption of sins and only through the blood of Jesus can we get redeemed. Now, when I Read this. And I look at myself and I think to myself that what have I achieved and what can I achieve so I can never achieve what this man achieved. So my life's changed. It's not about me anymore, it's about him. And yes, people, you know, do like to remember people with certain things. So obviously food is something which I would like people to remember me of. The next thing I would like people to remember me of is that yes, he's a good person.

That's amazing. We would love to, whenever you're passing by Delhi or whatever, we would love to have you visit our office because I'm sure you'll be able to inspire so many of these young, I can say kids with all respect to everybody, but young social media people who are creating thousands of posts and images and videos for hoteliers all over the world and they would love to know why they are peeling these potatoes today.

Let me encourage them with this last statement. I have various people in my team. The youngest in my team is 21. He has just passed out of Icen and he was one person who said that I don't want to be go through the rigmarole of becoming the steward and the manager and this and that, but I do want, I do love hoteliering. So I said, perfect, come with me because we consult restaurants. You will learn everything. Now he has a very different bent of mind in social media. What? I can't even think he does and I asked him to try this out on my account. So in the past one month he's been working on my stories and working on my account and I've seen that push. What I've realized is that Internet is for everyone, but social media is something which these kids have a knack of. I don't know how is it coming in their blood, is it coming in their whole generation? But this whole generation thinks very differently. So I do want to encourage all your office staff and everybody who's on the social media platform who are young, energetic, that you do have a great brain which God has given you and I think you can use it so much, so much better and so much well, apply your brains in the good part and not the bad part. And I think the word can be a better place.

Awesome. Awesome. Ajit, thank you so much for your time. This was really, really something. One of the very, one of the interview that I'm going to see a few times myself.

Thank you so much. And you know, it was nice talking to somebody who has been a hotel professional as well as you know, he's changed his roles. He's doing something very different. I've heard about Internet moguls about eight years back with Anjali, and I always was intrigued that, you know, and Anjali said that, you know, you must meet this guy. He's a hotelier. He's the next hotelier. And I didn't know that today we'll be having an interview like this. So I'm actually quite excited to know you as a person now. And I definitely will stop by when I'm in Delhi.

That would be awesome. I look forward to it. And I'm just going to save your number and stay in touch on WhatsApp. And it was really, really, really an honor to talk to you today.

Thank you. Have a good weekend.

Thank you. Bye.

Bye.