We all love to win, it makes us feel good.

Well, I can only remember winning a couple of small events during school days and receiving colourful plastic pencil boxes or laminated certificates from the principal…Those were small wins, but were wins nonetheless.

Though a little disappointment for not getting a ‘real trophy‘ still remain 🙂

“Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you’re climbing it.” ~ Andy Rooney.

It has been over a decade of my ‘food centric’ life and I am absolutely enjoying every moment of it. My food journey has been truly incredible. Though many forced long breaks from social media quite upset me at times.

I am grateful that my profession as a food stylist keeps me in constant touch with ‘food’ and gives me the privilege to work with many eminent personalities from media.

“This life is yours. Take the power to choose what you want to do and do it well“. Susan Polis

Cooking & clicking food is a hobby that has filled a large part of my life and has kept me busy for a long time, till it became a real-life job.

And now, working around food as a food blogger and a professional food stylist, completes & compliments my purpose of living. Not to forget the enormous personal growth and fulfillment I get from doing the same.

“Food is not about impressing people. It’s about making them feel comfortable.” Ina Garten

I don’t remember my lunch time in preschool or nursery days but I do have a vivid memory of it during my elementary school.

Mom was a working woman and as usual morning time used to be very hectic at home. She would cook breakfast & lunch for me and my brother and pack our dabbas before leaving for office at 8am.

Priceless childhood memories, some great friends, good food and endless time spent on Fatehsagar… these are the memories which make life sweeter.

Come winter and makki and bajre ki roti become staple food for us. Mom will make a huge batch of fresh vegetable pickle using mustard oil. We used to run out of house the day she would heat oil to makes this pickle. The strong pungent smell of mustard oil was hard on our nose.

“When you take the step towards your dreams, you will be met with fears because you have never traveled this way before. As you go, you will discover that you had nothing to fear.” ~ Gardner

Rewind a few years back to when I used to get panic attacks whenever a couple of projects land in a span of few days. I would become anxious and stressed out as the deadlines draw near. It was a real tough time to find a point of balance between my career and personal life, more so when you are passionately inclined towards both.

However, with over seven years of work experience in the industry, I now feel more at ease with myself.

“A great marriage is not when the ‘perfect couple’ comes together. It is when an imperfect couple learns to enjoy their differences.” ~Dave Meurer

Whenever I reflect on our marriage, it brings a smile on my face. I never thought I would have a love marriage, but that was what was in store for me. Yes, ours was a love marriage against all odds and distances.

22^nd January 1996, it’s been 21 years of togetherness. Well, Marriage is just a reason, lifelong friendship is the most precious gift that we received on this day.

“What keeps me motivated is not the food itself but all the bonds and memories the food represents.” ~ M.Chiarello

Running around with cousins from one terrace to another, attending family weddings and eating simple home cooked food on wood fire…childhood was so much fun at granny’s home.

Summer vacations were always welcomed, when extended families and cousins would all come over to our large joint family house for holidays in Bhilwara, Rajasthan.

I was immersed in a flurry of vivid memory the moment I stepped inside that large kitchen area at a photo shoot recently. The heady smell of sweets wafting out of the kitchen instantly transported me back into time, to the family weddings conducted at my granny’s place.

Long forgotten memories of my childhood came flooding back as I watched traditional Halwais work in the giant assembly line at Bombay Sweets in Thanjavur during a food photo-shoot last week.

“Life is not the way it’s supposed to be, it’s the way it is. The way you cope is what makes the difference.”~Virginia Satir

“Packing..Checked, flight details..checked, just one more day to go and we will be having fun at your granny’s home” I looked at children and smiled, barely hiding my excitement of meeting mom and just being in Udaipur again.

But destiny has its own plans and sometimes unexpected things can happen. We went through tough times, the very thought of which makes me shudder. The trip was called off.