“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 begins at the end of your comfort zone.” ~ Jack Canfield

I’ve been doing commercial food styling projects for over 5 years now, and it’s been an amazing journey so far.

The assignments that come my way are freelance projects, Ad shoots, magazine tie ups and television commercials of various brands and companies. I absolutely love my job, as every new project brings in the opportunity to meet new people and acquire different skill sets.

“Sometimes what you’re looking for comes when you’re not looking at all.”

With couple of television commercials, Ad shoots and the ongoing project at home, things have been a bit frenzied last few weeks.

So hectic, that at times I started to feel the pinch of physical exhaustion and insomnia on the sets. But in all, I have had some great time meeting people, cooking and styling food products for new brands and companies.

The power to make food look mouth-watering on print and media is so inspiring and rewarding. As a food lover I feel fortunate to have worked with some of the best photographers and production houses in Chennai.

Last month was crazy as my shooting schedule went haywire with food styling projects pouring in from every possible media in the town..television media, magazines, packaging and You tube channels.

After a lot of filtering, here are some candid shots from the photo shoot which I accepted & executed for various medias in Chennai some time back.

“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.” Marcus Aurelius.

“Ah…excuse me, I didn’t get your name.”

“Sanjeeta”

I turned around and looked at the representative from client’s office standing behind me. We would have spoken at length on topics ranging from food to Indian culture on the sets for last two days, but forgot to exchange our names.

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

I am enjoying my journey as a food stylist and was in for a pleasant surprise the other day when I received a call from the ace photographer Venkat Ram.

The photo-shoot was for a popular South Indian brand, Hatsun with a good network in dairy products. The photo-shoot was for their new venture into ready-to-eat frozen food product line by the name Oyalo.

“I have to mention about a person who played an important role in this project. I didn’t know how to use social media network or to even send a mail. She is the one who opened my Gmail account and started my facebook page called DSOFT. She clicked pictures of the clothes we stitched and uploaded on the page.”

“Sanjeeta, my tech-guru, please stand up where ever you are” Saranya looked at me from the stage and smiled.

I shyly stood and waved to the audience. I could see my son smiling in disbelief after hearing her mom referred as ‘tech-guru’ 🙂

Another fruitful year comes to an end. Well, you don’t need a new year to make a change, all you need is a new morning.

When you’re following your passion, you won’t need to be motivated.

There was a time when, I used to struggle to manage my blog with my self-imposed technology phobia and wondered if I would ever make it to today.

But today, sitting in the office of a very popular brand of Chennai, ready to sign the mega project….my hands are shaking and I could hear every beat of my heart. And I am ready to test my wings again!

“The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.”~ Phil Jackson

“Hi Sanjeeta, there is a shoot on 14^th, are you free?”

 “Yes”

 “See you there!”

This is the conversation with Kunal before most of the food photo-shoot assignments we do together.