We recently connected with Ravinder Sharma and have shared our conversation below.
Ravinder, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s jump right into how you came up with the idea?
I have been a chef for over 20 years. I practiced in India for 10 plus years and then continue to grow in my creative services when I moved to the U.S. I worked in Phoenix, AZ for 8 months. Once we moved to Columbus, I worked with several different Indian restaurants by bringing the original Indian dishes, techniques and flavors. However, the whole time I thought about starting my own business, but never had the courage to do so since my family relied on me financially and I was the sole provider for my family of 4. After sometime, when my kids got older and were able to take care of themselves, my son and I started thinking about doing something of our own. We had also just moved to a new area where there were barely any Indian restaurants that were authentic. So, we started looking at locations that we meet our budget. Opening your own business is always a risk, but Covid brought in new layer of challenges that required us to be more creative in the location we find and how to be smart with our finances. This adventure also required us ( my son, my wife and I ) to quit our jobs and invest time into this restaurant. Despite many ups and downs in getting this restaurant started, we are very grateful to have taken this risk. Ability to work together as a family is one of the fine things that bring true joy to my heart. Sometimes, I think about whether this restaurants becomes successful or not, I will always cherish working along side my wife and my son, along with feeding people good food and bringing something fun into the community.
Ravinder, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My original career was in pharmacy in India. I worked in the hospital, delivering medications to the doctors and sometimes even in the operating rooms and it was fun while it lasted. Once I had a family of 4 people, I knew that I wanted to provide the best for my kids and my wife. So, I have my own pharmacy at one point. Through this business, I made a friend who was leaving for the U.S. with his family and encouraged me to apply for a visa so that my kids could have better opportunities. The idea of giving my children all the possible opportunity was so close to my heart that I started looking into it which led me to my old friend who I had being delivering medications to for a long time. My friend owned a 5 start restaurant in Punjab which is the state I am from. He gave met he opportunity to become certified in the culinary services and he would help me get American Visa sponsorship. So, with time, this led to me working in the pharmacy during the day and then working 5-6 hours in the restaurant late nights. I did this for 10 plus years and that is how long it takes to get the visa for the US. Then, in 2007, we moved to the US and I started working in an Indian restaurant and this has been my life since then. I am very grateful for this opportunity because I enjoy cooking from the heart but also this career has led to my children having better life.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
When I was moving from the pharmacy business to culinary, that was a big jump. I had not once stepped foot in my kitchen at home and now here I am surrounded by so many amazing chefs. However, when you are a newcomer, it is natural that you go through discouragement because you are failing and learning, but also learning to take negative comments from your coworkers. That was a hard task for me. Many times I would arrive at the restaurant to learn, many of the chefs would get jealous because the owner was my friend and he treated me especially kindly which backfired many times. At times, I wished he didn’t acknowledge me because how hard of a time I would have in the kitchen with other chefs. But, I knew I had to keep going and not letting this effect me. I continue to learn, make mistakes and apologize and let them criticize me and mock me. Overtime we did become friends and I worked as a peer along side them. Once I moved to the US, I had to figure out the language, culture, the people and the lifestyle. I had to make sure my family was taken care of. I worked long hours with only 1 day off and this effected my time with the family. But, I had to keep going for them and for us all to learn to adjust to the new change. I had similar difficulties with my coworkers in the US that I had in India. I had learned patience and standing firm, not letting people bring me down. Again, overtime things got better and people became nicer.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I had already shed light on this questions. But, my journey from getting out of pharmacy to becoming a full time chef would fit into this question.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mehakindiankitchen.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mehakkitchen5720/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mehakkitchen5720
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/mehak-indian-kitchen-and-bar-columbus-2
Image Credits
Photography by Katie Campbell