36 » OpenRoad Driver
You talked about the restaurants
and your passion for that, and
getting the food into people’s homes.
There is a lot of business sense
in this, and of course, you enjoyed
working with the TV show, Dragon’s
Den. Tell me about that experience.
So a human being in this world is an
entrepreneur. An entrepreneur is someone
who loves to sing and dance to their own
music. You’re an entrepreneur, because
you want to do things the way you want
to do. Everybody is an entrepreneur. I
really believe it. Even the person selling
cigarettes on the side streets of India is an
entrepreneur. So entrepreneurial spirits, of
creating, of being your own boss is natural
to me. It was not that difficult. I grew up
around it, and haggling is a part of my
business.
One of the things I know your fans
love is, of course, to see you. As you
expand, that won’t be possible every
time. How do you reconcile those
factors?
Great question. I love people, and I’ve
always been a people person. So what I do
normally is I start my morning by going
to the factory. Then I come to My Shanti,
and then I’ll go to Vij’s, then Rangoli, from
Rangoli to the new Vij’s. I work an average
twelve- to fourteen-hour days. They might
not get me every day everywhere, but they
do get me at some point or another. I love
to welcome people, and say, “Come on in.”
I love that style. You can’t have me all the
time, but chances are you’re going to run
into me because I love what I do. I really
do.
You didn’t do that with your Audi
from us!
Last question. Maybe you can tell us
something about yourself that not
that many people know?
To be honest, Audi was that candy I
wanted really badly. I love it and I’m such
an Audi freak. It drives beautifully, and
it just reminds me of who I am as a car. I
mean, Audi to me is just like, “wow.”
When I was a child, I always wanted to be
a Bollywood actor. My father said to me,
“No son of mine is ever going to become
an actor.” So I asked myself, how do I bring
my creative juices... I channeled them
through cooking. I always knew right off
the bat I wanted to become a chef because
my father wouldn’t let me become a
Bollywood actor.
Another thing is 8-10 years ago while I
was going through this period of growth,
mentally I was going through some stuff,
so I decided to go to India and I became
homeless for five days. Just to see why the
hell is all this attention being given to me. I
hid my passport away, stepped out into the
streets for five days, slept there and became
homeless just to see what was happening.
I realized that I was no different from
other human beings out there next to me.
I just happened to be born to a father
who could send me to a great school to
become something of my own. It was such
a touching moment to realize I’m so lucky.
And the freedom of having a Canadian
passport, knowing that once that plane
took off from India I never have to look
back again. I was a master of my own
destiny.