"Believe You Can and You Are Halfway There" - Anisha Manchanda

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1. Tell us about your background and journey.

I am Anisha Manchanda popularly known as Panda foodie (my IG handle name). Believe you can and you are halfway there!! So blogging started 2.5 years ago!

An unplanned thing that happened to me; whoever thought that just a foodie who loved to eat n click trying her hands on Instagram will be on a way to reach substantial heights one day! Blogging was never my profession n never will be! it was n will always be my passion! Coz food is n will be always my first love!

I never knew that such a random start will lead me somewhere when most people will know me by my Instagram handle's name. Going to new places is always my favourite -to-do - thing! Click eat repeat is my motto!

Blogging was not easy; honestly, there r days when u work really hard on posts n they don't go well on Instagram! reach; followers; insights; algorithms; Zomato rankings became the key highlights and concerns at times! With too many trailblazers leading in this field, to come out with something out of the box was indeed a demanding thing! But then who loves it easy.

From clicking most random pictures to clicking some perfect shots editing it to posting them; Instagram taught me a lot! The journey of 2.5 years and to reaching 20k followers and soon to be 25k strong was really a mesmerizing as well as a rollercoaster journey.

So with your support and wishes, we could commonly say_bring it on_!!
-Anisha Manchanda (the_panda_foodie)

2. What led you to do food blogging?

Well, I was just a foodie who just loves to eat n click! I used to click everything i ate! Then one of the fine days a friend asked me why don't you try your hands on blogging! So one fine night I made an Instagram profile and that's where it all begun! Then visiting new places covering content was my favourite thing to do!

3. What does your typical day look like?

Well I'm a banker by profession earlier I was in a night shift; so my day went like attending some food blogging meets or visiting a place to review and then do a straight 9-hour shift!

In lockdown; I'm working in morning shift; so after the shift, I try to cook something for the page upload recipes! and weekends are dedicated to cooking only! Plus before lockdown, I had zero cooking knowledge so I'm just trying my hands on new stuff these days.

4. When did you first decide that you wanted to create and write content about food i.e. for blogging?

I started my journey on 16th December 2017. It's almost two and a half years of food blogging.

5. Is there a dish you particularly associate yourself with?

There are two dishes that I can relate to. First and foremost is Rajma Chawal( I'm crazy for them) so as rajma Chawal makes people happy; I also do pretty much same stuff ( have a jolly nature ). Also, Rajma Chawal being the biggest mood healer I do the same thing for people!

And second is fries! As it's like nobody wants you when you are a potato! and suddenly everybody likes you when you become a French Fry I can relate to this!

Interview by - Sonam