I’m Not a Connoisseur but, Wish to Be One in Future - Mudra Keswani

Personally, I am a happy go lucky person, sarcastic and savage at times. I love food like anything. I love things related to food. Be it photography, styling, cooking and learning.

1. Tell us about your background and journey.

Firstly, whenever someone asks me to describe myself I get blank or I am like who am I? It’s the hardest thing to describe myself since I’ve stopped sitting for interviews now but professional intro I will add my Bio.

Personally, I am a happy go lucky person, sarcastic and savage at times. I love food like anything. I love things related to food. Be it photography, styling, cooking and learning. I love travelling, adventure, binge-watching shows, working out at the gym and memes. Oh, I just love memes!

My Journey:

To be honest. It was hit and trial. I wanted to do Mass Communication and become a journalist like my father but I ended up doing bachelors in commerce and economics. I wanted to do Hotel Management and I ended up doing an MBA.

While pursuing an MBA I wanted to go in for marketing but I ended up with Finance. I topped my college god knows how because in school I used to fail in my tests. I started blogging just out of a passion for food and writing and it was a hit.

It definitely took a lot of time for people to recognise my work. Some still don’t understand but it's okay. I quit my well paying fancy Hotelier job n decided to pursue what I love and somehow I am on the right track.

But again, there were a lot of struggles but people just see the fame that you get from the work, not the background story. I won awards, I started writing for newspapers and my brand also got registered. Things somehow fall into place. Parents were supportive. My sister has been the biggest supporter of me.

Professional Bio: 

The Super Chatori aka Mudra Keswani

A native of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. MBA Graduate and Social Media enthusiast, PR & Communication professional, Ex- hotelier, Passionate for dance, photography and highly obsessed with food and a big-time food lover herself; rather, a CHATORI! Creative by nature, gregarious, funny, inquisitive and extrovert. Petite in appearance but big enough to accomplish any task!

I EAT A LOT. I am tiny and thin but, I am a big-time food lover or as my name goes, THE SUPER CHATORI! Exploring new food joints and learning about food is something second to my nature.

I love visiting restaurants and checking out what’s new, experimenting with food, learning about it and sharing my culinary experience. I am not a professional writer but, I like to write and wish to be one like my Father.

Since I belong to a Journalism background, I always wanted to write. Food being my first love, got me into blogging. Tagged as the first food blogger of Bhopal and is highly passionate about my love for food, I started making videos for YouTube, for which I was appreciated as the “Best Vlogger” by FBAI in 2015 and recently, was awarded as the "Best Restaurant Reviews Blogger" in India by Food Bloggers Association of India for 2016-17.

I have a dream, to change the gastronomic landscape of my city by making people aware of the food map of the entire world and BHOPALI FOOD in particular. I’m not a connoisseur but, wish to be one in future.

List of Awards:

- FBAI Appreciation award for videos 2015.
- Best Restaurant Review Blog in India Runner Up 2016 FBAI
- 2017 winner Best Restaurant Reviews by Food Bloggers Association of India (FBAI)
- Best Blog in MP by Indiblogger 2017

- Best Blogger In Bhopal 2018 by MyFM India

Ex-Hotelier by profession (Marketing communications at The Ritz-Carlton, Bangalore). Currently, working with Mr Vir Sanghvi and his company named Culinary Culture- Food Super Stars project. A group of about 25 Best Food writers and bloggers across India. Representing Bhopal and MP in particular.

2. What led you to do food blogging?

While I was pursuing my Bachelors in Commerce and Economics, I knew that the cliché streams weren't meant for me and I always wanted to do something creative. I come from a family of journalists and I enjoyed creative writing.

I was very attracted and inclined towards social media and wanted to utilize it ethically as a medium for portraying my creativity. I was in two minds when it came to choosing to write but about what exactly?

As a kid, I used to have peculiarly extra love for food than usual which used to surprise my parents. All the treats, appreciation gifts that I asked from my parents used to be food-related. So, I was a glutton since childhood and still am.

So I knew if there is something which amazes me since the very beginning, then it is food. I then inferred that if life has been kinda ho-hum, then it probably makes the most sense to get started by just writing about the food. So finally, I started writing food blogs on Blogspot.

At that point in time, I used to post irregularly and unsteadily. During my MBA, in the 3rd semester, a friend of mine, who really used to appreciate my writing skills, suggested me to start a new blog and to pursue it earnestly.

I was glad to have the advice of someone so level-headed. So I officially started food blogging. updated the status on social media that I’m up with my own food blog.

To my surprise, many people appreciated my work and landed up visiting that particular restaurant after reading my blog. The response was so good and unanticipated. I didn't expect my blog posts to go viral on social media platforms. 

At that point in time, although my blog was doing amazingly well, I wasn't earning money. I wanted to be financially stable. I started with interning at Courtyard by Marriott, Bhopal.

During my college placements, I didn't sit for campus interviews despite having a good resume. But somehow, I got selected for a job at Ritz Carlton Bangalore, through my resume. I got to work in the marketing field, which I desired. Getting a job at Ritz Carlton marked a turning point in my career!

There I came to know about the dishes and cuisines I wasn't very well-acquainted with. The hotel industry is 24X7 working and I wasn’t getting time for anything. I wasn't getting much time to regularly post on my blog too, it was quite dissatisfying for me. So I took a decision to move back to Bhopal.

It took me 4-6 months to understand the current market trend of the food industry in Bhopal and crowd's perception about the same. I was also a regular columnist at Dainik Bhaskar and DB post, where I wrote weekly food reviews.

Meanwhile, I was nominated twice or thrice as the Best Food Blogger and I was really elated being nominated at the national level. But in 2016, won the award for Best Food Blogger in India'.

I remember how proud moment that was for my father sitting in the crowd. When I came back to Bhopal for good, my father said to me that he wants to see me as the best restaurant reviewer in the country.

I never knew that his dream will come true in the coming 6 months. After winning the award, people started recognising me and my work more. And for the consecutive 2 years, I won the 'Best Restaurant Reviewer' in the country.

After that, I won the 'Best Blogger Award' in MP, by Indie Blog Awards among the diversified blog category. Later, I left writing for Dainik Bhaskar and I continued to focus more on my website and soon, I also got my brand registered.

3. What does your typical day looks like? 

My schedule during the lockdown period has changed and I became very lazy. Prior to this, I used to handle my family business in the morning, followed by meetings/ reviews in the afternoon over lunch. Evenings, I used to go to the gym and post that I made sure I had atleast one meal at my home.

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

Not a dish but I would rather relate to flavours. I am sweet and spicy. Haha

5. Which is your favourite book and why?

I’m defiantly not an ardent reader. I don’t know why. I used to be one in school but I don’t get much time now. But, currently, I am reading “The Mind Menu” can’t review it since I’m still on it.

Interview By - Shruti Kaval