Dr.Himanshu Nandwani - My Blog Is All About Simple Recipes Along With Lots Of Entertainment (Content Creator From India)

I would say if I can cook, anybody can. And this is why I try my best to keep recipes as simple as possible while shooting videos for Bakchod Hustlers page. In fact, there are many recipes that even I learn for the first time while filming videos. So let your emotions flow and start cooking for your loved ones. And trust me, nothing beats the satisfaction which we get while watching your loved ones enjoy food cooked by you. 

1. Tell us about your background and journey. 

First of all, let me introduce myself, I am Dr.Himanshu Nandwani the real name behind the Bakchod Hustlers, which I guess most of my digital family would be unaware of.

I was born and brought up in Surat - the vibrant city famous majorly for Diamond, Textiles, and Food. The vast variety of Cuisines, especially street food varieties available in Surat is what that has turned me to a big-time foodie. I would say Surat is like Heaven for the Food Lovers. 

So after completing my High School, I did my Graduation in the field of Dentistry from D.Y Patil Dental College, Pune. People usually get surprised knowing my educational background and my current career path as they are poles apart.

But by the time I completed my graduation, it was clear in my mind that this is not what I want to do for the rest of my life. So that made me join our Family’s Textile Business, where I continued working for around 7-8 years.

But still, there was always a void that was to be filled as I was not yet completely satisfied with the chosen career. It was only during the Lockdown period, that I started cooking passionately and tried my hands on various recipes which turned out great and I somewhat started enjoying the whole process.

That’s when I realised that Cooking was fun and how much I love doing that. From then, until now I am balancing my time between our family business and cooking Content Creation. The Journey is turning out to be beautiful.

2. What led you to start your blog and what is it about? 

My Blog is all about simple recipes along with lots of entertainment. So it all started during the lockdown, As I mentioned Earlier how I realised my love for cooking. So basically once I started cooking, I used to search over the internet for the recipes to try out.

But most of the videos which I came across, though they were informative but were either lengthy or very slow-paced making the whole process of cooking a little boring. Though creating cooking videos was never in my mind, I always had this inclination toward entertaining videos in general and wanted to create a few videos of the similar niche.

Then some time ago, while having a normal discussion with my very close friend Sorav Nagpal, we came up with an idea of merging my both interests and decided to create cooking videos but by adding our very own element of entertainment. That’s when Bakchod Hustlers was born, where I focus on making recipes that are easy to follow and videos entertaining enough to keep you hooked. Also, I like to keep my videos fast-paced with funny voice-overs trying to make cooking an enjoyable experience for all my viewers. 

3. Is it financially sustainable to be a digital creator these days? 

Initially while starting out I would say it's not, but then yes in the long run definitely it is sustainable. 

Seeing the recent trends and the future forecasts we can definitely say that Influencer marketing is really booming and is here to stay. It has turned out to be a more efficient and a cost-effective marketing strategy for Brands as compared to the amount of investments that go into making tv commercials or any other means of advertisement for that matter. This has led to a major shift in the mindset and has opened an ample amount of opportunities for the creators. 

So if we talk about Financial sustainability as a digital creator, yes you can definitely achieve that but it requires a lot of patience, as things do fall into place but it takes time and everyone has their own trajectory of growth path. For some, it can be 2-3 months to taste the success while for others it may take even more than 1 -2 years.

So I would rather say don’t rely completely on the digital creation for the financial stability at the beginning of your journey and always have an alternative source of income till the time you reach to a point, wherein all your financial needs can be fulfilled being a Digital Creator. 

Moreover, working as a digital creator is just like starting a brand new business or a startup in itself. As when we are venturing into a new business we don’t expect it to be profitable overnight, likewise we need to keep our expectations realistic with the digital creation as well. So just be patient and keep Creating good content. 

4. How can someone become a successful content creator? 

With whatever experience I have gained in my creator journey so far and looking at other fellow creators who are doing so well, I would say there are three things that I consider the most important to be a successful content creator. 

1- Being Consistent - If you want to make content creation as your primary career, you need to shift that mindset from the casual approach and creating just for fun to a more calculative approach just like we do in our jobs or business. You need to create content regularly to get the desired results.And being consistent not necessarily means creating content daily. I would say choose a sustainable plan for yourself, be it every alternate day or even twice a week for that matter. Just stick to that routine and be consistent in creating.

2- Selecting a Niche of your Interest - Knowing your Interest and creating around that is very much important to make this as a long-term career option and preventing yourself from being burned out. Don’t just randomly follow any creator niche just because you see them doing good in their space. Identify your own forte and create accordingly. Be it cooking, comedy, dance or art, everything works and would be good for you only if you enjoy doing that.

3- Keeping the Expectations low and realistic. Being a content creator is like traveling on an emotional roller coaster ride, one moment your work is doing wonders and getting appreciated giving you that sweet little moment of joy, and then the very next moment something won’t perform well leaving you disheartened. So being calm and staying detached from the expectations is what keeps me sane. You have to find the right balance otherwise the constant anxiety can prove to be really detrimental to your mental health.

5. How and where do you find inspiration to churn out content? 

My two major sources from where I drive my inspiration are my mom and my wife. They have been cooking for such a long time and seeing them enjoy doing what they love inspires me the most. Even today, Cooking something special for the family is what gives them immense satisfaction and joy. 

Moreover, the kind of content fellow creators are creating, amazing creativity, and flow of ideas which we get to see every day. You can say that bit of healthy competition makes me keep my sleeves rolled up and be motivated throughout for constantly trying to improve the quality of my content.

6. Who is your favourite creator and why? 

It's really hard to select one or name a few, they are so many creators out there doing amazing work. But if I have chosen, in the Cooking Category I would say, Chef Ranveer Brar, Chef Saransh Goila, Chef Nehal Karkera, Chef Natasha Gandhi, and Chef Sanjyot Keer and there is a long long list to follow, they are creating some amazing value providing content, each of them slaying with their own USP, some with their commentary and VoiceOver and others with their editing skills.

In other Categories, the major ones whom I follow are the Comedy Content Creators and currently, Rj Karishma tops the list, her content is so relatable and never fails to bring a smile to my face. Also, Viraj Gehlani, Beer Biceps Guy (Ranveer Allahbadia), and Bhuvan Bam are my all-time favourites.

7. How do you describe your overall cooking philosophy? 

In my opinion, Cooking is an emotion just let it flow. There are no set rules in cooking, it's your creativity and the understanding of flavours that matter.

Anyone can easily cook if you have that inclination and love for cooking. I have seen people consider cooking a daunting task. But no, it's actually not like that. In fact, most of the recipes which we make in our routine life are really simple and easy to follow.

Furthermore, I would say if I can cook, anybody can. And this is why I try my best to keep recipes as simple as possible while shooting videos for Bakchod Hustlers page. In fact, there are many recipes that even I learn for the first time while filming videos. 

So let your emotions flow and start cooking for your loved ones. And trust me, nothing beats the satisfaction which we get while watching your loved ones enjoy food cooked by you. 

8. Is there a particular dish you particularly associate yourself with? 

This one is really hard, as I usually associate myself with most of the dishes. But to name a few, I would say Butter Chicken and most important Maa ke Hath ke Rajma Chawal have many emotions of my life hooked to it. If you ask me anyone dish which I can eat for the rest of my life that would be Rajma Chawal.

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Interviewed By - Mrunalini Karale