By Jigar Ganatra

The journey of a next door boy to renowned chef to now a restaurateur?

Excerpts of the conversation:

How did Masterchef India happen to you?

Firstly, while I am not from the food industry, I was always interested in cooking. I believe it was my hidden passion. I hail from a family of doctors who are well settled and sorted with their careers. They always wanted me to be serious about my life and soon my father asked me to leave for Canada for further studies. That is when I came across Masterchef auditions. I gave it a shot and to my surprise, my journey there began with a bang.

How has life changed after the show?

Masterchef has taught me seriousness. Cooking, which was once just a hidden passion, has now become a career. After the success from Masterchef, my family now believes in my passion. Earlier they did not believe in cooking as a profession, but they do now. So, I owe a lot to the show, my well wishers and my followers.

How is it to be a mentor and a TV presenter?

I was never a TV buff, as I was never allowed to watch TV regularly as a kid. Hence I was never confident about facing the camera, But with time I learnt the skill. Working with kids is an amazing experience, as I was always surrounded by their love, respect and innocence.

What do you have to say about International food formats on TV?

TV shows have changed with time. The audience isn?t aware about the cuisines, but they are keen to learn more. There are regions in India where people aren?t aware of international cuisines. Hence the formats are changing to teach the audience. The change that is being adapted today is the need of the hour. The techniques and awareness about the diversity of food is what we believe interests the audience.

What change do you foresee in the food business?

Food and cuisines have seen a transformation over the years. The audience expects creativity and an interesting platter, which has now become available to them. As a chef and a restaurateur, I see majority of the audience keen to try and experiment with new, international cuisines than taste the wide range of delicacies we have in our country.

Tell us more about your entrepreneurial venture.

I am happy to be a part on the board of directors in Venezia Enterprises. We have recently opened the first restaurant ?Macchiato? - a fine casual dining caf? that will serve true Italian food and wine. We look forward to more such restaurants in the future.

As Anon puts it: 'A real leader faces the music, even when he doesn't like the tune'. Pix business head and AXN, Animax India country manager Sunder Aaron tells Nidhi Jain that in today's business scenario one has to play a dual role, that of a manager and mentor.

Lessons you learnt
First and foremost - in India it has to be kept in mind that it has a very young corporate culture, because business culture has been around for just 10-20 years. It is a very important thing to be kept in mind while managing people. The work force is predominantly very young, so lots of inexperienced, na?ve people come in. We have to give them lessons not only on business but also life. Therefore, a lot of compassion and empathy is required.

I have to be a good manger and mentor on a personal basis too. We, all of us, not only have to improve our lives, but also get better jobs. I cannot prevent anyone going to a better company for a better life. I have to groom these people so that they can go on to have better lives, not just be a better employee for me, but also to do better in whatever they do.

We also need to delegate, give others responsibility, which often doesn't happen. There's a lot of fear in organizations. It's just the nature of the business. Organizations are also political creations. As we all are humans and have egos, politics is bound to enter.

India has a history and tradition of being bureaucratic. When people are always too eager to please, fear enters people and organizations. We have to try our best to remove those obstacles.

I encourage my staff to make mistakes, make a decision, and gather all information you can. Juggling balls means you are not doing anything and that's the worst being in business. We should be fast and determined.

Method of pacifying madness
Things do get out of hand when there is so much of stress. The best way is to personally have discussions with the team, about what they are feeling and thinking. Even five minutes on that can calm everything. Retrieve time outside office too.

Max DePree - "Leadership is much more an art, a belief, a condition of the heart, than a set of things to do. The visible signs of artful leadership are expressed, ultimately, in its practice".

People that influenced
In India, (Set India CEO) Kunal Dasgupta has been a big influence. He is calm, controlled and has a great vision. (Times Now CEO) Sunil Lulla is a strong inspiration, the way he manages people, and is very successful.

We ought to maintain a balance between personal and professional life. Mumbai can be hard city. Just like New York, it's always about 'moving' very fast. We have to make real commitments also to other things like being healthy, staying active in sports, staying close to the closest friends. My friends in the US have fundamentally had a lot of influence on my life. We should not dilute our relationships because of work. There are periods when we work harder and take a lot of time, and then communication becomes important. We have to work and maintain those relationships.

Strategies at Work
Sometimes it's very frustrating, and it is visible also. One of the simple strategies is to calm down. So think and relax before saying anything or dealing with people. Being impatient is certainly not the best thing.

In the market, I am in favor of doing unique things, strategies or approaches for people in business. We have to think out of the box.

For instance, when we were launching our new movie channel Pix, it was coming into an already crowded market. Our approach was to emphasis on stories in the movies with no big stars, budgets. A famous book on screenwriting called Story was where I got the inspiration to launch a channel focusing on the fundamentals. Movies are human experiences and watching them is so human. Like parents telling us stories, caveman told stories by engraving. We strive and communicate through storytelling.

As the Pix example shows, an idea doesn't always come from conventional sources.

Changing rules of work
Rules have not been formed yet. Being motivated does not work in a company that we don't want to work with. I am in this industry because I love film and TV. I enjoy my work and am good at it also. It's important to be balanced; we shouldn't overspend life within the office because it will be no good for anybody. One needs to bring freshness to work.

Charles S. Lauer - "Leaders don't force people to follow - they invite them on a journey".

Ensuring that team delivers
Communicate what is expected of the team. Juniors have a hard time communicating to their seniors. After delegating, we need to monitor also. They should not be intimidated that you are peering over their shoulders. You should be a mentor to help them do their jobs.

Fun part of your business
Almost everything. It's very competitive working with creative, bright people instead of a bunch of dumb, boring people. TV is an enormously growing industry.

Max DePree -"The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality".