The old trend of rushing behind the govt. jobs seems to be declining and the Kashmiri youth now a day are heading towards Entrepreneurship.
Mujeeb Shah a 28-year-old with an Amity University MBA, launched his maiden food truck venture, ‘What The Fork’, in Gurgaon in 2016. It successfully grabbed collaborations with brands such as AirAsia and Reebok India in six months, going on to complete a two-year stint in the Millennium City. But “a lot of hassles” there prompted Shah to return home, he says. In October this year, he began a ‘What The Fork’ outlet in Karan Nagar while simultaneously launching a food truck at SSM Engineering College in Parihaspora, North Kashmir.
Two months into operations, the outlets have started attracting a reasonable footfall of customers, especially young medical students of Srinagar’s twin government medical and dental colleges. For them, the outlet offers a 10 percent concession each day.
“Innovation is my biggest strength,” says Shah, a former assistant director at Channel V. “We offer deals to customers, and they are interesting and unique. Like today is Friday, we have no deals but a message for our customers.” He says the motive behind offering deals is to create the brand of a restaurant that offers social space and creativity in food.
Deals have been central to Shah’s model of doing business. In its inaugural three days, the outlet made paying for food non-compulsory. Shah cites instances of when a customer who had ordered a full tandoori chicken paid Rs 20, while another customer, who had ordered a half-plate of the same fare, voluntarily paid double the charge.
“Customers are always genuine. It depends on us, how we run our business and give back to our society,” says Shah.
A food connoisseur who himself can prepare 73 dishes, Shah’s signature menu is exclusive to ‘What The Fork’. “You can’t find it anywhere else here. I am trying to give something new to people that can reflect our culture,” he adds.
With simple interiors and a non-conventional seating arrangement that leaves no apparent space between tables, the broader aim of the restaurant’s decor is promoting tolerance and bringing people closer to each other. The idea draws from Kashmir’s popular pend or shopfront, where people would sit together and spend time gossiping and discussing things ranging from politics to the kitchen.
“In the good old days, people would discuss things on pend and return home happily. This too is a pend, where people can discuss, eat and go home happily,” said Shah adding, “My seating arrangement and interiors are simple and realistic, they carry all the necessary things people need. The biggest satisfaction for me is if people spend time here and leave happily,” he adds.
Shah has many upcoming plans, from opening more outlets to installing a fridge with food for the needy. “I want to give something back to my society. And installing a fridge next year is my effort towards that,” he says.
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