India’s Chef Vikas Khanna is one of the most knows, respected and loved chef worldwide. Recently, he was invited to share his experience and speak at TED Talks India. Vikas shared his experience of birth, early childhood, adulthood, his research and what are his future plans.

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He started with how during his birth, his legs were inverted and the doctor said that he would never be able to walk. He shared how his mother struggled at hospitals for his treatment and only because of her strong willpower, he is walking today.

He also shared how due to his legs, he was treated differently at school and how he was teased by few classmates. He said he used to feel really sad about his condition but only his mother’s love and support helped him to fight against the odds.

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He says that for him, his family is most important. He says that he never missed a call from family even if he is sitting in an important meeting.

Then Vikas shared his experience of color discrimination. He said that after leaving his first job as a chef in New York, he went to a university to research on ‘religion and food’ where a guy said to him that no matter how good he writes, his work will be 10 times better than Vikas because of Vikas’s skin color. Vikas replied to him that he does not want to be equal to him but better than him.

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Based on his research Utsav was made which was based on various types of foods in India and its culture. The book has a place in Queen Of England’s personal collection.

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Vikas has worked with world-famous chef Ramsey and also served food to likes of Barack Obama, PM Narendra Modi, Dalai Lama and Mark Zuckerberg to name a few of many.

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At last, he said that one should never give up and should always be with family and to never lose pride in what you do and who you are. He got a standing ovation from the audience including Shah Rukh Khan.

Published by Bhaumik Raja on 22 Jan 2018