The Tricity is definitely a hub of food lovers and the wide variety of outlets spread across Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali is proof of this. Continuing our aim of making it easier for you with respect to how and where you can head for a good dining experience with family and friends, we bring to you our picks of the best dining places in Sector 7, Chandigarh. One of the most visited places in the Tricity, especially on the weekends, Sector 7 is host to many popular restaurants. Here’s are our Top 5:

Social

Easily one of the most happening places in Sector 7, Social has everything that one needs to have a great dining experience. With fun events that they keep on happening on a regular basis involving interesting musical acts, Social has definitely stepped it up. Their food is also a highlight, specially the ever popular China boxes and Social sharing plates, the hangout currently ranks high on our go to spots in Sector 7, Chandigarh.

Price for two: Approx Rs 1400

Address: SCO 37, Madhya Marg, Sector 7-C, Sector 7, Chandigarh

Contact: 073411 18093

Virgin Courtyard

Nestled in one corner of this otherwise busy sector, Virgin Courtyard is a fine dining place which boasts of great food coupled with an enviable ambience. With both inside and outside eating options, Virgin Courtyard caters to all your dining needs. Their pasta selection and their wood oven pizzas are to die for. One of the most high-end restaurants, Virgin Courtyard does promise and deliver quality food.

Price for two: Approx Rs 1800

Address: SCO 1A, Sector 7-C, Sector 7, Chandigarh

Contact: @virgincourtyard

Dastaan

A place where one can spend some quality time with the entire family, Dastaan is a another popular dining place in Sector 7. Providing their own twist to traditional Indian fare, this restaurant has fusion food items such as golgappa shots and pappad bruschetta on their menu. A typical Sunday night dinner can be spent at this fine dining restaurant which also provides for the perfect ambience for a family get-together.

Price for two: Approx Rs 1900

Address: SCO 43, Near Madhya Marg, Sector 7, Chandigarh

Contact: @dastaan_restaurant

Cottage

If you are looking for the perfect place for a romantic dinner date, then look no further. Cottage in Sector 7 has interiors that scream coziness and intimacy with their furniture and decor that has cottage core written all over it. This is definitely the most Instagrammable dining place on this list. A mix of European and Mediterranean fare, the menu has a host of options for a formal dining experience.

Price for two: Approx Rs 1500

Address: SCO 44, Madhya Marg, Sector 7-C, Chandigarh

Contact: @cottage.chandigarh

Dhaba

Going for the full Punjabi vibe is the Dhaba restaurant and bar in Sector 7. True to their name, the entire aesthetics of the space has been given the Punjabi highway dhaba touch and the artwork on the walls has been done with exquisite attention to detail. From food to the decor, Dhaba checks all the boxes for us. On the menu, they offer ‘Theka Bites’ and also the regular North Indian fare, not to miss their tandoor items.

Price for two: Approx Rs 1400

Address: SCO 6, Market back entry, Sector 7-C, Chandigarh

Contact: http://dhaba7.in/

While on a pleasure trip to Chandigarh, the proverbial City Beautiful, your quest to know more about the historic Rock Garden, sprawled over 40 acres of land, never gets satiated. This one-man-created wonderland continues to remain a conundrum for an inquisitive visitor!

Conceptualised and created out of industrial waste and discarded material, including broken crockery, electrical fittings, glass bangles, bathroom tiles, discarded bottles, shards of ceramic, pots and pans, broken pipes, et al, it remains an undisputed Mecca for tourists worldwide.

The material that the lone ranger ferried on his Victorian bicycle from far-off places was used to sculpt out nearly 2,000 statuettes of humans and wild neighbours, including elephants, bears, horses, monkeys, and birds, turning it into a kind of utopia. The specially carved-out cataracts of brown water add to its natural ambiance offering it a surreal touch.

As you leisurely walk into this imaginary paradise of concrete, the Rock Garden of Chandigarh, you sense the all-pervading paradisiacal serenity around the fairyland. As you thread your way through the narrow cobbled pathways skirted by shady trees, you catch a glimpse of village belles with earthen pitchers precariously perched on their heads, kids in school dress, Army ‘jawans’ attending their morning drill, the hawk-eyed sentinel guarding the frontiers, a beggar with his begging bowl, ‘yoga’ freaks doing ‘asanas’, a village well and so on and so forth, instantaneously transporting you to an entirely different world offering a typical rural metaphor.

The very idea of creating this dream kingdom of a kind by a self-taught master creator remains an enigma for researchers and erudite scholars to explore and pen the one man’s vision behind this Himalayan effort, for posterity. The wizard at making the best out of waste, Nek Chand, had confided to a nosey scribe on his mind and mission: “I have put in my humble effort by way of collecting the waste from faraway places and ferrying it to the designated spot. I have never ever, in my wildest dreams, thought it would turn out to be the most visited spot worldwide after the historic Taj Mahal, witnessing huge footfalls, day in and day out. It would have ended up as a bad dream without the presence of the divine”.

The Rock Garden of Chandigarh had to leapfrog initial hurdles before making the final cut. The Chandigarh Administration was all for razing the Utopia raised on public land. However, the year 1975 augured well when some art lovers went gun-blazing against the administration’s decision to demolish the rare jewel of the City, following which the idea was junked, clearing the road for unveiling it on January 24, 1976. The rest is history.

 

It is a matter of grave concern that the idea of raising a befitting memorial to perpetuate the memory of the creator has failed to take off decades after work started to take it forward in 2008-09. The museum, which had to come up in extended Phase III of the Garden, was hit by official wrangles.

The idea behind raising the memorial was to perpetuate the fond memories of his eventful journey spanning over several decades, by putting together his personal belongings for posterity, including the bicycle he used for ferrying waste material, among several others, like books on art and culture, newspaper cuttings et al.

However, the much-awaited Dolls Museum came up at phase III of the Rock Garden of Chandigarh in memory of the legend. Woven out of waste cloth by Nek Chand in the 70s, the museum houses some 200 rags dolls of various shapes and sizes. Inspired by a typical village scene, the museum candidly unfolds the day-to-day activity through mute images, including women drawing water from the village well, milking buffalos, farmers tending fields, a village well, women on a spinning wheel, and so on. The museum was inaugurated by the Governor of Punjab and Administrator, Chandigarh Administration, VP Singh Badnore in 2017.

“There is no denying the fact that the administration is taking a keen interest in maintaining the unique marvel, but much more needs to be done to protect it from further decay,” Anuj Saini, son of the creator of Rock Garden Nek Chand told CityWoofer.

Keeping the garden spic and span is nice, but more important is to maintain every single part of this wonderland. It is encouraging to note that the UT Adviser Dharam Pall has ordered complete the Phase-III pending work within a stipulated period of two months, ahead of the G-20 meet slated for January next year.

UT Cricket Association has announced its team for the Ranji Trophy tournament which commenced at Punjab Cricket Association Mullanpur, also called Maharaja Yadvendra international Cricket stadium. The stadium saw its debut Ranji Trophy match.

Chandigarh’s is almost a new look team which is participating in the Ranji trophy.

Panchkula-based, Manan Vohra who played for Punjab Kings XI from 2013 to 2017, Rajasthan Royal, and Royal Challengers Bangalore is leading the team for this two-month-long Ranji campaign.

Chandigarh’s first match began against hosts Punjab. This will be followed by one against Madhya Pradesh which will take place in Indore from December 20 onwards.

The third match of Chandigarh will be against Gujarat. That match will be played in Ahmedabad from December 27 onwards.

Chandigarh’s fourth tie will be against Tripura. That match will be played in Agartala from January 3.

The team will play the last three matches of the tournament at Sector 16 Cricket Stadium in the City Beautiful.

Prabhsimran Singh’s double century

With Punjab dominating on Day 1, Punjab batsman Prabhsimran Singh scored a double century on the opening day. Invited to bat, Punjab openers Abhishek Sharma made 100 runs in 146 balls while Prabhsimran scored a swashbuckling 202 runs in 278 balls. At the close of play, Punjab were 342 for the loss of two wickets on Day 1.

Cousin brother of Punjab Ranji cricketer, Anmolpreet Singh, PrabhSimran Singh is an explosive wicket-keeper batsman and started playing serious cricket at a tender age of 8.

On Day 2 of Ranji Trophy match 2022-23, Punjab Captain Mandeep Singh scored a century, Punjab declared their innings at a score of 4/ 586.

Chandigarh Squad: Manan Vohra (c), Bhagmender Lather, Arjit Singh (wk), Gaurav Puri, Kunal Mahajan, Mohd Arsalan Khan, Akshit Rana (wk), Gurinder Singh, Abhijeet Garg, Gaurav Gambhir, Ankit Kaushik, Sandeep Sharma, Rohit Dhanda, Jagjit Singh Sandhu, Hartejassvi Kapoor

PCA Stadium, Mullanpur

Thec stadium has 7 pitches laid with black soil which has been brought from Haryana. In the next 6 months, the stadium will be ready for international matches, however domestic matches have been regularly played here. The stands are ready but the sitting arrangement is yet to be made, work is being done to ready the parking area and practise area, lights are yet to be installed and the B-ground is yet to be made ready.

Region’s first international cricket stadium to have herringbone drainage system

This kind of drainage will allow a matchto restart within 30 minutes even in case of heavy rains.

The herringbone system is the design for the main central pipe. The pipe runs down a slope and it is connected with numerous lateral pipes at acute angles. This design doesn’t require as much depth for excavated drains compared to other options that are available. This drainage design is being used at many football pitches and other stadiums in abroad. It has fewer junctions and can be upgraded with ease

Mahatma Gandhi, popularly known as ‘Father of the Nation’, whose ideology of non-violence and peace made world notice India, had this message to the world “My life is my message.“ And who would follow it more than his own lineage. Growing up in the midst of legends like Mahatma Gandhi, and Kasturba Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, C Rajagoapachari, Dr Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, and others, was his grand-daughter, Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee, daughter of Devdas Mohandas Gandhi, the youngest son among Mahatma’s four children. To add to it, C Rajagopalachari, a Congress leader and the first Indian Governor-General of India was Tara Gandhi’s maternal grandfather.  During her visit to Chandigarh, this is what Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee, a Gandhian, had to say about her association with Bapu, in a free-wheeling conversation with CityWoofer.

How much time did you spend with your grandfather Mahatma Gandhi?

I spent the first 14 years of my life with Bapuji till he was assassinated. We lived at the Harijan Colony (at present in the North Campus in Delhi) which was founded by him. I have very vivid memories of Bapuji and Kasturba Gandhi, my grandmother.

Tell us about your association with Mahatma Gandhi?

He insisted on no wastage of paper, he would insist us to indulge in diary writing and letter writing. Anna (maternal grandpa), Raja ji, would also stress on the same and I used to write letters to them regularly when they were in jail. The best part is Bapuji would immediately reply, and the letters would reach us within 3-4 days from where ever he was.

Once I wrote to him when he was lodged in Aga Khan jail. He wrote back:  My dear Tara, I received your letter, I must say it was bad, the handwriting was also not good …learn from your mother … but keep writing to me.

I got very angry and tore his letter, my friends asked me what Bapu ji had written, I said that he was fine. After that I became conscious, and many years later, I wrote to Anna (maternal grandfather) and he wrote back that I had written a beautiful letter, and the handwriting was also very good. Both of them were very particular about good handwriting and correct structure of sentences. Everybody was communicating through letters back then, Bapu ji regularly used to communicate through letters with Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Leo Tolstoy, Winston Churchill, C Rajagopalachari, Dr Rajendra Prasad and many other national and international leaders. The entire revolution of Indian  freedom struggle was based on letter writing.

Whatever we know of him is through these letters and dairy writing that he did.

Do you remember anything about Indira Gandhi as his father was a regular visitor at your house?

I was much younger to her, she was about 17 years older to me, but she was great friends with my parents, they referred to her as ‘Indu’. Once she was very unwell, and I went along with my parents to inquire about her health. My father told me on my way home ‘you will see a letter of thanks from her family by tomorrow’ and yes, it was there.

What did you feel about him when you were growing up with him and after he was no more?

I always thought of Bapu ji and Kasturba as any normal child would, for me they were my grandparents. It was natural that they taught us the normal lessons of morality, cleanliness, family traditions, vegetarianism and spinning of cotton. To this day, I wear only khadi, back then I did not like khadi because all my other contemporaries would wear fancy clothes. I like i, not because of the philosophy but I now realise that khadi gives me the feel of it. Now, I derive great meaning and significance from whatever they taught me.

That you are the granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi and C Rajagopalachari, and had a journalist father, who was the editor, did you have any baggage good or bad?

I didn’t carry any baggage of having such a resplendent lineage, they were normal grandparents, and parents. Once I remember, I was a newly-wed living in Shantiniketan with my husband, and Pandit Nehru happened to visit Kolkata and I had written to him to visit me. After the banquet at night where I met him, he told me that since I had asked him to visit her, he would come to my house the next morning for breakfast. Indira, her sons, Sanjay and Rajiv, they came with him and I served them samosas, jalebis, pakoras. My house was not very well furnished as a newly-wed, I had to turn trunks into deewans, that was how simple and austere life was for us.

 Where did you grow up mostly, and under whose influence? 

I mostly grew up in Delhi, first at the Harijan Colony with Bapu and then at the Connaught Circus where my father was given a flat in the Hindustan Times building since he was the Editor. Bapu did not shift there with us, he instead preferred to stay at the Harijan Colony. We used to travel in a tonga to Chandni Chowk which appeared to be far away then. After I got married, I studied at Miranda House, Delhi, and later in Shanti Niketan, Kolkata.

My mother was a Tamil, father Gujarati, husband a Bengali and I grew up mostly in north India. My mother and my husband were the greatest influences in my life. They were non-conformists as they accepted everybody who was different from them.

Kasturba Gandhi was the unofficial ‘mother of the nation’ according to me long before Bapu was christened the ‘Father of the Nation.’ She was an epitome of Indian womanhood, she may have been illiterate but educated beyond one could imagine in love, understanding, cleanliness. She argued with Mahatma Gandhi on everything unless she was convinced.

What is the takeway from Gandhiji ‘s life for all of us?

Gandhiji was the greatest psychologist, he understood people’s mind and that is how he tackled the British who left us as friends rather than foes. Besides, he had a great sense of humour.  Gandhi ji and Raja ji were the original minimalists – they were the most learned persons but did not have any library. They learnt from the great philosophers across the world, imbibed it in their lives and adapted all that they learnt in their daily lives. From him, you can learn to be rooted in your philopsophy and be what you are.

He believed that ‘matrishakti’ is the biggest force in creation which is there in every man, besides a woman. In her letters, Manu Ben would often write to him as ‘Pyari Mataji’ rather than Bapu because she felt the hidden love of a mother inside him.

Have you seen India become a better nation as you have been witness to both pre and post independent historical events?     

I am proud of today’s youth and see a lot of hope in them. They do not have the right direction, where we have failed. They are being nourished on a lot of hate rather than love and compassion The meaning of the word ‘tolerance’ is construed wrongly these days, we teach them to tolerate, and not respect.

Today’s youth is more mature than we were. There are many things which are wrong, but there is hope.

How do you spend your time?

I am soon going to be 89, I love to be among children and youth.

What is the best tribute to Mahatma Gandhi in your view?

Think of him with laughter and spirituality. He was a one-man corporation, he listened to his conscience and his life was an experiment in itself which guided him on how to eat, sit, do his daily work. He himself called it his struggle with truth. Listen to your conscience – this is the best tribute to Gandhi.

The first-ever Contemporary Art Festival in the Tricity organised by Infosys Foundation, Bengaluru and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Chandigarh, has been witness to enchanting performances by varied artistes.

Well-known classical music player of the city Subhash Ghosh gave an excellent presentation with the entire auditorium reverbating with the tinkling of his classical instruments. Ghosh has participated in many national and international levels. He has also shown his art in many programs organized by the Chandigarh Administration.

11-year-old Manya Chamoli in her own words “dislikes studies and homework; likes dogs, cooking and reading books “. Yet the latest feather in her cap — winning  Rs 25 lakh in the Kaun Banega Crorepati Junior contest, proves her sharp intellectual and academic skills.

This Rs 25 lakh remains notion money for her till she is 18. However, once she turns 18, she will get this money with interest from her bank.

A student of Manav Mangal Smart School, Manya’s Principal Anila Kinder says, “She is an all-rounder, a good singer, dancer, good in oration and studies, and has been preparing for the KBC since she was in Class 2. Her mother tried to participate in 2018 in KBC but could not go beyond the fastest finger first stage. Now, in a way, the daughter has fulfilled the mother’s dream.”

Manya’s mother Archana Chamoli who is a freelance scriptwriter says she is a bright kid and doesn’t have to be pushed towards anything whether studies or current affairs or general knowledge. “She has won several Olympiads in the last couple of years and is naturally hooked to being aware of the world around us,” she says.

Manya’s father, Dr Vinay Chamoli is a professor at Maharaja Agrasen University in Baddi.

Manya by her own confession says, she would want to join the defence services once she grows up.

The episode was filled with self-bemoaning humour as when Amitabh Bachchan asked her about which breed of dog she would want to keep, Manya says, she would like to possess a dog which has her characteristics, her dad’s, and mom’s –”a Beagle, Labrador and a Rottweiler.” Upon hearing this the audience burst into laughter.

On another occasion during the show, Amitabh Bachchan asked Manya if she knew how to cook and Manya said, she will give the hint and he will have to name the dish that she likes to cook. And the hint that she dropped was: “I like to cook fried sizzled onions in Indian spices, mixed with flattened rice flakes, and garnished with groundnuts, coriander and a squeeze of lemon.”  Mr Bachchan couldn’t guess until someone from the audience helped him that Manya was referring to poha.

The most awaited flower festival Chrysanthemum Show of the City Beautiful, which has earned the sobriquet of ‘City of Flowers’, draws crowds every year at the Terraced Garden, Sector 33, Chandigarh.

The chrysanthemum show was inaugurated by Kirron Kher, Member Parliament, Chandigarh in the presence of Sarbjit Kaur, Mayor, Chandigarh, and Anindita Mitra, IAS, Commissioner, MCC.

For the first time in the history of the annual event of the flower show, the Municipal Corporation has made it a ‘Zero Waste’ event. All the perishable flowers will be composted, only recyclable and reusable things have been used in the chrysanthemum show.

The Municipal Corporation Chandigarh has utilised this opportunity to showcase its initiatives and achievements. In one of the stalls set up by the Swachh Bharat Mission, awareness is being created about segregation of waste separately from the source – compost of horticulture waste, home composting, construction and demolition waste material, etc.

Under the ‘Ease Of Living’ programme, MC will sell jute bags, candles, painting by Self Help Groups.

‘Naya Sa’, another initiative of MCC will reuse old cloths by selling them to the people on nominal charges after proper cleaning and ironing.

This time ‘Kids Zone’, a beautiful platform has been introduced for children, in which children can play their favorite games including Hoopla, Feed the Clown, Dart game, Gun shooting, bowling pin besides learning paper art, painting in fabric and clay pot making, etc.

Swachta ki saanp –sirri

A platform analogous to snakes and ladders game has been created to explain different concepts like segregation of waste, keeping public places clean, say no to single-use plastic, etc.

Having prepared the chrysanthemums in huge numbers in the adjoining plant nursery, seven gardeners from the Horticulture Department have created marvelous flowery topiaries in the shape of a boat, animals like camel, peacock, cow, giraffe, lion, and birds.

After an inspection of the chrysanthemums at the flowershow, most of the prizes fell into Panchkula’s kitty.

The best flower of the show –  Panchkula Sector 8 resident Virender Sharma

King of the show – Panchkula sector 4 resident S S Rajpal

Queen of the show – Rajni Thareja

Princess of the show – Sector 1 Chandigarh club –

Prince of the show –  Panchkula Sector 20 resident Sanjay Thareja  

Criteria for judging flowers:

Maintainance of flowers

Size of the chrysanthemum

Colour (should not be faded)

Health of the leaves

Disease-free

Normal size of the plants

Display of flower pot

Mohali’s first chrysanthemum show from Dec 10

Sarvhitkari Senior Secondary School  in Sector 71 will hold Mohali’s first chrysanthemum show from Dec 10 on the lines of Chandigarh’s chrysanthemum show. Preparations have been on for the last one and a half months where 72 types of chrysanthemums will be displayed with ten people working on it.

Punjab Engineering College (PEC), one of the most prestigious engineering colleges in north India, has been churning prodigies one after the other, whether it is UPSC Rank 3,  2021 Gamini Singla or founder of coaching classes Ednite, Devesh Kumar, who passed out from PEC in 2021.

Now, a team from Punjab Engineering College (PEC) has been shortlisted, along with 60 other teams from across the world to compete in National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) to be conducted in April 2023.  Out of the 61 teams, 10 have been selected from India for the challenge to be held at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

The team members from PEC team include Vanshul Goyal, Gunjan Rawat, Sparsh Aggarwal, Shashwant Rai, Muskaan Aneja, Pranav Aggarwal, Gautam Kumar, Yakshit Verma, Himanshu Goyal, Pankaj Kumar, Akshaj Paintola who are currently pursuing 2nd-year Electronics, Mechanical, Production & Industrial Engineering.

The team leader of this 11-member team is  19-yr-old Vanshul Goel from Yamunanagar, Haryana. CityWoofer spoke to him about how his team is preparing for the contest:

How did you get to know about the contest?

We got to know about the competition from our seniors. In August 2022, NASA had released a handbook and we were asked to create our own page and submit our reports, presentations, etc. online and we got selected. We had to send a 10 page proposal about the basic design in October. And now we are working on our project and we have to attend NASA ‘s online meeting, projects, presentations from time to time as and when required.

What is the competition about?

Throughout the nine-month challenge, each team will attempt to design, build, and test human-powered rovers capable of traversing a challenging half-mile obstacle course that is similar to the terrain of the Moon, Mars, or other rocky bodies in our solar system. In addition, students must also design and demonstrate a unique tool capable of completing various mission tasks.

Tell us more about your model?

We are designing a 4-wheeled human-powered robot without using any engine or batteries. This transport rover will be pedalled by 2 persons, one male and the other female, which will have to traverse a difficult terrain of 10 obstacles.

Why has the use of engine and batteries not been allowed?

This is because the main focus of NASA is to traverse diverse extraterrestrial terrain with low speeds because of limited available energy and sensitive science equipment on board, similar to how their rovers work on different planets like Mars.

Who is helping you in preparing the model?

Our seniors are helping us a lot with the technical and creative part, our professors and online workshops. UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit announced to give us Rs 10 lakh which is a big boost to our logistics. Vendors in Kurali and Ludhiana are helping us with tyres and other spare parts we need; once they get to know we have to make a project for NASA, they also get interested.

How does it feel to be going to NASA?

I always wanted to go to NASA, I never thought it would come so early.

Would you like to say something to engineering students?

I don’t think I am qualified enough to say anything, but what I have learnt is that students must always participate in different projects which makes them grow exponentially. Whatever theoretical knowledge they gain in colleges must be applied through project work.

With winter right around the corner, we bring you an organic brand you can trust for all your needs. A brand that uses truly natural resources from the mountains, Kinnauri Essentials aims to bring the best of the hills to its customers. With the founder of this brand from the remote area of Himachal Pradesh — Kinnaur, but operating from Chandigarh, Kinnauri Essentials is providing all products at your doorsteps in the Tricity.

While there is a range of wellness products available to shop at its website, what stood out to us was their range of essential oils that are hand-extracted in Kinnaur. Our pick would be the Kaa Telang which is not only extracted from Kinnaur orchards but is further cold-pressed using a hundred-year-old method. This Himalayan Walnut Kernel Oil is a boon for the hair with its Omega-3 and Vitamins E & K rich properties.

Speaking about her brand, Naina Bhandari says, “My brand Kinnauri Essentials is not a brand it’s an identity, so I believe to keep it natural and real, that’s why we have named a few of our products after the locally pronounced name like Kaa Telang”.

CityWoofer’s Q n A session with the founder, Naina Bhandari 

Can you explain how you keep your products organic and natural?

I call it one hundred percent natural. ‘Organic’ for me is an overrated word. Hundred percent natural means we don’t do anything except packaging. We source, we cultivate and pack as it is sourced. We don’t even separate bran from our buckwheat. I want my customers to know what the real thing looks like. Purity is our first priority and no compromises on it. As I said it defines my community where I come from.

What is the price range of your products?

The price range extends from Rs 600 to Rs 1400.

Tell us about your association with Chandigarh?

I have done my college from Chandigarh. I live in Chandigarh, but I belong to Kinnaur. I come from a business family with indulgence in hotel industry. This startup is my own. My father wanted me to take care of our new project which is a resort and hotel, but here I am.

 How did your brand come about? Can you tell us the story behind it?

Honestly, I didn’t plan it as a business, it came naturally. Being a Kinnauri, I myself have known this oil since childhood – watching my mother, relatives and my community using it. I have been using this oil, eating rajma, buckwheat and black zeera since I was a child. In our culture, this oil is given as a gift. It is believed that the purity and benefits of this oil is a perfect gift to be shared with your loved ones.

During my college days, I too started gifting Gutti tel to all my close friends and to my amazement, they loved and appreciated the purity of the oil. However, I never thought of making it a business. I could see how my friends and their family are hooked on this oi, yet I didn’t think of making it a business.

After getting married and giving birth to my baby girl, I started using the same oil for my baby’s body massage and started feeding her drops of it. In our culture, we drink this oil as an immunity booster. Then one fine day, I happened to visit my grandmother in Kinnaur. That was a turning point as I saw how the oil is extracted, how hard women are working at  different levels, they are the real farmers who balance household chores and fields. The same day I shared the idea with my younger sister and decided to deliver this precious secret to the right people who would acknowledge Kinnaur and its treasure. The Kinnaur apples are already famous, and so proud that our gutti ka tel and black zeera are already GI (Government of India) certified, it just needs more reach.

What was your inspiring force?

My people of Kinnaur and of course, the response I received from my friends and their families.

You can place your orders at www.shop.kinnauriessentials.com

Good authentic food, soulful music, traditional dance … if you are looking for all these together, the place to be in then is the 11-day traditional food festival at Kalagram, Chandigarh.

For all those who visited the food festival, one of the performers at the event who stole the show and needs special mention here is Padma Dolker, a star folk singer from Ladakh. She left music lovers entranced with her velvety voice on the inaugural day of the 11-day traditional food festival hosted by the North Zone Cultural Centre (NZCC), Ministry of Culture, Government of India, at Kalagram in Chandigarh.

Hailing from Wanla, a sleepy village in Ladakh, also known as cold desert of India, silhouetted against the snow-spangled hills making a perfect backdrop, Padma, has come a long way since she embarked on her eventful musical journey at a pretty tender age.

Padma, who is a multi-hyphenate singer adept at folk (Himachali, Nepali and Ladakhi, ghazal and filmi), contemporary and other genres of singing, is a self-taught singer who has no music background. Her parents and two siblings love listening to Ladakhi folk, but are not crazy about it like other music buffs. “They are the cornerstone when it comes to pushing me to pursue my innate passion for singing. They have always stood by me and supported me in furthering my long cherished ambition, especially in a typical society where pursuing singing as a profession by girls is still a taboo”, she quips.

Padma’s musical journey started when she was in her primary classes. On the advice of her primary class teacher with an ear for music, teeny-weeny Padma started her baby steps by taking part in the school assembly prayer sessions along with other fellow mates.

“This is how my formal journey into the world of music started. Then on, I started participating in the school functions held from time to time. There was no looking back for me since”, she coyly confides in a no-hold-barred chit chat.

“After finishing my school, I shifted to Leh to pursue my higher studies. As luck would have it, a leading local academy dedicated to the promotion of art and culture, curated a block-level folk-singing contest for children. I bagged the title, ” Padma tells with oodles of oomph.

The Czarina of folk singing gifted with a well-modulated voice, Padma has performed at several national and international folk singing platforms in Dubai, Mongolia, and Nepal, et al.

When asked about who really inspired her to pursue a career in folk singing, Padma says with humility, “I had been greatly inspired by the icons of folk and contemporary singing like Murup Namgail and Dorjay Stakmo, to name a few. I have grown up hearing the songs of the land of snow, immortalised by these legends of our times”

She gives a fair share of the credit for giving a push to her musical career to the Ladakh Academy of Art, Culture and Languages. Padma, aka the ‘Swar Kokila of Ladakh’  has to her credit as many as 30 albums in which she has lent her voice, doling out folksongs, devotional, contemporary and other categories of songs, which became instant hits with music lovers. She is, more often than not, invited to perform at some singing soirees held at Kaza Spiti, Ladakh and Nepal from time to time.

Asked if an opportunity to sing for Bollywood reigning stars lands her, would she accept the offer, she was clear and categorical in her assertion: “I won’t let such a godsend opportunity go, but shall continue to work for the promotion of folk music of Ladakh. I would love to be known as a folk singer of Ladakh rather than a Bollywood singing star, ” she signs off beaming a beatific smile.