Category: Dreams

Five things I love about my work

7/8/2015

First of all, apologies - really- for going underground at least where the blog is concerned. My only excuse is that nope, there aren’t any! Work has been very good but then no reason why I should push off doing something I love after baking & travelling, i.e. writing.

With this post I am beginning a series of ‘Five things I love’, about random & not-so-random stuff in my life. So this time, I wanted to leave you with five things I love about my work (not in any particular order of importance):

Balancing between creativity & fear: I get to be play with this balance each day! In baking, one can be creative in any way - in terms of the flavours, ingredients, presentation - imagination really has no boundaries. I have learnt recently an important lesson. Where baking (or anything else, for that matter) is concerned, creativity is actually just about conquering fear. And I just love doing that with each cake I create! Some work out beautifully, others don’t. It’s all part of the process. Recently came across this beautiful article/interview of Elizabeth Gilbert. I thought it was very insightful & holds true for each one of us.

Flexibility: Love the way I can work around my routine, which doesn’t really exist, no. Mundane matters such as errands, workouts, family time and sometimes even food falls into place around my work. There are days when I am so flooded with work I can think of little else. And then there are days, when I have nothing and all I want to do on these days is vegetate! Believe me, the ‘vegetating’ days are as much precious, if not more. They keep me sane.
Being my own boss: It took time for me to realise that this was an important factor for me. While all my former bosses (in my previous life) have been lovely mentors, it is this crazy mix of being independent & responsibly free that has worked for me really. I have never learnt so much in a 9-to-5 establishment as I have working on & for my own.
Meeting like-minded people: I am meeting & continue to meet with people who share my passion for good food, and not just bakers, though those as well. And isn’t that just amazing? There is so much happening in the foodie world out there. But it is not just about being creative with food, it is also about being viably creative.
Getting positive affirmations from people: To do something you love and getting paid for it is cool. But then to know that what you do makes a difference in others’ happy occasions, makes it all the more worthwhile. Feedbacks such as these keep me floating on cakey heavenly cloud for days after.

Hey but don’t get me wrong here. Not all is hunky dory all the time! But these are the few reasons that keep me going each day.

Until next post, Ciao!

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Little Hearts, Big Dreams

10/11/2014

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It’s almost that time of the year when you begin to realise that yet another year is coming to an end and reminisce where the months went by. For me, this year has been phenomenal both personally and professionally. In fact the lines between the two have blurred somewhat.

The other day I was browsing through my personal diary and I bumped into one of the pages I had written this year in early June, when I had just left my job. One of the lines in that entry struck a chord with me. I had written ‘It would be the best birthday gift, if I could have my first order till November 3 (my birthday)’.

It’s been so much more. Since June, I have launched my brand, have had a fair share of orders, been part of a bake sale cum competition where I’ve won the first prize and made an amazing set of friends with whom I share the same passion.

Oh yes, it’s been a phenomenal year. So I leave you with a poem I have written almost after three years...

When little hearts dream big

Here I am at a path unknown
Just because my heart wanted more
The match has been lit, the candle glows
As into words the embers pour.

But now wanting more means being more
As emotions run past the chatters of the mind
The feelings finally heave a sigh,
As the myriad thoughts are left long behind.

A simple dream it may not be
But more a paradigm shift it really is.
The courage to be true and free,
To let not politics bribe me.

To have faith in myself, in tomorrow
That I will land on my feet, with this leap
I may stumble, I may fall
But I shall surpass the heap.

Where this journey reaches, who knows?
But I have found my peace.
Because a little heart can see big dreams,
And basks in the journey while it is.

So what is your dream? If you could have it, with no questions asked, what would it be?

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Endings and beginnings

9/10/2014

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Hi, I am Indrani and welcome to the first post in HeartBakes blog!

The fact that you are reading this says that you are a HeartBakes friend already. It does not matter whether you are a baker or not, but I know you love food and just for that, we like you! At HeartBakes, we take food very seriously, and especially, anything that comes out of a 45 litres OTG.

So what is this blog about? It takes you, the reader, to behind-the-scenes of what goes on when one chooses baking as (or aspires it to become) a full time career. It is an archive of experiences the good, bad and the ugly in an entrepreneurial journey. After working for 10 odd years as a development professional, working on my own and for me is not just freeing and exciting, it’s hideously nerve-wracking. And one can never really prepare enough for that. In fact I am still getting to reach that fine balance.

The decision making process itself was not easy. It was on a quiet Thursday morning during a mundane car ride to work when the penny dropped. I could almost hear it plop. My inner voice was saying, “I can do this. Right now, right here.” Later, my brain, wearing the garb of guilt, popped in, “Are you out of your mind? Who’s going to give you that solid pay cheque beginning of the month? You have worked this hard in development sector, literally climbed the ladder, just to drop it all and begin anew?” And then there was always the body clock chiming away loudly, “You are not growing any younger.” The very fact that I was having this dialogue for nearly six months, before I took the plunge, meant a cycle of many sleepless nights, SWOT analyses, intense discussions with immediate family, soul searching and research (not particularly in that order).

But despite the turmoil, I knew my mind was made and it was only a matter of time. I knew I had to pursue baking full time. I could not have ignored this burning passion any more. What was reserved for weekends had been increasingly demanding more time, more effort. I even dreamt baking (sounds nerdy!). But those are all don’t-wake-me-up sort of dreams. Now I can’t wait to get up and get on with my day. The last day of my previous job, my shoulders actually felt lighter.

I always loved baking and loved to experiment with food as a teenager. When people asked what I’d want to do in life, I gave answers such as “I want to be a Chef when I grow up”. However, as an impressionable teenager, I lacked that self belief and eventually got waylaid by the need for job security, financial independence and alternate interest in development sector. Nevertheless, baking over the weekends and for family occasions gave me immense satisfaction. I was self taught then and the self-learning never stopped. Today, even while I am pursuing formal training in baking, I continue to pour countless hours over books, Google and YouTube.

Was I a so-called fraud in the social sector then? No way. Don’t get me wrong here. It made me who I am. I knew as a teenager I would be in this sector, just as I have finally cooked up the courage to be in food industry here on. The development sector is as much a part of me, as is this new dimension that I am exploring. I feel strongly for social issues, and especially the ones I have been closely associated with, that is, women’s empowerment and working with sex workers and their issues. I still feel strongly for development communication and the importance it deserves in social sector. I have met some inspiring people in this journey and made lovely friends, some of whom have been my mentors as well (you know who you are, if you are reading this).

I still am the same person I was before. It is just that I am finally now applying the work ethics and self-discipline that I learnt at work to something that I am more passionate about.

The idea behind this blog is not just to share with you the ups and downs of this journey, but to show you, that baking is as much a science as it is an art! The way food chemically reacts with each other and no, not in the Heston way - in a given (heated or non-heated) environment, is no less than magic.

You are going to be an important part of this and I can hopefully count on your wishes!

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I am a development professional-cum-part-time-baker-turned-full time baker. If that was not confusing enough, this blog is an archive of my experiences in this delicious world of baking. Every baker has a story to tell, but mostly others'. This, for a change, is mine.

Five things I love about my work

Little Hearts, Big Dreams

Endings and beginnings

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