The Unvarnished Truth: Why Your Restaurant Dream Will Likely "Curry Up and Go Broke"

You dream of culinary glory, don't you? The sizzle of a perfect dish, the clinking of glasses, the rave reviews. You picture yourself as the next great restaurateur, your passion transforming into profit. Stop. Just stop right there. Because the reality of the Indian food industry is a visceral, brutal punch to the gut, and unless you understand its unforgiving nature, your dream will almost certainly Curry Up and Go Broke.

In my book of the same name, Curry Up and Go Broke: A Satirical Guide to the Indian Restaurant Business, from Startup to Pauperdom, I tear down the romantic illusions with a vengeance. This isn't some fluffy motivational guide. This is a battle plan for survival in an arena designed to crush you.

I’ve been in the trenches. I’ve felt the grease, tasted the sweat, and seen the despair in the eyes of countless entrepreneurs whose passion was devoured by a system rigged against them. From crippling lease agreements that are financial bear traps to municipal fees that bleed you dry, every step is fraught with peril. And then, the ultimate predator: the food delivery aggregators.

They promise you customers, they promise you reach. What they deliver is a slow, agonizing death by a thousand cuts. Their "pathological hatred of margins" traps you in a cycle of insane discounts and crippling commissions, turning your culinary art into a commodity. Your unique flavors become irrelevant; all that matters is the next promo code. Loyalty? It’s a myth sold by Silicon Valley, evaporating with the next cheaper option.

This book is a scream of frustration, a stark warning, and ultimately, a lifeline. It’s for anyone audacious enough to consider opening a restaurant in India, or for those already caught in its merciless grip. If you’re not ready to face the raw, unvarnished truth, if you prefer comforting lies to brutal facts, then don't read this book. But if you're prepared to strip away the illusions, to confront the economic impossible, and perhaps, just perhaps, find a way to defy the odds, then Curry Up and Go Broke is your essential, unromanticized guide to not just surviving, but understanding the fight of your life.

You can find the book on Amazon here: Curry Up and Go Broke on Amazon 

Buy it on Pothi.com for Indian Readers here: Curry Up and Go Broke 

Welcome to the Crossroads

Hello, and welcome to my corner of the internet.

For over two decades, I’ve navigated two seemingly disparate worlds: the high-stakes, data-driven reality of business and the boundless, imaginative cosmos of speculative fiction. In one, I was a strategist trying to make sense of profits and losses; in the other, a storyteller grappling with cosmic paradoxes and the nature of reality. The more I wrote, the more I realized these two worlds aren't so different after all.

This blog is where those worlds collide.

Here, you’ll find me exploring the very same themes I tackle in my books—whether it's the uncomfortable truths of an industry or the profound, mind-bending questions about our universe. You can expect posts on:

• The Business of Reality: No-holds-barred takes on entrepreneurship, economics, and the policies shaping our world. I'll be sharing lessons learned and candid insights from the business world's front lines.

• The Fabric of Fiction: Dive deep into the philosophical and scientific ideas that fuel my writing. We’ll talk about consciousness, memory, the nature of truth, and how to build a universe from scratch.

• The Craft: I'll pull back the curtain on my writing process, sharing my thoughts on storytelling, character development, and the art of shaping a narrative, whether it’s a policy blueprint or a sci-fi epic.

In essence, this is a space for those who are just as fascinated by the bottom line as they are by the final frontier. Thank you for stopping by. I'm excited to have you on this journey.