Hi folks!
This week as part of ED’s Foodies campaign we have with us the famous foodies/actors/comedians duo: Rocky and Mayur from the very popular NDTV Good Times’ Travel & Food show: Highway On My Plate (HOMP).
So lets begin right away…
Team ED: What’s keeping the two of you busy these days?
Rocky & Mayur: We are doing a whole bunch of shows for promoting tourism in different countries, we are working on making a show for it on NDTV Good Times. You’ll see us on ‘Rocky and Mayur’s Food Express’ on Zee Khana Khazana very soon too.
And now we are trying to change the way people look for the best eating joints online. We are curating the best 1000 eating places across India which will make it very simple for people to find food. AND THE BEST PART – is that it will be through 90 second videos where they will see for themselves what the place looks like from outside, inside and how they serve their food. What can be better than that ? You tell me!
Team ED: In your words, what do you do for a living?
Rocky & Mayur: We EAT! Then we EAT some more and when we get tired we remind ourselves that since we are professionals and we are being paid to eat, we eat some more again.
Team ED: What’s the best part about your work? And the worst?
Rocky & Mayur :Lets start with the worst thing first… NOTHING :-) We are positive so we do not look at the negative side of things.
The BEST part though is meeting the people who make the best Indian food across the country. The one thing they have in common is their dedication, passion and commitment to making great food. They are not in it for the money or the fame, they want to make absolutely the BEST food.
Having said that, a free vacation with the best food in the world (did I mention its FREE??) certainly does not hurt so that’s great too. It’s called EATING your cake and HAVING IT too.
Team ED: What can one generally find in your browser history?
Rocky & Mayur :We delete it every few hours so no one finds out what we are looking at!But still, if you did find it, then for Rocky its FOOD, stand up comedy, birds of India and wildlife. scuba diving updates and breakthroughs, and for Mayur its FOOD, wines, mountaineering, TED talks, and the latest treks across the Himalayas.
Team ED: If not the highway, which other road would you have taken?
Rocky & Mayur: Definitely the one less travelled.
We are both very connected with the outdoors and with the inherent goodness in people. We love delving into both these areas so that is where we would be. We also have a corporate training Company called Mindseye where we delve into leadership, integration, communication etc. and work with the top corporates in the country. In the recent past we have worked with the Ministry of External Affairs of India, Pearson Education, Puma Sports and many others.
Team ED: What is the craziest thing that you have done?
Rocky & Mayur: That is a loaded question …very tough to answer that! Considering we have done very few non-crazy things. but lets try –
Rocky – Given up my job as a CEO of a multinational company after having worked in Dubai and Miami, to start working on TV with no future, with a friend for the sake of free food …yeah that is definitely the craziest thing I have ever done. I could have said eaten a variety of insects and snakes, free dived underwater to 95 meters, eaten a Bhut Jalokia on TV, been bitten by a snake while trying to catch it on TV and many others but I’ll stick to my first answer.
Mayur – Hung out with Rocky for 36 years but jokes apart, backpacked all across Africa sometimes through war zones without a visa and have spent a night in a bus that had an accident with several dead people and lions in the vicinity. It’s one of the most vivid memories I have and one that continues to haunt me till today.
Team ED: Do you guys believe in karma?
Rocky & Mayur: Only if it runs over my Dogma. :-) Now go figure that one out, its very deep …… he he he
Team ED: What’s the weirdest comment you’ve ever received?
Rocky & Mayur: You look way thinner in real life than you do on TV (HUH ??)
Team ED: If not working, what do you guys do?
Rocky & Mayur: Considering that we work over 300 days in a year, that’s seldom a position we find ourselves in. But when it does happen both of us love to sleep, spend time with our families and be an active part of our children’s lives.
Team ED: One stereotype Indians need to do away from?
Rocky & Mayur: Stereotypes exist because they are mostly true. I think we Indians need to start realizing that there are several things in our country that can do with a lot of improvement. If we do not accept that we have a problem we will never find a solution. And of course, if we were the smartest people in the world (as we love to think) we would have toilets for everybody and we would all drive in our lanes to get to places faster and sooner with less risk. So we have a great country, we are young people, but please lets acknowledge that we do have problems and then find solutions to them!
Team ED: With this we come to an end, thank you so much Rocky, Mayur! This was one interesting ride we had with you.
Rocky & Mayur: Thank you for having us.
Stay tuned for the next edition of ED’s Foodies Campaign with another Top Chef from the country.
Till then Adios Amigos!
See you next week.
To have a look at the other interviews in our Foodies Campaign, please click here:
http://edtimes.in/2015/09/chapter-40-chef-sanjeev-kapoor.html (Chef Sanjeev Kapoor)
http://edtimes.in/2015/09/friendly-fridays-chapter-41-chef-aditya-bal.html (Chef Aditya Bal)
http://edtimes.in/2015/09/friendly-fridays-chapter-42-chef-manish-mehrotra.html (Chef Manish Mehrotra)
(Interview conceptualized by Pratishtha Mahajan)
