One day, when Nishant Singh came back from school, he saw that there was no food prepared, no one in the kitchen, and no one around to cook either. He was just in Class 8th. He was famished and needed food, like any other kid coming home from school after a long day. So he took matters into his own hands.

He started making food for himself. “I don’t even remember what I made,” Nishant laughs while speaking to Startup Pedia. “But I remember how it felt. I enjoyed the process.”

That small, ordinary moment would quietly shape the rest of his life. Today, at the age of 21, Nishant Singh runs his own growing food truck in the city of Lucknow, in the Gomti Nagar locality. Here, he serves authentic Bihari dishes like Litti Chicken and Litti Mutton.

But the road here has been anything but smooth. INSPIRED BY RANVEER BRAR

Nishant Singh grew up in Lucknow, in an Army household. His father retired from service and moved to Lucknow for stability. Nishant was enrolled in Kendriya Vidyalaya but was not exactly the studious type.

“I didn’t feel like studying much. But food always interested me," he admits honestly. In Class 9th, studies got serious, and everyone around him was figuring out the next phase of their life. It was around that time that Nishant discovered the world of hospitality. He was binge-watching YouTube and came across Chef Ranveer Brar.

He immediately became an inspiration for Nishant. “He’s from Lucknow. He studied from the same IHM college where I later took admission. He became my inspiration,” Nishant tells Startup Pedia in an exclusive interview.

Therefore, he finalised his future. He wanted to study hospitality at the same institute where Chef Ranveer Brar was once enrolled. This is the Institute of Hotel Management in Lucknow. After completing his schooling, Nishant worked hard, aced the entrance exam and secured a good rank, which eventually got him a place in the Institute of Hotel Management in Lucknow.

But college life was not as hands-on as he had imagined. “Hospitality looks glamorous from the outside,” Nishant tells Startup Pedia.“But when you go inside, you understand the reality. There’s very little cooking initially. It’s more theory.

He laughs and states, “Call it the vigour of youth or just impatience, I was just trying to get through each day. It was all so boring, and I just wanted to do something hands-on.”