How I got into the unique uncharted career of professional bar setup.

The first time I was introduced to Alcohol, I cant even remember, but from the time my memory catches up, it was in 1986-88 when I was just 11 to 13 years. I never drank any, but from a family of Armed Forces, drinking by Officers at the Officer's Mess dinners; or at various balls at the Officer's Club certainly made me well acquainted. Seeing my uncle socially enjoying Whiskeys as Commandant of the Campus, who the campus feared (as bad as Modi), to my fathers friends at family meets. It was common. My uncles that were posted at the border would prefer Old Monk Rum to keep off the cold.

Names as Bloody Mary, Tom Collins, Rum & Coke, and Gimlet were well known.

I must have been introduced to beers (allowed) at completion of high school (18), and beer was served at friends parties by quite open minded families who were all a part of the South Delhi elite.

Ghunghroos, Oasis, Djinns Bars.

I had already been to at various Army Clubs. The restaurants standalone ones didn't really have a bar. The first time I walked into a bar was at Ghunghroos at ITC Maurya, or the Jazzbar, same place when I was old enough. As I moved into college, it was Oasis at Hyatt later made to Djinns, and I saw MKOP, CJ's, Annabelle (the usual suspects). I believe I was maybe nineteen or twenty.

Often people who get into bar business, are those who worked at the bar or hotel. But back then, it wasn't so. And bar design and bar planning I never really considered, it was destined and fell into my lap by a Hotelier (Mr. Sanjay Sharma) request, who asked me to get a competing quote to Perlick (then), as the rep had a monopoly and charging exorbitant rates - for Tusker's at The Metropolitan Nikko. That move, and that path, put me to Glastender in 1997 (when I was pursuing degree).

Thereafter, everything about "What is a bar system?" how it works, components, designing, to installation was spoon fed to me by Todd Hall then the "Sales Manager" in his company (now President). The first designs I made was really on "Microsoft Paint tool" (yes laugh on). Then Corel Draw, and ultimately, I learnt AutoCAD so I could start planning bars here directly. (If Elon Musk can build Rockets and Cars after selling Paypal, I can design bars).

Bar area is not a common goal/aim for any upper middle-class family. Almost everyone goes into finance, aerospace, engineering, and healthcare as doctors. Many Armed Forces kids tend to follow parents footsteps back into Armed Forces. All my friends were in these fields. Because none of us/them are ever acquainted with drinking or bar till old and successful enough to order drinks at a five star on occasion or business. Our parents were not hoteliers, staying in Defence Colony, most of my buddies parents or grand parents were retired Army Generals, Brigadiers and Colonels.

Specialization Trainings through Operator's Needs.

It was the early acquaintance with alcohol and bar through Armed Forces in social settings, that really made my take this call as a career. I saw bar design not as a bartender, but as more as a consumer would, and manufacturer's rep. I met the elite bartenders, operators and owners, in every project to learn their recipes of perfection in bar planning, at Pacha from Las Vegas, Pangaea (Singapore), Dublin (Delhi), Ice Bar (Taj MG Road), Kitty Su (Lalit Hotels), Ellipsis by Proprietor's LLC (Owners of Death and Co NYC). Meeting these seasoned pros from Ireland, US, Australia, India, France, Austria, Singapore and learning now just how, but why they needed their bars made in a certain way.

My association was explorative. I'd done some spectacular projects. Our design has various hybrids of these international best practices based on world's best operators needs and based on their successes (not design based on what is just available in our capacity).

Today my company's service supports the industry designers and Kitchen equipment partners, who design facilities and the brand is well established nationally. This piece offers an insight of why I even ended up in such a unique and off the beaten path career. Almost everyone asks, how come you got into this?

And my thanks to various people who helped this make possible.

1. Mr. Sanjay Sharma, to put me to this path when I had no plans
2. Mr. Parmeet Singh Nayyar, to call us for 1911, The Imperial as our first bar in India.
3. Mr. Gurreet Singh, then ITC Maurya F&B Manager, to send me to, late, Mr. Rajeev Madan at ITC to build Golfbar for ITC Maurya
4. Late Mr. Rajeev Madan, who had us build every ITC Hotel bar for 10 straight years as long as he was alive, because he know what elite was, and never compromised.
5. Mr. Gautam Anand who selected us to build ITC Maurya's Dublin Irish Pubs
6. Mr. Timothy Bryan, then, ITC Beverage Manager, to impart his wisdom and push the standards up and up.
7. Mr. Deepak Bali, then, VP, The Park Hotels, who instructed us to build then every Park Hotels bar as long as he was in office and especially Hyderabad.
8. Mr. Rahul Akerkar, Naresh Shahani, and Rishad Nathani, to include us for many of their flagship projects as Indigo, Blue Frog, Tote on the Turf.
9. Mr. Subrata Mukherjee, who never doubted and had us design all his projects at The Lalit incl all Kitty Su.
10. Mr. Sunil Wadhwani, then, ITC Materials who was very tough, extracted every $$ for ITC and stripped us of almost all profits and made sure he only gets Glastender for his projects.
11. Mr. Garry Lawrence (the Angel) who came all over from Australia, met me once for an hour, and entrusted us to carry out his flagship Pangaea Delhi project and called us for two more of his best projects in Manila and Macau.
12. Todd Hall, of Glastender who backed us up and helped us learn an Elite Bar design as they do in the US.

And there are many hundreds which I'm missing. No journey is possible without an active support of good people, and I have met the best people who I would have to repay in another lifetime I understand. We are Karmic connections.

Our journey isn't over. That was just one chapter. The second one, has begun.