Varud Gupta and Ayushi Rastogi

Varud Gupta was bred for the business world, a past life spent studying finance at New York University and working as a consultant for Deloitte. And then a brusque millennial existential crisis sent him travelling (and eating) through the culinary cultures of the world. It was in documenting these odd jobs-from cheesemongering in NY to being an asador in Argentina-that his journey as a writer began. Obsessed with storytelling, Varud wrote his first book, Bhagwaan Ke Pakwaan, which was a cookery-cum-travel narrative through the faiths and foods of India. The story of Chhotu represents the culmination of the first chapter on this existential path and the search for purpose in a world that can often feel so bleak.