If you have the desire to do something big, then you can achieve it with your hard work. Whether your work is small or big, passion towards your work makes you successful. Today, the person whose story we are going to tell you, once used to sell momos and noodles on a handcart in Lucknow, but today he is the owner of four restaurants on the strength of his hard work.
This inspiring story is of Ranjit Singh, owner of Lucknow’s famous restaurant ‘Nainital Momos’. By reading his story, you will be convinced of the power of hard work and passion. Coming out of the dark lanes of poverty, today Ranjit Singh has four outlets in the city named ‘Nainital Momos’. At the same time, in Allahabad, Delhi and Goa, there is one franchise restaurant each, which is run by their relatives.
It took him 23 years to reach this point. During this, he saw many ups and downs in life, but he never gave up. Speaking to The Better India, Ranjeet says, “While coming from the village, my father had said that even if you get a small job in the city, then do it happily, but never earn money by doing any wrong thing. That’s why I made hard work the only principle of my life.
childhood spent in poverty
Ranjeet’s father, who belonged to Nalai Talli of Uttarakhand, used to do farming in the village. He is the eldest of his three siblings. His father did not have enough land to support the family. That’s why he used to work as a laborer in other’s fields. Ranjit had realized in his childhood that if the economic condition of the house was to be changed, then he would have to work in the city.
Although his father wanted Ranjit to study, it was difficult for him to bear the expenses of the education of three children. So after high school, Ranjit decided to drop out. He says, “I knew from childhood that there is a money problem in the house. So I wanted to help my parents as soon as possible. I spoke to my aunt’s son after passing high school and moved to Lucknow with him in 1997.”
hotel job
With the help of his aunt’s son in Lucknow, Ranjeet got a job as a helper in a kothi. But there was so little money that it was difficult to survive. He worked as a helper in the kothi for two years. His owner also used to run a guest house. Once he had to go to the guest house in connection with some work. There he saw that the waiter gets food for free and also gets good money in the tip. After which he got the job of a waiter with the recognition of some friends.
Ranjit now left the job of a helper and started working as a waiter. Here his income increased and now he started sending some money home as well. But his struggle did not end there. Meanwhile, while working for one of his companions, his hand got burnt. The owner, far from sympathizing, fired him from the job saying that how would he serve food to others with a burnt hand. This accident made him think that now he will have to find some new work.
Ranjit had already gained experience in cooking by working in a kothi and a hotel. So he started the work of tiffin service in the year 2005. By then he had also got married. His wife Rajni Singh also used to support him in the work of tiffin. He worked as a tiffin maker for a few years. He used to make 250 tiffins a day. Earnings were also getting good. But he was not satisfied with this as he could not always get the tiffin money on time.
He says, “I used to charge Rs 700 a month from the customer for tiffin service. But many times the money was not received on time even after reminding people again and again. Due to which I used to have difficulty in getting ration. Finally, in anger, I stopped this work and decided to start the cart.”
Journey from stall to restaurant
Ranjit first started with a puri-vegetable cart. But he used to earn only 40 to 50 rupees from morning till evening. Ranjeet explains, “I soon realized that this work is not going to last long. I tried to understand the taste of the people and came to know that people here like Chinese food of Uttarakhand. After which I bought the items for making chowmein with only about Rs 500 I earned from the whole vegetable cart.
The new work earned Rs 280 on the first day. He was sure that with time he would get good success in this work. He started selling momos with noodles but people used to just buy noodles and save all the momos he made every day.
In such a situation, an idea of his wife also made his momo popular among the people. Regarding this incident, he told, “Earlier people used to reach my handcart to eat noodles. Momos had to feed the cow at the end of the day. Once on New Year’s Eve my wife gave me the idea of giving free momos with noodles to the customers. After which people started coming to buy momos.
In this way the magic of the taste of Uttarakhand started and Ranjit’s work also started growing. He started selling fry momos with Steam Momo. He says, “Fry momos were liked by people so much that I started earning two to three thousand a day. Finally, after five years of hard work, he took a small shop in Lucknow’s Gomti Nagar in 2013 for a monthly rent of Rs 15,000. Today the rent of that shop for the month is one lakh rupees.
He says, “I started selling tandoori momos in the city for the first time, apart from Steam, seeing people test it. Then I also introduced Momo to the customers in flavors like Dragon Fry, Cheese, Chocolate. I would ask every customer and follow their suggestions sincerely.”
People liked the taste of his hands and his work continued to grow. Three years later, in 2016, he rented another shop on demand from customers. He says, “I have also included my brother-in-law, younger brother, aunt’s son and my wife’s brother in the business with me.” Apart from this, he has hired about 35 people.
Two years ago, he has also registered Nainital Momo as a private limited company.
Regarding the annual turnover, Ranjit said that he is earning three crore rupees in a year from his restaurant business in Lucknow. However, there has been a slight slowdown in work due to Corona.
Today he is making more than 60 varieties of momos. Nidhi Modi, a customer of Nainital Momo, says, “I have been living in Lucknow for the last eight years. I often go to Nainital Momos. I love the tandoori momos here.”
Ranjit’s journey from a small handcart to this point shows that with hard work and dedication, you can achieve anything. The Better India wishes him a bright future.
Editing – G N Jha
Also read: Bhopal from Nepal, sold soup on cycle, today there are 17 outlets across the city
If you’ve been inspired by this story, or want to share any of your experiences with us, write to us at hindi@thebetterindia.com, or on Facebook and Twitter. Twitter Contact on
