Hi, I’m Renu!
I was born in Jaipur, the Pink City of India, in a working-class, joint family of 10 members. My mother was a very hardworking woman who managed us all alongside her office.My father who was a school principal was always assisting her in all the household chores, so dignity of labour was my childhood learning and has stayed with me till date.
I was a good student and also a national level basketball player during my school and college years. I played 11 national level tournaments and was also the captain of the Rajasthan State team and Rajasthan university team. I participated in the 1982 Pre-Asian Games as well. Those days my life revolved around my sole passion of playing basketball: my practice sessions, matches, teammates, victories, defeats were my world. I just cannot thank my parents enough for letting me follow my passion and allowing me to be away from home for basketball camps and tournaments for months at a stretch. In those days – about 45 years back – girls in India were not expected to be away from home, unchaperoned, for long. But my parents permitted with a precondition, that I should excel in my exams, else the basketball stops. I did not disappoint them as I got merit position in the Board exams, won the NTSE scholarship. Later, I was selected in Rajasthan Accounts Service and then went on to join the Indian Revenue Service after completing my Masters in English Literature from Rajasthan University. In my last tenure, I served as Director General of Income Tax Department’s Investigation Wing in Rajasthan. After successfully serving the country for about 35 long years, on 31st December, 2025, I superannuated from the service and I am happy to announce to my baking family that Now I am a Full time BAKER!
My Bread Story
This is a long and interesting one and you all will get to hear it now and then as we bake along and march ahead in our baking journey. So here it goes:
Indian parents know the struggle their children and the family members go through while preparing for college entrance examinations. I took childcare leave from office to support my younger son, Divyam, as he prepared for his entrance exams. He loves Breads and this was his comfort food. One day we ran out of our store-bought bread. By the way, we were buying breads from one of the best stores in R. K Puram, New Delhi, which ‘supposedly’ made fresh and healthy breads. As there was no bread Divyam said ”Maa kitna hee difficult hoga bread baking when people have been baking bread at their homes for thousands of years ?”
It was a challenge that I took upon myself as this was one area where neither I had dared to venture till date nor I had ever thought of doing so. Soon after, with the encouragement of my family, I started experimenting with baking breads for Divyam. I was also determined to bake pizzas for Priyam, my elder son, who relishes them. I was also keen to give my breads and pizzas a healthy twist – the mindset to somehow make the food healthy never rests.
Healthy eating and nutrition have been deeply ingrained in my psyche since I became a mother. During my childhood, I recall, we would just eat anything from anywhere: chuski and paani-puri from street vendors, deep fried kachori from road side kiosks, water from the small water huts on the pavements in Jaipur, all the while being proud of our good immunity. But as soon as my boys were born, thanks to the ubiquitous books on good parenting, nutrition journals and the endless healthy eating write-ups on the internet, I steadily got cautious and decided to not take any chances. My kids will tell you that they have grown up hearing the same ‘nagging’ dialogues about food: Please eat this, for it is healthy for body and mind. I’m sure you too must have found yourself saying something similar to your kids now and then. One day, they revolted and gave notice: Please, this Sunday kuch bhi nutritious mat dena. Sounds familiar, right? Manu, my dear husband and also the biggest fan of my baking skills, always tells our boys “Hey!: never underestimate your Mom!.” And guess what Mom did next!
Humble Beginnings
It was April 2016, and I was all set to bake that quintessential loaf! Unfortunately, enthusiasm is no substitute for proper equipment, ingredients and skill. The first few batches of bread were terrible. My son fondly called these kauwa (crow) bread, as the bad ones from the lot were fit to be fed to only crows. My family, specially Divyam, kept encouraging me to experiment, and with practice my breads gradually became palatable and soon ‘delicious’ (my sons words!!).
The Bread Bakers' community
I am a teacher’s daughter and a teacher at heart. So, after a few months of baking, I felt the urge to teach this to my community, my friends and family. This led to some very simple and minimalistic recipes for the new bakers. I wanted to ensure that they did not make as many mistakes as I did, and did not get intimidated by the process. I started with a session for three friends who were my Yoga class mates, at my home and in 2 hours could guide them to start baking pizzas and breads at home.
After that first session, there was no looking back. The aroma of fresh homemade breads was almost always all over my home, and the word soon spread outside. I found myself teaching a large community of women and children. What started as a small group, has now expanded to over 1000 people and counting. In the past 10 years, I have done more than 100 live workshops/ demonstrations on healthy bread baking in different cities on multiple occasions, reaching out to enthusiastic bread bakers and a few online sessions too..
I would take sessions wherever I would travel – Jaipur, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Goa, Rohtak – and we would organize these sessions at a short notice of a day or two, generally in the living room of any of my fellow bakers or in a guest house. All were welcome to join – and it was pro bono, to create awareness and curiosity about healthy baking, specially BREADS. I also did healthy baking sessions in schools for children and their home science teachers, for the fellow officers in the government and their families, for residents of several communities through their RWAs, and at times even when I had gone holidaying to resorts with the help of their chefs for the fellow resort mates!
Trained by the German Masters
In November 2019, I went to Germany to learn from the Master Bakers at Akademie Deutsches Bäckerhandwerk in Weinheim and to further hone my craft. There, I had an opportunity to bake and break bread with bakers from all over Switzerland, Canada, Greece, New Zealand, Egypt, Africa- who all got their respective culinary, cultural and social influences to the bread baking class. As they say, peer learning is the best! I am still in touch with these amazing bakers, sharing tips and bakes regularly.
There was no looking back!
Day after day, month after month, year after year, I kept baking and experimenting and getting excited seeing my breads spring in the oven, be it summers or winters! Each batch is different-these are artisan breads, mind you , that is how they are meant to be!
And come Circa 2026, I am still baking daily, however, there is a twist to ‘My Bread Story’- now I am a FULL TIME BAKER and I can pursue my passion to the sky! Go Shoot Gal!
