Hi! I am Renu,
I was born in Jaipur, the Pink City of India, in a working class, joint family of ten members. My mother was a very hardworking woman who managed us all alongside her office. My father who was a school principal always assisted 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 eleven 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. In those days, about 45 years back, girls in India were not expected to be away from home, unchaperoned, for long. I would be away from home for basketball camps and tournaments for months. I just cannot thank my parents enough for letting me follow my passion then and always encouraging me to follow my dreams. But there was no compromise with studies. So seeds of hard work and perseverance were also sown early in my life. I did well in studies and went on to join the Indian Revenue Service. 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 the entire family goes through when children are preparing for college entrance examinations. I took childcare leave from the office to support my younger son, Divyam, a 12th class student. He loves ‘breads’ and this was his comfort food while juggling his schedule between Board exams and Entrance exams. 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 at home, 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, with the encouragement of my family, I started experimenting/ 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 kachoris from road side kiosks, water from the small water huts on the pavements of 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 got cautious and decided to never 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, Sundays ko 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
Ten years ago, 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 most were fit to be fed to the crows only. My family kept encouraging me to experiment and with practice my breads gradually became palatable and soon ‘delicious’ !
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 developing some very simple and minimalistic recipes for the new bakers. I wanted to ensure that they did not make many mistakes and did not get intimidated by the jargon and 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 and buns at home. You will be happy to know that they bake regularly.
After that first session, there was no looking back. The aroma of fresh homemade breads was always there in 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 went holidaying to resorts, with the help of their chefs, for the fellow resort mates! Phew!
Trained by the German Masters
In November 2019, I went to Germany for a holiday and got an opportunity to learn from the Master Bakers at the Akademie Deutsches Bäckerhandwerk Weinheim . 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!
