“People with great passion can make the impossible happen.”
This adage is completely true for our next creative mommy who is in a full-time profession but taking out time to follow her passion for food. Meet Debjani Chatterjee who is Married to an Architect and mother of 4 years old kid and based in Kolkata. She is a food blogger by passion and by profession a Finance analyst working for the Development Sector for the last 10 years. She has worked with a few United Nations Organizations that include the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and UNDP and also for MIT’s Economics Research Lab and she has handled Grants as part of her professional Career.
At present, she is associated with an International Microfinance Organization in India and is part of the senior management and handles policies and CSR.
Let’s get to know more about this hardworking mommy-
What is your background?
Born and brought up in a joint family in Kolkata; I am the youngest in my generation and needless to say adored by everybody in the family. Though I am my parent’s only child, however, I grew up with my cousins. I believe my upbringing was a great influence on me later on. The resources were limited but care and love were unlimited. So, we learnt the importance of family and how to deal with the limitations.
I am married to a Bengali Muslim and by birth and I am a Hindu Brahmin. Both the families supported our decision of inter-religious marriage and I have seen another dimension of life after marriage. My daughter was born in 2013 and I came across to the 3rd dimension of life! We named her Renaissance and she bore both of our titles and her name is Renaissance Chatterjee Alam. In addition, I am a food blogger and I write at Debjanir Rannaghar.
As the founder of kitchenofdebjani.com, you are a successful food blogger. Tell us more about how the idea came up? What were the key factors in starting it?
I was always fascinated by cooking and started reading books on food from a very young age. I have memories of getting into the big fat kitchen in our house to see my mother and aunts cooking for the entire family. Listening to my father and uncles and the female brigade every month while planning for the next month was one of its kind experience for me.
In 2009, my posting was in Bihar as a United Nations Volunteer, I started writing on my blog. After a long day at work, I used to cook for myself and then one point of time I started keeping a record of the recipes in the form of a blog. After my marriage, I moved to Delhi and then I started taking my blogging seriously.
Initially, I used to write only recipes, that I used to cook. I was not aware of the process of food photography or typical process of food writing at that time and neither I was aware of the technicalities. It was a journey of learning during the last 10 years. I started learning the process of writing; the process of clicking food photographs. I was always close to the books and famous blogs, however, that mostly for enriching myself. With the pace of time, I started consulting national and international food websites to come up with the easiest possible method of writing recipes. My blog is solely my creation with very little support from a website consultant.
My blog aims to help people who wanted to cook but prefer no fuss. Simple writing; clear pictorials and lucid description is what I believe in. I continuously revisit the old posts and edit those with more and easiest processes.
Apart from writing the recipes; I do visit several food joints and I love to write food tasting experience. In addition to that, I do collaborate with brands and do regular product and service review.
I am passionate about Food photography and my Instagram account is where I mostly share my Food pictorials apart from my blog. I have been associated with several brands for food photography.
Why did you choose food blogging as a niche?
I love food; period. I actually respect my two spoons of rice at the end of the day :). Apart from my family food is what I love to explore and is what I am passionate about. There was no typical thinking apart from recording my food ventures when the blog was started 10 years back. It was solely for the love of food. However, with the pace of time I wrote about several things apart from food, however, food is what I am most comfortable with.
What all struggles you faced initially or still face being a mom, blogger and also into a full-time profession?
I struggle and juggle over “time” every single day. I am a fulltime mother as well as a working professional apart from a food blogger. My profession demands me to visit remote areas of the country and needless to say my family deserves my time. While managing those I write on my blog to soothe myself. Most of my post be it a recipe or a review always has a story to tell; something related to my family at times or whatever happened at the work.
I actually enjoy playing all the roles. I am a proud mommy of a very understanding little girl; a lucky wife whose husband is more than understanding and supporting; a doting daughter and daughter in law who has been loved by the family. All these rolls make me more strong every day and help me to come up with the blog posts I write on my blog.
Share 5 tips for other mompreneurs or moms who are trying to juggle home and work both with kids?
- Be mentally strong and be clear about your goal!
- It is not at all bad to maintain both personal and professional life! It takes a lot to manage both. Never ever think badly about your situation!
- Kids at the end are like clay dough! If they are aware and respectful of their parent’s roles they help them to carry everything in life. My daughter is my biggest strength!
- I believe in understanding! It is better to discuss the problems with the partner and come up with a solution.
- Involving the family helps a lot! They need to know what we are doing so only they can support and help us!
What is your vision? Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
My mantra in life is – Live and let live. I want to see my daughter growing up, want to sustain the path I am on and I want my family to support and love me like they are doing now. My dream is to come up with my own book in coming years apart from the blog.
What/who is your inspiration?
Every single person who is positive about their doing; who are balancing their life every day is my inspiration!
Debjani’s story is an inspiration for those moms who are in a full-time job and either not happy with what they are doing or want to try something different. She is following her passion as a food blogger along with a full-time job. If you are passionate about something, do take out time to pursue that now as tomorrow never comes. Following your passion is happiness and when you are happy as a mom, everyone else is happy around you.
Read about previously featured creative moms here- Monika, Shiva, Soma, Ritika, Sudha, Rina, Shipra, Anuja, Preethi, Surbhi to get inspired.
February 23, 2018 at 4:19 pm
Thank you Deepa, for introducing such a vibrant personality with us. I love er smile first thing first – and then the crab looks too delicious.
February 25, 2018 at 2:01 pm
I love the positive vibes this post exudes. Thank you for the interview.