MBA ENTREPRENEUR...ARUN GUPTA

MBA ENTREPRENEUR A Litti Bit More

When Arun Gupta (23) finished his MBA from Mumbai University, he decided to junk the comfy placement process to start his own venture. His risk-taking venture was a new product and, as far as world of IT is concerned, Arun’s idea was truly unconventional. He wanted to make the humble, rustic snack of litti chokha as ubiquitous and popular in Mumbai as the vada pav. And thus was born Litti on Wheels (LoW), a street kiosk chain that serves fresh-off-the-fire litti along with a spicy mixture of smoked brinjal and mashed potatoes (chokha).Arun’s inspiration lay in his childhood in Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh. “I grew up on litti chokha and missed it a lot when I moved to Mumbai. I was also quite impressed with the vada pav model and wondered if I could add litti chokha to the rich street-food culture here,” he says. Arun’s brother Tarun Gupta, a software engineer, felt the same way working in Bangalore. He wondered how it would be to get Bangaloreans to try something other than vadas and idlis. The litti chokha at LoW follows the traditional recipe that Tarun learnt from his mother, which he has taught those who run the kiosks. Litti is essentially a thick, baked round ball of atta that is stuffed with sattu — roasted gram flour — and dipped in ghee. You can order litti with chokha, chola or chana. “Our littis are priced between Rs25 and Rs40 since we wanted to offer street food at street prices,” Tarun says. “The idea of opening a kiosk instead of a restaurant was precisely that we don’t burden our customers because of high investments,” says Arun. From September 2011, when LoW made a humble beginning in Bangalore, the chain now has four outlets in the city and two in Navi Mumbai. While it would be an overstatement to claim that litti chokha is taking over idli or vada pav, the brothers assert that Mumbaikars and Bangaloreans are warming up to the new entrant. Few know this, but litti chokha is perhaps one of the healthiest street foods one can have. Sattu is a rich source of fibre, is easy to digest and cleans up the stomach. “If you’re health conscious, then litti is better than most street foods you’ll come across,” says Tarun. LoW is planning to open an outlet in Pune next month and has plans to expand to Delhi too. LoW is open from 4pm to 11pm in Bangalore and till midnight in Navi Mumbai. For more information on its locations visit: http://littionwheels.com/locations/

Manisha Pande SDNA130224