E-Paper
New York-returned techie sells street food in India, doesn’t want to go back: ‘I wasn’t deported'
After working in the US for three years, Maninder Singh now operates a food stall in Mohali with his wife.
Prefer HTon Google
After spending three years in the United States, working in the IT space, Maninder Singh has returned to the motherland. Instead of an office job, however, Singh has chosen a more offbeat career path - the US-returned techie is now selling street food in Mohali.
A video featuring Singh and his food stall was shared on the popular Instagram channel ‘Foodler’. Omar, the content creator behind the channel, told HT.com that Singh returned to India in January and now runs a food stall in Mohali, Punjab.
“I wasn’t deported”
In the video, Singh whipped out his driving license from New York as proof that he once lived in the Big Apple. He explained that he has 12 years of total work experience in tech, retail, call centres and IT.
It was a tech job that took Singh to his United States. He was in the country for three years. After the death of his father, however, Singh moved back to India. “No, I wasn’t deported,” he clarified in the video.
Singh and his wife now run a food stall in the popular 3B2 market of Mohali. She does all the cooking, while he sets up the stall and sells the food. On the day the video was filmed, Singh was selling rajma, chawal, kadhi pakoda, rotis, soya chaap and mango lassi.
“I was in the United States for three years. My wife has 20 years of experience in cooking, so we thought of starting a food business. I help her, but she is the one who cooks,” Singh told Omar in the video.
“He started this food joint just 2-3 months back. Right now the income is not fixed as the business is new,” Omar told HT.com.
“His wife prepares everything in the morning and he starts his work at 1 pm. Around 3 pm, his wife joins him as well.”
On returning to the United States
For many people across the world, settling down in the US is a lifelong dream. In fact, so deeply entrenched is the attraction that many resort to illegal ‘Dunki’ routes or cross borders illegally to reach the US.
Maninder Singh, however, has no wish to return to the US.
“He told me that it might look interesting for people to visit or stay in the US, but he loves his home and would not want to go back to the US again even if he gets another chance,” Omar told HT.com.
Instead, the small business owner wants to expand his menu and add new dishes, eventually hoping to turn a profit.
