OK: Compared to your life in India, did your working and personal lifestyle change when you came to Japan?

SS: There is really little change in my lifestyle. In India, we work in big teams, so we feel we are really working. Here, we also work in teams but it is a little small, so I think we work too much (Laughs). Living in India in a major city like Bombay is perhaps a bit different to working in a smaller city like Kochi.

OK: Have you always been a chef?

SS: I started working in food processing. Food processing has a bit of chef work in it. I like to work to serve people; let people make choices and then provide them with what they want. Before that, when I was a child, my family had a restaurant in Bombay. So I could see and learn the basic food processing and serving systems. I learned all that from my brother. He worked in one of India's major hotel chains, so I watched him and learned. Now, I am able to appear in food processing seminars in India. My job in India was a bit different to what I do now, though when my company sent me to Japan, I got into more chef work.