Bhupendra Panwar is a passionate hotelier and an ardent musician, whose value system is based on integrity and service-before-self.

After serving in the hotel industry in various capacities, Bhupendra Panwar has started his own rather new firm: ‘Booking Engine’, which caters to hotel bookings of travellers and makes personalized travel plans too. Along with that, he is a Music Composer, Singer and is trained in Indian Classical Music.

Bhupendra was born and brought up in Udaipur, Rajasthan. He did his schooling from the Central Public School in Udaipur itself. His school has a great impact on his overall personality. He says his school focuses on imbibing good values and manners into every student with the inclusion of yoga and Spoken English classes everyday.

Bhupendra has worked in different hotels and various travel segments of various cities for many years. According to him, hospitality is a noble profession based on serving other people and contributing to their happiness. He further says, the discipline in this industry is also top-grade and added to that, you get to meet many famous personalities too. And these factors motivated him to join the industry.

Talking about the difficulties that are there in the hospitality industry, Bhupendra says, this industry demands hard work and rigorous training of six months in all four core-departments of hospitality. He further says that you have to crush your ego as everyone is treated equally in this industry. Another important point that Bhupendra mentions is that there is a lot of glamour and foul-charms in this industry, so holding yourself back from getting spoiled is really crucial in order to make a good career for yourself in the long run.

Due to COVID, Bhupendra lost his job at the Leela Group of Hotels, so he decided to start his own hospitality venture and become an entrepreneur himself. He says that the COVID pandemic has been a blessing in disguise for him as his firm ‘Booking Engine’ has been a success. He says that he is now giving business to many hotels for which he used to work in the past. Personally, he got to enjoy quality time with his family, especially his newborn son. He also tried his hands on cooking, learning a bit from his wife.

To the people aspiring to come into the hospitality industry, Bhupendra says, it is a field full of opportunities. Here, you will meet all kinds of people and face all kinds of situations, and most importantly everyone is treated equally. He cites the example of the exemplary demonstration of courage and grit from the hotel staff in the Taj Hotel during the 2008 terror attacks to say that life in hospitality is a life of discipline and integrity. He further says that if you work hard and establish yourself in the initial years, the sky's the limit for you.

Talking about his other passion which is singing, Bhupendra says, he comes from a family of musicians and so he naturally developed a deep interest in it. He has taken and is still continuing his professional music training under his ‘Ustaad’ : Janaab Gohar Azwi. He has composed some ghazals too that are also available on YouTube. He follows the “raag ''-based music only, and is content with it.

Bhupendra believes that if the foundation is strong then the personality also comes out strong. He says that he grew up with two elder sisters which has groomed him into a gentleman. His parents and initial schooling also played a significant role in his personality development. He says that he gave importance to studies but was never limited to it, he participated in all extracurricular activities like singing and dancing.

Mrs. Alka Sharma, the founder and owner of CPS and Rockwoods School is his role model, so much so that he calls her ‘Maa’. His primary school teacher Mrs. Lakshmi Rathod is also his role model. In his family, he looks up to his mother and his two elder sisters for inspiration. Professionally, his role model is Mr. Praveen, the Area Director of Taj Hotel. His humble personality and tact inspires Bhupendra. In the music field, he admires Ustad Mehdi Hassan, who popularized and took the ghazal-culture to great heights. Along with this, he considers his family to be his support system and his strength.

Bhupendra believes in leading as a big-brother and not as a boss. He says that if you remain friendly and helpful to your staff they will do the same. For team-building, he says, you should try to get to know the personal life of your staff and share yours too, this way you will be able to connect better with your team.

Apart from his work, Bhupendra likes to spend most of his time doing what he loves the most : ‘riyaaz’, he makes sure to do it everyday early in the morning. He says that practising ‘riyaaz’ soothes him and takes him into a peaceful ambience. He has a friend group of musicians and singers with whom he spends his weekend evenings.