Rekha took the long leap of leaving her teaching job to start a vegetarian restaurant in the heart of Udaipur city, and made her decision count by taking it to great heights.

Rekha Agrawal is the owner of Hariyali Restaurant.

Rekha was born and raised in Udaipur. She did her schooling at Vidya Bhawan School, followed by her graduation from the Home Science College. She moved to another city after her marriage but returned shortly. She then joined the teaching field.

Describing her journey as a restaurateur, Rekha says that she was initially a teacher, but when her husband pitched her an idea of using the extra piece of land behind their house as a restaurant, she readily agreed to the proposal. She quit her job to start the restaurant with zero prior experience and learned along the way. Later, when she was confident enough, she started taking big orders and starting catering to and organising parties as well. She says that running the restaurant for 27 years would not have been this smooth, if it were not for her husband and in-laws, who kept encouraging her throughout her journey.

Rekha says that in her journey, she has had her fair share of both positive and negative experiences, but she believes that you can not completely satisfy everyone, and takes criticism lightly.

Giving a piece of advice to the budding restaurateurs, Rekha says that the coming time will be a boon for the restaurant industry and you should join it with full confidence. However, she thinks that you should take good experience of the industry before starting your own venture to become successful. She further adds that you should also do proper research of the locality, use technology for promotion, and ensure hiring good staff.

Sharing her COVID experience, Rekha says that it was a devastating time for everyone. She says that their restaurant was able to survive as it was their own land, but the business loss was inevitable. She says that lately the situation is improving and she is hopeful for the future.

In her leisure time, Rekha likes to stitch and cook. She also loves to travel and has travelled to many places. She identifies herself as a workaholic and doesn’t like to sit idle.