A businessman and traveler, Shailendra runs a cloud kitchen that allows customers to order food on aggregators like Swiggy and Zomato. He believes that the hotel industry will continue to thrive as people seek places to enjoy themselves.

Shailendra Singh Rathore runs a cloud kitchen.

Born in Jaipur, Shailendra cherishes his childhood memories a lot, which include enjoying time with friends and even climbing the Aravali ranges.

Shailendra did his initial education and graduation from Ajmer, and then did his Masters from MS University, Vadodara. After that, he shifted to Assam and Darjeeling. There, he worked as a tea estate manager for almost nine years. Then he returned and worked for an insurance company. Later on, he shifted to his favorite field, tourism, and also owns a travel company.

While Shailendra was on multiple errands, his brother-in-law, who used to live in New Zealand, proposed to him that they start a restaurant together in Udaipur. They wanted to bring a very unique and new concept to their project. They have converted their old house into a restaurant and hence named it ‘The Bungalow’.

Talking about the concept behind his restaurant, Shailendra says that it gives you the freedom to choose your own space to enjoy. It has private dining rooms and big dining halls for parties or so. His restaurant is basically a multi-cuisine restaurant.

During the lockdown, only youngsters visited his restaurant. So they thought of providing an open space for them, so they converted the garden space into a cafeteria. It has a beautiful mango tree, so they called it ‘The Mango’.

Shailendra was traveling just before the lockdown was announced last year. Upon his kids' insistence, he cut short his travel and came to Udaipur just as the lockdown happened. He was very concerned about his mother, who was in Jaipur while he was stuck in Udaipur. But they had no choice but to stay in Udaipur. He had a great time during the lockdown, playing with his kids, spending time with his in-laws, working on his fitness, and watching movies.

Restaurants were shut down during the lockdown. But still, he did not retrench any of his staff, and on the 15th of July, 2020, his restaurant was among the few from Udaipur to open back initially for takeaways and deliveries.

Shailendra also got infected with the coronavirus and was away from the restaurant for around one and a half months. His brother-in-law looked after the restaurant during that time, but thankfully, no one at the restaurant got infected.

Shailendra thinks that the hotel industry or service industry will always prosper; it will continue forever as people want places to go out and enjoy.

Shailendra feels that Udaipur is among the top cities that have a fast recovery rate, which may be due to its beautiful surroundings. But he says that the professionals or owners of public places must take proper care to maintain hygiene and should ensure that the amenities given to visitors are of good quality and not too expensive. An experience in a hotel should also be of its own; it should provide the visitors with more than a stay.

When asked about his role models, Shailendra says he draws inspiration from his wife’s uncle, Mr. Kuldeep Chandel, who started his professional life as a tourist guide or leader, and today he is the Chairperson of Rajasthan Tourism, Director of a tour operating firm, and also owns a restaurant in Jaipur.

Shailendra believes that leading people is something a person inculcates as he grows up and matures. You have to have the quality of leading the people like a family head. Shailendra says that your staff is the production team of your company, so you have to treat them like family as they are the backbone of your business venture.

Shailendra follows the principle of ‘simple living and high thinking, which leads to living a very humble life and will take you to great heights.