Chef Vikas Khanna's Delhi sojourn: A new book, planting trees with 250 children & India's apathy towards Varanasi

Vikas Khanna is one busy man. From running a Michelin-starred restaurant to hosting TV shows, opening a culinary museum, creating a record for the world's most expensive cookbook, this chef seems to have his plate full.

And that's not all. The celebrated chef, who has published 28 books so far, has now diversified his writing skills, turning author for children. With ' A Tree Named Ganga', Khanna, has turned to Nature for inspiration.

And the timing couldn't have been better as Khanna launched his first-ever work of fiction work on a smog-filled Thursday in the national capital, smiled and encouraged by 250 children who had gathered there as a part of an initiative by Smile Foundation and Tropicana's ' Gift a Tree' campaign. Ask him if it was deliberate, and he replies dismissively.


Vikas Khanna joined children from the Smile Foundation to plant saplings in the city in an initiative by Tropicana.

"The story has been in the works for many years now. It just happened to come at a time when we all need to learn the importance of nature, and stop taking it for granted," Khanna says, referring to the situation around Delhi.

Loki Muthu has given shape to the illustrations in the 48-page book which are inspired by sketches made by Khanna's niece.


'A Tree Named Ganga' is published by Bloomsbury.


"The story asks a simple question about retaliation by Nature and the other things that we take for granted. What if the trees, the earth, mothers, the soil - the givers - refuse to give," he says.

And going by the initial response - the chef claims that the book has been sold-out on day one and is already in reprinting - Khanna couldn't ask for more, at least for now.

"It is overwhelming to see that fiction written by a chef is being received so well."

From delivering cassettes for his father's shop in Amritsar and knitting sweaters with his mother and grandmother to open his first banquet 'Lawrence Gardn', to becoming one of the world's top-rated chefs, Khanna has come a long way. But he says that he still remembers his roots. He is also quick to credit Varanasi, where he wrote his book, and laments the lack of attention the temple town has received.

"As Indians, Varanasi should be an important part of our lives, but it isn't. I recently asked children at a school, if they knew where Varanasi is and if they had visited the place, but I didn't get even one positive response. It was heartbreaking."

"I knew had I said Thailand instead all hands would go up. But this needs to change, we should take our children to see places that created India," he adds.

Going back to his childhood, he recalls his days of being bullied at school and often beaten up for his uneven teeth. "I used to have horrible teeth as a child. I don't think kids are ugly, but I was a really unpleasant-looking child," he says, flashing that now-perfect smile.

And with another book cover launch, 'Poeatery', lined up for this month, he has enough reasons to.

This leads us to wonder whether the shift from cookbooks to fiction and poetry is deliberate, but this chef feels that creative form should not be restricted. "There are so many stories to tell, I don't want to restrict myself to just cookbooks. If we have the scope to use our voice, it should be used to spread the right message," and that is just what he is doing with 'A tree named Ganga'.