Sunil Munjal’s serendipitous detour into storytelling and the cultural economic system

Sunil Munjal talking on the Shaam-e-Ghazal occasion at Delhi’s majestic Safdarjung Tomb

5 years in the past, Hero Enterprise chairman Sunil Munjal’s guide ‘The Making of Hero’ on the band of brothers who based the cycle empire and their electrifying journey, swept many literary awards within the enterprise books class. Now, the industrialist and artwork patron has penned one thing very totally different – a meals guide titled Desk for 4, co-authored with three of his Doon College buddies Ajay Shriram, Nitan Kapoor and the late Deepak Nirula.

Tasty tales

The guide will probably be launched in the course of the Serendipity Arts Pageant (SAF) that kicks off in Goa on December 12. Munjal stated he and his associates would typically dine collectively at numerous Delhi eating places and privately change evaluations, meals, atmosphere, service and even the loos. “After a while, we felt why not flip it right into a guide,” he stated . For the guide, they then expanded the scope, including recipes, interviews with cooks, and spiced it with some wealthy cultural historical past and conversations. 

 “We’ve got not been snooty in any method,” declared Munjal. “We went to Bukhara, we went to Indian Accent, however we additionally ate at Bikanerwala and the State bhawans,” he stated . Household Fables, a bespoke New Delhi-based publishing home has revealed the guide, says Munjal, who has additionally co-authored The World is a Stage, a pictorial guide on Ludhiana’s performing arts.  

Crafts and commerce

One other thrilling announcement at SAF that turns 10 this 12 months and is Munjal’s ardour mission will probably be on Brij Incubator, a brand new platform supporting early stage cultural and craft led enterprises. “Tradition is prime, nearly civilisational to all of us. Why ought to it not profit from this miracle of know-how that’s going down round us?” stated Munjal, who was just lately conferred France’s Chevalier de l’Ordre nationwide du Merite honour for his makes an attempt to democratise tradition and schooling.

At SAF, there may even be a panel on enterprise mannequin innovation and funding in arts and crafts and a Shark Tank like start-up pitching session for cultural start-ups. 

Munjal stated the pondering behind the Brij incubator is to assist ‘contemporarise’ the talents of artisans engaged on age-old crafts in rural areas. The incubator has already funded 5 or 6 ventures and a complete slew is into account now. “As an alternative of migrating folks to large cities and cities, we are attempting to see if we will help develop a parallel rural economic system based mostly on arts, crafts and textiles that may co-exist with the agrarian,” stated Munjal. The incubator may have a separate campus that’s at the moment beneath building in Delhi’s Vasant Kunj.

To mark its tenth 12 months milestone, SAF is travelling to 10 cities – it has already been to Birmingham, Ahmedabad, Varanasi, Chennai, Delhi, Dubai and is at the moment in Paris. The competition at Goa will final 10 days and be the most important until date with 35 curators.

Revealed on December 6, 2025