Venu Rao, hotelier and director at Peacock Group, a hotel consultancy firm based out of Bangalore, recently launched his first collection of 16 imaginative short stories and three reflections of a girl named Venus in a Heavenly hotel. The book is based on his experiences drawn from the hotel industry. His work of fiction invites the reader into a world of intrigue and fantasy, of dark endings and equally joyous ones, altogether unexpected and hard hitting, but at the same
time enjoyable.
“My book Venus Bytes depicts the hotel industry and marketing skills. It talks about hospitality on the whole,” says Rao. As a tribute to his fellow hoteliers he adds that being a hotelier is not only challenging, but demands a lot of sacrifices. “The biggest example was Taj Mahal Palace Mumbai. Many hoteliers like me laid down their lives during the 26/11 attacks. They are the real heroes. The book will also give an insight to a layman about a five star hotel and the nuisances of being a hotelier,” he informs.
Talking about his decision to author a novel, Rao says that even in the past he had written a few anecdotes and articles for magazines that were sold in Dubai, and hence writing came naturally to him. “For the past one year I was planning to write a book. And then, one fine day I started writing, within six months I finished writing it as well. My whole aim was to share my experiences so far with in this industry with those who belong to it and those who
don’t,” he reveals.
Though the stories are based on Rao’s real life experiences, he has added a little twist of fiction to it to make it more intriguing and fascinating for the readers.
While most avid readers and writers have some sort of mentor that they look up to, Rao says that he has never been partial to any one genre or author. “Personally I like reading all types of books. I never restrict myself to any particular genre. Reading is a hobby for me and I indulge in it mostly when I have spare time on my
hands,” he says.
He further adds that his book is not just a casual read, it has with it a message. “Things have changed a lot from the time when I joined the industry to what it is now. I remember, when I settled in on this career choice, me father asked me, ‘Do you have to study to wash vessels?’. The perception of this industry has changed today. It is job where one has to work hard so that the clients are happy. I would say it is indeed a very fulfilling job. And adding to that, it is one of the most well paying and gratifying career options that one could ask for,” he says.