"I was in the United States a couple years ago, and our driver, whatever he did whether it was finding directions or anything else, it was by voice command. And that led me to thinking that this is a new medium to explore,” says Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, India’s original celebrity chef, whose repertoire has crossed boundaries over his long career.
“Since Amazon Alexa was my own, and so many other’s, first exposure to that audio-based technology, it seemed only natural to meet them and see how we could take this forward, which I did while in the States,” elaborates Kapoor.
That has led to the chef launching two shows on Audible’s Suno platform for India, namely Sanjeev Kapoor Ke Khazane and Simple Recipes with Sanjeev Kapoor.
While the former talks about everything; starting from the various types of diets to how you should make sure to ‘eat mindfully.’
Not just some health tips to benefit your body, but how small changes in your eating habits today, can contribute to a better environment tomorrow; the latter is a simpler yet more eclectic collection of easy to make recipes.
Talking about the variance in media, given his storied TV and other multimedia experiences, Kapoor says, “It’s like wearing something. A shirt may suit some (pun intended), while others prefer a kurta. Similarly, an audio-visual may work for some, while others may just prefer to hear ideas of and for food in the background.
"The key is the narrative and how you express yourself in a way people will listen and absorb.”
Speaking of listening and absorbing, the veteran TV chef did not go into the exercise blind-sided, er sounded.
“I first experimented on friends and family members, recording my stories and recipes, and then playing it back to see how it sounded.
With due process and practice I finished it, and that’s what you hear on Audible today,” says Kapoor, noting “Some teachers and narrators can be boring, it’s the ones who aren’t that you listen to and learn from.”
Given that he’s run an extremely successfull radio broadcast in the same format lready, there are no prizes for guessing whom you listen to and learn from.
It’s how you like your treasure, folks, and it’s there for the listening.