Students Abhishek Sharma, Ruturaj Bargal and Yash Murty from IIT Madras have come up with an idea for a start-up that takes people on food walks.
They have started Blaffer (meaning hitchhiker) to do something for those with an unquenchable wanderlust. The idea is about exploring new places and trying different things. “We are backpackers at heart, so we wanted to put a piece of ourselves in the name,” explains Ruturaj Bargal.
While they were in love with the idea of travel, they knew that they should start with something a little focussed — that’s how they came up with food walks. “Today, we have a team of two core members and 10 interns, all students of IIT-M, apart from us,” says Abhishek Sharma. Blaffer now beckons food aficionados, travellers and foodies from diverse backgrounds.
In a little less than three months since the launch, they have conducted four walks — the Street 101 Sowcarpet Chaat Crawl, the Date with Desserts walk in Alwarpet, the Mylapore Chapter and the Desserts and Shakes Walk in Besant Nagar. These walks happen during the weekend, and are much talked about among the city’s foodies and travel enthusiasts.
“The point is to let people have fun exploring the city, with the added benefits of delicious food and networking opportunities,” says Yash.
Blaffer, which is presently operational only in Chennai, has plans to expand to Delhi by the end of this year. The company uses Facebook to keep their followers up to date on walks planned. Apart from this, they also have a tie-up with backpacking hotels across the city, through which travellers come to know of their events.
When asked how Blaffer has impacted their lives, “Some of us have gained weight,” laughs Ruturaj. Their advice to those wanting to start their own business venture is, “Fight for what you believe in. And put it out there for the world to see.”
For details, visit www.blaffer.in
