– Col Manmohan Singh (AFP 2012)

I first noticed Neeraj in AFP 12 when he refused to budge in an involved discussion on the sunk cost involving wheat bran. He and professor refused to understand each other’s point much to the chagrin of eager fresh management students transitioning from armed forces. While most amongst us were working to realign our skills for the corporate environment he embarked upon a passionate entrepreneurial venture of brewing coffee in IIMA hostel. It was a big paradigm shift from professional soldiering to brewing and selling coffee in the IIMA hostel. He knew his beans and thus began the journey of “Curious Life Coffee Roasters”. The nay-sayers were a plenty when he mooted the idea of setting up a specialty coffee business at Jaipur. “Jaipur and specialty coffee hmmm!”, “Gurgaon or Bangalore would be better for such niche ideas” were some initial reactions. Neeraj is an ace sportsman and soldier in the true spirit of the word. His risk-taking capability is evident from the fact that he chose to quit Army after 14 years of service without completing pensionable service, instead of doing sheltered jobs due to a back injury which he sustained while on a prestigious UN mission in Congo. Incidentally, that’s the place where he got interested in good coffee.

The journey started with a partnership which failed within a month followed by a coffee shop in a prestigious club which didn’t smell of coffee. The thoughts crystallized along the journey to set up the best coffee shop in Jaipur. To have a great cup of coffee one needs high-quality coffee beans, uniquely roasted to bring out the best and unique flavors and finally brewed with precision and passion. Roasting and brewing were within Neeraj’s control and his passion drew the buzz. Curious Life Coffee Roasters café in Jaipur has drawn mention in National Geographic, travel magazines and consistently draw’s very high ratings on culinary portals. Having set up, the best café in Jaipur Neeraj is on his way to establish the best coffee shop in India which will be a 7000+ sq feet space exclusively dedicated to all aspects of specialty coffee from around the world.

Neeraj is a true blue sportsman, soldier and an entrepreneur who ‘Never said Die’!