Month: February 2020

India’s first ‘ MasterChef India ‘ winner. December 2010 .

Pankaj Bhadouria, a 38-year old teacher from Lucknow was the first winner of the realty TV show ‘MasterChef India’ Season 1 – on December 25th, 2010 – a contest that was for amateur cooks from across India .

Pankaj Bhadouria has been teaching since the past 16 years. Besides being an aspiring amateur cook her hobbies include painting. She is a mom, housewife, teacher and now a nationally acclaimed winning chef. She is married to a Thakur from Lucknow, Charu Samarth and is blessed with 2 children. Pankaj was born and brought up in Delhi which is a typical foodies paradise, by her parents a Punjabi father and a Bengali mother who gave her a depth of the multi-cultural tastes of India.

Her current accompolishments: (1) Pankaj has shared some of her experiences in the form of her 1st book on cookery titled ‘ MasterChef Cook Book ‘  (2) She has hosted her own cookery show ‘ Chef Pankaj ka Zayka ‘ on Star Plus during September-October 2011 (3)She has her own mobile app which is applicable on Black Berry, I Phones, Google play etc. (4) Pankaj was invited to grace and participate in ‘ The Vali Food Festival’ annuals held in New York, USA for both the years April 2011 and April 2012 (5) She was invited to address the South Asian Community in Britain, by the prestigious Cambridge University in July 2011 (6)Pankaj has been regularly featured in newspapers and magazines both nationally and internationally (7) She conducts regular workshops and cookery demonstrations (8) Pankaj is invited regulary to judge at competitions and events.

In August 2012, she launched her dream project – ‘The Pankaj Bhadouria Culinary Academy ‘ in Hazratgang, Lucknow.

Pankaj Bhadouria’s growth from a small time school teacher to become India’s first MasterChef and a celebrity is a real time story of self-belief.

(www.pankajbhadouria.com)

First Kashmiri cricketer to be selected for the National India ‘A’ team cricket squad. July 2013 .

Parvez Ghulam Rasool Zargar (Parvez Rasool)scripted history and became the first cricketer from the state of J & K to be selected for the National India ‘A’ Team.

Parvez Rasool was named by the selectors on Friday, July 05th, 2013 for the 5 match ODI series, Zimbabwe tour beginning July 24th .

A technically accompolished cricketer he made his first-class debut for J & K in the 2008-09 season.  Parvez Rasool is a middle-order batsman who also bowls classical off-spin, and has been a trail blazer right through his career. Earlier on this year he was chosen to play the IPL for the Pune Warriors. He played for the ‘Board President’s XI’ and was a standout performer for J & K in the 2012-13 Ranji trophy, ending the season as its top scorer and highest wicket taker. Parvez has taken 46 wickets in 17 first class matches and scored 1003 runs at an impressive average of 30.57 runs.

Rasool said “without the guidance of former Indian Captain Bishen Singh Bedi, his dream would not have been possible”. He also thanked his childhood coaches Abdul Qayoom Bugoo and Rajesh Dhar for his success.

Parvez Rasool – This poster boy of Kashmir cricket, belonging to a second-generation cricket playing family, was born on February 13th, 1989. A son of a humble shop keeper, as a kid he often played cricket on the deserted streets of Bijbehara, a a small town in South Kashmir. Cricket runs in the family which hails from Anantnag district. His father Ghulam Rasool Zargar loves the game and played for the local club whilst his brother Asif represented J&K in domestic T20 championship.