At 77, she is a business owner, TedX speaker, celebrity, influencer and YouTuber. Urmila Asher, popularly known as Gujju Ben, is the powerhouse behind ‘Gujju Ben Na Nasta’, a food business that started during the COVID-19 lockdown in Mumbai. With over 40 years of cooking experience, Gujju Ben and her grandson, Harsh, decided to turn her passion for food into a business to help people during the pandemic.
“Whatever I would cook, we’d make in large quantities and sell. We covered 10 societies in Mumbai. We used our phones and put it up on Instagram, and soon started getting orders. We would deliver food in residential societies every evening,“, says Gujju Ben, who quickly gained a following and started a cloud kitchen from their home.
What started as a snack business soon transformed into a YouTube cooking channel with over 250K subscribers.
But it has not all been hunky dory. Gujju Ben's life has been full of tragedies. After getting married at 17 and becoming a mother at 23, she lost all three of her children. However, she remained strong, and focused on taking care of her grandson and daughter-in-law. When her grandson, Harsh, had an accident and become depressed, she motivated him to stay strong and rebuild his life.
Despite all the hardships, Gujju Ben rebuilt her life at an age when most people choose to retire, showcasing a remarkable display of determination and perseverance. She loves to cook and wants to showcase her expertise. Her cooking videos on YouTube have inspired many, and she is now a celebrity in her own right.
GujjuBen's story is an inspiration to everyone, showing that age is just a number, and it's never too late to pursue your dreams. She has taught us that no matter how hard life gets, we should never give up, and must keep moving forward with courage and determination.