…the finishing touch was fate.
What began as a shared past, an unreasonable love for good food, and a common motto - Fide et Labore (our school's motto) - somehow, along the way, quite effortlessly found its place on a sweet plate.
In 2020, back in Bangalore, when the world had collectively pressed pause, I somehow decided it was a good time to start my first café (a cloud kitchen). That's where Aiyappa walked in. I didn't quite know who he was then - just assumed, going by his roots, that coffee had something to do with him. I wasn't entirely wrong. What began as a guest passing through the door soon became something far more permanent. Serendipity may have brought him in, but coffee gave him a reason to stay - and my Caribbean chocolate rum cake, enthusiastically approved by his family and friends, made sure he kept coming back. Today, he's our Cup Head, and if there's a bean involved, chances are he knows it personally.
Kuncheria - my school senior and now the owner of URU - had, as I later discovered, been a quiet fan of my desserts long before we ever properly met. Given his sharp business acumen and a natural instinct for collaboration, it wasn't entirely surprising. When our paths crossed again, what began as a casual conversation about possibly working together at URU – JP Nagar soon turned into something more. As our resident numbers man, he brings structure, systems, and a healthy sense of order to the business - ensuring that creativity has something solid to stand on. Somewhere along the way, quite unknowingly, the first chimes of P.U. Dingding had already begun to ring.
Sumant, my brother and our quiet voice of reason, has always loved desserts - just preferably from the other side of the counter. The kitchen, for him, is more a place to visit than to work in. An investment banker by profession (he prefers “analyst,” of course), he steps in not with a whisk, but with perspective - an older brother banker keeping a gentle eye on his younger brother baker. Where Kuncheria brings structure, Sumant plays the mentor - quietly guiding, questioning, and ensuring the numbers behave as well as the flavours. Having watched me bake my way across the world, he chose to back it - not as a baker, but as a believer. As a silent partner, he keeps things grounded… and, more importantly, adding up.
What started as coincidence soon became clarity. A team, a vision, and a name that once lived in schoolyard jokes had finally found a home.
And just like that, P.U. Dingding was no longer a memory - it was real, ready to surprise and delight anyone who hears it, says it, or tastes what it stands for - one bite at a time. ☺
