Just like how Hyderabad has been home to many, so has it been for Kailash Lama, founder of 7 Sisters and Signature Events. The founder takes The Pioneer through his association and love for the city, this week for our weekly segment of Hyderabond.
Tejal Sinha
Just a few days ago, according to Mercer’s Quality of Living (City Ranking) survey for 2023, Hyderabad was rated as the best Indian city. Basically, it is the sixth time that Hyderabad has been crowned as the best city to live in. The city has in fact become the favourite of the migrants.
Well, so has it been for the interviewee of our special weekly segment of Hyderabond—Kailash Lama, founder of the well-known Northeast cafe and restaurant, 7 Sisters. It’s been over 17 years now that he has made the city his home. If you think he just got into the city and started his own business, then that’s not the case. “I began my journey in the city by working in the hospitality industry. Before that, I started my own restaurant. I was working in the nightlife industry for well-known hotels, and after that, I started my own event company, specialising in concerts, nightlife events, and outsourcing artists. However, I always had this in my mind that I’d want to do something else in Hyderabad.” And so, the main aim for him to begin the restaurant was to bring together authentic north-eastern delicacies. “Whenever I used to hop in the night, and where I come from, Darjeeling, you get delicious momos and thukpas on the street. I didn’t get that feeling anywhere. Then it came to my mind that I should do something about this. There were people selling momos here too, but I was not getting those authentic momos. I was like, I should bring up a restaurant where I can walk myself and families can walk themselves for the authentic delicacies. I wanted to bring these cuisines, which could be affordable for anyone, to come eat and have fun. Before the pandemic, I found a place and started it with 20 people seating, and with people loving the food so much, we moved to another place with 100 people seating. And then there are 70 other seating locations, and we kept growing, and now there are multiple branches.” And that’s how he’d grown ahead and forward on the profession front in Hyderabad.
With not many job opportunities in Darjeeling, he had to definitely shift. But what brought him to Hyderabad? “My brother was already here in Hyderabad, and I was already influenced by him regarding the city. I wanted to complete college and go to Hyderabad. Since my brother was already here, I didn’t have to do much of the struggling. But when I came to Hyderabad, I had to struggle a lot. I used to face a lot of language issues because I was not well-versed in Hindi and English.”
And so, ever since he shifted to Hyderabad, he has never again had the thought of shifting to any other city. “Hyderabad has been the fastest-growing city. I just go to other cities to hang around and just visit the place. In the future as well, I cannot imagine going to any other city. Hyderabad has become my everything now.”
Starting something from scratch is just not a cakewalk. One goes through their own challenges and struggles. However, he feels that if there is no challenge, then you don’t have the fondness and fun of working. But, “I’m glad people here in Hyderabad are really foodies. Even when I started the business from scratch, and it was a small one back then, many people had come forward to grow my business, and that is something really good about the Hyderabadi people. I had so much support from them here. Hyderabad, to me, has become like my second hometown because I am very familiar with the people around me. I don’t enjoy any other city as much as I do in Hyderabad. Since I’ve been here in Hyderabad for a really long time, I am very familiar with the city as a whole. I just love everything about Hyderabad.”
No surprise to the fact that Hyderabad is no less than a ‘food heaven’ in itself. And think of Hyderabad; Biryani is the first thing that pops into one’s mind. And you know what? There was a time the restauranteur didn’t like Biryani, yet the city made him fall in love with it. “The Hyderabadi Biryani is my favourite. Back then, when I entered Hyderabad, I didn’t like Biryani at all because, in the North East, there is no concern about masalas and all. And when I came to Hyderabad and had Biryani, I just fell in love with it. I’ve had a lot of biryani to date. I like all kinds of foods. But when I came back to momos, the momo culture was not very famous back then. In every restaurant that I used to go to, I never found authentic momos. It was all the frozen ones. And so my idea with seven sisters was to get the authentic momos. In fact, recently, even through delivery apps like Swiggy and Zomato, we have had the highest-selling momos. Recently, we also got an award from Swiggy for ‘Best Momo Sellers’.”
Kailash, who is soon going to come up with another North-eastern kitchen, signs off the chat sharing, “There is nothing that I dislike about the city, because if I dislike anything about the city, it would be disrespectful, and so there’s nothing I dislike about the city. And talking about likes, I love everything about the city. The city is really growing, and people are really friendly here. Even my friends do feel that Hyderabad is ‘the place’ to live. Even when people go to different cities, they do have some great memories of the city. In fact, many of them have relocated back to Hyderabad. Hyderabad has given me a really good life, and so Hyderabad is everything to me. In fact, like I said, it’s my second hometown; it has actually become my hometown now. And my family and friends are all here.”
Just a few days ago, according to Mercer’s Quality of Living (City Ranking) survey for 2023, Hyderabad was rated as the best Indian city. Basically, it is the sixth time that Hyderabad has been crowned as the best city to live in. The city has in fact become the favourite of the migrants.
Well, so has it been for the interviewee of our special weekly segment of Hyderabond—Kailash Lama, founder of the well-known Northeast cafe and restaurant, 7 Sisters. It’s been over 17 years now that he has made the city his home. If you think he just got into the city and started his own business, then that’s not the case. “I began my journey in the city by working in the hospitality industry. Before that, I started my own restaurant. I was working in the nightlife industry for well-known hotels, and after that, I started my own event company, specialising in concerts, nightlife events, and outsourcing artists. However, I always had this in my mind that I’d want to do something else in Hyderabad.” And so, the main aim for him to begin the restaurant was to bring together authentic north-eastern delicacies. “Whenever I used to hop in the night, and where I come from, Darjeeling, you get delicious momos and thukpas on the street. I didn’t get that feeling anywhere. Then it came to my mind that I should do something about this. There were people selling momos here too, but I was not getting those authentic momos. I was like, I should bring up a restaurant where I can walk myself and families can walk themselves for the authentic delicacies. I wanted to bring these cuisines, which could be affordable for anyone, to come eat and have fun. Before the pandemic, I found a place and started it with 20 people seating, and with people loving the food so much, we moved to another place with 100 people seating. And then there are 70 other seating locations, and we kept growing, and now there are multiple branches.” And that’s how he’d grown ahead and forward on the profession front in Hyderabad.
With not many job opportunities in Darjeeling, he had to definitely shift. But what brought him to Hyderabad? “My brother was already here in Hyderabad, and I was already influenced by him regarding the city. I wanted to complete college and go to Hyderabad. Since my brother was already here, I didn’t have to do much of the struggling. But when I came to Hyderabad, I had to struggle a lot. I used to face a lot of language issues because I was not well-versed in Hindi and English.”
And so, ever since he shifted to Hyderabad, he has never again had the thought of shifting to any other city. “Hyderabad has been the fastest-growing city. I just go to other cities to hang around and just visit the place. In the future as well, I cannot imagine going to any other city. Hyderabad has become my everything now.”
Starting something from scratch is just not a cakewalk. One goes through their own challenges and struggles. However, he feels that if there is no challenge, then you don’t have the fondness and fun of working. But, “I’m glad people here in Hyderabad are really foodies. Even when I started the business from scratch, and it was a small one back then, many people had come forward to grow my business, and that is something really good about the Hyderabadi people. I had so much support from them here. Hyderabad, to me, has become like my second hometown because I am very familiar with the people around me. I don’t enjoy any other city as much as I do in Hyderabad. Since I’ve been here in Hyderabad for a really long time, I am very familiar with the city as a whole. I just love everything about Hyderabad.”
No surprise to the fact that Hyderabad is no less than a ‘food heaven’ in itself. And think of Hyderabad; Biryani is the first thing that pops into one’s mind. And you know what? There was a time the restauranteur didn’t like Biryani, yet the city made him fall in love with it. “The Hyderabadi Biryani is my favourite. Back then, when I entered Hyderabad, I didn’t like Biryani at all because, in the North East, there is no concern about masalas and all. And when I came to Hyderabad and had Biryani, I just fell in love with it. I’ve had a lot of biryani to date. I like all kinds of foods. But when I came back to momos, the momo culture was not very famous back then. In every restaurant that I used to go to, I never found authentic momos. It was all the frozen ones. And so my idea with seven sisters was to get the authentic momos. In fact, recently, even through delivery apps like Swiggy and Zomato, we have had the highest-selling momos. Recently, we also got an award from Swiggy for ‘Best Momo Sellers’.”
Kailash, who is soon going to come up with another North-eastern kitchen, signs off the chat sharing, “There is nothing that I dislike about the city, because if I dislike anything about the city, it would be disrespectful, and so there’s nothing I dislike about the city. And talking about likes, I love everything about the city. The city is really growing, and people are really friendly here. Even my friends do feel that Hyderabad is ‘the place’ to live. Even when people go to different cities, they do have some great memories of the city. In fact, many of them have relocated back to Hyderabad. Hyderabad has given me a really good life, and so Hyderabad is everything to me. In fact, like I said, it’s my second hometown; it has actually become my hometown now. And my family and friends are all here.”
