Coding for natural ice creams

Work projects took him to Italy and from then on, Ajay re-coded his life

Ajay Mesargi says he was at the right place at the right time and that’s why his career is where it is now. Ten years ago, his maiden tryst with gelato in Milan transformed his outlook. So much so that when he expressed his desire to switch careers, his wife thought he was out of his mind. After all, how many software engineers give up their career to make ice creams? Eventually, Ajay could convince his wife and now, he is a professional ice cream maker who designs signature ice cream flavours for his clients. A sort of flavour maker of ice creams. It won’t be wrong to call him a flavour consultant.

His USP: he makes ice creams with natural products, though he was not trained for the F&B industry. .

Ajay was a coder in the US during the software boom. “I was a simple cobalt programmer. My first project was with Honda, a 16 billion dollar Y2K project. The company was strict and notorious for sacking people. Every Monday morning we would come to see which seat is empty. On one such Monday, I saw manager, worried walking up and down. Upon enquiring, he told me the program coordinator for the Y2K program had quit abruptly and that they hadn’t found a replacement yet,” recollects Ajay.

Taking a final look at the munjal ice cream he is making at Indulge, Ajay recalls, “I told my manager that I had observed my colleague’s work and could handle it temporarily until they a replacement. They agreed. Within five days my manager handed me the entire project which consisted of eight teams. Incidentally, I came to know that I was the project manager at the time when our project was over and my manager was leaving to California.” Ajay moved to California, became a certified Project Management Person and returned to India after handling his last project with IBM.

At that time, he was also in charge of another project in Milan. Which is when he met gelato and fell in love with it instantly. “I tried vanilla and I was blown away. I never knew vanilla could be so delicious. So every week, I started trying new gelato places and feeling alive with every scoop. I wasn’t just enjoying my gelatos, I was also getting to learn about it and understand the science behind it. I also expressed my desire to take gelato to India to my manager,” recollects Ajay.

While Ajay was in Milan enjoying work and gelato, his manager came to Bangalore (now Bengaluru) to oversee India operations. She went to the first gelato store that had opened in Bangalore and pinged him, ‘Do it. I just tasted the worst Sundae at this gelato store in Bangalore,’ says an elated Ajay.

Determined to take his idea forward, Ajay came back to India and set up his gelato store in Mysore (now Mysuru), importing machines from Italy. “My raw materials are my magic potions. I use only natural products like fruits, stevia instead of sugar. In my ice creams one can taste the fruit or the nut from whatever the ice cream is made of,” assures Ajay.

Ajay is an expert in making ice creams, gelatos and sorbets with musk melon, cucumber, kiwi, chickoo, Indian berries, lemon, and more.

This column features people who dared to give up lucrative career to pursue their dream.

Eventually Ajay could convince his wife and now, he is a professional ice cream maker who designs signature ice cream flavours for his clients. A sort of flavour maker of ice creams. It won’t be wrong to call him a flavour consultant.