For Atika Agarwal, founder of a Jaipur-based artisan bakery, the journey into business began not with a commercial plan but with a love for cooking and feeding people. What started as a home bakery in 2013 has grown into a baking facility known for preservative-free, eggless products made with pure butter and natural ingredients. “The one thing I always knew with complete certainty was how to cook — and how deeply I enjoyed feeding people,” Agarwal says. “Seeing someone relish something from HowSweet, gave me an incomparable sense of joy.”While Alka experiments with products such as millet brownies, flourless cookies and naturally sweetened offerings, Agarwal says she has never been interested in fusion simply for novelty. “We believe food should be simple, straightforward and easy to understand — there should be delight, but no confusion on the palate,” she says. In an increasingly crowded market driven by social media and fast-changing food trends, Agarwal believes authenticity is harder to replicate than a recipe. “A recipe can be copied; the intent behind it cannot,” she says.Alka’s catering has also found its way into high-profile celebrations. One of Agarwal’s most memorable assignments was catering at Arjun Tendulkar’s wedding. “Sachin Tendulkar is not merely a celebrated cricketer — he is an emotion for an entire generation,” she says. “Being able to serve him and his family at such a personal celebration touched something very deep within me. It was more than a prestigious assignment; it felt like a deeply personal milestone in my journey.”