She Lost Everything to COVID. The Stars Told Her When to Start Again.

The Restaurant That Became a Graveyard

Pooja Singhania opened "Rasoi by Pooja" on MI Road, Jaipur, in January 2020. She had invested fifteen lakhs — seven from savings, eight borrowed from her father. The restaurant specialized in Marwari thali with a modern presentation. The interiors were gorgeous. The menu was tested over six months of pop-ups. The location had foot traffic. Everything was aligned, or so she believed.

COVID hit eleven weeks after opening. Jaipur locked down. The restaurant, which had just started attracting regulars, went dark. Pooja held on for eight months, burning through cash on rent, hoping for a reopening that kept getting postponed. When she finally shuttered Rasoi in November 2020, the fifteen lakhs were gone. The kitchen equipment was sold at a fraction of cost. She owed her father eight lakhs she could not repay.

For two years, Pooja worked as a food consultant for hotels — freelance, project-based, enough to pay bills but nothing more. She was good at it. Clients liked her. But she was not building anything. She was surviving. The confidence that had propelled her to open a restaurant at thirty-six was gone, replaced by a fear of commitment that extended beyond business into everything.

The Planetary Autopsy

Pooja's college roommate Nidhi was the one who pushed her toward ShreeKundli. "Stop replaying what went wrong and look at what was happening in your chart when it went wrong," Nidhi said. "If there was a reason, there might also be a turnaround."

Pooja ran her Transit Analysis for the 2020-2021 period. The results were unnervingly precise.

Reading that analysis, Pooja felt two things simultaneously: anger and hope. Anger that she had opened a restaurant during what was arguably the worst planetary window for business in her chart. Hope that the worst was definitively behind her, and a specific recovery window was approaching.

"Seeing the transit chart for 2020 was like reading the accident report after the crash. Saturn and Jupiter were sitting on my business house. Ketu was draining my savings house. I didn't stand a chance. But the important part was — those planets had moved on. The road ahead was clear."

Remedies and Preparation

ShreeKundli's Vedic Remedies section prescribed a focused regimen. The Lakshmi Gayatri Mantra: "Om Mahalakshmyai Cha Vidmahe Vishnu Patnyai Cha Dheemahi Tanno Lakshmi Prachodayat" — recited 108 times daily, ideally during Brahma Muhurta (pre-dawn). This was for overall wealth restoration, addressing the depleted 2nd house.

For strengthening Jupiter before its auspicious transit, the platform recommended wearing a Yellow Sapphire (Pukhraj) — but only after checking its suitability for her chart. Jupiter was her 9th lord (fortune) and 6th lord (competition), and for her Taurus Lagna, the recommendation came with a note that the stone should be set in gold and worn on the index finger of the right hand, on a Thursday during Jupiter Hora. Pooja had a jeweler in Johari Bazaar make the ring to specification.

The third remedy was practical: fasting on Fridays (Venus day) to strengthen Venus, her Lagna lord. ShreeKundli's analysis noted that a strong Lagna lord gives the native resilience and personal initiative — exactly what Pooja needed to start something new.

While following the remedies, Pooja spent three months preparing. She researched the cloud kitchen model — lower overhead, no dining space rent, delivery-focused. She tested recipes. She negotiated with delivery platforms. She was not going to be caught unprepared this time.

Launch Day, Chosen by the Stars

ShreeKundli's Muhurat Finder identified the specific launch window. Pooja wanted to start in April 2023, when Jupiter entered Aries. The platform narrowed it to a Thursday in the third week of April — Jupiter's day, during Jupiter Hora, with the Moon in Pushya nakshatra (one of the most auspicious nakshatras for beginning new ventures, governed by Saturn for stability and longevity).

"Rasoi Cloud" launched on April 20, 2023. No ribbon cutting, no fanfare. Just a commercial kitchen in Mansarovar, a Swiggy listing, a Zomato listing, and the same Marwari thali that had won hearts at MI Road — now packaged in eco-friendly boxes with Pooja's handwritten "thank you" note tucked inside each order.

The first month brought 180 orders. The second brought 400. By month six, Pooja was processing 35-40 orders daily and had hired two cooks and a packaging assistant. The cloud kitchen model meant her monthly overhead was under one lakh, compared to the four lakhs she had burned at the MI Road location.

Full Circle in Fourteen Months

In June 2024, fourteen months after launch, Pooja calculated her total profits. She had recovered the full fifteen lakhs. She repaid her father. She cried while transferring the money — the same amount, to the same account, eight years late but complete.

Today, Rasoi Cloud operates from two kitchen locations in Jaipur and has a monthly revenue that Pooja declines to share publicly but describes as "more than MI Road ever made in its best week." She is considering a third location in Jodhpur.

"ShreeKundli did not cook the food," Pooja says. "I did. But it told me when not to start and when to start. That is the most expensive advice in business, and most people never get it. I got it for the cost of a subscription."