Raghv Sharma Memorial Scholarship

“Do whatever you feel like” – Nothing was ordinary about his life, just like him!

Raghv was an adventurous one; he lived life on his own terms with a minimalist, entrepreneurial mindset – always striving to do more with less. He was wildly creative, a car enthusiast, sky diver, world traveler, animal and food lover. During his world travel in 2017 – 2019, he went to cooking schools in Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia. This helped his creativity and innovation towards cuisines with Indian flare; he traveled to 29 countries in this brief period.

He chose to live life to the fullest and always created opportunities with fresh ideas. His entrepreneurial nature and love for invention showed up at an early age when he built his first gaming computer at the age of 12, started a lawn mowing business at the age of 15, established a small business to introduce “Mom’s Popped Lotus Seeds”, and launched his product in Alfalfa’s store at the age of 29. “Mom’s Popped Lotus Seeds” is a very unique product – a healthy, gluten-free alternative to traditional popcorn. Here is the link to learn more: https://lovethesecretingredient.net/tag/popped-lotus-seeds/

Food was his way of expressing creativity, making friends, and cherishing relationships with friends and family. He looked at cooking as an adventure, where every dish was a new experience and never the same, like his life. Raghv had a unique ability to sense and identify spices by smelling them before tasting any dish. Raghv wanted to start his cooking channel to teach people how to make “High Quality Meals on a Budget” and turn ordinary dishes into extraordinary, just like him.

In addition to his love for food, travel, animals, and being an entrepreneur, Raghv loved traditions and his family; he always produced ideas on how to bring everyone together and have pure fun and laughter. Being a sports enthusiast as well, he started “Sharmbardi” – our family Fantasy Football league where everyone is involved in the draft, weekly camaraderie in group chats, and the ultimate prize of winning the “Sharmbardi” Trophy at our family reunion, every Christmas at grandma’s house. He was a loving, kind, caring, and soft-hearted being, who could never hurt anyone. His love for animals was incredible, rescuing multiple dogs to give them a better life and shelter. Raghv achieved so much in his short 32 years on this Earth.

The Raghv Sharma Memorial Scholarship Fund has been set up to provide opportunities for entrepreneurial, fearless, young, innovative, adventurous, maybe a bit rebellious, students to attend the Culinary Institute of America. Raghv’s love for cooking and willingness to take risks and do what he loved, rather than what was expected of him, is why this scholarship can be so rewarding to young budding chefs who will benefit from this fund. Although Raghv was not a vegetarian, he had a high regard for vegetarian-focused cuisine. We would like to encourage that thought process within this fund.

We honor his name and more importantly, his approach to life, centered around adventure, innovation, family, food, cooking, laughing, learning, loving all animals, nature, and an innate ability to make a friend anywhere. We hope the candidates receiving this fund will honor his name with love, kindness, laughter, appreciation for life, and a zest and respect for different cuisines!

His journey continues with inspiration, love, and laughter!