This Delhi Girl Turned Her Love for Partying into a Career!

Two years ago, Shreya Mohan arranged a birthday bash for herself with a guest list of about 50 people. The Delhi-based marketing professional began planning for the pool party months in advance – personally stitching the initials of each of her guests in different colours on towels she had specially bought as party favours.

The same year, she hosted a Diwali party with a village theme. So each table had steel tiffins laden with chana chor garam, and her 80 guests sat on charpoys in little huts having matka kulfi and desi hookahs. Her imaginary village was called Mohanva Gaon, and the most imaginatively dressed ‘villagers’ were given prizes.

An alumna of London School of Economics (LSE), Shreya was soon beset by requests from friends and family to organise their personal parties. Having worked several years in corporate jobs, she realised it was time to do something new, something of her own. And so her party and events firm Mor Punk was born.

Born and brought up in Delhi to a businessman father and homemaker mom, Shreya completed her schooling from Convent of Jesus and Mary but had not expected to do very well in her 12^th boards. “Surprisingly, I scored very well, and managed to get into St Stephens for a degree in mathematics,” laughs the vivacious 30-year-old. After interning a year at PepsiCo, she headed to London for the “best two years” of her life.

Armed with a Master’s in management from LSE, Shreya worked in various roles across industries, starting with luxury label Chanel in Mumbai and moving on to e-commerce fashion brands based out of Delhi. She even started her own app, which was meant to serve as a directory and review platform for online shopping portals, but after a year gave it up since several online fashion stores had begun shutting down. The lessons she learnt in her career journey helped hone her people management and organisation skills.

“I’m inspired by the good things in life. I am extravagant and love to party,” says Shreya of her attraction to event planning and hosting. “I love having more and more work to do; sitting still just doesn’t suit me.” Confident and driven, she also loves the challenge of doing something new with each event – “Everyone asks for a unique theme, and I personally too hate repeating something that has already been done.”

Shreya’s very first client was her younger sister’s best friend. Not satisfied with the way her mehendi-party preparations were going, she had turned to Shreya for help. “I was surprised to realise that I had just as much passion and interest in organising her event as my own,” recalls Shreya, who organised an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ theme for the mehendi function, a few days before the client’s wedding. Shreya took care of every little detail, from the furniture to the décor and table settings, and added party games for the guests, who were mostly young adults and had plenty of energy to expend.

Later, the bride-to-be walked up to Shreya and said, “You’re the best decision I ever made.” For Shreya, it was just the beginning.

First published in the July 2017 issue of eShe. Buy the copy here.