From Lawyer To Restaurateur
When Jagruti Devasthali arrived in Luxembourg in 2019, she thought she knew what her future looked like. She believed she was putting her legal career on hold, not leaving it behind.
Born and raised in Mumbai, Devasthali studied law at the University of Mumbai before completing a master's degree in Intellectual Property Rights. She spent around seven years working in law, handling civil and property disputes, compliance and insurance matters. She later took on a senior legal management role with the State Bank of India, covering legal matters across Maharashtra.
Law was never an accidental career choice. Devasthali had decided at school that she wanted to become a lawyer. "I genuinely thought law was where I belonged," she says. "It felt like a field that let me look at the world from many angles."
Her husband was completing his master's in Germany, and they had imagined building their life in Berlin. Then, two months before their wedding, he received a job offer in Luxembourg. Everything changed on fairly short notice.
Continuing her legal career in Luxembourg was not straightforward. Her Indian law qualification did not directly allow her to practise, and the legal systems were very different. Language was another barrier. "In law, you need to communicate with people confidently. A basic knowledge of French was not enough."
"It wasn't just how I earned a living. It was tied to a sense of purpose I'd had. I wouldn't say I lost confidence, but I definitely lost a sense of identity. I had spent years becoming a lawyer, and suddenly I had to ask myself: what else can I do?"
During lockdown, she started cooking for friends. Their reactions surprised her. She also noticed a gap in Luxembourg's food scene: the Indian food she knew from Mumbai was difficult to find. When restrictions eased, she approached a food festival in Reckange with a pitch for an Indian street-food stall. Among the dishes she introduced was vada pav, the Mumbai street-food staple she believes she was among the first to bring to Luxembourg's food-festival scene.
More festivals followed, then a tiffin delivery service, and eventually a food truck. She named it Mumbai Masala, after the city that had shaped both her palate and her identity. In December 2025, she opened her first restaurant, Mumbai Flavors, in Luxembourg.
"People often say, 'How lucky you are, you get to live abroad.' But rebuilding a career from nothing, away from your family and everything familiar, is not easy."
Seven years of law. A senior role at one of India's largest banks. All of it rendered untransferable by a move she did not plan. She found her way back through vada pav and tiffin deliveries, then a food truck, then a restaurant. The accompanying spouse problem she describes is real: one partner arrives with a job, the other arrives with nothing. She rebuilt from nothing and made it something.