“Chef” as my Career Option after HSC
After my HSC, I didn’t want to be one more graduate amongst all my other friends who were un-employed. I rather wished to learn a skill which would help me personally and professionally. I started chalking out the available career options. I came across an old book where it read that the basic necessities of human life were “Food, Clothing and Shelter”. I started analyzing these options one by one. We all love food and I do so too. I didn’t have a right taste for ‘Clothing’ so this option was easy to knock off. Some how becoming an Engineer was not my cup of tea either. So I was enlightened to choose “Food” as my career option.
I had nobody to guide me on this path of career decision that I had taken all by myself. I appeared for the CET – Hotel Mgt. for IHM but didn’t clear the initial round. Though this was de-motivating, I took this up as a challenge and thought of trying to find my own path. I was fortunate to get an opportunity to work at The Taj Mahal hotel, Mumbai as an Apprentice Cook in 1992. I had no clue of what this profession had in store for me. All that I knew then was I loved food. After all it is one of the basic necessities of mankind.
My daily routine was to work in a French kitchen – Rendezvous from 8am – 12 mid night and reach back home just to sleep for a few hours and again back on duty the next day. On some lucky days I used to get a few hours break during the afternoons. In fact I was so occupied with work that I had no time to think of whether I had taken the right decision or not. I started missing my good old college days as I never again saw a Sunday as a holiday. I was never at home for Diwali, New Year etc. In spite of all these challenges, I had started liking this industry as I was learning new skills each day. After working for 4 years in this profession, I was guided to do a Degree in Hotel Management. I again re-appeared for the CET and cleared it this time. I successfully completed this 3 year journey and was offered an international job offer in Cyprus to work as a Sous Chef (Assistant Chef). I never looked back again and my culinary career took off to a flying start. Thereafter I worked in Switzerland for 3 years before coming back to India and working as a corporate executive Chef. My international work experience had helped me to develop as a professional and it helped me financially a lot.
To become a good chef one needs much more than the knowledge of how to cook different kinds of food. A good chef has many qualities and most of those qualities have more to do with management along with cooking. He/she should be very familiar with food cost, labor cost, public health regulations, fire code, have great interpersonal skills, be able to plan and organize all the kitchen work, develop new menus, cater for customers and so on. At a hospitality institute, one can be molded to be a professional chef.
I enjoy my profession since last 3 years as an Associate Professor and Head of Department – Food Production in Apeejay Institute of Hospitality. The hospitality industry shall always keep on flourishing and there shall be ample scope for personal growth and employment opportunities. I am reachable on [email protected] for any queries and career guidance for the culinary aspirants.
(Above) My photograph with my students
My photo above