“Have you ever experienced a sudden turn in your life? You ever opted for the unknown? Have you ever walked on that road where you never thought of going? I knew life gives unexpected things at an unexpected time but I didn’t realize it until I went through it.
I completed my Hotel Management from Graphic Era University, Dehradun. Most of you will be amazed to know that cooking was never my forte. I never thought of entering this arena ever in my life until twelfth. I opted for non-medical aiming to go for automobile engineering. It was all set. Even, I got admission to Germany but then a drastic change occurred when I went to Delhi for three-four months.
I went to Gurdwara for langar and cooking caught my interest. There, I went for counseling sessions and got to know about Hotel Management. It was difficult for me to convince my family as everyone wanted me to go either in business or engineering. My father was the only one who stood by me. He supported me in my decision of changing my stream completely and opting whichever field interests me. So, with the recommendation of my father’s friend, I ended up coming to Graphic Era.
Earlier I used to think who will work for such long hours and shifts. But the first step in the kitchen changed my vision towards it. It made me curious to learn more about this field. With the guidance of my mentor, I developed a keen interest in the same. I opted for the kitchen because of him. He has motivated me at every step. We usually have industrial training in our field. In my case, I chose to go to Mauritius. I had my industrial training there for seven months in a fine dining restaurant in Kitchen.
We are often given opportunities and what we require to do is to grab them. Back in 2017, we were a team of 21 members and we were given a task to make salads of 500 types. We did that efficiently and created a world record of making the maximum number of salads in 120 minutes. A similar kind of incident happened in 2018. We were 25 members and created the world record in making pasta. This field has taught me a lot. The biggest achievement was in the fourth year where we had hotel chains visiting the campus for placements. I was placed with TAJ, HYDERABAD, CROWN PLAZA, OBEROI’S, MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, LEELA PALACE.
I wanted my career to start with Oberoi’s. The joining had time so for the time being, I got engaged with CROWN PLAZA, Greater Noida. I worked there for three months. Then, I went back to Dehradun. There, I accustomed myself with some of the restaurants. I worked there to learn more about my field. Visiting restaurants and helping people there made me learn wider aspects of the same. Just when it was time for my dream job to come true, this pandemic happened. That period was very depressing for me. I was asked to wait till January 2021 for the joining.
I had no idea of what to do, but then my friends helped me out. We thought of using our talent to benefit someone. As we were much familiar with cooking, we decided to supply food to the quarantine centers. We collaborated with an organization named ‘Khalsa Organization’ to provide cooked meals to the people there. I’ve also started an Instagram page where I supply nutritious foods to gym freaks. I have 20-25 clients to whom I supply the food to maintain their healthy diet.
In all these years I have learned to never give up or lose hope. I’ve even decided to go for higher studies in the hospitality sector if I don’t get a call for joining. Life will always have ups and downs, we just need to have the courage to fight them. We must not just crib about our problems, rather look around ourselves to see that there is so much of suffering in this cruel world and we are lucky enough. I believe there must be a quest to learn new things every time and everywhere you go. And above all, listen to your heart and go for it.”
Instagram – @gupta_rahul_56
*The views expressed in the above article are of the writer and not Winged Club.