BINDU (Part 2)
I had 3 years to decide which stream to take-up as a career. At IHM they offered Food Production (Kitchen or Bakery), Food and beverage service, Front office and House keeping. Being some one who loves food, I couldn’t think of a better way to give back to the society all the good food that I savored all these years. Had the society known my intentions then, I would have been probably sent to Pluto on a special spacecraft with no return tickets. ‘Thank God!’ for them and ‘Thank God!’ for the Institute I soon discovered that kitchen is not my “handle of a ladle” (Read: cup of tea.) However I do regret having missed the opportunity to visit Pluto.
I was never to become a Front office Professional and had never considered F&B Service a valid option. Applying the theory of elimination here would leave me with only one conclusion that if I had to succeed in making a career with hotels; housekeeping was my ONLY hope. And when I saw what housekeeping had in store for me, I could never be happier. Flower arrangements, interior decorations and long hours of polishing brass so much so that you could see the sweat dripping of your face. It was at least better than the kitchen where you could compete in contests such as “who can chop off your fingers better,” “who would get the best burn”... etc.
Still looking forward to make my mark in the world, I took up a job with a good chain of hotel soon after the college. It was perfect till I realized that the part of the world where I was supposed to work was not exactly what I would call “The World”. Vijayawada was where my job took me. I knew the language and I knew it enough to make a decent conversation. Still there was some thing missing. It did not have the pace of Hyderabad and it did not have that Cosmo crowd and I missed my college, my friends and the bed in my hostel. The Hostel where I was supposed to stay did not have a bed…worse, the bathrooms stunk.
Work was initially rough, and then smoothened out as time passed. I lost weight climbing up and down the stairs from 4th floor, where I was assigned as a floor supervisor, to the basement. My Mother was delighted to see me in shape. Despite her several warnings that she might kick me out of the house, I took great pleasure in consuming what ever I termed as tasty, which was mostly junk food. Looking at me in Vijayawada, I am sure she must have prayed that I never return to civilization.
Six months in Vijayawada, I planned to leave the job. The city had got into my blood, my head. I had even started thinking in Telugu. With my bag and baggage I returned to Jabalpur, the place where my folks were staying. I had planned to take a good break and look out for a job in another city simultaneously I also started applying for further education. One such application got me a call from a business school in Delhi.
I was not sad that the dish (BINDU) could not work out. Now that I was about to join the brigade of wannabe management graduate; everything was so clear to me, I was not meant to be an hotelier. The call of my destiny was so clear; I was supposed to be employed by an MNC and do whatever management graduates do. The day I packed my luggage, I dreamt of me preaching “Bindu’s theory of motivation.”
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