International Chefs Day - 2017

International Chefs Day falls every year on October 20. This international observance is considered to be a professional day of all chefs around the world. The holiday was established under initiative of World Association of Chef's Societies in 2004.

Celebration of International Chefs Day usually includes culinary contests that are organized in many big cities. The chefs of leading restaurants come to the contest and show their skills through live cooking sessions.

The chefs associations may organize special activities and events that involve children and young people. Chefs visit orphanages or kindergartens, where they teach children cooking and also explain the importance of healthy food. Young people get to learn more about the profession and valuable lessons at the workshops, organized by prominent chefs.

Every chefs association tries to organize eventful programs, that elevate the image of this profession, popularize professional culinary art among people. Also raise public awareness of the importance of healthy and balanced food, as well as issues pertaining to it’s wastage.

We at the Apeejay Institute Hospitality organized a Walkathon for Chefs this year. Joining them were the other colleagues, and students or chefs in the making. They had a great time amidst the beauty of nature. It was aimed at promoting health and wellness among the fraternity. On reaching back, they had a sumptuous breakfast at the institute and then attended a workshop on Food safety and nutrition.

I had the privilege to be the master of ceremonies, the workshop started with an address by the principal Mr. Bhuvan G M. He emphasized on the expanding role of professional chefs and how it was important to be updated and be relevant in the fast changing times.

Chef Kapil Kumar and Chef Amrita Prabhudesai took the participants through the evolving culinary trends. They also spoke about the evolution of the profession from its humble beginnings; to now it being a very skilled and respected trade.

The guest speaker at the event was Ms. Vanitha Sridhar, a Hygienist by profession.  She holds a Masters in Food Technology and in Quality Management from BITS Pilani and is a certified ISO 22000 and CIEH Level 3. She conducts training programs for students and hospitality industry professionals in Hygiene and Quality Assurance.

The session was very informative and well received by all present. The information provided was useful not only for the young chefs but everyone in the audience as it was connected with every consumer’s life.

The programme concluded with a video prepared by the third year students Jay Tamakuwala and Vikrant Gawade. The celebrations and discussions continued through lunch as it was the Chef’s Day, good food had to be a part of it!

A recipe has no soul, you as the cook must bring soul to the recipe.

May the chefs keep bringing soul to the recipes and keep the gourmet enticing for the rest of us to keep enjoying delectable food. To chefs cooking is not a passion, it is their life. I know many of them; friends, colleagues and my own Chef Professors and trainers. I also know the kind of passion that they exude. It’s not just picking up a knife and entering the kitchen. A great chef carries his heart and soul up his sleeve and into the kitchen, generally called his den. Are they any lesser than the wild cats? If you have been inside a hotel kitchen, you’ll know where I come from. The working brigade is as enticing as the food itself! 

Please don't wear heels, and Don't dance!

Knee story - Part 3

I am happy today, in fact extremely happy and as they say happiness knows no bounds; it holds so true for me at this moment. Guess what? I am sure if you have read the last couple of my posts, you'd have guessed it right. I am talking about legs and knees these days. I must have looked at my knees more times in this month than I might have done in my entire life. So here we go, it's positive news from my doctor and I wish to share with the ones who are following my posts, the ones who are facing medical emergencies or a trying health condition. It's a feel-good post as I am not a doctor but a strong believer in the process of self healing through positive mindset and attitude. The body listens to you, it's your friend, a true one! You spend all your time with it, it's your temple. So if you have the faith it'll work with you giving you the results that you have visualised. Your visualisation has to be powerful, the very best that you can think of. After all the mind is fertile, put it to good use.

Last evening I had to go for a review to my doctor, my elder one came along. We reached the clinic at the appointed time and met Dr. Maheshwari. My son was happy to see him as he already knew a lot about him thorough our conversations. I am happy to see my children showing interest in my recovery, they even remind me to do the exercises. Appreciate the thoughts of 11 and 8 year olds, as a parent I feel blessed. Who doesn't like to be cared for!

Doctor asked me how I was, I told him that I felt superb! He then examined my knee and asked me to bend it. I tried but it didn't bend completely. It was but natural, as I hadn't bent it for the more than one and a half months. By now it was stubborn, anything stubborn needs to be tamed. Which I will and soon. Being a wife, mother, teacher and trainer; above all being a woman this comes naturally to me. I asked him if I could do some yoga, he gave me the permission for that but told me to do the exercises on a bed rather than on the floor. He also advised not to do anything that'll strain the knee much like the Suryanamashkar. He told me not to wear heels and not to dance. I had a hearty laugh, where in the world was I going to dance? Only wish that I had was to be able to walk properly. Needed my mobility back. 

I had a few doubts and concerns that I got cleared from him. I shared a few things I had read on the internet, to which he said, "If you all read everything on the internet what will we doctors do? We'll lose our jobs! On a serious note, each case is different and each patient is different. That can be evaluated, diagnosed and treated by an experienced doctor only." I couldn't agree more, being a trainer I could share my content with anyone but what I deliver and how I deliver it is completely driven by me. Each one of us has vitality that's attached to one and only that self. No one can take it away. That's the value we create for ourselves.

I guess he read my thoughts and told me to take operation off my mind. He reinforced that if I was 20 and very active in sports may be he'd have but not as I was not eligible for that honour. Honour? Again he spoke about Sachin Tendulkar, looks like he's a big fan of the legend. He said, "Even if Tendulkar came to me today with that injury, I wouldn't suggest an operation as he is now retired and at the most would do some coaching." What an example! but I loved it. Tendulkar is called God, who wouldn't like to hear stories of the God! So what if it was just an example to make things clear to a novice.

He told me that the thought or fear was out of the knee but the mind had to be cleared.  So true, a lot of things happen because they occupy a great deal of space in our minds controlling our thoughts. One needs to work on the mind first. He said that I'd be fine in 100 days and then I could wear heels and dance as well. In the meanwhile I had to do a couple of exercises with weights. I could swim or do some cycling on an exercycle. So no more medicines this time and he wrote Better on my file. I started showing him a few exercises basically yoga poses that I was planning to do. He told me to see his online videos that had some exercises, then I realised I was actually behaving like a very happy child, thrilled with what was to come. Felt a bit embarrassed as some patients were waiting but in my heart of hearts nothing else mattered but the feeling of being able to move around without any bondage! I believe that the willpower is a muscle that can be strengthened.

I walked out of the clinic with my son having the Nile sized smile on my face. I am only keeping the walking stick  just as an extra support if need be as the Mumbai weather has forgotten to update itself, we are having extended rains. Today am bending it like Beckham and spirits touching the sky. Feeling thankful and loving myself for being 'gutsy'. I keep showering praises at everyone, once in a while a bit of self praise is okay I guess!

Now on mission 100!

PS Pictures are taken from Google

Sailor's life

Receiced a forwarded message on my whatsapp and I felt it being so true. Sharing it here with due credits to the author, poet or sailor. Salute to him for beautifully expressing his thoughts and sharing a page from his life, speaking not just for himself but the entire fraternity.  I know they are men of a few words and many can never express what they feel with words. They are the action speaks louder than words people. They'll do, you have to feel! It wasn't just like that the sailor's girl was called the queen. He'll treat you like one. As a sailor' s wife and a blogger I have covered many aspects of our lives from a woman's perspective. It's heartwarming to hear from the sailor in his own words. I say that every word is true and deserves it's weight in forget gold, may be platinum if any value could be attached to it. It's priceless to say the least!

An ode to the true Sailor

My life moves in a circular direction. I come back home to go away and go away to come back.

I have no address except for the name of the vessel yet my passport shows one. My home is elsewhere, where my heart belongs.

I am not like any other man but yet I am the most ordinary person at heart.

I cannot go through the daily mundane stuff of the ordinary man and yet the ordinary man cannot take the pain I go through.

He cannot live away from his home, love and life for months on end.

He cannot be the helpless son, lonely husband or the yearning father.

He will never know the frustration of staying awake for days and many times not getting rest at all, working round the clock.

There are no constant time zones we stick to.

The ordinary man will not know the lonely cabins I come to after work, where as he comes to a house full of people.

He gets to eat what his mother/wife cooks and gets to be hugged by his children daily.

I only see them growing in pictures, he gets to hear them and see them daily, whereas I have to be strong and do my duties.

My wife must be silently wiping her tears, braving the pain & consoling the kids that father will be home soon.

Her hands must be longing to hold mine, her heart must be longing to love me, her lips must be longing to tell all that happens during the day, her eyes longing to look into mine.

Whenever she looks at couples on the way to market, she must be turning her eyes away and consoling herself that just few more days.

I am an ordinary man away, doing my job. I tell everyone to understand that I need to be away.

I am not a Casanova, I go to the shore to step on land because I've not felt it beneath my soles for long.

I am a very lonely man.

The biggest fear that grips my heart is when my family needs me I may not be around.

I fight myself daily, I fight these surging thoughts, I tell myself-not now mate, duty calls.

I look forward to the day I meet my folks at home, pray for their safety and wellbeing and hope they are happy.

I only want them to know, while I stand tall at the bridge, that I love my family and I am proud of who I am and what I do.

The ordinary man I am inside, I shall always be.

But the man I am today, no ordinary man shall be..

My sailor's ways

After being married for 12 years, when I look back so many things unfold that once got me upset were actually his ways of sensitising and preparing me for our lives ahead. I have been like a princess for him from the day we were introduced for marriage, I say introduced as it was an arranged marriage.

He had seen my house and my room during our courtship days which were about 6 months.  In our culture the girl goes to her husband's house only after marriage. So I hadn't seen his. But when I went there our room was a replica of my own at my parent's house, but bigger and more luxurious as it was going to be for the two of us, with stars on the ceiling that lit bright in the night. I could look at them when he was away on work. He got his house renovated before our marriage and a lot of ideas were taken from mine so that I was comfortable and the place had an element of familiarity. I literally felt at home!

My first Karwachauth was during our courtship days. He was home then, my mom in law asked if I would like to follow the ritual which I immediately answered in the affirmative. He called again to tell me that it was never a compulsion, he thought I might not be the girl who'll fast with no food or water. I told him that I loved all the festivities connect with it moreover it was a celebration of our love, which was blossoming then, I'd fast for sure. It was evening almost 10 pm and he hadn't come to see me. I was so very upset visualising all the romance of the festival that our Bollywood films brought. I did the rituals with my mother. He could have come over and made it even bigger than DDLJ but he chose not to as I'd be alone the next Karwachauth.  He didn't want me to miss him thinking of how it was the first time. It did happen that he wasn't home the following year and I celebrate the festival with my mom in law. He called and hearing his voice mattered the most to me.

He has had his ways of making a girl who was cocooned and everything provided for, into a Sailor's Queen. When I go down the memory lane, just like today being the Karwachauth and he busy onboard into a long manoeuvring, I realise how smart he has been preparing me for things without ever dropping a hint. Some of those incidents caused misunderstandings or tiffs but he made sure that I learnt or discovered things on my own. The more I learn about him the deeper my love becomes.

Many sailor' s wives, fiancees and girlfriends follow my blogs and so many write back to me. I felt like sharing a few cherished moments from my life. A sailor has his way of doing things, just be with him with all your love and understanding, you'll be his forever queen!

Love is not looking at each other but looking in the same direction.

Happy Karwachauth, be blessed!

PS Mehendi pic courtesy Nisha Siddarth, a Sailor queen.

Online Reviews - the good, the bad and the ugly!

Knee story - Part 2

If you're booking a weekend getaway, buying a new microwave, or trying to find the best barbecue grill in the neighbourhood, you may first check a few online reviews on your smart phone or laptop and then take your decision. I guess we don’t wait to find our answers we look up online instantly, these online ratings are an example.

We don’t want to remember things in fact we have stopped memorising anything , be it a password or a phone number. I remember before my first mobile phone I could easily remember phone numbers of my friends and relatives easily making more than 30. Not just that but also their birthdays and much similar information that I don't feel the need for anymore. My smartphone has certainly made me dumber in the memory department if not elsewhere. I was talking to a colleague the other day while he was going through presentations sent by students for evaluation. Did see that they lacked originality, the reason is not that they are not imaginative, these days people don’t want to spend time working around things, no one wants to reinvent the wheel.  What you get as a result is  an add-on of what has already been attempted. But who knows while trying they may come up with something that can actually save the planet! Some great inventions and discoveries have been accidents just like some smart people may have been a result of an accident!

Influence of online reviews

We for sure know that one shouldn't believe every review he or she reads. Yet nearly 80 percent of consumers trust online review sites as much as personal recommendations, according to a study by BrightLocal, and almost 75 percent say positive reviews make them trust a business more.

Only about 25 percent believe information available on rating sites is unfair, based on another survey by Maritz Research. As you might predict, both studies found older baby boomers are less trusting of online review sites than the younger consumers, the internet generation who have grown with their smartphones and Google Baba. Instantly logging on, reading and valuing reviews as well as contributing to the sites with their opinions.

My take

I have never really cared about reviews as I feel they are personal opinions of people and a lot depends on their own personalities and liking. Movies are a classic example, what one raves about and the critics giving a 5 star rating may be one of the worst that you have been exposed to. Whereas the one film that you loved thoroughly hardly managed to get a single star. Ratings are there for almost everything, you name a business there is a rating for it. Not just businesses but a corporate office may be rated too. There are many rating sites mushrooming but the bigger players are more trusted such as the Tripadvisor, Zomato or the Glassdoor. When you travel you should make your own memories, the destination is not as exciting as the journey itself. People’s views are helpful but they should not be a deciding factor. People have herd mentality, one thought might result in a biased opinion.  I also have learnt that there are paid reviews, what’s their sanctity then? You must try things and make your own reviews, if reviews are to be used they should be used as references and one must read a few references before coming to a conclusion good or bad.

I recently wrote about my experience with orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Mahesh Maheshwari. While at his clinic on my second visit being extremely happy with the treatment and positivity I got from him; we had a little chat as there wasn’t another patient after me. I discussed my concerns, he had read my blog too and he thanked me for the positive words I had for him. I told him that it wasn’t a rating or a review it was my own experience and I felt that it could help someone somewhere just like I had read a couple of similar experiences. Those stories helped me cope better with my injury, the recovery looked very hopeful. He said a few things that justified my reservations about online reviews.

Reading my blog he said, “I am obliged. I passed my 12th in 1982 and was a meritorious student. It was possible for me to enter any profession. I chose to become doctor. Today I think it was a correct decision. I have 3 businesses listed on Google. If possible please put reviews in them. Some of the patients did not pay my fees and posted negative reviews. Nowadays good doctors and teachers don't get their deserved due respect”.

Infact hearing this I learnt even doctors were reviewed and people used these reviews as references. Everyone must use a second or third opinion if there’s a need, that’s taken. Sometimes a review should not point the sour grapes. To review someone needs a lot of maturity, one has to be impartial and should know how to critique. It’s easier to criticise someone but critiquing is an acquired skill.  I told Dr. Maheshwari that he brought in so much of experience and the way he spoke told me that he knew his job well, where did the reviews come into picture? I have been in the people’s industry for more than two decades and can understand people to some extent.

Dr. Maheshwari did agree with my take on the reviews and he added, “More than experience and professional qualifications, I am happy to say that I have been honest and advise my patients whatever I am likely to advise my family members.  I empathise with my patients. Whenever a special request comes for concession from the needy I never refuse. In last 25 years have treated more than 1 lakh patients and many families still approach me with full faith. This has been the most fulfilling part of my career. Unfortunately I am not competent to satisfy all!”

A point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substituted for insight and understanding.

~Marshall McLuhan

Probably he was referring to the negative reviews; I understood where he was coming from. During our chat I told him what I did and how training, learning and empowering others was something close to my heart and I did programs towards this personal mission. He told me that if I found someone who really needed his help but was poor or under privileged, I could refer the person to him and he’d certainly look after the treatment. I loved what he said and was thankful to him; it’s an empowerment when you can be of help to someone. It made me wonder whether reviews made an individual or was a person more of a whole lot of other smaller essential elements that added to his personality. It is said that the average man's opinions are generally of more value to himself than to anyone else. Nothing can replace you as a person; each one has his own vitality that cannot be replicated. Reviews and ratings won't add up to making that personality!

I care not what others think of what I do, but I care very much about what I think of what I do! That is character!

~Theodore Roosevelt

PS Pictures are taken from Google, with due credits!