Balanagamma hails from Lingasugur, a small town in Karnataka's Raichur district. She was searching for a job, and a job-fair brought her to Pratham Institute's hospitality training centre at Mysore. "I did not know anything about the Hotel industry. I came here with the hope of getting a job", she says.



Her father passed away, and the sole income for her house is the pension that her mother receives every month. Hence, Balanagamma's primary focus was to start earning money and contribute to the family income. But now she feels that she has gained something substantial from this course and feels that her decision to enrol here was the right one! "I had an initial worry, but the way of teaching cleared all my doubts. In fact, I know one a few things about the hotel industry", she says.

As we talk to her, she explains that apart from the work techniques taught here, there was an overall orientation of the hotel industry. Everyone from the batch was oriented about the industry, who are our customers, and how to behave with them, the importance of grooming, and how to communicate with others. All her batchmates realised that a Hotel is not merely a place to work; instead, it is a place where we serve our customers. "I was not aware of all this, and after the training, my social behaviour has changed", she says. "Initially, I spoke only to my family members. But now I can speak to everyone around me. My confidence has increased as well." She now likes the faculty members, their approach towards teaching and the overall discipline of the place. According to her, the training here is the reason everyone has become more organised. She also says that this place has given her new friends and the same would not have been possible at home.

Balanagamma is geared up to work in the Hotel industry but wishes to work at a location that is near to her house. "My mother lives alone, and I want to be close to her." She is eager to contribute to the family income and initiate a new beginning in life. With her first salary, Balanagamma wishes to perform a small ritual for the family, buy a dress for herself and a gift for her mother. We wish her all the best in her new beginning.

Ganjam district is one of the 19 most backward districts of Orissa. As a consequence, apart from agriculture, it offers minimal employment opportunities. Hence, many people migrate to other parts of the state, and even to other states in India in search of work. Somnath Rana hails from the Sarankuda village in this district and is currently getting trained at Pratham Institute's Hospitality training centre at Sheragada, in Ganjam. 

"My father is a priest, and as per the village tradition my family has to offer food to the God", he begins his story. However, for reasons mentioned above and acute poverty, Somnath's father also works as a machine operator at Surat in Gujarat. When he is at home for holidays, he performs the priestly duties, and on other days someone else from his family takes over. Somnath is aware that one day he will be his father's successor and will have to offer food to the God as per tradition. But his resolve to achieve economic stability and earn a decent salary brought him to the centre. 




"I have studied till 12th grade. However, I wanted to earn money for my family. This profession has a good value associated with it, and hence I decided to join this course", he says. " I do offer Puja at my village, but this is not the only thing I want to do", he adds with a smile.  

After completing his 12th grade, Somnath thought of pursuing a course in Hotel Management. However, the total cost of the course was close to 5 lakh rupees, and it was impossible for his father to gather this amount. Somnath was dejected and became convinced that he won't be able to work in a hotel. But a friend informed him about this course, and this is how he landed at Sheragada.   

Somnath has joined the Food Production Department. More than what is taught in this course, he is happy to experience a change in his personality. He is glad that the teachers have taught him how to present himself to people and how to talk to others, and this has given a new direction to his life. He is equally happy about the basic training in the English language that he has received.
"It was a small world in my village. I had a limited number of friends. However, here my friends are from the different districts of Orissa", he says with a smile. 

Where does he want to go from here? "I want to go to Mumbai and work there for a few years. That city has many large hotels", he responds quickly. "But I do not want to stop there...", Somnath pauses for a moment, and we eagerly look at him for the next sentence. 

" I will give a part of my salary to my parents. But I will save the other part so that one day I can go outside India to work. "Duniya dekhni hain" (I want to see the world), he says, and we all smile. 

18-year-old Shiv hails from Joda village in the Keonjhar district of Orissa, which is one of the country's 250 most backward districts. He belongs to a family of farmers, and his father owns a small piece of land where they cultivate rice. Shiv completed his 10th grade from the school in his village and for the next two years, he helped his family in farming but did not take an active interest in pursuing it further.

"Ours is a small piece of land, and we do not spend much time on the field ...we have to sit idle most of the time. However, I wanted to do something different", he says.

When he was in 10th grade, Shiv developed an interest towards working in a hotel. He recalls watching hotels on television serials and films. "Initially I did not know they were hotels. I just looked at them as huge buildings. But later I realised that they were hotels", he admits. He further stresses that he was impressed seeing the guests in these hotels and always wanted to talk them.



"However I was very shy. I was used to the quiet life in my village, and I had never travelled much", he recalls. Around the same time, he came to know of Pratham's hospitality program from an acquaintance in his village and decided to inform his father of his aspirations. After initial discussions, his father agreed, and Shiv enrolled himself as a student at Pratham's hospitality centre at Sheragada in Ganjam district.

Shiv chose to be a chef and thus joined the food production department. However, he took some time to overcome his shyness. "It was a slow transformation", he says. "I remained quiet for the first few days. But it was fascinating to witness many people like me, and most of them had a similar background. I started talking to them and slowly opened up", he recalls. "Now I can interact with many people."

But he gives credit to his teachers for this change. "The teachers here answer our questions, no matter how many times we ask them and this makes us feel that we are not asking anything wrong", he adds. He has learned a lot of new dishes. "I can boast about it when I go back to my village", he says with a smile.

When we ask him where he wants to work, he replies,"Mumbai or Delhi...as these cities have tall buildings and hotels...!" But after a pause, with a mischievous smile, he adds, " I also want to work in Dubai...I have heard many things about that place."

Apart from his dream of working in a hotel, Shiv has many plans for his family. From his first salary, he plans to buy new clothes for his parents and also spend some money on house repairs.