CHENNAI: Three employees of Writer’s Café — Priyatharshini, Parimala and Komala — are all set to spread their wings and fly to Dubai for a three-month course at the International Centre of Culinary Arts. This opportunity was presented to them by the Café’s owner, M Mahadevan.
We have never boarded a flight nor have we been overseas. To be honest, we have not even seen Dubai on a world map,” says Priyatharshini, unable to contain her excitement. The 26-year-old, along with her colleagues, Parimala and Komala, employed at various branches of the Writer’s Café have been chosen by the management to attend the International Centre of Culinary Arts, a culinary school in Dubai, to hone their culinary skills. The programme that will start on October 16 will go on for three months, until January 12, 2024.
The first step for a leap
The swish of a broom sweeping the floor, the splash of water for mopping, the looping of machines, melodious music from the speakers, the clatter of vessels to serve food, and getting ready before the cafe opens for customers, have been routine scenes for these three women at the Writer’s Café for the last eight years. Having survived burns on their body, these women were part of an NGO, the International Foundation for Crime Prevention and Victim Care (PCVC). Among various other organisations, this NGO is also in association with the Writer’s Café to provide jobs for survivors of burn injuries and domestic violence. “The NGO mentored, supported, and guided us to land a job eight years back. And that is how we entered the industry,” says Parimala.
Before starting the job, the women underwent training under the in-house commissary chef for six months and learnt how to bake pizzas, make different sauces for pasta, preparing ice creams, and techniques to brew coffees and blend juices. “The training period was fun. I never saw the processes that happened in the kitchens of restaurants before, and now I was standing in front of the oven baking pizzas. I tried to replicate whatever the chef was teaching us,” says Komala, who works at the Peter’s Road branch of the Café.
After the training, the three decided to join the cafe full-time. After working at the Egmore branch for a while, Komala and Parimala shifted branches owing to the distance. “I reside in Chengalpattu; it was getting difficult for me to reach Egmore every day. Immediately after raising this concern with the management, I was transferred to Winners Bakery, from where the desserts are sent to other branches,” says Parimala, who now heads a team at the bakery.
Constantly on the go to learn more and upgrade themselves according to the industry standards, the women visit the production centre of the cafe at Tharamani. Other than culinary skills, the women also underwent a spoken English class and a grooming class, which they diligently attended. This led them to the opportunity of travelling to Dubai for training.
Opening doors
The women are geared up to attend culinary school in Dubai. “All this time, we recreated what was kept in front of us. Now we want to learn all the technical terms and different ways of baking a pizza or adding ingredients to a pasta sauce,” adds Parimala, who also feels that this is one of the greatest opportunities that the management has offered her.
This learning trip is organised and funded by M Mahadevan, owner of the Writer’s Café. “We aren’t afraid of going on this journey. There hasn’t been any obstacle in the path he has taken us on. We believe that there is nothing to fear when our boss is with us,” says Priyatharishini adding that Mahadevan is like a father to them. He also has let the women decide whether to come back to the Café after school or find a job in Dubai.
Looking forward to a good time at the school, the trio took a day out to shop for the stay in the Arab city. This was taken care of by Sharadha, brand development manager, who says, “The girls are our shining stars, they are perseverant and have done well for themselves. We keep calling them resilient but that is not the word to describe them. It only defines half of what they have done and are capable of.”
The three women look at this opportunity as a stepping stone to climb up the career ladder and hope that their achievements will pave the way for others to follow their steps and reach heights.