THE BELOW IS BASED ON PERSONAL EXPERIENCES AND MAY DIFFER FROM PERSON TO PERSON.
My journey to become a hotelier started on a very wrong foot, but I guess when you are 16 or 17 years the only thing on your mind is how to piss off your folks. So I was no different. My father was in the Indian Armed forces and mother a primary school teacher, in short, a small and happy family. The problem, my father being an army officer wanted me to continue the tradition and join the Army, however in those days the salary structure in the defence was not that great and I came from a generation who wanted to rise very high in life with good money, who cared about the lifestyle and the respect one got by being in the defence or doing something great for the nation for a change was definitely not on the Career list. (Kids can be such novices!!!)
Anyhow, after my 12th boards, my father put forth the dreaded question that all of us at that age don't want to face at all: "SO SON, WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS?" Needless to say the reply was very absurd, "PLANS, WHAT PLANS? BOARDS ARE JUST OVER, I'M GOING TO HANG AROUND WITH FRIENDS AND FREAK OUT." I'm sure, a lot of us have had replies on similar lines and faced the consequences. Quick was the reply, forget freaking out and prepare yourself for the Defence, you are joining the army. "Army, noways! Me and Army almost like poles apart." This was the stage I decided what wanted to do, join Hotels, why? you may ask. Before I answer that this is something you should like to know:
My journey to become a hotelier started on a very wrong foot, but I guess when you are 16 or 17 years the only thing on your mind is how to piss off your folks. So I was no different. My father was in the Indian Armed forces and mother a primary school teacher, in short, a small and happy family. The problem, my father being an army officer wanted me to continue the tradition and join the Army, however in those days the salary structure in the defence was not that great and I came from a generation who wanted to rise very high in life with good money, who cared about the lifestyle and the respect one got by being in the defence or doing something great for the nation for a change was definitely not on the Career list. (Kids can be such novices!!!)
Anyhow, after my 12th boards, my father put forth the dreaded question that all of us at that age don't want to face at all: "SO SON, WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS?" Needless to say the reply was very absurd, "PLANS, WHAT PLANS? BOARDS ARE JUST OVER, I'M GOING TO HANG AROUND WITH FRIENDS AND FREAK OUT." I'm sure, a lot of us have had replies on similar lines and faced the consequences. Quick was the reply, forget freaking out and prepare yourself for the Defence, you are joining the army. "Army, noways! Me and Army almost like poles apart." This was the stage I decided what wanted to do, join Hotels, why? you may ask. Before I answer that this is something you should like to know:
There is a very famous statement made by a number of aspiring hoteliers today when asked why was it that you opted for this field, when you could have easily become a Lawyer, Doctor or an Engineer. "It is a very glamorous industry and more over there is more money here than in any of the other fields." Now that is original!!! So did I.
Why not, life is good, money is great and you get to see the world. At least, this is what I believed when I decided on taking up this career opportunity.
Not that I regret becoming a hotelier at all. I have seen more in my short career than most guys of my age. But, glamour, as we say, is existing if you are loaded with money. If that would have been the case then why would we have been working in the first place!!!
However, all the myths that I and I believe a lot of my colleagues in the industry had, got shattered when we actually started our lives. This is when I realised that you mite slog your ass off (pardon the language) but if you do not have the guts to suck up to your boss, then you will go no where. I have learnt more of life by working in this industry, than probably I would have, if I had joined the Army. Not to say that this situation does not exist else where, but it is more here than anywhere else. Moreover, we come from the land of the host's who believe in the concept of "attithi devo bhava" (i.e. Guest is God). Now if we happen to believe that, then we have met more gods in this short span of life than probably all the God's of the world added up together.
Like other careers, the path of a hotelier is also rugged and walking or driving through it is like driving on the wonderfully maintained Indian Roads where you have to listen to fools and morons who have no idea what hoteliering is all about (now there are definitely exceptions, like my first bosses).
However, all said and done, I have had a wonderful time in this industry and would be continuing rather than just skip jobs and have a complete change in careers. Moreover what is the gurantee that similar situations would not arise in my next job???
Not that I regret becoming a hotelier at all. I have seen more in my short career than most guys of my age. But, glamour, as we say, is existing if you are loaded with money. If that would have been the case then why would we have been working in the first place!!!
However, all the myths that I and I believe a lot of my colleagues in the industry had, got shattered when we actually started our lives. This is when I realised that you mite slog your ass off (pardon the language) but if you do not have the guts to suck up to your boss, then you will go no where. I have learnt more of life by working in this industry, than probably I would have, if I had joined the Army. Not to say that this situation does not exist else where, but it is more here than anywhere else. Moreover, we come from the land of the host's who believe in the concept of "attithi devo bhava" (i.e. Guest is God). Now if we happen to believe that, then we have met more gods in this short span of life than probably all the God's of the world added up together.
Like other careers, the path of a hotelier is also rugged and walking or driving through it is like driving on the wonderfully maintained Indian Roads where you have to listen to fools and morons who have no idea what hoteliering is all about (now there are definitely exceptions, like my first bosses).
However, all said and done, I have had a wonderful time in this industry and would be continuing rather than just skip jobs and have a complete change in careers. Moreover what is the gurantee that similar situations would not arise in my next job???
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