The Expression Hub

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

Eleanor Roosevelt

Before I continue with the story, wishing all my readers and subscribers a very Happy Friendship Day. May this Friendship Day be as wonderful as the lovely people in your life who come in the form of friends. After all, it is aptly said by someone “hai yaari toh zindagi hai ” which when read in any manner holds true. For those who do not speak Hindi, it translates to “if there is life there is friendship and vice-versa”. Now lets come back to our story . Earlier in the story we saw how our hero had a passion for cooking and wanted to become a chef. He had a great supporter in his mother but a fierce critic in his father. However he did not let his father’s opposition deter him and went on to clear the entrance test . But little did he know there were some surprises waiting for him.

Our hero was delighted on hearing about clearing the exam. Yet he knew he had tough battles to fight. The interview and the presentation test were to be held on the same day. The academy had a very strict criteria : only top 25 made the cut for the presentation test out of the top 100 who were selected from the entrance test. The panel made sure that they grilled the candidates in a very intense manner that only a few could not break down under the intense grilling. This process panned out for entire 5 days with the candidates being divided into lots . Our hero was placed in the last lot which meant that he was going to be interviewed on the last day. This did unnerve him despite that he tried to contain his emotions and decided not to feed his fears. On the other hand the panelists had chosen their top 20 only the last five candidates remained. Our hero could sense the pressure mounting on him . However he took a deep breathe and entered the hall which had the panelists waiting to tear him apart. He wished the panelists and decided to answer the questions thrown at him in the most calm manner. After all , he had been repeating to himself in his mind that no matter whatever comes to him he need not be too reactive about it even though it might be a bit tricky for him to handle. Since the focus is on our hero the following is the transcript of the questions which he was asked.

Q1. Tell us something about yourself (a very common question but believe me when the panelists asked him they wanted to know his entire history)

He started with his name and from where he had come. The panelists interrupted him and told him to tell them something else after all they had heard the same stuff from others. So, they did not want the repeat of the same story. Our hero decided to use a different approach. Though he felt humiliated by the sudden interruption, he did remind himself that it was a mental test so he better not be transparent. He told them like all he too had a dream and he narrated his story of how he always wanted to do something which would make everyone who rooted for him proud. Though he did not have a huge fan following but there were some people who did root for him. That made him work hard for them.

The panelists were impressed by his story because after all somewhere they could resonate with the feeling of how a person wanted to make people around him proud. However, they did not show it on their face. They were curious about this person who could prove to be a great asset because he had that fire in him.

Q2. What distinguishes you from the other people ? In other words they wanted to know what could he bring to the table if he were to be selected as a cook?

Ans. He had the passion for cooking which is a must for all the cooks . Apart from that, he was curious and innovative as he loved to know his ingredients well and experiment with them.He had developed a great sense of taste and had immense patience and was super flexible and very clear about how the end result should look like.

Again an impressive answer as they wanted a candidate which had clarity in his or her thought process apart from being flexible and obedient and other qualities which are a prerequisite in a cook. They then grilled him over the technicalities of cooking like the difference between braising and broiling, what was julienne, safety practices that needed to be taken care of, how would he handle the criticism of a dish, why was portioning important etc. Though he was mentally exhausted he tried to answer them all with a calm demeanor and tried to contain his irritation. Finally the volley of questions thrown to him were the panelists was over . He thanked the panelists for giving him the opportunity and after he came out of the room just rushed to a washroom to vent out his irritation in front of the mirror. After having a quick wash he went to the cafeteria to have a quick bite. He was fortunate that the Academy had made a provision for lunch for all the candidates because he did not want to spend the money which he had. He was not a cheapskate but instead just preferred to save because he knew the worth of money. After all, you could not afford to spend recklessly when you came from a family which struggled to meet ends .

After having a quick bite, he sat down waiting for the result. After all it could be announced any time and he could be called for the presentation test anytime . His heart told him that he would be making it to the presentation test though he wanted to know the reality soon. Soon the results were out. He was mentally exhausted and wanted to take rest, his restless mind did not allow him to take rest. He rushed to the bulletin board where the result was displayed. Though he had made the cut, there were 2 people who were ahead of him in the top 5 selected for the day. He was placed third . He felt content but at the same time he was curious and may be a bit jealous as well. After all, a man on mission could not afford any mistakes which would cost him his positioning. Was this turning into a man he did not want to be ? Or was he just a man on mission who wanted to prove his detractors wrong?

The presentation test for all the 25 selected candidates was to be held on the same day. Out of the 25, 15 were girls and 10 were boys. They were supposed to recreate dishes which were made by famous chefs and had been put in a basket. They were a mixture of all three- starters, main course and desserts. Each one had to pick up a chit from the basket and start recreating the dish by quickly searching for the ingredients and the recipe card. This all had to be done in a limited time span of 2 hours. This was to check the agility and ability to handle pressure in a crowded kitchen. The dishes were then to be tasted by the panelists who had grilled them. If the interview was grilling, what adjective will you use to describe the presentation test? Do tell me in the comments section. See you next week for a presentation test that is going to be super thrilling and an adventure rushed with lots of adrenaline. Till then lots of love to all and have a great week ahead.

P.S. – If I do feel like converting this into a book in the near future, just imagine the details I can put into the story. Though this blog space does not restrict the writing space , but it does become pretty exhausting to deliver a lot of paragraphs in a summarized manner. While on the other hand, writing a book should be an adventure which helps you stretch your imagination. So, fingers crossed for the same as I do feel this will make a pretty good novel.