Garima is also your award winning restaurant, so how are you going to support women?
Most of the women work in my restaurant. Anyway, more women work than men in Thailand and I don’t care about gender. I definitely say this to all women that you must become financially independent. Many women do not want to work after marriage, but you must always earn enough to take care of yourself and your children.
Garima How did you think of becoming a chef from journalist?
I was very young when I did journalism and did a job and then made up my mind to leave it. I was just 20 when I took up journalism because that’s what I wanted to be. However, I was very fond of cooking and eating during my studies and due to this I had decided that I want to become a chef. After six months of job, I started my research. During this I came to know that this career should be started in young age itself. Many people think that becoming a chef is very easy. Place an order, get the photo clicked and it is done but no one knows the back story behind it. These people do not know how many hours we have given. As soon as I came to know about this, I started my work on it.
Be it a cook, a confectioner or a chef, most of the mails work here and only they are trusted. So what do you have to say on this?
There is no doubt that home cooking has always been given a lot of value. But when it comes professionally, things get a bit different. For example, nurses are mostly women, not men, because each profession has its own nature. Similarly, the work of a chef is physically very demanding. You have to work there for 17-18 hours standing many times. Now if you have a family, then you cannot think of getting into this profession. This is the reason that earlier women did not show much interest in this field.
I was also able to focus on my career with the support of my family.
Today many things have changed in the society, the thinking of the family is changing. Because of this, now women are coming in this field. The support I got from my husband and parents is very important for such a profession. If anyone’s mindset needs to change, it is the people around women. So that they can support them because the work of managing the house is not only of a woman but of everyone.
Food is definitely appreciated in India but they do not get that much support professionally. So what support do you want to give to those females?
Work hard, work smart and you will definitely get the result. Don’t make excuses. Whereas men should support their wives and do not try to control their lives. Support the women of your house so that they can move forward and do something.
