Department of Hotel Management, Christ University, Hosur Road, Bangalore– 560029

Vol. 11 (2), December 2012

Professional Holidaying

Keerthan John Noble

Every ones loves a vacation. It’s no different here

at the Hotel Management Department. While students

eagerly wait for holidays and expect a break from their

cooking, serving and cleaning, guess who else waits fer-

vently for their vacations too. The BHM Faculty!

And believe me, the Hotel Management Depart-

ment does have some major globe trotters who have

traveled across countries and continents and they take

their travel plans quite seriously.

Ms. Nita, our Front Office professor, likes to relax

on the hot and sandy beaches of Goa when she’s on a

holiday, with her family. The Front Office expert likes to

travel for a maximum of 3 days before she starts missing

home, and while out of the country, she doesn’t mind

10 days of vacation. According to her, a perfect holiday

is one that has no fixed agenda and schedule and just

goes with flow. And then there’s the occasion good cui-

sine that follows. Mr. Jaykumar, the Food and Beverage

specialist, like all men, likes taking naps when he’s on

vacation. But when it comes to travelling, he doesn’t

mind getting a tan while he’s on the beaches of Goa. His

agenda is to travel less and spend more quality time

with his family. Perhaps the trait of a typical family man

one might say!

Ms. Usha, along with teaching the art of cooking,

likes to try out different cuisines from different parts of

the country, as well as abroad. According to her col-

leagues, she’s the one with most travel experience and

she has proved them right by contributing to a book

based on Tourism and since she’s from the Army back-

ground, she has a reason to travel and explore different

places in and around India. On her latest and most

memorable excursion, Ms. Usha travelled to Srinagar

and like other tourists, was swept off her feet by its

beauty and charm. After experiencing the rich culture,

incredible cuisine, stunning gardens and places filled

with age old history, Srinagar is one her top listed holi-

day destinations and recommends that every Indian

should go there at least once in their life to experience

heaven on earth. Other than that, Ms. Usha has traveled

to countries like Singapore and Malaysia. After becom-

ing a father, Mr. Denny, the F&B all-rounder of the De-

partment, plans on taking his new born to his home in

Wayanad, Kerala. When he’s away, Mr. Denny likes

spending a week in his home town. One major reason

for his long vacation is because of the food that he en-

joys there and the time he spends with family and

friends.

Mr. Sushil, the Head of Department, is not a big

fan of traveling, especially to commercial, tourist desti-

nations. But with photography being one of his major

hobbies, Mr. Sushil grabs every opportunity he gets and

sets out with packed bags to either a wildlife sanctuary

or any place filled with rich culture. Around Asia he has

covered the south eastern circuit, and strongly feels that

there’s no place like Sri Lanka to unwind and relax.

While outside Asia, he recommends people from the

Hospitality and Tourism industry to visit Italy, Spain,

France and parts of Eastern Europe. Ms. Leena, has so

far holidayed at Venice and Switzerland, and feels that

there is no other place on earth to beat the City of Love

and the Country that makes the best chocolate. Srinagar

is her all time favorite holiday destination.

Repertoire

December ‘12’ brings new members joining our editorial team and celebrates the contribution of the

students of Hotel Management outside our editorial team. The department is rocking this Christmas with style and

suave. So here’s wishing all our readers A Very Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year. See you in 2013!

- Avin Thaliath, Editor in-Chief

Monthly Chronicles

The Dalai Lama’s Visit to Christ University

Amandeep Singh

It was on the 26th of November, 2012 that

The Dalai Lama set foot in Christ University.

Around five thousand students and faculty came to

bask in the divine

glory of His Holiness the

Dalai Lama. Tenzing Gyatso

is the 14th Dalai Lama who

was recognized as the in-

carnation of Lord Buddha at

the tender age of two in a

small village called Taktser.

The programme com-

menced by 1:40pm with an inaugural address by

the Chancellor of Christ University, Rev. Fr. Augus-

tine Thottakkara. This was followed by

an enlightening speech by the Dalai Lama who

spoke about the Importance of Love and Compas-

sion. Also, he explained the relationship between

“Science and Religion.” Dalai Lama is highly knowl-

edgeable and greatly interested in science.

He stated that it is important to understand either

science or religion to understand the other. The

students were in a trance by the

humbleness of the Dalai Lama. His

sense of humor kept everyone’s

attention till the end of the pro-

gramme. He explained to us that

there is a great deal of corruption in this world and

as the future generation we should work on eradi-

cating corruption and making this world a peaceful

place to live in. It is important that

we see each other as brothers &

sisters and live in harmony.

The Dalai Lama’s speech

was succeeded by a question &

answer round. Here, the students

and faculty were given a chance

to interact with His Holiness. The

Tibetan students of our college were fortunate to

perform for the Dalai Lama. This session was thor-

oughly enjoyed by all. But, unfortunately due to

time restraints the programme was drawn to an

end by 4:30pm. This day will surely be remem-

bered by all who witnessed it.

Photo Credits

www.christuniversity.in

Monthly Chronicles

The Walt Disney World International College

Program 2012

Nadisha Sagar

Not knowing what was ahead of us, we

signed up for the most "magical" trip any of us

have ever been on. As soon as we held our visas

in our hands, we knew something special had

begun.

The Walt Disney World internship was a 6

month program in affiliation with Central Michi-

gan University. We landed in Orlando, Florida

and we got assigned our various roles which con-

sisted of Quick Service, Full Service, Front Desk

and Concierge. One on one experiences with

guests, everyday, from all over the world taught

us about culture, traditions and how to say "How

are you?" in at least 7 other languages.

Eight hour shifts to over time, to pay day

with University and Disney classes on days off;

this was our work life. However, we did manage

to sneak in some fun, with winning Grocery Bin-

go nights, riding every roller coaster and water

slide Disney had to offer, to

eating foods from over 30

countries at the Food and

Wine Festival, to watching

beyond amazing fireworks, to going on a 3 day

cruise to the Bahamas and our favorite, learning

to to one of America's most famous line dances,

the Wobble.

We learnt to create magic, which was the

highlight of our trip. Given the utmost trust and

freedom, we had the ability to change lives.

From giving an ice-cream back to a child who

dropped the one they just bought, or to compli-

mentary upgrading a guest's room just because

they had a bad journey, or to just wishing a guest

Happy Birthday by name, created that one smile

and immense appreciation in that guest.

Six months flew by, and only then we re-

alized that procrastination was only a hinder-

ance. We made the best decision of our lives ap-

plying for this internship. Walt quoted that Dis-

ney World was a place where dreams come true,

and the one thing we all learnt at the end of our

internship, was that he wasn't wrong.

Photo Credits

Nadisha Sagar

Monthly Chronicles

Theme Restaurant:

A Tribute to Global Cuisine

Shubhankar Choudhury

From the 3rd to the 11th of December the second

year BHM students setup 4 restaurants, each hav-

ing its own unique theme. The first group had a

Lebanese theme and named their restaurant “A La

Beirut” after the capital of Lebanon. They had a

typical Lebanese setup complete with a hookah,

large vases, jars and a mattress on which people sat

down and ate.

The next group had a Moroccan theme and

called their restaurant “Casa Blanca”. They had a

setup that was a blend of typical Moroccan culture

and fine dining with authentic curtains portraying a

beautiful Moorish design.

A week later the next

group had a Mediterranean

theme and called their res-

taurant “Ambrosia” mean-

ing “Food of the Gods” in

Greek. They had a setup

that reminds you of the

beach and portrayed a very

classy blue and white colour

scheme that was very Greek.

Finally the last group’s restaurant was called

“Reef on the water”, a Jamaican

restaurant that used shacks, flow-

ers, bongos and had an actual

aquarium. It had a table under

the bongos that seated four people.

The judges were our own staff members and

an external judge who marked us using a feedback

form on

which

points

were

given on

the ba-

sis of

food,

setup,

service and

knowledge.

At the end of it we as aspiring professionals

learnt a lot from this experience, the mistakes we

made, our strengths and weaknesses. On the whole

it was a very successful and well coordinated event.

Lets hope the coming events will be even more

successful.

Photo Credits :

Arun Kumar

Sue, the owner of Sue’s Food Palace helped us set

up the Jamiacan theme restaurant . Apart from

guiding us through a relatively new cuisine, she

was a very interesting person to talk to.

When and why did you move to India?

I came to India in the 1983. I came to India be-

cause I am married to an Indian.

What motivated you to start the restaurant and

when did you start it?

Being homesick and the need for friends, the love

of cooking and seeing people eat with satisfaction

in their eyes. I started my restaurant in 1998

What are some of the obstacles you faced while

starting your restaurant?

Many! From fixing the place, to getting the license

and training staff to equip themselves with this

new cuisine.

How did you identify the

potential for Caribbean

food in India? Was it by

chance or with re-

search?

It’s the cuisine I am well

versed with. It was different and I thought young

Indians were ready to tryout these different fla-

vours.

Do you feel the Indian Market is accepting the

various cuisines being introduced?

Oh yes! The young are very experimental.

Is this a sole proprietorship or a partnership

business?

Sole Proprietorship.

-Chhaya Mandanna

Photo credits :

www.zomato.com

A Glimpse in the Life

of Susan R John

It’s That Time, Again!

Vishal Bose

It’s that time of the year again. People of all

religions anticipate for the

end of the year. It is the

time to celebrate, share

and spread the love this

season has to offer. So

let’s share the joyous spir-

it we all share during the

two most awaited festi-

vals. First up: Christmas.

Christmas to us is a celebration, which in-

cludes spending time with our family, decorating

the entire house, inside and out, and shopping, for

the people we love. Doing this with the people we

love is what means the most to us.

One of the sweetest things to watch are the

children. The children love to see each other. They

spend the day playing games and sharing their new

gifts and toys that Santa Claus brought for each of

them. They get so eager to decorate, that it is hard

to restrain them. Most of the ornaments for the

Christmas Tree have been collected over the years

and are very old. They

become real family treas-

ures. We all have a favor-

ite one that we each put

on the tree.

Not everyone loves

shopping. But during

Christmas, there are no

regrets. The malls are full

of over enthusiastic,

Christmas spirit filled

people buying decora-

tions and gifts. The stores are so beautifully deco-

rated and very festive. Anyone can easily get car-

ried away, with spending so much money. Every-

one must admit the thought of spending too much

money hardly comes to mind. Picture the look on

the faces of the family and that brings them so

much joy. Christmas, for me is about being with

family, loving each other and showing each other

just exactly how we all feel.

New Year’s Day comes a

week after. And without a doubt,

the most expenditure incurred

happens to be during this period.

Partying, spending time with fam-

ily, going on a Holiday, fireworks

and so on are very common. It is

wonderful to see everyone being

excited about the same cause.

Goa is one of the most visited

spot during New Year celebration both by Indian

and foreign tourists. Events such as live concerts

and dances by Bollywood stars are organized. More

often people like to celebrate New Year eve with

family. Hotels and resorts are all decked up in antic-

ipation of the tourist influx and feverish competi-

tion ensures to entice the vacationers with exciting

New Year offers. As old tradition, at many places,

across the country, several spe-

cial Yagya and Pujaare are organized for the wish of

a fruitful year by Hindu people. Apart from the reli-

gious views, everyone loves the feeling of A New

Year approaching. It seems

to be a new start to every-

thing; to make things right,

to forget the past and enjoy

the present.

Evidently, Christmas

and New Year’s are the two

most impatiently awaited

festivals. Let’s hear it for the

marvelous times to come

and raise a toast for these

joyous occasions: To a brilliant, bright and blessed

Christmas and an enjoyable, entertaining and eager

new beginning. Cheers!

Photo Credits:

www.mangalorean.com

Cover Story

The Festival Of Lights

Amit Srikumar

To those who have read the title of this article

I am not referring to Diwali. This time of year in In-

dia we celebrate festivals such as Diwali, Eid and

Christmas, all very well known festivals but I think

its about time we learned about a few lesser known

festivals of different religions.

Hannukah is such a festival, also known as

“The Festival Of Lights”. It is celebrated by people

who follow the Jewish religion and it goes on for

eight days and nights (8th-16th December for the

year 2012). The specialist of the festival is the kin-

dling of a unique candelabrum, the nine branched

“Menorah” with the addition of a light each night of

the holiday, progressing to eight on the final night.

They also follow the custom of singing special songs

such as the Ma’oz Tzur which was composed some-

time in the 13th Century.

Other customs include the reciting of the Hal-

lel prayer and the consumption of foods such as

“latkes” and “sufganiyot” and diary foods. Latkes

are a kind of potato pancakes which are considered

traditional and the Polish and Israeli families eat a

certain type of jam-filled doughnuts called bimuelos

and sufagniyot which are

deep fried in oil. These sufgniyots have a

variety of fillings ranging from the tradi-

tional strawberry jelly filling to fillings

such as chocolate cream, vanilla, cara-

mel, etc.

The children play the “driedal” game, the

driedal being a 4-sided spinning top having each

side imprinted with a Hebrew letter. Finally there is

also the distribution of the Hannukah gelt (Yiddish

for “money”) which is given to the children to spur

holiday excitement.

“Kindle the taper like a steadfast star,

Ablaze on evening’s forehead o’er the earth,

And add each night a lustre till afar

An eightfold splendor shine above thy hearth.”

Emma Lazarus, ‘The Feast Of Lights’

References

http://www.wikipedia.org/

Image Credits : http://

sathyasaiba-

ba.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/happy-

hanukkah.jpg

The Beginning of the Brahmin Bun

Poorvi Iyengar

Having the surname 'Iyengar' comes with perils.

At multiple times of the day, intrigued faces seem to

be asking whether I belong to the family for which the

word 'Iyengar' has been a synonym. Although people’s

inquisitive reactions can be quite the annoyance at

times, the surname always makes for a good conversa-

tion starter. I am proud to state that I belong to the

traditional bakery family.

Imagine a Brahmin. What do you think of? An

aged man, thread around his chest and a pot belly?

Brahmins have always been known to be connoisseurs

of good food. So, it comes as no surprise that one such

Brahmin, my grandfather (though he wasn’t quite as

well built as the Brahmin of your imagination) decided

to take his skills he had learned for economic inde-

pendence to the next level.

The Vishveshwarapuram Brahmin’s Bakery, pop-

ularly known as V.B bakery was set up in 1954, a peri-

od of Industrial Revolution for India during which con-

struction activities saw a rapid increase.

V. B shared a compound with a cement manufac-

turing unit. Where, thousands of employees worked

through the day to meet the growing demands. My

Grandfather’s attributes of being a keen observer and

a charitable human being prompted him to manufac-

ture many of today’s traditional goodies such as the

bun and the rusk.

The bun was essentially created to provide those

laborers palatable food with adequate nourishment,

its ingredients being, milk solids, sugar and oil. A com-

bination of milk and bun was made available to the

laborers of the cement unit at highly subsidized rates.

This, also extended to providing for all labor classes

that were co existent at that particular period. My un-

cle the present owner narrates, the bakery worked for

long hours with a twenty four hour pro-

duction schedule.

V. B served as a livelihood for

those tea vendors who bought buns at a specifically

designed wholesale rate. As the popularity of the bak-

ery grew, it expanded avenues for employment of

youth. They were specifically trained by my grandfa-

ther who combined both knowledge and skill. Thus, V.

B grew into an institution of excellence imparting traits

of perfection, hygiene and quality

Encouraging entrepreneurship, my grandfather

ensured that employees were given a seed capital to

start establishments of their own. This, revolutionized

the concept of a traditional Iyengar bakery.

V B is located in South Bangalore an area domi-

nated by Brahmins. The presence of a bakery owned

by a Brahmin has encouraged these Brahmins to relish

products avoiding taboos. Being a traditional bakery

meant the use of a firewood oven. As yeast was una-

vailable jaggery was used as a leavening agent. Till this

date mechanization is minimal in this traditional

bakery.

Such was the dedication of my grandfather that

he participated in every activity which involved the

bakery. Unfortunately one afternoon while on his way

back from the market after purchasing necessary bak-

ery supplies a serious accident caused his death.

Iyengar Bakeries are now considered as a no-

menclature. Several 'non-Iyengars' have set up estab-

lishments under this tag, This certainly seems to be

working as a merchandising tool. Despite the on-

slaught of gourmet French patisseries serving the

tastes of the urban eclectic choices, Iyengar bakery

staples will continue to add to their list of patrons for

their uniquely Indian flavour.

Entrepreneurs’

Corner

“When you create more small businesses, you create

small entrepreneurship. Out of that comes self deter-

mination and employment.”

- Jesse Jackson

A Very Merry American Christmas!

Tanya Nicole Fernandes

Growing up 'Catholic' in the sunny Tropics

of the Middle- East and India has

created a Christmas tradition

that to most people may seem

quite queer. Picnics at the beach

on Christmas day, ceramic Christ-

mas trees covered with artificial

snow (cotton swabs!), a Christ-

mas turkey accompanied by the

Goan festive speciality 'sorpotel'

and my Personal favourite the

bellowing of Konkani Christmas

carols that could instil the spirit of

the holidays in the biggest non- believers has con-

tributed to my very own version of a dysfunctional

Christmas.

So in 2011, when I was given an incredible

opportunity to visit the land of the 'Ultimate Holly-

wood Christmas', I grabbed it with an ecstatic tug

and hug. ‘New York’ the Concrete Jungle where

Dreams are made of has delivered

some classic Christmas mem-

ories- from watching Ma-

caulay Culkin's Christmas

adventure at the Plaza Ho-

tel in Home Alone to view-

ing our favourite sitcom ac-

tors from 'How I Met Your Moth-

er' to 'Friends' experience the joy of the

Christmas miracle.

Holidays in New York have a very distinct

comforting charm; the weather is well below 5° C,

resulting in city trotters snuggling up in a good

four layers of insulating garments, with their styl-

ish boots and the signature Starbuck's Pumpkin

spiced latte. The concrete streets are covered in a

translucent snow and the normally stark estranged

skyscrapers are lit with motley of Christmas em-

bellishments.

The beauty of the city is that sightseeing is

replaced by meagre observations and tour guides

are supplemented by hours of

endless strolling. Central Park is

flooded by young families and

the star struck newlyweds all

utilising the Wollman ice skating

rink morphing into the perfect

holiday postcard. The humong-

ous Times Square billboards dis-

play the country's favourite ce-

lebrities sharing warm Christmas

greetings. Small antique vintage stores dot

the streets selling holiday handicrafts from the

Jewish Hanukkah 'menorah' to delicious 'Hansel

and Gretel' inspired Gingerbread houses. Christ-

mas shopping in the city would be a 'Shopaholics'

heroine. End of the season sales and two floor

high Christmas trees add that clandestine touch of

enchantment.

New York City with its melting pot of cul-

tures radically comes together in

unison during the holidays to im-

part a spirit of family and com-

munity. The vibrancy of the hol-

idays resonates globally. There-

fore, even though those seven

days of heaven in the Big Apple

were absolutely magical, family and

friends are the true essence of the holidays

and on this Christmas advent, my one and only

sentiment would be, “There is No Place like

Home”.

Photo Credits

www.lonelyplanet.com

The Hopeless Traveller

Gujia or Nuereos with Coconut Filling

Tanya Nicole Fernandes

Made all over India as a festival sweet, Gujias or

Nuereos differ only slightly from region to region.

In some states, like Uttar Pradesh, the filling is

made with sweetened khoya (milk thickened al-

most to a solid state) and nuts while in others like

Goa, it consists of shredded coconut, nuts and jag-

gery. This version uses the coconut filling.

Ingredients:

500 gms all-purpose flour

6-7 tbsps of ghee (do not melt the ghee)

Water

1 1/2 cup fresh grated coconut

1/2 cup cashew nuts chopped fine

1/2 cup small raisins chopped fine

1/2 cup almonds cut into very thin slivers

1/2 kg sugar

1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp cardamom powder

Vegetable/sunflower/canola oil or ghee for

deep frying

Preparation:

In a flat dish, mix the flour and ghee to form

a crumbly mix that just about holds togeth-

er.

Add water a little at a time and knead to

form a firm dough. When done, cover the

dough with a damp tea towel or muslin and

keep it aside.

Roast the coconut on a very low flame till it

is a pale reddish color. Keep aside.

Mix the sugar and water in a pan and cook

till the sugar is fully melted. Now allow to

thicken a little.

Add the coconut,

raisins, cashews, al-

monds and carda-

mom powder and

mix well. Remove

from fire and keep

aside to cool.

Divide the prepared

dough into equal

sized-portions and

make them into

balls.

Roll these balls out into circles about 4-5"

wide.

Put a heaped tablespoon of filling in the cen-

tre of each circle and fold over into a semi-

circle. Pleat the edges to seal and keep

aside. Repeat the filling process for all the

circles.

Once all your dough and filling is used up,

heat oil on a medium flame and deep fry the

gujias.

Drain them on paper towels and store in an

air-tight container.

References

www.indianfood.about.com

Indigenous Recipe

Are you serious?

The common abbreviation for Christmas to Xmas , is de-

rived from the Greek alphabet. X is letter Chi, which is the

first letter of Christ's name in Greek alphabet .

Editor-in chief

Avin Thaliath

Conceptualized and Designed by

C Rahila Sahrish

Editorial Team

Avin Thaliath

Tanya Nicole Fernandes

C Rahila Sahrish

Mayank Agarwal

Keerthan John Noble

Vishal Bose

Aravind Varghese

Anahita Girish

Vishwas Badami

Mahira Alvares

Angelina Maben

Bryan John Fernandes

Karan Nagpal

Srujana Sagi

Contact us at:

Christ University, Hosur Road

Bangalore— 560029

Karnataka India

Phone Numbers: +91.80.4012.9100

+91.80.4012.9600

Fax: +91.80.4012.9000

Email: akshar@bhm.christuniveristy.in

Website: www.christuniversity.in

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