Tanul Anand, an accounting student currently pursuing his master’s at Australian National University, Canberra, has surely mastered the art of balancing his passion and education. He has appeared on various shows like Turban Tadka - Food Food, Ab Har Koi Chef, Zee Khana Khazana, Tata Sky Active Cooking, and Zaika.
Tanul explains how he has managed to successfully juggle his passion for cooking and his accounting studies. By clearly defining his priorities, Tanul teaches us how to have a clear outline of our passion and education.
The right balance
I have always balanced my education and passion. I have tried to find a midpoint to suit both spheres. Cooking and accounting both give me equal joy and satisfaction. I do not want to leave one for the other. I think it is important to strike the right balance as both are equally important factors in any individual’s life.
The win-win situation
I chose to pursue accounting as an option with cooking because in the future I aspire to open a chain of restaurants and a line of products with my recipes. For that, I surely need business sense, which my educational qualification will provide me. Accounting will be helpful in designing my cost strategies, which will help me use my resources optimally and therefore, ensure faster growth rates. Moreover, accounting trains me to take logical and practical decisions; it teaches me to be rational in my approach.
Also, at this stage, cooking does not ask for any commitment from me. Therefore, I thought it would be better to make the best of this time and study something I like. I think education can never go to waste, it is a fixed deposit you can encash whenever you want.
Best of both the worlds
Cooking for me is like meditation in that, whenever I feel stressed with accounting, I just cook. Believe me; all my worries just fade away. I think having these two things in my hands has helped me shape a more meaningful and purposeful life.
I think the combination of cooking and accounting should be offered as a dual degree in universities. They both complement each other extremely well, at least in my case they do.
If so, one can do both and learn professionally. According to me being able to pursue your passion with education is a blessing. It gives you joy like nothing else.
Future endeavours
Having won many culinary competitions, I have had an amazingly enriching learning experience. Going forward, I am using what I have learned to work on my own cookbook, which will contain my exclusive kitchen secrets. Even though I am studying here, I will return to India to continue my career.
As told to KASHISH SANDHU
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