Ashwini Ashok Gavali, 18, the daughter of a house help, now has a chance to break free from poverty. She has just been hired as a baker by The Sassy Spoon for an annual package of Rs. 72,000. “My experience will be my learning,” she says.
Ms. Gavali is part of the first batch of 16 underprivileged students who have graduated from the Puratos Sanskaar Foundation School, the corporate social responsibility initiative of Puratos India, a subsidiary of international bakery, patisserie and chocolate ingredients manufacturer Puratos International.
The company took in students from Shirvane Vidyalaya and Junior College in Navi Mumbai to groom them for a career in baking, pastry and and chocolate-making. Over a two-year period, the students were taught to make everything from simple breads to complex desserts, and were groomed in etiquette and professional skills for a fee of Rs. 200.
Puratos India says all of them have now been placed with top bakeries such as The Sassy Spoon, Boulangier, Oven Fresh, Indulge and Cakes & Coffee. Three students have been selected to work at Puratos India.
The course hopes to fill the skilled labour shortage faced by the bakery industry in India, says Dhiren Kanwar, MD (India) and Area Director (South Asia), Puratos Food Ingredients India Pvt. Ltd. “India’s changing tastes has meant an explosion within the bakery space. This requirement has meant a huge demand for trained bakery and patisserie technicians.”
Since August 2014, when the school was inaugurated, the students were put through a gruelling schedule beginning with daily lectures in the morning followed by evening bakery sessions. After the success of the project in India, the company has begun similar projects in Mexico and Brazil. Puratos has also started an international fund which aims at creating such schools across the world.
At the graduation ceremony in the city earlier this week, there was pride and excitement as students were given graduation certificates and a surprise cash gift of Rs. 10,000.
Anuradha Premchand Mishra, who has been hired by Puratos, said it was always her dream to work with the company. “The journey with Puratos has been adventurous for me. We feel very much at home here.” She hopes that one day, she can buy her parents, her “pillar of strength”, a luxurious home.
Her father, Premchand Mishra, a bank recovery agent, is proud of his daughter’s achievement. “I have given Anuradha complete freedom. I always knew she would succeed, but today, she has achieved far more than what I ever expected,” he says.
The sentiment was shared by most parents who attended the graduation ceremony. Manisha Khatkare, one of those who addressed the gathering, said, “I never thought that my child would get such an immense opportunity. I was not fully sure about this course. But today my doubts have been set aside.”
The writer is an intern at The Hindu
I was not fully sure about this course. But today my doubts have been set asideManisha KhatkareParent
