THE big careers for India�s young today are not in the medical world or in engineering. Nor are they in business management, IT, and banking. They are in the hospitality industry. Yes, for young professionals fresh out of our catering colleges, the sky is the limit as far as job opportunities go. They can join any of the five-star hotel and resort groups in India that have alliances with international chains. They can seek jobs in world class hotels abroad. Or even join luxury cruise liners that sail the seas and take moneyed passengers on holidays to exotic destinations. Many set up speciality restaurants, nightspots, wine and coffee bars, and perhaps cigar lounges of their own with family help and financial assistance from outside.

Several take up employment and further studies with wineries in France, the US and Italy. And some even become catering consultants to multi-national food companies because there is potential to travel and grow beyond our shores.

As you can see, there is much that a young hospitality management graduate can look forward to in 21st century India. But there�s one catch. Getting a seat in a recognised catering college today is more difficult than securing admission to any of our medical, engineering or IIT colleges. In the fitness of things, perhaps, it was left to the Taj Hotels Resorts & Palaces to link up with the Maulana Azad Educational Trust in Aurangabad and start the Institute of Hotel Management (IHM) there that provides India�s youth with a world class centre in hospitality education. It is ten years since the IHM was started and already it is the most sought-after institute of hotel management in Asia. The IHM prepares students for a four-year BA (Hons) degree in Hotel Management of the University of Huddersfield, UK � a leading varsity in the world of hospitality management. It also has a specialised three-year diploma in Culinary Arts & Kitchen Administration which has been specially designed by the Taj.

Fatma Zakharia, secretary general of the board of governors of the IHM and wife of Maulana Azad Education Trust chairman Dr. Rafiq Zakharia, is of the firm belief that the institute in a very good benchmark in hospitality management education and perhaps one of the finest colleges of its kind in the world. They have plans to expand the IHM so as to cover also a degree in tourism and hospitality besides the hotel management. �The University of Huddersfield is known for its department of tourism and hospitality and we are moving towards that,� she said. Her job, she described, was to liaise between the institute and the Taj. �If there is anything the principal and faculty of the IHM want, I put it up before the board and get it executed,� she said.

Actually, Fatma Zakharia does more than that. She personally interviews each and every student who passes the IHM�s entrance exam and group discussion before they are admitted to the institute.

The principal of the IHM is Praveen Roy. And the board of governors includes chairman R. K. Krishna Kumar, who is vice-chairman of the Indian Hotels Co. Ltd.; vice-chairman Raymond Bickson, who is managing director of Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces; the Zakharias, Fatma, who is senior vice-president of the Taj, and Dr. Rafiq himself who advises the board on strategic aspects of education and administration; chief coordinator Bernard Martyris, senior vice-president or corporate human resources at Taj; and distinguished Taj men Maneck Patel and Abhijit Mukerji.

Under the able and enterprising guidance of this lady and gentlemen, the IHM has grown into a global hotel management institution that provides world class training to its students. Ratan Tata, who is chairman of Taj and also chairman of Tata Sons Ltd. is fascinated by the IHM and makes it a point to be there for the convocation ceremony.

A walk around the IHM�s building and campus, led by its vice-principal Satish Jayaram, a suave Taj man with oodles of confidence and years of experience, and followed by chef and senior faculty member Gerard D�Souza, is a fascinating experience. Everywhere, young girls and boys move around dressed as hotel management professionals already in blazers and grey trousers. Those who have drawn kitchen as a subject that day, are wearing aprons and the chefs� toques. They all have about them the enthusiasm and exuberance of their youth and combined with that, a certain seriousness and professionalism that no doubt comes to them just by being in the hallowed corridors of the IHM. They are a jolly lot of students who, once they pass out of the IHM, will be sought out by the finest hotels in the country and even abroad.

The institute is well equipped with the latest in technology. It has basic and advanced training kitchens, a housekeeping lab, front office lab, training restaurant, computer rooms, research and internet centres, a state-of-the-art auditorium, a world class library and conference centre, all designed to reflect the latest trends in hotel management. But the best infrastructure in the world is meaningless without the right people. And so the IHM has brought together some of the best talents available in hospitality education in India. They have years of managerial experience in the finest hotel companies, both domestic and international. The faculty is constantly upgraded by the Taj and University of Huddersfield through their staff development programmes. Senior Taj executives and managers from a wide range of other industries provide inputs in teaching and seminars, panel discussions and workshops are arranged regularly for the benefit of the students.

The IHM also has two comfortable hostels for the girls and boys with all amenities, there is the Naval Tata Stadium & Sports Complex with a vast playground and first-rate gymnasium. It has a cafeteria that provides students with snacks, stationery and other items of personal use besides serving main meals. The cafeteria is the perfect environment for one-to-one interaction and group discussions among the students. But what is unique about the IHM in the field of hotel education in India is that it has a hotel school as its ancillary in the five-star Hotel Taj Residency next door! The hotel is managed by the Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces but primarily operated through students under the supervision of well-trained professional hotel executives. The students, as a part of their course, work in all areas of the hotel and cover all shifts. It provides them with the opportunity to continuously stay in touch with hotel operations and prepares them to be future Taj women and men!