I was in the Hotel Industry before coming to IIT. I’m a native of Uttarakhand. I have been working in IIT for the past 3 years, and it has been a good experience. I came to the institute in 2016 when I was looking for new work. I got information that there is an empty canteen in IIT, and being in the hotel line I can serve good food. So I thought, why not, let’s try in IIT. I talked to the warden and trialled my food, and the kids really really liked it! So I immediately came here and started working. Thankfully the reviews for my food have been consistently good.
After I completed my class 12, I did my SM (equivalent of BA) in Uttarakhand. After that I got a degree in Hotel Management, and then I took some job training and worked a job. I went to Rudrapura at first. Then from there I went to Goa, then onwards to Himachal. After that I found myself working in Turkey! After my stint in Turkey I came here.
Here all my interactions with the kids and the administration has been very good.
As for my family, I still have my parents who live in Dehradun. We are three brothers, and all of us live and work in Delhi. I’m married for two years, and don’t have any children yet.
The experience during coronavirus was very bad. The shop in IIT was essential for running my home. Then some money came from IIT, and that gave a lot of relief. It felt very nice that IIT thought of us in these tough times, they were a lot of help. In our village in Uttarakhand, we don’t have a lot of cases but still we are observing every precaution. Social distancing is the norm; we are not coming together in any large gatherings or anything.
Manoj Bisht,
"Night Mess waale Bhaiyya",
Satpura hostel
Interviewed by @obhodro_thepanda
Designed by @xsmeke