Sujata Agrawal

General manager, chef, musician, family man — Anil Mohan wears many hats and he wears them well. Currently the general manager of the Taj Pamodzi in Lusaka, Zambia, he started his career training as a chef with the Oberoi Hotel in Delhi where he specialised in French cuisine. Mr Mohan chose this line of work because a cousin whom he greatly admired was a successful chef. Four years down the line, took a break to see the world and get some international exposure.

When he returned to India, two events occurred almost simultaneously. He got married and joined the Taj Group, initially at the Taj Mahal, New Delhi. "I still find it difficult to recall which happened first," says Mr Mohan with a smile. "In fact, I sometimes tease my wife about her being in such a hurry to marry me that she didn't even wait to find out whether I had a job or not."

Mr Mohan says being a chef is not easy. "In the kitchen, energy levels are very high. Chefs can be extremely temperamental and it's a high-pressure area to work in." The worst disaster that can happen to a chef is when he has forgotten to make a dish that is on the menu. "You can do nothing at that time, except try and innovate."

While that has never happened to Mr Mohan, he did have his share of interesting experiences. Like the time they had to cater for a Muslim wedding and the guest list expanded from 300 to nearly 1,200 through the evening. Mr Mohan and his mates quickly raided every freezer in the hotel for meat, which was speedily cooked with rice to make delicious biryani. "At the end of the evening, all the guests were fed and our freezers were empty."

That's what kitchen management is all about. "To be a good executive chef it's not enough to be a good cook," explains Mr Mohan. "You must also be a good manager, skilled in leadership, cost management, customer relations, employee welfare, process management and innovation."

Learning for Mr Mohan has over the years meant much more than developing culinary skills. "I think one of the biggest learning experiences in the kitchen is operational skills; you learn to work under pressure. And that has brought out the best in me, professionally as well as personally. I have always enjoyed my work because I am giving it my best shot."

It was this grounding that served him well when his career took an unusual curve at the Taj Residency, Bangalore, in 1990. He was asked to wear two hats concurrently; usually the executive chef manages the kitchen and the food and beverages (F&B) manager the restaurant. For Mr Mohan the twain did meet when he joined as executive chef and was also asked to look after F&B. It was a huge challenge but, more than that, it was a period of intense, hands-on learning.

"It was my first experience of handling the other side of the food area. I had to do a virtual tightrope walk, balancing the interests of the different sections. I was holding a meeting with the chefs followed by a catering meeting. Historically, there has always been some diiference of opinion between the two departments, but I became a bridge between the two because I could understand both sides, and issues were addressed immediately. Things worked smoothly and in harmony during my time there."

His stint at the Bangalore Taj Residency was well rewarded when he moved to Taj Manjuran in Mangalore as a general manger. It was certainly different from managing a kitchen. "To be a good and successful general manger of a hotel you need to be clearly focused on three main areas: customers, finance and employees," he explains. "You cannot prioritise between them, because each is intimately connected to the other. Financials are very important. So must be your customer focus, without which your financials take a dive. And, unless you have a strong, dedicated team to take good care of your customers, you cannot run a hotel successfully."

Another important lesson: "When you are starting a new hotel, you need to first create a team that will bring in the customers." That is exactly what Mr Mohan is doing in his current assignment. He arrived at the Taj Pamodzi in 2003 after a four-year stint as general manager of the Lake Palace Udaipur. His primary challenge here has been to bring back the occupancy rate to the level it was before the hotel embarked on a two-year-long renovation project. And he began by building a great team, including many local people.

Living in Lusaka has not been much of a culture shock for Mr Mohan. He says that it's more difficult to be an Indian in different parts of India than an Indian in Zambia. "Moving from north to south in India is like moving to another country: the language, culture, food, even the attitude of people is completely different." When he moved to Udaipur after many years in the south, Mr Mohan realised he had almost lost touch with spoken Hindi.

But his roots are deeply embedded in India and Mr Mohan has tried to inculcate those traditions and values in his children. "Living in a five-star culture can easily get you alienated from reality. Children today are quite exposed to that culture and it's important that they realise the difference."

His happiest times have been spent with his family. The highlight of many a Sunday used to be his cooking. In the morning Mr Mohan would take his children to the market to buy meat and groceries, and then cook the afternoon meal himself. "It was like a family party and the kids used to look forward to the Sunday ritual." His children are now grown up; his son is studying hotel management in Australia and his daughter is in Lusaka, studying music.

"I should have been a musician instead of a hotelier," confesses Mr Mohan. Working in this industry hasn't give him much time or opportunity to learn professionally so, over the years, he has trained himself to play various musical instruments. "I have been gifted with a good ear for music and can play the harmonium, the harmonica, and a bit of piano." He also has a good collection of other instruments like the the sitar, the flute, the santoor, the violin and the tabla. An Indian music buff, Mr Mohan enjoys Hindustani classical and semi-classical music, ghazals and old Hindi film songs. He writes the lyrics of the songs he likes in a precious notebook and, when he finds the time, practises them on the harmonium.

Spontaneous music sessions with family and friends at home or at family functions have always been a part of his life. He displayed the same spontaneity at a Diwali dinner in Lusaka for the Indian community last year. "Usually at parties here, the men and women get together in separate groups. That day I decided to break the monotony and make the evening more interesting," he recalls with a smile. He asked for his harmonium to be brought down and started an impromptu musical evening. "The music broke the ice completely and people soon joined in. They still talk about that party around here."

Mr Mohan has always been willing to go the distance, in his work as much as in his personal life. Considering how far the quality has taken him, it's no surprise that he's disinclined to change.