Kavya Prabhakar- She came to us for 3 months Hospitality Skill development training towards livelihood for tribals from BRT Tiger reserve, this program was sponsored by both BRT Tiger reserve and TVSSST(TVS Srinivas Sundaram trust.) Soon after the training Kavya got selected to join the one-year apprenticeship program with ITC Gardenia.

In the beginning, Kavya was very shy, our faculty spent a lot of time to bring her and the rest of them out of their shell to open. It even took close to 3 weeks, for them to get used to wearing uniforms with shoes, the girls had never worn trousers.

Its so nice to see her steadily grow in her program at ITC Gardenia, very soon she will be completing one year.

We would like to thank TVSSST and BRT Tiger reserve in trusting us and with 20 candidates for this training for tribals.

Meet Sathish Nayak who is a Food & Beverage associate at Lalit Mahal Palace Hotel. He came to us from Bandipur Forest as part of the tribals batch sponsored by Jungle Lodges & Resorts under the leadership of Mr Kumar Pushkar during his tenure as MD Jungle Lodges and Resorts. Sathish, never knew anything about hotels, his father is a farmer and there were not too many job opportunities in the forest area for Tribals. Today he is gainfully employed and working in a wonderful environment few hours away from his home.

Puneet, after 3 months got selected for the apprenticeship program and has now completed one year with them.
This is what Ashika Theresa D’souza, Assistant Manager Food and Beverage, ITC Windsor has to say about Puneet – “Puneet has played an important role in handling Luxury hour operations and supporting the Dum Pukht restaurant. I have the honour to put on record that AVS students Pavan, Bheemaiah and Puneet have shown great diligence and hard work during the past months towards F&B Service Operations. Their peers have fondly shared their appreciation with the F&B Manager as well. The young talents have shown great discipline and enthusiasm in day-to-day operations and can be trusted upon for operational and administrative work. They have certainly set the standards high for rest of the team members to follow. We are privileged to have them as strong pillars to the team of Food and Beverage at ITC Windsor.

Natasha Kabra, our faculty who was their mentor says “Bheemaiah, Puneeth and Pavan started off like most other students – very shy, lack of confidence, poor communication skills and with absolutely no knowledge of how the hospitality industry works. Slowly, with a lot of individual attention, each 1 of them grew more confident, knowledgeable and sure of what they wanted to pursue. By the end of the course, they were amongst the top students of the class. We were sure they would get through their interviews with flying colors. During COVID our center was shut, despite poor connections they still logged in for class as often as they could. Today, seeing where they’ve reached with ITC Windsor Manor, makes us absolutely proud to call them AVS students.”

Bheemaiah, after 3 months got selected for the apprenticeship program and has now completed one year with them.
This is what Ashika Theresa D’souza, Assistant Manager Food and Beverage, ITC Windsor has to say about Bheemaiah – “Bheemaiah has solely taken care of In Room Dining services multiple times and has equivalent experience in Dakshin operations.
I have the honour to put on record that AVS students Pavan, Bheemaiah and Puneet have shown great diligence and hard work during the past months towards F&B Service Operations. Their peers have fondly shared their appreciation with the F&B Manager as well. The young talents have shown great discipline and enthusiasm in day-to-day operations and can be trusted upon for operational and administrative work. They have certainly set the standards high for rest of the team members to follow. We are privileged to have them as strong pillars to the team of Food and Beverage at ITC Windsor.

Natasha Kabra, our faculty who was their mentor says “Bheemaiah, Puneeth and Pavan started off like most other students – very shy, lack of confidence, poor communication skills and with absolutely no knowledge of how the hospitality industry works. Slowly, with a lot of individual attention, each 1 of them grew more confident, knowledgeable and sure of what they wanted to pursue. By the end of the course, they were amongst the top students of the class. We were sure they would get through their interviews with flying colors. During COVID our center was shut, despite poor connections they still logged in for class as often as they could. Today, seeing where they’ve reached with ITC Windsor Manor, makes us absolutely proud to call them AVS students.”

Its time to highlight some of our boys…
I would like to feature our student Pavan Nair, who after 3 months of training with us, got selected at ITC Windsor for their apprenticeship program. He has successfully completed the one year training and is working at Raj Pavilion & Dum Pukht. This is what Ashika Theresa D’souza, Assistant Manager Food and Beverage, ITC Windsor has to say, “I have the honour to put on record that AVS students Pavan, Bheemaiah and Puneet have shown great diligence and hard work during the past months towards F&B Service Operations. Their peers have fondly shared their appreciation with the F&B Manager as well. Pavan has been a vital part of the Raj Pavilion & Dum Pukht operational team. The young talents have shown great discipline and
enthusiasm in day-to-day operations and can be trusted upon for operational and administrative work. They have certainly set the standards high for rest of the team members to follow. We are privileged to have them as strong pillars to the team of Food and Beverage at ITC Windsor.”
Natasha Kabra, our faculty who was their mentor says “Bheemaiah, Puneeth and Pavan started off like most other students – very shy, lack of confidence, poor communication skills and with absolutely no knowledge of how the hospitality industry works. Slowly, with a lot of individual attention, each 1 of them grew more confident, knowledgeable and sure of what they wanted to pursue. By the end of the course, they were amongst the top students of the class. We were sure they would get through their interviews with flying colors. During COVID our center was shut, despite poor connections they still logged in for class as often as they could. Today, seeing where they’ve reached with ITC Windsor Manor, makes us absolutely proud to call them AVS students.”

The one on the right in this picture is Sharanya our AVS student at Evolve Back Kabini.

Sharanya came to us in March 22, within 3 months- on 1st June she was selected to join Evolve Back Kabini as F&B Hostess. She has completed her 12th and continues to pursue her graduation by correspondence.
She was initially selected to join Evolve Back Coorg, however she never wanted to work here, as she was sure that if she stayed in Coorg, her parents would get her married. HR head at Evolve Back understood and moved her to Kabini, where she has blossomed.

As per Kanthi Aneesh, GM- Evolve Back Kabini- “Sharanya is always smiling, and is excellent with guests, she is also a quick learner”
Sharanya says “I love my job, this opportunity was only possible because of my training at AVS, where I learned so much about the Hospitality industry from the teachers, who remain my mentors even today. Special mention of Seema mam Sony mam Shilpa mam and Shalini Mam. I am really liking my job at Evolve Back Kabini, they treat me so well, and teach me if I don’t know something”
Sharanya has been a great student, who was always an eager learner, what touched us most, when she got her first salary, she sends us a picture of her salary slip and wrote a beautiful thank you note to all the teachers.” – Shalini Charles – Founder AVS

Likhitha K K

Meet Likhitha from Madikeri. She has always been enthusiastic and driven towards working in the hotel industry, however she found it difficult to convince her parents, who did not think hotel was the right place for a girl to work. Being coffee estate workers, they had only seen small homestay near their village. Once her parents saw our facilities, met the teachers and students, they were convinced but could not afford the nominal fee that we charge, through AVS an Angel came forward to support her education.

Likhitha worked hard at AVS, which helped her improve her spoken English, and she overcame her stage fright. Being a hard worker, she did not want to burden her parents in any way, she interned at a local restaurant to gain experience and earn pocket money. Today she is employed at Belli’s Café and is growing in confidence which helps her handle different types of customers each day.

AVS encourages its students to continue studies while they work, she is also pursuing her degree through correspondence.

Likhita says “when I joined AVS, I learned about F&B Service, which I really liked, we did a lot of role plays, that helped me overcome stage fright and talk to people without hesitation. I would encourage my friends to join AVS the teachers are very helpful.”

Belli’s owner Ponnappa says “Likhita is a very hardworking and polite girl; she is always willing to go the extra mile in guest handling. We have had AVS support from the time we have opened with interns and full time employees.”

Shreeja S

Parents pressurize kids to do graduation, ask them what next? They enroll for computer classes learning tally and basic programming … to what end?

Shreeja came to AVS for 3 month training in hospitality, after which she was selected to join ITC Gardenia in Bangalore. Her fan moment was when she met Shahrukh Khan, Juhi Chawla, Jadeja, and many more. Her learning and work were intense, but she did not give up. Today she works at Taj Madikeri, closer to her home.

Shreeja is a fervent believer that regardless of one’s life circumstances, one should be financially independent. Daughter of a carpenter, she knew nothing about Hotels, she says “I did not know anything about hospitality or the opportunities that exist. I believed in AVS and my parents allowed me to work where I got placed. The biggest learning for me is – Hotels are a safe place for girls, and the department does not matter- but the brand does. With AVS we get the best placements. I am very happy and so is my family.”

HR Manager of Taj Madikeri Mr. Satya NVV says “Ms. Shreeja S Our Housekeeping associate known for her cheerful demeanor has been our Guest’s favorite, though she has joined us a little over six months, she has been serving our guests with complete generosity, warmth and sincere care which sets her apart from the others. She is always around for her guests and ensures to keep the guest rooms impeccably clean, her dedication towards creating memories for our guest makes her a true ambassador of Taj. We hope that she achieves greater success in the years to come.”

AVS has been associated with Taj Madikeri since its inception in 2018, Mr. Satya says “We are extremely happy being associated with the institute, that empower the youth within the local communities through skill trainings and grooming them to the industry requirements. The students employed from Atithi Vriksha Shiksha are conversant with the industry practices which helps us in bridging the skill gap.”

Today’s featured student is Hema, a former AVS student who within just 3 months of training, secured a position with the renowned Evolve Back Resort in Coorg during a campus selection. With dreams in her eyes and a burning desire to reach great heights, she recalls her training at Atithi Vriksha Shiksha as having helped her grow tremendously and would strongly suggest AVS to anybody who is looking to start their career with hospitality. “AVS provided me the flexibility to study and grow as a person, the faculty helped me gain self-confidence, and brought out the best in me” she said when questioned about her time at AVS.
The work at Evolve Back Resort has made Hema financially independent in a short span and has also given her an opportunity to put her talents to use.
The training manager at the resort believes that “The employees hired from AVS stand out in terms of their performance, work ethic, soft skills and set a great an example of being a good employee in front of everyone. We are so happy that they are a part of this organization.”