Biddatanda Tulsi Ponnappa

Competitor in Skill: Pâtisserie and Confectionery
Country: India

How did you get interested in your skill?
I’d always been fascinated by cooking shows, it intrigued me. When I was ten my mum let me help her make brownies and I loved it. There was no turning back since. Fascination turned into a hobby and now a profession.

Where did you do your training for your skill?
The Department of Culinary Arts (Welcomgroup School Of Hotel Administration, Manipal) is where i will graduate from soon and is the place I have learnt the most. It is also the place that gave me the opportunity to train with hotels such as Intercontinental, Doha and Trident Nariman Point, Mumbai.

How did you first find out about your Member organization and its programs?
To be completely frank I had no idea about the competition or the organization until I was handed my project papers for the regional rounds. It was after this that I looked into what the organization was doing and what competition was all about.

Who influenced you to pursue your skill as a career?
My skill as I refer to it now was always a hobby. While having a casual conversation with my parents i told them everyone was trying to decide what they wanted to be and I didn’t know what I was good at. They said but you can bake. That’s all it took

What is your experience in participating with your Member organization?
Enlightening. Interacting with different people who share the same skill set as you and also with those from a different skill gave me immense exposure. I have been able to see where I stand and how much I need to work and practice to get to where I need to be.

Describe your most memorable moment so far with WorldSkills?
That would be the first round where my friends and I all won our respective competitions. Walking back feeling proud that we’d done something for our college.

Describe what your experience has been since your involvement with WorldSkills
Once again I’d say exposure. It has given me the opportunity to see the level in my country and the level of my competitors internationally. I think it has also given us all the opportunity to grow.

Did participating in the skills competitions and training for WorldSkills help you progress in your skill? Please describe.
Yes, definitely. The competition gave me the opportunity to work and meet with some chefs I’d never have met. Just going through all the selection rounds helped me grow and helped my skills grow as well. I learnt a lot from the other competitors.

What do you currently do? Where do you work?
I will graduate this May from the college that I study at as mentioned earlier (Department Of Culinary Arts, WGSHA, Manipal)

What are your future career aspirations?
To travel and work. Learn as much as I can from the people i work with and meet.