Valmiki Tambe, the 26-year-old from Mumbai, doesn’t have time to breathe. Since landing in Doha on October 25, he has been busy making salads for the staff, volunteers, guests and mediapersons at the buffet section of the main media centre of the Qatar National Convention Centre.
The cold section, where he’s assigned, has been making salads from different countries and Tambe is one of the many going about his job with a lot of excitement. “Asian noodles salad, Quinoa salads, waldorf salads, caesar salads... I am doing everything,” Tambe informs.
The main media centre, a sprawling 200,000 square metre state-of-the-art facility which brings the print, broadcast, radio and digital under one roof, has been buzzing for the past few weeks with journalists — 12,300 accredited reporters — from around the world bringing the Cup to their readers and viewers.
Sample this: November 19, the day before the World Cup began, the headcount for lunch was 7000. For dinner, 5000 journalists turned up. The buffet costs 53 Qatari Rials with a spread as diverse as it can be. From Indonesia, Lebanon, the Caribbean to Indian, we name it they will serve. On a platter with a smile.
The numbers have come down drastically once the round-of-16 began. For example, of the 60-odd Iranian scribes, only three had plans to stay back till the quarters. Around 200 mediapersons had come from Japan to follow Samurai Blues, who topped their Group only to be ousted by Croatia, and not many of them had any wish to stay back.
“Now we were preparing for 1000 people during the day and 500 in the evening. On Tuesday the final count was 350 at night,” said Ali, a Tamilian from Kandy, Sri Lanka, and one of the supervisors.
Tambe was working in a restaurant in Bandra when he came to know about the opening here in Doha. “The consultancy firm contacted me and I thought why not? It enhances your CV and probably will help me getting a job abroad,” he says. Landing a job in foreign shores is one of the reasons why Indians have come here to work in the hospitality section.
D. Prashanth of Hyderabad, who is in the cleaning section, hopes this experience will do him a world of good. “I have worked in Doha before... And this three-month stint should give me a better job.” he sounds confident.
Maide Ozdal of Istanbul, who is here in an exchange programme, says she is enjoying her work as well as knowing a lot about different cultures.
“I am meeting the Indians, the Lebanese and trying to understand their culture,” Ozdal, who studied literature, says. She says she enjoys working in the staff and volunteer section.
It’s a huge task to ensure everything is in order, from planning to execution and the company entrusted with this job, who did not wish to come on record for contractual obligations, was preparing for this enormous task for the past one year.
In the media cafes at the stadiums the young faces were also busy serving food. Rani Chakraborty from Howrah and Khushi Pandey of New Delhi, in their early 20s, were at the Al Janoub Stadium attending to the queries from mediapersons. They are doing their internships here and said it’s an experience of a lifetime.