Living Leeside: Tanusha says Cork is everything she wants in a home

HAVING come from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, 31-year-old MTU student Tanusha Suvashini Hatish Kumar says Cork is everything she wants in a home.

Currently working part-time at the Metropole Hotel, Tanusha has worked in the hospitality industry for the past 12 years, and says there is a huge difference between the two countries.

“Hospitality is very different in Ireland to Malaysia. There is a lot of pressure working in the hospitality industry in Malaysia. It is very hectic, long hours, there is no such thing as an eight hour shift.

“You have to work to please bosses, sometimes 12-14 hours. I never saw my family, I was living with my mom, and we just saw each other to say ‘hi’ and ‘bye’, it was really bad.”

Tanusha finds the work-life balance much better here in Cork.

“It is much easier, stress free. It is better for your mental health. You have time to take care of yourself and enjoy life. It is not all about the work. It is busy but manageable.”

Having worked at the Metropole Hotel since 2019, Tanusha says the staff are really friendly and she is passionate about her work.

“I started as a food and beverage assistant as there was no opening at reception and then I got moved to reception after two months. I’m very passionate about my work, my dad would say I am happiest in a hotel!”

Before moving to Ireland, Tanusha spent time living in Switzerland, where she studied culinary arts and went on to work as a chef for a few years in Australia, before moving to reception.

“I decided to move to front of house as I love talking to people!”

Tanusha returned to college and study hospitality.

“I wanted to go back to college and I was approved for a number of colleges in the UK, mostly London but I didn’t want hectic city life anymore, I wanted a quiet life.”

Tanusha went to an education fair in Malaysia with her parents and met with CIT, now MTU.

“CIT (MTU) were the first to chat to me and there was a student from Malaysia there.”

Tanusha said she was delighted she went back to college and she is learning a lot here in Cork.

“You pick up little details and understand things you didn’t get before, the theory is very important.”

Tanusha has made a lot of friends at MTU over her three years and loves the campus.

“First year was a lot of fun, more interactive. Covid has made things very hard. I don’t like online learning. In hospitality, you really need to be there in person. I didn’t pick up as much from online.

“I found I wasn’t studying as much. I got lazy and it had a huge impact, but I tried to keep grades up. I’m trying to do as well as I can.”

Tanusha met her partner Chandan Sharma at MTU. From India, he has graduated from MTU and is working at IBM in cybersecurity.

“Chandan got me into hiking, I never hiked before I met him. Now we try to hike as much as possible, but we don’t have a car at the moment, I need to sort out my driving licence.”

Looking ahead for the coming year, Tanusha would like to travel the Wild Atlantic Way with Chandan and hopes her parents can travel to see her graduate next October.

Although Tanusha enjoys living in Cork, she mentioned a few things that were issues.

“The one thing I was shocked about was the amount of homeless people in Ireland. There are a lot of homeless people in Malaysia, but you expect in a European country, well, you perceive it as perfect, and I am always wondering why there are so many homeless people here.

“The only other things I have an issue with are the high rents, housing shortage and public transport. I come from a metropolitan country where there is trains and buses everywhere and here it is quieter but there is less transport.

“Like we would love to go to Donegal, but it would take almost two days of travel to get there!”

But above all, Tanusha has been charmed by the people of Cork.

“I love the random chats you have with strangers, it would be weird to talk to a stranger in Malaysia, I think its lovely the way it happens here. It took a while to get used to it.”

Tanusha also enjoys strolling the city streets with her partner.

“There is no such thing as strolling in Malaysia, there are too many cars and too many people and no parks in the city.”

Looking down the line, Tanusha has aspirations of a quaint country lifestyle.

“I would love to end up in a little Irish cottage along the coast somewhere with a patch of land, that is the dream, I hope it works out.”