Young Achiever

Born in Punjab in India, Kirat Singh came to Australia with his family in 2016, aged 14. Having studied English at school in India he was able to fit in fairly easily when he started Year 9 at Marryatville High School. At home he speaks Punjabi, a language derived from a mix of four languages – Farsi, Hindi, English and Urdu. He also speaks pure Hindi.

He is passionate about cooking and one day wants to open his own restaurant or café. “In Year 6 we had a visit from Sanjeev Kapoor, a famous Indian chef,” he says. “I knew that cooking was what I wanted to do.” He started cooking meals at home for his family and when his mother saw a promotion for Council’s Cooking for a Cause program she suggested he sign up. “I did a five-week course with chef Matt Stedman,” Kirat says. “He taught me a lot, especially about safety in the kitchen, how to hold a knife correctly.” But Kirat also taught Matt something new. “I make naan bread a special Indian way and it was different to how Matt did it,” he says.

Kirat has returned to the Cooking for a Cause program as a volunteer and continues to learn more in the kitchen. He also volunteers at Glen Osmond Gurudwara (Sikh temple) teaching Punjabi to kids of all ages. He proudly wears a khanda necklace around his neck and kara on his wrist, symbols of his Sikh faith.

After completing Year 12 this year he hopes to go to the University of Adelaide and undertake a Bachelor of IT with a career goal of working in defence cyber safety. “I want to be a ‘white hacker’,” he says. “Helping defend and secure their systems and countering the ‘black hackers’.” But Kirat’s dream of having his own restaurant has not been forgotten. “An IT professional can also be a chef but I don’t think a chef can also be an IT professional,” he says. “So I will start my IT career and see how it goes.”

In his spare time Kirat plays volleyball and football and aims to qualify for the State football team. He also does Bhangra, a Punjabi dance.

Kirat’s hope is to open his own restaurant / café by the age of 25. Given what he has achieved in his 17 years there is no doubt he will achieve that.

Cooking for a Cause is a free five-week course offered to people of high school age or under 25 who live, work, study or play within the City of Burnside. At each session you will learn how to cook a healthy, nutritious meal which will then be delivered to various organisations for the homeless in South Australia. There are various course dates in each school term. Register your interest to communitydevelopment@burnside.sa.gov.au