Out of line, yet doing just fine
Akhila Seetharaman
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Why should your career choice be limited to engineering or medicine, when there are many roads to success? At the recent The Hindu Education Plus Fair, the panellists agreed that the key to finding the right career lies in expanding your hor izons.
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Photo: Mohammed Yusuf
OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND IN LIFE: Get off the beaten track and listen to your instincts. Photo: Mohammed Yusuf
There is a queue for admission to engineering colleges. The aspirants include a boy who used to make a beeline for the playground bugs, until his teachers banned him from playing in the mud. Then there is the girl who used to dress up stick-women in outlandish outfits from her imagination, all on her notebook. And behind her, a worried-looking kid, who nobody would suspect had the reputation of an entertainer in school.
They have all set their mind on computer engineering, but the competition is stiff and tensions run high. After all, engineering is the most sought-after course.
"Despite so many opportunities in the world, why do people run after what everyone else wants?" asks Shekar Dattatri. He knows something about going against the tide to follow a passion instead of doing something because it is considered the right thing to do.
The boy who grew up on books about wildlife and spent his weekends volunteering at the Snake Park fell into the Commerce stream, but soon pulled himself out to study zoology. "I would have been a complete failure in Commerce," remarks Mr. Dattatri, now a very successful wildlife filmmaker.
"Back then, in the days of black-and-white television, wildlife filmmaking was not an option. Instead, I decided to become a biologist," he says.
For Bryan Peppin, the decision was never clear-cut. He studied visual communications, but admits that he was never a great student. Today, the head of programming and production at Southern Spice Music, Mr. Peppin says he worked while he was in college — a determining factor in his success, according to him.
"There were the guys who got great marks and then there was me who did not get great marks but had work experience and therefore a better idea of what visual communication was about," he says.
The media has plenty of room for students who are creative and looking for interesting things to do. "Education qualifications aren't as important in the media as your practical knowledge, creativity and willingness to learn."
However, colleges are emphasising the practical angle with internships these days, he says. Jobs in television entertainment can be very remunerative. Channels like Southern Spice require a host of people including designers, artists, camera people, scriptwriters and on-air hosts.
But opportunities are not limited to television. Radio is back, thanks to private FM, says Neeladri, a radio jockey. "In radio nobody sees your face, there's a certain mystery to a radio jockey's personality, it's a medium waiting to be approached by young people," he says.
Sitting in front of a microphone all-day may not be such a bad idea, especially when you get paid by the hour. It may even be lucrative enough for you to quit a safe job in the corporate sector.
P.C. Ramakrishna did just that, choosing voice-over work over a regular job. "You don't need a degree, but with a good speaking voice, passion for knowledge and feel for your audience, you can make more than enough money," he says. Knowledge of foreign languages and a flair for scriptwriting can boost your earnings.
The media industry may be booming, but it faces a severe lack of talented professional who can provide enough content, according to Rathish Babu, CEO of SAE College of Engineering. Riding on the demand for animators, artistes, sound and recording experts, and digital filmmakers, SAE offers courses to train people who can enter the industry.
"The great thing about offbeat careers is that instead of standing in a queue, people will queue up to work with you," remarks Mr. Dattatri. The key to finding the right career is expanding your horizons by reading good books and watching good programmes on television. He believes every child has an inherent interest in nature, an interest that needs to be nurtured by parents.
"You have an opportunity to do something with your life, treat life as an adventure and make the most of it."
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