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Work begins right after classes these days. A good number of college students don't mind trading teen things for gruelling work: be it for making ends meet or fat pocket money
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There are students who find classes boring and work more exciting.
UPTIL ABOUT the mid '90s, college for most people was furtive smokes in the back lawns, mastering techniques to give proxy attendance, and an entry into the world of inter-collegiate festivals, and late night parties. But suddenly, with the mushrooming of call centres in the '90s, came the promise of good money and great perks in jobs where college degrees were not a pre-requisite. Students willingly dropped their jeans in favour of casual-formal trousers and cell phones replaced the stack of one-rupee coins to be dropped into a pay phone. Enter the working-professional-college-student who doesn't have to beg for date money or take the bus across town. Money's not a problem, not anymore, it seems.
Prashant "thewhizz" Kannan is a bit dodgy about what he does. "It's actually a full-time job," he admits. "I test gaming devices. But I can't tell you where. And I also can't tell you where I go to college." "Thewhizz", his gaming ID, is in his sixth semester in an engineering course "somewhere", and works a full eight-hour shift as a product leader "somewhere" else. "If you can do it, why not?" he asks matter-of-factly. He can't emphasise enough that the reason he is so bleak about college is because it bores him: not because he buckled under pressure. The job began as a three-week project in games testing that he took up with some other friends because it was "a nice job and I'm really good at playing". And, pausing for emphasis, he adds: "You just don't get such opportunities in India." After the three-week stint, Prashant's employers decided he was so good they would conveniently overlook his college degree, and so, he's been working full-time for the past two years.
Prashant wakes up at 7 a.m., leaves home at 8 a.m., reaches college after a "very painful and hard" two-wheeler ride at 9 a.m., finishes class at 3.45 p.m., and clocks in eight hours at work after that, managing to reach home only at 1.30 a.m. "Timings depend on the project on hand," he says. "I take up some big games." The job pays him Rs. 16,000 a month, of which he only keeps Rs. 2,000, giving the rest to his mother, since he's a self-confessed compulsive spender. The crazy hours seem worth it. "I absolutely love it," he says about his job. "The financial situation at home is also not that great, so I'm on my own." His mum is worried about his manic existence, but he reassures her, and says he does have time for other teen things. Like? A pause, and then: "I'm studying for my CAT, and I play games at home... "
Prashant's average day — "It's a double shift, with college in the morning and work in the evening" — is exactly reversed with Karthik M., a new employee at Food World. Karthik seems a little unsure of himself in this new environment amongst stacks of washing powder and value offers, but is crystal clear about why he took up this morning job just a month ago. "I do it for the money," he says, candidly. He reports at about 7.30 a.m. and stays till 5 p.m. after which he heads straight for class at Seshadripuram Evening College where he has enrolled for his first year P.U.. He's still in training at the bustling supermarket, but hesitantly says he's "enjoying it", and expects his first pay to be Rs. 1,200. He hasn't decided how he'll spend his first salary. "It's pocket money," he explains in Kannada. But a chance confession — "My father stopped working when I took this up... he was an auto driver." — indicates the money may mean more than funding for some movies and meals out.
Pocket money is really just spending money for other college kids who choose to stay out of the frenzy of the inter-collegiate circuit and in-house productions to kick-start their CVs instead. Tulika Mishra (not her real name), for instance, is a second year B.A. student well versed in Nokia handsets and "in" places to hang out. Her call centre job pays her Rs. 4,000 a month, and she puts in four hours a day, five days a week. "It's better than just sitting at home," she says. "And there are lots of perks." Cellular companies waive deposits on cellular connections, banks woo you with credit cards free of the yearly fee (for the initial period, at least), office car picks you up and drops you back, incentives come on a quarterly basis and there's lots of money to indulge in clothes, nightclubs, and even paying the EMI on a new camera phone is not too far on the horizon.
An HR manager at Tulika's company laughs and says: "You can always spot the college kids. They often turn up in jeans despite constant reminders that they should be in formals. And even when they do wear trousers, their floaters are a dead giveaway that they've come straight from college. They're the ones you always spot at the Coffee Day downstairs." But if they stop performing at work, she says, they're immediately replaced. There's no playing around here. Serious money means serious work.
U. Sudarshan doesn't need pleated trousers and a buttoned-up shirt in his part-time job. A third year student of J.S.S. Academy of Technical Education, he's been working with Safe Outdoors, an adventure company for the past eight years, as an instructor for nature awareness camps conducted for corporate employees on HR outings as well as for adventurous school students. This job is motivated by its content more than anything else. "Adventure just gives me another kick," he says, adding that he's travelled to some of the most scenic locations in Karnataka. Since the camps are mostly over the weekends, he doesn't have to forego college, and when he does, it never exceeds the 25 per cent that he is allowed to forego, anyway.
His parents were a little apprehensive about his job in the beginning, he remembers, adding that, "Whenever I don't score well, they naturally blame it on the job." But they have now accepted it since it's obvious that it has given him a lot, he says.
He explains it like an excerpt from a mission statement for one of the leadership camps he conducts: "I've gained confidence, commitment, and experience. Apart from college, we must all have something." And for many college students, that "something" is a part-time job.
HEMANGINI GUPTA
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