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Plucky ones on the prowl

Photo: K. Ananthan

Work is pleasure Not just for money, youngsters opt for part-time as hobby also

The TV sits on the table, painfully exposing its innards. Inside its belly, a tangle of wires writhe and circuits mounted on boards spread. Somewhere in the labyrinth, somewhere in the deep underbelly from which stream all our favourite serials, soaps, cricket matches and of course, MTV, lies a problem.

Hands on the table that regularly sees macabre anatomies and ghastly ripping of burnt TV sets, stuck VCDs, and scrambled music systems, Ashok takes a long and hard look, thinking, much like a surgeon what to expect in that. He checks to see if power is flowing through that. He pokes at some of the nodes. He solders the circuits. Hissing, it raises a tiny puff of smoke, accompanied by a tangy, metallic smell. He checks to see how it works. Images jig jag, making a face look like stretched as if pulled at both ends, scroll up, finally ending in a blackout for good.

“This is my work for a part of the day till afternoon,” says the boy with a twinkle in his eye that saw many a blackout. Interested in how stuff works, in how electrons could create pictures, he ‘learnt this’ which now helps him fund his upkeep and yet study his B. Sc in Electronics stream. Countless Gen Y-ers like Ashok have caught wind in their sails, opened themselves up to many opportunities that exist for work instead of waiting for a call to come. They are plying their trade and earning bucks. They are technicians for the TVs you’ve managed to bust, plumbers for plugging a hole in your kitchen sink, musicians in a band, accountants for keeping your books updated, teachers for your unruly kids and instructors for your Windows-learning US-bound daughters. Plucky and spunky, they are the ‘I-offer-my-services-for-your-need’ entrepreneurs. Long wait for jobs are not for them for they are street smart enough to harness their talents and ambitious enough to score big-time. With tech industry putting up shops in two-tier cities, part-time jobs have really taken off.

Simhachalam, an M. Sc chemistry student, is yet another part-timer who wants to ‘go for research in organic chemistry.’ Coming from a family of lesser means, he takes up tuitions for +2 and degree students. “I am proud of my ability to earn money not only to fund my own education but also to help my parents.” Apart from money, “teaching gives me a new perspective on the subject and depth too. Now, I understand the things which earlier went over my head.” It also has “positive effect on my dream of going for research.”

These guys have it so good these days, combining work and studies. Their distinctive ability lies in the fact that they make most of their interests and earn their living too in the process. “It’s a very good thing,” says Rama Rao, a lecturer in sociology. “Working while studying gives a real feel of work, value of time, discipline and money. Moreover, it gives them an opportunity to counter the real world what they study in books.”

Finally, the circuit Ashok is working on, gasps to life and power bristles in its veins and sinews. The images that pop up on the screen are crisp and neat, not grainy and chunky. Britney Spears’ song plays on MTV “Now you’re steady, you damn girl…" With a happy smile on his face, Ashok rushes to his college.

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