An array of unconventional career options

IIPM BBA MBA Institute: Student Notice Board

Thanks to an array of unconventional career options, students in India can today afford to dream beyond the straight and narrow

The world of academics and vocational training is expanding rapidly in India. Just as well. India has the biggest young population in the world ' it is projected that by the year 2020, 65 per cent of the nation's labour force will be under the age of 30. The need for scaling up skill development in conventional and unconventional entrepreneurial domains is, therefore, immense.

The proliferation of niche, specialised courses is an expected response to the changing realities of one of the world's fastest growing economies. It has thrown open new opportunities for students seeking careers that go beyond the conventional. Cosmetology, for instance, is serious business today. So is Biodiversity Conservation. And these are only two of the numerous options that are available to the academically adventurous.

A large majority of aspirants in India still probably dream of being engineers, doctors or corporate executives ' and that is quite understandable for job security is the prime consideration ' but not everybody today needs to confine himself/herself within familiar pastures. There is life beyond arts, commerce and science.

Let us take one example. The success story scripted by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has changed the face of the city. It has emerged as a model of infrastructure development for other Indian metros. But there is something else that Delhi Metro has done ' it has created a demand for manpower to run its services. So, today a Metro Technology course is offered by several institutes.

But those that aren't cut out for a technology-oriented course can give Fashion Styling a shot. The course, offered by National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) and Pearl Academy, among others, has been attracting students. Manoj Kumar, a NIFT graduate, says: 'This course widens one's horizons and professional choices.' Fashion Styling covers make-up, hair grooming, photography, and computer and IT applications.

Manoj and two of his outstation friends studied Fashion Styling in NIFT and stayed together during the course but are today in different fields. 'I am a senior quality inspector, one is in merchandise and the third works in Arvind Mills. Once your foundation is strong, you can choose your own line and branch out,' he says.

Manoj belongs to a lower middle class rural family where the focus was on job orientation. Hence, when he decided to join NIFT, his father was rather unhappy for he was unsure what the future held. 'I have managed to prove that my decision was right. I travel around the world and my father has no reason for complaints anymore.' Yet another rapidly growing area of expertise is media and entertainment management. With media platforms mushrooming around the country, the business needs professionally trained MBAs who can market, manage and lead brands. An MBA degree with specialisation in media and entertainment degree is much sought after these days.

In the fast evolving domain of new age courses, even a non-science student can opt to study Science Policy. Take the case of Rahul Mane, a Pune-based journalist. Until recently, he wasn't even aware of such a course. He is now a Science Policy student gathering holistic knowledge about society, environment, culture, history and the effect that they have on science.

Says Rahul: 'This course is offered in Tata Institute of Social Sciences, JNU and Central University of Gujarat but with different names. This is a research-oriented study which apprises a candidate of the effects of history, geography, economics and environment on science and technology. It will help me get a job in research, an advisory position in the government, an NGO or the UN.'

According to leading career counsellor Pervin Malhotra, it is crucial for students to get into unconventional courses with their ears and eyes open. When choosing a course, they should be clear about what they intend to do in the future. She says: 'One must choose these new courses with due diligence for it will take them some time to establish scope of employability.' Of course, fresh opportunities are being presented with bright career prospects as a lure. As the course fees aren't negligible, parents and students alike should tread with caution. The surge in different new age courses is a good sign for the Indian education scenario given the traditional rigid and compartmentalised courses did not give any leverage with the skills to students who wish to take advantage of emerging opportunities coming due to influx of MNCs and billions of dollars of investment. Alongside is a suggested list of new courses and some of relevant institutes.

A slew of new options

Science Policy
Eligibility: Masters in any discipline
Institute: Jawaharlal Nehru University, School of Social Sciences
(www.jnu.ac.in)

Packaging and Printing
Eligibility: Intermediate
Institute: Indian Institute of Packaging (www.iip-in.com)
Manipal Institute of Technology
(www.mitprinting.org)

Fashion Styling
Eligibility: Intermediate
Institutes: Pearl Academy of Fashion (www.pearlacademy.com),
National Institute of Fashion Technology (www.nift.ac.in)

MBA, media and entertainment
Eligibility: Graduation
Institute: Manipal Academy of Higher
Education (www.manipal.edu)

Metro Technology
Eligibility: B.Tech or Bachelor of Architecture
Institute: Indian Institute of Technology (All the IITs)

Development Finance
Eligibility: Graduation
Institute for Financial Management and Research
(www.ifmr.ac.in)

Right to Information
Eligibility: Graduation
Institute: K.C. Law College
(www.kclawhsnc.edu.in)
Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth
(www.tmv.edu.in)

Pet Grooming
Eligibility: Animals Lover
Institutes: Scooby Scrub
(www.scoobyscrub.com)
Top Dog, Mumbai (email: topdogbombay@gmail.com)
Tail Waggers
(www.tail-waggers.com)

Digital Retouching Artists
Eligibility: Intermediate or equivalent qualification
Institute: Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics
(www.maacindia.com) Arena Aptech (www.arena-multimedia.com)

Biodiversity Conservation
Eligibility: B.Sc
Institute: Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University
(www.ipu.ac.in)
Bombay Natural History Society (www.bnhs.org)

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Ragging rights and wrongs

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Many steps have been taken in recent years to weed out ragging from campuses; but worries still nag college freshers and their parents. Aliya Abbas finds out why

School is behind you. You are ready for life in a college. There is excitement in the air. But amid the burst of activity an indefinable fear lurks in your heart. You have heard horror stories about bright young freshers being mentally pulverized by seniors on college campuses around the country. The dread of ragging psyches you out of your mind.

Indeed, ragging is rampant across India despite the authorities threatening stringent measures against the perpetrators. Once treated as a mere initiation ritual, it constituted largely harmless ribbing senior students indulged in to welcome newcomers to the campus. It was all done in jest and good humour. Ragging remained within civilized parameters. In recent years, however, the practice has assumed 'illegal' proportions. As ragging crosses the limits of acceptability, it is important for new students to know their rights and stand up for them. An anti-ragging law is in place.

Over the years, ragging has metamorphosed into something ugly. In the 1980s and 1990s, it used to be limited to undisruptive acts that usually culminated in singing, dancing and bonhomie. But in recent years, ragging has turned nasty, even life-threatening. Physical assaults, sexual abuse and mental torture have scarred many students for life, forcing some to opt out of their colleges, some to take the extreme step of killing themselves.

Prof. Raman Rao, principal, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), Hyderabad, says, 'It is our duty to protect the interests of each student. They come here with high hopes. Every college or university in the country should take stringent measures to stop ragging.'

No law can be effective until people are aware of it. Says Harsh Agarwal, co-founder of CURE (Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education), a Delhi-based NGO, 'There is a need to define ragging. Before making laws, one has to accept ragging as a social evil rather than as a mode of breaking the ice between new and old students on a campus.' He suggests that students could be educated through seminars, debates and street plays, besides other modes of communication. 'Ragging is not just limited to government colleges but has spread to new private institutions as well,' he adds.

Ragging is such a scourge that both students and their parents are today wary of colleges and hostels. Who can forget the tragic case of Aman Kachroo? Last year, the 19-year-old lad went to study medicine in Himachal Pradesh. He was beaten so mercilessly by his inebriated seniors that he lost his life. Since then, many students have been reported to have committed suicide after being ragged.

To prevent recurrence of such incidents and help students across the nation, the University Grants Commission launched a 24x7 toll free helpline (1800-180-5522) last year. Nearly 300,000 students from various states approached UGC for help but only 500 lodged formal complaints against either the college authorities or the culprits. Most students are apprehensive of the likely repercussions of standing up to this reprehensible practice. Says Agarwal: 'I am in favour of a soft approach. Just implementing laws or levelling charges under various sections of the Anti-Ragging Act will not help. Instead students should be made aware of what can be done to prevent ragging.' 'College authorities should encourage friendship-based activities, where students can learn from each other. Only then will India be a ragging-free nation. We should sensitise parents, teachers and peer groups in both universities and colleges,' adds Agarwal. The good news is that awareness is growing nationwide. The media has taken up the cause and that has helped make people aware of the ugly and fatal consequences of ragging. The Human Resources Development Ministry and various college authorities, too, have strengthened rules to prevent ragging.

There has been an appreciable increase in reporting of ragging cases in recent times, but there is still a long way to go. Ankit Mehrotra, a fresh graduate from a leading engineering college in Gurgaon, says, 'We were not ragged on the campus but while returning home in a college bus. We were forced to perform demeaning acts in front of girls.' Asked whether he ever reported the matter to the college authorities, he says he did not for fear of the consequences. 'I had to complete my term there at any cost,' he says.

The fact that many students still refrain from reporting cases of ragging to the college authorities or their own parents proves that the laws are still not strong enough to inspire confidence. Until iron-clad laws are implemented, the exercise aimed at eradicating ragging will be futile. But on many campuses, some success has been achieved. A professor at Delhi University's political science department, says, 'Because of anti-ragging laws and the active role of the various college authorities, no cases of ragging have been reported from our campus.' He adds: 'We conduct surprise checks in and around classrooms as well as in the hostel premises, this way we make sure that no untoward incident occurs.' Similarly, Christ College, Bangalore, is ragging-free. 'We see to it that no such incident ever happens in our hostel. Parents leave their children here trusting us. It is our responsibility to provide them with a healthy environment where they can study in peace,' says Cicily Cherian, warden of Christ College girls' hostel.

Bengal Engineering College, once a notorious hub of obnoxious forms of ragging as well as student unrest, has shed that reputation to a great extent. The college, located in Shibpur in the outskirts of Kolkata, has witnessed much improvement since Ajay Kumar Roy took over as the vice-chancellor in 2009. 'This isn't just media hype; things have really changed in BE College,' says first year student Soumitra Kar.

In Hyderabad's JNTU, the campus has reported no cases of ragging but the hostel has. Says a B.Tech student T. Mohan Chary: 'About six months ago, at least five students were suspended for ragging. They were handed over to the police. In fact, our principal also made sure that they did not appear for their semester test, leave alone the final exam. Since then, no case of ragging has been reported either on the campus or from the hostel as stringent actions are being taken and we are spreading awareness about ragging through seminars and other significant mediums.'

A fresher, Anushka Siddiqui, is excited about beginning her higher education in Delhi University. She says she does not fear being ragged at all as there are strict rules. Her mother, Ranjana Banerjee, a lecturer at JNU, agrees: 'The authorities are taking serious steps to curb ragging. So I have no apprehensions about sending Anushka to college.'

DU might have got its act right, but not every college or institute in this country can claim to have weeded out ragging for good. Worries continue to cast a shadow on young minds as many loopholes still remain to be plugged.
(Some names changed on request)

A success story

Jyothi Nivas College, Bangalore

The college follows to the T all the rules laid down by the Anti-Ragging Committee. They include:
Cancellation of admission
Suspension from attending class
Withholding/withdrawing scholarship/fee concession and other benefits
Debarring from appearing in any test/examination or other evaluation process, and withholding the results
Debarring from representing the university in the fest, sports or other such events
Suspension/expulsion from the hostel
Rustication from the college for a period of up to 4 semesters
Expulsion from the college and consequent debarring from the admission to any other institution
Fine of Rs.25,000/-
In the case of offences of very serious/grievous nature, referring the case to police, in addition to any other punishment
Collective punishment where the offence is committed collectively by a group or by a class making it difficult or not possible to identify specific persons

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A language that divides

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A university is a cultural hub. But divisions run deep beneath the apparent bonhomie. Anil Pandey tries to bring out the English versus vernacular division in our high temples of education, and examines its effects on Indian society

Scene 1: The canteen of Delhi School of Economics (also known as D School) in Delhi University's north campus. Equipped with expensive mobile phones and gadgets, the boys and girls are chatting and having fun. A glass of a cold drink in one hand and a cigarette in another, a guy is discussing the latest music album of an American band. The whole canteen is buzzing with activity.

Scene 2: A tea shop adjoining the old office of the Delhi University Students Union gate. Contrary to D School's guys with expensive gadgets, here students are sitting on sidewalks and walls sipping tea. Most of them are not wearing branded clothes. The D School students call them desi.

Scene 3: Canteen of PG men's hostel, Delhi University. Judging by their language, most of the students sitting in this canteen are from South India. The South Indian food served here is delicious.

Scene 4: Momos Point near Batra Cinema at Kamla Nagar, near Delhi University. Here lies a different world. Boys and girls with small brown eyes, and not very tall, mostly wearing low-waist jeans and loose T-shirts crowd this joint. They are the students from the Northeast.

These are scenes from one of the country's most prestigious universities where studies, fashion and glamour go hand in hand. It's a cultural melting pot in the sense that students from across the country come here to study. They bring with them the whiff of their respective cultures and enrich the university scene. Students from different regions and from diverse academic backgrounds mingle with each other, yet keep a distance. The divide ' linguistic and cultural ' is too conspicuous to miss.

Student leader Basant Jha says, 'Delhi University has many student associations based on languages. For instance, the students from UP and Bihar have formed Purvanchal Students Association, those form Northeast have Northeast Students Union and so on. In addition to these, there are Kerala, Gujarati, Manipuri and Naga student unions.'

Such linguistic divisions are found in almost all the big universities in the country. In some states, the division is based on differences between English and the vernacular language. But this division is not merely about the language ' the medium of studies also reflects the economic and social status of a student. English medium students are treated as the privileged ones, and if you believe some of the vernacular students, they get more attention from teachers as well as from the university administration.

A general perception is that those who go to English medium schools are likely to be more sophisticated, urbane and well-mannered than their counterparts who go to the state-run vernacular schools. This perception, obviously, does not go down well with the vernacular students, who feel marginalised and deprived. The secretary-general of the Gorakhpur University Teachers Association, Dr Chandrabhushan Ankur, says, 'There is a class divide in our education system. English in India has been more than just a language. It has been a culture and a class. Although in our university Hindi and Bhojpuri mediums are prominent, but English-medium students get special attention. The underlying assumption is that English-medium students are far more sincere.'

Generally English medium students get more pocket money because they usually come from well-off families. An English medium student does not mind blowing up Rs 500 to Rs 1000 in a day ' the kind of amount that can sustain a student from a weaker financial background for a week. Chennai-based student Virag feels, 'English medium students' lifestyle is very different from that of other students.' After the rise of the service sector in India, it became evident that the mastery of English is necessary to get a high paying job. No wonder then that even in rural areas more and more students are opting for English medium education. 'English is the global language. Not only do students get more books in English, but also greater employment opportunities. That's why many students here regard Telugu as a second class language and prefer English medium,' says T. Mohan Chari, a B.Tech student at Jawaharlal Nehru Technical University, Hyderabad. He is quite right. The biggest challenge for vernacular students is to find text books and study material in their language. 'Hindi and other regional languages lack quality textbooks though the number of vernacular medium students is greater than English-medium students. The university administration should make an effort to get good English books translated into other languages. Delhi University has created a special department for the job, but barely two or three books are translated in a year, which is clearly not enough,' says a DU lecturer.

Vernacular students feel they do not get good marks as the majority of teachers are from the English medium. Says ex-student leader Aditya Jha: 'Vernacular students should get separate classes and should be taught in their own medium. Their exam sheets should be checked by teachers who've done their education in either Hindi or in a regional language.'

However, when it comes to awareness about social and political issues, the vernacular students score over their English medium counterparts. The former are more aware of the burning issues and problems and are more active politically. Rohit Chahal, a former executive councillor of Delhi University Students Union, says, 'The DUSU election is an important affair as the union not only raises sensitive issues but also determines the direction of student politics. But on election day, most of the public school, English medium type in DU disapper. They prefer to watch a movie or a rock concert rather than taking part in student union elections.' Clearly, the linguistic division in our educational institutes is at multiple levels and is somewhere seeping into our society as a whole.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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SEX AND THE CITY-2: Vexed in the city

16 going on Sex-teen

Exclusive Survey: Sex and the city

Sex Education

Lacks the zest and verve of the tv series; also, a plot

The ladies are back, bolder than ever! Wait, make that older than ever. Because the unnecessary sequel to the originally unnecessary movie to a highly successful TV series is pretty jaded, never mind the dazzling outfits and the change of locale from New York to Abu Dhabi. Actually the change of location is the most annoying factor in the movie because as a fan of the TV show I thought there was still juice left to squeeze in the Big Apple. The New York set up is what gave 'Sex And The City' its panache but this time around the all expenses paid trip to Abu Dhabi that Samantha (Kim Cattrall) works out for the foursome is taken at the expense of the loyal viewers of the show.

Sure, you might want to discuss some outfits and some plot points after the movie, but while the former will give you some talking points, the latter is pretty much non-existent. It is a mash up of some of the sentiments we have seen aplenty on the show and the rest are cliched and familiar instances of troubles with bringing up kids (Charlotte and her young daughter), the adjustments you make in married life (Mr Big and Carrie) and handling a boss who's incapable of handling a subordinate who's more intelligent (Miranda).

The brands are there in droves and the movie seems to have sold its soul to commercialism. And seriously, no matter how big a fan you were of the show, let me assure you that there's no way you'll be able to handle four women bitching about their problems for two and a half hours! Forget about freshness, actor's expressions or even the emotions; the only things that change are the clothes.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.IIPM BBA MBA Institute: Student Notice Board
Run after passion and not money, says Arindam Chaudhuri
Award Conferred To Irom Chanu Sharmila By IIPM
Prof Rajita Chaudhuri follow some off-beat trends like organizing make up sessionsIIPM Prof Rajita Chaudhuri's Snaps