Gen Next dreams big

These troubled times of turbulence, riddled with recession and IT scams, may have left the rest of us stressed out and nervous. But not Gen N. Wearing optimism proudly on their sleeves, fresh graduates are marching ahead with their own creative business ventures instead of waiting for appointment letters from companies. Gaurav Bhandari, who is doing his final year of graduation at Nagarjuna Degree College was working as an accessory manager in a car showroom in the city. “With recession hitting the car market, I realised I didn’t have good prospects in the automobile sector. Starting something of my own was an idea I always toyed with and this seemed like the perfect time.” Gaurav is now all set to start his own designer store for men and has even imported the material from South East Asian countries. “My dad has helped me with the initial capital because he also wants me to have an independent career,” says the 20-year-old. Rohit Bajaj, a youngster who has just completed his BA, plans to get into a career that allows him to meet new people everyday. “with the tourism sector growing, the hospitality sector is a good option. But with recession playing spoilsport, I don’t have the time to run around for a job when there are hundreds of unemployed graduates right now. I’m planning to set up a library-cum-coffee shop along with a few friends. I’m sure this interesting concept will have many takers,” says Rohit. “This is a great time for startups, but of course, a bad time to get funding,” exclaims Kasturi Rangan, a 23-year-old avid gamer who is all set to launch his own portal called Bomodo. “Since there are no great gaming portals for casual gamers in India, we are coming up with a one stop destination for them. We are going to launch an online cricket game around the time of the next IPL matches, to cash in on its madness. We are building a prototype after which we’ll approach venture capitalists or else launch it on our own.” While some are busy planning their business ventures, a college student-cum-model, Sipika Khandelwal, has already started her modelling agency. “I realised that there are a lot of pretty, young girls in the city who want to get into modelling but we don’t have a professional agency that makes things easy. They used to come to me for advice. That gave me the idea of starting a creative venture instead of hunting for jobs in this grim market,” she says.

Don’t invest in Satyam

With the share prices hitting an all time low, thanks to the Satyam fiasco, many who could not invest in the market earlier are queuing up to make the most of the current situation. Asim Kumar, who invests at any opportune moment says, “It may not be a wise decision to invest in the IT sector now but it is definitely a good time to invest in other sectors like pharmaceutical, public sector banks and capital goods and I am doing that. The market has to revive in the near future.” For many, the slowdown also comes as an opportunity to expand their existing stock portfolio. Shubha Mehra, a school teacher, says, “I have been investing in denominations of thousands for quite some time now. In the current scenario, I hope to buy more scrips.” In spite of having incurred huge losses, people are queuing up to invest in markets with renewed “curiosity” value. Vikram Singh, who works as a manager with an MNC, says, “I have incurred a lot of losses in the past few months but this has not deterred me from buying shares at the moment.” a few adventurous ones are also buying Satyam shares in the hope that the government will not let the fourth largest company in the IT sector fail. S. Hussain, a businessman, says, “I bought Satyam shares when they were priced at Rs 70, Rs 40, Rs 20 and subsequently even when they fell to Rs 6. I may not get immediate returns from my investment in Satyam, but I am confident of the company getting revived in the long run.” EXPERT SPEAK 1. Check every company’s track record before taking a decision. 2. Invest in a sector which has good short and long term potential. 3. Keep the four Ps in mind — People, Potential, Product and Predictability. 4. Do not invest in Satyam now. There are too many uncertainties, no one knows how long the litigation will take. To make up for the cash crunch, the government might break up the company into small units and sell it off. High networth individuals who want to maintain IT sector in their vast portfolio can invest in large cap scrips like Infosys and TCS or mid cap scrips like Polaris. But middle class and average investors should stay away from IT sector. Courtesy Kutumb Rao, financial analyst, Prime India Securities and M.H. Shabbir, MD, SenSage Financial Services.

Spirited kids need care

An all too familiar sight at a mall or a supermarket are kids who seem to be fitted with springs. They jump and dash around from one place to another, kicking up a fuss. Some even decide to throw temper tantrums, bang in the middle of a crowd, even as helpless, embarrassed parents look on. Parents of such “hyper active” kids who are often subject to unsolicited advice from pitiful onlookers, on how to be a better parent, will be relieved to know that they aren’t bad parents. ‘Spirited’ children is a term used to describe difficult children who need to be handled with more care than others. “A spirited child has high needs and demands,” explains psychologist Dr Varkha Chulani. “They get overwhelmed by their feelings and often have meltdowns when they can’t handle or understand what is happening to them. In fact, their ability to express themselves loudly is often a sign that they are more in touch with their emotions than other kids. In spite of being extremely moody, spirited children are highly artistic, intelligent, intensely logical, compassionate and goal-oriented,” she adds. Since some children are genetically and psychologically different from others, their challenging behaviour is often interpreted as wilful disobedience. Sugatha Menon, a teacher and counsellor says, “People often think that spirited children are “bad kids”. They resort to destructiveness and ill manners, because they can’t differentiate between right and wrong easily. It is difficult for them to learn to be tactful and polite as they are very straightforward with their feelings. For instance if your child is hitting somebody on the playground, he/she needs to be taken aside and given a warning with an explanation as to why such behaviour will not be tolerated by anyone.” The key to tackle such children is to understand certain patterns in their behavior feels Dr Varkha Chulani. “Some children may reject food even when they are hungry because they get used to a pattern of always rejecting food just to throw a tantrum. This behaviour is common and can be triggered by various factors. Parents need to be constantly on the look out for potential triggers,” adds Dr. Chulani. Getting these children interested in hobbies also helps them keep calm and occupied, feels advertising personality Prahlad Kakkar. “It is normal for most children to be spirited, joyous and active. However if the child is overtly spirited all the time, then he/she could have a hyperactive disorder. They just need a lot of care, love and attention. Find out what interests them. Physical activity and yoga has tremendous benefits on hyperactive kids,” he adds.

Slapstick fare entertains city

Peals of laughter resonated in the auditorium at Shilpakala Vedika, when the play, A Perfect Divorce kicked off on Sunday evening. A hilarious comedy of mistaken identities, or a “a knotted comedy of errors,” as the play’s tagline reads, the plot had all the ingredients to make a perfectly enjoyable slapstick comedy. The play is about two couples — Punna and Kapur, and Rags and Chandni — and the misunderstandings created in their lives regarding a ‘divorce decree’ which was not made absolute. Utter confusion prevails throughout the play and the situation becomes more chaotic when Suchcha Singh, Punna’s army officer husband who was presumed dead, enters the plot. And what adds to the woe is Kapur’s friend’s niece Dolly who claims to have been married to Suchcha Singh for the past two years. Nasir Kazi won hearts with his hilarious antics playing the roles of both Suchcha Singh and as the gay divorce lawyer, Jetmalani. Both the male actors, Rakesh Paul and Rajesh Khattar were good with their comic timing, while, Vandana Sajnani was brilliant in the role of the simple Mrs Malaprop to whom Lebanese is synonymous to lesbian! Anupama Verma deserves a special mention. cheesy dialogues like Chandni’s “You be my taco and I’ll be your salsa” had the audience in splits.

Sankranti binds all cultures

Makar Sankranti or Pongal, celebrated in the month of Magh, unites the whole country in celebration. With numerous communities adding their own flavour to the festival with their quaint customs, Sankranti celebrations in Hyderabad take a whole new colour. In Telugu homes, Pedda Panduga is a grand affair that goes on for four days. K. Rajsekhar, Ceo of Media Minds, says, it’s the little traditions associated with each day that makes this festival the one that he looks forward to it all year long. “From the first day of Bhogi, to Sankranti, Kanuma and the final Mukkanuma, there are customs that are unique to people in AP. These include burning old and useless objects on bhogi to mark a new beginning and the ritual of placing the gobbemma or cowdung with the rangoli for prosperity. All this transports me back to my childhood days.” For Sushni Reddy, a young entrepreneur in the city, Sankranti is synonymous with family reunion. “Even if I call off all other vacation plans due to work pressure, this is one time of the year I keep myself free. It’s customary for all Andhraites who are working outside their city, to head back home. At home, I relish the traditional pulagam, a dish made of rice, green gram and pepper — a high cal fare I indulge in only once a year.” Pongal is also the biggest festival for Tamilians. And those in the city go all out to relive the traditional rituals practised back home. “This is one day of the year where I am happy to wake up before sunrise. The day begins with the symbolic gesture of boiling milk and rice till it overflows to mark prosperity. We later tie together pieces of sugarcane, ginger (symbolic of harvest) and turmeric (symbolising purity) in the direction towards which the milk overflowed,” says Nitya Iyenger, communication manager at a city hotel. Bengalis who live in the city too create a little Bengal down South. “Our most unique custom is preparation of payas (a sweet dish made of rice and milk), some of which is buried near the foundation of the house by the head of the family. It is a symbolic offering of the first harvest to mother Earth,” says Noboneeta Das, a Google employee. While the Gujaratis celebrate what they call Uttarayan with family get-togethers and pujas to the kul-devta, the Punjabis do it with “sweets, sugarcane and rice” that are thrown into bonfires, around which friends and relatives dance. “The rest of the day is spent singing and dancing over sumptuous makke di roti and sarson ka saag,” says Elma Pannu, working with TCS. Kashmiris, on the other hand, focus more on giving away gifts that symbolise prosperity. “Til (sesame) is considered auspicious and therefore, we go from house to house gifting til-gud laddoos to relatives and friends. we believe this will keep the friendship intact,” says Vaishali Raina, an interior decorator.

Sanskrit gets a boost

All eyes on Sanskrit With a focus on Sanskrit, five research projects in the language as well as the traditional shastras will be introduced by the Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha, Tirupati. An amount of Rs 19.43 lakh has been sanctioned towards this end by the University Grants Commission (UGC) after a proposal submitted by the varsity’s faculty members was approved. The university has also been granted an additional amount of Rs 7 lakh for introducing career-oriented programmes in Sanskrit. Apart from the above, diploma courses in translation and creative writing in Sanskrit and regional languages have also been introduced by the varsity. New ITIs in Andhra One hundred and forty three new ITIs are slated to come up in Andhra Pradesh. With an aim to provide industrial training and to generate more employment for youth, the state already has some 730 ITIs offering industrial training to students. Of the total sanctioned 143 ITIs, 100 will come up in the private sector, while the rest will be set up by the government. Said Technical Education Minister of Andhra Pradesh, R. Chenga Reddy, “This decision has been taken to modernise the government ITIs through the system of public private partnership.”