Cashing in on summer

Several city students are turning their hobbies into jobs during the summer vacations in order to earn a little extra money

With the onset of summer vacations,college students all over the city have a lot of free time on their hands during the holidays. While most students end up wasting the holidays doing nothing a few however,make productive use of this free time,using their skills or hobbies to try and earn additional pocket money.Anvita Upponi is one such student,who has turned her passion for painting into a lucrative source of income. The 18-year-old,who is a first-year student of art at the Fergusson College,conducts workshops on Warli painting for children every summer. Anvita was first exposed to the tribal art form in class seven,and it has been her hobby ever since then. She also honed her skills further by attending two courses at the Indiaart Gallery.Two years ago,she decided to use her talent to make a profit,and she conducted her first workshop in May 2008. The workshops were an instant hit,and several parents enrolled their children,which encouraged her to make it an annual event. The workshop,which lasts a week,targets children between the ages of six and sixteen. “I started conducting these workshops mainly as a source of extra income,but I enjoy teaching painting and also like children,so it doesn’t feel like a job,” she says with a smile.She also plans to incorporate an advanced batch this year,as many students who attended the previous year would like to learn further.”I am pleasantly surprised at the popularity and demand for what started out as a hobby for me,and might even have to add an extra batch this year to accommodate all the students,” she says about the class this year,which she plans to start from the May 3. And taking a totally different que is management student Abhishek Bhide who converted his passion for football into a training camp where he teaches students the intricacies of the game. Bhide has been playing football for almost a decade,and has represented his school and college in the past. A couple of months ago,the 19-year-old joined the Brazilian Soccer School (BSS) as an instructor,and has been teaching the basics of the game to children between the ages of six and 13. “A friend of mine was already working at BSS,and he mentioned to me that they were looking for people to teach them the basics of the game. I thought it would be a good use of my time as well as an opportunity to earn some extra pocket money,so I applied for the post and took up the job,” Bhide says,adding,”Teaching young kids requires a lot of patience sometimes,but it’s a lot of fun as well.” And while football and arts might be the driving force behind some youngsters,for people like Vaidehi Mirashi,a student of the Symbiosis College of Commerce,the job of a content writer has been equally enriching. She was recruited by Ayush Software to work as a content-writer for one of their websites. She works from home and submits about 25 articles a week,getting paid per article depending on the number of words. “I had first started working for the company on a full-time basis,where I was paid a fixed salary every month. However,this required me to go to office,which was rather inconvenient because it quite far away,so I started freelancing instead,” she says. Mirashi adds that working from home gives her more flexibility,and the extra money is quite useful.