Students master new trades during Covid pandemic, prove their mettle
Students master new trades during Covid pandemic, prove their mettle
Coimbatore: Tarunika Jagadeesh and Divea Kabilan, who were pursuing BTech in fashion technology at the PSG College of Technology, were a little disappointed when the lockdown was imposed. They feared the pandemic situation would delay their plans to launch a new apparel brand. However, they utilized the time for an online course on styling and brand management and studying the market. Once they gained the confidence, the 19-year-old girls presented their plans before their parents in July and the latter supported them with an initial investment of Rs 25,000 each, which they said had to be returned in a year. But the girls earned enough to return the amount in a little more than a month. That isn’t all! They have sold products worth more than Rs 5 lakh till date.
Pointing out that they had long been planning to unveil their own brand, Divea said they had been waiting for the right opportunity. “The lockdown provided us ample time to study the market. We surveyed more than 600 people to know the current trend and spoke to many experts, stylists and celebrities, in addition to spending time at textile stores observing people’s choices. In the end, we decided to design and produce bottom wears, as there weren’t many brands and varieties in that segment.”
Inspired by the French series and the movies of the 1960s and 80s, their products sport a vintage look.
Divea’s friend Tarunika said they would produce only 100 pieces of a design, which won’t be on offer later. “If people like the design, they have to go for it immediately. Otherwise, they would miss that for ever. We have designed 12 varieties of bottom wears for men, seven for kids and 25 for women so far.”
It isn’t an isolated venture of its kind. In fact, several school and college students have utilized the lockdown period effectively to do something their own.
Nineteen-year-old M Bharathkumar, a student of PSG College of Arts and Science, is one among them. He has designed and manufactured an automatic hand sanitizer machine on his own. He has made 10 machines that are installed at his college and Bharathiar University, among other places, so far.
Bharathkumar said, “The idea to design the automatic hand sanitizer machine struck me during the lockdown. On a trial and error basis, I designed it using things like pic microcontrollers and minute sensor. The life of the machine is much higher than that of similar products available in the market. I have also applied for a patent.”
Meanwhile, M Santhosh, a Class IX student of St Paul’s Matriculation Higher Secondary School, has learned juggling from his magician cum juggling father Magic Maha during his free time and started doing independent shows. The 14-year-old said, “About three months ago, I learnt to juggle with rings and balls, and on rola-bola from my father. Last month, I performed during a birthday party. Now, I have agreed to do two shows on the New Year eve.”
His father said they were getting several inquiries from event managers, who specifically asked for Santhosh’s appointment.
“While I wasn’t interested in juggling earlier, I started liking it when I learned the techniques behind it. I am also learning several other techniques from my father. I practice at least for 1.30 hours a day. Recently, I had entered the Indian Book for Records for juggling balls on a wave board for a minute,” Santhosh said.
Published at Sun, 20 Dec 2020 22:41:15 +0000
