‘WON’T LET YOU MILITANTS LIVE HERE’
A special series by Hindustan Times takes a deep look at the hate all around us. Hatred is becoming a constant and cruel reality in India as hostile mobs kill in the name of religion, race, ethnicity, gender and identity It is time to pause, reflect and have an open conversation. Join us and share your views at hatetracker@hindustantimes.com Part Three: Kashmiri students who travel in search of education and security are often branded as ‘militants’ and physically abused
I have cleared the class XII board exam and am confused regarding the career I should choose as a PCMB student. I want to pursue a career in the medical stream but want to know about options other than MBBS and BDS. I would also like to know if it is advisable to drop a year to prepare for the entrance tests.
Becoming a doctor or a dentist is the dream of many students who like to study biology and also have the commitment and the perseverance to study for many years. However, as getting into a medical college is so challenging and competitive, and your interest may start to wane, it is good to think about alternative options. With subjects like physics, chemistry, biology and maths there is practically nothing that you can’t do. However, you need to narrow these options and consider the fields of work that interest you as well as evaluate your ability to complete a course. If you have a strong interest in a medical-related job, you can think about physiotherapy, paramedical sciences, food science and several others. Physiotherapists work in orthopaedic and rehabilitation departments and are increasing being employed in the treatment of patients with muscular and cerebral problems as well as in fitness-related fields like sports physiotherapy. There is an increasing demand for paramedical professionals across numerous hospitals and clinics being set up in the country. Paramedical techniques include: Medical Lab Technology (MLT) - performing laboratory tests essential for detecting and treating diseases, radiography - taking Xrays, CT Scan and Optometry - prescribing treatments for improvement of vision, and so on. Pharmacy is another important medical profession with jobs in hospitals and pharmaceutical companies. The B Pharm programmme is a fouryear course and the eligibility requirement is 10+2, physics, chemistry with Maths and/or Biology. If you enjoy subjects like biology you can also get into fields like food processing and nutrition and dietetics, for which there are growing job opportunities. You can also become a school teacher after completing a BSc or MSc plus BEd. So there are many career options available to you with your subject stream. Moreover, there are hundreds of different options in other fields which are also open for students from the science streams. So explore those that interest you, and then decide which one is the best one for you
I have passed class XII exam in the PCB stream with sculpture as my additional subject with a score of 89%. I am interested in computers. Can I pursue a career related to computers in any way?
You are probably a creative kind of person if you have taken up sculpture and are good at it. Today there are many opportunities for creative people in the field of design which covers nearly all areas of work, as the aesthetic aspect of any product or service has become very important. If you are good in drawing and have bright ideas you can consider careers in graphic design. If you like working on a computer there are options such as web design, animation design and multi-media. You can also consider a career in fine arts and sculpture for which you must have a creative talent that others would be willing to pay for.
With a booming IT industry, web designing and multi-media has a wide scope in India. A web designer can be absorbed in different fields such as advertising agencies, publishing, audio-visual media, design studios, printers and typesetters, manufacturers and department stores, marskills keting firms, exhibits and displays and educational institutes and libraries. A web designer has to concentrate on designing graphics and layout and hence should be visually artistic. A multimedia artist is a person who creates special effects and animated images for films, television programs and computer games. They generally make use of computers to design a series of images, so as to create animated motion pictures. Architecture is another field of work which requires strong computer as well as creative ability and analytic thinking. Of course you can also get into the IT sector if you also enjoy programming and coding. If you do not wish to do engineering you can take up a BSc IT, or BSc Computer Science, or a BCA (Bachelor of Computer Applications) which opens up opportunities in areas such as digital marketing, mobile app development, cyber security and networking among others.
I have a BSc degree in computer science, but I am also an avid blogger and write about footballrelated activities. I want to become a sports writer for a respected news agency. Do I require a degree or diploma in journalism or content writing to get a job in this field?
Journalism is an exciting field of work whether you work in print or broadcast media, like radio, television or digital. If you are good with communication skills and are into writing blogs, you can get into journalism and take up sports journalism, or become a commentator of the sports of your choice. If you have the abil¬ity to write content/commentary dur¬ing a live match, have in-depth knowl¬edge and deep inter¬est in a particular sport, and the abil¬ity to take data points and for¬mu¬late an intel¬li¬gent and accu¬rate article, this may be the right career for you. A post-graduate degree or diploma in journalism with a focus on sports journalism and some work experience can help you get into this field. However, I would like to strike a note of caution: sports journalism is a niche field in India where the job opportunities are limited. So while you may have a passion for sports, you must be prepared to struggle for some years before you find your feet.
As a sports journalist you can specialise in a particular sport, such as football, or work for a news organisation, sports magazine, website or television channel covering several sports and sporting events. Many sports journalists work as freelance journalists maintaining blogs on the internet where they share the latest sports news along with their opinions and analysis.
If your blog is noticed, it can open doors for work in this field. However, to be successful you need to have excellent networking skills so as to keep in touch with sports people, coaches, sports organizations, and others connected to the sporting field. There’s no doubt that the new media, whether Internet, social media or online publishing is growing at an incredibly fast pace.
Organisations globally are increasingly exploring user-generated content in the form of blogs, tweets, online forums, newsstands and databases and a host of other sources being sourced by their customers, so there is an increasing demand for sports journalists working on the digital and online media space.
While there are no necessary qualifications for sports journalists, it is best to have a formal journalism qualification to be taken seriously. Some internship experience, sports writing or reporting experience is an added advantage. There are several institutes offering postgraduate diploma courses in journalism, some like the Times School of Journalism, and International School of Media and Entertainment Studies (ISOMES), Noida, which also include specialisations in sports journalism.
If sport is your passion, you can also consider a career in sports management which is a mix of sports and marketing or business. It combines work as an agent along with the business and marketing aspects of the sport. Currently sports management is being offered by a few institutes in India. The Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM), in Kolkata offers a year-long course in the field. Indira Gandhi Institute of Physical Education & Sports Sciences (IGIPESS), affiliated to the University of Delhi has also introduced this programme. Other institutes offering such programmes include International Institute of Sports Management, Mumbai www.iismworld.com , and National Academy of Sports Management, Mumbai www.nasm.edu.in