And I changed my profession... (Part 5)

No journey is an easy journey. Similarly, my journey of capturing my transition in words is not easy. There are times which I find difficult to capture in words. Now I have come to a junction which was or still is very important in the overall process of my evolution. The point was to quit my existing job.

Though I started on this path with a plan to shift my profession, but to resign and devote completely to this new venture was a real BIG decision. I was working in a product based MNC and hence was drawing a really good salary. So looking at the bigger picture and losing on the short term gains (in terms of salary) was not an easy decision to take. But somehow it HAPPENED.

These are just a few lines, but it was a turmoil which I find difficult to pen. But as we know, every new birth is not an easy thing. Even a butterfly has to struggle a lot to come out of its cocoon before it can spread its beautiful wings.

So in September 2016 I was at home with just 2 students (including my daughter) and earning not even 1% of my salary.

Though I had made up my mind regarding taking tuition at home and working independently, I was a little distracted by taking franchise of a Mathematics program (some kind of classes with lot of sophistication). I liked their concept a lot as I love Mathematics, but in the end I felt it was too commercial. There were targets (in terms of number of students in your centre) to be achieved and for that lot of energy to be spent. I felt that I am running another rat race which I was fed up of. And within 2-3 months I gave up on that franchise with almost Rs. 10000 of investment gone. But I felt relieved. I wanted to lead on my newly chosen path on my own terms.

I had a plus point working for me. As my daughters are still school going, I had a ready network available. So couple of my younger daughter’s friends started coming to me for tuition. Couple of my neighbours started sending their children to me for tuition. With first term’s results (that of 8^th standard) of my elder daughter and her friend out, 2 of her classmates started coming. With this I got almost 9 students (of course including my daughters) within first 2-3 months.

As I had decided to take this up as a full-fledged profession, I wanted to grow it further. So I distributed handbills outside my daughters’ school. Also I distributed them in the area that I live. And the response was really interesting. With handbills distributed at school, I got a few queries but none materialized. And with 10000 handbills distributed in my area, I got only a single call and that girl joined my classes.

The lesson learnt was “In this profession i.e. of teaching, such publicity doesn’t help you much but only your reputation!”.  

So where do I stand now? By the end of this academic year, I have almost 20 students. Most of them started coming to me with someone’s reference.

Do I enjoy it? As a punch line during my farewell at office, I had said that till then I was working for the money, but now I want to work for something that money can’t buy. But I am actually trying achieve that. Yes, I enjoy thoroughly what I am doing right now. Interaction with different kinds of children. A healthy communication with my daughters at home. I am loving every bit of all this.

Yes, I have changed my profession. And it’s just the beginning of what I love to do!