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VIVEK
Vivek hastened to get ready to go to work. He quickly took a hot shower and performed Pooja to Lord Raghavendra before he went to his wardrobe. He chose to wear white pants and a dark purple checkered shirt. The noise of the exhaust fan and the smell of the sautéing oil and garlic filtered through the door. Mom must be preparing breakfast.
Even though his business would eventually turn out to be profitable, he needed to make sure enough students would register so that he could pay rent for the current month.
He thought about the different ways he could attract students to his institution.
His center was located near an engineering college and students would notice the signboard. However, he needed the students who studied in the other four colleges to become aware of his business.
What must be done to appeal to those students? Should he go there and demonstrate about the courses offered in his institution? He needed a Principal’s approval before he did that.
Snehal and Pooja would know about the marketing as they already worked in the educational and financial institutions. He would also seek his uncle’s and Arjun’s advice to improve the student’s enrolment.
After making sure his attire was perfect, he went to the kitchen. “Hi, Mum.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “What’s the breakfast?”
“It’s a upma.” She turned to him.
The smell of pickles and hot food wafted in the air.
“I told you not to trouble yourself.” Vivek furrowed his brows. “I can eat in a restaurant.”
“Don’t make a habit of eating outside.” His mother turned off the gas stove. “It’ll spoil your health. I can prepare for the two of us, right?”
Vivek’s mother wouldn’t listen to his request. Better he stopped arguing and listened to what she advised. “All right, Mum. I too don’t want to miss your culinary concoction.” He went to the dining hall and sat at the table.
His mother approached and served him the hot Upma along with some pickles. “How are things at your work?”
Vivek finished chewing the food. “Not very encouraging. It had been one week since we opened the center. The student’s enrollment is quite low.”
“Why?” His mother propped up her elbows on the table. “What’s the matter?”
“Maybe students aren’t yet aware of our new venture,” Vivek said. “And we can’t expect a good turnout so soon. We need to wait for another couple of months.”
Vivek liked to reveal his plan but waited for his mother to ask about it.
His mother served him some more food. “Have you thought of any other plan?”
“Plan for what?” Vivek stopped taking a bite of upma, a wheat flour food item. “You mean, to attract students?”
“Yes,” Prabha blinked.
“I’m going to market the brand and giving demonstrations at the engineering colleges.” Vivek ate another spoonful of food. “You know I’ve hired two girls –Snehal and Pooja. They know about promoting the business. I’ll talk to them about the matter.”
“It’s good to know.” His mother served him some coconut chutney. “You must be cautious in spending the loan amount. Save as much as you can.”
“Yes, Mom,” Vivek said. “I’m spending wisely.”
“I’m confident that you will be successful.”
Vivek too thought he would, but the mushrooming of educational institutions made him doubtful.
His mother came and handed him coffee. The aroma of the beverage wafted over.
“When are Snehal and Pooja joining?”
Vivek sipped his coffee. “Snehal will join today. Pooja is the receptionist, and she has already joined.”
“Make sure they work well,” Prabha said. “You should assign some work to them instead of leaving them idle.”
Vivek’s heart sank. He was a bit upset over his mother’s stern suggestions, but she was correct in her advice. “I know.”
“How much are you paying them? I hope you aren’t paying too much. ”
Vivek inhaled a deep breath. “Snehal is not hired on a salary basis. She earns fifty percent of the fees collected.”
“That’s good. It makes her work hard.” Prabha paused for a moment. “How about Pooja? Are you paying her a high salary?”
Vivek didn’t want to reveal the details. If his venture became successful, his mother would forget the expenses.
“Don’t worry about it, Mum.” He tried to change the subject. “By the way, do you suggest any tips for marketing our brand and attracting more students?”
Vivek’s mother sighed. “Word of mouth is important. Make sure you and Snehal teach students well and keep them happy.”
Vivek placed his empty cup on the table. “Thanks for your suggestions.” He picked his shoes from the closet and put them on. “Bye, Mum. I will return in the evening.”
“Are you taking Pankaj uncle with you?”
“Um-“
“I’ve told you many times to get your uncle’s help. Let him visit the institution often to monitor the activities. Make sure he’s there when you talk about the marketing strategies with Snehal.”
“Yes, we’re going together.”
His mother was right in suggesting to him. Vivek couldn’t afford to listen to her.
Vivek rushed towards his car.
He steered his car right and headed down the main street. The winter cold made him shiver. He became comfortable to the warm air from the heater.
The morning traffic was heavy. The street was filled with motorbikes, and students and young working men rushed to their destination with their bags stuck to their back. Vivek drove across the unmanned intersection with much difficulty before he arrived at his uncle’s place.
His uncle opened the door. He wore pale blue pants and a checkered blue shirt. And he appeared much younger than he actually was.
Vivek insisted on leaving for the institution and led Pankaj towards his car.
The center was opened and cleaned by the housemaid. The smell of disinfectant filled the air. They both went and sat in Vivek’s office.
Vivek turned to his uncle. “Keeping the low fees structure would be an advantage for us.”
His uncle smiled. “Yes, it helps us.” But his smile quickly faded. “That should not affect your profit. Snehal is taking half of the fees, and you should also benefit after paying the bills.”
Vivek nodded. “We will get to know about the profit only after the end of the semester.”
“Vivek, I’m proud of you for coming this far,” Pankaj said. “Let’s not worry about the number of students enrolled. It will take a minimum of six months to see success.”
Vivek grinned. “I agree with you.”
His glance shifted to the main door. Snehal, in her dark orange sari, entered. She looked around before she located Vivek in his cabin. She entered and smiled at both Vivek and Pankaj.
Vivek motioned to a nearby seat.
“I’m sorry for coming late.” She sat on the chair. She inhaled a deep breath. “Heavy traffic, you know.”
“It’s all right,” Vivek said. “And don’t call me Sir. Just say Vivek.” He smiled.
“Okay, Vivek.” Snehal returned a smile and lowered her gaze.
“Pooja told me a few students enrolled this morning?” Snehal asked with a curious tone.
“A dozen of them,” Vivek said. “And I told them you’ll conduct classes from tomorrow.”
Snehal straightened in her seat. ”Yes, I will. If we teach well and care for the current students, their classmates will follow them.”
“Are you sure about it?” Vivek’s uncle asked.
“Yes, I’m sure,” Snehal said. “This is one of the strategies we used at my previous institution.”
“I know your experience will count in making our business a success,” Pankaj said.
“What are the other ways we should follow to attract a number of students?” Vivek asked.
“Yes, Snehal,” Pankaj said. “Please share your experiences with us.”
She cleared her throat. “First thing, as I said, students will approach by the word of mouth. Other ways are by printing and distributing the pamphlets. We must also visit the colleges and give the demonstrations.”
Vivek widened his eyes. “I also thought on those lines.”
“Another important thing is to put banners at prime locations,” Pankaj said.
“That gives us impact across town,” Snehal’s eyes sparkled.
“We need to implement all these soon,” Vivek said. “Let’s make sure that we work towards marketing this week without fail. If all goes well, we’ll visit the engineering colleges in two days and give a demonstration of our business.”
Both Snehal and his uncle nodded.
Vivek sat outside the principal’s room at an Engineering college, waiting for the attendant to usher them inside. Snehal and his uncle sat beside him.
Vivek adjusted his tie when the attendant escorted them. The principal was seated on a leather chair and a large mahogany table sat in front of him.
Vivek slightly bowed. “Good morning, Sir.”
The principal waved seats in front of him. “Good morning.”
Vivek took the seat along with his uncle and Snehal.
Vivek gave a couple of pamphlets to Principal.
“Sir, I’m Vivek and worked as a software engineer in Bangalore for two years.” He paused until the principal finished reading the pamphlet. “I’ve started this institution to impart computer science knowledge to newly graduated students and make them industry-ready.”
The principal let out a heavy breath. “It’s a good initiative. But why did you leave your job?”
Vivek told the principal the reason. “I would like to demonstrate about my institution to your students so that all of us can benefit.”
The principal propped up his elbows on the table and clasped his hands. “We are also teaching these subjects in our college.” His eyes darted between Pankaj and Snehal before he fixed his gaze back on Vivek. “Why do you want our students to learn the same subjects twice?”
“There is a difference, Sir,” Vivek said. “We teach advanced .net and Java courses whereas your university syllabus is meant for the beginners. Also, we teach coding and implementing the software programs along with the theory.”
The Principal heaved a sigh. “Okay. You can conduct the demo for computer science students.”
“Sir, what if we conduct the demonstration to the entire computer science branch and also to those other branches who study these subjects?” Snehal asked. “It will be a good opportunity for your students to know about our institution.”
Pankaj turned to Vivek and then back at the principal. “It’s a good idea. And we are also planning to introduce the new course on spoken English. It will be helpful to all the students in the college.”
“Okay, I don’t have any objections,” the principal said. “I’ll tell about you to one of our faculty who handles the training related matters.”
The principal rang the bell to call the attendant. They waited in silence until the attendant arrived.
He directed the attendant to take them to professor Shantanu. “It was good to meet you all.” He shook hands.
“I’m sure the students will benefit from my experience,” Vivek said, clutching his hand tight.
The attendant took everyone to professor Shantanu’s place. Vivek scheduled the demo on the coming Friday.
Vivek and Snehal prepared the PowerPoint presentation at their institution. He surfed through the slides and then turned to Snehal who was busy on the internet. “Snehal,” he said. “Why don’t you look at my PowerPoint slides? I’ll correct them if you find anything is not professional.” Even though Vivek was confident about his preparations, he wanted a second person to take a look.
Snehal shifted her glance to Vivek’s laptop.
Vivek started the mock demo and navigated the slides.
Snehal told him to stop in between. “I would prefer the twelfth and thirteenth slides to be interchanged.”
“Why?” Vivek sounded anxious.
“Don’t you think Java was introduced first in the market than .net? So, it makes sense if you swap those two slides.” She smiled at him.
“Oh, yes.” Vivek returned her smile. “Because I worked on .net, I’d put it first. Anyway, thanks for pointing it out.”
They both laughed together.
On Friday, Vivek went along with his uncle, Snehal and Pooja to the Engineering College. Shantanu arranged the gadgets for the demo and enough chairs for the students to sit.
After Shantanu introduced Vivek to the students, he handed the microphone to Vivek.
“Good afternoon everyone,” Vivek said. “I thank professor Shantanu for assembling us here. I’m here to talk about my newly started coaching center, called Digital India. The main vision of this center is to impart the necessary industry-related skills to our students and empower them to work in the IT companies productively. You know that ninety percent of the engineers who pass out of the colleges aren’t industry-ready. And they’re not able to perform well in the interview because of the lack of good communication skills. Here are the courses we’re offering to you so that you can become proficient.”
Vivek pressed the remote to move to the next slide of the PowerPoint and explained about the subjects. He elaborated on the benefit of the packaged courses.
Vivek ran his eyes over the students. Everyone was keenly listening to his demonstration barring a few in the last line. He was sure the students would enroll for the subjects he demonstrated.
Snehal described her basic courses and they both answered the relevant questions raised by the students. Before ending their demonstration, Vivek told them to meet at his institution for further clarification.
Vivek steered the car and headed down the main street. “So, how did you feel about the demo, Snehal?”
“Good,” Snehal smiled. “You demonstrated the details very well.”
“You too did well and I’m sure the students are convinced,” Pankaj said.
“No doubt we’ll get the positive response,” Pooja added.
Later in the evening, during the college closing hours, many students approached the receptionist. Vivek was surprised to see so many waiting in the lounge. Some students stood, looking around for empty chairs to sit.
Vivek rose and approached Snehal. “Snehal, let’s help our receptionist. You address some of the students at your place. I’ll handle a few of them.”
He went out of her place. ”Please come to me, and if you have any questions, I’ll try to clarify.”
A few students followed Vivek to his office. Snehal ushered the rest to her place.
Vivek clarified their doubts about the syllabus and subjects offered. He gave them the registration form to fill up and told them to give it to the receptionist along with the advance fees.
A kind of fulfillment appeared on student’s faces after they interacted with Vivek.
Before leaving the institution, Vivek called Snehal and Pooja to come to his office.
“So, how many of them registered and paid the fees?” Vivek asked.
Pooja turned the file towards him. “We’ve around seventy students enrolled.”
Vivek let out a huge sigh of relief. The numbers are not bad, and I can pay the rent and other bills out of this semester. It is good that Snehal agreed to share the profit instead of taking a monthly salary.
“We’re visiting the remaining engineering colleges tomorrow,” Vivek said. “And Snehal, you can start teaching from tomorrow onwards.”
Snehal nodded. “Okay, I’ll.”