Nagas are by nature self-sufficient and self-dependent to a great extent, because of which we largely lack the sense of the need to come out of our safety cocoon to face the competitive world outside. With regard to the Government of Nagaland conducting interviews and sending youth to ITFT Chandigarh, I believe it is helping establish personal visions and directions besides the basic goal of maximizing job opportunities.
Though I did not join through ITFT Chandigarh, I had the privilege of working in Amby Valley Sahara Lake City where we Nagas were considered lucky by non-Naga colleagues for being recruited without having to spend lakhs of rupees for management courses. One thing I noticed about fellow-Nagas was that many tended to consider working in hotel industry a low-profile job rather than a profession needing skilled and well-trained personnel. Such a tendency hampers one from learning maximum.
Today’s industry needs students who have impressive personalities and also smart candidates who can handle any given situation tactfully. Students need to acquire effective communication skills, and being taught grammar at Chandigarh should not be a big deal. It is a part of preparation towards dealing with clients and customers. If the mind is pre-occupied with the thought of already having been taught English language in primary schools, there will be no room to learn more and improve. Even a language professor does not know everything about his area of work, nor is an Englishman himself perfect in his own language.
In some case, a fellow-trainee himself may teach; but one should not deny the fact that he has Management background while Naga trainees do not. The fellow-non-Naga trainee could be just one month senior but he is a senior anyway and he deserves respect. One has nothing to lose by respecting others, because some day one will also be respected by juniors.
When it comes to placement, not all the 790 youth or 500 youth can be placed under the employment of the Oberoi or the Taj or Amby Valley. Only those who perform better than the rest will be absorbed by reputed companies and firms. To get recognition and differentiated, one will have to gain that required skill and efficiency. If “Jack of all trades and master of none” could still survive earlier, he does not stand a chance in today’s competitive world. One has to be competitive enough to grow and stand out in a crowd.
Among the trainees under ITFT Chandigarh, some have come back because they realize those jobs are not their cup of tea. A few came back owing to family pressures. Still there are others out there who got placements and enjoying their works while others may have switched jobs on seeing greener pastures. But those pastures would not have been noticed by them if they had not gone out in the first place.
One cannot expect jobs to be cakewalk. But odd working hours and the seemingly odd/offbeat jobs are something one has to be ready to live with, even before thinking about options. The job may appear monotonous after the initial enthusiasm wears off, if one enters a field for a glamorous lifestyle and highly-placed jobs only. Good and bad always co-exist. So it is important to look at even the positive side, and not focus on the negative alone. One cannot afford to overlook the fact that many of these students will come back changed - better or worse, but surely with a few important lessons learnt and some pearls of wisdom gathered. To sum it all up, positive attitude, honesty and hard work will never fail at bringing great rewards in life.
Eneingulo-u Lasuh
