Workshop tells students how to make it in metros

Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, Oct. 27: What are some of the things students and people from the Northeast need to know when they move to metropolitan cities in India, such as Delhi? A recent workshop had just the tips to make life in the big cities a little easier.
A Delhi-based nongovernmental organisation, Pragtisheel Vision Foundation (PVF), in collaboration with the North East Council, organised a ‘youth empowerment workshop’ at the IMC Hall in Dimapur on Oct. 27.

Chief coordinator of the workshop, Chumbemo M Patton, described the workshop to be a ‘dual interactive programme’ to ‘take learning to a new experience.’ He spoke about the plight of Naga persons who choose to pursue employment or further studies in metros particularly in Delhi. They are often are unaware about city life, he said.

‘We don’t have any idea where to look for the right kind of job or how to go about it,’ he said. It was to keep them informed and prepare students with the right toolkits to help them adapt with the city life there that the event was organised, he said.
Patton spoke on issues of scams and human trafficking faced by the Northeast population in the cities. The first thing any non-local should do is to ‘master the language where he/she is staying,’ he said.

Keeping in mind Delhi as one of top educational hubs of the country, thousands of students flock to the city for further studies. At the same time, a lot of fraud takes place, particularly on students from the Northeast region, he said. He offered ways to tackle fake encounters in the ‘city life.’ Some of them include doing research about the city one is moving to; knowing the nature of a place, watching out for local mafias; acting smart and confident, etc. Further, he asked students to be ‘street smart’ in the cities there.

‘Don’t become slaves to mobile phones,’ he advised. ‘Our brain is shrinking because we are using less.’ The main reason was that they were not exercising their brains, he said. He urged students to use these devices for the right reasons. ‘Greatness and success is for anyone. It is all a matter of how bad you want it to be.’ He encouraged students to have confidence in themselves and to be more diligent.

Former student leader and entrepreneur Timothy Chongthu also spoke. He spoke on the topic ‘higher education and career aspects in the cities.’ He said that a person’s career starts right after class-X; it is a period when one decides their ‘destiny.’

Owing to the lack of awareness among students from Nagaland with regard to building a career in a specific field, Chongthu offered in his presentation details about the educational courses and various programmes that available at central universities.

The universities include Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Ambedkar University in Delhi, Jamia Millia Islamia University, etc. He talked about career scopes in the field of the armed services, and through various other competitive examinations.

The workshop was conducted in Kohima on Oct. 25 too. Over 200 students from various schools and colleges in Dimapur and women organisations attended the workshop.