its not easy at all the media too has influenced many young minds to take up jobs their parents never thought of doing it was my passion when i was young i never thought of making it my profession poonam arora principal of bombay cambridge school in andheri west said children are so career conscious now that we sometimes feel out of touch so children need someone to guide them on their way youngsters today know they have one life to live and they want to make the most of it said aadeeb shaikh owner of thirsty fish a filmmaking and advertising company but now we have started these for classes nine and eight as well and they are amazingly clear about the choices they are making these days they are very assertive when it comes to their careers music was my hobby everybody wants to do something different something unique now students have a lot more choices since education has opened new horizons but today i earn around rs 45000 a month by doing what i love said dwayne gamree who is 21 secondly parents have become more open and want to give their children opportunities they never had for themselves however an offbeat career choice has its difficulties gamree concedes nobody wants to follow the crowd anymore said neena kalra principal of swadhyay bhavan school in matunga there is a demand for the programmes where career advice comes in a variety of flavours i love fashion and read all the glam magazines it helps that todays generation is wellinformed thanks to the internet and an explosion of news channels on television according to her indian education used to cater to middleclass aspirations to the need for secure jobs like that of doctors engineers and teachers sharron vaz a 16yearold college student wants to become a hair stylistcummakeup artist but then i cant see myself doing anything else he said earlier we used to organize career awareness programmes only for class ten students these courses are channels through which children express their creativity said child psychiatrist and career guide dr avinash desousa i want to be a part of that world educationist shakuntala kilpady said we should be appreciative of the way society is accepting these changes courses today are streamlined and tailormade for niche careers children have a lot of options the trend should only be encouraged by their families we now have courses for radio jockeys apart from those in fashion technology today children in mumbai are willing to go out on a limb to pursue offbeat careers but in the postliberalization era education has become individualistic focussing on the person rather than the mass they are ready to experiment with what they do they are interested in professions that give them pleasure and job satisfaction no more are those who try out different things looked down upon gone are the days when a class of students could be divided