what used to be an experiment earlier is nowadays an informed choice the decision to pause and mull over the infinite career choices is being considered seriously by a large number of students in india abhishek sharma 17 was amongst the thousands looking for admission in a top college however he decided to take a break from academics to take a break after my high school was the best decision of my life it helped me explore my real interests and perceive my career options better this was the time when he indulged in his passion film production making the most of this period he went on to work as an assistant director with a documentary filmmaker similarly ankita sehgal after finding out about gap year programmes decided to attend a ninemonth workshop with an ngo in uttarakhand sharing her experience she says we are so busy trying to get a seat in a college or university that we cannot even afford to look around and explore there are so many things outside the confines of classrooms and textbook learning and unless we explore we will be unable to pick up valuable lifeskills taking a breather from the educational cycle has been a western concept it originated in the decade following the second world war when youthtravel and cultural exchange was thought to be a useful tool to create global understanding and prevent further wars the concept has been a success in the us where gap fairs similar to college fairs are organised every year in india the first gap year college was started in mussourie uttrarakhand in 2007 to help students explore their interests and learn new skills started by former iitian vinish gupta this programme was later discontinued and has now metamorphosed into the centre for holistic learning and is based in karnataka though taking a year off is not a new phenomenon for indian students it continues to remain as a break period to prepare for competitive examinations however the scope of a gap year goes much beyond even though a gap year may seem like a period when you do nothing eventually this breather turns out to be the space for making perfect decisions in terms of life and career its like discovering your true self says reva dandage cofounder of swaraj university udaipur options galore today several institutes and organisations in india are offering gap year programmes that empower students with valuable skills and encourage a high level of critical thinking from theatrics to creative writing and carpentry to ecology students have varied options to choose from udaipurbased swaraj university offers a programme which lays stress on selfdirected learning skilldevelopment and green entrepreneurship similarly mahindra united world college pune is offering an experiential learning programme besides several volunteer organisations offer programmes in the area of educating street children volunteering women empowerment and travel opportunities both in india and abroad the idea of taking a gap year after high school