Having attended to them, he then without wasting any time hurries to the next table to collect the used dishes and makes his way to the kitchen.[break]
This is Sampurna Mathema’s routine everyday, as a part-time worker in a restaurant for the past two years.
“To say that the job of a waiter is easy is an understatement. Sometimes it gets really tedious and it can get really infuriating when you have to deal with difficult customers,” says Mathema.
Contradicting the point he made, he adds, “But the beauty of this job is that it’s not always busy, and during my leisure time, I can pretty much indulge in anything.”
He started doing this job to support his studies and cover his extra expenses. “When my father got retired, I didn’t want to be a burden on my family and so I decided to work so that I could at least pay off my college fees,” says Mathema who is also a first year undergrad student.
Happy with what he is doing, he explains how earning for himself gives him immense joy and satisfaction. “Since I started working early, it’s taught me to become more responsible and I can see myself go a long way from here.”
Moreover, he thinks that this job teaches him to keep his cool under any sort of distress and work under pressure and also to manage time and money.
Be it due to the financial crunch, to kill time, or to put their skills to the best, many youngsters are trying their hands at part-time jobs.
It is a perfect option for those who are not yet ready to commit themselves to fulltime jobs due to various reasons.
Samira Shrestha, 22, was tired of staying idle after coming back from her morning classes from college.
Since she had ample time to utilize, she thought that a part-time job would be apt for her as it would help her without hampering her studies.
Moreover, as she claims, she is a shopoholic; she did not want to hear her parents nagging her for extravagantly spending their money.
“The pocket money I got was really not enough and I couldn’t do much with it,” she says.
Since most of her friends were also already working, she found the idea of doing a part time intriguing.
She then started working as a salesgirl at a girls’ clothing store in New Road, which is owned by one of her relatives.
“When they asked me to become a salesgirl and help them around in the shop, I didn’t hesitate one bit and accepted the job offer,” says Shrestha.
“Many people have a wrong notion that being a salesgirl is demeaning, but I think this is where we really stand backward as compared to other developed countries.
There should be respect for work and only then we can develop as a nation,” she adds.
A part time job looks appealing for young students. But although it seems a perfect way out on the surface, there are some drawbacks of such jobs that cannot be overlooked.
Twenty-four-year-old Dilendra Bajyoo has been giving home tuitions to students of primary and secondary school levels as a part-time job.
Originally from Sindhuli, he had come to the capital to pursue his further studies. Also a Master’s level student, he has been juggling his work and study.
“Since I come from out of the Valley and there was no one to support me here, I was in dire need of work for financial support and experience,” he says.
But living in a country where unemployment is a core problem, getting even a part-time job was not an easy feat for him.
“There isn’t much opportunity for part-timers here. It’s not systematic like in developed countries where they have fixed systems of providing such jobs to young students like us,” he says.
It was by contacting his college seniors that he got the idea of giving tuition classes and putting his knowledge to the best.
“Students who come from outside Kathmandu have a hard time settling in the capital. Part-time jobs thus support those who wish to study but have weak economic backgrounds,” he adds.
Some students get into part-time jobs to support their lavish lifestyles while there are students, like Bajyoo, who have no other options but to work out of necessities.
Bajyoo says that it is a wish of every student who yearns to commit himself to his studies, not to worry about work and financial issues. But reality is otherwise for some.
“I wish we had more developed and systematic ways of providing jobs to young people in our country. Also, if we had more opportunities to venture into different sorts of part-time jobs, students like us wouldn’t have to be troubled by our monetary issues,” he adds.
Having said as much, are there any takers in Nepal’s business, commerce and industry sectors for part-time workers?
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