Slice Of Life: ‘I am trying to clear arrear exams so that I will get a better job’

I was born in Thanjavur where I attended a government school. After that, I joined an Industrial Training Institute. However, I could not clear my exams and thus failed to get a job in my place as I hoped. My father is a farmer and mother a homemaker, and I also have a younger sister who is a college student. As my father was struggling to meet the expenses of the family, including my sister’s college fees, from the money he could earn, I decided to look for a job to support him. That is how I came to Chennai about two years ago. Here, I started working as an assistant at a juice shop. I get a maximum monthly salary of Rs 7,000, out of which I manage to send some to my parents every month. As I stay here alone in a rented house, I am yet to adapt to the city. Here, I have to struggle to do my daily chores. Initially, I did not know to cook and was hence forced to eat from hotels, which made me fall sick. Because of this, I started cooking and also began doing the personal chores on my own after a while. But this is not permanent. I am still trying to clear my ITI exams so that I will be able to get a better job in the next few years. That is my goal now.