“Negotiate with parents”- 17 December 2017.

AV

Q. My 16 and 14 year old sons are addicted to Japanese cartoons (anime). They watch 2 episodes daily of some anime without fail. They are always going on about these shows like fullmetal alchemist and naruto. They even started talking half in Japanese and keep saying this datebayo, that datebayo, and I don’t understand anything they are saying. They tried to show me some too, but I obviously refused to get into it since it is addictive material. These cartoons are very different from anything we used to watch as kids. I keep hearing scary things about video games like blue whale, etc and get scared. Should I be concerned about this too?

Ans. We need to know about the content of the serials. If they are shows/serials they may not be as harmful as the ‘blue whale’ which is a game to be played and the person gets trapped into it because it is interactive. A serial is a show you watch and do not interact with. Besides this difference, if the content is harmful, such as, if it focuses on aggression, violence, assault or murder or other types of perversion in behaviour, it should be stopped immediately. If they are comedies or serials for teenagers with good educative content, there is less harm. Nevertheless try getting them involved in sports and other outdoor or indoor games and out of the TV box. You could sit with them a few times to watch the serials and make a decision. You could also ask them to narrate the story to you after the serial. That way you could be involved in their thought process.

AB

Q. I am a BBA (first year) student and I have studied 12th PCB. At present, I am only concentrated on my UG completion and to be honest I am not sure about what can be done after this. I mean as usual people do UG then PG, agreed with it. But there’s a lot of entrance exams also of BBA field that I am not aware of but wish to give. The only I know is CAT. And may I tell you that I have a strong point in HR rather than marketing (an aptitude test says so). So my query is, can you please tell me more about what can be done after BBA and names of the entrance exams too. I want to do some big in my life. Please help me.
Ans. The most logical post graduation is of course an MBA since you are doing BBA and this could get you a lucrative job in the corporate sector. But if you do not want to do an MBA then many other programmes are there. A graduation course opens the doors to many post graduate courses, such as, masters in finance management, hotel management, risk management, HR and Organisational development, tourism and many more. MCA is also another choice. FTII, agriculture and food business is also an option. To make the final choice you must know your long term goals and your interest areas to be happy and successful. Come for a session on career guidance if still confused.

AJ

Q. I am currently working in a well reputed organisation but I don’t like that job as it is not related to my engineering background but still I am doing for the sake of experience and I have decided to leave that job in February as I will complete six months. I am desiring to run my dad’s electrical shop which he is running since 30 years as I have interest and knowledge of it but my dad don’t want that I should come into his business as there are lots of struggles and hard work and he don’t want that I should live a life that he lived. But I want to do some sort of courses of mobile engineering which will take current business to next level as I am an engineer and I am confident that I will work on it and change the whole method of our current business. So should I agree to my dad’s opinion and continue a job that I don’t like or should I leave a job and follow heart? Please guide me Mam over this situation!

Ans. The best option seems to be to join your father’s business, for you seem to be interested, motivated, and have a future scale-up plan for it too! Nothing could be better than being an entrepreneur. You must try to understand the fears of your father- there could be quite a few besides what he is stating. It could be possible that he is not ready to hand it over to you completely yet and wants to run it the way he has been doing for 30 years. If that is not the case, then, you could negotiate with your father and ask for a period of say two years and if things do not go well you would switch to a job. Assure him about some of his fears and negotiate with him. Or you might start on your own with your own money and risk.