Loss of job amid COVID lockdown turns college professor to snack seller

T Maheswaran was Head of the Department of Computer Science at a private engineering college till the clamping of total shutdown in late March. With the college resorting to retrenchment under the dubious ‘Admission Leave’, he lost the job and was staring at a bleak future. Now he has found gainful employment as a snacks seller, earning more than what he had at the college.

Cuddalore (Tamil Nadu): Like many others, the COVID-19 induced lockdown came as a blow to 30-year-old T Maheswaran, an assistant professor at an engineering college.

T Maheswaran was working in a reputed private engineering college as an assistant professor and as the Head of the Department of Computer Science, however, after the implementation of lockdown he was forced to quit his job with the college resorting to retrenchment under the dubious ‘Admission Leave’. Now he has found gainful employment as a snacks seller, earning more than what he had at the college.

A strong man, Maheshwaran decided not to give up and start something on his own to earn his livelihood. He is now selling home-made ‘murukku,’ the popular crispy snack in his native Neyveli town in the coastal Cuddalore district.

The last salary that he draw was in February and when the pandemic struck after which the college relieved him on ‘admission leave’. The teachers have to scout for students to enrol in the college to continue as a faculty. “If I’m able to get 3 to 4 fresh admissions, I could retain my job. Otherwise, I’m no more on the rolls. I applied to a few institutions and got offers with a basic salary of Rs 10,000. Depending upon the students getting enrolled through me, the salary would go up. It was then, I decided to give up teaching for good,” he explains.

The low-cost technical education model in Tamil Nadu appears no more sustainable. There is more number of unemployed engineering graduates in the state and as such, admission to engineering colleges is witnessing a sharp decline over the years.

Asked about how he landed in the murukku business, he gives the entire credit to his wife. His wife made murukku for evening snacks and he found it very tasty. Then, it occurred to him as to why it could not be turned into a small scale business.

“With local patronage, I am earning Rs 800 on an average,” he said, adding that plan to expand the business is on the cards.