Weekends turn learn days for professionals

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With hectic job schedules leaving most young professionals with little or no time to pursue their hobbies, “weekend courses” seem to be the buzzword. From photography, astrology and creative writing, to pilot training, you name it, and we’ve got it. As these classes are available on the weekends, so you can work and pursue your passion simultaneously. And no, it is not just the hunky Kunal kapoor who is flying, (though he has inspired many), it is also girls with a hunger for more, who are excited about doing something offbeat.
Archana Srivastav, senior manager, Programmes, Sri Aurobindo College of Arts and Mass Communication, (which offers a weekend certificate course in creative writing) says, “We have courses like creative writing and photography on the weekends. Most of our students are working professionals. We have experts like Nitin Rai taking photography classes and likewise for creative writing, which is a three-month course. It equips you with various techniques of writing.”
If flying has always held your interest, may be it’s time to learn how to cruise in just nine weekends with Chimes Aviation Academy (CAA). “We have started a Cruiser Club, where we have weekend classes for ‘hobby flyers’. We are targeting people who just want to learn it for fun. You now have an opportunity to fly and in the process, acquire a Private Pilot License (PPL), without compromising on your work,” says Raj Chakrabarty, general manager, Operations, CAA. Interestingly, it’s not just guitar and salsa that’s available on the weekend, but also astrology. For those who want to master the “stars”, Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan offers courses in astrology (basic course is one year).
“It is equivalent to a B.A. in astrology. Jyotish Alankar and Jyotish Acharya have two terms and classes are held on Saturdays and Sundays. Once you’ve done the basic course, the institute decides if you should be promoted to the advance course. By the end of the basic course, you learn how to give general predictions,” informs Tapasya, who is pursuing the course.
There are professional photographers too, who take up weekend workshops for those who don’t have time for a full-time course. Shailan Parker and Joginder Singh, professional photographers, have a workshop titled “Photosensitive”, where they teach photography. “Today, most working professionals can afford good cameras, but they use them in automatic mode, as they don’t know much about the manual functions. We teach them basic photography techniques. It’s not a certificate course, but a workshop spread over four weekends. We have many IT professionals who take time out on the weekends to learn photography,” says Shailan Parker.