Several professionals in the city are found volunteering at old age homes and orphanages when they have some free time, while some others have been using their technical know-how to create websites serving social causes.
When Vishesh Burnwal, a senior engineer at Mindtree, meets anyone from his hometown in Bihar, he goes all out to help them. The young techie, who has called this city home for the last six years, is keen on helping migrant workers from the north.
“I visit the Central railway station early in the mornings when trains from many northern states chug in. Many persons come to work here, and are afraid of the new conditions. I ask them if they need any help and also give them my phone number,” he said.
Kartheeban Chandramohan, senior associate at Cognizant, has volunteered for the company’s ‘Outreach’ programme that promotes education for underprivileged children.
“This has given employees like me an opportunity to expand our involvement in community service initiatives,” he says.
The volunteers take up tutorials or coaching sessions in subjects such as mathematics, computer science or English and also offer life skills and leadership training for government school students. Some of them pitch in for the development of infrastructure, from setting up computer labs to refurbishing classrooms and science labs, and providing drinking water supply.
Even Sneha suicide prevention helpline receives a good number of applications from young professionals, including many from the corporate sector, for voluntary work every year, its founder Lakshmi Vijayakumar says.
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A group of tech-savvy youth in the city are investing in a currency of a different kind — the bitcoin, which exists only online. Unlike the rupee, which has a physical presence, bitcoin is a virtual currency that is ‘created’ when ‘miners’ or users solve complex mathematical problems. People can buy bitcoins from others who already own them, and then exchange them for goods and services.
When the pseudonymous developer of the bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, came up with the idea for the currency in a 2009 research paper, it was described as a version of electronic cash that would allow online payments without the need for a bank. Many college students and young professionals here see the currency as the future and are already making big money due to the opportunity presented.
Rahul Ganesh, a 22-year-old undergraduate student of engineering at IIT-Madras, says he bought his first bitcoin with prize money won in college fests. He says his Rs. 1.5 lakh investment in bitcoins is now worth Rs. 1 million in the virtual world.
“So far it has been free for me. The only trouble is finding reputable sellers,” he says, adding that developing exchanges and websites that allow people to buy and sell bitcoins would be beneficial.
Not everyone is convinced though on the bitcoin’s usefulness.
R. Ashok Krishnan, who runs a software company in Mylapore, says, “It is a controversial, unregulated and volatile digital currency. But some have been lucky with it. You have to be technologically and financially skilled to deal with it, and also willing to take a risk,” he adds.
However, some others already have had success stories with the currency.
Vignesh Sundaresan who runs a company here that builds bitcoin ATMs in Canada says most people in India are not clear on the policies of taxation governing the currency. “How much tax to pay for the money exchanged for a bitcoin is a concern,” says the 24-year-old.
Bitcoin users are however ready to trade with the currency in Canada where the policies are better delineated. “In the next two years, the picture will be a lot clearer,” Vignesh says.
(Reporting by Serena Josephine M. and Vasudha Venugopal)
