Shimpi Kumari, 25, often feels emotionally burdened. Ever since her father, a school teacher, passed away seven years ago, the family’s bank balance hasn’t stabilised. For as long as she can remember, Kumari has wanted to contribute financially to help her homemaker mother and take care of her specially abled brother. It’s the frustration of not finding a job that is leading to her emotional distress.
It’s not that she lacks the credentials. Despite the hardships, she managed to graduate with a zoology degree. She even received Rs 50,000 as a merit scholarship from the Bihar government. But when she started floating her resume, she realised her degree wasn’t enough. Based in Madhubani, she then took online classes to add skills like Excel and PowerPoint to her resume. She thought she would get a job as a data entry operator, but that did not happen. So, she started to prepare for entrance exams for government jobs.
Now, it’s been three years. Neither has she managed to crack any exam nor has she found a job. The financial struggles faced by the family on a daily basis sometimes make her wonder: what was the point in investing three years in a degree that didn’t even translate into a job?
(...)
