mom, i want to be a hair-dresser!

imagine if you were an indian kid from a middle-class family and had said something like this to your parents in the 70s or the 80s. they would have hit the roof and promptly got you checked by a doctor.

the only career options that were considered 'respectable' were engineering, medicine, software/ hardware (recent entrants into the list), law, civil services, bureaucracy/ government jobs, architecture, etc.

but in the last decade there's been a sea change in the jobs market and new job seekers have hundreds of options to choose from. many of these options would have been considered bizarre or looked down upon in the past.

so now when i look around me i suddenly find so many career options which suddenly seem to be not just acceptable, but also desirable by most of the youngsters today.

here's a list of some such jobs that i could come up with :

1. rj (radio jockey)/ vj (video jockey)/ dj (disc jockey) - some of these people are celebrities in their own right
2. physical instructor - this species has suddenly become a rare commodity and a status symbol for any celebrity worth his/her salt!
3. dietician - i could never decide what would cost more - the fees quoted by these dieticians or the esoteric foods they recommend.
4. hair dresser - is it the hair dresser who starts a new fashion trend (after a few accidents and experiments) or is he/she following the trend?
5. fashion designer - their clothes are like abstract art. each creation is apparently trying to communicate something but it sounds like all greek and latin to my ears!
6. yoga instructor - the new-age instructors don't teach good old yoga, its 'power yoga' or 'pranic yoga' or 'swaroopa yoga', etc.
7. vaastu/ feng shui consultant - unlike god who opens a window when he shuts a door, this consultant will close a door (no matter which direction the door in your house faces) and ask you to open another one elsewhere!
8. masseur - the star of this tribe is most definitely on the ascendant. you suddenly have spas, therapy centres, wellness clinics and other variants springing up in almost every street corner.
9. animator - all those hours spent in doodling in school or vandalising the desks with your creative outpourings while waiting for lectures to end are suddenly being highly valued!
10. accent/ voice trainer - earlier you would have been considered 'stuck up' if you spoke with an accent; now it could land you a well paying job!
11. event manager - in school you organised a picnic, in college you planned the annual social, and now at work you are organising everything from award ceremonies to office parties or product launches.
12. dance instructor - who would have ever imagined that you could make a successful career teaching people the salsa and the samba?
13. speciality chef - the food they cook never seems to affect their weight; and some of them get paid a lot more than you and i
14. online game master - they get paid for playing online games on the job!

but i think moms will take some more time before their eyes become moist and they jump up with joy when they hear you announce 'mom! i finally know what i want to be, a hair-dresser!'

i am sure there are more esoteric options i have not listed here. you know any you would like to share?