For his college project, Ashish More decided to make a car that would fly. Well, not exactly fly as the car propelled by the green, bouncy stuff in 'Flubber' did, but More's mini-car prototype made of metal and powered by an air compressor covered a 20-metre distance a little above the ground. He says it was this novel project that impressed the interviewer when he applied for the post of an automobile design engineer with a leading engineering company in the city earlier this year.
More landed the job and also continues to retain an interesting part-time occupation that he had pursued during his college days, this one also involving cars. He is a driver with a popular cab aggregator in the city, a job that he does with a passion but which also supplements his regular income.
The 25-year-old More, who came to Pune from a tiny village in Satara, has under his belt a diploma in mechanical engineering from the government polytechnic as well as an engineering degree from AISSMS college. His is the face of education in the army of 10,000-odd drivers enrolled with the cab service. Statistics with the company show that around 18% of its drivers have a graduate degree or an equivalent. Several of them take up driving initially for want of a better job.
Life in Pune was a struggle for More as his father, a farmer back in Satara, could not shore up enough money to see him through his engineering studies. He thanks a cousin working here for funding him initially.
When it came to the engineering degree, he took a loan to buy a car and enrolled with the cab service as a driver to pay for the course. He is still repaying the loan.
More now drives only on weekends and after work on Fridays till he is sleepy. He says he earns a net income, after accounting for fuel, of Rs 1,000 for five hours of driving per day. "Drive smart, earn more" is his motto as he explains how the company incentivises drivers somewhat better for plying in areas low on cab concentration.
Like More, mechanical engineering diploma holder, Jayesh Hiremath, also drives his car for the same cab service. The 33-year-old is a workhorse, spending 4-6 hours daily managing his small nut-bolt manufacturing unit and another 8-10 hours driving. He says he gets by with barely 4-5 hours of sleep at night.
Hiremath started working at the age of 18, but set up his manufacturing unit in 2005 with a loan and some savings. However, a dip in business over the last couple of years, the difficulty in recovering money from purchases taken against the 90-day credit he offers and the need to pay goods and services tax on time pushed him into driving. He initially drove a friend's cab for two months before buying his own.
Hiremath says he now makes equal money from both ventures. His earnings from driving, after spending on diesel, ranges upwards of Rs 1,200 a day. He plans to continue driving even if his manufacturing business blooms in future. For one, he has a wife, aging parents and a 14-month-old daughter to support and, two, he simply enjoys driving.
A similar passion for driving got Anil Gaikwad to buy a car with a bank loan and enrol with another cab aggregator in the city. An M.Sc. in Physics, the 30-year-old Chinchwad-based Gaikwad works with a quality management firm. Once he is back home in the evening, he goes off in his cab for at least a couple of trips. He particularly relishes long trips on weekends when he is off work. He feels lucky if he gets distant destinations like Lavasa since his cab is automatically engaged for the return journey as well.. He says he has earned enough from driving to repay his car loan.
The popular cab service's statistics show that 60-65% cars in its Pune fleet are owned by the drivers themselves. Another interesting fact is that 80% of the drivers are from outside Pune, mostly from the rural areas of Maharashtra.
Failing crops during years of drought brought many of them to the big city in search of jobs, and they soon began earning their bucks as the cab aggregators hit the fast lane.
More landed the job and also continues to retain an interesting part-time occupation that he had pursued during his college days, this one also involving cars. He is a driver with a popular cab aggregator in the city, a job that he does with a passion but which also supplements his regular income.
The 25-year-old More, who came to Pune from a tiny village in Satara, has under his belt a diploma in mechanical engineering from the government polytechnic as well as an engineering degree from AISSMS college. His is the face of education in the army of 10,000-odd drivers enrolled with the cab service. Statistics with the company show that around 18% of its drivers have a graduate degree or an equivalent. Several of them take up driving initially for want of a better job.
Life in Pune was a struggle for More as his father, a farmer back in Satara, could not shore up enough money to see him through his engineering studies. He thanks a cousin working here for funding him initially.
When it came to the engineering degree, he took a loan to buy a car and enrolled with the cab service as a driver to pay for the course. He is still repaying the loan.
More now drives only on weekends and after work on Fridays till he is sleepy. He says he earns a net income, after accounting for fuel, of Rs 1,000 for five hours of driving per day. "Drive smart, earn more" is his motto as he explains how the company incentivises drivers somewhat better for plying in areas low on cab concentration.
Like More, mechanical engineering diploma holder, Jayesh Hiremath, also drives his car for the same cab service. The 33-year-old is a workhorse, spending 4-6 hours daily managing his small nut-bolt manufacturing unit and another 8-10 hours driving. He says he gets by with barely 4-5 hours of sleep at night.
Hiremath started working at the age of 18, but set up his manufacturing unit in 2005 with a loan and some savings. However, a dip in business over the last couple of years, the difficulty in recovering money from purchases taken against the 90-day credit he offers and the need to pay goods and services tax on time pushed him into driving. He initially drove a friend's cab for two months before buying his own.
Hiremath says he now makes equal money from both ventures. His earnings from driving, after spending on diesel, ranges upwards of Rs 1,200 a day. He plans to continue driving even if his manufacturing business blooms in future. For one, he has a wife, aging parents and a 14-month-old daughter to support and, two, he simply enjoys driving.
A similar passion for driving got Anil Gaikwad to buy a car with a bank loan and enrol with another cab aggregator in the city. An M.Sc. in Physics, the 30-year-old Chinchwad-based Gaikwad works with a quality management firm. Once he is back home in the evening, he goes off in his cab for at least a couple of trips. He particularly relishes long trips on weekends when he is off work. He feels lucky if he gets distant destinations like Lavasa since his cab is automatically engaged for the return journey as well.. He says he has earned enough from driving to repay his car loan.
The popular cab service's statistics show that 60-65% cars in its Pune fleet are owned by the drivers themselves. Another interesting fact is that 80% of the drivers are from outside Pune, mostly from the rural areas of Maharashtra.
Failing crops during years of drought brought many of them to the big city in search of jobs, and they soon began earning their bucks as the cab aggregators hit the fast lane.
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