Mangaluru: Turning crisis into opportunity, young grads sell fish ‘in style’

MANGALURU: Robin, an ITI graduate from a city college is selling fish as he is not able to find a job in his specialised field due to the pandemic- induced recession.
Turning a crisis into opportunity, several youngsters and fresh graduates who have lost their jobs are taking to selling fish in makeshift shops along roadsides or in vehicles at residential areas to make a living.
“For a month, I ran a shop near Kuloor flyover with two partners and I got to learn inside out about the fishing business. In a few days, I will start business on my own at a rented shop in Bondel. There are several others like me,” said Robin.
Among the first ones jump the bandwagon is Varun Shenava, resident of Kunjathbail. Varun, after pursuing Masters in construction management from Coventry University in the UK, started ‘Kadal Fresh Fish Mart’ at Bikarnakatte in August. “After returning to India, I started applying for jobs. I was called for an interview at a Bengaluru-based firm, but the lockdown was announced. I never got lucky even after the lockdown was lifted. Since my friends were in the fishing industry, I too joined them,” he said. “My father ridiculed me for the decision, but friends supported me,” he said.
Explaining why selling fish is a profitable and easy business, Yatish Baikampady, chief executive officer, Panambur Beach Tourism Development Project said the investment is less and one gets the returns at the end of the day. “For instance, one buys fish for Rs 2,000 and it’s sold by noon or evening. The investment returns with the profit the same day unlike other businesses,” he added.
“Traditionally, fish vendors are from a particular community called Mogaveera, but that’s not the case any more. In fact, several youngsters who had gone astray from the traditional occupation are back and are doing it in style,” he added.