{"id":722,"date":"2008-07-27T10:23:00","date_gmt":"2008-07-27T10:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianaviationnews.net\/avicareers\/?p=722"},"modified":"2008-07-27T10:23:00","modified_gmt":"2008-07-27T10:23:00","slug":"it-is-a-pleasure-to-watch-them-blossom%e2%80%9d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.indianaviationnews.net\/careers\/2008\/07\/it-is-a-pleasure-to-watch-them-blossom%e2%80%9d.html","title":{"rendered":""It is a pleasure to watch them blossom\u00e2\u20ac\u009d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153L<\/span>ife is beautiful,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Meenakshi Anand, seated in her office at Airhostess Training Center, off Delhi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s busy South Extension market. The room is filled with photographs of her many students who now fly on national and international carriers.
The academy draws young girls from small towns with dreams of flying to distant lands but no means of making it possible.
Ten years ago when Meenakshi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s army officer husband was posted in Delhi, she decided to take up a job. She had only a graduate degree. The first place she went to was the Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Polytechnic at South Extension. Unmindful of status, she took up a front office job for just Rs 2,500 per month.
Four years into her job, Meenakshi observed that many tourism students wanted airhostess training. She studied the market and saw its potential. Together with Abha Singh, a friend from the same institute, she started the Airhostess Training Center (ATC)<\/a> in 2000. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We put in Rs. 1,00,000 initially. We started with just one telephone, a computer and 25 students. We had to pay royalty to the Polytechnic. Today we rent this space for over Rs. 1,00,000 a month. We also have a branch in Jabalpur.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
As head of operations Meenakshi travels to small towns, holding seminars and talking about the ATC. She has an easy charm and her enthusiasm brings results. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We started with 25 girls; now more than 200 fly with various airlines, and there are the those in the hospitality industry,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she exults.
The six-month course, priced at Rs. 75,000, teaches everything from grooming to social skills and how to face interviews. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153When the kids go for their interviews, I call my hairdresser and tell her the hair and make up style for each one. Many girls, once they get jobs and start flying, come back to the centre with clothes meant for others who may not have the means to buy outfits appropriate for interviews. I am just very grateful that I have been able to create a family.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
Meenakshi is proud that ATC has made a name in the industry. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I mentor them like a mother; we do not take more than 20 in one batch. I still conduct classes and am with them for all in-flight trainings. It is a pleasure to watch them blossom.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
She points at a smiling, fresh-faced girl on the ATC brochure, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Narender Kaur is our brand ambassador. She is with Etihad Airlines. When she came from Modinagar, her father was jobless as he was laid off from Modi Mills. Today this child has bought a Rs. 25,00,000-flat for her parents in her home town. She epitomises the possibility of small town girls reaching for their dreams.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
27\/07\/08 Madhu Gurung\/The Hindu<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Life is beautiful,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Meenakshi Anand, seated in her office at Airhostess Training Center, off Delhi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s busy South Extension market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indianaviationnews.net\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indianaviationnews.net\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indianaviationnews.net\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indianaviationnews.net\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indianaviationnews.net\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.indianaviationnews.net\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indianaviationnews.net\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indianaviationnews.net\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indianaviationnews.net\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}