And since in the area of ‘incubation management’ supply isinversely proportional to demand, he can assert what many other freelancing starterscannot: "The advantage of being on my own is that I have enough funds to takeme past a rainy day. What one makes in a company is maybe one-fiftieth of what one canmake on one’s own."
But personal satisfaction alone can trigger professional drifts even when sufficientmonetary gains are not guaranteed. An interesting case is C. Ravi Kumar, 43, a projectmanager with a Thapar group holding in Bangalore, who is planning to strike out on his ownas a "green-based technology" consultant in the increasingly profitableagro-based industry. "In every job there is a point of saturation," says RaviKumar, who worked as a lecturer in Bangalore University and in an R&D organisationbefore joining the corporate sector. "At this point of time, I feel that my freedomis more important. The freedom to do what I feel like doing and leave what Idon’t."
Pramod Shankar, 33, an advertising copywriter working on his own, says itsuccinctly: "Freelancing was a move driven by an inner force to fulfil what I wasmeant for." Shankar now handles the Bangalore operations of Urja Communications,Bombay. "Freelancing is in," he says, "since everything is opening up. Theeconomy, people’s attitudes, and personal values are going through a state of flux.As a result, values that stressed that people had to belong to a big entity are breakingdown."
Clearly, there has been a collapse of value systems steeped in antiquity. Yet, it has itsflip side. Says Chitra Subramaniam, 30, who left client servicing to establish her ownadvertising firm in Bombay, Salutations: "I missed interaction with like-mindedpeople and felt a drop in my personal growth." Disappointed, she returned to a properjob.