By Prashant K. Nanda, IANS
New Delhi : Language students, mainly from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Delhi University (DU), are earning some good money by helping foreign publishers and exhibitors at the World Book Fair here.
As some of the foreign participants cannot communicate in English properly and Hindi is unknown to them anyway, they have roped in students via their embassies to help them communicate with customers and local publishers.
While foreign exhibitors said that students are sharing their burden of work, students said the book fair has given them an opportunity to earn some good bucks and practise the language they study in classrooms.
“It’s fun helping these foreign exhibitors. As a student of Arabic studies I think it’s good exposure for me. It’s both learning and earning for me,” said Irfan Ahemad, a student of the School of Language, Literature and Cultural Studies at JNU.
Irfan and his classmate Zuhair Ahmed are helping the UAE exhibitors in interacting in Hindi and English.
“We have been in touch with the UAE embassy in the capital and they called us to help their people during the book fair. Though the exact amount of our payment is yet to be fixed, it’s definitely between Rs.1,200 and 1,500 per day,” Irfan told IANS.
The New Delhi World Book Fair that began Feb 2 will continue till Feb 10. In the nine-day book extravaganza, over 1,300 publishers from over 20 countries are exhibiting and selling their books.
Bhavna Sharma of Ramjas College said she was treating her experience at the German pavilion as part of the learning curve.
“Though I will be missing classes for a week yet the experience here is quite good. It’s a break from the routine and good pocket money as well,” she said while taking people on a tour of German books at the Germany stall.
Student working in the Germany stall are getting Rs.1,500 per day.
Mechthild Bartel, project manager of the Frankfurt Book Fair, who is managing the German Stall here, said: “Ohh…they have been helping us and sharing our burden. We are happy to have these students in our stall.”
Vineet Arora, a German language student at the Max Mueller Bhavan in New Delhi, said: “I am practising my German here. I like to read certain books of my subject and am getting them here. Books and money – it’s good fun here.”
Mansi Sharma, a student of French in JNU, said she and three of her classmates are helping the Association for the Export of Canadian Books in the foreign pavilion.
“We are helping them interact with other publishers. We are not selling books on the stall but are facilitating business issues like negotiating with Indian publishers about reproduction of Canadian books here,” Sharma added.
“It’s a good learning time. We are research students of language school and this exposure will certainly help us in improving our knowledge of the language. We get to study some Canadian books as well,” she said.
However, Sharma and her friends said they were not as lucky as their counterparts working in other stalls.
“I feel jealous of them as they are getting Rs.1,500 and we are getting less than Rs.1,000 per day,” said Dharmendra Singh.