இந்தியாவின் சுதந்திரத்திற்கு முன் எளிமையான விவசாயக் குடும்பத்தில் பிறந்த மீசை தாத்தா, பள்ளியில் படிக்கும்போது, தேசிய காங்கிரஸ் ஊர்வலத்தில் முன்னணியில் நின்று வந்தே மாதரம் கோஷம் போட்டு பிரிட்டிஷ் போலீசிடம் முக்கால் மணி நேரம் பிரம்படி வாங்கியிருக்கிறார்.

எண்பது வயதான எங்கள் மீசை தாத்தா, பேரர்களின் பாகப் பிரிவினைக்கு நான்கைந்து நாட்களுக்கு முன்பு வீட்டை விட்டு ஓடிப் போய்விட்டார். அவர் போனதால்தான் மற்றவர்களுக்கு பாகப்பிரிவினை செய்யும் துணிச்சலே வந்தது என்றுகூட சில உறவினர்கள் பேசிக் கொண்டார்கள்.
 

ஓடிப் போவதற்கு சில நாட்களுக்கு முன்பிருந்தே ‘எல்லோரையும் விட பரமார்த்தன்தான் அதிர்ஷ்டக்காரன்’ என்று என்னை பற்றி மீசை தாத்தா அடிக்கடி சொல்லிக் கொண்டிருந்தார். அவரையும், என் மனைவி ஜமுனாவையும் தவிர வேறு எவரும் அதை நம்பவில்லை.

Priya is a housewife with a three year old son. Her husband is a doctor. Generally doctors spend most of their time in clinics and hospitals. Priya's husband is no exception. So, she has got a lot of free time and she uses her free time to earn more than Rs.20,000/- a month by working from home.

"Many people find it difficult to believe that a housewife can actually make money working from home," I said to her. "That's understandable. I too had not believed it before I started making money," said Priya with a smile.

Sometime back a state government abolished the Common Entrance Test for admission into professional courses. This government order has brought joy and hope to tens of thousands of school students that aspire to become doctors and engineers, their parents and teachers.

All of us have heard the sagely advice that 'All obstacles are opportunities.' Though the message is inspiring, most of us have not actually come across people that have converted their difficulties into opportunities. So, we don't take such messages seriously and never bother to change our attitudes towards obstacles.

When Ken Savage was working as a search engine professional with Kronos, he was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

"I read your recent article on creating templates for open source software programs such as Drupal, Joomla and WordPress and selling them online. The idea will definitely work if I create beautiful and feature rich templates. Though I like the idea very much, I am neither a designer nor a programmer. My only strength is my addiction to the Internet browsing. Is there anything I can do with this template project?" Kausik asked me.

Ranjit said, "I have wasted 18 years of my life in education. Had I been an illiterate I would have been a millionaire now." I responded with some curiosity, "May I know the reason for such bitterness towards your education?"

"I am very good at writing short stories and poems in Tamil. I am not good in English. I am looking for an opportunity to sell the product of my creative skills and labor through the Internet. Is it possible?" Bala asked me.

Every other day we come across a success story of a young person. All of us enjoy reading such stories and forget them soon. We don't believe that we too can be a success story.

So, I was not surprised when Pratap, a teenager, asked me the question that I have heard many times before. "Even though I want to do some online business and make money, my circumstances make it difficult to do anything meaningful. I don't have money making skills and I don't have enough time. Can you please help me?"

Getting a home based work is a challenging task for many aspirants. If 'how to get work?' is a question that troubles all, a few that have received offers raise the question 'Is my pay rate reasonable?'

Though several factors influence the pay rates, the key factors are the nature of the work, your location and the employer's, duration of work, your performance, and the personality of the employer.

What I write here applies to Indian employer and worker. If the employer is from a developed country, the rates would certainly be different.