IIT grads shun high-package jobs, start crèche with a difference

Once students graduate from an IIT, they prefer to pursue careers in the corporate world or go abroad. But Puja Das and Abhisha Shrivastava are different from other IITians. They have quit their regular jobs and started a day care centre in Andheri. However, their centre is not just a regular crèche.

The idea of opening such a centre is not just to look after kids but also to help them develop their skills and talents from a very early age. Last week, both the girls started their first centre and named it Sandbox.

They have also tied up with Ahmedabad-based Eklavya School to train their team. Eklavya School is ranked 13th in India for its curriculum design.

Sandbox is uniquely designed to help develop skills of children in all aspects — physical, cognitive, language, socio-emotional and creative.

While Puja completed her BTech from IIT Bombay and went on to do her MBA from ISB Hyderabad, Abhisha did her MTech and BTech from IIT Bombay.

Within two days of opening Sandbox, the duo received more than 50 enquiries and 10 children have already enrolled in the centre. The centre is open from 8am to 8pm.

"We were looking out for an opportunity to begin our own start-up when we realised that day care centres in India are not much than a typical crèche. So, we decided to do something in this area. We did a lot of research and talked to experts to figure out the potential in the education sector. Along with taking care of children, we wanted to provide knowledge to them with the help of experts," said Puja.

"If we wanted we could have pursued our careers in the corporate world but we are not interested in doing a normal job. Its an open secret that due to the nuclear family structure both husband and wife work and no one is left to take care of the children. The first five years are very crucial because a child's brain develops up to 90% of its adult size. This is the right age when children should get all kind support and care," said Abhisha.

"After enrolling a child, our educator and expert have an interaction with their busy parents in order to gain information and aid to the child's full potential development and also to nurture it in a home away from home. In two years, we will start a minimum of 10 such in different centres in cities across the country.