CHENNAI: As a cab driver with Ola, R Arivazhagan, 24, is sweet. He opens the door for you, inquires if you are comfortable with the AC level, and offers you a candy before the ride. It’s tough to realise that his life has been bitter.

After parking his rented car in the evening, he leaves for his real job that will keep him busy as a systems administrator with an IT company, till 2.30am. The BE computer science graduate from a remote village in Dharmapuri says IT is his career, but it’s the cab driver’s job that would help him repay an education loan.

“My take-home salary of 9,500 won’t be enough to sustain myself. I make more than double the amount as a cab driver. And that takes care of the monthly interest of 6,000 on the loan my father had taken for my studies at Paavai Engineering College, Namakkal.”

C Ramakrishnan, a farmer in Dhomallahalli near the Karnataka border, had borrowed 2 lakh from a usurer to pay his son’s fees that came to 1.1 lakh a year. “My parents grew vegetables, but with scarce rain, farming couldn’t sustain our family of four,” says Arivazhagan. “So my father worked as a labourer at construction sites in Bangalore.” Arivazhagan’s brother, a diploma holder in civil engineering is hunting for a job.

Driving the cab, the 24-year-old makes 800 daily, which is 30% of the day’s earning. The rest goes to the car owner. He sleeps for four hours after returning from work at 2.30am. He drives the cab from 7am to 5pm before getting ready for the night duty. “It’s tiring, but it’s ok as long as this lets me repay the loan,” he says.

It’s the lack of recognition, he says, that troubles him more. “Having studied in a government school in Dharmapuri, I know my limitations,” he says. “I don’t speak good English, but why should that be a reason to deny me a job in programming which I may be good at?”

Nasscom regional director K Purushothaman has the answer: “Communication is of paramount importance. Every employee will have to communicate at two levels — with colleagues and clients. With just technical knowledge, one cannot rise in the industry. In this case, he wouldn’t have been among the 70%-plus category of students who companies pick up from campuses. But employees can upgrade their technical and communication skills by taking refresher courses, but they are costly, and I suppose someone with an education loan and an economically poor background may not be able to afford it.”

Arivazhagan realizes that. “I don’t see myself making a professional leap, but I am sure that I will be better off with my efforts,” he says. “I will make sure that my child gets an education in English. No point cribbing.”

Correction: In an earlier version of this story that appeared in the Chennai print edition and the online edition of the TOI on May 15, 2015, our reporter wrongly mentioned that R Arivazhagan is an employee of Cisco Systems . Arivazhagan works with a company called Sysco Infotech.