The responsible hedonists

His online avatar is Guitar George. Till a few years ago, his ambition was to become a professional guitarist. But now, five days a week, Guitar George aka Subhayu Mukherji, 24, is a Beatles-loving and Steve Jobs-worshipping "techie" at Cognizant Technologies in Kolkata. Kum Kum Dasgupta writes.

His online avatar is Guitar George. Till a few years ago, his ambition was to become a professional guitarist. Now, five days a week, Guitar George aka Subhayu Mukherji, 24, is a Beatles-loving and Steve Jobs-worshipping "techie" at Cognizant Technologies in Kolkata.

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"It's all very dandy when you do gigs in college. But there's no money," Mukherji says about his first love.

Like Mukherji, about 42% of young Indians say salary is their main motivation while selecting a career. And surprise! The young in communist Kolkata (47%) and Kochi (67%) are more money-minded than their counterparts in Delhi (46%), Mumbai (31%), Bangalore (30%) Chennai (29.9%), Bangalore (30.2%) and Hyderabad (27.6%).

"Kolkata's traditional mindset is changing due to the boom in the retail and IT sectors. Youngsters who migrated from the city are also influencing attitudes back home," says Anirudha Dutta, executive director, CLSA, an equity broking and financial-services group.

"In Kochi, it's the positive Gulf outlook and the tourism boom."

"When people are dependent on their salaries, when there is little social security and the job market is competitive, money, not creativity, will be the obvious career motivation," says Susmita Dasgupta, who teaches at Jawaharlal Nehru University's Academic Staff College.

"Secure jobs are also seen as low-salary traps."

Money aside, Delhi youth want a good job title and security. "The Capital worships power, so a good designation matters," Dutta explains.

Only Bangalore (33.7%) considers job security more important than salary — not surprising since Bangalore bore the brunt of the 2009 economic meltdown.

Mumbai-based Sreeram Narayan, 23, who works for Oracle Financial Services, however, is upbeat: "There's no dearth of opportunities. So why hanker after job security?"

If the young are ambitious, they're cautious too. While 74.1% don't aspire for a government job, it remains a popular option (25.9%).

"In smaller cities with hardly any opportunity, a sarkari job ensures financial security," says Pritha Kumar, 19, a student from Ranchi.

The survey shows that the next two most sought-after positions are: being a CEO in a multinational corporation (18%) and a self-employed professional (17.8%). Unsurprisingly, very few (6.7%) want to join politics or the social sector (8.3%). And there's not much rush for foreign jobs.

Santanu Gupta, who teaches economics in XLRI, Jamshedpur, says, "Salaries and prices are equalising." Agrees Narayan: "Expensive foreign courses don't always translate into higher salaries."

However, when it comes to investing, the tech-savvy, post-reforms children depend on their parents (73%) and not professional financial advisers. Similarly, for career advice, 75% Indians depend most on their families. "But after Class 12, its the peer group and online communities," adds Narayan.

Palash Krishna Mehrotra, whose forthcoming book, Butterfly Generation, is on young India, says it's surprising that despite a different mindset, the youth are still connected to their parents.

"The Babri demolition was our first brush with radicalism. I remember a friend replaced his Springsteen poster with an 'Om'. I was shocked. But I think the reforms process put us back on the right track," says the author.

Despite economic growth, 52.3% remain financially unsatisfied. Kolkata again tops the list. Gupta calls this the "call centre" mindset – at least in the first two years of their jobs when they want to only spend on themselves. Yet, the good news is that 53.7% of youngsters save. Their biggest spend is on cell phones and food.

"This young India is highly motivated and confident. I would call them responsible hedonists," says Dutta.