City ‘gurus’ in demand abroad

Chennai has emerged as a booming destination for online counsellors and tutors to aid students and distressed individuals living in USA, UK and other foreign countries.
The Internet has opened up new vistas for city-based qualified therapists and teachers who are now earning quick bucks with the convenience of working from home as online counselling and training through web cams, Skype and instant messengers is fast gaining a foothold in the city.
Speaking about the demand for city-based experts, R Manoj, a clinical psychologist from Dream H foundation, who was the first to initiate online counselling in India in 1997 with Society for Mental Health and Psychological Awareness says, “The basic idea behind online counselling for patients abroad is because experts here have sympathetic understanding while dealing with people in depression. City therapists are successful abroad despite cultural differences as they are work out more economical and are not bound by time.”
Students in the USA and UK don’t burn the proverbial midnight oil anymore. Teachers in Chennai, who provide affordable training do it for them. Ex-school teachers, retired lecturers and housewives in the city, who’ve opted to stay home with their children, are turning to online tutoring to keep themselves busy. “Chennai is the top destination for us when it comes to looking for teachers to train students in USA as educators here are highly qualified, good at English, flexible and are ready to work from home,” says K. Ganesh, founder of Tutor Vista which employs over 2,000 tutors from 28 cities and has more than 400 teachers from Chennai.