9 Awesome Jobs that Don't Require you to Sit at a Desk

Remember how we slaved through school, college and subsequent education to end up sitting at a desk, with Ms Office as our most trusted colleague? Ms Office is still by our side {yes, incentives for loyalty}, but you know who has since departed? The Desk! Times have changed, as have motivations, drive and ambition. Praise the lord. As semi experts ourselves on the subject {our laptops are on our laps}, here’s 10 other jobs that will let you see the world, meet people, and not have you bound to one 4X4 cubicle, soft board, and standard desktop wallpaper. All hail the right to choose our wallpaper!

PS: No traditional jobs were harmed in the writing of this story.

As forced participants on a Dilli Darshan circa the early nineties, for the benefit of re located ‘American-Indian’ brethren, we can tell you first hand – guided tours have come a long way. And you can get to lead one. Companies like Seek Sherpa organize guided tours for small groups, led by locals who volunteer their services. So, choose a neighbourhood you’re well-versed with, make sure you revise your skills {some tourists can ask lots of questions}, and sign up. There’s a host of companies to choose from, and lucky for you, we have a list. Click here to scour, and then get in touch to find out their pre requisites.

You know how they say you write what you know? Well, in this case, you’re going to have to put that wanderlust to use, and get packing to deliver. And we all know writing must be nothing but authentic. Long trips, short trips, roughing it out, indulging yourself, all at your employer’s expense. Can we just say, dream job? Think of all those writers at Think, of all the collectibles, the fresh experiences and the new people you’ll meet.

You know all these venues where you have live music, art and dance on the regular? Well those don’t just fall into place on their own; there’s actually a person scouting for all that talent and putting it together. That person could be you. You’re going to need to be keeping up with all of the trends though, all the new artists on the scene, and create a very solid filter process because you can’t put all of them on stage and have them win. That’s a small price to pay though, for a job where you can listen to an upcoming artist’s music all day and call it work.

We don’t have full clarity on the success rate with meeting the opposite sex, in a city like Delhi, but we do have stats on how awesome the jobs is getting to be. PCO mixologist Arijit, and Yangdup Lama at Speakeasy-Cocktails and Dreams, Gurgaon have contributed to elevating bartending’s urban appeal and coolness quotient. Think about the influx of foreign liquor brands; it’s a booming industry to be in. We won’t leave you with just that little piece of information, we’ll give you this. EBS {European Bartending School} has branches across Asia, Europe, Australia and the US of A, where you can get a legit qualification. Best news? Since it’s a relatively new occupation, you’ll get to be a leading player in the city, and study in some far flung exotic location. Find out more, here. 

We are not lying. Cross our hearts and hope to die. Weddings and wedding parties alike hire people to come and get things started. So, you’ll have to get dressed up, blend in with the crowd as a ‘guest’, and just be a party starter, read – get people to dance, spread cheer, and make families dance together. These jobs are on the DL, and a good snoop around with wedding planners, and friends in the industry should get you a stronger foothold. No one will ever find out who that pretty fair girl dancing up a storm on the video was, until they see you at the next wedding.

This will require a specific skill set, but the good {ish} news is, there’s tonnes of short courses you can sign up for. After completion, we recommend you intern/shadow a qualified, industry big-wig artist for a while, before you attempt to branch out on your own. Also, Social Media – think of it as your own Marketing campaign; and Brides – your biggest pay master. LBB recommends Vidya Tikari’s make up classes as good starting point. Find out, here, and follow them on Facebook here.

We know you’re picturing yourself in the midst of the big fat Indian wedding, screeching into a walkie, making sure the bride’s flower chadar made it in time for her grand entrance {thank you Band Baaja Baraat}, and yes you might have to start there. But the bigger picture involves so much more planning and creativity, you’ll be surprised, especially given the current trend of customisation. With experience {nothing teaches you the tricks of the trade better}, you can choose to work with flowers, event flow, design, sourcing, styling – whatever gets your creative juices flowing. Did we mention destination weddings? We recommend getting your foot in the doors of Geeta Samuel or Vandana Mohan, two leading ladies in the wedding scene in Delhi. Find out more about them here and here.

We can guarantee all of you at some point, somewhere in your lifetime, have taken a dance class. Whether you sashayed at an Ashley Lobo summer workshop, or OD’ed on the bling at a Shiamak Davar {season} funk, the comforting but not so comforting news is, you’re probably equipped to choreograph a basic Bollywood dance. Basic training, coupled with an upbringing in good ol’ Delhi, and you can be the master mind of a trusting couple’s Sangeet dance performance. Have we mentioned the kind of money you stand to make? Let’s just say, three weddings in a month, and you’re good. Very good.

Don’t go thinking bigger corporate event companies; you know, the kind that orchestrate launches, and more staid, serious events? We’re talking fresh, new, incredibly innovative creative companies. Care to work behind the scenes on a ‘The Wedding Filmer’ wedding film, or perhaps on a project with Lumos Films {LBB’s favourites}, on an awesome documentary? We should warn you, you might not be at a desk, but you will be working excruciatingly long hours if you’re on set. But what’s a long day, when you’re at a wedding, or on a bar crawl.