When you take a book to read, invariably the doorbell rings. Or a parent sends you on an errand. Plus the umpteen distractions. Precisely why Civil Services aspirant Siva Sankara Prakash joined a study hall in Anna Nagar near his house. At a monthly fee of around ₹2,000, he got a permanent seat allotted at the centre.
“It is difficult to focus at home. I prefer to study here,” says Prakash, who spends most part of the day at the Prayag Study Hall in Anna Nagar. The ambience at the halls is a major motivating factor. “When everyone around you is studying, guilt kicks in,” says another UPSC aspirant.
Study halls offer the much-needed quiet corner for candidates writing various competitive exams, including Civil Services, TNPSC, NEET and CA. These facilities might exist across Chennai, but they are nowhere as entrenched as in Anna Nagar. A Google search for study halls in Chennai would convince you of that. As the hub of civil services coaching, Anna Nagar provides a fertile ground for entrepreneurship centred around study halls. From a student’s viewpoint, the odds of studying and comparing notes with someone preparing for the same competitive exam are higher at study halls in Anna Nagar than elsewhere. Nivedhitha P., a UPSC aspirant hailing from Karur and presently staying in a hostel, prefers a study hall in Anna Nagar, since it is close to her coaching centre.
‘Fixated on Anna Nagar’
A Perambur resident, who opened a study hall in her area and shut it owing to lack of patronage, feels students are “fixated” on Anna Nagar. “I offered a study space with a newspaper, magazine and books for a monthly fee of ₹700, but very few turned up.”
Study halls evoke a mixed response among entrepreneurs.
“Business-wise, it is not a sound model,” feels Anand Kumar who too shut his study hall during the pandemic. “We have to invest in cubicles, books and other facilities. A steady flow of members is crucial to recovering our investment,” he says.
Deepak Surana, who owns Republic Study Hall in Anna Nagar West, has no such complaints. Successful candidates often come back to study “in the same lucky seat” for further examinations, he says.
A mixed group
Students apart, interior designers, working professionals and government employees appearing for departmental exams also visit the halls. Martin Amirthraj, in-charge of Republic Study Hall, remembers a member who was never fond of studying. “He used to watch videos and observe people. I asked him what exam he was preparing for,” says Amirthraj. He was a film scriptwriter.
Irrespective of the constituencies making use of them, study halls share certain features. They offer locker facility, WiFi and air-conditioning, charge varying fees for five-hour and eight-hour slots, with members often doubling as staff. A few of the centres have tied up with caterers to provide meals. Some are open at night as well.
