Bengaluru student spends college vacation riding for Rapido, earns Rs 1,200 a day and discovers the reality of gig work

For most college students, a three-month vacation is a chance to sleep late, meet friends, travel or simply escape the pressure of classrooms and assignments. But for one Bengaluru BBA student, the break became something far more unusual.

Instead of spending the vacation on the sidelines, the second-year student got on a motorcycle and began working as a Rapido captain. What started as a side hustle to make some extra money gradually turned into an experiment in understanding one of the most talked-about parts of India's changing workforce, the gig economy.