How Steve jobs’ biography and YIC taught me to do what I love.

I remember that day when I had my first day of my college. I saw the crowd in which I was going to get lost. I am still able to recall how much isolated I felt that day.

In second year me & my friend went to a book market to have some books to read. I suggested him to buy that white colored book on which it was written “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson. I was totally unaware of the name written. I told my friend to lend me his book. The next day I got that book and I started reading it. As the time passed I started connecting the dots with my own life. His team leading skills, Management had a deep impact on me. I was so much inspired that I read it 15 times. I started feeling that I can also achieve the impossible. He taught me that anyone can achieve impossible by doing what he loves.

I thought that just like Steve Jobs came to India to find motivation, inspiration and for the reason he took birth. I should also look out for the same.

In July I found some info about YIC on Facebook. I applied for it and waited for the date of the event. The day came & I went there with full enthusiasm. Kamal sir’s story inspired me that you can change the world if you do what you love.

During the “Hack your brain” workshop Wioleta mam was telling us to do meditation. She told us to close our eyes and watch the impossible achieved. After that she asked to pour out our heart about what we saw. I poured out my heart as the new CEO of Apple! J . Wioleta mam told me that you will be the CEO one day. Noise of clapping echoed the hall and made my day and life also.

I think YIC inspired me to #DoWhatYouLove. I am the one who is going to achieve the impossible.

I Just want to Thank Kamal Sir, Wioleta Mam and Happiness Team specially Dhruv Bro for Teaching me #DoWhatYouLove.

Rahul

(The next CEO of Apple J)

I don’t believe in destiny, you create your own.

It all started with second YIC at SRCC when I was a delegate and on Day 1 we were asked to share our passion with everyone. Though I cleared my IPCC then and was preparing for MBA, still I’d say writing. I confessed my passion as writing to other 99 delegates and I couldn’t believe myself saying that. The incident might not sound as happening but it made me realise two things. Either I’m faking my passion or what I’m actually doing is wasting my time.

By the third day I was clear that I’ll no longer pursue CA and writing came back to my life. Confusion and fear would occupy my mind all the time but faith and passion kept it going. I used to update my blog, read stuff, started interning. I could now talk to people with confidence and tell my story. As they say, right things happen when you’re positive about it. Soon I found myself interning with Human Circle and everyone around was so motivating that it further pushed me to decide my genre of writing.

“I want to become a travel writer”

“I’m an aspiring travel journalist”

“I’m a travel writer”

It took me more than a year to figure my way out. And the journey wasn’t easy. My father wouldn’t speak with me for months for my disrupted decision. I could find my way with internships in creative writing but “travel” was hard. That phase was really challenging.

To be a travel writer you have to travel and we know what scenario sustains in Indian households with girl child. Thousands of arguments, pleading, begging, strategising and finally I could make my first trip in December 2015. That was another push for me. At 10,000ft on a mountain I could feel what I had always yearned for.

I grew more determinant, persistent and optimistic and tried to find my way through travel. I got some little opportunities which led me to a big one: NDTV GoodTimes.

I still have to give thousands of excuses to my father for my internships and trips but it is my mother and sister who stand as a support for me back in home.

Till the time I graduated, I had 6 internships where 4 of them were in content writing and 2 of them in travel writing and it all happened in just one year.

Currently, I’m working with the University of Chicago Center in Delhi (thanks to Human Circle) and also freelancing for two travel organisations called Inspired Traveller and Alpaviram.

I still have a long way to go and there is more struggle than I know but after beating all the odds if I could come here, I’m sure I’ll walk further.

I don’t believe in destiny, you create your own. And I had taken a good habit of maintaining a “Dream Diary” from Wiola which I had been writing since last September and recently I went through its initial entry and found, every 2 out of 4 entries came true. And you know where the magic lies? In the thought that you’ve done it already, you’re happy and grateful.

Stop “wanting” things and experience its completion. It’s a very spiritual statement but as long as it motivates you, it is solving the purpose.

Ishani Palandurkar

Travel Writer

 

Find your passion, before you begin following it

Rachit Malhotra

While I have the time of my life at the SRCC campus in the two days on Saturday & Sunday at the YIC, I wouldn’t be lying if I say that I miss office. (Yes, I work all seven days)

But it has not been a ‘straight to the goal’ journey this far,where I am in life. And I’m fortunate enough to be here. The road this far has been…tricky…to say the least.

& here’s my story about that…

I wanted to be a professional footballer when I was in 8th class. Until 6th class I didn’t even know I existed! But then that’s a story for another day. By the time I finished with 9th standard, I also wanted to be a poet.
Not your everyday combination right? Footballer-Poet!

Thanks to some external influences (sarcasm intended here), I gave up on both as far as making a career was concerned. And decided to take on academics a little more seriously. From an average 75 percenter till 10th grade, I became a topper 75 percenter in 11th and 12th in science. They used to call me Chemistry King. This was also the time when I wanted to be a hardcore researcher in theoretical sciences.

Enter Engineering!

The guy who made me fall in love with chemistry – my chemistry tutor, was also my undoing. I wanted to take up Chemical Engineering. He convinced me and my parents that I should take up Electronics. And so I did, at NSIT/DCE.

Out of all the things I have Ever wanted to be, I felt the need to be this the strongest in my 2nd and 3rd year ; that I don’t want to be an engineer!
It was too late. I had no option but to either wait for 4th year for placements, or to wait for 4th year and join my family business.

The Family Business!

While I was busy getting into my engineering college after 12th, my parents were laying ground for a second major business. By the time I finished with 3rd year, they started a 3rd business.
Last month I started off with a 4th.

I took up campus placements, worked at Deloitte for 2 years. Well, not worked actually. *Went to Deloitte for 2 years.
And then was the much awaited start; to join the family businesses.

I had an extremely happy time at Deloitte. Because I knew I didn’t have to be there.
I thought I’d be even happier once I joined the business, and when I did…
The first 6 months were possibly one of the hardest 6 months of my life. I was miserable, guilty, reckless, all over the place, more guilty, and most of all- I was sad. I was really sad. You know ,like really sad.

Post 6 months, things started changing. I started changing. My life started changing. I enrolled myself into the SP Jain, Family Managed Business course. I started doing things in my business. Started taking lead, seeing the impact I made. I became more assertive. I became more open. I was always a learner, and I realised how important that was for life.
I didn’t realise but I actually started loving my work!

Fast forward to today, and here I am living and loving each day of my life.
Though there are still things that I want to do and be in life. Like I want to be a truck driver. I want to be a business consultant. A football coach for kids. An advisor and mentor for all those students who are in that boat where I was at a point in life.

I also want to continue to be happy, to keep on loving what i do, and to continually seek experiential learning.
And this, I’m sure I’ll be able to do.

 

– Rachit Malhotra

Sick, yet healthy!

The title seems absurd, doesn’t it?
To me, it doesn’t. While the body is sick, the mind could be completely healthy and that is what this blog shall talk about. 🙂

I haven’t been keeping well for a little while now and the starting days were pure misery. The body affecting the mind part took over in all its strength. I was physically weak and mentally sad. All of this lead to no improvement in my health whatsoever. Then, one day, while reading I realised this very beautiful thing:
“If your mind falls sick, with your physical body, there can be no illness longer to cure than that. While, if your mind sustains it’s health while the body is sick, it becomes the stick to the blind.”

It was only when I was thinking about it that I became all positive about every thing that has been happening. I remembered reading a few books where in, with the change of the person’s psyche and understanding of things, the body healed. That’s right. The healing of the mind lead to the healing of the body.

I suggest you to read the book, “Dying to be Me” by Anita Moorjani to explore the world of healing yourself through a real life example. And should you find your faith growing and your desire to cure yourself, give ‘You can Heal your life’ by Louis L. Hay a chance. I promise the books shall do wonders for you with little or negligible efforts of yours.

Psychologists have been debating over the body mind dichotomy for quite a while now i.e. whether biology affects the mind and our psychology or vice versa. I am a believer of both. While I fell sick and gave in to my illness, I saw my disease take over my positivity and emotional health. But, as soon as I took control of the silly mind that went haywire, I saw myself recovering happily.

The blog might not be a great insight to the magic and powers of positive psychology, but I do wish it quivers your conscience to give the books a look or the magics, a try! Happy healing. 🙂

– Bhavya Arora

“Young much?”

Hello Ladies & gentlemen, boys & girls. This is Anuksha Arsh Gulati and yes, I’m currently a 12th grade student. Young much?

Well, dreaming at this age, Why not , school students tend to dream a lot, both in sleeping and fantasizing. But again my age doesn’t stop me from pursuing my passion, my dreams, or from doing what I love to do.

My mother once narrated me the story of my birth. She told me that when she was pregnant, the mandatory ultrasounds predicted the sex of the baby.

Good Lord! Boy or a girl? For God’s sake, it better be a boy!

My grandmother and my mother were born in almost a family of girls. With 9 sisters of my grandmother and 3 those of my mother, the very sight of a girl again, in the next generation could become quite painful for them.

Every relative of my family, every anonymous aunt and uncle, every anonymous grandmother and grandfather, prayed and bribed the Almighty for the birth of a baby boy. But even amidst the darkness, the conservative perspectives, the hatred for feminity, there my parents were! My dear mom deep within, hankered for a daughter, for a young beautiful soul whom she could adore to the fullest, her own embellished chunk of mass that she could confide by, always. And also my lovely father who supported me, even the unborn me, in each and every possible aspect.

Soon, the ultrasound reports were out. A baby boy was on the way! You heard me right, a baby boy!

Everybody was on cloud nine, celebrating the happiness of their lives.

It went on to, ‘ finally, the curse of incessant girls in our family comes to an end.’

While everybody was glowing with joy, the mother of the arriving soul prayed and longed relentlessly. She spoke to the baby every day, comforting it for the world outside, how much she loved it and would still do whether a boy or a girl, about developing inner strengths & being ourselves, about the power of communication . The working environment of my mother further enhanced the words she would communicate to the unborn soul.

Well, it’s the power of motherhood that I stand before you all today. A girl, a girl who when bags prizes makes the same relatives proud, a girl who endures the patriarchal society but likes it the hard way, a girl who loves to be herself, a girl who wiped the criticism of womanhood in her family, for starters.

My journey, even as a girl of 17 has been very adventurous. When I was 2 years old, parents say, I had selected my own playschool. Well, it turned out to be a Bengali playschool and I had a lot of adjustment problems initially, but then I eventually managed to pick up the language. At the same tender age, I began learning Bharatnatyam and was started to be called the twinkling toes in my school. Karate, lawn tennis, music, basketball and other activities gradually became my zones of proficiency. Under the guidance of eminent professors and communication specialists, I learned the power of words and the beauty of effective communication which today has enabled me to host radio shows in the children section of All India Radio.

Recently, I founded an organization titled AAG- ARISE AWAKE GROW which aims to empower girls and celebrate womanhood. Within few months, we have been able to host several competitions and conduct self-defense workshops in collaboration with the Special Police Unit of Women & Children. Our dream is to build a world where a girl is proud of her identity and her being.

So many times we tie our girls and women in shackles of patriarchy, the kinds which might even be invisible. But ladies and gentlemen, that’s not how we are supposed to roll it, that’s not how humanity wants it.

Conclusively, addressing the problems that a modern girl has to face, I’d like to narrate a self-composed poem.

– Anuksha Arsh Gulati (Attended Young India Challenge at SRCC 2016)

” I know I am meant to do something big”

I have been a versatile child.

Tried everything from roller skating to classical music to sports. Now out of college, I look back and wonder what I did in my school days. Shockingly, I realised that I haven’t been able to stick with any one thing. I did enough in everything to get me recognised a bit, but I didn’t actually specialise or excel in any of those things. That made me very sad. And then when Indian parents ask you what you want to do with your life, you start worrying. But I have been somewhat lucky. In my 11th grade, I suddenly developed a keen interest in Business and decided that I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I didn’t know anything about how I am going to achieve this goal. I just knew that this was my calling. This has been the case even now. I don’t know how I will start a company. I haven’t got any business idea. And that scares me. I see startup stories, I get inspired, but I don’t write a business plan. This is the challenge I am facing right now. I have decided where I want to go but I don’t know how. I try to find the perfect Eureka Moment. I read, I write, I experience. Ideas can sprout from anywhere and my faith in me keeps the entrepreneurial fire burning in me. Because I know I am meant to do something big.

–  Harman Khurana (Attended Young India Challenge at SRCC 2016 )

Life is a roller-coaster ride.

Life is a roller-coaster ride. Full of twists and turns and surprises. It never offers anything without getting paid nor does it let anyone take it for granted. But when somehow journey is smooth, life is beautiful too.

I am also stubborn enough to challenge it and not accept it as it comes. I rather believe in not chasing shadows and enjoy my roller-coaster ride. I would like to take this moment and proudly say “I survived!”

My life has never been easy. Lady luck wants me to struggle for everything I desire. But I believe that’s how the value comes. When I first came to my college, it was a drastic downfall for me. I felt I never belonged there. And I couldn’t be happy where I didn’t belong. So I wandered outside my class and found amazing hardworking people and learned so much about college. Then Talerang came but my dad was never up for it but I fought for my stand and represented my college at a future CEO programme. I also wanted to be a part of Ramcomm society but couldn’t get through the auditions so I worked externally and at the end of 1^st year they called me to be a part of them. Victory! I also joined 2 other societies in the beginning but didn’t find that zeal and life purpose there so I decided to leave it after 1 year to work on my project of bringing Enactus to my college which soon is going to be a reality.

Times have been where I wanted to tell people what I like, what I do but they never bothered to listen to me; where I was so depressed; where I almost gave up but I knew I have to keep going to make my story inspiring. Now I can proudly say “I survived!”

– Kritika Chhabra

 

“Figured out that academics did not bring happiness”

An academic achiever till class X. Did not score good marks in class XII, up to the expectations of his parents. Cleared JEE (Advanced) for admission into IITs but did not qualify for an admission in computer related fields. Joined Delhi Technological University (formerly Delhi College of Engineering) in 2014. Failed in three subjects straight in the first semester. Figured out that academics did not bring happiness. Started doing what he loved – building websites and other technical projects. Thrown out of a full time internship saying lack of talent, inability to produce desired results and low productivity. Currently in the third year of Mathematics & Computing Engineering and simultaneously working with Microsoft and TEDxTughlaqRd (India’s second biggest and Delhi’s biggest TED event).

Have successfully completed building 20 websites and 27 technical projects in total. 6 internships completed and 6 positions of responsibility held. Proud recipient of Pragya Chakshu Award and International Award for Young People. Owns a MacBook Pro which he gladly calls as #Maciiee which he bought for himself and is symbolic of the fact that he could achieve something that seemed impossible to him.

Now, he is trying to break stereotypical mindsets prevalent in our society by the means of his book ‘Celebrating Failure’ which aims to bring out the stories of 15 sung and mostly unsung heroes who celebrated their failure by doing what they loved.

Failing at petty exams is not the end. Broken relationship is not the end. Not getting an internship or a job in your dream company isn’t the end. Being bankrupt isn’t the end. One should never give up on their dreams, what they always wanted to do when they were young. Let it be entrepreneurship, dancing, singing, acting, comedy, sports – anything.

If you ever wanted to bring about a change in the society and make India better, in the real sense, then here is your chance. A lot of us, only criticize about what’s going wrong but only 0.0001% people come forward to take initiatives of their own or help people like him who are trying to bring about a change in the society

Contribute small amounts at bit.ly/celebratingfailure . If you can’t monetarily help, then kindly spread the word amongst your social circle, so it reaches a wider audience.

 

Dhruv Avdhesh
www.dhruvavdhesh.in

 

Dyslexia To Distinction

While taking bed rest I realised that we all are so busy in our lives that we have forgotten how to live it. I had so many unfulfilled wishes in my childhood which I wanted to fulfil during my adulthood but ironically I forgot them in my craze of getting old. I was born with so many confusions floating around me. I was a silent girl in my childhood……silent to such an extent that my neighbours used to scare my granny that I might be a mute child but the scenario drastically changed when I was five. Till now I wonder that how and why was I silent……

My first confusion was whether to love a teacher or to hate her. I was a complete dumb headed brat who hated studies to the core. I was born in a super intelligent family where A had to be an apple and B had to be ball. My sister used to be the top scorers in her class and sadly even I topped my class but from the last. My mother left no stone unturned to make me a bright child. To her dismay it was tough for her to make me awake and survive during atrocious study hours. The confusion was so because I loved my mother despite being a teacher but hated the breed teachers. I still remember mom used to slog day and night in preparing question papers. She then devised a master plan to make me do it. She called my friends to play and in hoax of playing teacher teacher ,me and my friends were trapped. My friends somehow escaped as they finished and gave the solution to the deadly paper but for me the doors remained closed. Tution classes in class 1 sounds cute or funny at this stage but was not definitely at that stage. The second confusion was why alphabets teased us by looking similar. Yes , I am talking to b,d,p and q. The funny part is that after failing in class tests my tution teacher didn’t even gather the courage to take fees and as a result they ran away. I guess 90% of my teachers will remember me even today for creating havoc in their teaching career. Passing class 1 was definitely not a cakewalk especially when you have so much pressure of learning those 26 deadly letters who teased you with similar looks. Almost every kid hated maths and I was no exception. The worst part was that I was shifted to one of the best missionary schools in Patna. It was worst because my sister was in the same school. It looked as though my parents hired a customised complain box to keep a check on my little footsteps. Everytime the sensex of my marks dropped down my sister was called for an expert opinion. After coming home my sister used to spill the beans of my performance. For me cheating also remained a tough task being a girl with large sized eyes. Class II taught me word problems which were more problems than words itself. Being a playful child my teachers had a lot of adjectives to be written in my report card. I was always found looking outside the window. In this class I invented a “KEEDA BOX” or an INSECT BOX which helped me get out of my maths trauma. I used to collect tiny safe looking insects before my exams and put them inside my eyes to escape from the exam. Later my sister found out and unfortunately the box had to be surrendered. I never stopped trying and the insects were then replaced by surf, Chat masala and lens cleaning liquid. I am sure I will have a tough time even today after my mom reads all this. I still remember my inefficiency in tying my shoe laces and buttoning my shirt. I was so fond of lighting matchsticks that once I melted my dustbin by throwing random burnt papers with so called HOMESAFE matchsticks. I used to remember throwing away my father’s shoes from my school bus just to take out my grudge against being scolded. I also recollect my memory of falling in a fountain of the very famous Pinjore Garden. I used to play around till the results were not out because after that I had to bring my fake crocodile’s tears. I used to chit chat and tell all kinds of fake stories to my tution teachers that I was made to work as a part time servant who washed clothes and did other household chores. This excuse of mine was a superhit formula to escape from homework. I still remember the terror of a dog who chased me in a carpet factory. It was because of this I used to complete all the homework given by my Micheal sir. He knew I was scared of dogs and used it for my advantage. Missionary school didn’t teach much mischief as compared to DPS. The CBSE system added more colours to my rainbow and made me shine in a bright and better way. I became the school prefect as everyone thought me to be the innocent one. I was loaded with full bag of instructions before joining the school. I still remember the responsibility of carrying my own self with my two ponytails. The first week was scary but after that even I started banging desks, playing pen fight, giving abuses, eating lunch during classes and of course my favourite sleeping on the back bench. I was now tired of finding Math’s ex (X in algebra). Giving up was difficult so I chose to work hard.Despite my excuses I was bound to study and I did prove myself. I still remember once I was beaten when I slept with my earphone on and not responding to anyone. In my case maths not only remained a terror for me but also for my family members. Being in 90s it was a time when we used to cry for broken toys unlike today’s kid who cries for a broken heart. We were close yet not so much connected. (with technology like mobile phones,laptops etc ). I still remember giving blank paper to prove my guts to the examiner. Till today even after becoming a rankholder in college I still aspire to become the same carefree and notorious kid who never gave a damn to marks. Today I realise the smallest effort of all my teachers who helped me transformed my DYSLEXIA into DISTINCTION. I am very glad that my childhood was so adventurous that I used to come rubbing my eyes sometimes with tears and mostly with sleep after the last school bell. I have seen my mother and my sister completing my holiday homework. I even recall the story of magical equal to(=) which changes plus to minus and multiplication to division … I still remember my days when I used to play cricket with my father and learn handwriting with my grandfather. I today feel sorry for the canteen person because I deceived him so many times for free chole bhature and cold drinks. I know school days wont come back but my teachers will surely trace my symptoms in my kid. I today take this opportunity to thank everyone who made me shine even in my darkest of the days. Although I am underestimated many times but my heart loudly yells  DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF A COMMON MAN………

Today I am a successful writer and a blogger who has faced the bull by its horns. English and me have become best pals by now. I also work for Corporate Communication in Amrapali Hospitality. I have also written a poetry saga named ‘ A PINCH OF LIFE—SWEET N SOUR’ which is under publishing. I have more literary projects such as food website etc which is yet to come. Today I stand proudly and confidently in front of all of you being an inspiration and learing from you. Lastly I would share the magic secret which is NEVER GIVE UP.

A special thank you to Mr Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar who taught me that “If people throw stones at you……… You convert them into mildstones…”

– Deepshikha

My Real Life Journey – Shubhangi Nigam

So let’s start with the day I was born. The day 9 June 1998, when my real life begun. Years by years passed, I was 3 years old when I joined school. Teachers told my parents that I speak very less.  But my parents said that she will speak you just wait. So later on I started speaking. This was the challenge which I overcame. Year by year I was growing and started understanding things. When I was in class 8 I realized that I should start finding my passion that what I should do. From astronaut to engineer I thought everything. Later in class 10 my all mates decided regarding their subjects in class 11. But I was only left who was blank still because my parents wanted to me an engineer but I had no interest. The day when I had to fill the form for class 11, my parents asked me to take PCM but I took Commerce with Maths. The choice of subject I made just because I don’t wanted to study Chemistry.  Later in last two years of my schooling I was the best accounts student in my school. Teachers and students called me Accountant of my school. This was my first step of being successful. Later I decided of studying at Delhi University. Another challenge came when I didn’t got admission in any college of DU till 5^th merit list. I lost all hope and took admission in School of Open Learning, DU. But later on I got admission at Sri Aurobindo College (eve.), DU. This was the another successful step. Now its my 1^st year and I’m very happy. I just have one thing in my mind throughout every challenge “WE HAVE 1 LIFE AND WE HAVE TO LIVE IT TO ITS FULLEST’’

– Shubhangi Nigam (Attended Young India Challenge at SRCC 2016)