An Idea That Actually Changed Our Lives – IIM Kashipur

An Idea That Actually Changed Our Lives – IIM Kashipur

I distinctly remember the moment, even today, when the very first time my family got their very first sim card in the year 2008. The color was yellow. We were all very excited. We already had a basic feature mobile phone, but we were a bit anxious about the network connection we wanted, mainly because of the pricing. We belonged to a lower-middle-class family, and hence, Pricing was going to be the major deciding factor. We were waiting for the right ‘connection’. It was then, one of our neighbors, who was using Idea Cellular Network, shared his enriching experience with us, and advised my family to avail the best of services, at pay per call basis. It was a postpaid connection, where the company used to send a monthly bill at the end of the month. Moreover, as the festival of colors ‘Holi’, was about to be celebrated, the company had already launched various promotional offers.    It was the right time when we found the right connection. The color was yellow. We all were very animated, realizing that soon we would be calling to our relatives living hundreds of Km away from us. I was very close to my maternal grandmother. She lived in Aligarh, more than 100 Km away from my city, Ghaziabad. But whenever she got time, she brought gifts for me. In 2007, she had gifted me a cricket kit on my birthday. However, since then I was not able to contact her. And, now I knew, I could call her. It was my very first call. I was very elated after talking to her. Till today, it is one of the best memories of my life. I wholeheartedly thank Idea Cellular Team (Now, Vodafone Idea Limited) and Aditya Birla Group, for blessing us with the color yellow! Since then, our family became a brand advocate of the product. As soon as all the members in my family started using mobile phones, we all connected with Idea Cellular Network. During all these years, my brother and me graduated, we got jobs, we moved across different cities, we bought many things, we went through so many emotions, and, now I’m doing MBA, one friend that shared every single moment of our journey is the color yellow: The Idea that actually changed our lives.     

Keep On Moving, Even If It Means An Inch – IIM Kashipur

Life is beautiful. But, it has its own way of teaching you the same. All you have to do is trust her. In this well-connected modern world, aspiration has become one of the most important virtues of human life. We all have different sets of aspirations for ourselves. And, it is beautiful. This is what, acts as a source of internal motivation for many of us, and pushes us to test our limits. But, one small dissent I want to raise here is: I find this approach to be solely driven by future, and there exists the river of uncertainty. There is a limit to, which we can try to predict certain things in the future and that too probabilistically. What if, my aspirations changed altogether over a period of time, or worse, what if I do not know what my aspirations are at the present moment. What will happen to my internal source of motivation? Who will guide me? The answer is- Life!     Like many of the Indian stories, where a family decides to shift to the urban area from rural ones, in search of better prospects for them, and especially for their next generation, my story started when my family shifted from Baral, a village near Bulandshahr (UP) to Ghaziabad, a city near to Delhi. I completed my schooling with good grades, and with little awareness about what I will do next. I wrote various engineering entrance examinations, got good All India Ranks, and completed Mechanical Engineering, from one of the premier colleges of our country. What next? I joined the job at an engineering company, performed well. Then, I took CAT examination, scored well, and joined an MBA course at IIM Kashipur, and now performing well. Yes, I also aspire, to see myself as a professional who generates value for his organization in the best of his capacities. But, is this the source of motivation for me? Frankly acknowledging, No! It never was. Yes, I have enjoyed a fair share of success but the number of time I had to struggle is quite large. Result and success matter in the end, but these are built on hardships and struggle, which are hidden like the major part of an iceberg. The main source of motivation for me is to give my best in the present, in the very moment, at the best of my capacities. The best advice, that my Chemistry Teacher once gave to me, and which I religiously follow and practice is “Keep Moving, even if it means an inch.” Not every day, things will go in our favor, and some days will be quite difficult. Instead of just surviving through these days, one must learn to embrace such hardships and develop one’s own first-hand learnings. This is what I have learnt till now, from the best master, the Life.