How Overcoming Life's Challenges Made Me Stronger - SCMHRD

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.”

It was a cool, breezy autumn evening. My father had just summoned a cab and we got into it, my mother and I at the back, clutching bags full of books, and my father making himself comfortable at the front seat. We were animatedly discussing how lucky we were to get all the books I needed, at the iconic hub of old, used bookstores in Kolkata- College Street. I was about to sit for my ICSE Board examination and this was the last instalment of reference books and test papers I required for my preparation. Just as the taxi turned a curb, my father asked for some water. The moment I handed it to him, however, he dropped it. His hand was shaking and he was unable to speak. We immediately grew concerned and asked the driver to stop. Still no response, he seemed to have gone numb. It was just for a few seconds, but felt like eternity, before he could raise a feeble voice and say that his chest was throbbing. He got out and vomited, although his legs gave way and I had to support him. We rushed him to a nearby hospital and the diagnosis left me in utter shock and disbelief- my father had just suffered a severe cardiac arrest. In fact, he was lucky to survive, as the odds of death from the initial impact were quite high. What followed was a nightmare- continuous check-ups, angioplasty and hours and hours of waiting and praying in front of the ICU. What began as a quest for knowledge turned out to be a night neither me nor my mother could ever forget. My father did survive, but he returned home a few weeks later weaker and visibly shaken. As for me, I knew I had to continue my exam preparation, since the Board wasn’t going to show me any empathy. However distracted I was, I attempted to focus on my studies. It wasn’t easy; this was the very first time I was confronted with such a situation and it robbed me of my sleep. I was horrified at every passing moment, thinking about how we could have survived without him. I would visualize my father’s smiling face inside the pages of my notebook and would wander off to those special moments I had spent with him. Nevertheless, I persevered and managed to clear my exams with flying colours. After a very long time, there appeared a smile on my father’s face. He was proud of me.

“Two roads diverged in a wood

I took the one less travelled by,

And that has made all the difference.”

  Now came the moment to make a big decision in my life. I had to choose which stream to pursue for my ISC Board examination. Being a part of an average Bengali household, I was compelled by my parents, as well as my teachers, to take up Science, so that I could study Engineering later on and get established in life very quickly. Considering my father’s weak heart, it was the most prudent choice. But I had other ideas; I had fallen in love with the English language and wanted to pursue Humanities. It was met with a strict “NO” from my parents. So, I decided to try out an alternative and took up Commerce. I would have to start from scratch and see where it went from thereon. Turned out, I was a quick learner, and managed to get ahead of my peers, topping the Board examination at my school. That paved the way for me to join St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata and make further inroads into the field. I took up Chartered Accountancy simultaneously with my B.Com studies and was pumped up to do well in both. In fact, I made a great start too, clearing the Foundation level with a distinction. Little did I know then that that was going to be my last piece of success for a long time. Things started crumbling from thereon. I tried hard, but could not clear the CA intermediate level examination in my first attempt. I did not want to give up, and decided to register again. But in the interim, calamity struck.

“It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

I am the captain of my soul.”

My father lost his job- apparently his health issues had made him a liability to the firm, which was undergoing several changes on account of its recent merger with a larger firm. So just like that, he was laid off- talk about employee loyalty, huh? At the ripe age of 56, it was really difficult for him to find another job, leave alone one with a similar scale of salary and responsibilities. He grew depressed, dejected and miserable- I hated seeing him struggle like that. Due to the sudden financial crunch, I had to forego CA- to this day I regret not being able to clear in the first attempt. My marks in the college semester exams also went down, I was just so distracted with the thought of finding a job, an internship, a business opportunity- anything really- to tide over this crisis. In the end, we discussed the matter and I started providing private tuitions to school students. It was a good way to give back what I have learnt. Gradually I built up my trade and after two years, my student count reached 40, monthly income touched Rs. 20,000. I actually paid the remainder of my college fees with this earned money and also filled out all the applications for MBA entrance and various business schools with that amount. In fact, I bought a new phone for my mother as well- the latest member of our family to switch to smartphones. It wasn’t easy though, having college during the day and teaching in the evening- left very little time for my own studies. Still I persisted, and decided that my next target should be an MBA- since a simple B.Com graduate doesn’t exactly have too many good job prospects lined up. It was a long and tedious process- burning the midnight oil, analyzing mock tests, revising concepts and also preparing for the GDPI rounds- but I finally got the good news- I converted SCMHRD, Pune. It was a moment of euphoria and ecstasy- as if my entire life, with all its struggles, regrets and frustrations flashed by, and I could finally say that I have made it. The road was treacherous, full of pitfalls, but I reached my destination- albeit only to start another, even more treacherous journey- that of an MBA. Once again, both my parents are proud of me, and I am thankful to them for their unwavering support, even during tumultuous times. Every dark cloud has a silver lining, I guess.