I started pursuing photography as a hobby in 2007 and within a few years, I figured out that it wasn’t my hobby anymore. It was my passion. I liked to travel and shoot. The sunrises and sunsets, the mountains and seas, the forests and the villages, every moment had a special place in my heart.
We wake up every day with a plan. A plan to achieve things, a plan to be better than yesterday, a plan for beautiful today and excellent tomorrow. But plans rarely work. Winning when you don't know what to do and how to do is the only win that counts.One of those wins for me was to conquer quants in CAT. Being a biology graduate (Zoology honors) I wasn't familiar with the subject. I had decided to give CAT in the second year of my graduation. A decision that was unconventional and totally out of my comfort zone, but I couldn't fail. Failing wasn't an option. Competing with the smartest of the smarter lot wasn't easy. I started as a bank sheet with no expertise of the subject. Starting from scratch wasn't easy. Everything was new for me and never simple. I started with determination, with a fire inside me to succeed. I worked each day harder than the day before. Some days I failed, but everyday I learnt. There was only one thing I could see, the result of CAT. One year of sleepless nights and consistent efforts later the D-day came. I was nervous and excited at the same time. When the results came out I had succeeded in defeating my fear of numbers and achieved what I had dreamt of. There's no substitute for hardwork and that's the only way I could overcome the challenge of competing with the smartest lot in the country.
The rising sun is a spectacle that is magnificent and beautiful, a sight that invokes hope and wonder in the minds of the person watching. I was a young boy when my family lived atop a small hill in the city of Trivandrum in Kerala. There I would wake up early to the sounds of my grandmother chanting her prayers to the rising sun. I believe many small and beautiful experiences and their memories from my childhood have had a huge influence on me, made me the man I am today, grounded by the values the stories had, which my sweet grandmother told, in the backdrop of the rising sun. Today when I go through the old photos of my childhood, I see something I’ve never seen in them before. I see the presence of the Aditya Birla Group in them. Right from the photo films using pigments made from carbon black, to the dresses that adorn my loved ones, made from the threads spun in textile factories in Maharashtra, to the cement that still holds my old home strong. From then to now, it’s been more than fifteen years, from the telecom service I use to call my grandmother to the medical insurance that ensures the best medical attention to take care of her health, I see the one constant influencing my life throughout, the light of the rising sun still shining as bright.
Ambitions change, but the learning stays. By definition, ambition is a strong desire to do or achieve something. When I was fourteen, it was not just my ambition, but my dream to represent my school in the Annual Hockey tournament, which was the only exclusive hockey event where all of the 6 all-girl hockey teams in the whole of Bangalore participated. The extra hours of training finally seemed to pay off when selection day arrived and I made it into the team. But my ecstasy was short lived. The following weekend, when I was playing hockey in my neighborhood- which is a tar road and highly unsuitable for the sport- is when the incident occurred. As a defender, it was my job to block the ball from progressing past me towards the goalpost, or in this case a makeshift goalpost comprising of two bricks. As Sanmitra, the center forward of the opposition bolted towards me, dribbling the ball, I tried to obstruct him with all my might. Our hockey sticks collided, and the impact caused the ball to rise off the ground and it struck me above my right eye, missing the eyeball by inches. A mixture of blood and tears streaming down my face, I was rushed into an emergency room. Once the doctor disproved my fear of impending death, my mind jumped to the next most realistic cause for trepidation. The possibility that I might not be able to participate in the hockey tournament. With the swelling and bandaging over the entire upper right quadrant of my face, I was barely able to read a book, let alone catch sight of a zooming hockey ball. With hardly a month left for our first match, my doctor gave me the green signal to participate. However, I would not be able to attend any of the practice sessions for the next fortnight. To further complicate matters, my parents all but banned me from ever playing the game. But I was not going to give up that easily.
Challenge is the pathway towards engagement and progress in our lives. But not all challenges are created equal, all of them differ in some or the other way. Some make us feel lively, engaged, connected to others, and fulfilled in all aspects of life. Others simply overwhelm us in some manner. So, knowing the difference as you set bolder and bigger challenges for yourself is significant for your sanity, success, and satisfaction.
Aditya Birla Group or ABG, has touched millions of life in million ways. When I look back to my childhood days where most of my fond memories revolve around the tiffin boxes we shared, that is when I first felt the presence of ABG in my life. My mother trusted nothing but FRESHWRAPS to wrap my lunch. To be honest, this business group was present at all stages in our lives and we hardly ever notice its impact. Pantaloons and People is what I have always relied on for quality clothing and even here the Aditya Birla Group never disappointed me as a customer. This year when I had to buy myself formal wears for B-School interviews, it was disheartening to see such few brand to offer choices to women. It was then that I found out that the two brands, ALLEN SOLLY and VAN HEUSEN that im purchasing from also belong to my most trusted Aditya Birla Group. This company has also helped my family when the times were tough, Aditya Birla Sun Life mutual funds were a big support for my father, my family’s sole bread earner. His belief in the company stays strong till date.
“It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.”
I started pursuing photography as a hobby in 2007 and within a few years, I figured out that it wasn’t my hobby anymore. It was my passion. I liked to travel and shoot. The sunrises and sunsets, the mountains and seas, the forests and the villages, every moment had a special place in my heart.
We wake up every day with a plan. A plan to achieve things, a plan to be better than yesterday, a plan for beautiful today and excellent tomorrow. But plans rarely work. Winning when you don't know what to do and how to do is the only win that counts.One of those wins for me was to conquer quants in CAT. Being a biology graduate (Zoology honors) I wasn't familiar with the subject. I had decided to give CAT in the second year of my graduation. A decision that was unconventional and totally out of my comfort zone, but I couldn't fail. Failing wasn't an option. Competing with the smartest of the smarter lot wasn't easy. I started as a bank sheet with no expertise of the subject. Starting from scratch wasn't easy. Everything was new for me and never simple. I started with determination, with a fire inside me to succeed. I worked each day harder than the day before. Some days I failed, but everyday I learnt. There was only one thing I could see, the result of CAT. One year of sleepless nights and consistent efforts later the D-day came. I was nervous and excited at the same time. When the results came out I had succeeded in defeating my fear of numbers and achieved what I had dreamt of. There's no substitute for hardwork and that's the only way I could overcome the challenge of competing with the smartest lot in the country.
The rising sun is a spectacle that is magnificent and beautiful, a sight that invokes hope and wonder in the minds of the person watching. I was a young boy when my family lived atop a small hill in the city of Trivandrum in Kerala. There I would wake up early to the sounds of my grandmother chanting her prayers to the rising sun. I believe many small and beautiful experiences and their memories from my childhood have had a huge influence on me, made me the man I am today, grounded by the values the stories had, which my sweet grandmother told, in the backdrop of the rising sun. Today when I go through the old photos of my childhood, I see something I’ve never seen in them before. I see the presence of the Aditya Birla Group in them. Right from the photo films using pigments made from carbon black, to the dresses that adorn my loved ones, made from the threads spun in textile factories in Maharashtra, to the cement that still holds my old home strong. From then to now, it’s been more than fifteen years, from the telecom service I use to call my grandmother to the medical insurance that ensures the best medical attention to take care of her health, I see the one constant influencing my life throughout, the light of the rising sun still shining as bright.
Ambitions change, but the learning stays. By definition, ambition is a strong desire to do or achieve something. When I was fourteen, it was not just my ambition, but my dream to represent my school in the Annual Hockey tournament, which was the only exclusive hockey event where all of the 6 all-girl hockey teams in the whole of Bangalore participated. The extra hours of training finally seemed to pay off when selection day arrived and I made it into the team. But my ecstasy was short lived. The following weekend, when I was playing hockey in my neighborhood- which is a tar road and highly unsuitable for the sport- is when the incident occurred. As a defender, it was my job to block the ball from progressing past me towards the goalpost, or in this case a makeshift goalpost comprising of two bricks. As Sanmitra, the center forward of the opposition bolted towards me, dribbling the ball, I tried to obstruct him with all my might. Our hockey sticks collided, and the impact caused the ball to rise off the ground and it struck me above my right eye, missing the eyeball by inches. A mixture of blood and tears streaming down my face, I was rushed into an emergency room. Once the doctor disproved my fear of impending death, my mind jumped to the next most realistic cause for trepidation. The possibility that I might not be able to participate in the hockey tournament. With the swelling and bandaging over the entire upper right quadrant of my face, I was barely able to read a book, let alone catch sight of a zooming hockey ball. With hardly a month left for our first match, my doctor gave me the green signal to participate. However, I would not be able to attend any of the practice sessions for the next fortnight. To further complicate matters, my parents all but banned me from ever playing the game. But I was not going to give up that easily.
Challenge is the pathway towards engagement and progress in our lives. But not all challenges are created equal, all of them differ in some or the other way. Some make us feel lively, engaged, connected to others, and fulfilled in all aspects of life. Others simply overwhelm us in some manner. So, knowing the difference as you set bolder and bigger challenges for yourself is significant for your sanity, success, and satisfaction.
Aditya Birla Group or ABG, has touched millions of life in million ways. When I look back to my childhood days where most of my fond memories revolve around the tiffin boxes we shared, that is when I first felt the presence of ABG in my life. My mother trusted nothing but FRESHWRAPS to wrap my lunch. To be honest, this business group was present at all stages in our lives and we hardly ever notice its impact. Pantaloons and People is what I have always relied on for quality clothing and even here the Aditya Birla Group never disappointed me as a customer. This year when I had to buy myself formal wears for B-School interviews, it was disheartening to see such few brand to offer choices to women. It was then that I found out that the two brands, ALLEN SOLLY and VAN HEUSEN that im purchasing from also belong to my most trusted Aditya Birla Group. This company has also helped my family when the times were tough, Aditya Birla Sun Life mutual funds were a big support for my father, my family’s sole bread earner. His belief in the company stays strong till date.
“It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.”
