For me, failure has been a stepping stone to success. It was a physical and mental commotion when I was diagnosed with BVVP (Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo), a neurological disorder, in the mid of class 12th. The disorder resulted in restriction of body movements and took 6 months to cure. It was followed by an abdominal surgery just two months before the board examinations. This led to an abysmal performance in the intermediate board examinations. I could score just 69.33%. This was the biggest setback in my life. My confidence was all time low and overcoming this failure is the biggest challenge I have faced in my life.
While recovering from medical irregularities, I decided to pursue Bachelors in Engineering. While attending lectures I lagged and struggled in basic concepts of Physics and Mathematics. But as Colin Powell said, “There is no secret to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failures.” Four years of constant efforts helped me qualify GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering) and get interview calls for Masters from major IITs/NITs and at the same time getting placement offers from companies like HCL, CVENT and Cognizant.
I decided to join Cognizant Technology Solution, Chennai. But soon I realized that this sense of achievement is momentary. So, I decided to refine my skill sets. Apart from focusing on strong interpersonal skills, I pursued certifications like Six Sigma and ITIL-V3. My discipline, punctuality and commitment at work place earned me a promotion from Engineer Trainee to Sr. Systems Engineer directly in a period of 1 year. To grow further, I decided to pursue MBA and started preparing for CAT/XAT and other management examinations.
Preparing for CAT while working is the second biggest challenge I have faced. In addition to nine working hours, I had 3 hours of travel time. I learnt the importance of resource optimization and time management during the eight months of preparation. All I could manage was three to four hours of preparation every day. However, I did considerably well on the D-day which led calls from all major B-schools across India, some of which includes TAPMI, IMT-G, IIT Kharagpur, SIBM-B, SIIB, FORE, SCMHRD(IM) etc.
I decided to join PGDM (Banking and Financial Services) at TAPMI, Manipal.