- Go On…
Ex-President of India Dr. Kalam once said, “Failure is stepping stone to success.” But how would you feel, if there are 50 such stones on trot? “Down” would be an understatement, probably shattered or broken. Such was the situation I was in where everything was turning into ashes moment I touched it. Opportunities were eluding me like a rain in the Thar. I tried everything after my HSC, engineering, medical, defense, government exams, but nowhere I was able to clear even the first hurdle. In next 5 years, I took 50 exams and failed all of them.
Just after finishing my graduation, I decided to give one more chance to turn things around. I was done with these exams, but then I came across a line by my mentor Wg. Cdr. (retd.) D. P. Sabharwal, “Look around you, how many people do you think are settling? Probably hell of a lot. People settle into okay relationships, okay jobs, and okay life. Why? Because “okay” pays the bill and provide warm bed at night. Some people are fine with “okay” and guess what? That’s okay. But “okay” isn’t thrilling, it isn’t passionate. It’s not life changing or unforgettable. “Okay” is not the reason you risk absolutely everything you have got for the smallest chance that something absolutely amazing could happen.” This was the line which changed my perspective towards life. I grinded hard like anything for next five months. Even during the preparation, I faced lot of challenges, most of the time motivation was the issue. But I hung on long enough to sail through the exam and other selection processes. It may sound like a cliché, but I aspire to follow the philosophy of ‘never quit’ throughout my life.
- Aditya Birla Group and Me
Sir Martin Luther King Jr. aptly said, “Dreams are those which don’t let you sleep.” For me one such dream was getting admission in a top b-school. For this to turn into a reality, I took the challenge of cracking Common Aptitude Exam (CAT). I started my preparations five months before the D-day. During my preparation, I mostly relied on online classes and study materials.
I belong to a tier-III city of Uttar Pradesh, where most of the necessities were available, except a cost-efficient internet service provider. I was aghast looking at the precarious situation of internet at my place.
After lot of discussion, I decided to move to Lucknow for the preparation, as the issue of internet was persistent. I was down because I was about to leave the home comfort just because of bad internet. On the eve of the departure, I went out to say goodbye to some of my friends. I met them in a café. They were also down as I was leaving. Ankit, one of my friends, asked me the reason of sudden change of plans. I narrated the situation and they were furious because I told them so late.
Ankit told me that he has a solution and took me to the mobile store. There he bought me an Idea 4G SIM with high speed internet. I took that SIM, activated it and tested the internet by running down one of the online class. It was working. Video was running without any buffering and I was also able to take 3 hours mock without any hustle. I was on cloud nine, internet was working. I cancelled my plan of moving to Lucknow. I prepared well for next five months and took the CAT successfully and joined my dream college International Management Institute, Delhi.
Aditya Birla Group’s Idea 4G services played crucial role during my preparation. The result brought magnanimous change in my life. Today I am learning with the best in the business and have plethora of opportunities to learn new things. Such has been the impact of Idea 4G, whenever I dive down my memory lane, I feel, it has become synonymous to my journey. Hopefully, I will share many more life changing events with the Aditya Birla Group.