Change has been the only constant in my life. From childhood, I have been exposed to multiple cultures. I was born in a small town in Kerala called Kollam. When I was a toddler, my family and I moved to Chennai where I completed my kindergarten. Amidst this, my father got a job transfer to Denmark, which left my mother and I alone in a new city. Fortunately, soon enough, the two of us were allowed to join him in Denmark. For a child of age four, the culture shock was drastic. I was given admission to a Danish Montessori since the fee at all the English-medium schools there amounted to much more than my father could afford. However, with the help of some lovely teachers and caretakers, I quickly adapted, made European friends and even picked up Danish without having to go for language classes.
However, this new way of life that I had just begun to get used to, didn’t last long. After a little over a year in Denmark, my father was transferred back to Chennai. Again, there was a tremendous culture shock, considering I was acclimatized to the way of learning, behaviour and even the weather in Europe. I had to start all over again. Having learnt only the English alphabet, the Indian syllabus which already entailed sentence-writing in Class-1, seemed to me a mountain to climb when I had barely learnt how to walk. With the constant support and perseverance of my mother, I managed to catch up and even ended up being a top-performer. But as it is said, “This too shall pass” applies even to the joyous moments in life. In two years, my family moved to Hyderabad. Residing in a place where Hindi was one of the two commonly spoken languages, the second of which was Telugu, was difficult for a South Indian, especially in school. Yet again, over time, I picked up the language.
My next major step in life was unique – a degree in Fashion Technology. Not only was this a tough decision to take considering prospective future careers, it was also something many of my family members were much against. However, I persevered. I went through with my decision and looking back, I can easily say that was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I passed out of college as the top performer of my batch and today, pursue my MBA from TAPMI. While I realize there would be further challenges in the B-School life and subsequently in the corporate, I look forward to them because difficulties have made me who I am now and overcoming more would only make me a better and stronger individual. I'm only looking up.
