Ekta Upadhyay - Focus on the Goal and not the Obstacle!

This is the story of an EduBridger who hails from the City of #Nawabs - #Lucknow and is a reflection of the city she belongs to. She is warm, polite, and has a penchant for Arts and Crafts. In this edition, we take a peek into the life of, Ekta Upadhyay ( Ekta Upadhyay ) – our Trainer for the training project sponsored by Standard Chartered at EduBridge Learning Pvt. Ltd.

Born and bought up in Lucknow, Ekta hails from a family of 4, her father whom she considers her Superhero is a Superintendent of Police in the Uttar Pradesh Police Force (#uttarpradesh #policeforce. Speaking about her dad, she has a sparkle in her eye. She fondly recollects the best day of her life when she received a surprise visit from her dad on her birthday carrying a huge teddy bear. Ekta was speechless because she had not expected it in her wildest dreams. After all, he was out on emergency duty. She speaks highly of her mother; her inspiration – who chose to be a homemaker to support her dad and take care of the kids; despite acing the exams at Kanpur University, India while graduating with a degree in Law. She has an elder sister whose attributes of having an uncanny knack for sensing her feelings, being empathetic, and love for animals are some things she has always emulated. So much so that she even chose to follow in her footsteps and go on to complete her B-Tech with a major in Computer Science.

Throughout her schooling life, Ekta was a very shy and introverted kid who would be petrified of speaking in public, however; while in college, she challenged herself to overcome this fear by nominating herself for the position of the VP of the Student Welfare body. This gave her a chance to interact with students and counsel them for their placement interviews. It also spurred her on to coach her juniors intending to help them clear their backlog subjects. It was then that she discovered her innate love for #teaching.

During her graduation, she got an opportunity to join a paid internship program with 塔塔咨询服务公司 as a Data Analyst. Post completing her graduation she got offers from 德勤 and HDFC Bank . While she was inclined toward Deloitte; due to her college policies she had to take up the profile at HDFC Bank as a Relationship Manager. This profile required her to be on the field at all times which led to her developing severe cervical spondylitis leaving her in constant pain and a need to consume painkillers. But even this did not stop her from completing her MBA in Marketing and HR.

She says she continued tutoring engineering students and that’s when it dawned upon her that teaching/training is what she saw herself doing as a career. The sheer gratitude reciprocated by her students was on most days her getaway from the crippling pain that she had to endure every day of her life.

She then decided to leave her banking job and join some NGOs that engaged in conducting welfare programs for underprivileged students. Ekta had finally found what she was looking for in her career and she knew that THIS is what she wants to do in life. When she saw her new students’ passion, it made her forget her problems in life. When asked what made her through even with her medical condition, with her broad, ever-present smile, she says.” Challenges are a part of life. We can’t stop because of it. Instead, #challenges must propel us to move on”

She found her second coming when she received a mail from EduBridge for the position of a #trainer as this would help her train the economically less privileged learners in the banking stream. She grabbed the opportunity with both hands. She says she is extremely thankful for this opportunity and she has immense gratitude towards the organization for giving her this opportunity.

As the conversation continues, she talks about how being empathetic towards all forms of life is something she believes in. As an avid dog lover, she gets emotional while discussing one of the darkest phases of her life in which she lost one of her beloved pets as a result of poisoning, and what was more jarring is that she had to conduct a session in the evening on the same day. Bouts of depression and a worsening of her existing medical condition followed. Seeing her father go through the same phase broke her even further. She says, “I had a choice in front of me – give in or fight back and I chose the latter”. After all, she couldn’t let her learners even have a shadow of a doubt about the emotional turmoil she was going through. She had to make conscious efforts to distract herself and move on and she did so by firstly changing her lifestyle – she joined the Satvik movement which was meant to promote mental and physical well-being. She picked up art and found a passion for it in upcycling things. Yoga and physiotherapy have been key to her not being dependent on painkillers. Gardening also is something that gives her a kick of positive energy. She is a very spiritual person and this has helped her spread positivity around the house and help her family move on from the bad days.

When I asked her about her plans for the future, she is quick to respond that she intends to pursue a Ph.D. and she feels EduBridge has given her a solid footing for achieving her goal with exposure to continuous learning, collaborating with teams, and meeting new learners regularly.

I must say, I am quite inspired by the sheer grit and determination shown by this young lady and I let her know that to which she just quips with an even broader smile,” Life is not about excuses, it’s about opportunities. Take it or lose it”.

Speaking with her made me lose track of time. A glanced at my watch and decided to wrap up the conversation as I thanked her for opening up to me, trusting me, and letting me write about her life. That smile she’s got is infectious…I have one even after ending the conversation.

Written by Ganesh Iyer