The Journey of an Educator - Finding Purpose in Fulfilling Others Dreams

Wow, I never thought after all my failures and transitions in life, I’ll someday sit-down to write an article like this. 

All this feels surreal to me, but here we are! 

This journey, as an Educator wouldn’t have reaped such fruitful rewards if it wasn’t for all those who believed in me, and this article is to thank them for that.   

Plus, I’ll share some of my life-altering moments from these past 6 years, that shaped me as the person I am today. And I’ll be more than happy if these experiences add value to you in some way or the other. 

I’m emotionally writing this article, so if you find any grammatical errors, let me know and we’ll laugh over it together. And do it over a personal message, as I don’t want the grammar-nazis to run a holocaust on my article! 

That Belief Started Everything

Yes, it was Mr. Ravindran, the Director of Vajiram & Ravi, who first recognised my penchant for explaining concepts lucidly. I had prepared for the civil services exam from Vajiram & Ravi and shared a close bond with him. So, after the 2013 UPSC merit list came out, I went to his cabin and told him I couldn’t make it.  

I was sad, didn’t know what to do next, and was feeling like a loser. 

But I still remember his reply - “That’s alright, Ayussh. You gave two whole-hearted attempts to it. Now, the time has come for you to follow your calling, and I won’t be surprised if teaching is an answer to that.”

I had no reply to this. I was working with a reputed organisation as a CA during my preparation and was enjoying my work there, but this is what I stumbled onto. Teaching always attracted me, but I had never thought about choosing this as a profession. 

Seeing the confusion on my face, Ravi sir said - “Why don’t you prepare for a demo on Economic Geography next week, and we’ll see how it goes.”

I was like, ME…that to Geography! I had no background in Geography, but I still said yes because all I was looking for was a new opportunity, a fresh challenge. 

1st Sept 2014 - I taught the portion of Economic Geography to a batch of 500+ UPSC aspirants and by the end of that class, I knew this was for me. 

Here’s a pic from one of my early days. It’s good the picture isn’t that focused, otherwise, it would have captured my utterly nervous face!  

It wasn’t my belief, but Ravi sir’s, that gave me the confidence to choose the profession of an Educator, leaving behind my full-time job, and I’ll be forever thankful to him for this. 

The Grind

Soon, I was working as a full-time educator at Vajiram & Ravi. I was the youngest faculty there. (Yeah, being the youngest has its own perks and recognition everywhere!)

But I wanted to explore the depths of this profession by teaching the complete portion of Economics, and this wasn’t possible at a massive institute like Vajiram. So, the change happened, and I joined a smaller institute where I could teach the complete portion to the aspirants. I was raking up 14 hours a day during this time, and I used to come home dead-tired. 

Do you know the result of this grind? 

Negative feedback. 

Yes, I got negative feedback, as my students couldn’t perform that well in the UPSC. 

Here’s a fact. This article would easily cross 10,000 words if I mention those exact feedbacks here. And I’m not even kidding. 

This took me aback, and that’s when my ever-supportive father advised me to ignore the outside noise, listen to my inner voice, and start rectifying my mistakes. And after literally reinventing myself, it took me another 4 months for some good feedback from students and the institute. 

But all that criticism made me way better at my job, and I wouldn’t have been 50% of what I am today without this phase.

It was tough, but needed, and I thank everyone who supported me during this time. 

Unacademy

To be honest, this was the toughest decision of my life. When I joined Unacademy in 2015, they were only a YouTube channel. 

Can you believe it? A YouTube channel! 

And like everyone’s relatives, mine used to mock me by saying that - “You left the job of a CA to be a teacher, and now you’re leaving teaching to make videos? I can’t imagine, what you’ll do next.”

I was 27 at the time of this taana! And this is just one instance. So yeah, less respect. 

I’m laughing over this, but such banters motivated me to work even harder back then.

I vividly remember Roman and I kept working on our first video for more than a week before uploading it. And I just couldn’t believe when it garnered 2 lakh+ views in just 6 days. 

That felt like a dream come true for me. 

Jokes apart, I fell in love with technology and started believing in the potential of online teaching. 

Fast forward 5 years, I’ve got 248k unique followers, 10+ million views on my free videos, and 37 million watch minutes on my videos. Here's you go, you can check that out from here.

So, the tough decision to join as the 2nd Educator, after Roman, turned out to be my best one. 

And having been associated with them right from the start, I still remember my conversation with Gaurav, the CEO of Unacademy, back in 2018. He wanted to turn Unacademy into a unicorn before his 30th birthday, and they achieved that status with the recent round of funding. Talk about dreams turning into reality!

I’m glad to have contributed to their success and vision and they in-turn have turned my dreams into reality. So, thanks a lot for that, Unacademy. Keep growing and empowering millions.

The Real Success

Now comes the most important part of this journey. My success.

It’s not one or two, but in thousands!

Each student of mine, who achieved what he/she had set out to be, is my success. And the numbers would easily be in thousands.  

Here’s one of the recent testimonials from one of the students, and messages like these are my real source of happiness!

6 years as an Educator wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for their admiration for my teaching. I just showed them the path. They are the ones who walked through it. 

So, let me acknowledge each one of you, for putting in the efforts, time, and commitment to reach your goals, and in turn, empowering me on this journey. 

Here’s to all my students - I thank you from the core of my heart. Without you, there’s no value for me. 

Wrapping Up

My parents, brother, and friends always had this question for me.  

“Why are you doing what you’re doing?”

Here’s my reply - I couldn’t become a bureaucrat, and there were multiple reasons for it, out of which, getting scattered guidance was a prominent one. And I don’t want my student to face this when they’re associated with me. So, I do what I do to help them achieve their dreams in the most efficient way.

Bureaucracy always attracted me, and I tried really hard to become one, but I have no regrets because I’m living this dream every year through the success of my students. That’s what keeps me going every day, and that’s why I’ll keep showing up every single day, to empower lives the best I can!

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in these 6 years, it’s that, you need to find your calling, and then you need to give your all to it. Working extremely hard towards your goals is what takes you to your goals. There’s just no substitute to it. 

So, if you want to be an Educator or an IAS officer, the formula is the same, HUSTLE and BELIEVE.

With this, the purpose of this article is complete here, and let me end this with my favourite shayari!

“Main akela hi chala tha janib-e-manzil magar log saath aate gae aur karvan banta gaya”

A lot more is yet to come for you and me on this journey. So, let’s keep going.

Thank you for all your love and support.