A Journey of Hope in Bangalore

Hola, Linkedin Community!!

It's already been one year since I came to Bangalore. Coming from a small town and a conservative family, I never had the chance to visit faraway places. I took a drop for preparation of jee. I believed I could crack it plus at that point that was the only hope left. But I couldn't crack Jee. I have been the topper in my entire school life. So it's obvious my family and close ones expect me to get into IIT. But I couldn't live up to their expectations. Still, I got many private engineering colleges, and I chose to come to Bengaluru leaving many good private colleges like Manipal,KIIT, etc. I took the best college possible according to my ranking. I had many hopes and expectations from this college because the reviews and ratings were good. It had clubs, extracurricular opportunities, and good guidance. That's what I thought. But the internet can be deceiving.

I live in Jamshedpur, so I don't know how good is this college till I get to know in person. But I had expectations which the social media gave me. And this was the first time I had traveled so far, almost 2 days on the train to reach Bangalore. I always wanted to visit Bangalore because I heard many of my relatives and friends talk about it. Its reputation for being the silicon valley of India, the IT hub. I knew opportunities were here. That's why I chose to come to Bangalore.

But after coming to Bangalore, my hopes were crushed in a few months. The college was only focused on academics, exams, assignments. Even if I wanted to take part in events, or competitions, I had to give proofs I was going or not, and too much about attendance. The clubs weren't that much active. I was disappointed. I thought of leaving college, but I had to study somewhere. There was a chance for me to get into IIIT Hyderabad through UGEE. I started preparing for it along with my college studies though I had only two months. I took the exam, and along with it, I gave the CMI and ISI admission tests. I wrote my last jee mains once again. But, I couldn't qualify. I couldn't go to the interview round of UGEE. I was heartbroken at that point. I came home for a month to see my parents and tell them the truth. I think they were angry with me but they understood. Coming from a middle-class family, it's very difficult to afford a good education from a college. I decided to take the online BS degree from IIT Madras.

I came back to Bangalore and attended a few more classes to see if I could learn something through the classes as I had already paid for the year. But the teachers here are just worried about completing the syllabus and marks. I was not learning at all. So, I decided to go to events on my own. I asked a few of my friends to come with me but they were too much of academic geeks and wanted to become the toppers.

I went to various fests and events and met different people. But it was very difficult for me to blend with other people. The people, culture, vibe, and language are very different from where I come from. I started having self-doubt that I was not good enough, my English was poor, I was introverted, I was a non-social kind of person, etc. But I think it was the opposite. I wanted to talk to people, and I wanted to make new friends, but somehow I was not able to. Still having these doubts, I kept on going to events, gained new perspectives, and started to learn which I think college can't teach. I dropped out last month from my side from my engineering college. I am still here in Bangalore, though it's a very expensive city, and living on your own is very difficult. I don't want to ask for money from my parents but here and there I need it, as I am still on the search of some good opportunity here. The competition for jobs and internships is too intense here. I am trying to build a digital product on my own but I am stuck, I don't know how to go about it. So I am learning. I have faith in Bangalore. This is the City of Hope for me. One day, I will become an entrepreneur that I can be proud of.

This was my story for now. Tell me about yours.

This is Saikat Sukai, the Visionary Entrepreneur.

Signing off!!