The three defining strokes of my Life

You know I was born and raised in beautiful Islands of Andaman and Nicobar. The place is like a paradise which is also known as 'mini India' because despite having people from different cultures residing in a small geography, I have never felt the differences. Over my 25 years of Journey from that small place to the Financial Capital of India, I have experienced many defining moments in my life. This article is about top three such moments which has made me what I am today.

1. A twelve-year boy overcomes his first fear: I am fortunate enough to do my entire education in public institutions. Right from my schooling to under graduation and then to post graduation, I was self-driven to take initiatives and experiment. Over my entire schooling, I lacked confidence and exposure to learn English. And therefore, when an opportunity arises in Class 7th to participate in Speech competitions, I choose to participate in Hindi. Credit also goes to my Hindi teachers who played a Vital role in who I am today. I still remember my first speech which was about “Importance of Education in developing Economy”. I prepared hard but when it came chance to deliver, I failed. I failed so miserably that I could not even speak for 30 Sec without looking at my speech. I was happy when I came out of that hall, as then a twelve-year boy has just discovered his first enemy: ‘Stage fear’.

Few days later when my teacher called me to ask for participation in the next competition, I was ready. I spent days in library drafting my speech, went to another teacher for a slogan to end speech, practiced in front of mirror and aced the competition with second prize. I was youngest in the competition and that too competing against speakers who delivered speech in English language.

I was called for Prize distribution ceremony on a day and I went with my Mother and Elder brother. The program went for nearly two hours and only the first prize winner was called to re-deliver the speech. After the prize distribution ceremony, where I proudly went to take my award, and just before the Vote of thanks, there was some discussion where Chief guest spoke to the Anchor and an announcement was made that- “On special public demand, we would like to call Vikas Chandra to re-deliver his speech”. I was taken aback and when I reached the stage and stood in front of the podium, I could see a full packed audience in a hall as big as a theater. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, lowered the mic and delivered my best five minutes speech. For some time after I finished my speech, the audience, which was full of doctors, esteemed guests and Nurses, were in complete silence before I could see each one of them applauding and standing in their seats. I could see tears of Joy on my mother’s eyes. This was the first defining stroke of my life. That experience taught me to stood in front of your fear and fight with courage and determination no matter how small you think you are. Since then I have participated in many speech competitions and won accolades. I feel more confident in doing meaningful conversations.

2. Make a right plan and stick to it: After my schooling from Beautiful Islands, I joined a newly formed NIT(National Institute of technology) in another heaven of Pondicherry. Things were smooth for initial two years where I enjoyed freedom and made new friends. But it dawn upon me in third year when I started reading about great personalities like Steve Jobs, Richard Brandon, Bill Gates etc. Their life was so much fun and inspirational, and I was just living or rather spending my time. My college was in remote area so there was no external opportunity I could make use of. After days of introspection, I decided to do self-study and bell one of the toughest examination of GATE(Gradate Aptitude Test in Engineering). My technical foundation was nothing and I literally had 15 months to prepare. GATE is written by thousands of student and my field, Electronics and Communication Engineering(ECE), is considered to be the toughest. After lots of research I was introduced by powerful tool called NPTEL. It was an initiative taken by HRD(Education Ministry) of India to make available top class lectures delivered by IIT professors to young minds like us free of cost. I have taken the toughest subject first and voila! I was mesmerized by the level and passion these professors put in their subject. My roommate was supportive, and we prepared together for months. Those times we do not have wifi in my hostel. So, I used to sit hours in Computer lab just to download lectures so that I can go through them in Night. I even skipped my winter holidays before exam and put my heart and soul to the exam. The Exam went fine, and I remember the night when my roommate came running to me and said he passed exam in flying colors. I rushed to terrace, opened my laptop to check my result. Damn internet! By that time almost all my friends followed me. They were more curious than me to know my results. I called my sister and she quickly checks my result and said AIR 196. Tears of Joy rolled down my cheeks. And that was the second defining stroke of my life. You know for a young boy from a small town who has never seen competition, trusting his intuition, competing against thousands of aspirants on his own, making a plan and sticking to it during times when he sees his friends either giving up or settling for jobs, this was a big moment. To be among top 196 among 2,16,367 applicants. This incident taught me to be strong, have faith, make a plan and stick to it with full determination and at the end everything will be fine.

3. Have faith in your abilities and Never doubt them: I joined NITIE Mumbai for my Post graduation post Engineering and for the first time in my life I experienced crowd, rush, speed and competition. I made amazing friends, went out of my comfort zone, tried dancing, Zumba, flash mob, art of living, acting, participated in committee activities etc. NITIE Shaped me to discover what exist beyond studies and taught me power of personal relationships and team work. After a grueling initial two month where I was guided by lovely seniors, came placements for Summer internship. I was being me throughout the process and on very first day selected by one of the top FMCG company i.e Proctor & Gamble(P&G) for doing my summer internship. Fast forward few months I attended the first day of my first Organization and received my first salary. Two months flies in no time. I had my final review and was back to campus life. Few months later I was devastated to know that I didn’t receive Pre-Placement Offer(PPO) when they usually give full time job after the internship. The day was one of the saddest day of my life when I lost trust on my abilities. It took me few months to come back on track. Luckily, we had another chance during Winter where we can apply and do internship in other companies for six months. After spending days in LinkedIn, scanning through alumni base, connecting with them for help, writing them hundreds of messages, I received a response to share my resume. I had a discussion once with the manager in P&G who moved to new Organization and was ready to give me a project. After passing initial screening tests, I was interviewed by HR Business Partner and luckily offered another internship opportunity with another top FMCG i.e Reckitt Benckiser(RB) based out of Dubai. I joined in December 2015 and right from day 1, I can feel something different. My manager was amazing person and he has helped me connect, shape my skills, take challenging projects and participate in Business-critical tasks. The third defining stroke of my life was not an instance but an experience provided to an intern fresh out of college, having self-doubt on his abilities. It helped me understand the Corporate World, learn different culture, interact with wonderful people of different countries of origin and make an impact. My team had some amazing people who have shaped me and gave me that confidence to be real you in an organization and taught me that leadership is about taking decisions.

“You can only connect the dots looking backwards”- Steve Jobs; I look back to eight years of younger version of me and wonder he would have no clue what life will turn out to be in future. But what he knew for certain that it will all connect in the end. There are lessons to be learned everyday but some life defining moments can change you as a person and stays forever in your mind.