You Are Not Alone | #MyJourney

If anybody told my parents years ago, that I would write bestselling books for students, they would have rolled on the floor and laughed. I would joined them, indeed.

Have you seen a high-school student scoring below-average marks, sit in the fourth row, and support the wall? That was me.

Laughing at the pranks of the last benchers, and getting help from the front benchers during a test was a regular affair for me. All my friends were in the top ranks, 1st to 10th rank, and I was the odd man out. Teachers used to call me 'butterfly' as I used to be lost in thoughts though physically present in the class. One fine day made me rethink all my assumptions about the academic curriculum and the ways of learning.

What was that horrible, horrendous day which brings shivers down my spine, or in fact, of any average student, you ask? The Parent-Teacher Meeting! 

On a usual Saturday afternoon, I, then a 14-year-old, had been accompanied by my mom to my school—to collect my report card for the midterm exams. As soon as we entered the staffroom, my class teacher bombarded my mom with her latest list of complaints. She was absolutely right about the complaints, but I wasn't thinking logically at that moment.

The complaints covered a wide spectrum of topics: getting 5 out of 25 in Social Science, being a chatterbox and disrupting class, making animal sounds and then feigning innocence, non-submission of innumerable homework assignments; getting the poorest marks in the unit test results, etc. If a sonometer were being used during this mostly one-sided conversation, the reading would have been at its maximum at this precise moment: 'He was also caught pulling Tina's hairband during my class!' It was nearly a scream. Involuntarily, I frowned. I never wanted this last complaint to be spilled out, especially to mom!

However, what followed was the icing on the cake, the final show of cards, as they say, the heartless Maths teacher unveiled my midterm exam scorecard. It read a giant 'C+'. As if adding a '+' in the card would have made my future resumé stronger. The whole staff was awaiting mom's reaction as if we were at a post-match presentation ceremony where either I or the teacher would be felicitated.

Unusually, the staffroom turned silent. I could hear the breeze. I never knew that silence could be this silent! I raised my head in confusion. Mom was crying. Tears flowed liberally from both her eyes. She stood still, not even trying to wipe them off. It seemed as though the whole world had turned blue. I didn't want anything in the world except to bring her comfort. My fists curled to a ball, and I felt like shouting out loud.

And I had a new enemy—my class teacher.

This public embarrassment made me rethink all my assumptions about the academic curriculum and the ways of learning. I started 'studying' brilliant students rather than textbooks. And I shadowed all the activities undertaken by top-ranking nerds, right from the way they listened in class, to the way they brain-stormed; the way they chewed the back of their pencils; to the way they tied their shoelaces! Bribing them with delicious home-cooked food from my lunch box was the usual method of bribery. I realized their best-kept secrets, did better in my studies and co-curriculum.

Years later I understood that there are many more students who are facing the same issue of not knowing the best practices of student's life. To help them, I wrote a couple of chapters from my experience and sent it to the publishers through an agent, one thing lead to another, and the book got published titled 6 Secrets Smart Students Don't Tell You! Surprisingly, the book became a bestseller!

Furthermore as a parallel story, during my college days, I was at a wedding reception being myself- a foodie, and was chomping the food with my friends. An aunty came from nowhere and asked me-

'So, what are you planning to do for a living, beta?'.

I needed an answer that was cool, paid well, and was geeky enough to suitably impress an elder. I swallowed the food in my mouth, puffed my chest and declared: 'I will be an aeronautical engineer.'

It was a lie, of course. Forget the job description; I wasn't even sure of its spelling! My aunt's face relaxed and she smiled. She patted me and said, 'Wow, that's great, son.' Narrow escape, I thought to myself.

But the question had stabbed me deep in my heart, so deep that I lost sleep. Once I wanted to be a photographer, the other day a t-shirt seller, a priest, celebrity chef, an engineer, astronaut, and so on. Eventually, I tried different jobs, failed multiple times, researched, traveled 10 countries, met successful people, and then realized that there are simple steps to find our dream jobs.

India is one of the youngest countries in the world and has lakhs of youths who have the same issue of not being happy due to incompatibility with their job. A staggering 80% of Indians hate their job as per a survey by economic times. So I penned my second book 7 Dream Jobs and How To Find Them to answer the probing question of compatible job, how to etch a resume, frequently asked interview questions, the transition of passion to the job, etc.

When I meet students in the schools and college throughout the country, it is surprising that most of the students and young professionals are facing the same problem as I did, same struggle I faced. And unfortunately, there are limited genuine avenues to understand the best practices in student and professional life. So, my way of bridging the gap is through these books.

And guess what, we sold more than 100 thousand copies of my books so far, and still counting! I am now a 30-year-old software engineer in Bengaluru, a TEDx speaker, a skydiver, and a bestselling author.

So, what can we learn from my story? No matter what, if you have a strong will and explore possibilities, you can not only surpass the obstacle and come out stronger but also survive to spread the remedy! And believe me, if you make someone else solve their issue through your solution, you'll be the happiest person there can ever be!

I wish you the best.