A Roller-Coaster Ride called 2014

When people ask me what exactly do I write on my blog, my answer is the same: “Any random topic under the sun. I write about anything that touches me deeply.” In my amateurish journey as a writer, I have written mostly about certain incidents that I have read, experienced and watched and my learning from them. As I unfold another chapter of learning in my life, I realized that the year 2014 has taught me multitude of lessons. This year has been a challenging one for me. A year which has tested my aptitude for hard work and at the same time rewarded me what I deserved. There were many people with me, like my life-guards in this frenzy ride of 2014. 

The year of 2014 began with the last industrial visit of my graduation life. We went to Jaipur, one of my favourite cities, which is full of resplendence, regality and Epicureanism. Visiting the mesmerizing palaces of Jaipur and enjoying the pure vegetarian delectable cuisine, was an exhilarating experience. It was my last and the best industrial visit with my fellow classmates. After the rejuvenating break, time came to focus on the entrance and University exams. The month of February was a disheartening for me as my beloved maternal grandmother left for heavenly abode. I miss her presence a lot, but I also know that her blessings are with all of us, always. She was a principled woman with immense courage, patience, discipline and had lived her life to the fullest. As it is said, “The show must go on”, life had to regain normalcy. It is important in life to cross the dark tunnels coming in our way and welcome the brightness in life with open arms. The months of March and April proved to be the determinants of my career ahead and the time to bid farewell to my college for 5 years, Mulund College of Commerce, along with my beloved friends Gauri, Mitali and Snehal. These three are some of the nicest persons I met in my Graduation years.

The month of May was a special one for me as my writing got a broader coverage by means of my blog, which was earlier limited to the newsletters of my college. With writing, I began looking at things with a different perspective and channelized my thought process in an unprecedented way. Needless to say, I consider it as a medium to boost my creativity. 

The months of June and July were full of anticipation, with stress levels and pessimism on the peak. The outcome of so many anticipations was a positive one, when I got admission into a good B-school on the basis of efforts I had invested in. The tedious travelling by local trains was something which came as an appendage with my new Post-Graduation life. Local trains, well, are inevitable in every Mumbaikar’s life. Thus, began my unique journey into grooming for corporate world. 

The month of August was a starting point where I had to adapt to my new surroundings. What exactly is social learning, I realized after entering CRKIMR. Here I met people from different cities, diverse educational backgrounds and most importantly, of different mindsets and distinctive ideas about life. Fortunately I met some like-minded people with whom I struck chords of bonding immediately. My first friend in MBA was Priyam. We share not only common educational backgrounds but also have similar sense of humour. I can always speak my mind to her. She is my confidant and stands by me in all good and bad times.  My next friend which I made here is Lokesh. Besides being my travel companion, he is a great motivator, a good listener, a teacher, my source of laughter and my staunch supporter. I also met a few 'philosopher' friends in this institute. Interaction with them is equivalent to learning something new every time, not just from their philosophies but also from their experiences. It was nice meeting a few like-minded people who share my penchant for writing. It is an exciting experience to read their ‘work’ and gauge their areas of interest which in turn means, getting acquainted to their styles of writing. I never imagined that I could be a source of inspiration for someone, when my good friend Nitesh, too thought of giving writing a serious thought, after reading my blog! I tried something new, like participating as an anchor of my college event or facing an interview for being the Class Representative. The appreciation which I received in these two instances, gave me an impulse to face similar events in corporate life.

It is rightly said ‘Every human being is different’. I am convinced of this postulate after getting to know my classmates better each time, by interacting with them on various occasions. With such exchange of ideas, I noticed my personality transmogrify from an introvert to an extrovert. I learn something new every day not only from my teachers and subjects, but also from people around me. It is fun to get to know 60 different psychologies! Interactions with various people, be it the staff of my college, my classmates or teachers, they hone my interpersonal skills, one of the pre-requisites for a successful manager. I am sure that in the next year and a half that I am here, I will be taking with me a treasure full of knowledge. Valuable knowledge about my core area of specialization and from my helpful companions in college…. I hope to have similar colleagues in my future corporate life. I get a taste of corporate life every time we have to work as a team, follow deadlines to submit projects or to stay back after college to finish the given heap of presentations. At the same time, I mentally prepare myself to face harsher conditions than this, when I am actually in the battlefield of the large conglomerates. Gone are the serene, peaceful days of Graduation life, when, right from travelling to studies, everything seemed a cakewalk. But isn’t that we call Life, where, as I mentioned in my previous article, nothing is constant but change? 

2014 has indeed been an exciting ride, where I faced many ups and downs. This year taught me the lessons of gratitude, optimism and hard work. Every negative experience taught me to do better and every good experience encouraged me to keep up with my good work. Of course, the journey would not have been fun without the loving bunch of people around me, be it my family or friends. As I bid goodbye to 2014, I cherish all the happy and sad moments felt and move on with life with full exuberance and confidence. So here I am all set to welcome 2015 with new set of challenges and hardships, with a big smile!

Novelty Unlimited!

 

It was yet another day when I was caught ‘red-handed’ by my parents and sister while I was busy chatting on WhatsApp. My parents fear that I am turning into a ‘WhatsApp Addict’, which according to them, is as pernicious as an addiction to cigarettes and drugs! I have a hard time explaining to them that, at times, WhatsApp is a medium of academic exchanges as well, besides being the channel of grapevine communication. And sometimes these academic discussions and exchanges take a while. Though my family has a hard time resonating with my defense, it is the only way I know to placate them. When my sister reminisces her MBA days, she realizes how fortunate she was, that WhatsApp was not ubiquitous, like it is today. I remember my sister’s MBA days, when she used to have interactions with her friends on Google group or on Gmail chats, when not in college. When I think of those days, which were only 4 years back, I am astonished to realize the huge transition that took place in these 4 years!

I believe that the continuous strides in technologies today, totally give justice to the adage “Nothing is constant in life but change”. In my life as a student, I have witnessed these strides in various ways. When I read about Nokia’s acquisition by Microsoft for $7.2 billion, I remembered my junior college days when I owned my first cell-phone, a Nokia device and the days when Nokia shone as the leader in the Indian cellphone market. In 2009, having a mobile with mp3 player, FM radio and a 2 megapixel camera was considered a matter of opulence. During my sister’s junior college days, 4 years prior to mine, she had bought a Philips FM radio device, as her first cell-phone was devoid of all the ‘extra’ features like camera and MP3. During those days owning an iPod was a matter of pride for many youngsters. As I reached my Graduation years, the horizons to have a cell-phone with latest features broadened. It’s funny that how in 2013, the exact definition of demand to buy a new cell-phone worked. My ‘need’ to have a new cell-phone was backed by my parents’ ‘ability’ and ‘willingness’ to buy one for me. Thus in this way, I owned my first Android Gingerbread phone. Over the years, we see perfect example of monopolistic competition in the cell-phone market. Samsung faces tough competition from other brands like Micromax, Gionee, HTC, which are slowly capturing the market. But what tops all these brands are Apple phones, the epitome of snob goods. Excitement of novelty is highly experienced among iPhone patrons, I believe. The launch of iPhone 6, “Bigger than bigger” received a grand welcome like any of its predecessor iPhones.

Recently in one of my classes, we had a discussion about the e-commerce websites. I could relate to those discussions as I had, over the last two years, purchased a number of items online, including my laptop. When I think of the past years of my shopping pattern, especially of electronic devices, I remember my father’s cautious approach and an eye for the minutest specification. The trust which the online shopping websites have created in the Indian minds makes it immaterial for the consumers to touch, see and feel the products before buying them. My sister astounds at the fact that I could get a light-in-weight, latest laptop online with a best deal, something which was not very common when she bought her laptop 4 years ago.

Why just the changes in technology around the world, so many technological changes we all must have noticed at our homes itself. CRT television and computer replaced by LCD ones, low energy consuming appliances replacing the traditional ones, digital and other high performance cameras replacing the traditional ‘negatives producing’ cameras, the defunctness of cassettes and floppy disks, which were then replaced by CDs, who in turn were replaced by USBs and so much more novelty! These days I notice that in various Bollywood songs that I listen to, a particular singer's voice is modified to some extent by using the magic of various softwares. A time will come when a singer with blood and flesh may not even be required to sing a song. Here too, technology can do the job of cost cutting! When it comes to food, we constantly wish that we should always have something new to taste and so we end up experimenting with our taste buds in a number of restaurants. Hence we find that famous restaurant chains like McDonalds, Domino’s etc. resorting to product diversification to hold the consumer base strong. The advent of Burger King in India is one such recent addition for the epicureans.

As I write this article, I remember the days when I used a pen to write my articles on a piece of paper, in my immaculate cursive handwriting. Though I save resources like paper and ink by avoiding the innumerable cancellations while editing, at the same time I fear that I will forget the beauty of my handwriting. Probably I will have to go back to my school days when I used to improve the handwriting using the ‘Cursive Handwriting Workbook’! 

Novelty is very much required in our lives. Without it, life will be dull and monotonous. In today’s world, novelty is a necessity. It is rightly said in Economics, ‘man’s needs are unlimited and resources are limited’. Businesses today use this principle to attract the consumers and maximize their profits in that process. In this era, where the environment around us is continuously changing, it is necessary that we remain firm with our ethics and values and not compromise them for worldly possessions. Innovation is something which helps us bring about changes in our lifestyles, thought processes and personality over the years. What we should not forget are our core values which we lead to live a secured life full of happiness. We should always welcome the changes in our life as opportunities to be better individuals. C’est la vie!

The Big Billion Days…

It gives me great pleasure to type my new article, on my new laptop after a long hiatus. Yes! My brand new laptop… the story of this new laptop is an interesting one, a yet another learning experience for me... It goes something like this…

October 6, 2014: 8 am. I woke up from my bed with a big smile on my face as it was a long awaited public holiday and the thoughts of a lazy day that lay ahead, brought in a sense of immense relaxation. Like my daily morning ritual, I held the newspaper to know how the previous day had been for India and the world. The moment I held the newspaper, its first page did not fail to hold my attention. The entire first page was filled with a big advertisement from a popular e-commerce giant of India. There were generous discounts being offered on various consumer durables, available, quite strategically, only for a day. My sister, like any other curious Indian consumer, immediately rushed to the PC to log on to the site. And there it was…a plethora of items available on sale, with lucrative discounts and offers. Coincidentally, since I had purchasing of a laptop on my mind, I started browsing through the innumerable models offered by several brands. It was like wading through a sea of tempting offers. The moment I hit BUY NOW, there were several technical glitches and my transaction could not be completed successfully. I gave up after a series of unsuccessful attempts. Later during the day there were several complaints on various social networking sites pertaining to the online seller. However, at the same time I learnt that the company had made business worth billions. The next day I bought the same laptop on another e-commerce retailer’s site at the same price.

The news regarding business of billions made by the retailer company made me think if really we can still call India a ‘developing’ economy. Days like Diwali, Dussehra and such big sale days defy the proposition put forth by many dignified economists. Online shopping and easy credit terms (Reckless use of credit cards reminds me so much of ‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’!) have made average working Indian’s life so much better. The most important aspect to be really proud of is that some of the leading e-commerce websites are the brainchildren of our fellow Indians, who pocket rewarding profits for the expertise which they invest in the business. This expertise, in turn, helps our economy in generating the valuable revenue needed for further investing prospects. In other words, e-commerce websites are hugely contributing to keep this whirlpool of money creation going. Being a monopolistic market, the tussle is huge among these players, but the ultimate beneficiaries in this competition are the consumers, rulers of the market. Understanding clearly that in a monopolistic market, consumers buy by choice and not by chance, we have seen revolutionary trends in the field of online shopping also, wherein only one website exclusively launches a particular book or a mobile phone of X brand. When I read of such enthralling business strategies, I truly believe in the fact that innovation is another name of business. Businesses cease to exist in the absence of innovation and risks. Another inspiring thing that I find in this entire competitive environment is that these websites are exemplars for so many budding entrepreneurs, which means giving a boost to the innate talents. Many logistics companies, too, reap handsome benefits, when we talk about shopping online. Hence, it is a chain of overall development in form of additional employment opportunities and promising salaries.

When I am not in a management-student-thinking-mode, I think about the way I used to buy things as a child. Personally visiting a shop, seeing, touching and feeling a product and then making a wise decision of buying the best item… Life seemed so simple! It may be contradictory to the statement ‘Technology has made human lives simpler’, yet we hear cases of unhappy buyers of online purchasing, in spite the companies’ best efforts to provide quality products. Also the cases of credit card frauds, hacking and money laundering make online payments a risky venture. But as it is said, “Nothing, but change is constant”, we too have to walk with the changing environment and scenarios with its concomitant cons, be it in business or in life. To quote in Economics parlance, maximum utility in life can be achieved only when something satisfies our needs and fulfills our wants at the cost of our deserved hard-earned money!

 

Love Actually!

It is normally believed that when you are stressed, you should do something which relaxes your mind and body. Since reading is my favourite activity, I often spend time reading books or newspapers, irrespective of my stress levels. Whenever I choose to read novels consecutively, I make it a point to read a light-hearted novel after a grave one, so that I can explore the world which can be so unforgiving and at the same time, of so much cheer and excitement. Then, one fine day as it was my turn to read a light-hearted novel, I chose to read Sudeep Nagarkar’s ‘It started with a friend request’. The book was an ideal ‘for the youth, by the youth and of the youth’. It was a love-at-first-sight story. The process of falling in love happens quickly, in less than 24 hours of meeting each other. The girl’s beauty is enough for the boy to fall head over heels in love with her. Then the book had everything what a typical romantic novel should have…. Boy’s efforts to woo her and win her heart, girl seeking attention from him every time, then a twist which tests their love for each other, so on and so forth…. Though the book was a quick-read, I felt that in a way, it did have some serious thinking to do. I felt as though the beautiful feeling called ‘love’ was quite underrated. It was as though the book gave Love a very narrow perspective. Is love all about falling for an attractive looking person? Isn’t it a beautiful realization which buds slowly and gradually, blooming into an everlasting relationship?

I was watching one of the episodes of Satyameva Jayate, which focused on the rising rape incidents in India. A married rape victim from a remote village in India, along with her husband, showed great courage to come on the show and share her torment with the viewers. In her entire struggle to punish her perpetrators, her husband firmly stood by her and bravely fought the battle for justice. I was astounded to see that. Usually we believe that people from villages are a group of people having traditional and orthodox beliefs, because most of them are not blessed with educational facilities. After watching that day’s episode of Satyameva Jayate, my opinions not only about villagers but also about love, changed. So much could be emulated from a simple villager! He truly understood what love was and hence empathized with his wife in her agony. In a society, where more than the offender, the woman is held culpable for the injustice done to her, this man showed immense audacity to challenge the squalid beliefs of the society. This case was a perfect glimpse of true love.

Often in newspapers we read cases of jilted lovers attacking their partners. Such incidents question the true meaning of love. At times, something what we think is love, is mere infatuation towards the other person. Unfortunately sometimes most of us youngsters fail to differentiate between the two, leading to heart-breaks and in extreme circumstances, to crimes. The ways in which one handles rejection from the person one loves, varies greatly. Some take it as a lesson to be a better judge of persons, learn to make wise choices in future and move on. Then there are a set of frivolous people who get into relationships ‘Just for Fun’ or ‘Timepass’, what are usually called as ‘flings’. I wonder how getting into relationships can be a pastime! Quite contrary to this, I know some people whose bond of love is very strong and are in a relationship since a long time. I admire such people for their honesty and loyalty towards each other. Most of these relationships will soon or have already materialized into marriages. 

In India, a land where arranged marriages are still preferred by many communities, there are many young couples who fall in love and dedicate their lives to be for each other in all walks of life. Irrespective whether the alliance is by love or an arranged one, what holds greater significance is the trust, respect, honesty and eternal commitment towards each other. All these concomitant values make Love an all-embracing experience. You just need to have patience like Ted Mosby from How I Met your Mother to find your ‘The One’. So let’s try to establish a bond with the most compatible person and build a bond which is as strong as Allie and Noah’s from The Notebook or that of Holly and Gerry from P.S. I Love You or Monica and Chandler from my favourite sitcom, F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

Ignominy of Humanity

These days my hands quaver when I open the newspaper in the morning because the moment I do so, I read about people dying in some or the other part of the world due to natural or man-made disasters. The pictures showing the destruction caused, send chill down my spine. The ghastly images of last year's deluge in Uttarakhand are still fresh in my memory. The recent landslide tragedy in Malin village in Pune is another heart wrecking incident. Families vanished overnight. So many people are still suspected to be missing or buried. People who have lost their loved ones and livelihood in this catastrophe, their losses are irrecoverable and beyond imagination, which cannot be compensated with any sum of money. A few days later I read the real reasons cited for this tragedy. The major reason why this calamity occurred was massive deforestation. The hill slopes were flattened and trees were cut down to develop cultivable plots. A windmill was proposed to be built there to create ‘green energy’, for which around 28,000 trees were chopped down leading to loosening of soil. I was shocked to read about the slaughter of 28,000 trees. 28,000 is such a huge number! Don’t such people, before chopping trees down, realize how long it takes for a sapling to grow into a gargantuan tree? Wasn’t this carnage of trees, an invitation to nature’s wrath?  Unfortunately the people who fell prey to this tragedy were the innocent and poor masses of the village.

This incident again raised a doubt about humanity in my mind. I remember this particular advertisement on television, which showed that a tree wails in pain when it is attacked by an axe. I was moved to see that advertisement. When innocent trees and animals are killed mercilessly by man, I feel that God should have blessed them with the ability of speech like ours, so that man could understand that they are living beings just like him and experience pain though they are incapable of expressing it. At the same time, I am also of the opinion that even if they had the ability to speak, man would have killed them anyway. If he can impose atrocities on his own kind, then trees and animals are nothing but inanimate objects for him. Man is so greedy and selfish after all. To quote in economics parlance, his needs are ‘insatiable and unlimited’.

Most of us believe that education enlightens a person’s mind and way of thinking in a moral way. But the harsh fact is that mere education and wealth does not guarantee sensibility. I came to realize this fact some years back.  Sitting at the window of our home, we get an Elysian view of trees in our complex. It is rejuvenating to watch the trees grow taller each year and the birds which build nests on them. The cacophony of different birds, especially in the morning, is music to our ears. There was one such tree in front of my window which used to bear beautiful white flowers in the months from November to February. Apparently some civilized and ‘educated’ residents of my society wanted this tree chopped down because it supposedly obstructed sunlight or caused termites in their homes. Ultimately the tree was brought down, even though my parents raised voice against it. I watched the poor tree as it lay down like a dead soldier on the battlefield. Even today when I look outside the window, I miss the sight of this once proudly standing tall tree. I miss the view of the blanket of delicate white flowers. It was like losing a dear person. A few months back, I noticed that one more tree in my complex was being axed down following similar complaints. I immediately alerted my father, who in turn, scolded the person chopping down the tree. Thus that tree was saved from butchering. I felt happy about my little but significant step towards saving environment.  I marvel at the number of trees which are being massacred daily by cruel human beings all over the world in quest of wealth. During rainy season, we often read cases of big trees collapsing on roads, killing people and damaging property. Well, what can we expect in the era of concrete jungles?

The next significant sets of creatures which are slowly disappearing from Earth’s face are animals. I read an article once which said that polar bears will be extinct by 2050 by drowning. Beside that article was a picture of a polar bear resting on a little mass of ice and there was water all around it. Due to fast melting of polar ice caps, this pretty creature will cease to exist. Similar is the fate of the few tigers that are left in the world. It is feared that the next generations will get to see a tiger only in pictures. I am fond of Big Cats and tigers in particular. The cases of tigers being hunted for their skins and other parts or elephants being killed for their tusks are failures to save these rare species. The advertisement of Aircel emphasizing to save tigers, in which a tiger cub waits for its mother to return to the den, but she is shot by hunters and the cub’s scared look by the rifle’s sound, still brings tears to my eyes. What sort of bravery do people find in killing these beautiful creatures? For me, it is a treat for my eyes to see a fearless tiger wander in the lush green woods. The recent incidents of a leopard venturing into IIT-B campus or leopards attacking people are glimpses of human-animal conflict. We can certainly expect them to retaliate if we deprive them of their homes and game. It is the ever-increasing human population which compels the destruction of nature.

I watched a documentary on National Geographic on Tigers of Sundarbans. Sundarbans are home to the Royal Bengal Tigers. In these mangroves, there were cases of tigers attacking people when they ventured out to earn their livelihood or tigers killing children at night. The most surprising thing which I found in that documentary was the outlook of the villagers. Though they were terrorized by the frequent tiger attacks, none of them wanted the tigers killed. They, in fact, respected tigers as they are vehicles of Goddess Durga. I was startled by this particular statement of a villager: “Baagh hamara rakshak bhi hai aur bhakshak bhi”, which meant that the villagers considered a tiger as their protector and predator. So much to learn from these simple, uneducated people, who value nature’s creations! Listening to that statement, my respect for Indian mythology grew more than ever, as animals are also considered divine and are worshipped by people.

As it is said “Every dark cloud has a silver lining”, there are certain organizations, authorities and people all over the world, who strive for the very existence of these valuable species of animals. Establishing national parks and sanctuaries to protect animals is a significant step towards their conservation. Efforts by zoologists and wildlife photographers like Simon King of the Big Cat Diary, who looks after the abandoned big cat cubs and nurtures them in their natural surroundings, so that their numbers increase, are laudable. Similar initiatives by late Steve Irwin and his wife Terri Irwin in the form of ‘Wildlife Warriors’ to protect the endangered wildlife species provides a ray of hope for a secured future of animals. Such people, I believe, are true saviors of Mother Earth and are close to nature.

Today almost all valuable elements of nature are exploited to the maximum to reap financial benefits, without giving a second thought about the dreadful future which lies ahead. When we do so, we take the Earth’s resources for granted. We show disrespect towards them. To give a simple example of the holy river Ganga, which is contaminated due to harmful industrial effluents or decaying dead bodies that lie in it to wash off the sins committed and attain heaven. Isn’t it ironical that we pollute something as pristine as Ganga, which has always been revered by Gods and is of great significance in our religious texts? The same Ganga, whose waters Mughal King Akbar offered to his guests, as a mark of respect and welcome… How can we then be called religious, when our acts are sacrilegious? With the Government setting aside funds and implementing schemes to protect rivers, we can expect some improvement in the present egregious conditions of the rivers. To make these endeavours a success, co-operation from the masses is required. A drastic change of mindset is required.

Human beings are the most intelligent creatures created by God. Technological advancement is necessary for progress of mankind and is one of the ways to make lives better. But using this gifted intelligence only for developing technologies is not enough. While working towards betterment of human beings, man should also keep the serenity of nature in mind. Man should learn to empathize with the elements of nature. Without trees, animals, rivers, mountains, life is difficult to imagine. To think selfishly in this context, man will have nothing natural left around him to enjoy, when he goes on a vacation. He will have to find contentment probably only in virtual, technology-aided tours, because there will be nothing exciting in a barren and concrete covered world. It is still not late for man to mend his ways before nature teaches him a lesson for life. Before more lives are claimed from somebody else’s undoing…. If we don’t want the movie 2012 to happen for real, immediate and effective steps are therefore necessary.

Tough Times = Best Teacher

The month of July has been a decisive one for me. The decisions which determined my future…. There were tough choices to make. Choices which brought me disappointment, hope and most importantly happiness… Choices which have to match the educational scenario of India... When I use and read the term ‘cut-throat competition’, I suspect that this frequently used phrase might have originated from India. Given the population of India and the aspirants who appear for any competitive exam, be it management, engineering, administrative or bank exams, I think of all those aspirants who persevere to achieve, probably, the only aim in their lives - to get a good job with a promising career and salary. We all aim for that, don’t we? It is an investment on which we want to have highest returns, to ensure that we lead a secured life. Often I read in the newspapers, when the results of these exams are out, how some students make it to the first few ranks. They narrate their experiences of exam preparations and other strategies which reward them with success. Some articles also felicitate differently-abled students, who achieve success despite their disabilities or shortcomings. Such students are luminaries for others. At the same time, I also think of the rest of the aspirants who are not able to get the desired success in the exams, inspite of working hard - maybe harder than or as hard as the toppers. I can empathize with these ‘other half’ of students. Can such students be termed ‘Losers’? When I face such disappointments, I feel like asking, “What does it to take to be successful? Is success and perfection only limited to achieving success in exams?” The answer is obviously “No”. I read in the Speaking Tree section of The Times of India once, “Good marks do not always guarantee success.” For a person like me who is not a genius when it comes to exams will find that article soothing. It certainly provides a ray of hope.

In the last few days when certain situations seemingly portended of a hazy future, I constantly asked myself this: In which field am I destined to shine? Am I being trapped by dogma? Am I wasting my true potential in quest of something which is not meant for me? In this process, am I killing my strengths? I also believe in the fact that my greatest assets are my innate talents. When I think of my talents, those thoughts invigorate my personality and give me a glimpse of an illuminating future. The next moment I realize how imbecile I am to neglect this wonderful intellect which God has gifted me with! At the same time I do believe that I am a strong willed person. The incidents in July taught me to never lose hope even in the worst times. My faith in the Almighty grew stronger because He showed me the path, the one which I had aimed for. I learnt some important lessons in my life. The most important lesson of appreciating and understanding the value of things in life…. Often we don’t value the things which we get easily or for free.

I realized anew how supportive, loving and caring my family is. My family is my aegis. When everything around me seemed hopeless, just like an aftermath of a war, my family showed trust in me. They believed in me more than myself. How much they care for me, I understood in the last month. Isn’t this why there exists an institution called 'family', to share our worries and happiness with? The person who was with me and who strived for me in this entire rough patch was my father. Though he has been draconian and a stern disciplinarian, his support has been a valuable one for me. He always lifted my spirits when I used to be desolate due to my frequent failures. The most beautiful women in my life- my mother, sister and grandmother, stand by me like my pillars of courage and confidence. They never fail to make me aware of my extant strengths and show me the brighter and sanguine side of life. I cannot describe my family’s preciousness in words.

During the last month, my proficiency was tested in different areas of specializations. I am very proud that I could excel in all those challenges. I am delighted to realize today that I finally achieved for what I spent the last year striving for. July 2014 was indeed a life-changing month for me. Sometimes disappointments are also necessary to accept new challenges in life. Life becomes insipid if there are no twists and turns in it, similar to daily soaps. How we respond to such situations is of greater significance. There are times when we think that our life has come to a standstill. But one should always remember that there is always light at the end of the darkest tunnel and it is necessary to steel oneself to face the pressing situations in one’s life.