Up until 2008, I was only treading a path which was laid already, and I didn’t have much to do.
For a typical TamBram guy hailing from the capital of TN (Tamil Nadu), the only curated path is Engineering, Doctor, Lawyer, Architect, or any such which scores of other TamBram ‘maamas’ have done and are good at it. No offense but this was something which I could never do – maybe not qualified enough!
Cricket was my passion and maybe because it was in the blood with dad representing TN junior All India Schools. So I took to it easily and by 8th Standard went on to represent Karnataka Zone U-13 and the In 10th standard captained the Karnataka zone U-16. Well as things were going OK in the cricket space, the studying took a beating and I could barely scrape through 10th boards with 61%.
I’m sure you would’ve all heard of the sentiment of TamBram’s that are very conservative and cautious. My parents erred on the side of safety and put me in Higher school/college which probably didn’t know the C of Cricket. Out went Cricket, In came education. Not that I would complain because those were the ‘best days of my life’. I went on to study well in those 2 years and bagged myself a decent 89% which got me landed straight into the most coveted university in the country – Delhi University, South Campus.
For a south Indian never exposed to the north was like taking a Goat into a Dinosaurs cage! Thankfully didn’t get eaten up and could bleat me out into my first ever job with the country’s No.1 Passenger car manufacturer – Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. What followed was a blissful stint of 12 months getting exposed A to Z of automobiles and their world. It was fascinating, to say the least, and suddenly found my calling. I thought maybe this was what I was meant to do and started believing in Destiny when again it took another turn.
The TamBram in dad woke up and tadaa – landed me up in a mediocre Business school in Bangalore where I had to do my Masters so as to ‘complete’ my education. And then I definitely thought, destiny? What in the world is that? I went on completing my masters and did it rather well which then opened the doors to something which I never in the wildest of dreams would’ve imagined to be in – IT (HCL Technologies).
My first ever proper job after being placed from campus and I found myself amidst software, hardware, codes, languages, analysts, and whatnot. Nothing of this ever-made sense to me and the realization dawned in. I was deeply missing those good old Maruti days and thought maybe that’s what beckons me.
Barely 6 months into HCL and I decided to move out. Well, I couldn’t be lucky this time around like Maruti but yes found something that I could be useful in – an electric vehicles car manufacturer – Mahindra Reva!
Like all stories end in a way “And they lived happily ever after” – I found my ever after in the world of automobiles and finally discovered where my passion lies. You could attribute it to Destiny, fate, perseverance, and whatnot. But I truly believed if there’s something you really want to get, it’s there. Only you have to reach out!
What followed is a blissful 9 years in the industry moving from one company to the other and exploring the wonderful world this industry has to offer. And then realized, does it pay me enough!
The answer I found was in my next move – my move from Fueling machines to fueling the body – AlcoBev! Working for the country’s 2nd largest liquor manufacturer and realizing that it’s not that bad too!
Bottomline – EXPLORATION!
It’s what I’ve always been doing ever since I came off age and started to know what the world looks like! It’s what that’s kept me going always and that sense of experimentation, risk, trying something new always has opened many doors for me so far and hoping that’ll be the way forward. I found my true passion for exploring the world!