What’s your Story?
Hey there!
We are all awesome and we all have a story.
The fact that we are the protagonist of our own life makes our story the best story ever.
We are the Hero of our Story so we need to make it count. I meet a lot of people and I keep saying one thing — just save yourself from a life of mediocrity. It is insidious!
I have been asked many times, So, What’s your story? And it makes me think about how to answer this.
How do you answer? Actually, it’s more about how you feel after sharing your story. Did it feel good, happy, content, and inspiring?
Because if you’re not, it’s time to change your story.
To define me in one word: I am a hardcore “collaborator”.
Collaborator
Building an app? Lovely. Setting up a home? Great. Opening up a new branch? Fantastic. Starting a campaign? Brilliant. Need help finishing a designing project? I’m your girl.
I totally believe in leaving the world a little more exciting than it is. I love to collaborate with founders, team members, partners, clients, customers because it feels more connected and impactful.
I do not consider myself a success story but my experience at every stage turned my complex career path into a coherent story which I would gladly share.
Genesis 1.0: Beginning
Born and brought up in Rourkela. A heaven of all sorts. Super proud of the place! We are 3 sisters and 3 is my favorite number.
Genesis 2.0: A Rebirth
My journey started 16 years ago when I got married to an Army officer in 2004. I came from a commerce and finance background with a little over 2 years of corporate experience.
Then I became a mom in 2008 and I became a mom again in less than 2 years’ time so it took 2 more years to wrap it up in my head that yes “Mothership” is indeed a full-time thing till your kids don’t start school at least.
That took me 6 years and then we landed in a place up north where I got desperate to start working and that made me do the best 3 things of my life
A) I have to upskill and work on myself so I did my second grads in Education.
B) Seize your opportunity so along with B.ed when I was given a chance to teach in a school, I grabbed it and
C) Become the best version of Myself. An opportunity came to me to join as Secretary of an organization that had a lot of responsibility and accountability. It was in the same timeframe but I took up that role as well.
From then on there has been no looking back.
Every 2 years I took it up as a challenge to consistently upskill, seize every opportunity, and change my thoughts and circumstances to become the best version of myself.
So cutting the long story short, that led me to become the Vice Principal of a huge international school in Gurugram within a span of 5 years.
Just when I thought I was sorted and was at my glorified best I left the ‘Education’ space because it didn’t take me long to realize that this was never on my vision wall and how I wanted to see myself.
Genesis 3.0: Antarē
We adapt as a child and then as a young adult and then we keep navigating taking the roads that are taken. But there comes a time when we want to take a pause. As humans, we have an urge and a deep need to feel that our lives mean something. For some, it comes way early and some take time to arrive. Well, I think most of our learning in life comes from trial and error and our experiences!
My time came and I was back to thinking — finding my purpose, what is it that I do best, what is my expertise, what is it that I love doing the most. Finding what's in my ‘Antarē’. Antarē is a Bengali word and means at heart; inside; within; in the depth of, in the heart of.
To know what's inside, you must explore and discover what you’re most passionate about. Then, you find the track and path to navigate and express that passion.
I created a map, knew my goal and I worked on it.
Back to my ABCs — Upskilling, Seizing the Opportunity, Be your best.
After a brief international stint working with a London-based firm, today I am an independent consultant for many startups and enterprises. I am very proud of my work and the fact that I never sleepwalked through life.
The coronavirus outbreak has made remote working a necessity overnight. Leaders have realized the importance of it and how it enables the team to think at its own pace. So that’s good news for ladies tying the knot in the Armed Forces.
The empowerment of families of our soldiers has been the key focus area in which I was fortunate to have participated. My mantra has been to go the extra mile and “make a difference” wherever I can. This has certainly helped me to contribute and be an enabler of change. I consider this to be the highest truest expression of myself.
Go inward and create the life of your dreams.
Find what is your Antarē.
Don’t place such a high value on BEING right and instead focus on DOING what’s right, and the rest will come. No matter where I work, my collaborative outlook has always made me contribute so as to make everything a little bigger, better, and greater.
