It’s easy to get carried away by our hurt, anger and the unfairness of our lives. At such times we feel we can create a life of our own just by our hard work. But once we face the challenges of the real world we realize that life is not all that easy.
I hail from a small town. My father owns a small business in this town. I have a younger brother too. Both of us wanted to study engineering in a big city. But we had studied in vernacular medium schools. The college authorities looked at us with respect and said, “We admire your spirit and your interest in this field. We don’t doubt your intellect or your capacity. But you will not be able to cope with the syllabus in an English medium college.”
I was crestfallen when I heard those words. But I was young and I was adamant. And I wanted to create a life of my own in a big city. I knew I would learn and grow as a person only with this kind of exposure. So I did not want to return to the small town that we lived in. After thinking about it for a long while, I finally told my parents that I would study in a polytechnic institute and do a diploma in marketing and advertising instead.
My parents tried to make me change my decision. But I knew what I wanted to do. So they agreed to send me the fees and pay for my food and accommodation here. Money was not really a constraint. We had learnt to use it judiciously right from our childhood days.
My father asked me to get in touch with one of his friends who lived in this city. I had to collect the money that my father sent for my expenses from him each month. He was a good man and knew how difficult life could be in a big city like this. So he asked me to take up a part-time job while studying. I had to attend my classes in college in the evening – so it seemed like a good suggestion.
Within a week of joining the college, I realized that I had made a huge mistake. Most of the students who were doing this diploma course were graduates or had studied in central boards in English medium schools. I had studied in my mother tongue and nothing made any sense to me.
It was as if I was stuck between two worlds. I was sure I did not want to go back to my small home town. But I was finding it difficult to cope in this new city. A girl who was senior to me by 4 or 5 years somehow sensed my frustration. I explained my problem to her and she asked me to be a patient. She would explain the basics of each chapter to me in Hindi whenever she had time. I would then translate the entire chapter using a dictionary to grasp the meaning of the chapter.
She too agreed that working in an advertising firm would help me a lot. So I went to meet the head of that ad agency using my father’s friend’s reference. I was happy to get a job immediately. I had to report for work at 9 a.m. sharp every day and I could leave at 4 in the evening to attend my evening classes. They then told me that all employees needed to wear a blazer and a tie to work.
I was perplexed and did not know how to deal with the situation. So I just said, “I don’t have money to buy all that.” So they gave me an advance and said they would deduct it from my pay each month.
Unfortunately, my employers had assumed that I could speak in fluent English. They were very disappointed to note that I struggled to speak with the clients and could not speak in fluent English. But they were good enough to not tell me anything openly. They just gave me work that I could work on with the limited skill set that I had. Managing work-life and academics was tough. I suffered from low self-esteem and confidence during this phase. I realized the wisdom of my senior and my father’s friend.
It took me a couple of years to work confidently on projects that my seniors assigned to me. I knew how to talk to clients and now since I knew the nuances of marketing, printing and advertising – my clients did not mind if I used a few Hindi words here and there. After a few months I could understand what they said – very well – but could never speak fluently in English.
I lived in this city for four years and learnt a lot. And I will remain indebted to my senior and my father’s friend forever for motivating me and supporting me when I needed it the most.
I don’t know how my life would have been had I continued to live in that city. Destiny has its own way of changing our lives forever. My father suffered from a heart attack while I was working. So my mom asked me to quit my job and return home to take care of the family business.
My father had started another small business during these four years and my younger brother could not manage both on his own. Also, my Ma wanted me to be by her side because my father was not keeping too well these days.
I tried to find work in the advertising firms in our town but I could make out that they were not doing too well in our small town. I tried to find work in a couple of reputed firms but did not like the work environment there either. But I found that somehow the employers in these small firms did not have the same level of thinking and foresight that my earlier employers had. And I missed that.
With great reluctance, I joined my father’s business. Initially, I did not know anything about how our businesses worked. So I learnt everything practically and by making mistakes. That’s why I have no proper theoretical knowledge about any field. I have learnt everything practically and today after almost 4 decades feel I have mastered the art of running a business.
But there is this strange void within me today too. If I could change just one thing in my life it would be this: I wish I had studied in a good English medium school in a big city right from the very beginning. I feel that alone has the ability to transform anyone’s life completely.