Never Quit

 If there is one thing I have learnt over time is to never quit and to perpetually keep trying. I was just rewinding my past and three events / things stand out to reinforce this in me.

1) The CA loop - I guess this was one of the earliest reality checks in my life. Hitherto, I was always a topper in my academic pursuits and never really faced any major failure. I flunked my CA final the first time in 2009 and failed in almost all subjects. After an initial phase of denial, I decided to attempt again, this time I cleared one group and flunked in the other. Something prevailed over me to say that the best way to get out of a problem is through it. I wrote again in Nov 2010 and cleared the final group. What CA did it me (which I realised later) was to accept a reality, stay patient and cross the bridge step by step.

I flunked several interviews after that for being a multiple attempter, but I never quit. Probably it gave me the confidence to face the most defining interview of my life - the one that got me a career in ITC, a company I would only look with awe as a student and never imagined myself working with some of the best minds in the country.

2) Running - I am a near flat foot guy with a funny way of walking and running (obviously been trolled heavily). All my ventures in Sports have not been successful. I had tried my hands in tennis for a long time during my growing years but was never the most competitive of the lot in my coaching centre (and struggled in sprints). It was probably 10 years back when I was diagnosed of bad lipids that i chose to run / jog. I had started off small and kept pushing myself to run just a little more everyday. I realised that i somehow had a stamina or the ability to keep average consistent pace but run longer, though not faster. And every time I run i tend to speak to myself a lot more. When I struggle in the run, all the negative thoughts from my life flash in front of me and as I push myself to not quit and complete, the thoughts vanish followed by a sense of accomplishment and confidence. It made me accept myself for what I am. So guys - I run funny, but mind you I can run serious too!

3) During the initial years of my career, I had visited the Bhadrachalam Paper Mill as an Internal auditor. It was an amazing place and perfect model of manufacturing excellence! However, unfortunately it was during that short stint that I had lost my father and the events that led up to it haunted me for a long time that I shut myself from any thoughts on Bhadrachalam for 5 long years. But after a point, I realised that the more I did it, the more the negative thoughts. It was in 2018 I told myself that the best way to change things is to rewrite the experience. I took a call to go back to BCM, work and stay there with my family and change everything about the place in my mind. The three years of my stint in BCM I gave everything and ensured I enjoyed every moment with the place, the amazing team and the enormous exposure it offered. Today, it has become the best career moments in my life and stands out as the place that I cherish the most. I realised that events are events and it is upto us on how to make sense of them / change them in our own minds.

Many such events have reinforced in me that holding your forte and staying strong to face anything (with same poise) that life has to offer is probably fundamental to any pursuit in life. Having said that, it is also important to ask ourselves what you want to make out of an experience in your mind. It is a choice which would define how to proceed into the future.

To conclude - I might be anything, but I am never a quitter.