Kick in the posterior

While I typically avoid playing favourites, the belated but profound realization of appreciating life now stands as the cornerstone of what matters the most to me. Embracing life in all its hues, has pushed me to persevere through the toughest of my storms, has humbled me to cherish even the slivers of silver linings and has come to define my perspective for life.

Growing up, with plenty of luck in the wit department, academics wasn’t something I had to struggle with but was rather the insurance for the mischievous kid I was. Bagging the NTSE scholarship at the age of 13, making it to the UT Austin’s Aspiring Women Entrepreneurs cohort, graduating out of an IIT are all achievements that I cherish, but lack the satisfaction of hard-earned success. Little did I know then that a kick in the teeth would flip my perspective for life by a 180, proving to be a deeply transformative experience.

It was in 2019, when I was eagerly working for a start-up that Covid decided to pay Bangalore a visit. Within the next 2 months I went from coffee chats to zoom calls to the company’s revenues taking a hit and unfortunately getting laid-off. While I was initially confident of landing another job effortlessly, I wasn’t ready for the blues that the pandemic job market had in store for me. What started off as a focused and assertive job hunt progressed into me striving to convert dozens of roles daily, eventually resorting to compromising on my preferences and yet turning up with nothing but recruiter silence. My confidence and emotional stability were waning by the day yet all I could do was wait it out. For months together I’ve had to accept the extremely bearish job market and settle for internships, paid and unpaid, and spend my downtime volunteering for educational and health-care campaigns, freelancing for multiple start-ups and venture capitals, and interviewing with all kinds of companies.

ZS associates was one of the few interviews that I was genuinely excited about. A day before the interview, I ritually called home only to hear that my entire family was down with Covid and that my dad was already struggling with his oxygen levels. It didn’t help that I was then stationed at Bangalore amidst a city-wide lock-down and couldn’t get to my family in any way possible. Over the next couple of days, I had to get through my interviews with ZS as dad’s saturation levels dipped down to 80s and mom had to arrange oxygen cylinders at home, due to unavailability of hospital beds. The day before I had my final interview, dad could barely breathe and had to be hospitalized. Walking into the interview wondering if my dad would make it out of the hospital was one of the most difficult things that I’ve ever had to do, yet, I held on, and kept telling myself that if he does make it out of there alive, I better be ready to deliver the good news. Touchwood, my dad pulled through his battle with Covid and I secured my spot at ZS, but the memory of persevering through the interviews with dad’s life on the line, still sends shivers down my spine and remains a humbling and gratifying reminder.

Personally, the pandemic served as a pivotal lesson, instilling in me an appreciation for every blessing that crosses my path. It deeply grounded me to my core and became my crash course to turning life’s adversities into opportunities. Ever since, I’ve cherished my family, strived to excel at work, consciously considered my impact on the community and have grown to be a better version of myself.

Sometimes, all you really need is a swift kick in the posterior!