My Three Biggest Inspirations

Everybody look for inspirations to get on with life. We learn one or the other things from people we meet in our life. Some of those learnings change the way you live and lead you to a better path. Here are three of those people who changed my life.

Karthi Subbaraman

Karthi Subbaraman

I met ma'am for the first time when I was attending a 6 week incubator program at JNTUH. I didn't even know what Design thinking was before. Ma'am took a two-day workshop on Design thinking. I got two keen inspirations from her.

While she was saying about a topic, she asked us whether any of us were long distance runners. Some of them raised hands and I wasn't one of them. I never had any interest in running. But, that day, I thought, "Why shouldn't I start running?" Since then, I started running and kept pushing my limits day by day. After about 4 months, now I can run for about 5 km with ease. I know, for many people 5 is not a big number. But, for me, I used to get really exhausted after running only for about 1 km, and now 5. It's not that I've increased the number, it's that I've fought with my inner fear to reach that goal.

The second inspiration was about Design. After attending that two-day workshop, I've been looking at things around me a lot differently. Every object I look at, I analyze whether the design is a good one or can it be tweaked a little to make it even better. These thoughts helped a lot in my Engineering career while building projects.

Ekta Viiveck Verma

Ekta Viiveck Verma

I met Ekta ma'am while I was volunteering a Kerala flood relief campaign. She was heading that particular campaign. We had a lot of time to talk. She started speaking about her childhood and about the work she does.

She works at an NGO which fights for woman rights. She did tell me a lot about how the world is growing but still lagging in some parts, on which people aren't even taking a keen look into.

The part of the talk which got me thinking was about Transgenders. Whenever we see a transgender, we feel uncomfortable talking to them. But, Ma'am conveyed the problems Transgenders have in the outside world. The problems they face with the society, where no one accepts them, which make them pick the profession we see them doing. Even I used to think about the same as everybody else. But, knowing all the obstacles they face in this world, I think twice whenever I talk about them.

Niketh Chenna Madhav

Niketh Chenna Madhav

I met him at the same place where I met Ekta ma'am. He had already completed his graduation and worked at Deloitte for 7 years.

As a Btech student, I had a lot of questions about how to get on with my career and stuff. At first, I asked him about MNC's and types of jobs they offer. Then the real thing started. Many people pick one or the other goal in their life. I had none. I was empty. I started asking him, "Everybody's asking to create a goal or passion for something and get on with it. But, I'm unable to select one. One day I get interested to work on technology. The other day, I lose all that interest and jump onto something else to do. How to select that particular goal to get on in life?" He replied, "You are in Btech 4th year. You still have 2 more years to select one. If are not into one thing, try another. Keep trying multiple careers one after the other till you get the right one. But, what matters the most is, DID YOU PUT ALL OF YOURSELF INTO IT? If you select a career to try, forget about everything. Just focus on that single career and give your best shot. If you feel the work isn't that interesting after trying your best, you are not gonna make any good in your life if you select that career. Leave that and pick another one."

At first, when people around me are selecting a career getting onto it, I was really scared that I don't have any and I thought my life is gonna end really miserable. After talking to him, I came to know that, having a goal isn't important, but having the strong will to push your limits to whatever extent needed is crucial.