This article is for those who think achievers are SPECIAL people. That fact is otherwise. Achievements come from the ordinary, from those who have the will to achieve – those who don’t give up till they actually achieve. Life is full of opportunities for such people. In fact, such people are able to create their own opportunities to achieve. This article is the story of one such young boy who considered himself quite dumb at school, always lost in percentages – me. 99% of the time I was unsure of what I should be doing. 60% of the time I was below my highest level of marks – 40%. Usually just average at studies, I was the butt of many hurting jokes and the type to pocket insults hurled at me, not really knowing the difference between praise and leg-pulling.
I plugged my first attempt at the Board exams, and never really understood the humiliation it accompanied. My parents and siblings, however, stood by me. I succeeded in the second attempt and topped the Mumbai list to enroll as a private student. Starting my “higher” education at Tolani College, I took to chess as my first passion, and became the Chess Champion of my college for two years running. In the process I earned myself a position to play at the district level. But my passion now gave way to theatre, and I made a new beginning acting on stage. Every now and then I would be called to participate at inter-college events, and also went in to the Star-1 Laughter Challenge audition. I also won the “Best Actor” trophy at the inter-collegiates. With some of these “achievements” backing me, I thought I could also indulge writing. From time to time I wrote poems on various topics, and my collection soon grew into a book. Fate struck again, and I lost my entire collection of poems in the floods of 26th July. That is how I managed to sail through college. Poor me, I had no time or inclination to even think what career to adopt. At one time I would dream of becoming a writer, at others a chess player, and yet at some point even a stage performer. While in college, I even took up the Company Secretary’s course, on my elder brother’s advice, but decided that there is no point in pursuing anything that did not interest me. Twice I attempted the exam, but percentages again got the better of me. I failed 100% of the time, though not miserably.
But how long would my loved ones support my failures. This unspoken truth bothered me no end. So somewhere in the middle of my college days I started my own “venture” as a tea-leaf seller, unknown to my parents and siblings, despite their pressure to focus only on my studies. The results of my efforts, on the very first day, pleased me. I was able to contact 60-70 tea shops and “rerhi-vaalas”. More than a dozen of them even bought the “chaa-ki-patti”. For three full days I was a very happy soul, earning to my satisfaction, till the family caught me red-handed – and that was the end of my “venture”.
Around that time animation had just started coming into the limelight in India, with lots of people taking keen interest in this new boom. Once again, the elder brother coaxed me into getting into this field, and I found myself sitting through animation classes. Bang in the middle of this course I got selected for a job as Photoshop operator. Nine months into this job an Ad Agency spotted me to take on the emerging boom in the graphics world. As fate would have it, recession hit the industry, and I found myself jobless very soon. Life again came to the cruel crossroad – not knowing where to go from here. Apply-apply, no-reply. The world of graphics could accommodate me only for a few days at a time, doing odd jobs. As a result, I would join an agency one day, and disappear the next, telling my “family” that the job had no scope. I, however, utilized my hard days at the agencies to start another “venture” – BOOM INDYA – a web info-portal on Indian business opportunities. This venture earned me some sustenance through selling ad space. But again bad luck struck. I forgot the domain and hosting renewal dates, and all was lost once again.
I didn’t want to get into “just another job”. My earlier wanderings brought me an offer to design a website for a logistics company, which I graciously accepted at 22K. Having made that first corporate website, my heart started pounding that my caravan had once again taken off. Another four offers followed to design websites, and my elation knew no bounds. The “family” was also very happy, and no-one was complaining.
But as they say, if bad days don’t last, then the good ones also don’t. Night gives way to day, and to night again. Recession hit once again, and this time really hard – no new projects for months on end. Panic had already started replacing passion, and I didn’t even know when. A drowning man catches at a straw. One fine day a tele-caller called to say that her company designed websites and they would do it at very reasonable rates. I decided that this kind of aggressive marketing was the only way out. Call potential clients, reach out to them, coax them, cajole them, use any method, but get them on board. But whom could I call? And where could I get the numbers from? I decided to check the newspaper classifieds and call all those organizations that did not have a URL. I would make at least 20-25 calls every day. Some would respond and call for meetings and others would simply howl down the call. Nothing, however, materialized. I then started doing the un-doable – calling and visiting Baba Bangalis, safalaas, sautan samasya, vashikaran, and even tantra-mantra vaalas, reaching them through the posters you see in the local trains and public toilets. Blindly I believed that these people could get me some work. One “Baba” even called me for a barter deal – create my website and in return keep the taveez (lucky charm). The blood now started reaching beyond boiling point. Tired of such ideas, and running out of money extremely fast, it was becoming difficult with each passing day to contribute at home, to work productively and even justify having my meals.
Here, I paused in life, saluted my family, reminding myself that they always stood by me, in my most difficult times, not even once pressurizing or complaining, and always supporting and sharing my happy moments fully. One evening after meeting a new potential client, I aimlessly wandered into Chaupati, feeling quite low from inside. There I met a popcorn vendor, and thought to myself, “I can also sell popcorn at this Chaupati, at least for two hours every evening. After all I sold tea-leaves successfully”. But my conscience kept pushing me to focus on web-related work and I dropped the idea. This inner voice is very strong and never wrong. The very next day I got a call from an old client to develop a software application, and fixed the next day for the first formal discussion. Little did I realize that this client, whose website I had made more than 6 months ago for 8K, would become my biggest client ever – and that too, as a group of companies.
The deal was finalized for 5.25 lakhs, and I got the project. The situation changed for the better suddenly and unexpectedly. I was also called upon to take on their new website project, including the one for their US based parent company – a project that brought me 18 lakhs worth of business in that one year.
But, just as bad days teach you good lessons, good days also teach bad lessons. The very persons whom I engaged to help me in this project, became my competitors, took away my office, clients and money. Forced into re-thinking of business, I even considered and tried MLM business as an option, in which what I earned was only LOSSES. Here I learnt never to trust, and never to join an MLM business. The shock was enough to break me for a long time to come. Life was derailed irreparably once again. Bad times all over again. But didn’t I learn that “bad times teach good lessons”? Here comes the confidence and faith in that One Almighty that helps you if you help yourself.
My English was poor – remember I was an average student in a humble school? But my will was strong – a will insurmountable by the storms of deceipt, an edge that pushed me into higher pedestals of achievement. ACHIEVEMENTS COME FROM THE ORDINARY, FROM THE ONES WHO HAVE THE WILL TO ACHIEVE. I decided to draw knowledge and skill from my days of animation and graphics learning. I started another “venture” – a web info-portal that I would cherish and nourish with all my strength, ability, knowledge and passion. And Animation Galaxy was born. I never looked back, kept moving forward, with plenty of help pouring in to me from unexpected corners of the world.
Today I find myself extremely grateful to the animation world way up to the northern reaches of India and abroad, with market and credits coming from such organizations and individuals that would make any parent proud. Today I find myself at a loss for words to describe how grateful I am to those who stood by me, who kept my determination alive, who made my learnings come true that achievement is an inner voice of the self.
Today I – The Animation Galaxier – am grateful that I heard my inner voice drive me towards achievement.
