July 2015

It doesn’t take aliens to come and innovate for us. Young minds among us are the future and they are saving us already. Utkarsha Varshney has already started to make the change! This young engineer from Allahbad University is not only doing what she loves but innovating for this entire generation.

“The two years of +2 just had three things in my life: School, coaching and books. But my hard work and sleepless nights paid off and I got selected in first attempt. Since the very first year of engineering, I loved my subjects concerned with generation, transmission and distribution of electricity. With each passing day, my fascination for electrical machines as in transformers and generators started to rise.

I always think why people in developing countries like mine are so deprived of electricity even when the country produces thousands of brilliant electrical engineers every year, with this thought decided to choose the field of renewable energy and to develop solar photovoltaics so that next generation will never be devoid of electricity and its appliances even after extinction of coal and oil.

The first leap towards this dream was my selection for Government of India internship with Ministry of New and Renewable Energy which is Solar Energy hub in the country after my second year in 2013. The next year came with the best gift of my under graduation years with research internship at Australian National University. Fortunately, Australian National University has the best solar energy laboratory in Australia and that was a blessing in disguise for me. My interests and likings for solar energy raised three folds after being involved with the professors there. Further, to implement my knowledge in this domain, I successfully completed my final year project and made a single-axis sun tracker for increasing electricity generation during the entire course of sunlight.

Now, after the completion of my bachelors I am going to pursue my masters from State University of New York at Stony Brook USA and I will pursue my interest in renewable energy even after knowing that international students do not get jobs in US in this domain easily but I will wholeheartedly follow my passion and I hope God will bless me to make my dreams come true.”

People often leave their home and loved ones to pursue something they love more.Mr. Pankaj Saboo not only found his passion but also a way by which he can stay closer to his family and friends.

“The real happiness lies when you are with your family, friends and loved ones. It is the absolute source of bliss when you enjoy the best moments of your life with those important people. They may argue or fight with you but they are the ones who will never leave your side. A person’s own family is, without doubt the greatest wealth that we will ever possess.”

I did my schooling from Tinsukia, Assam and before completing graduation I went to Kolkata for earning livelihood. Initially I was working in a company and after gaining experience and money, my partner and I opened a showroom of clothes in Kolkata.

I loved hanging around with friends and many a times would go to a Game parlour in Kolkata but I missed my family there. It was then, when an idea clicked into my mind; I thought of opening a Game parlour in my own state so that he can be with his family and friends. And with this dream in mind and heart, I started to work harder and finally opened the first the Laser Game Parlour named GET  TAGGED in Assam.”

At times we do everything to follow our dream and we reach the top too. But critical circumstances stop us to achieve the dreams and when you decide to flow against the flow, that’s what you call true passion. Mr. Ashok Pareek is a teacher and like many other teachers, he is in love with his profession but let us see what tried to hold him back.

“I will not exist in the world if I stop Teaching. Teaching is something which enlightens my soul and calms my mind. Though I am a businessman and an advocate; it is teaching that made me a better person. Every time when I teach a student, I relive my childhood days. Teaching keeps me connected with the young generation and help me in understanding their problems. No matter what happens, have faith in the things that you love to do because those are the things that can keep you happy.

It was after class 12, I realised that I wanted to study a lot and become something like CA, Advocate or Professor but unfortunately my dad got sick and so I had to join his dad’s business. I then studied the Law Course at Now gong College and managed business along with it. But after a certain time I got so frustrated with the business that I joined the court but soon father called me back to the business. There was again a war between studies and business but I didn’t sacrifice my love so I joined a College and started teaching there.

A few years back, I got a major neck injury. Doctors from Apollo Chennai have advised me to stop teaching but I still do it. I can’t imagine my life without it.”

Expecting children to be brilliant at academics is a common notion in India. And the love for parties and socializing can just not be easily gulped. But Komal Agrawal from Dimapur, Nagaland has different story.

“After my 12th boards, my parents called me back and asked me to do graduation from Guwahati. I did B.com and C.S. But these subjects didn’t seem to interest me. It was like I am doing it for the sake of doing something. It may sound obvious that I love parties, travelling and outings but I had special interest to wards this.

Soon I moved to Mumbai, from there along with studies, I started organising trips to Lonavla. Ever since that day, I never felt like I was working because I am enjoying what I do”

There is no right time for your love to call you. It took more than 30 years for Mr. Dinesh Lahotu to realise his passion and from there, there was no looking back.

“I come from North-East India, I was good at studies and made it to IIT-Guwahati. I got a job and after 30 years of work, I realised that I don’t belong here. My passion laid in education system. To enhance creativity and innovation, me along with my five friends had put our different skills together and founded Edugenie in 2013.

Edugenie is a social enterprise that provides innovative hands-on Educational solutions in Maths and Science for educational institutes, government bodies and NGOs. Opposed to ‘One Size Fits All’ education, we provide highly personalized learning and promote discovery-learning against rote-learning”. Programs are a blend of various learning practices- designed to build persona of a child (learner)  and emphasize on curiosity, creativity and critical-thinking. We carry out assessment of students not through written tests, but with board games activities specially designed by our team to capture a complete matrix of individual-skill, teamwork and determination. In all programs, we not only stress on making the subject interesting, we also make sure that it makes a long-term impact on the student.”

“Presently I am pursuing degree of B.tech from DTU. It appears boring but it’s not. I love technology, gadgets and love machines over girls. I am indulged in this since my school time. When I was student in 6th standard , I did science projects for my cousin who was at that time in class 10th and it was fun.

At the age when I was reached in 9th standard I made a motor car, motor boat, shaking disc and 3-4 items more. I am too indulge in these things that I don’t care about studies that’s why my science teacher called me duffer with a good brain. I do enjoy, play, hanging out but where ever i go i have a curiosity to get knowledge about how the machine works nearby.

I was not really into studies until my parents made me realize this. And they had been more than supportive. They are from commerce yet they never forced me for the same. They are my key to success.

My journey is not end. It will keep continuing until I will achieve all of my dreams & i have a long list of dreams”

People always say that passion is all  about inborn talent, but is it not possible to learn and grow? It is. This is how Ashmika’s story goes.

“As a kid I knew I wanted to get into the fashion industry. They thought I was fascinated with the glamour aspect of it, but well that wasn’t the case. I was fully aware of the hardships that go into being a part of that world of glamour.
I was never insanely great at art work but had the desire to learn and grow, even if that called for not being able to get into the college of my dreams and not being able to live up to the expectations of the world. That was a big set back. But I didn’t let that stop me from chasing my dreams.
Today as a student of pearl academy of fashion, I stand tall as I do well on the course in the first year with a huge scholarship.

I like to believe that this world is cast by a magical spell, and we just need to believe in it. Nothing in this whole wide world can stop you from doing what you love coz   that’s what you do the best.  It can get a little difficult initially,  “what if I fall?”
“oh but my darling what if you fly!?”

#DoWhatYouLove”

As kids, we are often indulged in many activities and it is later we discover our passion. That is how Vrinda Rehan had discovered her love for Basketball. After balancing herself between Kathak and Basketball, she chose the latter and performed brilliantly in it. This is what we call true passion.

“My dad and brother are basketball players, so it was obvious for me to start it. But my mother wanted me to learn Kathak. There was a time when I chose Kathak over basketball, and then something or the other would happen and I had to switch back to basketball. It was in 6th grade that I decided to pursue it seriously and in 8th grade, I played my first nationals.

I was so in  love with this game and even my parents were supportive of it that they didn’t care much about my grades. Still I had managed to keep my percentage above 80.

I always wanted to be an architect, but I was poor at maths. So while mom and I were on our way to school for subject selection in 11th grade (for PCM), I told her that I would take commerce and play basketball seriously and get into the college with sports quota, like my brother.

I scored a little less for getting a college in Delhi but I had made my mind earlier that what so ever, I’ll get admission through sports quota only.This is it. Basketball helped me get into one of the finest colleges of Delhi University and now I play for college team.

Till date I have played and won numerous tournaments. This game had not only satisfied my appetite but also helped me make a good career.”

The kind of culture prevailed in India during the time of Independence, it is hard to believe that a girl would be given the freedom to study. Not only that, she was a NCC cadet till her graduation and had completed multiple degrees. This is the story of Mrs. Saroj, whose passion for studying English had brought her this far and supported her household too.

“My school was a Christian school with Hindi medium. But our English teacher had good command over English, especially grammar, it was then I had this urge of studying English and be good at it. Given that I was from Hindi medium school, I opted BA in Hindi in graduation as well, though I badly wanted to opt for English but somehow inferiority complex didn’t let me do it. Eventually I had to do MA in Hindi as well. Though I pursued my graduation in Hindi but my passion for English never died.

Later I pursued B.Ed,another thing I hated. Somehow, I was good at it and my teachers wanted me to make my career in teaching. After this, I had done numerous jobs as English teachers and Principals over many cities since my husband used to change his job often and we had to shift a lot.

It was when we shifted to Indore, I got this opportunity to do MA in English in 1967. With due support from my husband and sons, I completed it with flying colors. Later we shifted to Bhopal and I got a couple of opportunities to be principal in colleges, but my father expired and my offer lapsed. Then I decided to take Spoken English classes and since then there is no looking back. I’m now 78 and still take classes. English is not only my passion but had supported us in the times of crisis.”

We humans are easily inspired by things and soon we develop passion towards them. But only a few are dedicated and follow their passion even when the time is not even. Atibha Pandit, a 12th grade student, shares her story with us of following her passion during crucial time of her career. And when she thought she couldn’t do it, that’s when she nailed it.

“My mother wanted me to learn Karate. I started it in 10th grade. Earlier I used to practice it for nearly 3 hours a day. But with higher classes coming up, I couldn’t devote much time. Still I managed to participate in a couple of State tournaments and National level competition.

Now I’m in 12th grade and I was just one step away from bagging black belt. With coaching and so much pressure I decided to give it a break. But something kept me going and it hasn’t even been a week when I bagged my black belt.”