I visited the by-lanes of this blog before starting the post. This blog, that once used to see a new post created every now and then, had been deserted. And yet, despite my aloofness to communicate with it, it stood loyal to keep my memories intact.
I saw my post of 2012, when I was visiting a village as part of my ITC training and how pumped I felt about rural marketing. The idealist in me was talking about seeing the smiles when a girl buys a Rs. 1 sachet of Chic shampoo. And yet, by the end of the post, it was clear how the idealism was giving its way to pragmatism. How, those shit lined potholed roads stank of helplessness and disgust for the system.
In my three year stint at ITC, I got more such experiences. The floods of Srinagar in 2014 or the untouched, ignored and callous apathy of the North East India by the government, made me try to be a direct part of the system.
I gave two years of my life to prepare for the civil services. Alongside preparation, I also walked the path to self-discovery. I realized along the way how people, except family, value you for your material worth. Before that, it was these people whom I idolized. And even after my failure to pass the civil services exam and have enough time, I did not intend to bridge the gaps with them.
I started again to build my career. However, this time I knew that rather than working on ones weakness, which everyone has, one should strive to build on his strengths. The idealism in me had withered away to make way for pragmatism.
And so, after working for one year in e-commerce, I shifted back to what I knew I understand and love. I got into product management in data engineering, business intelligence and machine learning.
It marries my interest in technology and my understanding of business, the latter trained in the real India that only a few in my profile would have actually visited or managed. I clearly see my edge.
I also got married to Shruti. Life is good on the whole.
This is what has occurred in my life. I'll keep you posted more often.
