Father of our nation ,Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, once said;
” Be The Change You Want to see in this world”
As a kid I was always fascinated by the way the politics of this country worked, inspired by freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh,Lokamanya TIlak, Subhash Bose, kept dreaming by watching films like “Nayak”, “Kurukshetra”,”Swades”,”Kargil”,”Lakshya” and probably many other patriotic movies which i watched in my early childhood , also watching our then PM Atal Bihari Vajpaye’s speeches, I would then play with my jiyajo and say its Vajpayi Ji and hoist a 2 Rs plastic flag and make my toy hoist the flag on national days,and also hearing stories about 1993 bomb blasts, watching the Twin Tower Attack ; I was always moved by the national and International events. I might have been very naive and immature to understand many of them but the Intent to do something for my country , my India has always been the highest on my priority list.
In my 4th standard we had shifted from a small town in thane district ” Nallasopara” to “Borivali” a decent middle class suburb of Mumbai, my partner in school asked me, What do you want to become in life ? most would say teacher,doctor or Engineer but I said” A PATRIOT” , probably i could hardly frame a correct sentence in English back then. I was naive, i was immature but I was itching to do something for India, I never wanted to be a mere Spectator. Just Condemning, Criticizing and Complaining about things has never been in my DNA, i wished to take initiative and move things myself.
In my 8th std came an important point in my life, my class teacher “Pravina Miss”, she exposed me to the world of debates,elocutions,public speaking,news reporting,acting etc. I felt like I had found my love.In our Semester Exams we had to write an Essay on “If I would be the PM of India”, my dreams about my motherland overflowed as i got a platform to express myself. When I was absent she told the class I had written the best Essay, the very next day she asked me to read it aloud; and she said , ” I really feel I have the future PM in my class ” that sentence has been a milestone and motivation for me thereon.I wanted India to be a super power and i wanted to be a higher contributor in the process always, i started taking things written or spoken about India Personally.
I still couldn’t figure out as exactly what was the right way to move forward, When my maths teacher in 9th std, asked what do you want to be in life ? I said I dont know, but then i want to do something for India maybe i will join Politics. He said ,” thats the temporary form of executive, why don’t you use your intellect and go for UPSC, you will be able to contribute to India and make use of your academic skills at the same time.” I asked him what is UPSC ? what is IAS ? I came home , i researched and BANG !!! There has been no looking back since then , The only goal that remained static in my life will many other goals have vacillated.
At the point when i was done with my schooling after std.10th I remember writing in my diary, “The next 7-8 years i want to devote completely to myself and help myself so that I can make myself so capable that i will be compatible to make a difference in other people’s life “.
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