I learned key interpersonal skills during my time at college through the course work, says Manthan

I was fascinated by the multi-city model that SP Jain Global offered. The scholarships I got from the college were quite compelling too.

Before joining college, I was a twice U-18 SGFI table tennis national champion and won medals for India internationally. But at 17, I had to leave table tennis and find my own path ahead.

I aspired to do something extraordinary. But I did not find relevant books in the self-help section of the bookstore nor a like-minded community around me. So I decided to write a book that had stories of young overachievers, research-based call to action, and expert opinions.

The two years of isolation during the pandemic gave me a lot of time to think learn writing and complete my book.

I learned key interpersonal skills during my time at college through the course work, summer internships, and the multicultural experiences in Mumbai, Singapore, Madrid and Dubai for the first two years, followed by two years of virtual education in India.

These interpersonal skills enabled me to connect with people from a broad level of backgrounds easily. This made the book possible.

As an undergrad, I chose to invest most of my time in extracurricular.

I interned at Ashoka in Singapore, Design for Change in Madrid, and the Council on Energy Environment and Water in New Delhi; I wrote a book with Penguin India; I was the founder-president of the TAMID chapter at SP Jain School of Global Management (a premium business club with 80 members) for which I am now in Tel Aviv, Israel, leading a cohort of 9 students to a summer internship program; I started my podcast; won Spartan trifecta races in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines; and traveled to nearly 12 new countries.

This experience opened me to a range of opportunities that greatly helped me understand my own interests.

In August 2022, I am heading to Beijing for the Schwarzman scholarship. There I will be studying masters in global affairs.
As a 22-year-old, I am still quite open to things. I feel the lightness of being. As I explore newer countries, and become part of more interesting communities, I take on opportunities as they come.

Unstoppable with Penguin Random House is a book that chronicles the journey of 40 youth icons and features stories of Olympians Dutee Chand and Deepa Karmakar, rapper Kaam Bhaari, track and field para-athlete Sandeep Chaudhary, astrophysicist Karan Jani, acid Attack survivor Reshma Qureshi and Sanket Deshpande, the youngest Indian to send a satellite in space, among others. The stories are assisted by research from renowned experts in the fields of neuroscience, psychology, social sciences and leadership. The book not only provides inspiration to create something extraordinary from ordinary circumstances and resources but also highlights important factors and provides a ‘plan of action’ to achieve one’s goals.

This book has been in making for the last four years (or nearly 20% of my life so far).

Over the next year, I would love to get this in the hands of the youth around India, so the book can benefit as many people as possible.

About the author

Manthan Shah is a twenty-two-year-old author-podcaster and a college senior. He is one of the youngest authors to be commissioned by Penguin Random House to write his first book, Unstoppable. He hosts and produces the Planet Impact podcast that shares the stories of young changemakers. He recently won the prestigious Schwarzman Scholarship to study global affairs from Tsinghua University in Beijing. In college, he was awarded the Dean’s List and a Global Citizenship Award for academic and overall excellence.

Note: The views expressed in this article are solely author’s own and do not reflect/represent those of Shiksha