Shed inhibitions and take control of your future: Sindhura Rajagopal

Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering, VTU. Pic courtesy: DSCE

Education is a powerful tool to enhance one’s personality and skill sets. It is a journey to realise one’s potential and achieve a sense of responsibility and maturity in developing goals, pursuing dreams, and making the right choices. One learns to never be scared of taking risks and challenging oneself to think beyond the obvious. Education should not succeed in merely making a person successful but also more aware- about the latent endless possibilities and the yearning to follow one’s heart, to be capable of frame shifting and focusing on a bigger picture and a greater purpose, walking an extra mile to support mankind as much as we love to grow and expand as individuals and families.

My 4 years of Engineering at Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering, VTU were very fruitful in that way. I thoroughly enjoyed studying Electronics and Communication Engineering. Digital signal processing, network analysis, and signals and systems were my favourite subjects. I especially looked forward to visiting the laboratory for getting hands-on experience. What is fresh in my memory is how we, as students, would have long discussions on various topics among ourselves and with lecturers to leave no stone unturned for a better clarity on the concepts. Library visits during semester breaks were another treat, all thanks to the wonderful set of books I could skim through and using which, I could go beyond the curriculum.

It was a personal choice to pursue Electronics and Communication. I vividly remember and feel extremely thankful how my father and my mother personally co-participated in the process of discovering my choice of subject.

I have always believed that it is important for one to research, communicate, discuss, even argue if necessary, and explore generously before taking steps on the career front. The secret lies in asking the right questions. One should ask questions to oneself as well as to people whom one trusts, people who have been there and done that, and hence possess relevant experience. Most importantly, one should find a balance in conversations with these broad categories of people- One, those who are the inspiring lot and want to showcase the positive side of the matter at hand, and the other- the lot who call a spade a spade. They want to criticise, emphasize what could go wrong and have more time to pronounce the trials and tribulations one can go through. With lots of opportunities online, it does not hurt to talk to strangers even, as much as we love to talk to familiar folks. A clear SWOT (strengths/ weaknesses/ opportunities/ threats) analysis for small and big career decisions is the need of the hour.

I started off early in digging details about what could suit me, what lies inside the chosen field, and what lies ahead of it all. And with the help of my parents and sister, and a few teachers and mentors, I could comprehend and map the two realities – What is the outcome of the course? What is my personal expectation of the outcome? Small activities like visits to the college beforehand, meet-ups with senior students prior and during the course of studies, laying hands-on the overview of the contents to study before each semester, engaging in field trips, workshops, paper presentations, and internships took my experience to a new level. 

I never confined myself to the gates of my university and score card, I grabbed every single opportunity to compete in technical conferences and talks, literary fests and sports events across colleges in Karnataka. Not only did this help me hone my academic, technical, and soft skills simultaneously but also trained me to manage time well, meet deadlines better, network with people, make new friends, and learn and observe from different environments, therefore to become an effective team player. One of the biggest lessons was to embrace failure with its share of life lessons as much as one desires to be a winner. 

Somewhere amidst all the pondering and experimenting, I realised how I should perhaps make a career with a mix of technology and oratory skill-sets. The inspiration was intense but the realisation and eventually making sense out of it was slow. Steady though.

With a distinction in BE E&C, and successfully clearing interviews in a few MNCs for technical positions, I had a distinct feeling of both being satisfied as well as hungry for something else too.

 My sincere efforts led me to give a shot for an interview in Huawei, a renowned Chinese Telecommunication Company. 

Huawei had all that I intently wanted. The amalgamation of technical acumen and the people interaction that constituted my job every day made it more like a blessing. This enlightened me to the truth that hard work, persistence, and patience make a wonderful combo to trust.

My efforts to master the basics in my undergraduate course helped to ease the growth and learning process in Huawei. . My job role predominantly involved a lot of customer interaction, meetings, trainings, and workshops overseas. Having travelled to over 20 countries across Asia, Eastern/Western/Central Europe, UK, Middle East, Eurasia, Africa and America, I inculcated in me a strong competence for working in cross-cultural environments, highly demanding situations, and came to accept gracefully that change is a constant. I can proudly say now I am more open, flexible, accepting, stronger, and an independent person now. Quite beautifully, I naturally transfer the energy to those around me. When I took up project management by the way of job, as well as in my freelancing assignments as a trainer, mentor and a counsellor, people skills and ability to learn and adapt came ever so naturally.

The constant motivation that my beloved parents gave me through my growing years, the exposure I had in Carmel School through elocution, debates, declamation, lectures and then through a host of oratory and teaching assignments in diverse languages in National College to following suit in Dayananda Sagar College in technical forums and collegiate fests seemed to play a pivotal role in my professional and personal life today. What I have learnt and would like to share with everybody is, even if it’s the baby steps that you want to put in grooming yourself, do it without hesitation. Little drops of water make an ocean. Shed your inhibitions and take control of your future. It could be taking up challenging tasks at work, or enhancing your dining etiquette, or being able to say ‘no’ - everything is an art. It takes time and it is more like a process or a journey. Never hastily look for victory. Let it happen like it is one of the by-products of the overall experience.

I always recommend that students do introspection regularly - about what they want in life, their short term and long term goals. One should never feel hesitant in seeking help, from elders, counterparts, and even the younger lot. When one is clear about what one wants and why and how one would feel when he/she achieves it, there is little chance that it will go wrong.

About the Author:

My name is Sindhura Rajagopal and I am a Technical Project Manager as weel as a Freelancing Consultant – Soft Skills, English Communication, NLP and Personality Development Trainer, Mentor and Counsellor. I love to travel and make memories. I write tales about people that I meet and my experiences in travel adventures. I enjoy reading books; teaching and mentoring people from all age groups is a very close-to-heart activity.