Mystory@Dipannita Deb: How I chose my course and career path – Challenges and learnings

Mystory@Dipannita Deb

I was born at a time and in a family where my choice was lesser important than the choice of the society. As girls are compared to water which can take shape according to vessel, so did I. I dreaded English, that's how any love story begins isn't it? And then Literature washed all my pain away and I fell in love with books. I wanted to continue my love story even after graduation, but reality slapped hard and I found myself in a renowned BPO. It took me 10 years of toil to understand I was meant for bigger things and better people. Hence, started my journey towards Nirvanaa.

My career path – challenges & learnings

Mistakes are a part of your learning. If you are making mistakes that means you are on the right track. BPO was never where I wanted to land, but when I did instead of cribbing for ages and blaming others, I started learning in and out of it and finally found my forte, Training. I loved interacting with people, developing their skills and sharing my experiences. Within months I became popular and so did my sessions. I finally started broadening my horizons and post 10 years I left the IT world only to take it a notch higher. Now when I see in this span of 32 years of my life what I have experienced, I only see major learning. So my suggestion, do what you love and you will not work a single day in your life. Introspect and see in every small detail of your life and you will get an answer. Believe me, you can make a living from anything, if there are no readymade jobs which suit your need, explore the other horizons but “don’t stop believing” in your “dreams”. Miracle happens.

First time is always special. Whether it’s your first step, first love, first kiss or first job; the moment you have ‘first’ added to any word, it becomes special.

But life is not that fair; born as a second child to my parents, the ordinals got a little different impact on my planetary positions. Second treatment somehow got linked to my stars. I was the second best friend of my first best friend, always stood second in class- the first being my best friend (she was my first you see). I stood second in sports, sometimes third even, was the second girlfriend of my first love, studied English in graduation which was my second preference and so on and so forth. The word second became so intriguing that in the first hour of everyday, I started looking for a second life, a life which was fairer.

Post joining the corporate world, I learnt life still had to show the tricks of the ordinals. Unfair treatments, undue advantages everything became a part of my life of 24 years- strange that was also divisible by 2.

However, as rightly said amidst chaos you find cosmos, so did I. The realization that even I have started treating myself as a second preference hit me hard. Why was this all happening to me, was that my body language, naive nature, honesty or what? I started spending more time in introspection but did not find any answer. I turned towards my family, my friends, God, colleagues; everyone gave suggestion but not an answer. And finally I turned towards the most helpful creature- the mirror, and what I saw was a reflection of a torn soul, who asked everyone but not herself. She had been really unfair on her.

This realization came at a time when I was already on my second job and in the 9th year of my career- yeah, the second saga is still on. However unlike last time, this realization started growing every second and after 2 years of toiling in the second job, I chose respect over submission.

I broke up- with everything that had let me down in the past 31 years, barring a few with which you have to go on because of emotional and social norms. Now was the time to break up with second and start the journey towards first.
2016- For the first time I completed 12 trips in a year, I received 4 international certifications, first time. Lost 10 Kg first time and opened my training startup- the first time.

The point is there is no point in blaming the planetary positions or stars or people or environment. These are mere excuses which has wasted 31 years of my life.

Don't waste yours. Don't let anyone treat you as second. Take 100% responsibility of your life and what happens to you. Be your #First.

About the Author:

I am a graduate in English Honours from Calcutta University and Co-Founder and Director of Nirvanaa, a training startup.