#StartANewLife My Way !!!

Everyone one has his own life and everyone acts differently in different circumstances. This actions paves way for new path of life, but its not necessary a new life. For me Starting a new life means when you make some decisions which changes the way you have lived for many years. The change is visible to all and is not just within you. Mine is such a story in which I have started a new life then ended that life and again started a new one.

I am a Marwadi belonging to a business family. For our family, at least for last 3 generations, the way has been to get a B.Com. degree and join business and be part of family business. Stay with the family, and doing a job as an employee was not an option at all. After my 10th exam, I took science much to the resistance of my family & big brothers. Which somehow many people let it be thinking that after XII th I will move to B.Com. For them science field was for people looking for job as an employee and they had a bias that I should join business. Once a appeared for Engineering competitive exams and told them the plans to join an engineering college away from home that was a shock for most of my family members. For most of us, business was the only way to go, so why even do engineering.

Business v/s Job

For engineering I had to move to kolkata, but for that I need to do lot of convincing at home. Even promising that If I don't like I will be back, etc. After all the convincing and making me look stubborn they had to agree. This was not just about to #StartANewLife. It was about #StartANewLife the way I want. Somehow I moved from my hometown to Kolkata. So one big wave of resistance was over. One more big Tsunami was about to come and it arrived sooner than I expected. I was staying in a hostel and all my hostel mates were Bengali. (I didn't knew Bengali) . Well they were fine with that. 

Veg v/s Non-Veg

But along with being a sole non-Bengali guy I was the sole vegetarian student in the hostel. Once they come to know that I will eat the food cooked along with non-veg food, all hell broke at home. They just wanted me back, period. At that time, I found an unexpected support from my Grand Father. He just told to all and took a stand that, let me try to build my life the way I want - no questions asked - with a condition that if I fail to make a great life out of it. I will just return to them and not hide. And I could continue my engineering, I used to travel to home during the weekends. 

When I look back to the stand taken by my grand father for me, even though he disliked my way. I realise two important lesson he taught me. One was to look up for new things the way you want and try to achieve it. Two, if you fail don't feel shy to talk about your failure and have a plan-B.

Look Up

After my engineering, I got selected for a campus placement. I am still working for software company in Bangalore. I completed my MBA too. Now I see few of my brothers also taking job and none is objecting. It also shows that when you #StartANewLife many others also emulate the same with lesser difficulty. So #StartANewLife is just not paving way for your desires but for others also. Now I feel proud of decision I took and my family is proud of me.

My life the way it would have been had I not taken a decision, would have been different. For my change my normal life to a my new life which was my way. It was different in multiple ways and many things I did first in my family

• First to do a Job and not join family business
• First to stay alone for studies outside my family's residence
• First to do Engineering
• First to do MBA
• First to go outside India
• First to stay in PG/hostel (Now its easier for all fo you to search the same using https://housing.com/, it was not that easy to find good PG/hostel in those days)

I feel good about being first in these. But at the same time, I also agree that there path of directly doing business was also good. Now I feel like starting a start-up which is also like doing a new business. I feel that I come to a round circle. But I have no regret, even if I #StartANewLife again as an entrepreneur, coz that new life will be life my way - the way I choose.