Bunkbeds to Breakthroughs
Flashback to the days when my room was filled with laughter, dreams, and yes, six girls squeezed onto three bunk beds! Living in Bangalore, then touted as the Silicon Valley of India, had been a big dream for me, a girl from a small town. My campus job offer had been rescinded a day before I had left Ahmedabad to join it but thanks to snail mail days, I didn't receive it on time and got to know about it only when I reported to work.
The PG accommodation I had booked wasn't affordable anymore. With no job and no home, I walked across Kormangla crosses and streets, looking for a Ladies' PG accommodation, and found one by afternoon. Dumped my stuff and went to print resumes to be hand-delivered in autorickshaws to the advertising agencies. Within a couple of days, I landed a job with iB&W Communications as their client servicing executive. What worked in my favour wasn't my CV but my attitude that I had shown up with my CV in hand and the willpower to deliver myself to one of the top 50 ad agencies in Bangalore.
Bangalore was an outsourcing hub for international MNCs and looked up to as the Silicon Valley of India. As a new migrant from Ahmedabad, on a humble salary of INR 6000, every inch of space and every single Rupee mattered. My clothes, bags, and everything I owned found refuge under those bunk beds and on a shared shelf in a wardrobe with three other amazing souls who had also left their hometowns in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and W Bengal to build their career in BPOs and Medical Transcriptions industry.
Those were eye-opening days as a fresh MBA graduate to know more about other job industries, and job functions and never heard of work cultures in times when the internet was scarce and world exposure was to be gained by one's own bare hands and nomad feet and not social media in cosy cocoons of ones home.
But amidst the cramped quarters and tight budget, I found something invaluable: pride. Pride in knowing that I was carving out my path as a struggling newbie, holding onto my values and dreams fiercely. It wasn't about what I had materially, but what I was building within myself - resilience, determination, a wisened and reliable person with an unwavering spirit.
✨️ Fast forward to today, and life has taken me on an incredible journey across countries and continents. No doubt, I've been blessed and well guided by gracious people in my life to help me move past those bunk beds and frugal life, but the lessons learned in that life through trials and errors were sometimes harsh but shaped me across my career later on into the independent, driven individual I am today.
So, to all the struggling newbies out there: You are capable of more than you know. You can thrive amidst challenges, hold onto your values, and build the life you envision. Your breakthrough awaits, just as mine did. Believe in yourself! 💫
