Test your Capability Unleash your potential
hi
let me start off by asking how many of
you
know the brand that is right now being
displayed on your screen
yes i’m sure each one of us is aware
but do we also know the man behind the
brand
that’s dr vargas kurian
founder of a moon private limited
and also famously known as the father of
the white revolution in india
but did you know that dr kurian was
actually sent
to the united states of america on
a government scholarship to study
mechanical engineering
and when he returned he was immediately
sent to a place called anand in gujarat
where in return of his scholarship that
the government paid
he was supposed to spend five years in
anand
as the officer in charge of the dairy
division
mechanical engineering dairy division
he was unwilling at first but he had to
apply it he had no choice
and in following years dr korean studied
further
accepted the challenge that life gave
him
and he brought such enormous reforms
in the dairy farming in india he took
our nation from
milk deficient nation to one of the
largest producers of
milk in the world
he is a very famous personality and i’m
sure most of us
know who that person he’s been a part of
some
major film franchises around the world
and has played some
truly memorable characters that’s mr
harrison ford
but let me ask you how many of us know
that
mr ford was actually a carpenter
a wood carpenter for 15 years before he
actually landed his first role
he was actually hired to build some
stages
for director george lucas the one who is
behind the creation of franchises like
indiana drones and star wars
an impromptu reading happened and that
is how
mr harrison ford was discovered and he
landed
his first role of han solo in star wars
and the rest they say is history
and now we come to a brand that we all
love the food that we all love
and that’s the man behind brand mr tom
monica
so mr morgan along with his brother
james they bought
an old pizza restaurant in michigan
which was actually called dominic’s
and originally the building was so small
that in-house dining was not a
possibility at all
in this situation the brothers came up
with the idea of
actually going out and delivering pizzas
to people
which revolutionized the whole thing
at that time the idea was not well
accepted
so james monegan traded his half
of the partnership to buy a volkswagen
beetle
that the brothers used to go out and
deliver pizzas
now what do we have common in all of
these three
inspirational stories
the fact that they tackled whatever life
gave them
they explored the opportunity that was
thrown at them
things were not perfect they didn’t get
exactly what they wanted but they
tackled their way through
and emerged victorious
to explore something is to simply
go through something unfamiliar to learn
more about it
and in our case what could exploration
mean
to explore could be an idea
we could explore a hidden talent
a hobby or a passion that
something that we’re really passionate
about and we want to do
and what do any of these things require
any of these things require the right
opportunity
and we know that opportunities are
created
opportunities are created through
situations that life puts you through
and i can tell you the easiest way to
grab an opportunity is just by saying
yes
why do i say that
so mr bill gates in an interview
was asked the secret to his wealth
by the interviewer and on being asked
that
mr gates took out an empty check
signed it and handed over to the
interviewer and said
go on fill in any amount and that amount
will be yours
the interviewer was shocked was a little
embarrassed
and he refused to offer he said he
clarified
that so it was a request from the
audience i didn’t mean anything else
from it
mr bill gates again offered him
the same proposition and the interviewer
again refused this went on for one more
time
and the interviewer again refused
and then mr bill gates spoke up and he
said
that is exactly something that i never
did
i never missed an opportunity in this
moment
you could have been the richest man in
the world
but you let that opportunity go
okay so now i want you to imagine that
it is your birthday today let’s say it’s
your 20th birthday
it’s a memorable number 20th
and you are outside in a cafe with your
friend
celebrating and it’s a cafe that is an
artist’s hub
you know there’s one person in a corner
sitting very quietly with glasses on and
he’s
thinking deeply he’s writing poetry and
there’s another group
that is of theater artists and they’re
taking up space and
acting and rehearsing their lines and
it’s
a place of full hustle bustle and
through that crowd
comes one person walking up to you and
says
that i am going to give you an
opportunity
to model professionally what would you
do
and that is exactly how i landed my
first photo shoot ever
that is my birthday i was in that cafe
and that is how i was spotted
and then you would say what did i do i
said yes
and i had that first portfolio shoot and
you would ask how did it go
well uh it went exactly how
most of the first attempts were
it went terribly and you want to see the
outcome i’m going to show you the
outcome
the makeup was not right for me i had no
proper wardrobe it was
in the truest sense the first attempt i
was a shy kid
who did not even like being clicked in
day to day life
let alone face a profession camera
but my point here is that that holds
back in 2016
and now you’re seeing a photo from 2021
a photograph of mine that is published
in a new york-based magazine called
elements
in february 2021
how did we go from that picture to this
one
if you asked me i was
balancing myself on a cart with two
wheels
one wheel that said to me that i believe
i can do it
and the other wheel which kept reminding
me
that i’m going to try anything but
giving up
my point is that when opportunity
strikes your door
it doesn’t matter if you are a beginner
if you have
zero knowledge or skill in that field
but what i can guarantee you from my
own experience is that if you’re not
afraid to fail
and fail as many times as it takes
no matter how long it takes
you are bound to learn you are bound to
progress
and you are bound to succeed
okay so now we are on this amazing
journey of exploration
where till now we have accepted the
challenge
we have learned to face our fears and
not give up
and now when is that time when we put
everything into action
when do we say that it’s showtime
right so lynn taller once said
that if i waited till all my ducks were
in a row
i would never be able to get across the
street
sometimes you’ve got to gather
everything you have and just
run for it and that’s a thought i
completely believe in
i waited for three years to participate
in
a national beauty pageant
i thought that i would be well prepared
well equipped by then i would have
completed my degree in architecture by
then
and while everything was going well and
as planned
i came home i graduated and
out of nowhere i decided to try this
specific nutrition diet
which apparently did not suit me
my immunity levels completely dropped
and i retrieved chipping pox
and you know they say when chickenpox
strikes you in your adulthood
it’s really really severe
this is happening three months before my
actual patent
is to commence an opportunity i waited
three years for
it completely i’ll be honest it
completely
broke my spirit but
even then giving up was not an option
for me
so i gather gathered all the might that
i had
and i just went i participated
and ended up winning the runner-up title
as well
but what my point is here is that
we ne we can never tell which turn life
is going to take next
what it takes is a moment for everything
to change
so if there is a dream that really
excites you
or if there’s a challenge that you want
to face
the best time to go for it is right now
there is never going to be a time when
you’re going to be 100 prepared and
everything is going to be perfect no
the best time is right now take actions
right now
so now we’re on our journey we’ve taken
action
and now is there anything that can
guarantee our success
i highly doubt but what i have realized
is that there are a few things that will
ensure you
always shine no matter what you do
so in my fourth year of architecture i
landed this amazing opportunity
of doing an internship abroad i was
selected by
an office in paris for a six-month
internship
dream city dream office everything
spectacular
and anybody in my situation i too
wanted to excel at work because
now not only are you representing
yourself
but you’re also representing your
institution the college you come from
and indian students in general so
there’s a lot of responsibility
and you want to make it through in the
best possible manner
the only catch is that it’s a completely
different country
new working environment new people a
language that you don’t know that you’re
not comfortable with
so how do you succeed what are you going
to be
judged on
and through my stay there i realized
that there are
three qualities that are equally valued
world over no matter where you go that’s
effort ethic and dedication
the absence or presence of these
qualities will
always show
no matter where you go and no matter who
you are in touch with no language
barrier
or cultural difference is going to hide
it
so new challenges and new environments
are going to demand a new you
are you ready to put in that extra one
percent
more than anybody else more than what
you put in
yourself the day before are you ready to
exceed
that so here it is
my small little checklist for all of you
as you are now about to start
your journey of exploration as students
you’re gonna face you’re gonna have
numerous career feeds in front of you to
choose from
you could have an interest in a field
more than one
and that’s completely invalid you can
pursue as many things and you can excel
at all of them
it’s just that you need to demand more
out of yourself
every day you need to push your limits
and you need to keep testing your
capabilities
and more than anything don’t forget to
make
each day count i’m niha joshua
thank you