The Unknown, The Unfamiliar!

The most important thing in my life is the relationship I have with myself and with my parents and friends. This is because no matter what happens, I will always be myself in my zone.  

There is nothing that can bring me closer to building an image for myself than me, and the fact that I want to know what my position in the society is. In a quest to find myself, I decided to move away from home and now hope to start an independent life.  Away from home, which is in faraway Vishakapatnam, I now have the freedom and the right to discover I, me & myself. I aspire to move abroad soon and enjoy the wind beneath my wings.

Living in another country will be an eye opener  for me. Because, the place is far removed from where I am originally from, I can observe things from an outsider’s perspective. I will be able to see things from the outside, and I’m pretty sure it will force me to re-think about my culture from a new point of view.

This introspection often makes me re-think about who I am as a person and I often start questioning my  original beliefs, attitudes and values which have inevitably influenced me in the past. I have questioned myself many times from all perspectives, and I know now I have a chance to reshape my personal and professional life. I will soon become Independent and everything will be new; everything will once again be unfamiliar and getting to know the unfamiliar environment which hopefully will soon become familiar all over again, should teach me to fight fear. Fear of THE UNFAMILIAR, THE UNKNOWN! Discovering the new streets alone, talking to new people, trying out new foods, or even befriending new people. I know myself and I am aware I am a little wary of everyone, I can never fathom the intentions of others and more often new streets look scary to me at night.

“Living overseas”, the thought is always at the back of my mind . How am I going to get to the hospital if I happened to get really sick? Who is going to help me if I had a problem with the housing situation? Who is going to be by my side if I get attacked on the street? It takes years to find true friends whom I feel can truly rely on and trust. It is a big responsibility. It is a sentimental thing.

I am by nature adaptable and open-minded.   From road rules, decisions to make in day-to-day life, dealing with people’s attitudes and irrational behaviors;  it will be like going back to school again where I would need to relearn social etiquettes, assess the education system, understand the healthcare system, the country’s history and cultural beliefs etc.

Yet, I believe I can and I will build a new identity.

I will be a new brand there, not a rebrand. People talk about falling in love as in falling in love with someone. But for me, I need to fall in love with another city. So hello new love, embrace me and I will love you till eternity!

By:

Surya Teja,

Student, INLEAD 

Life is an experience - To be lived and learned

“There is not a human being from whom we cannot learn something if we are interested enough to dig deep.” Eleanor Roosevelt

Life is a full of experiences. Every day we experience something new either by chance or by choice, and it changes our perception about ourselves and others. To feel, live and learn from these experiences, we are blessed with diverse emotions like happiness, sadness, pain, love, relief and struggle etc. These emotions give a different meaning to these experiences and help us understand life in a better way.

Often we sit back and wonder -why is life so biased towards us? Or why do we only encounter all the problems at the same time?

We need to understand that sometimes these obstacles are actually a blessing in disguise, only we don’t realize it at that point of time. It’s not the people or situation but our reaction towards them which changes our perception. Life keeps moving on, situations keep changing; people keep on entering our lives. So, in a nutshell, we can’t go back and change our past. All the mistakes we make and experiences we gain, prepare us for the future and make us strong enough to face whatever may come in our path.

In this fast-paced life, a FAST guide is what you need to be successful in true sense. The following FAST guide will help you to live your life to the fullest and learn from the bittersweet experiences that life has to offer.

Fight with your fear:  All of us have some fears in life. Fight them rather than being a quitter. Facing our fears is the first step towards success. Further, the feeling of looking back and seeing how we overcame these fears on our own by just making an effort is an extraordinary feeling.

Appreciate nature: To be a nature lover doesn’t always mean taking a break from your regular life and spending a handsome amount of money to go to some exotic location. The next time you venture out of your house for work, take a minute break and look around. There’s nature everywhere, it just takes the right eye and vision to see it. You can even start with a simple nature walk early morning; explore gardens at your nearby places, or simply cherish the rain sitting in your balcony with a hot cup of coffee.

Solitude: Our body has a unique way to rejuvenate and replenish its energy. Make sure you give your body an off day once in a week.  Take time away from the hustle-bustle of life and look inside to understand yourself better.


Travel: “To move, to breathe, to fly, to float; to gain all while you give; to roam the roads of lands remote; to travel is to live.”  Every place on this earth, from a remote village in Rajasthan to an urban city like Mumbai, has something new to offer. Make sure to include travelling in your lifestyle as a person as “the world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”

With this FAST guide in hand, you will not only survive but also live and enjoy this beautiful gift of life that god has bestowed upon us.  Always remember, “Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.”


- Priya Bali
  Faculty, INLEAD



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