“The words of Tim Burton words drive me every time – “Now I may not have much, but I have more determination than any man you’re ever likely to meet”. Hailing from a typical single parenting middle-class family, every decision concerning the financial and emotional well being was made with the consent of the family. Shortly after our father’s demise, we were left to fend for ourselves but thanks to a superwoman of a mom, we run completely successful independent lives now. I currently live with my badass mom and my younger brother who works in Mumbai.
And today I stand tall as a career counsellor, currently working in one of India’s top private institutions. But this didn’t come easy! As every middle-class average kid, I was completely lost after my high school with no ambition except to get into a job to support my family in financial ways.
Identifying myself as genderqueer at a tender age subjected me to a lot of mental stress and anxiety. This pushed me to do things better than everyone in the surroundings and it was a welcome relief from the stark discrimination I faced. And eventually led me to find my passion after my post-graduation.
It took me a long while to understand this transformation happening inside me and to term myself a gay. It was a confusing period and I wanted to confess to myself as well as the world that I am one of the people under the LGBTQ. It was a testing phase but time, as always, healed my pain and my mom eventually came around to accepting me as I was! It was a journey of losing yourself to finding yourself, you can say! I worked hard to build myself and I never ran behind validation or approval from anyone. Rather, I took sole responsibility for the roles I was expected to play as a sister/ daughter.
Shortly after my graduation, I started taking road trips and social media gatherings with writers and aspiring artists which made me look at the world with a nuanced perspective. I started to write for magazines with a social cause and started riding to a lot of places on the bike to meet strangers and explore things.
Building up your confidence and embracing your own self is the art of living. I started with helping out students and engaging with them to find their own unique skill and desire to find their own passion in their life. Working with them makes me feel like I hit the jackpot with my career, where you know the whole bundle of happiness belongs to you alone.
The dream is to support and guide young students towards discovering their inner selves while riding to a beautiful place and exploring different perspectives and shares. And the journey has just begun!”
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