7. What this talk is NOT:
A ploy to dissuade you from engineering
A sermon
A drab self-help bookish slideshow.
All gyaan, no play
8. What this IS about:
Broadening your perspectives
Exposing options available to you
Finding a direction to your passion
Increasing your self-awareness
And a lot of chocolates…! Do you like
quizzing?
10. Chocolate no. 2
Identify the person
Tell me the name of
the first company he
worked in/his first
album
Shankar
Mahadevan
Computer Engineer
Oracle/Breathless
13. Do you really need a parallel
career?
Not at all.
We rather need engineers.
14. But what we don’t need:
Bad Engineers.
The world is full of them –
Those who don’t like engineering but still pursue it after degree
Those who give in to the societal pressure
Those who think only engineering can offer financial security
Those who remain mediocre.
15. If you wish to become an
engineer, become like this gem:
Chocolate time
Identify the name
And the profession
E. Sreedharan
Father of the Delhi
Metro Project
Civil Engineer
16. Or a researcher like this veteran
scientist:
2 chocolates this time
Identify the name
Dr. CNR Rao
Bharat Ratna Awardee,
2013
60 Honorary Doctorates
and 1450 research papers
Mysore University, IT BHU
and Purdue University
alumnus
20. It might be
Something outlandish.
Something that you might feel shy talking
about, like becoming a sprint runner for
the next Olympics
21. Meet this guy, for instance.
The dude on the right, atop Stok Kangri, 6.5 km in Ladakh
22. Or the same dude on the left…after completing an Olympic
triathlon:
23. Or all of the below:
Paraglider
Canoer
Mountaineer
Skiier
Vagabond
Diver
Climber
Triathlete
Yes, the same
guy.
Saurabh
Agarwal
IIT-D 2011
passout
24. IMAGINE!
What if your passion
becomes your profession?
You get paid for something that you love to do.
25. If that happens, you will:
Love to attend your office
Deliver the best quality work
Attain mastery because hard work will
never seem hard.
Most importantly, enjoy.
26. Let’s enjoy a little. Ready for more
chocolates?
Identify the name
And the profession
Dilip D’ Souza
Columnist, Indian
Express
Author
27. Who gets the chocolate?
Identify the name
And the profession
Arunabh Kumar
IIT Kharagpur
Assistant Director, Om Shanti
Om
Founder, The Viral Fever
(Remember the q-tiyapa
videos?)
29. Thank engineering, for it
taught us:
That silence is always misunderstood.
Especially during vivas.
One can manage without bathing for
months and not get caught. Thanks to
your classmates following the same
maxim.
One can multitask and still pass exams
(by studying one night before!)
30. Before becoming an engineer, we
were:
A nerdy, hairy, plump kid
roasting our bottoms with heavy
books for most of our lives.
Unexposed – tell me, how can a
17 year old without any
awareness of the world take a
career decision for life?
31. After becoming an engineer:
Nerdy, no more. But shabbier.
But something changed. Four years at college
lets you pursue things that you love to do
Management
– fests
Marketing
Dance,
Drama, Writing, Photography
Travel and Read.
Closer to finding your passion.
Maybe this is what happened to the person
who comes next in line…
32. Chocolate time!
No more identifying
the person
Rather, tell me,
which famous award
did he win in 2006
for the RTI Act?
Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent
Leadership
34. So what do you want to
become?
An actor/dancer/model
A writer/journalist
A photographer
An entrepreneur
An entertainer
A spiritual guru
An encounter specialist!
And most importantly, an engineer.
35. Actor or Film/Modeling Line:
The name of his second
movie?
College he graduated from?
Way forward:
Hone your skills –
dancing, acting, diction, physique
on your own
Join theatre
What Next? Mumbai.
Audition. Network.
Start small –
TV/commercial/dance troop
36. A writer or journalist:
Identify the name
Sidin Vadukut, Columnist
Mint, Author, Former
Engineer
Way forward:
Hone your skills – reading, writing,
reading, writing...
Attend workshops
Network with people.
Join fellowships/journalism
schools like ACJ
Start freelancing
Study further
37. A photographer:
Identify the name
Devendra Purbiya, IIT KGP
2004 passout, fashion
photographer
Way forward:
Hone your skills – lights, camera,
photojournalism
Read
Network. Attend workshops and
schools like Jamia
Start small – FB page. Participate in
contests.
38. Entrepreneur
Identify the name
And his company
Way forward:
Start off small.
Network. Attend summits and
seminars.
Think Big. Execute swiftly.
Find the right partner.
Be sharp and sound.
Jump in, find the market gap, learn
fast and capitalize.
39. An entertainer
Identify the name
Nitin Gupta(Rivaldo), Standup comedian
Way forward:
Write a catchy script.
Record your performance
on a smartphone.
Upload on youtube.
Perform in your own college
and build your base.
PJs don’t qualify.
40. A Spiritual Guru
Identify the duo
Bawa-Dinesh
IIT-B passouts, AOL
gurus
Way forward:
Grow your hair
Talk softly, like this
Befriend a high potential guru
And read a lot of philosophy!
41. Encounter Specialist
Identify the person
Navniet Sikera , IIT Roorkee
passout,
Known as UP’s Daya Nayak
Has more than 50 hits on his
name.
Man behind 1090 Women Power
Line Concept.
Way forward:
Get a gun.
Get a police uniform.
Let your wrath flow. Singham!
In short, slog for UPSC and get into
IPS.
42. Finally, an Engineer
Identify the person
Pranav Mistry, MIT
Innovator, Inventor
Way forward:
Participate in contests like Robocon,
FSAE, Mini Baja and tech fests.
Code day and night, night and day
Use websites like codeacademy to
learn. Stalkninja to network
Research. Give GATE, GRE and
study more.
43. Those unclear about one’s
passion:
Way forward is simple.
Just go for an MBA
;)
44. Some fellowships to keep in mind:
The Young India Fellowship (YIF): One year academic
fellowship in liberal arts.
Teach for India Fellowship (TFI): Two year teaching fellowship
to teach underprivileged children.
Legislative Assistants to Members of Parliament(LAMP)
Fellowships: One year close knit working with an MP.
ICICI and Gandhi Fellowships: Two year fellowship in the
development sector working with grassroot level organizations
Future India Fellowship: Academic fellowship with the Future
Group
Do Google these and more!
45. Some truths.
Read. One habit that always pays off.
Hard work has no substitute. Until you are good, there
are no takers. Until you work hard, you won’t be good.
Your prime years are for your dreams, not others’.
Perseverance triumphs. Lage raho!
You have a choice. Exercise it. Make sure it’s you who
chooses:
Your job.
Your spouse.
Your place of work.
There will be struggle. Nothing comes easy. And know
this…
46. And know this fact…
Struggle is
incredibly beautiful!
48. Yes, that’s me. Timeline.
1989-2003 – Grew up dreaming to travel the entire nation someday.
2004 – Got 99/100 in Maths in 9th by fluke. My dear parents decided that I should
become an engineer. I thought why not.
2005-07 – the nerdy, plump kid slogging for JEE.
2007 – Joined IIT Delhi in B.Tech, Engineering Physics. Couldn’t fathom.
2008 – Realized that I love writing. Published stories in Chicken Soup series, articles
in newspapers and became an avid blogger.
2009 – Published my first book. Oops! I fell in love!, a comedy of errors. It became a
bestseller, with more than 50000 copies sold.
2010 – Realized that there’s no avenue to sell my one-liners, tweets, status
messages. Started up a company called Witcraft.
49. Timeline.
2011 – graduated. Didn’t take up a job. Went full-time with my start-up. Published the
second and third book, the sequels to the first.
February, 2012 – Fight with my partner. Had to quit my own company. Jobless,
penniless. Despite the failure, I had a story to tell.
March, 2012 – Decided that I’ll fulfill my travel dream. Had no money. Spammed all
the companies in India. IXIGO, a travel company, sponsored my trip.
March, 2012 – May, 2013 – travelled across entire India, covering 23 states in 1.3
years. Started writing for The Hindu. Spoke at TEDx.
February, 2013 – Published my fourth book, Because Shit Happened: What NOT to
do in a start-up! with Random House
June, 2013 – Selected for the Young India Fellowship. Right now studying at the
fellowship, and writing my travel book, Route to Roots