Coming to America

United States of America, it is a land of opportunities, land of migrants and land of dreams.

            

Who would have thought that one day I will be studying here, in the United States of America. 
Last year when I visited to New York, I was amazed with the things, people and lifestyles I saw there. I was in NY only for 7 days and I knew it is very far from the place I was born and grew, but  still I promised to myself that, one day I would come back to USA and for longer stay.

Today here I am...

Though I made it, but coming to the USA was not something which I easily got. It required long term planning, hard-work, Community College Initiative (CCI) process, helped from people and my favorite one- my hunger to learn.

From the day of my returning to India, I started looking for the ways through which I could come back. Money was one of my concerns. so I started making little extra saving by cutting off all my unnecessary expenses.

While interacting with people and looking into the resources, I got to know about CCI from Robin Chaurasyia ( the founder Kranti Organization). She not only helped me through the entire process, but also introduced me to Devika. Devika helped me in writing. Sounak Mitra helped me in mailing and assignments process.

A big THANKS to all of you for helping me to make my dream comes true.

The process of getting selected into CCI was not simple and short. It includes first application, Phone Interview, English test (which includes listening, reading and writing), Medical Examinations, rewriting of the applications and some other forms, and finally visa process and pre-departure orientation. Therefore for me it was one of the longest process I have ever experienced. It took around seven months. It was also very hard, because they not only checked our social background, but also tested our passion for the society through different tests to make sure that we are capable for this opportunity.

I believe all the above process worked out only, because I have a hunger to learn. I have this one good quality that, I am always ready to gain more and more knowledge and experiences. For me US is one of the greatest ocean of knowledge and experiences.

Though I have come here as an exchange student to study Entrepreneurship as my major, but I am going to gain more than just academic achievements. During my stay in the US, I will be doing lots of volunteer work and some internships too which will help me in gaining more knowledge about my field of study as well as the global environments.

As I am living with 17 different people from different parts of the world, CCI becomes a platform of opportunities which will help me in gaining firsthand experience about cross cultural environment, business specific understanding and absorb the diverse perspective- cum-cultural preferences. At the same time these cross culture interactions will also help me to improve my communication skills, team building efforts, language and networking as well as enhance my confidence and knowledge in business.

Further, my journey in America will not end here. There are lot more things to do. I not only want to fly the highest peak, but also want to dive under the deepest ocean of America. This includes eating the authentic food to wearing American attires. In short I have a desire to explore as many places as I could, to meet and interact with end number of people, to eat best of American food and to live the life of an American.

Coming to America was not an easy task because, I went through different process, which were hard, long, competitive and challenging. But yet I believe that this hard work will pay me off with lots of knowledge, experiences, learning and  memories, I made to this point after being helped and supported by so many people and organisation. Therefore I promise to them that one day you all would see me and would say that “ Yes we have invested on a right person”.

Our Work or Job

My work.

What I did, what I am doing, and what I dream of doing in future...........

I was around 7 or 8 years old, when I  started working.

My first work was begging, yes, begging at HajI Ali Tomb, Mumbai.  

Though my father didn’t allow this, my sister and I had to do it for our food. We (My sister and I) used to go to Haji Ali every evening to get some food for us and for our mom.

Days and months passed like that and I started noticing that my mom collected old and used materials like plastic, iron, steel, coconuts, bottles and others stuff from the seashore to sell them to get some money for us.  So I decided to join her in her work.

I don’t remember for how long I did that but I remember for two or three Eid festivals we bought clothes from that money.

Few years later when I was around 11 years old I started selling books at Haji Ali Signal (Traffic light). I still remember, The Other Side of Midnight by Sidney Sheldon was the first book I sold on my very first day at the traffic light.

I think coming onto the signal was one of the transforming decisions of my life. I have not only earned required money from there but also learnt so much.

It was my home, my office and also my school. Whenever I was hungry or needed any money. I just had to pick up the books and had to go to the signal. I also started asking  my customers to help me in reading English. I used to ask about the title of the books and the meaning and how to read, what is written on the books.

Well… I used to work only from Monday to Saturday and on Sundays I worked on the Stalls (Non-authorized stalls on the roadside). These are the stalls of Nimbu Paani (Lemon Juice) or Vada Pav (A kind of a snack that  looks like a burger) or sometimes costume jewelry.

Selling books was always fun. I never felt like I was working. There was always something interesting and enjoyable.

I met a lot film stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Amir Khan, Hritik Roshan, Govinda, Akshay Kumar, and many others.

I would say, "I think I have met almost all the Bollywood actors and actresses".

I have also met cricketers like MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Mohammad Kaif, Partiv Patel, Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid and others too. I met some international stars like Rey Mysterio and John Cena (WWE wrestlers) and Johnny Depp (Hollywood actor).

Many times, people didn’t pay for the books and drove away, and there were also times when people  paid extra for our hard work.

I ran thousands of kilometers behind the cars during my time on the signal. But never felt lost, even when people ran away without paying. I always felt that my life is fun. There were no dreams, there were no fear of loss, there were no planning for tomorrow, there were no rush for so called monetary success. There was only today and tonight.

Signal is also a place where I met Caroline Didi (Mentor, Teacher, Sister and Mother)

Please read my previous article on ANGEL to know more about how I met Caroline didi and how that meeting transformed my life.

It was also a place where  I learnt to be an independent, and a responsible person.

After giving my 10th grade examination I joined The Foundation, a non-profit organization, run by Rahul Bose (a Bollywood actor, director, rugby player and a social activist).

I worked there as an office boy for four months and then left and went back to the signal. During this phase of my life I also worked as a waiter in marriages and as a bar tender in parties. That’s how I gained some knowledge about wine and other drinks.

Well… all these jobs were not my full-time work. I did all these for a couple of months and then left them. During my 12th grade I started working with a Senior Agency (an authorized distributor of Godrej Safe) as a sales man. Unfortunately, or fortunately I didn’t do any good over there too and had to leave after four months.

I think there was something else that was waiting for me. Something which I really wanted to do or something which I would love to do, and would never want to quit.

Yes! That is tourism.

Few months later I joined Mumbai Magic as a student tour guide in Mumbai.

Today it’s been four years and I am still working as a tour guide in Mumbai and worked in the admin department of the same company for one year and six months. From the last year I started working with another tour company called Be The Local as a tour guide in Mumbai.

Today, I dream of "Starting my own tour company for students like me, who face a lot of problems while completing their education. I want to create a platform for these students so that they would get some financial support while studying.

I have learnt through my life that, if you have vision, then no matter where and what you are, start from there. "When there is will, there is a way".