In Conversation With Gautam Vohra
The conversation centered on the author’s source of energy, enthusiasm, and the ability to reinvent.
Excerpts:
I grew up in a large joint family in a suburb at the foot of Banjara Hills in Hyderabad. My parents had limited financial resources and could not afford to educate us in a public school. As luck would have it, my father happened to see an advertisement in a local newspaper that the Government of India had launched a scheme for a fully paid-up scholarship for deserving children in public schools. My father applied, and I got a seat allotted at the Lawrence School, Lovedale, much beyond my expectations. I felt over the moon.
Soon I realized that we, the scholarship kids, were the odd ones out. Most of the students were the children of industrialists, wealthy estate owners, or high-ranking members of the defense forces. I resolved to make a mark!
At the Lawrence school, the environment was entirely different than what I was used to. Soon I realized that merely being good at studies was not enough. To stand out, one had to do something more than merely being good at studies. So, I started taking part in extracurricular activities. I learned ballroom dance. Started participating in debates and dramatics and even learned to ride a cycle in 1 ½ days to be able to participate in a bicycle hike. This gave me a solid foundation for upward mobility in my later professional journey.
Everybody falls, figuratively speaking, at multiple points in their lives. Rising each time you fall, is the secret of success.
I have always had a plan B.
Make your weaknesses and ignorance irrelevant. Make your strengths strong and move the opponent to fight on your strengths.
The book “Failure is not an option” by Veer Sagar is a gripping narrative of the author’s captivating journey of the highs and lows of his professional life. The author shares his childhood memories, his professional career, and his experience in entrepreneurship when the start-ups were at a nascent stage and the BPO concept was still not known and so on. The narrative is no different from what the ups and downs all the professionals go through in their professional careers in the corporate or elsewhere in the industry. It’s only the environment, circumstances, appetite to take calculated risks and so on differ. In that sense, this book will serve as an excellent guide for budding professionals based on the author’s personal experiences and learning.
