I have learnt to dream with focus

Stories of Role Models

I grew up in rural India in Kadapa and then Anantapur areas. All schooling was in Telugu medium till I came to college for my B.Sc. It was 1994. 

Up to then, my life revolved around friends. Carrom. Shuttle. Theatre. Repeat.

Friends helped me pick up English. I tried my hand at different things as I continued my studies. 

It never occurred to me to head to a big city in all this. The rural world was my home. It was my life.

I hated Organic Chemistry, and the subject got a chance to take its revenge on me in 1999. 

I was trying for a banking job and things looked bright with 3 banks. Until I failed to clear the organic chemistry paper. 

By next year, the recruitment rules changed and my banker aspirations were put on permanent hold.

The IT wave was beginning to sweep the hinterlands as well. I started doing gigs to install software and then quickly graduated to teaching MS Office and Excel.

The restless learner in me propelled me to pick up Unix Admin skills and soon I was doing master classes.  

Our training academy was on a growth spurt and every year, I would move to a new location to set up a new office and make it thrive. 

I decided to do a part-time MBA to further improve my prospects. 

Dr Hanumanth Rao - a professor at NIT Warangal - was a mentor. 

He advised me to stop spreading myself thin and join a regular MBA instead. He pointed to me, focus equals success.

From 2003-2005, I did just that. Then, I got hired by Idea Cellular as an area manager and thought I was all set. It was not to be.

Dr Raja Reddy - our institute's director - had seen me teaching computerese to seniors and even faculty. He called me, offered me a job. 

I accepted without a 2nd thought as my heart also lay in teaching. In August 2005, an assistant professor was born.

Around that time, I also attended a week-long Siddha Samadhi Yoga camp. Over the years, I had gradually picked up some social drinking skills :). I was done with it, after that!

Now that I was settled, my parents took it as a green light and Pallavi and I got married in 2006. 

Ours was an arranged marriage. She was entering college at that time and I encouraged her to continue studying.

I continued to teach as a MBA faculty till 2010 and played the role of a Training and Placement Officer in parallel. 

I shifted to Adoni to be the founder HOD for a new institution.

I learnt on-the-job how to build ourselves as a brand and seek out good enrolments. We offered regularity and discipline as key values and it worked well for us.

I wanted to set up my own business school at some time and purchased a parcel of land near Anantapur for the same, dipping completely into all my worldly wealth. 

The plan to set up Jaba Academy will depend on when the Gods smile but meanwhile, I wanted to learn from respected leaders on how to run such an enterprise. That brought me to Bangalore.

I have dreamed and I have worked to make my dreams real. This I intend to continue doing.