Hardships are often a test of character, perseverance and resilience. My life’s story has taught me these qualities, albeit the hard way. From being born in a humble middle-class family to seeing my father struggle through a paralytic attack at just 11 years of age to building a learning ecosystem around personal growth that enables people to be the best they can be. Seeing silver linings during a hard grind and never giving up ultimately resulted in me gaining valuable lessons that I now seek to pass on.
Back in the day in Chennai, a simple life, a small house, and an excellent academic record were what I knew until tragedy struck. I was in grade 6 when my father had a paralytic brain stroke on the right side. From that day, he never worked. I continue my education through the scholarships I received from my school. With mountains of debts, I was quick to sacrifice my childhood dream of studying at IIT Madras to join the Polytechnic so I could finish my studies sooner and start earning for the family.
When I was 17-years-old, my father passed away. Having seen a lot of hardships and financial stress on my mother, I took up my first job at the young age of 18, a time when most people are just getting started with higher education and their campus life. I tell people that they need to have a strong ‘Why’ to succeed in life. I never cried when I saw my father’s body. I just had one thought stuck in my head: ‘Come what may, I want to make my mother live like a queen’. That was my big ‘Why’ in life. My first salary was 3,400-odd rupees. My first salary at HCL wasn’t enough to pay the interest of that 24-lakh loan. I’ve done hundreds of things since then.
After three failed businesses, Success Gyan happened! I experienced a huge transformation in my life by attending the training programmes of some of the world’s finest trainers like Brian Tracy, Tony Robbins and T Harv Eker. Tracy’s training helped me focus and move in the right direction, and since then, there has been no looking back. I promised to host a session with Brian Tracy for my network of family and friends when I could afford it, and it was a huge success when it finally materialized in 2012. After this first breakthrough, we had many more and touched a million lives, just like mine was touched.
The demand for training kept surging. We kept bringing other renowned international trainers to India every 90 days in 2014 took it to the next level by partnering with Success Resources from Singapore. From there, there has been no looking back.
I took life’s reins in my own hands, became the driver of my destiny and plunged into my big ‘Why’. I always say successful people have stories of failures, but they never give up and ultimately make it. This is something that happened to me.
On a personal front, from listening to him speak in a life-changing session, I went on to co-author a book ‘Success Recipe’ with Brian Tracy, which has been translated into five languages.
They say hard work pays off, and it sure did for me. I eventually did get a chance to go to IIT Madras, except not as a student but as a guest speaker. I believe life had greater plans for me, and all I had to do was not give up and keep learning to embrace them.
Today, we’re close to celebrating 10 years of Success Gyan and what a journey it has been. We have touched over a million lives with 700+ live events and 1000+ online events (after the pandemic started). We’ve got the best trainers in each field to come and train audiences in India, and I believe we’ve started a learning revolution by making people from the age of 16 to 60 passionate about learning.
Click here to stay posted on Success Gyan’s amazing schedule of events.
