Hello , Please tell us something about yourself?This is one of the most common and dreaded questions that we face in an interview. We talk about a variety of things throughout the course of the day. This can range from small talks with acquaintances to heated debates on socio- political issues. Today, while I was preparing for the project P1 speech, I realized that the most difficult subject to talk about is YOURSELF.Today, I will endeavor to face this difficulty head on. I think I have travelled a long way from the timid class 5 student who started shivering as soon as the teacher asked him to stand up and answer a question in class. Ill try to be authentic and being authentic, in my opinion, means embracing your vulnerabilities.I was born and brought up in the industrial city of Kanpur. I completed my graduation from HBTI Kanpur which is one of the oldest and reputed engineering colleges in India. The first story is about counting your blessings. When I joined HBTI, I was not satisfied by the infrastructure and this snowballed into depression and negativity. I started complaining about everything that was not good and this resulted in a steep fall in my academic performance and confidence. As Dr. Kalam writes in his book Wings of fire, adversity gives you time for introspectionI took me six months and a fall of 10 grade points in my result to realize that there are things that lie in your circle of influence and others that dont lie. I instead started to count my blessings and started investing time in self-improvement. I inculcated a reading habit and decided upon a career path that was more meaningful and fulfilling for me. I started preparing for MBA entrance and I finally made it to IIFT. But the learning has just begunThe other story I want to tell is about the joy of travelling solo. I was always fascinated by the lonely planet show on discovery channel where the host Ian wright travelled to different places. I got an opportunity in 2013 when I had to go to Great Lakes institute of management Chennai for a quiz competition. My teammate backed out at the last moment and I had to go alone. I travelled alone to Pondicherry and Chennai and explored places. I met fellow travellers from across the world and this was an enriching experience. The best part about it is that you interact with a lot of people and can appreciate the beauty of the world and reflect upon it.In the end I would like to sum up the narrative with a quote that goes like.. Sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere and sometimes in the middle of nowhere, You find yourself.

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