What I will do in my life

I was listening to Muhammad Ali’s speech yesterday, was thinking that probably there are things everyone can look back in their old age and would call their self a successful person. Then a thought probed me what do I want to do. What is that one thing I can pat my own back for if I make any difference to? What’s my life goal essentially? And merely a coincidence, today I stumbled upon my old blog originally posted on Quora which gave me an answer to my own question. It was unfortunate for me to not have remembered this thought actively in my head. Maybe I am not an owner of a great memory or maybe I am suffering from a mid-life crisis or a hint of mental diseases like Alzheimer’s or the original post was itself written in a hurry without actively meaning that.

I am just posting the blog as is without changing any single word. In short, I had established making an impact in the field of education via whatever means I have got disposable for me. This quora post was posted in 2018, I made a minor edit and the date was refreshed, c’mon quora! But nonetheless, here it goes:

What I want to do in life is make an impact on education! - Vishwaraj Anand

My 2018 quora blog:

What do I want to do in life! - 2018

I always wanted to write a blog about my upbringing and my life. So I will start today in 2018 with whatever I remember.

I had many teachers in my life including my parents, acquaintances, teachers of school & college, Anand sir of S30, my colleagues at my workplace, Professors at NTU & IITP, my friends and many eminent personalities from history.

I especially admire those about whom I have read recently: Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former president Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Dr Subhash Chandra Bose.

Today, I will talk about Dr APJ Abdul Kalam who was our president and a very popular national leader. It’s very inspiring to know that Dr Kalam is from a very humble background and yet achieved the epitome of success while serving the country. He is one of the scientists credited with playing a monumental role to help achieve our country’s self-sufficiency in many areas of defence.

I remember an incident from my childhood, probably I was in class 6 [2003 probably]. This was the time when Dr Kalam was the president and he visited my hometown Patna. I came to know through the means of a newspaper that our president waved hands at the students of the famous Patna Science College and NIT Patna in an open Jeep and the students were very happy to see their president waving hands at them to wish good luck for future.

My grandfather was reading the newspaper and I asked him whether this is the reason our school was closed the previous day. The response was yes, the public is so happy to know that the scientist president is coming to their city and in anticipation of that, the city administration will close all educational institutions. While on my way to school the next day I could see the same University and I could imagine Dr Kalam travelling from there. That image got stuck in me.

My home was quite far from the university area so I could not see our president. But I always imagined how good it would feel or how proud it would feel to have reached a status like that. The feeling that one gets on seeing large public reception would definitely be mind-boggling. The same story was repeated to me through my friend Nitish Kumar at IIT Patna. He was also a fan of Dr Kalam like me, but unfortunately, my friend had probably attended the event. We both ended up reading Wings of Fire a book that he wrote inspiring millions of Indians. That book still inspires me like Gandhiji’s Talisman and that’s what I want to do.

I always strive to achieve the values that Dr Kalam has prescribed in various books and his speeches such as working with humility, focus and sheer dedication. I wish to work for the education sector, especially having taken the advantage of reservations and using an engineering seat, I feel society has given me a lot and I will have to repay back to society towards the education of a few kids. I do not know how my life and work will groom me to fulfil my dreams. I only wish I could be even an iota of Dr Kalam.