Becoming a Technical Entrepreneur – My Choice for Life

My interest in science and technology developed at a very young age because of my innate curiosity about everything. I have always been intrigued by the capabilities of scientific laws to create astonishing marvels. I feel that scientific technology has always been the focal point of human life. Since my childhood, when I look around, my mind keeps churning out ideas of my own about how stuff works. This kind of mental processing is a direct result of the community that I was born into, lived and raised which is rich in its population of scientists, engineers and technocrats along with my father who works as a scientist in Bhabha Atomic Research Centre which is India’s premier multi-disciplinary nuclear research Centre In school, my interests were always particularly more inclined towards the understanding of subjects of mathematics, physics and these subjects have always been my stronghold.

But there lies a primary question in every person’s life-What is my endgame? Well if every person knew an answer the world would have probably witnessed a fewer number of geniuses. No one knows how their life is going to be in the future, but surely there is one elixir that can help you shape it- hope. We can only hope and work towards a goal. No one’s future is known to him. You cannot predict what will happen in the future because it is yet to come, but you have experienced yesterday’s event however it is not in your control to change that occurrence.

My choice of becoming an engineer is not in itself complete. My choice of life is to become a technical entrepreneur. The entrepreneurs who establish and run science and technology-based industries are called ‘technical entrepreneurs.’ This decision was not impulsive (nor compulsive) but a decision taken after assimilating where my interests lie and where they have originated from. My father is an ardent reader and thinker in the field of practical economics, even though he is primarily an electrical engineer. He has always urged me to read economic times on a regular basis. Soon I developed an interest in the field of entrepreneurship. I used to see videos of business insider, Forbes and would read articles from Bloomberg and insights. But my major interest even today lies in learning and understanding success stories of the famous people from all walks of life, study their life and learn something new that I can implement in my life. I have always looked up to entrepreneurs like the Tatas, Azim Premji, Vijaypat Singhania, Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Larry Page. But becoming them is not any man’s job. For that you need a proper skill set, a set that contains all sorts of knowledge ranging from what the company deals with to how to market what it deals with. A part of my childhood was engaged with extra-curricular activities like swimming, karate, learning piano. But this period also I was fascinated into my passion for science. Growing up in a scientific community does not bring out an Einstein in you but it does give you various opportunities to explore science and technology. I always loved airplanes and cars as a child. My father would explain me how things around us work by explaining its working principles and concepts. These thoughts kept my mind engaged with technical inputs to think about. My elder brother would often puzzle me with questions pertaining to technical matters to check whether I keep track of what is happening around me in the world. I did various projects in my school time and also indulged in all tech-related activities within my reach. Now a little detour from my technical upbringing.

An engineer is not supposed to be familiar only with the technical side; as that is what scientists and researchers are for. Engineers need to understand, analyse and suggest a solution to a given problem in a given time frame. This part of their job makes their lives critical in every process and development around us. The most crucial part that demarcates an engineer from others like scientists is their soft skills. Engineers need to interact with a large spectrum of people which includes factors like literacy, technicality, monetary-wise. This role has inspired into me by my mother, who is MA in English literature. Not that I used to directly take help from her in my learning of English language but she always ensured that I speak and write correct English. She asks me to observe and learn the way she speaks to various people- the tone, the need, the occasion and the amount of her speech. This is something I do even today. This is what helped me with my soft skills. Combining all these qualities imparted by my parents there exists only one possible outcome of this alchemy, me aiming to be an entrepreneur.

Now one quote by Warren Buffet that I like to live by is 'The greatest investment a young person can make is in their own education, in their own mind. Because money comes and goes. Relationships come and go. But what you learn once stays with you forever.'. The greatest weapon in today’s times is knowledge and its exchange-information. To become an entrepreneur, you don’t need a degree or some valid certificate, just the million-dollar idea-this is true but it is not a failsafe modus operandi one can adopt to be successful. I have had many ideas in the past but no knowledge or tools to work upon it. For me becoming an engineer is not about me earning a degree or getting myself validated by the world, but is about learning the requisite to load my arsenal so that when the times comes, I will be ready to shoot right at the bullseye.

An engineer is supposed to be a person who contributes to the development and existence of this world we live in. They are not supposed to be selfish but should think and help on a global scale; obviously by starting small to contribute big. I want to be an entrepreneur like the Tatas, a legacy handed over by generations and someone so generous that the world could never forget them. “Either do something that the people will write about or write something that people will read about.” The former part is what I wish and strive for. I chose to become an engineer to add more links to the chain I wish to see at the end of the day. For me pursuing arts or commerce would be meaningless as of now. Destiny might have given me a life through some other path but it is us who make our own life. For me engineering was the most appropriate and useful form of education. I will be pursuing business schools after specialising in a particular field of engineering so that when I start my own company, I don’t need to hang around other’s shoulders for their help. I should know each and every breath my company would be taking. For me to know whole and sole of my own company I consider the path I have chosen crucial in every aspect. I was always free to choose whatever I wanted to pursue, but now that I have well-defined goal and a path, why discard it to try something new an alien to me. Maybe life takes me on a different road from the one I expected but that is something I need not worry as I will be having my own weapons-hot and ready that I can use to tackle all my future problems. I want to try my level best to make this world a better place and also enjoy to its fullest, and who better than engineers can help in doing so!