Just a small summary.
Do you dream? If you don’t, you must because it’s the root of what we are and what we will be. It’s like a string that takes the kite to the skies. A person without a goal or dream is like a falling kite.
I remember the day when I first saw NIST in 2009. It was summer. Well, its always the same in Berhampur. Before my first day in college, I only saw pictures of it on its website. It looked so dreamy, the Galleria, Octagon, the LHC but after wandering the campus I discovered that NIST was even prettier than what it looked in pictures. It was green & clean with Oaks and fountains. With discipline, silence and learning environment all-around, I knew I was in a perfect place where any goal could be achieved. There were smiling faces on the entire campus as if welcoming the freshers but only after a day I came to know the truth behind those smiles. Well, I won't discuss the entire journey in detail as it will take another few hundred pages, almost a book to cover it which I am planning to pen in the near future. All I need to tell my student readers of NIST is you're in a fantastic place and your future is bright.
Like you, I too had an ambition of becoming someone out of the league but life, as unpredictable as it meant to be, it's even more. In the early days of my engineering, I thought I was someone different, special but only when I met others like me, my batchmates, I discovered that like my own dream, there were hundreds of other dreams aswell, and then I felt that just dreaming isn’t enough. This is a world of competitions and millions of others are waiting to compete with you. The goal you set is a goal of countless others and it requires hard work and dedication to make it real but the important thing is having faith in yourself. Admire your capabilities and never underestimate yourself. You may not be someone today but you can be anyone tomorrow. It all about the goal you set and the gameplan you make. Getting back to my journey, back in the college years I never thought I would be a novelist someday because I didn’t like to read. People, even till now, suggest me books of famous authors but I, even till now, am still not a bibliophile. Writing a book before reading a lot is tough but what's tougher is even thinking about that idea. I never thought of writing till the final year when I discovered I had a story and believe me, it's all that takes to be an author. It's not necessary to have a command in language or grammar. It's not important how good you write or how much you read. The only thing needed to become an author is a story that’s unique, a story that’s interesting but it wasn’t a common thought when I discussed my writing plans with some of my friends. Well, when your idea isn’t common, not everyone will encourage or support you but no one will stop you either. The only person who can stop you from achieving your target is you, so never stop believing in yourself. You’re smart, intelligent and capable of anything and no goal is impossible to achieve. I started writing, recalling memories, imagining things and finally finished my first book ‘Six Teen Mistakes’ in four months. My engineering was almost over by that time and then I had two targets, to get a good job and getting published. By then, most of my friends were already placed in multinational companies like Infosys, HCL, Wipro, etc. via campus placement in NIST but unfortunately I wasn’t, although the placement department tried its best to get maximum placements even at the time of recession. NIST, one of the best colleges in Odisha, even till now has a record percentage of placement.
Well, getting back, my second target was achieved and I got published by frog books, nearly six months after my manuscript was accepted by a decent publisher. Meanwhile, while job hunting, I also did quite a research about job alternatives, business to be more precise. Towards the end of 2015, I started a photography firm Perx Studio with a target to focus wedding and corporate photography assignments all over my city. In the beginning there was a lot of struggles and challenges but now I can proudly say that we are one of the best studios in my city with an experience of over 400 projects in over ten cities. I thank my near ones and friends who supported and trusted me for the same. I also thank my readers who admired my first book ‘Six Teen Mistakes’ which finally made me a full-time author. Towards the end of 2015, I came with my second book ‘The Waning Moon’ and then with ‘Heart of Bullets’ in 2016, my third book.
The real success in the writing world arrived when I came up with my fourth book, ‘The day after my funeral’ in 2019. As the name predicts, it’s a journey of a soul into afterlife, a world of mystery which we all have to face someday. I am happy to tell you that Amazon has recognized my book in Top 5 books among 8000+ books released in Amazon Kindle 2019 contest. If it wins the competition, I will not only be recognized in the international literary world, but an Amazon Prime video series will also be made on the story of my novel.
I would like to end here as I think I’ve covered almost every important part of my journey and I hope I will come with other good books in the future. I didn’t get a chance before but today I would also like to thank the faculties of NIST for my success. My best wishes to all my dear students in NIST. Keep dreaming, keep believing and there will be a day when you'll touch the moon.