It’s a very confusing thing to select a career option, especially when you are at the threshold of graduating with a degree in Engineering and the Big Question of what to do next is looming large. Not so long ago I stood at this threshold. I was an average student during my college days, scoring a decent percentage and finally I managed to grab my Degree in Production Engineering comfortably.
Having aspirations to study further and get an MBA from
I am very ambitious by nature and was therefore looking for a job with some responsibility I knew I wanted a job that was challenging enough as I knew I would not be satisfied to merely carry out other people’s instructions involving repetitive work and take home a salary each month. However, as a fresher it was probably too much to ask for work which would give me decision making power. I almost got depressed despite getting many job offers.
Then one day as I was dealing with my frustrations of not being able to get a job of the kind that I wanted, one of my uncles Mr. Hitendra Salot (B.E Mech; DGM Maintenance, GACL, Dahej, Gujarat); a very knowledgeable person; stepped in and boosted my confidence to start my own venture with whatever I really had in mind. His words were motivating enough, and helped me sort out the confusion and really got me thinking along a new track….. I sat down and made a list of all that I really wanted and this is what my list had in it:
- No more working for ‘Someone else’.
- I shall struggle for my existence all on my own.
- I want to be the sole ‘Decision maker’.
- I’ve got all that I always wanted.
- My success, failure depends on me.
- I can prove myself and answer all those questions (“What’s wrong with him? What is he up to? Does he think life is a Joke?”), if I’m successful.
Then came the decision of a Lifetime. I always was an ‘Environment lover’. I always had the passion to do something “Socially Relevant”. I was also very much aware of the “Energy Crisis” that our country and the world at large will soon be going through. During my student days at DJSCOE, Prof. Sonal Dhar was very helpful in providing all the knowledge regarding Energy Crisis and also about joining Societies which are active in reducing the consequences of it. She was very helpful for all the “Non-Syllabus Topic” discussions, always present with her vast ocean of knowledge. That was the time I gave a thought towards doing something for society. The thought in the back of my mind was there to GO GREEN big time, but maybe after a certain amount of Experience as suggested by others.
There is hardly any awareness among people regarding the Solar Energy field. Even when people are aware, they have misconceptions about the commercial and financial factors. People must be made aware in order to save a large amount of energy. If people stop using Geysers to heat water and use Solar Water Heaters, a huge chunk of energy can be saved during peak hours. This made me give a serious thought to the concept of a Socially Responsible Engineer.
In today’s world every Engineer needs to be a Socially Responsible Engineer, in order for our country to progress, as after all we Engineers are the ones who run the most industries worldwide and they understand the Technical Terms which a layman or a non-Technical person might not be able to understand. Every Engineer must be socially responsible, giving suggestions wherever applicable, say societies, homes, industries, etc. in any field where Saving Energy is possible and making our Environment “Clean”, so that it becomes less difficult for the future Generations to come. I decided to make my mark in this field.
Thus my journey as an entrepreneur began.... I was now very much determined to work as hard as possible. I spent countless hours on the Internet to get my finger on the pulse of the latest environmentally friendly technology and the technical details. I then met a lot of people who could enlighten me about the field. I developed some excellent sources and built some trust with good communication and was ever willing to learn more and more. Eventually I gathered enough confidence to start my own company, which I named: “SAVMOUR ENERGY PRODUCTS”.
With this leap I jumped into the so called “Practical World”. I registered with many “Talking Yellow Pages”. I started getting enquiries from there. Those enquiries were big enough to give a huge pack of motivation to me. Initially none of the enquiries were less than say 5 lakhs in revenue. But none of the enquiries got converted into orders. This really demoralised me. But then enquiries kept coming my way, although without any conversion ratio, but it kept giving a dose of motivation to me. I felt that I was perpetually stuck between success and failure. It was the most important lesson that I learnt….the ability to cope with failure. I learnt that “Life is not ideal”, “Life is not as easy as it seems”, and “Convincing People is a very Big Task”. I also realized how difficult it is to survive in the practical world which is very harsh, and has no mercy for anyone whosoever.
I had however made up my mind that I will not give up under any circumstances, no matter what the difficulty, no matter if my conversion ratio continued to remain zero. That decision gave me a lot of courage and I started believing “Hope for the Best, Expect the Worst”. It was then that I realized that I was into a field which is as good as a new born baby.
Slowly but surely I started making some sort of a head way. Soon more and more contracts started falling into my lap and the hard work that I had initially put in started bearing fruit. Today I am proud to say that I have managed to make a name for myself in this field. My sincere advice to all of my juniors is to give a serious thought to what they really want in life. And take it from me, if you have conviction in your beliefs and perseverance in your efforts, the world is yours! The world is in the hands of “Socially Responsible Engineers” and if you hear the voice of your conscience, you will hear the Socially Responsible Engineer in yourself. All the best!
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