Rushmi Behrani

Ever since I was a child, I wanted to become a doctor. I don’t know whether this dream instilled from the thought that I wanted to have power to help people, make the world a better place or just cause I liked playing with my toy doctor set  too much – a child’s mind is such a creative place.

Anyway, in 10th I realized that a concrete plan was needed to achieve this dream, so I made one. I begun my journey with the usual first step that all medical aspirants in India take – taking NEET coaching. Till 10th, my rank was always just below the toppers ( I hated thinking of myself as an above average student , so let’s just settle with “ranked just below toppers”) .  In my coaching I became a topper, usually getting first or second rank. The reason why I’m focusing so much on ranks is because of them, I gained this weird confidence that I would definitely be able to get a seat in the medical college. 

And the result was quite the opposite, after 12th, I failed to get a seat in medical college. The following year, I went to Kota, in that attempt, I missed the seat by 40 marks. In the subsequent year, by 30 marks. All of this even after putting my studies on top and not caring about my mental or physical health.

This result hit me hard, I got extremely demoralized and cried a lot. I was so blank because I had dropped two years for NEET and I was so sure about getting a government medical seat that I hadn’t chosen an alternate option. At that point, I did not want to get into a private medical college. Again dropping a year again was not possible. My parents were quite supportive and they assured me that it is going to be okay. 

Well, I had to be practical. Then, the admissions were open at Shoolini University in Solan and they offered a special research program for undergraduate students which attracted me a lot. I got myself admitted there. I decided to do Bachelors in Technology, in Bio Technology and that was one of the few of the alternative options I had.

In my first year I enjoyed my life as a free bird. When I was in second year of my college, I wanted to start a side hustle. So, one day I was having a conversation with my friend about the food we had at a restaurant. The variety of food that we had there was limited . It made me I come up with the idea of a café that would serve food that students love such as waffles, pancakes and pastas.  There was an empty space in the university. Amazingly I got support from both my father and the authority of the University and then I opened my very first café. It was my first entrepreneurial venture so it was very special to me.

Sadly, I had to close it when the lockdown happened. It was a  5 months thing but a café in a hilly area… was like a dream to me. I never expected I could do this but it’s life and it’s unexpected. During the lockdown, I looked for online jobs, free lancing and I also found my interest in marketing. It was totally an unexpected turn from dreaming to become a doctor to deciding to pursue bachelors to technology… and finally now being into digital marketing. It is often said that the one who rise from their failures are the actual winners. I don’t know whether I am a winner or not, but surely I am a dreamer. I have experienced failures but I have also seen the little edge of success that had the sweetest taste. Every second of life is unpredictable and believe me wherever life takes you, it’s for your own good.

Total Work Experience : 1 Year (Oculus)