Shouhaddo Paul

“With determination and diligence, you can transform your dreams into reality”. This has been my life’s ideology since the very beginning. Before doing my B. tech, I was unsure about which path to choose. But once I got into the course, I started a liking for coding. I was very much interested to pursue my career in the coding domain. I enjoyed studying the subjects and developed a knack for them. I found many ways to increase my knowledge in the domain and with my hard work, I considered myself one of the best coders. However, in the course of time, I lost someone close to me. I was in quite a hurdle and couldn’t focus on anything for months. But as the days passed, I was exhausted and grew weary of feeling lost. All this made me feel underconfident, so I decided to take back control.

During this time, I created an Instagram page where I would post videos of the things I had learned. Since coding was my forte, I would learn different technologies and would share the videos on my page. I started learning new skills and shared the same knowledge with my peers. Within a little period, I earned a lot of followers on my page. I had also started a podcast where I and my friends would have discussions on various topics. Through my channel, we tried raising awareness on several social issues, spirituality, and many more interesting things. I even started teaching and taking up offline classes as well. I also worked as a freelance trainer and speaker in many start-up organizations. I earned my first salary from these jobs and I also paid the fees for my final years of college. All these events in my life, eventually made me independent. These experiences also helped me in gaining back my confidence and focus.

Recalling another incident, that had left an everlasting scar in my life. However, it did help me in understanding the stigma that many, mostly the females of our society go through. It happened during a random day as I was returning from my workplace. I usually travel by rickshaw around the city. But I never knew this ride would’ve so much impact.

I was sharing this ride with three other guys, but after traveling a few distances, two of the guys went out of the ride as they had reached their destination. Now, I was alone with this third guy, and suddenly out of nowhere, I felt his hand on my legs. Initially, I thought it was a mistake from his side and he also apologized for it. Then for the next few minutes, he started asking me questions about my job, where I stayed. I felt weird by his questions, so I excused myself and stopped the conversation. However, that was not the end of it. He started putting his hand on my legs again and this time he didn’t stop there. I was confused and didn’t know what to do. Regardless, I mustered up a little courage and shouted at him, “dude, back off”. Baffled, he retracted his hands, and hearing me shout, the driver stopped the vehicle. And as soon as the ride stopped, the guy went down the rickshaw and didn’t look back.

Being a boy, I had never faced such molestation before and that was the time when I realized, how difficult it must be for women to survive in our society, filled with such predators. After this, I became a little more socially aware of such issues and hope more and more people do the same too.

Total Work Experience : 2 Years (Oye Rikshaw)