Hi, I’m Rée.
Growing up, I felt like the education system wasn’t built for people like me to succeed. As a student with undiagnosed neurodivergence, learning disabilities, and anxiety, I struggled to learn in the ways my peers learned.
In the decades following, I became an educator and taught in various classrooms around the world. I taught in public schools, private universities, large government funded programs, and even small academies. I designed curriculum, measured student success, and even assessed teacher efficacy.
Then, while teaching a group of English language learners in South Korea, who like me, hadn’t received adequate attention in school, I realized I was using the same methodologies as the ones that had failed me.
homeroom is my attempt to remedy this on an international scale. To speak with as many people from around the world about their own education systems to rethink what schools can be. What it should be, when we design systems and metrics which are inclusive of more diverse types of learners and thinkers with varying levels of family involvement and access to resources.
In this episode, I speak with Rohit—a finance executive and podcaster based in India—about how his family’s definition of success emphasized the importance of influencing the culture and environment in the home. We talk about his journey of becoming a finance executive, and starting a couple of podcasts, one in Hindi, and one in English. We also discuss the importance of starting projects that bring you joy, and how optimizing for enjoyment will bring you more success than aiming for perfection ever will.
Here is our edited conversation.
Computer-generated Transcript
Accessibility Disclaimer: Below is a computer generated transcript of our conversation. Please note that there are likely very many errors––including the spelling of our names––and may not make sense, especially when taken out of context.
00:00:02:23 – 00:00:27:03 Unknown Hi, I’m Ray. Growing up, I felt like the education system wasn’t built for people like me to succeed as a student with undiagnosed neurodivergent learning disabilities and anxiety, I struggled to learn in the ways my peers learned in the decades following. I became an educator and taught in various classrooms around the world. I taught in public schools, private universities, large government funded programs, and even small academies.
00:00:27:05 – 00:01:09:11 Unknown I designed curriculum, measured student success, and even assess teacher efficacy. Then, while teaching a group of English language learners in South Korea who, like me, hadn’t received adequate attention in school or at home, I realized I was using the same methodologies as the ones that had failed me. Homeroom is my attempt to remedy this on an international scale, to speak with as many people from around the world about their own education systems, to rethink what schools can be, what it should be, when we design systems and metrics which are inclusive of more diverse types of learners and thinkers with varying levels of family involvement and access to resources.
00:01:09:12 – 00:01:44:07 Unknown In this episode, I speak with Rohit, a finance executive and podcaster based in India, about how his family’s definition of success emphasize the importance of influencing the culture and environment inside his home. We talk about his journey of becoming a finance executive and starting a couple of podcasts, one in Hindi and one in English. We also discussed the importance of starting projects that bring you joy and how optimizing for enjoyment will bring you more success than aiming for perfection ever will.
00:01:44:09 – 00:02:08:15 Unknown Here is our edited conversation with the kind of child I was. During my childhood, I was pretty notorious, I would say. I always have been a person who always loved to do a lot of things at one go. So that is something that kept me going. That is the reason I have been doing multiple things at a time, and that is I have evolved.
00:02:08:17 – 00:02:25:10 Unknown So during my childhood it was more about I was going to put out a story, to be very honest. And I don’t fear from saying that because it’s always fun like that way, because you get to do a lot of things. If you are not focusing on the education, your parents would allow you to do other things as well.
00:02:25:15 – 00:02:47:09 Unknown So that was something that kept me going. And again, with respect to the studies and all all the sports I was into, it was more kind of a that kind of a journey of where I was evolving. I was learning a lot. And then I got wonders, understood that we have to lead a clear path when we are developing as a child.
00:02:47:11 – 00:03:08:17 Unknown So being a notorious, scared of being kind of a person who always wanted to do a lot of things. That is how I evolved as a person, as a student, and the kind of messaging that we are talking about. It’s more of like, my parents didn’t got the education they always wanted to get because the financial conditions, the environment wasn’t right for them.
00:03:08:19 – 00:03:30:08 Unknown So they didn’t got any kind of education. They couldn’t complete their even the matriculation as well. So that was something. But then my parents always had this vision that my student should be able to get the right education in the right way so that when we talk about the education, it is more about how we can create the awareness, how we can develop that critical thinking.
00:03:30:10 – 00:03:49:21 Unknown Even when we talk from the society’s point of view, it is more about it will elevate us from the level of quality as well. So all in all, it was about that particular messaging that I always got, and I do have an elder brother as well. So it started from there like he was kind of a serious person.
00:03:49:23 – 00:04:06:05 Unknown Then me being the second child, I was already into a lot of things the studies, the sports and that as well. So that is how they always encouraged us With respect to the studies. They always told us that you have to study well so that your future would be in the right hands and you have to create that.
00:04:06:05 – 00:04:30:20 Unknown No one is going to do that for you. And that is how the world works. Because unless and until you don’t do that horrible. I don’t think so. We will be able to reap those rewards. And it’s not just the matter of education, how you behave in the society, what kind of intellectuality that you have, God, what kind of people who are surrounded around you that will all in all count in your journey.
00:04:30:20 – 00:04:56:19 Unknown So that was something that always related and they were always clear into that messaging. Yeah, that’s kind of amazing. And I kind of wanted to follow up with you about how they might have defined success for you. Like, what are some expectations that they had for you? And like, what did they think, we’re going to put him into sports.
00:04:56:19 – 00:05:41:04 Unknown Like, was that their decision? Was that your decision? Like, how did they decide what they wanted your path to look like and how did they define success? So it was always about the guiding factor they had because not having the formula education, they were clear about where we are going to head. Okay, So we always had to see our report cards or whatever marks we were scoring and that time education system was kind of like was deep rooted, the kind of education system Right now we have it has changed over the period of time, but during those days, success was all about how good you become in that particular journey.
00:05:41:06 – 00:06:03:06 Unknown So we didn’t have the kind of pressure because for me, they already knew that this person is or the student is scoring on an average. So they didn’t force me because each and every person has got their own benchmark. But it doesn’t define that what kind of future they are going to have. At times that usually happens that people are scoring way too good and then they won’t be create the kind of future they were looking forward to.
00:06:03:11 – 00:06:27:22 Unknown It could be about the situations and moments as well. But with me, it was through that particular journey. We always got a kind of a guidance that we had through their friends as well, because the family, we had a few people who were in family. They were educated. So for us, or the kind of way this created the success definition was you become a better human being.
00:06:28:00 – 00:06:50:00 Unknown And if people start respecting you after that particular age, it means that you have done good for the society as well and you have got the good education. So that was the kind of a thing. And if we talk about this, warts and all. Once you know that what you have to do, it’s more about your decision. So they never thought that I be playing badminton in my school days and all.
00:06:50:02 – 00:07:09:15 Unknown But once I got into that particular zone, I used to play for my school as well. So that was the point where they realized that I can do well in sports as well. So they always encouraged me because studies can happen. But sport is something that we are allowed. One or two are from their day, so we get physically fit as well.
00:07:09:15 – 00:07:29:11 Unknown We get to know like and it is more about like, you got to be tough. People always say this, but then if you are playing a sport, then you realize that what does it really mean? So life is more about the experiences that we gain and education and sports hand-in-hand taught me that particular thing. That’s really, that’s really amazing.
00:07:29:11 – 00:08:12:06 Unknown And so you said that there’s something that you said about like your parents saying that how they define success was sort of like what kind of contributions you could make to society, how you gave back. And I kind of wanted to hear a little more about that. Like, what did your parents do in society? How did they like do you remember any stories or instances or activities that they had you participate in that kind of connected to this commitment to community building and or seeing that society can become a better place?
00:08:12:07 – 00:08:32:21 Unknown Like, how was that instilled in you? So. Ray It’s more about the environment that you are into, which helps you to grow as a person. So when we talk about the community building or what we are contributing, my father had always a great set of friends around him. They were all educated. They got their graduation was graduation degrees.
00:08:32:21 – 00:08:55:09 Unknown Some of them got the professional qualifications as well. So that was something that always helped him to pass on that particular message to us because, you know, like when we are always directed into that particular zone, we are on the edge that you have to do better and not to prove anyone but to improve yourself. So that is the kind of messaging that always gets into our head.
00:08:55:14 – 00:09:18:02 Unknown And even today, when we are into business, the same thing happens. So it’s more about that. And when my when I talk about the environment, my mother is a homemaker, so she always had this one aim that if her children study well, then she might have got a better future as well because she might be more relaxed and then everything will be taken care of.
00:09:18:07 – 00:09:36:05 Unknown So it was a hand in and efforts of both of my father and mother. My father started a bit like he was a farmer. He had done a couple of things like he has been an expert in all of those particular fields. He started with his farming journey and then he couldn’t do that because we had a crop damage and all those scenarios.
00:09:36:10 – 00:09:59:08 Unknown And then he got into the business. So he always had this particular aim that whatever we are going to do, we have to do with the kind of ethics and principles that he has set for himself. And it’s not just about following those principles and ethics completely and like step to step. It’s more about you have to realize that of what good you can offer to the society.
00:09:59:08 – 00:10:19:23 Unknown And in terms of like he always had this helping hand to the people, he always helped his customers. If they were having any sort of financial backing or so, he always encouraged them that you have to do that, see money will come and go. But it’s more about if you are sticking to that particular journey, then you will be enjoying the course of that particular journey.
00:10:20:04 – 00:10:51:02 Unknown So life is all in the combination of that, and it always helped us to know that he has taken a lot of efforts to help us grow into that direction and that contributed us to do better. And if we talk about the community, all the instances that particular situation, like my elder family members were always against, like they used to tell him that you haven’t studied or you didn’t got any formal education and why you are so curious about educating your children.
00:10:51:02 – 00:11:11:18 Unknown Because if you don’t have that education, what values you are going to give to them? So that was the kind of messaging that usually happened with my elder brother. And then again, they made a point that, no, it’s not that. It’s more about how you will be pushing them to do better. So it was more and more what kind of efforts they were taking.
00:11:12:00 – 00:11:36:23 Unknown And we got all the resources that were needed at that particular time, no less normal, but the kind of life that we were living. I feel that those were sufficient and those are the only principles. And it takes on the kind of belief that we have that if he and she has done a lot of a lot of things for us, why we can’t give it back to the society in terms of how we can help others, how we can educate others.
00:11:37:04 – 00:12:02:23 Unknown And that is always a good thing to inspire others. Yeah, absolutely. And so I’m curious, like about your actual education journey, like maybe in school. So I know you were talking a little bit earlier about like report cards and like how you were doing in math and things like that. And so I’m curious what subjects did you enjoy and what kind of subjects did you get good marks in?
00:12:03:01 – 00:12:36:15 Unknown So basically, if you like, are they the same? Yes. And so when I talk about average kind of a student, it obviously means that you get kind of a similar marks in all the subjects. Got it. So I used to go to school with around 75, 80% and do my school days. That is that won’t count as average right?
00:12:36:17 – 00:12:57:14 Unknown That’s pretty good. Yeah, that’s pretty good. It it comes into the distinction category and so it was more about that. But if we talk about the subjects that I used to love, it was more of the English, the Hindi that is the language that we speak more often in India. I love that subject because the teacher was very curious about how we can educate that.
00:12:57:16 – 00:13:23:12 Unknown Then history was something that intrigued me, so I loved that particular thing. Maths was something that I always disliked because I didn’t pay a lot of attention to it. So again, it’s my fault on that, but got it. But I know you eventually went on to studying finance and so at some point you got interested in numbers, right?
00:13:23:13 – 00:13:50:13 Unknown Right, right. So, okay, So you enjoyed Hindi, you enjoyed English, you enjoyed expressing yourself. You probably enjoyed being able to communicate with others and things like that. Of course, I’m like assuming here. But what, what were the reasons that you I think you also mentioned that it was your teachers that made it interesting and, you know, was allowed you to pursue the curiosity.
00:13:50:13 – 00:14:15:18 Unknown But I’m curious if there was something other than those things that made it interesting. So I always had this pressure to perform well because my brother was in the same school. He was a kind of a serious guy, and that usually prompted me to do well as well. And I used to study. It’s not that I didn’t pay any attention to any of the subject, but it was more about how those subjects were framed.
00:14:15:23 – 00:14:36:10 Unknown If we’re told from the history perspective, like India has got a wide and rich history because that is something that we have learned over the years, because there are few aspects that in terms of how was the default in what way we were able to get the independence and all. So that always kept us excited to learn about those particular subject.
00:14:36:10 – 00:14:59:07 Unknown If we talk about the science, it was more about the kind of biological part of it. It felt kind of a curious thing for me because I was not into the chemistry and physics things more often. That is the reason I didn’t choose science into my graduation. But we can come to that thing later. So and if you talk about the Hindu, it was more of like that language is so soft.
00:14:59:07 – 00:15:22:13 Unknown Then even like when we are talking, when we are connecting with the people, we we are able to establish that emotional connect with the people. So that is the reason it always intrigued me. And there are a wide variety of assignments or kind of activities that you were able to do with those subjects. So that is the reason it kept me hooked and I paid a lot of attention to that.
00:15:22:15 – 00:15:43:20 Unknown And if we talk in terms of like though my modeling is very different, it is Marathi and we had that subject as well and here as well in the state of Maharashtra in India. But if we are doing or learning something different, then you always get attached to those kind of subjects. So that was something that always excited me.
00:15:43:20 – 00:16:03:12 Unknown And you have that competition in your classroom as well. So that again keeps you going. And I never competitive at any of the polls and it was more about like if they are better, they are better because people often compare even to brothers. Like for me, they used to come by like Rahul is good at studies. Why all hit this?
00:16:03:12 – 00:16:27:01 Unknown And I used to always tell them that Amroha it has Rahul So that is something that you have to distinguish because you are a different personality, you have got different interest, you have got different choices, and that is how it will become interesting because if you tend to learn in the same pattern in the same way, what are you going to do different with the kind of expertise that is going to be needed once you grow ahead?
00:16:27:03 – 00:16:49:10 Unknown So once you get into a job, once you are leading a team into a professional for India, how you are going to be different. So it’s more of that particular combination and the way you absorb, the way you absorb the things with respect to the studies, it will create that kind of interest into the subject. So those subjects really offered me great will stuff, interest, and that kept me going.
00:16:49:12 – 00:17:20:02 Unknown Yeah. So I’m wondering so I love that you said that there was like a softness to the Hindi and that kind of made me think about like I was just talking to somebody about how my personality, when I speak English and when I speak Korean are completely different. And, you know, like language is a is is not just a communication tool, right?
00:17:20:02 – 00:17:49:04 Unknown It’s also a carrier of culture. And you lean in to certain things in certain languages that you can’t in other ones. And so it sounds like you speak at least three languages. And so I kind of wanted to ask like, which language do you prefer to speak? Like, which one do you think represents your most authentic self? A tough question.
00:17:49:04 – 00:18:13:21 Unknown Re Sorry, I but if I have to give you a background of why I won’t say English, there’s a reason to it because I started in English medium school, but the place where I am located or based in it’s kind of a similar one thing. So we had people from like the city as well and the rural side as well.
00:18:13:23 – 00:18:34:21 Unknown So it was always a mixture of the mother tongue and the Hindi because that was predominantly spoken in those particular fashion. So that is the reason, even though we were studying an English teacher, very used to communicate at times in English, but more often with the students or my friends, it was more in Hindi or Marathi, that is my mother tongue.
00:18:34:23 – 00:18:54:00 Unknown So that is the reason we couldn’t develop that fascination to the English. But when I went to the other city for my junior college, like I started in my city to attend and for the junior college, I went to another city which was considered as a kind of a the home for the education here in Maharashtra in India.
00:18:54:02 – 00:19:23:18 Unknown And that is where I realized that these students, these people were also speaking in English very easily because they had that kind of a background. They had that kind of environment to speak in that particular language. So that is the reason. Then I realized that it’s not about it is a tough language, but it is more about how you can speak that language more often, what kind of situation, what kind of moments you’ll get to speak that language and to what extent you are going to speak.
00:19:23:18 – 00:19:44:05 Unknown Because once we are in a friendly environment, it is more about like, you don’t have to show off, but it is more about the connect that you have to establish with the people. So at times it usually happens that if a person is speaking in English very fine in a very fancy manner, they may just say that he’s flaunting or she is flaunting, but it is more about they can understand the language better.
00:19:44:06 – 00:20:01:06 Unknown They are comfortable in speaking that and that is how we evolved. So at that particular time, I realized that if you have to improve your English, if you have to speak more often, then you have to get into that zone. You have to converse with a lot of people who are speaking in English and that is how you will be able to grow.
00:20:01:12 – 00:20:23:18 Unknown And it’s more about the confidence that you have to grow into that zone. When I started broadcasting, it was an opportunity for me to have those conversations in English. But when I thought about establishing that emotional connect the in the game as a video, because that is the reason where people feel connected. So you get an incline to those particular language, you get attached to those languages.
00:20:23:23 – 00:20:43:04 Unknown And I scored really well in my Hindi class as well during both the like and standard and it well Hindi high school. So that is how you live, all that is how you are aged towards or like you’re always living on the age and you start liking that particular subject, you’ll start resonating with that, you’ll get comfortable with that.
00:20:43:06 – 00:21:16:13 Unknown So that all in all helped me to how those languages. But if I have to like a number it in a very seriously way, then it is the Hindi first, then the Marathi which is my mother tongue and then the English, because that is how we are able to connect with the people. Wow. Okay, so you mentioned this a few times that this idea of connecting with people, like establishing connection and relationship is very important to you.
00:21:16:13 – 00:21:48:00 Unknown And so I’ve, I’ve seen it already play out in several instances. And so like, you know, you enjoyed communication. You you enjoyed learning languages, you enjoy connecting with people through language. And so I’m wondering how you got into finances and learning about that and, you know, becoming a financial finance executive. Yeah. So as I said earlier, I was not interested in science dream.
00:21:48:05 – 00:22:14:20 Unknown You may anyway because it was predetermined or predefined. For me, I was always inclined towards the number, even though the math says different in the finance thing. really? It’s more of the numbers game that you have to be strong, but rather than applying the core mathematics part. So that was something that kept me going and I was pretty sure about like everyone is going into the science dream, I have to do different.
00:22:14:22 – 00:22:41:00 Unknown If you take example from my class, we were almost like 44. If I could send more than half of them chose the science dream. So that was something that I realized that I can do well in the classroom because it was very different. More and more people can choose different ways of running the business. And it was very clear in my mind that I’ll be joining my we have a family business out here, so I’ll be joining that.
00:22:41:02 – 00:23:03:12 Unknown But you need the prior education and the experience as well. So that is the reason I went into that. And every everything that we do inside one time, which is money. So how to manage that, how to grow that, what are the ways of doing that? And there are a number of complications and we need the solutions to those problems as well.
00:23:03:14 – 00:23:25:22 Unknown So if you have one person in your house who is doing that part, then it gets a lot easier because and it’s not like that. You need a lot of education into that particular stream. It is more about the experiences that you can gain. So during my college days or the graduation days, I was doing this internship, we had to go with a lot of like it was with the chartered accountant.
00:23:26:00 – 00:23:48:22 Unknown If we are in U.S., we are we call it a CPA, a certified public accountant. So I was working under them for three years and I got a lot of experience with respect to that. How to audit a financial statements and prepare those financial statements. So that always kept me on a hook. And I was very clear with my intention that what I have to do and why I have to do it, because it is not just to follow the trend.
00:23:49:00 – 00:24:15:06 Unknown Usually what happens with the students is that they have different they choose certain stream and then few of the people who are good at those particular time, we are failing to accept that we can be average or we can be mediocre. So if we are pretty sure about that and if we are willing to change how we label ourselves, I feel that education can become more a better place and we will be able to grow.
00:24:15:06 – 00:24:39:07 Unknown We know better manner. So that was something that even though I started well, even though I got good marks, I chose comma stream so that I can stay attached to the business happenings of the industry, which we are catering to or the other factors of it. So my inclination towards the financing happened through that because I was clear with my goals and what I have to do in future.
00:24:39:09 – 00:25:05:17 Unknown I see. That makes sense. And you know, I think I get a lot like I think in America where I grew up, there’s a lot of emphasis on doing what is practical, like doing something that will make sure that you can make enough money for survival and, you know, to keep up your lifestyle choices and things like that.
00:25:05:18 – 00:25:34:21 Unknown And there is, you know, like a very undercurrent, I guess, of like you should also do what makes you happy. And so there’s always like this interplay and conflict between choose what is practical and do what you enjoy. And it kind of sounds like, you know, you eventually were okay with math. And, you know, I guess finances is a little bit different.
00:25:34:23 – 00:26:00:14 Unknown But you chose something that you said. I think you use the word like it’s okay and I have to do it. And like it was kind of that energetic. So I kind of got the idea this was the practical decision. If you didn’t have to make a practical decision and you could just choose what you enjoyed, would you have chosen to pursue something related to language or something else?
00:26:00:16 – 00:26:40:04 Unknown I would have chosen with the arts feel more of the psychological psychology part of it or the social science. That is something that always intrigues me. I keep reading more about it still today because even I am looking for like if I get a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology, I’ll still be willing to do that. So that is something that I love most of all, because there are various fields and streams that we can complete our education into, but we are not exposed to those particular fields because the kind of place we see, the kind of environment we have got here, you might be hearing people just you can choose for engineering, you can
00:26:40:04 – 00:27:06:23 Unknown choose to become a doctor or you can become a chartered accountant also. But there are a wide variety of options that are available, but we are not exposed to them. So to be able to get that kind of exposure, you have to take a step ahead. And that is how like once you go to university, you get to know like what other people are doing, how they are in a different position, what kind of impact they are creating while educating you.
00:27:07:01 – 00:27:29:13 Unknown So that will create that kind of excitement that you are looking forward to. And there is no barrier to the kind of education you are seeking in terms of age. I still like I had this interaction with one of my guest on a podcast show and she is in her late fifties and now taking the page day thing.
00:27:29:15 – 00:27:55:04 Unknown So it’s more of like your interest, your choices that will decide the future course of action. And it’s not always a ray that we have to look from the other’s perspective. It is more about what you have to accomplish for yourself and if you feel happy while doing that, it will that you’ll be able to enjoy it more often because few things are meant for you, and not just that you will be able to educate them.
00:27:55:04 – 00:28:21:16 Unknown You’ll be able to inspire them or entertain them. So look from the other perspective as well how you enjoy that, what kind of joy you get from taking that education and how it changes your thought process, the mindset, the perspectives. Because the more we learn about this, there is a larger self-awareness that is being created. And again, people will start attracting to you rather than you be chasing them.
00:28:21:18 – 00:28:52:22 Unknown So that is the kind of impact the education will have on you. Yeah, absolutely. And you wrote something. You said that the next generation is all set to grow by not following the usual or common norms which were established by society and it will all be about having the unique set of skills because now the platforms exist to showcase their skills, which can beyond, you know, go beyond education and degrees they hold.
00:28:52:22 – 00:29:26:06 Unknown So I’m curious like, how do you think we can allow students when they’re younger to know what their skills, what skill sets to develop that are tied to what they enjoy that can also help them. You use them practically upon graduation? Yeah. So there are two things to this array. One thing is we believe that we don’t have to force anything on them.
00:29:26:08 – 00:29:56:00 Unknown So whatever they love to do, whatever they showcase from their actions, it is something that it will excite them or they will be enjoying it while doing it. So. So that is the first thing that we have to focus on. And the second thing would be what people are doing into your family setup. So if I am going to say like finance, if I’m into like playing a sport or I love to cycle around, so they will be copying that particular thing, they will be enjoying that.
00:29:56:00 – 00:30:27:15 Unknown Or my uncle is being a being able to go to that particular cycling on a daily basis. I have got a niece at my home so I can relate to that particular example. That is something that you have to create or develop because your actions get notice and they will be able to then act accordingly. So there are these two factors that I consider very of utmost importance, because unless and until we don’t give them a space to showcase their craft, I won’t see anything happening into that space.
00:30:27:20 – 00:30:54:17 Unknown And it is more about like how encouraging you are into that setup. So these days the resources that are available. So if I take my niece this example, she comes to the office, she will always grab this particular to make and she will ramble around. So that will create the confidence. Right now we consider it as rambling, but when she grows up, when she is start recording those kind of or anything that she loves to do that will create a greater impact on her life.
00:30:54:19 – 00:31:20:14 Unknown That is how we have to see to think. And again, the more you are exposed these days, people are exposed to a lot of things. We have got this leg, a microphone, the web cameras, the laptop and all digital equipments and even the books and all. So it’s more and more of that particular park. So whatever kind of exposure you can give to them, they will be picking up that and they will be trying to see like are they able to develop that interest in what fashion?
00:31:20:14 – 00:31:46:10 Unknown You are doing something very differently. If we learn to grow on bricks on weekends, that is something that they will love to do and we can’t just limit education or we can just write to the money that you are going to earn. At times it is more about how content you feel while doing that. So if you love to do a trick, you can start taking agency later in your life that will again help you earn money.
00:31:46:12 – 00:32:08:13 Unknown If you can do a cycling, you can coach people. If you are into podcasting, you can teach them how to do a podcast once you get a better kind of experience. So all in all, it is moreover, the actions and the kind of stage that we can set up for them and that resources are there. The money factor is the question, because these days is it’s more about getting started rather than being perfect.
00:32:08:16 – 00:32:26:18 Unknown Would it? When I started my podcasting journey, I wasn’t perfect at it. I didn’t have this kind of a pitch tempo flow, the voice speaking right now. It was like nothing like that. Right now, still, I am on a quest to improve because it usually happens. The more you do, the better you get. So we just need to watch them.
00:32:26:18 – 00:32:50:22 Unknown We just need to create the kind of environment and again, housing particular decisions as well. So once you have those seeds into their decision, you get to know better where they want to hear it and what they want to do. Because if you try to just write non no do everything, then it may create a negative impression into their mind and they will be start thinking that this is not meant for me.
00:32:51:00 – 00:33:26:16 Unknown So create that kind of a buzz around so that they feel happy, they feel joyful. An event anyone can start like age is no barrier to start again. If you have started and then into your journey, I feel that you can pick up from any point. Yeah, that’s a really good point. And as you were talking like sort of the image imagery that I was gathering is like, you know, think of dabbling or picking up new skill sets as kind of like growing seeds.
00:33:26:16 – 00:34:08:17 Unknown And so like the earlier that you plant those seeds, the sooner they start to grow. And by the time you’re at a certain age and you can harvest whatever comes from that seed, maybe sooner or earlier than people who are just starting, you know, then. So I really like that idea of just starting, you know, and seeing where it takes you and not really doing something as a result of, you know, trying to achieve perfection immediately or something like that, because they all kind of connect and interweave and they grow together.
00:34:08:19 – 00:34:39:19 Unknown So. Right. Yeah. That that’s really lovely. And we have to stick into that particular routine. We have to stand by the guru because it usually happened with me that I started on doing certain things and then I had to quit in the meantime because of getting that good models or the education became priorities. Or when I started playing badminton, I had to quit it after some point of time because I wasn’t getting that kind of exposure in terms of the resources.
00:34:39:21 – 00:35:04:20 Unknown So you need to see that if you are picking up something, develop that crazy interest. No matter what happens around you, you’ll be still sticking to that kind of a thing. So stay in that group so that you want to be able to quit. And at times the situations are beyond control. You can’t do anything but try to have that kind of practice into place where you can start again if you are living that for a meanwhile.
00:35:04:22 – 00:35:39:00 Unknown Yeah, absolutely. That is really good advice. And so I’m kind of just thinking about like, you know, as we educate the next generation and we look at maybe how the schools are constructed, what do you think about your own education experience, like when you were younger too, maybe when you were in university and graduate school or, you know, getting your your certifications and things like that?
00:35:39:02 – 00:36:16:17 Unknown How do you think the journey could have been different to maybe scaffold that concept of, you know, not mastering for perfection, but mastering for enjoyment and for connection with what you enjoy and how you see yourself growing? Does that question make sense? It does. Okay, great. How to reframe it in a way that what kind of school I was in do or how do I have to answer it in terms of like, what do you are expecting?
00:36:16:19 – 00:36:48:19 Unknown Well, yeah, I was kind of curious of do you think that your education journey or the school systems or the education that you receive, do you think that they prepared you in that way or do you think. Yeah, yeah, yeah, got it. So if we look from that perspective, I feel that my school had the right support in terms of educating the children.
00:36:48:21 – 00:37:06:22 Unknown We never had this kind of a rote learning approach. But if we’re talking billions of the new things that we could have, it all was like that kind of thing. But it’s more of the region that you are into, what kind of teachers we have got to learn from. So all in all, it was a good effort, I feel.
00:37:07:04 – 00:37:26:12 Unknown And once I moved from school, so school prepare you for the basic things of life. So you get to know like what you are learning from it. And again, right now these days, we don’t have the kind of structure where the life skills are taught in school. We are expecting that sooner to happen, but these days the generation is quite ahead.
00:37:26:14 – 00:37:57:14 Unknown They know how to behave. They know like what they are doing wrong. But during those days it was more about the teachers because they’ve had the kind of pillars for us and that is whole like the are foundation got strong. So if I take my example we didn’t had a great educational family in terms of like the degrees and all if we’re not from that perspective, but we always had we always had a great culture, we always had a great set of people who were always encouraging us, who were inculcating good habit in us.
00:37:57:16 – 00:38:17:21 Unknown So that was a kind of a mixture and it helped us to grow in to that particular zone. But when I went to another city, that is Buni, our for my junior college days, it totally changed me because I realized that there is a lot to learn and still you are there. So people were five steps ahead than what I was at that moment.
00:38:17:23 – 00:38:37:18 Unknown But we always had this kind of learning approach and the adaptable, adaptable refactor that I got adjusted to it. I realized that, no, this is how the life will unfold for you and you have to make a bright future out of it. And We always had this schedule approach when we were in to this article Shape or the internship.
00:38:37:19 – 00:39:05:04 Unknown The attendance was not a question. The college was one of the best college for the chemistry. So that is something that always shapes you. It always had this kind of a boost for the extracurricular activities. So if we talk in terms of like how it boosts your personality, we had those kind of plays. Like if you have a play around that, it gives you a kind of theater experience as well.
00:39:05:06 – 00:39:24:13 Unknown So here in India or in Maharashtra, we have this concept of theater, so it prepares you for the territory Act, we call it plays around here. So that is something that you get to learn, but it is all about what you want to get into, how you want to evolve as a person. You want to try to get back to the badminton.
00:39:24:13 – 00:39:50:21 Unknown But again, all the hiccups and the logistics was difficult for me to manage at that particular time. We had this budget in place where you have to do things into that particular budget for a month or so. We just have to take into consideration all of that about because for parents, sending them their children to a different city for education is again a big picture for them because we are not in front of them.
00:39:50:21 – 00:40:10:18 Unknown So what we do, how we do it and what kind of people we are surrounded with, it is always a kind of a happy thing as well. And they get cautious as well because we don’t have too many other parts for it. It usually happens with the people that they get deflected to a different direction and then their career details.
00:40:10:19 – 00:40:41:22 Unknown So it usually happens. So that in a way shaped my personality. I was exposed to the lot of people who are quite intellectual in terms of the education they had, in terms of the personality they develop, and you get new in your experience. Once you start talking to different people, once you are exposed to the different business situations, how they are doing it, who are helping them, what kind of people can help you to make such kind of business, what kind of skills, what kind of characteristics that you need?
00:40:42:00 – 00:41:03:20 Unknown So all in all, it goes hand-in-hand. And again, it’s more of like, you can’t always rely on teachers. It’s about you as well. How do you how to absorb that information, in what way you are putting it to the meaningful use? Because all in all, we all are exposed to the information, but when we put it into the meaningful use, that becomes data for us.
00:41:03:22 – 00:41:36:15 Unknown And once we have the data, how we are going to process that, what kind of outcome we are looking for from it, and how we are going to study that data and derive results for yourself. So education and life is kind of a mathematics, but we don’t pay a lot of attention to it. We are just living it at times gradually because someone says that you have to enjoy your life, you have to do this and that, but it doesn’t work into that because at times there are restrictions in terms of what kind of cultures you have, God, what kind of environment you are into.
00:41:36:17 – 00:41:59:19 Unknown And I have been repeating this culture, the environment, the ethics and principal thing, because it does matter a lot, because the world is getting quite dynamic. You can follow the standardized approaches, but if you are sticking to your own rules, if you are sticking to adapting your things in a successful V or the base which are ethical, then you will be enjoying such for a longer period of time.
00:41:59:19 – 00:42:20:03 Unknown Because if you try to apply a shortcut, if you try to do wrong things for the momentary gains a lad in long term, those will help because you just ignore that process. You just ignore the step to arrive at that conclusion. So if we are adding something, we can just skip number. You will always get the wrong answer.
00:42:20:05 – 00:42:49:12 Unknown So that is how it shaped me in totality and I am really fortunate that I got that experience. Then I move back to my city right now working at business. So that experience really counts. Yeah, for sure. And you know, I keep thinking about. So the more conversations that I have with people and how they envision the future or like, you know, what kind of lack they had in their education journey and what we’re going to be seeing in the future.
00:42:49:13 – 00:43:35:04 Unknown What we need in the future is that there was a very little focus on emotional growth or emotional awareness, along with being able to express yourself and lots of avenues to explore your own curiosities in order to develop opinions about, you know, the world. And so knowing that you’re a podcaster and that you enjoy connecting with people and that you’re a natural communicator and that you do have a lot of values regarding ethics and doing the right thing and not taking shortcuts and doing things that benefit the community at large.
00:43:35:06 – 00:44:07:12 Unknown I’m curious what are some things that you think we should be teaching our children, our young people, our students, to prepare them for the future was quite an interesting question. I feel that has a lot to teach, but to what extent you’re going to inculcate in your life that really sets the tone for the entire generation that we are exposed to.
00:44:07:12 – 00:44:27:15 Unknown And again, they are doing fantastic into their own lives as well. If we talk from the generation point of view, I’m a millennial. If I see Gen Z person, they are more excited, they are more like a project driven kind of a personality where they know like where they are heading. But during my times it was more about like, we will be able to figure it out.
00:44:27:21 – 00:44:50:10 Unknown You just you just have to take a step ahead. Then let’s see what’s the outcome. Then we will be able to figure it out. But if we talk from that perspective, I feel that you have to get vulnerable as well. You have to acknowledge that you need that emotional stability. These days, people are enjoying to stay alone and that is something that might hamper their growth.
00:44:50:12 – 00:45:09:13 Unknown I feel that the more you are exposed to the outside of world will be having a lot of experiences and it’s more about in what way you can apply those experiences into your own life. You always have to take out that one lesson from it. So if someone is narrating the story, they might have the common conclusion to it.
00:45:09:15 – 00:45:32:18 Unknown But to what extent, to what situation, to what moment or to what story of your life it connects you and how do you see that it can change the course of your future life? That is something that you have to decide whatever you are starting from, because the cycle of life is very common. You just start as a young person.
00:45:32:18 – 00:45:55:12 Unknown You are just a child and you grow as older than you become. When major you get married, you have children, you educate them, you get self-educated, and then again the cycle continues. But how differently you are doing it, you don’t have to follow the common path. If I am if I got the degree, if my children or my niece doesn’t want to get into that kind of degree, think if you want to pursue any kind of a passion.
00:45:55:16 – 00:46:16:11 Unknown So you don’t need a degree to learn a guitar, right? You don’t need a degree to be a podcaster, but still you can earn handsomely. And again, money is not the exception. Money is part and parcel of your life. We can’t say that you don’t need a lot of money. You do need a lot of money so that you can get better at whatever you are doing.
00:46:16:13 – 00:46:42:03 Unknown But it is not the barrier, it is not the hurdle. So you can always jump. You can grow yourself better into that zone or the arena and then you can live those part. But I feel that you, you need to develop that emotional connectivity with the people so that your life becomes easier in terms of how do you understand people, how do you communicate with them, what kind of hardships, what kind of success story they had, how did they start?
00:46:42:05 – 00:47:07:06 Unknown So I had a lot to learn from my parents itself, my elder brother, my family members, my like sister in law, even my niece. I’ll be learning something from it whenever she sits in front of TV, whenever the commercial starts, she don’t have learn those commercials. She’s apparently repeating those commercials with what to watch. So that is kind of a fancy thing they are taking so much into their mind.
00:47:07:06 – 00:47:31:18 Unknown They are remembering those words what to what thing? So how do you can how you can develop those kind of skills, what different you can do? And it speaks of your way of doing it so your personality will evolve the way you are interacting with the people, the kind of environment we are into, what kind of education, what kind of interests that you develop over the period of time.
00:47:31:20 – 00:47:57:13 Unknown And it doesn’t happen by looking at others. It happens by like mimicking your own actions. So that is something that you start creating. So if we get the exposure to those elements, I feel that are a future will be very different and you’ll start developing it. And it might happen that whatever you are doing in your childhood might not be something that you will be doing in your future course of time.
00:47:57:15 – 00:48:30:18 Unknown But you always have those traits which you can use on a later period of time that will make you a better person. Yeah, absolutely. And yeah, that’s that’s really amazing. I think you’re right. What I can connect to is I remember like when I look back on the things that I really enjoyed when I was younger, those things are still present with me today and so I’m very glad that I had a lot of opportunity to work on my creativity from a young age.
00:48:30:20 – 00:49:02:08 Unknown And, you know, as I educate my daughter, my daughter is still very young. But the reason I have this podcast is because I don’t want to mess up, you know, as a parent. And I feel like I need to learn other parents and other people who had different educations than I did or different experiences or perspectives, and I do to make sure that I try not to mess up as much, you know, as possible.
00:49:02:08 – 00:49:48:09 Unknown So I just want to kind of eliminate all possibilities of just ignorance. Right. As much as possible, of course. And so I know that you are a podcaster, an award winning podcaster, by the way, and that you’ve been doing this a long time and you communicate with a lot of people. And one idea that I would love to kind of explore in education systems, either in the United States or wherever I will be, is to kind of make sure that, you know, my daughter or my students have their own podcast so that they can, you know, connect with people and learn more and establish connections that they wouldn’t have if they just talked to people
00:49:48:09 – 00:50:14:05 Unknown within their own circle or just people who thought like them. So, yeah, so, you know, in developing this curriculum or this idea of maybe allowing young people to have their own podcasts, what advice would you give them? I feel that speak from your heart. That is something that you need once you’re starting your podcast. Don’t think about what I’ll be able to speak.
00:50:14:09 – 00:50:33:17 Unknown It’s more about the message rather than in what fashion you are speaking. That is how I started my podcast, because if you listen to my first episode, someone recently like two days back, someone asked me like, When did you start your podcast? I was like four years back. And these days a lot of things have changed. People just suggest that you can replace the audio files.
00:50:33:19 – 00:50:51:13 Unknown You don’t have to put your first few episodes onto the website, but it is a very different case for me. They are still there because I want to relate to my own journey after like ten years of span. So that is something like where I started, where I am today and how I have improved into that particular zone.
00:50:51:15 – 00:51:24:16 Unknown So these are the two ends of a line I started here. Right now I am here and I have two more ahead and you just have to straight to that particular part and don’t seek for perfection at one goal. But whatever you are going to start, have the basic understanding of what you feel at that moment. In what way your message will change the perception of other people in a very good way, because you don’t always have to oppose anything that is happening just because you can be a international figure on internet or something.
00:51:24:18 – 00:51:49:04 Unknown The virility won’t stay for a longer period of time, but the values will always stay forever. So look for the value vitality, I would say, rather than the vitality of the likes, followers and all. It will come usually because once you start developing, more and more people will get connected. And there is this kind of influencer thing that usually happens in each and every country.
00:51:49:04 – 00:52:13:06 Unknown We have lot of figures, but if you try to understand, if you try to listen to the normal conversations that the non-celebrity people or the people who are celebrity or work in progress, I feel that there is a lot of value which is buttered and we need that kind of exposure. So never shy away from promoting yourself, putting out that voice ahead and talking about yourself, what you do.
00:52:13:06 – 00:52:35:18 Unknown How do you do it? Because right now here in my city, I am only the part broadcaster who has been doing it so that I enjoy that particular thing. It is not a kind of achievement for me, but it is more of like I was able to do something apart from my work life that I really enjoy. So that is the advice that you can start anywhere from any point.
00:52:35:20 – 00:53:00:19 Unknown Be authentic with your storytelling, be clear with your message and everything will fall in place and continue it. Don’t just look out for the results, how it is sounding and what the analytics are coming, how I can get more downloads and all that stuff. It will happen. But for that to happen you have to start somewhere. Thank you so much for listening.
00:53:00:20 – 00:53:07:22 Unknown If any part of this episode resonated with you, please connect with us on social media at the links in the show notes. Until next time.