New Year 2017: Breakthrough moments of their famous beginnings

Vidya Balan ActressMadhuri and her dancing was the triggerI was about 11 when I first watched Madhuri Dixit dance her iconic number Ek Do Teen in Tezaab I consider this a trigger point that made me interested in movies The acting bug had bit me In the years that followed during my growing up years I carefully watched actors performances and tried to imbibe the things I liked My sister Priya would constantly tell me that acting wasnt just about having a pretty face and a good body Its what you do with it It is how you use it to convey what you are thinking feeling and going throughOf course over time my understanding of acting changed and evolved but at a basic level I think the one factor that has and still remains is my interest in people and their life stories It is the chance to relate to their tales or alter themOr perhaps imagine how changing a little bit in someones life can change their life altogether This is probably most evident in my choosing a film like The Dirty Picture 2011 The South sex siren Silk Smitha is far removed from the person I am I wanted to know what and how feels I could only do that by living her Shaheen ParkarDevendra Fadnavis CM of MaharashtraMr Modi told me to clean up corrupt politics and administrationMy father Gangadharrao was a member of the state legislative council I had thought of stepping into his shoes at some point but wanted to also get a law degree I wanted to get the degree from England and settle my law practice in my hometown Nagpur I even took admission at Nagpurs Law College However my fathers untimely death disturbed our family But my mother stood by us all and made us successful in our livesIn 2014 I was the president of the state BJP It was a dreamcometrue for the party when we won the Assembly polls The results were out The party was some seats short of majority and yet it was headed to make its first ever government in Maharashtra But who would be BJPs first Maharashtra CM That was the big questionI believe I made it to the top job primarily because I was the state BJP chief at the time Im immensely proud to say that my seatwise forecast for both the Lok Sabha and Assembly proved right especially at a time when few people thought we would win such big numbers I got an inkling that the high command had considered my name among others for the CMs postI got a call from Mr Narendra Modis office before the leader of the legislative party was elected When I met Mr Modi he told me that the party was considering me for the CMs post He told me clearly that a proper process would decide the CM whoever that may be But he was specific in telling me that if chosen he would want me to clean up corrupt politics and administration in Maharashtra And that became my aim when my name was announced Dharmendra JoreManoj Bajpai National Awardwinning actorShekhar Kapur told me to earn moneyAbove and below Manoj Bajpai during his theatre days in DelhiI was in awe of Bachchanji Amitabh Bachchan after watching Zanjeer It was that moment that I decided to become an actor And so during my college days I started doing theatre I wanted to join the National School of Drama but couldnt So I attended workshops conducted by the Sambhav Theatre Group for almost a year I would still keep trying to break into NSD but I reckon it wasnt destined So a friend NK Sharma and I started our own theatre companyIt was in 1992 that something that filmmaker Shekhar Kapur said changed my life He told me to head to Mumbai and try my hand at films He said that though theatre would satisfy me creatively I would need the money for when I had a family And so I decided to take the plunge Once in Mumbai I started my struggle It was tough since I didnt know anyone Luckily I got cast in Kapurs Bandit Queen 1994 as a dacoitI had auditioned for the lead role which ultimately went to Nirmal PandeyAfter Satya 1996 released there was no looking back until a few year ago when I injured myself For two years I had to lay low and read false media reports about me Everyone had written me off and I lost many projects I was down to my last penny And then Prakash Jha offered me Rajneeti and subsequently Aarkshan It was the most challenging phase of my life but it made me stronger and wiser Shilpi MahapatraNarayan Murthy IconEntrepreneurI was shocked at how Communists treat friendsNarayan Murthy right in his twentiesI was a Leftist in my student days and strongly influenced by the Nehruvian concept of Socialism Later on while I was working in Paris in my late 20s I realised that the only way to combat poverty was to create jobs I decided to return to India and conduct an experiment in entrepreneurship I hitchhiked from Paris to Mysore when I was 27 I was on the road for 11 months During that time I was on a train from Nis in Serbia to Sofia in Bulgaria I started talking to a girl in French The boy next to her who did not understand the language thought I was perhaps plotting against the state He called the police The police incarcerated me in a room in the railway station without food or water for 72 hours They finally put me on a freight train going to Istanbul They said they were being kind to me because I was from a friendly country I was shocked that the Communist system treats friends like this My disenchantment with LeftistCommunism began that day I embraced what I call Compassionate CapitalismThe most frequently asked question I face especially when talking to young people is about what makes an entrepreneur I believe an entrepreneur must have an idea whose value to the market can be expressed in a simple sentence not a complex or compound sentence He or she must ascertain that the market is ready for the idea and it is decentsized market Must have a team with complementary strengths and finally an enduring value system Hemal AsharTasneem Mehta director Dr Bhau Daji Lad MuseumMy desire for excellence reflects in my daughtersTasneem Zakaria Mehta centre with her brother Fareed his son and her two daughters Malika and AhilyaMy journey with the 144yearold Bhau Daji Lad Museum has been nothing less than a love affair But my affair with art and heritage began much earlier and all because of one person the Late Mrs Pupul Jayakar the founder of the Indian Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage INTACH I was always into arts but she gave me the direction I needed Back in 1994 when I had just come back from London after doing my Diploma in Art History I met Mrs Jayakar All my achievements wouldnt have happened had I not met her It was she who asked me to be a part of the governing council of INTACH I said I was too young but she insisted She said age didnt matter passion did It made me truly believe in myselfI learnt perseverance tolerance and kindness from her The principles she taught me are applied to what I do at the Bhau Daji Lad I also want to mention that wouldnt be where I am without my familys support My desire for excellence and the approach of a perfectionist has reflected well on my daughters Malika and Ahilya They both are studying abroad My older one who is studying public policy at Harvard is more like me the activist kind And my younger one is studying law I think that says it all Aparna ShuklaVikas Dilawari Conservation architectI trained with Ved Segan who restored Shimlas Gaiety cinema it left an impressionVikas DilawariacircAcircu00c2u0080Acircu00c2u0088third from left with the team while working at the Rajabai TowerAs a student from the suburbs who travelled to SoBo I would always gaze at its heritage buildings especially VT CST station In fact when I alighted from my bus 84 the sight of Byramjee Jeejebhoy Parsi Charitable Institution always awed me Little did I realise that one day I would be their architectIn 1991 it was my first project to materialize Im still their architect In 198485 as a student of LS Raheja School of Architecture I trained with eminent architect Ved Segan who designed Prithvi Theatre who was at the time restoring Shimlas Gaiety cinema it left an impression In Mumbai Crawford Market was a part of my college project Most suggested its demolition whereas I took the conservation route They scored higher marks Later while studying at Delhis School of Planning and Architecture I secured a scholarship with INTACH which required me to work on a list of the citys heritage structures for which I had to verify 300400 buildings It was another turning point By the time I graduated in 1989 I was the first to use conservation architect exclusively on my letterhead and it continues I opted for a job that helped me teach and work on heritage projects Those were the early days of heritage conservation and activism At the start of my career a municipal commissioner addressed me as a conversation architect In 1992 I worked on the Draft Heritage List with local NGOs that was able to secure Grade I II and III buildings in the city The following year Rahul Mehrotra conducted a series of seminars which set the mood and motivation among us young architectsThe BSCPA building was my first assignment while the Army amp Navy building in 199597 was my first big break ANZ Grindlays Bank Punes Aga Khan Palace University building and Rajabai Tower and the Bhau Daji Lad Museum are cherished projects Despite being in an offbeat profession I followed my heart and was fortunate to work with sensible clients God has been kind The junoon keeps me going Fiona FernandezAmish Tripathi authorIt was all about surrendering to my creative flowAmish during his IDBI daysII never thought I would be a writer when I was young In fact I never even wrote for my school magazine There were three major turning points in my life which gave me the conviction to write full time and quit my finance job My first book Immortals of Meluha was my first attempt at any kind of fiction When I started writing I tried to do it in an organised manner with character sketches story summaries wordtargetsperday etc And I failedThat is when my wife suggested rejecting the ldquoorganised and controllingrdquo approach and instead simply follow my instincts by surrendering to the creative flow She said I should write with humility of a witness and not with the arrogance of a creator Her words helped my writing process immenselyThe next high point was the success of Meluha After being refused by over 20 publishers who said that no one would be interested in reading mythology I selfpublished the book and the response was quite pleasant as it hit the bestseller charts within a week of launch Of course the rejections disappointed me But I never thought of giving up The success however gave me the confidence that there are people who want to read what I write The third important stage was when I decided to write full time after my second book came out since by then the royalty from my books had surpassed my salary I made this decision with the encouragement of my elder brother and my wife Dipanjan SinhaPV Sindhu Olympic silver medalistWinning and losing are both part of lifePV Sindhu in Mumbai earlier this yearWinning an Olympic medal is any shuttlers dream and so was mine Little did I know I would achieve that feat in my very first Olympics at Rio that too a silver Last year I came back from a foot injury I was sceptical of recovering in time for the Olympics Once I got to know that I would be playing at Rio I worked hard Gopi sir National coach P Gopichand motivated me he told me to stay off chocolates I also wasnt allowed to use my phone till the end of the Games But I took it in the right spirit and was aptly rewardedThe turning point of my career was in 2012 when I beat London Olympics gold medallist Li Xuerui of China in the quarters of the China Masters Thats when the world took note of me and felt I could do better I went on to become the first Indian shuttler to win a bronze medal at the Guangzhou World Championships in 2013 From there my dreams of achieving Olympic glory beganWhat I have learned is that consistency is most important in a players career Badminton has recently gained a lot of popularity not just among the youth but the older generation as well Once I started winning titles my confidence slowly increased Every player works hard but they do not attain success at the same time Some might achieve it soon while some could take time Gopi Sir and my parents kept my spirits up Sir taught me that winning and losing are part of life but whats important is enjoying the sport Once I started beating higherranked Chinese players I started to believe in myself Sundari IyerHarish Baijal officer who cracked down on drunk drivingPeople would step out of Mumbais bars drunk and then drive homeThis is a photograph of Baijal during his stint in Kosovo At the time Baijal was on the Dancon March mdash a marchcumruncumwalk for 24 miles through rivers valleys mountains etc with a 10kg bag on the back Baijal had stopped to distribute chocolates to the children of the villages en routeWhen I joined the Mumbai traffic police as Deputy Commissioner in 2005 I was struck by the number of accidents that one saw due to drunken driving on the streets here It reminded me of the time when I was the United Nations peacekeeping force in Kosovo There if any police officer on deputation was found driving drunk they were immediately returned to their home country Therefore I became a muchindemand officer for parties as I did not drink What I also realised was that because of the strict laws there were hardly any fatal accidents in Kosovo as traffic rules were strict and citizens followed it Not just that citizens also did not hesitate from stopping officers who violated traffic rulesSeeing that people would step out of Mumbais bars drunk and not hesitate to drive home with no fear of imprisonment it reminded me of how strict laws kept people safe in the east European nation I convinced my senior Joint Commissioner Vijay Kamble about the campaign Eventually I also started getting on the streets to motivate my staffOn Wednesdays Fridays and Saturdays I would hit the bed only at 3 am after taking a review of all the traffic chowkies The nakabandis were largely conducted on these days In the mornings I would visit the courts where drunk drivers were brought after being detained at night I would argue the case so that the offenders would get tough punishment I joined the police force because of the reach and impact this job can have Cellphone companies boast of a large customer base but as a police department the entire city is our customer base and we have to offer and service them Vinay DalviPrachi Desai actressI felt like an exotic animal at a zooThe way my career started off was silly I decided to go for an audition for the fun of it and even lied about my age I was 16 but since it was a rule to be 18 I said I was I auditioned for a chick flick set in a college A few months later I got a call asking me to come down and take a look test for a TV show for a 9pm prime slot I had no idea that I would come to Mumbai and then never go back to Pune That show was Kasamh Se The day my life changed was the day my character marries Mr Walia who was played by Ram Kapoor I was told a night before about this plot development I was petrified playing a bride at 17 but Ekta Kapoor and everyone else possible called to pacify me and assured me it was for the good of the show Our TRPs shot up with that one episode and we became the number 1 show The fan mail increased and I knew life changed It was impossible to step out after that as people would flock me everywhere I remember I was in Surat visiting family for Navratri one year and there were people standing on my balcony trying to get in That incident scarred me so badly that I never went back to live there I felt like an exotic animal in a zoo During my board exams news channels followed my car till Pune and got pictures of me appearing for the exam That was unreal and I didnt know how to handle it Thankfully I had someone like Ram as a coactor who would pamper me like a kid He called me Bunny and it is only because of him I stayed calm and pulled through the show with such confidence Mohar BasuShankarEhsaanLoy Music composersWe never imagined doing films togetherEhsaan Noorani Loy Mendonsa and I Shankar Mahadevan were friends since we worked together in the advertising field But we never imagined that the three of us would be doing music for films together We were doing a Pepsi commercial for Mukul Anand and he offered Ehsaan to do music for his next film Dus 2005 Ehsaan refused immediately But when Mukul pushed him he said hed do it if Loy and I also do the film We met Mukul and had the narration When we reached the studio to record the first song the makers and people from the industry were all there They asked Mukul who the composer of the film was and he pointed at us Everyone was surprised to see three composers They were shocked that there were no musicians arrangers and music coordinators etc Mukul said these three would do everything So they told Mukul ldquoBoss tumne kisko sign kiya hairdquoTheyd completely given up In the evening we recorded the first song Chandni and they were floored They offered us the entire soundtrackA few days later Mukul called me from New York before we were about to record the most important song of the film Suno Gaur Se Duniya Waalon He blessed us saying ldquoIts a patriotic number but I want it to play for every cricket and football match and even at clubsrdquo We did the song and the team loved it But Mukul passed away during the making of the movie and Dus got stalled We were happy doing jingles but we were upset that our career in the film industry saw such a low right at the beginning It was then that Nitin Manmohan the producer of Dus shot a video for Suno Gaur Se to pay tribute to Mukul The song took off It played everywhere from cricket matches to clubs Mukul was and has been a guiding force Later Vidhu Vinod Chopra gave us Mission Kashmir and Farhan Akhtar gave us Dil Chahta Hai The rest is history Soumya Vajpayee TiwariVijender Singh Olympic medalwinning boxerMy weak arms led me to be a boxerVijender Singh at an event in Mumbai last yearP eople often compliment my strong arms but few know that they were not as strong in my younger days In fact I am here today as Indias most successful professional boxer having won eight out of eight pro bouts because of my weak arms I remember being 13 years old entering the Bhim Stadium in Haryana to do gymnastics A couple of guys from my village Kaluwas had won local competitions so many kids wanted to be gymnastsOn day one of my gymnastics training I was instructed to do some hand exercises the activity required strong hands but my arms were weak so I struggled I was disappointed but returned the next day and then the next but consistently failed and even got ridiculed by some for having weak arms Disappointed I walked out of the hall and saw a group of young boxers practising shadow boxing punching the air against an imaginary opponent I liked the quick punches they threw and decided to join the group Immediately boxing coach Jagdish Singh liked what he saw He came to me and asked what I was doing there I told him that I had come to do gymnastics but was not interested in it anymore because I couldnt do the hand exercises He then asked me if I liked boxing and I said yes To this he said that boxing also involved hand exercises but I had nothing to fear because I had naturally quick hands which are a prerequisite for the sport He made me work on strengthening my arms thereafter and the rest as they say is history Ashwin FerroMariketty Grana owner Thalassa Goa and MumbaiIt hurt me that there were no pita wraps in GoaMariketty Grana with her son Spiro during her first days in GoaI came to India as a backpacker from the Greek island of Corfu around 30 years ago and never left At a flea market in Goa I saw the stalls selling pizzas pastas and falafels It hurt me that there were no Greek pita wraps and kebabs there I decided to change that Moreover the energy of Goa drew me in and cocooned me One day I said to myself ldquoI love it here the place the people they make me happy what else mattersrdquo and so I stayed When I took this decision my family was worried and tense because they didnt know much about India It was up to me to make them comfortable with the idea of it I have always been the strong one who did the unexpected and was unstoppable once I made up my mind They knew they couldnt stop me even if they tried But setting up Thalassa in Goa was never easy There were good days and bad days and worse days When I look back I am amazed at how fearless I washellip I never let the fear of failure stop me from trying to do things The more I did things outside of my comfort zone the more sense of accomplishment I felt It was such a high Thats how I knew I was on the right path However one never feels that they have arrived At least I never have One does ones best and everything just falls into place Anju MaskeriShilpa Gupta installation artistBeing on the edge has worked well for meShilpa Gupta prepares for a solo show in Berlin in 2009 PicShrutti GargShilpa GuptaBetween 20062007 I created three interactive video projections which were later called the Shadow series Using cameras to detect motion and digital programming the Shadow works created a simulated environment viewers participated in this world that was not as static as you might imagine it to be You entered a room and saw on the wall a shadow which was not only yours but also of several entities not present in the room a girl would dive from a board into you or a shower of houses would merge with your shadowLooking back there was a time when video art was met with misapprehension In the mid90s a senior artist remarked on a video work I had made ldquoSwitch it off Its making too much noiserdquo It was a time when for years we would borrow TV sets from our family and friends to show work in an art gallery Times have changed since then Shadow 1 and 2 were shown in galleries and museums abroad and Shadow 3 was installed at Carter Road Looking for a wider audience its been part of my practice to look for spaces on streets in parks or on top of building facades where it might be chanced upon by passersby who might not otherwise visit a gallery spaceThe Shadow series clarified some of my central concerns as an artist I like to deal with ideas of perception what we might see perceive and remember And I find myself wandering in these borderlands both imaginary and geographical Right from my student days being on the edge has worked well for me It is a place where you are able to see and hear stories from many dimensions and understand something more of oneselfThere was a time when I used to script myself often into works The shadow of the figure diving off the board in Shadow1 was myself for instance I didnt realise until much later that after that dive I never appeared again in my worksBuilding on the strong feedback of the previous three works I was in fact invited to make Shadow4 with a rather generous funding But then that is not part of my practice Once a certain question is resolved in my head I am unable to repeat it Benita FernandoMilind Soman longdistance runnerWhen the Mumbai marathon was announced I knew I had to runMilind SomanWhen I was younger I disliked running I was a swimmer and was a national level athlete However swimming was something I stopped doing regularly when I was 23 years old around the time I took up modellingWhen I was 38 years old I took up running and that changed my lifeThe marathon because of its history was a mythical concept in my head something I knew as a child that I wanted to attempt once in my life So when in 2003 the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon was announced for the year 2004 I knew I had to participate After all it was an event that was happening in my city I prepared for it for a few months and ran the half marathon Suffice to say I was hookedAfter that I went on to do the full marathon several citytocity runs and then last year I participated in the Ironman which is a triathlon Next I am training for the Ultraman which will be conducted in Florida in FebruaryI feel most like myself when I run I feel one with the Universe At the most basic level you feel in control of yourself and you feel like you are in the right placeSwimming has now taken a backseat I now swim once or twice a year but when I do its long distances I enjoy running more Gitanjali ChandrasekharanDr Bhushan Mahadik research scientist University of IllinoisAt the science centre I grew attracted to the cosmic worldBhushan Mahadik in 2012 outside Dr Harlyrsquos Lab where he is a research associateMy parents Prakash 64 and Kaveri 61 would make it a point to make me visit the Nehru Science Centre at Worli almost every week since I was in Class 6 Unlike other students I would head straight to the science centre and it was here that I started getting attracted towards the cosmic world The more I visited the centre the more I got attracted to the cosmic worldThe experience was fascinating As a child I could understand more about different exhibits displayed at the centre and the underlying engineering principles that made it work Also scientific phenomenon were explained in details by the officials at the centresThe more they Centre officials answered my Hows and Whys the more Id get excited and be encouraged to clear more doubts which would simplify and help me understand the concepts better That was a good starting pointI had a similar experience at the Nehru Planetarium close to the centre where I would get fascinated with stars and the galaxy In 2001 as a Class 10 student I participated and won the prestigious Intel International Science and Engineering Fair Award organised by Intel Inc held at Ohio Cleveland I won the fourth prize and was among the six students selected from India My area of research was Synthesis of Carbon nano tubes and I am thankful to Professor Dr Maheshwar Sharon at IIT Powai who guided me through outVinod Kumar MenonTanmay Bhat cofounder AIBJohnny Lever helped me find my callingBhatrsquos first open mic at blueFrog 2011Being a chubby kid often meant working harder to not be bullied or be made fun of I was always the class clown and I enjoyed being the one that was liked by all teachers and students alike I remember taking part in school debates and realising I enjoyed being on stage a lot But I think it all took a definite turn for me when I first discovered Johnny Lever through one of his standup cassettes I must have been 11 or 12 years at that time I was so taken in by it all that I started taping my voice over his lines I learnt his entire routine by heart and would replicate it word to wordObsessively We used to travel around in a family car often thats where I would make everyone listen to the jokes on tape Then one Republic Day there was a building function going on I gathered all my courage and asked the organisers to allow me five minutes time on stage I was on For the next 20 minutes I released all the Johnny Lever jokes in me and killed it You could say that was my first successful outingThrough Johnny Lever I discovered a host of comedians Jimmy Moses Johnnys brother was one them Much later in life I saw Rohan Joshis Gtalk status update one day that said ldquoJust did standup for the first time in life ticked off my bucket listrdquo I couldnt resist and I hit him up I was writing for television at that time but I really wanted to try out a stand up gig on a big stage The next week I was performing at an open mic organised by Vir Das at Blue FrogI slayed again Thereon it was addictive I was extremely nervous the first time as a child and even now its the same I think a lot of comics have one thing in common the need for validation Although I also believe that to reinvent yourself you need to let go of that need for validation and do something that scares you from time to time Kusumita DasCheteshwar Pujara batsmanMy inner strength comes from my daily prayersA threeyearold Cheteshwar Pujara at his Rajkot residenceWhen you are successful people praise you and when you are not they criticise I have learnt to take these things in my stride because I am confident about my game and I know what I am doing I didnt think I was out of form even when I wasnt scoring big If you see my innings during that period you will notice that I always got the start but I wasnt able to convert those starts to big hundredsBut I was always confident and I knew that it was just a matter of time before the runs start flowing again I am a very positive person and thats the reason why I have always come back strongly be it from bad form or injuryThis confidence comes from my inner strength and my inner strength comes from my daily prayers a habit instilled in me by my late mother Reena Ben when I was young I was very fond of video games and used to spend a lot of time on that so my mom put a condition that I would be able to play only if I pray for half an hour Dad didnt like this blackmail but mom was adamant that it would stand me in good stead in future Now I spend some time doing my daily rituals without fail every dayIf its my calmness patience and determination that people talk as my strengths I owe everything to my mother My mom wanted to see me play for India some day But she lost her battle against cancer even before I made my Ranji debut If I have been able to overcome the sadness of my moms death frequent setbacks due to onfield injuries and still perform it is all because of my mental strength Ajit BezbaruahAnkur Tiwari musicianIn India it is better to be served than serveAnkur Tiwari during a gig at Zenzi in 2008In 1997 I was in Bhopal studying hotel management and the final exams were nearing I knew I was just wasting my time because I had slowly realised that this was not what I was meant to do I would spend all my time in the cafeteria singing As the exams neared I started getting a nagging thought that music couldnt be my Plan B But I still went for my training at a fivestar hotel in Delhi and thats when the final breaking point occurredWe Indians dont treat our service class with the respect that they deserve It was then I realised that it was better being served than to serve So I quit hotel management and didnt even give my final exams I shifted to Mumbai in 1998 with an optimistic mindset I thought that I would come here and would cut my album right away It took me 10 years to do that though But that time was great I remember playing at the hotspot back then Zenzi It was a packed night I actually thought as if the audience and the band was a giant amoeba we were all one Later we also became the first Hindi band to play at blueFROG One thing hasnt changed since I was optimistic then and am optimistic nowAastha Atray BananSantosh Kambli sculptor Lal Baugcha RajaPeople would spit after giving me waterSantosh Kambli puts the finishing touches on a Ganpati sculpture PicSameer MarkandeAll throughout 2000 to 2002 I worked as a courier boy at a bank I would get extremely thirsty running around and would ask for water at the nearby houses They would give me a glass of water and then spit on the side as a sign of washing away the impurity that I was From running away crying to now being globally recognised I owe everything to the day when I took a leap of faith entered the workshop and felt the clay in my handMy grandfather uncle and father were all JJ School of Arts graduates I on the other hand dropped out of Standard 12 due to family problems Though I was fascinated by the way they created beautiful things I never wanted to do that myself Its only after I entered the workshop observed things closely that I felt why not At 26 I started visiting the workshop to give my father food supplies etc I dont know if it was Bappas presence or my wish to devote myself completely to him but I suddenly had an unreal feeling of knowing where I belonged The decision was made and for the next three years I slept ate drank and breathed only Ganpati I couldnt see anything else that was his power Today after having my idols shipped to countries like USA UK Switzerland Holland Canada Mauritius and South Africa I dont feel regret about what I worked as because it has kept me grounded Today when a boy comes to the doorstep for water I never turn him awayAparna Shukla